diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 11367-0.txt | 16333 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11367-8.txt | 16755 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11367-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 348657 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11367.txt | 16755 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11367.zip | bin | 0 -> 348457 bytes |
8 files changed, 49859 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11367-0.txt b/11367-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f5839c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/11367-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16333 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11367 *** + +[Transcriber's Note: The following text contains numerous non-English +words containing diacritical marks not contained in the ASCII character +set. Characters accented by those marks, and the corresponding text +representations are as follows (where x represents the character being +accented). All such symbols in this text above the character being +accented: + + breve (u-shaped symbol): [)x] + caron (v-shaped symbol): [vx] + macron (straight line): [=x] + acute (égu) accent: ['x] + +Additionally, the author has spelled certain words inconsistently. Those +have been adjusted to be consistent where possible. Examples of such +adjustments are as follows: + + From To +Northwestern North-western +Southwards Southward +Programme Program +re-introduced reintroduced +practise practice +Lotos Lotus +Ju-Chên Juchên +cooperate co-operate +life-time lifetime +man-power manpower +favor favour +etc. + +In general such changes are made to be consistent with the predominate +usage in the text, or if there was not a predominate spelling, to the +more modern.] + + + + + + +A HISTORY OF CHINA + +by + +WOLFRAM EBERHARD + + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + + + _THE EARLIEST TIMES_ + +Chapter I: PREHISTORY + + 1 Sources for the earliest history + 2 The Peking Man + 3 The Palaeolithic Age + 4 The Neolithic Age + 5 The eight principal prehistoric cultures + 6 The Yang-shao culture + 7 The Lung-shan culture + 8 The first petty States in Shansi + +Chapter II: THE SHANG DYNASTY (_c_. 1600-1028 B.C.) + + 1 Period, origin, material culture + 2 Writing and Religion + 3 Transition to feudalism + + + _ANTIQUITY_ + +Chapter III: THE CHOU DYNASTY (_c_. 1028-257 B.C.) + + 1 Cultural origin of the Chou and end of the Shang dynasty + 2 Feudalism in the new empire + 3 Fusion of Chou and Shang + 4 Limitation of the imperial power + 5 Changes in the relative strength of the feudal states + 6 Confucius + 7 Lao Tz[)u] + +Chapter IV: THE CONTENDING STATES (481-256 B.C.): +DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + + 1 Social and military changes + 2 Economic changes + 3 Cultural changes + +Chapter V: THE CH'IN DYNASTY (256-207 B.C.) + + 1 Towards the unitary State + 2 Centralization in every field + 3 Frontier Defence. Internal collapse + + + _THE MIDDLE AGES_ + +Chapter VI: THE HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) + + 1 Development of the gentry-state + 2 Situation of the Hsiung-nu empire; its relation to the + Han empire. Incorporation of South China + 3 Brief feudal reaction. Consolidation of the gentry + 4 Turkestan policy. End of the Hsiung-nu empire + 5 Impoverishment. Cliques. End of the Dynasty + 6 The pseudo-socialistic dictatorship. Revolt of the "Red Eyebrows" + 7 Reaction and Restoration: the Later Han dynasty + 8 Hsiung-nu policy + 9 Economic situation. Rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans". + Collapse of the Han dynasty + 10 Literature and Art + +Chapter VII: THE EPOCH OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF CHINA (A.D. 220-580) + + (A) _The three kingdoms_ (A.D. 220-265) + 1 Social, intellectual, and economic problems during the + period of the first division + 2 Status of the two southern Kingdoms + 3 The northern State of Wei + + (B) _The Western Chin dynasty_ (265-317) + 1 Internal situation in the Chin empire + 2 Effect on the frontier peoples + 3 Struggles for the throne + 4 Migration of Chinese + 5 Victory of the Huns. The Hun Han dynasty + (later renamed the Earlier Chao dynasty) + + (C) _The alien empires in North China, down to the Toba_ + (A.D. 317-385) + 1 The Later Chao dynasty in eastern North China (Hun; 329-352) + 2 Earlier Yen dynasty in the north-east (proto-Mongol; 352-370), + and the Earlier Ch'in dynasty in all north China (Tibetan; 351-394) + 3 The fragmentation of north China + 4 Sociological analysis of the two great alien empires + 5 Sociological analysis of the petty States + 6 Spread of Buddhism + + (D) _The Toba empire in North China_ (A.D. 385-550) + 1 The rise of the Toba State + 2 The Hun kingdom of the Hsia (407-431) + 3 Rise of the Toba to a great power + 4 Economic and social conditions + 5 Victory and retreat of Buddhism + + (E) _Succession States of the Toba_ (A.D. 550-580): + _Northern Ch'i dynasty, Northern Chou dynasty_ + 1 Reasons for the splitting of the Toba empire + 2 Appearance of the (Gök) Turks + 3 The Northern Ch'i dynasty; the Northern Chou dynasty + + (F) _The southern empires_ + 1 Economic and social situation in the south + 2 Struggles between cliques under the Eastern Chin dynasty + (A.D. 317-419) + 3 The Liu-Sung dynasty (A.D. 420-478) and the Southern Ch'i dynasty + (A.D. 479-501) + 4 The Liang dynasty (A.D. 502-556) + 5 The Ch'en dynasty (A.D. 557-588) and its ending by the Sui + 6 Cultural achievements of the south + +Chapter VIII: THE EMPIRES OF THE SUI AND THE T'ANG + + (A) _The Sui dynasty_ (A.D. 580-618) + 1 Internal situation in the newly unified empire + 2 Relations with Turks and with Korea + 3 Reasons for collapse + + (B) _The T'ang dynasty_ (A.D. 618-906) + 1 Reforms and decentralization + 2 Turkish policy + 3 Conquest of Turkestan and Korea. Summit of power + 4 The reign of the empress Wu: Buddhism and capitalism + 5 Second blossoming of T'ang culture + 6 Revolt of a military governor + 7 The role of the Uighurs. Confiscation of the capital of the + monasteries + 8 First successful peasant revolt. Collapse of the empire + + + _MODERN TIMES_ + +Chapter IX: THE EPOCH OF THE SECOND DIVISION OF CHINA + + (A) _The period of the Five Dynasties_ (906-960) + 1 Beginning of a new epoch + 2 Political situation in the tenth century + 3 Monopolistic trade in South China. Printing and paper money in the + north + 4 Political history of the Five Dynasties + + (B) _Period of Moderate Absolutism_ + (1) _The Northern Sung dynasty_ + 1 Southward expansion + 2 Administration and army. Inflation + 3 Reforms and Welfare schemes + 4 Cultural situation (philosophy, religion, literature, painting) + 5 Military collapse + + (2) _The Liao (Kitan) dynasty in the north_ (937-1125) + 1 Sociological structure. Claim to the Chinese imperial throne + 2 The State of the Kara-Kitai + + (3) _The Hsi-Hsia State in the north_ (1038-1227) + 1 Continuation of Turkish traditions + + (4) _The empire of the Southern Sung dynasty_ (1127-1279) + 1 Foundation + 2 Internal situation + 3 Cultural situation; reasons for the collapse + + (5) _The empire of the Juchên in the north (i_ 115-1234) + 1 Rapid expansion from northern Korea to the Yangtze + 2 United front of all Chinese + 3 Start of the Mongol empire + +Chapter X: THE PERIOD OF ABSOLUTISM + + (A) _The Mongol Epoch_ (1280-1368) + 1 Beginning of new foreign rules + 2 "Nationality legislation" + 3 Military position + 4 Social situation + 5 Popular risings: National rising + 6 Cultural + + (B) _The Ming Epoch_ (1368-1644) + 1 Start. National feeling + 2 Wars against Mongols and Japanese + 3 Social legislation within the existing order + 4 Colonization and agricultural developments + 5 Commercial and industrial developments + 6 Growth of the small gentry + 7 Literature, art, crafts + 8 Politics at court + 9 Navy. Southward expansion + 10 Struggles between cliques + 11 Risings + 12 Machiavellism + 13 Foreign relations in the sixteenth century + 14 External and internal perils + + (C) _The Manchu Dynasty_ (1644-1911) + 1 Installation of the Manchus + 2 Decline in the eighteenth century + 3 Expansion in Central Asia; the first State treaty + 4 Culture + 5 Relations with the outer world + 6 Decline; revolts + 7 European Imperialism in the Far East + 8 Risings in Turkestan and within China: the T'ai P'ing Rebellion + 9 Collision with Japan; further Capitulations + 10 Russia in Manchuria + 11 Reform and reaction: The Boxer Rising + 12 End of the dynasty + +Chapter XI: THE REPUBLIC (1912-1948) + + 1 Social and intellectual position + 2 First period of the Republic: The warlords + 3 Second period of the Republic: Nationalist China + 4 The Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945) + +Chapter XII: PRESENT-DAY CHINA + + 1 The growth of communism + 2 Nationalist China in Taiwan + 3 Communist China + +Notes and References + +Index + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +1 Painted pottery from Kansu: Neolithic. + _In the collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin_. + +2 Ancient bronze tripod found at Anyang. + _From G. Ecke: Frühe chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Oskar + Trautmann, Peking_ 1939, _plate_ 3. + +3 Bronze plaque representing two horses fighting each other. Ordos + region, animal style. + _From V. Griessmaier: Sammlung Baron Eduard von der Heydt, + Vienna 1936, illustration No. 6_. + +4 Hunting scene: detail from the reliefs in the tombs at Wu-liang-tz'u. + _From a print in the author's possession_. + +5 Part of the "Great Wall". + _Photo Eberhard_. + +6 Sun Ch'üan, ruler of Wu. + _From a painting by Yen Li-pen (c. 640-680_). + +7 General view of the Buddhist cave-temples of Yün-kang. + In the foreground, the present village; in the background the rampart. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +8 Detail from the Buddhist cave-reliefs of Lung-men. + _From a print in the author's possession_. + +9 Statue of Mi-lo (Maitreya, the next future Buddha), in the "Great + Buddha Temple" at Chengting (Hopei). + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +10 Ladies of the Court: Clay models which accompanied the dead person to + the grave. T'ang period. + _In the collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde. Berlin_. + +11 Distinguished founder: a temple banner found at Khotcho, Turkestan. + _Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1B 4524, illustration B 408_. + +12 Ancient tiled pagoda at Chengting (Hopei). + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +13 Horse-training. Painting by Li Lung-mien. Late Sung period. + _Manchu Royal House Collection_. + +14 Aborigines of South China, of the "Black Miao" tribe, at a festival. + China-ink drawing of the eighteenth century. + _Collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1D 8756, 68_. + +15 Pavilion on the "Coal Hill" at Peking, in which the last Ming emperor + committed suicide. + _Photo Eberhard_. + +16 The imperial summer palace of the Manchu rulers, at Jehol. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +17 Tower on the city wall of Peking. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + + + +MAPS + +1 Regions of the principal local cultures in prehistoric times + +2 The principal feudal States in the feudal epoch (roughly 722-481 B.C.) + +3 China in the struggle with the Huns or Hsiung-nu (roughly 128-100 +B.C.) + +4 The Toba empire (about A.D. 500) + +5 The T'ang realm (about A.D. 750) + +6 The State of the Later T'ang dynasty (923-935) + + +INTRODUCTION + +There are indeed enough Histories of China already: why yet another one? +Because the time has come for new departures; because we need to clear +away the false notions with which the general public is constantly being +fed by one author after another; because from time to time syntheses +become necessary for the presentation of the stage reached by research. + +Histories of China fall, with few exceptions, into one or the other of +two groups, pro-Chinese and anti-Chinese: the latter used to +predominate, but today the former type is much more frequently found. We +have no desire to show that China's history is the most glorious or her +civilization the oldest in the world. A claim to the longest history +does not establish the greatness of a civilization; the importance of a +civilization becomes apparent in its achievements. A thousand years ago +China's civilization towered over those of the peoples of Europe. Today +the West is leading; tomorrow China may lead again. We need to realize +how China became what she is, and to note the paths pursued by the +Chinese in human thought and action. The lives of emperors, the great +battles, this or the other famous deed, matter less to us than the +discovery of the great forces that underlie these features and govern +the human element. Only when we have knowledge of those forces and +counter-forces can we realize the significance of the great +personalities who have emerged in China; and only then will the history +of China become intelligible even to those who have little knowledge of +the Far East and can make nothing of a mere enumeration of dynasties and +campaigns. + +Views on China's history have radically changed in recent years. Until +about thirty years ago our knowledge of the earliest times in China +depended entirely on Chinese documents of much later date; now we are +able to rely on many excavations which enable us to check the written +sources. Ethnological, anthropological, and sociological research has +begun for China and her neighbours; thus we are in a position to write +with some confidence about the making of China, and about her ethnical +development, where formerly we could only grope in the dark. The claim +that "the Chinese race" produced the high Chinese civilization entirely +by its own efforts, thanks to its special gifts, has become just as +untenable as the other theory that immigrants from the West, some +conceivably from Europe, carried civilization to the Far East. We know +now that in early times there was no "Chinese race", there were not even +"Chinese", just as there were no "French" and no "Swiss" two thousand +years ago. The "Chinese" resulted from the amalgamation of many separate +peoples of different races in an enormously complicated and +long-drawn-out process, as with all the other high civilizations of the +world. + +The picture of ancient and medieval China has also been entirely changed +since it has been realized that the sources on which reliance has always +been placed were not objective, but deliberately and emphatically +represented a particular philosophy. The reports on the emperors and +ministers of the earliest period are not historical at all, but served +as examples of ideas of social policy or as glorifications of particular +noble families. Myths such as we find to this day among China's +neighbours were made into history; gods were made men and linked +together by long family trees. We have been able to touch on all these +things only briefly, and have had to dispense with any account of the +complicated processes that have taken place here. + +The official dynastic histories apply to the course of Chinese history +the criterion of Confucian ethics; for them history is a textbook of +ethics, designed to show by means of examples how the man of high +character should behave or not behave. We have to go deeper, and try to +extract the historic truth from these records. Many specialized studies +by Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars on problems of Chinese +history are now available and of assistance in this task. However, some +Chinese writers still imagine that they are serving their country by yet +again dishing up the old fables for the foreigner as history; and some +Europeans, knowing no better or aiming at setting alongside the +unedifying history of Europe the shining example of the conventional +story of China, continue in the old groove. To this day, of course, we +are far from having really worked through every period of Chinese +history; there are long periods on which scarcely any work has yet been +done. Thus the picture we are able to give today has no finality about +it and will need many modifications. But the time has come for a new +synthesis, so that criticism may proceed along the broadest possible +front and push our knowledge further forward. + +The present work is intended for the general reader and not for the +specialist, who will devote his attention to particular studies and to +the original texts. In view of the wide scope of the work, I have had to +confine myself to placing certain lines of thought in the foreground and +paying less attention to others. I have devoted myself mainly to showing +the main lines of China's social and cultural development down to the +present day. But I have also been concerned not to leave out of account +China's relations with her neighbours. Now that we have a better +knowledge of China's neighbours, the Turks, Mongols, Tibetans, Tunguses, +Tai, not confined to the narratives of Chinese, who always speak only of +"barbarians", we are better able to realize how closely China has been +associated with her neighbours from the first day of her history to the +present time; how greatly she is indebted to them, and how much she has +given them. We no longer see China as a great civilization surrounded by +barbarians, but we study the Chinese coming to terms with their +neighbours, who had civilizations of quite different types but +nevertheless developed ones. + +It is usual to split up Chinese history under the various dynasties that +have ruled China or parts thereof. The beginning or end of a dynasty +does not always indicate the beginning or the end of a definite period +of China's social or cultural development. We have tried to break +China's history down into the three large periods--"Antiquity", "The +Middle Ages", and "Modern Times". This does not mean that we compare +these periods with periods of the same name in Western history although, +naturally, we find some similarities with the development of society and +culture in the West. Every attempt towards periodization is to some +degree arbitrary: the beginning and end of the Middle Ages, for +instance, cannot be fixed to a year, because development is a continuous +process. To some degree any periodization is a matter of convenience, +and it should be accepted as such. + +The account of Chinese history here given is based on a study of the +original documents and excavations, and on a study of recent research +done by Chinese, Japanese and Western scholars, including my own +research. In many cases, these recent studies produced new data or +arranged new data in a new way without an attempt to draw general +conclusions. By putting such studies together, by fitting them into the +pattern that already existed, new insights into social and cultural +processes have been gained. The specialist in the field will, I hope, +easily recognize the sources, primary or secondary, on which such new +insights represented in this book are based. Brief notes are appended +for each chapter; they indicate the most important works in English and +provide the general reader with an opportunity of finding further +information on the problems touched on. For the specialist brief hints +to international research are given, mainly in cases in which different +interpretations have been proposed. + +Chinese words are transcribed according to the Wade-Giles system with +the exception of names for which already a popular way of transcription +exists (such as Peking). Place names are written without hyphen, if they +remain readable. + + + + +THE EARLIEST TIMES + + + +Chapter One + + +PREHISTORY + +1 _Sources for the earliest history_ + +Until recently we were dependent for the beginnings of Chinese history +on the written Chinese tradition. According to these sources China's +history began either about 4000 B.C. or about 2700 B.C. with a +succession of wise emperors who "invented" the elements of a +civilization, such as clothing, the preparation of food, marriage, and a +state system; they instructed their people in these things, and so +brought China, as early as in the third millennium B.C., to an +astonishingly high cultural level. However, all we know of the origin of +civilizations makes this of itself entirely improbable; no other +civilization in the world originated in any such way. As time went on, +Chinese historians found more and more to say about primeval times. All +these narratives were collected in the great imperial history that +appeared at the beginning of the Manchu epoch. That book was translated +into French, and all the works written in Western languages until recent +years on Chinese history and civilization have been based in the last +resort on that translation. + +Modern research has not only demonstrated that all these accounts are +inventions of a much later period, but has also shown _why_ such +narratives were composed. The older historical sources make no mention +of any rulers before 2200 B.C., no mention even of their names. The +names of earlier rulers first appear in documents of about 400 B.C.; the +deeds attributed to them and the dates assigned to them often do not +appear until much later. Secondly, it was shown that the traditional +chronology is wrong and another must be adopted, reducing all the dates +for the more ancient history, before 900 B.C. Finally, all narratives +and reports from China's earliest period have been dealt a mortal blow +by modern archaeology, with the excavations of recent years. There was +no trace of any high civilization in the third millennium B.C., and, +indeed, we can only speak of a real "Chinese civilization" from 1300 +B.C. onward. The peoples of the China of that time had come from the +most varied sources; from 1300 B.C. they underwent a common process of +development that welded them into a new unity. In this sense and +emphasizing the cultural aspects, we are justified in using from then on +a new name, "Chinese", for the peoples of China. Those sections, +however, of their ancestral populations who played no part in the +subsequent cultural and racial fusion, we may fairly call "non-Chinese". +This distinction answers the question that continually crops up, whether +the Chinese are "autochthonons". They are autochthonons in the sense +that they formed a unit in the Far East, in the geographical region of +the present China, and were not immigrants from the Middle East. + +2 _The Peking Man_ + +Man makes his appearance in the Far East at a time when remains in other +parts of the world are very rare and are disputed. He appears as the +so-called "Peking Man", whose bones were found in caves of +Chou-k'ou-tien south of Peking. The Peking Man is vastly different from +the men of today, and forms a special branch of the human race, closely +allied to the Pithecanthropus of Java. The formation of later races of +mankind from these types has not yet been traced, if it occurred at all. +Some anthropologists consider, however, that the Peking Man possessed +already certain characteristics peculiar to the yellow race. + +The Peking Man lived in caves; no doubt he was a hunter, already in +possession of very simple stone implements and also of the art of making +fire. As none of the skeletons so far found are complete, it is assumed +that he buried certain bones of the dead in different places from the +rest. This burial custom, which is found among primitive peoples in +other parts of the world, suggests the conclusion that the Peking Man +already had religious notions. We have no knowledge yet of the length of +time the Peking Man may have inhabited the Far East. His first traces +are attributed to a million years ago, and he may have flourished in +500,000 B.C. + +3 _The Palaeolithic Age_ + +After the period of the Peking Man there comes a great gap in our +knowledge. All that we know indicates that at the time of the Peking Man +there must have been a warmer and especially a damper climate in North +China and Inner Mongolia than today. Great areas of the Ordos region, +now dry steppe, were traversed in that epoch by small rivers and lakes +beside which men could live. There were elephants, rhinoceroses, extinct +species of stag and bull, even tapirs and other wild animals. About +50,000 B.C. there lived by these lakes a hunting people whose stone +implements (and a few of bone) have been found in many places. The +implements are comparable in type with the palaeolithic implements of +Europe (Mousterian type, and more rarely Aurignacian or even +Magdalenian). They are not, however, exactly like the European +implements, but have a character of their own. We do not yet know what +the men of these communities looked like, because as yet no indisputable +human remains have been found. All the stone implements have been found +on the surface, where they have been brought to light by the wind as it +swept away the loess. These stone-age communities seem to have lasted a +considerable time and to have been spread not only over North China but +over Mongolia and Manchuria. It must not be assumed that the stone age +came to an end at the same time everywhere. Historical accounts have +recorded, for instance, that stone implements were still in use in +Manchuria and eastern Mongolia at a time when metal was known and used +in western Mongolia and northern China. Our knowledge about the +palaeolithic period of Central and South China is still extremely +limited; we have to wait for more excavations before anything can be +said. Certainly, many implements in this area were made of wood or more +probably bamboo, such as we still find among the non-Chinese tribes of +the south-west and of South-East Asia. Such implements, naturally, could +not last until today. + +About 25,000 B.C. there appears in North China a new human type, found +in upper layers in the same caves that sheltered Peking Man. This type +is beyond doubt not Mongoloid, and may have been allied to the Ainu, a +non-Mongol race still living in northern Japan. These, too, were a +palaeolithic people, though some of their implements show technical +advance. Later they disappear, probably because they were absorbed into +various populations of central and northern Asia. Remains of them have +been found in badly explored graves in northern Korea. + +4 _The Neolithic age_ + +In the period that now followed, northern China must have gradually +become arid, and the formation of loess seems to have steadily advanced. +There is once more a great gap in our knowledge until, about 4000 B.C., +we can trace in North China a purely Mongoloid people with a neolithic +culture. In place of hunters we find cattle breeders, who are even to +some extent agriculturists as well. This may seem an astonishing +statement for so early an age. It is a fact, however, that pure pastoral +nomadism is exceptional, that normal pastoral nomads have always added a +little farming to their cattle-breeding, in order to secure the needed +additional food and above all fodder, for the winter. + +At this time, about 4000 B.C., the other parts of China come into view. +The neolithic implements of the various regions of the Far East are far +from being uniform; there are various separate cultures. In the +north-west of China there is a system of cattle-breeding combined with +agriculture, a distinguishing feature being the possession of finely +polished axes of rectangular section, with a cutting edge. Farther east, +in the north and reaching far to the south, is found a culture with axes +of round or oval section. In the south and in the coastal region from +Nanking to Tonking, Yünnan to Fukien, and reaching as far as the coasts +of Korea and Japan, is a culture with so-called shoulder-axes. Szechwan +and Yünnan represented a further independent culture. + +All these cultures were at first independent. Later the shoulder-axe +culture penetrated as far as eastern India. Its people are known to +philological research as Austroasiatics, who formed the original stock +of the Australian aborigines; they survived in India as the Munda +tribes, in Indo-China as the Mon-Khmer, and also remained in pockets on +the islands of Indonesia and especially Melanesia. All these peoples had +migrated from southern China. The peoples with the oval-axe culture are +the so-called Papuan peoples in Melanesia; they, too, migrated from +southern China, probably before the others. Both groups influenced the +ancient Japanese culture. The rectangular-axe culture of north-west +China spread widely, and moved southward, where the Austronesian peoples +(from whom the Malays are descended) were its principal constituents, +spreading that culture also to Japan. + +Thus we see here, in this period around 4000 B.C., an extensive mutual +penetration of the various cultures all over the Far East, including +Japan, which in the palaeolithic age was apparently without or almost +without settlers. + +5 _The eight principal prehistoric cultures_ + +In the period roughly around 2500 B.C. the general historical view +becomes much clearer. Thanks to a special method of working, making use +of the ethnological sources available from later times together with the +archaeological sources, much new knowledge has been gained in recent +years. At this time there is still no trace of a Chinese realm; we find +instead on Chinese soil a considerable number of separate local +cultures, each developing on its own lines. The chief of these cultures, +acquaintance with which is essential to a knowledge of the whole later +development of the Far East, are as follows: + +(a) _The north-east culture_, centred in the present provinces of Hopei +(in which Peking lies), Shantung, and southern Manchuria. The people of +this culture were ancestors of the Tunguses, probably mixed with an +element that is contained in the present-day Paleo-Siberian tribes. +These men were mainly hunters, but probably soon developed a little +primitive agriculture and made coarse, thick pottery with certain basic +forms which were long preserved in subsequent Chinese pottery (for +instance, a type of the so-called tripods). Later, pig-breeding became +typical of this culture. + +(b) _The northern culture_ existed to the west of that culture, in the +region of the present Chinese province of Shansi and in the province of +Jehol in Inner Mongolia. These people had been hunters, but then became +pastoral nomads, depending mainly on cattle. The people of this culture +were the tribes later known as Mongols, the so-called proto-Mongols. +Anthropologically they belonged, like the Tunguses, to the Mongol race. + +(c) The people of the culture farther west, the _north-west culture_, +were not Mongols. They, too, were originally hunters, and later became a +pastoral people, with a not inconsiderable agriculture (especially +growing wheat and millet). The typical animal of this group soon became +the horse. The horse seems to be the last of the great animals to be +domesticated, and the date of its first occurrence in domesticated form +in the Far East is not yet determined, but we can assume that by 2500 +B.C. this group was already in the possession of horses. The horse has +always been a "luxury", a valuable animal which needed special care. For +their economic needs, these tribes depended on other animals, probably +sheep, goats, and cattle. The centre of this culture, so far as can be +ascertained from Chinese sources, were the present provinces of Shensi +and Kansu, but mainly only the plains. The people of this culture were +most probably ancestors of the later Turkish peoples. It is not +suggested, of course, that the original home of the Turks lay in the +region of the Chinese provinces of Shensi and Kansu; one gains the +impression, however, that this was a border region of the Turkish +expansion; the Chinese documents concerning that period do not suffice +to establish the centre of the Turkish territory. + +(d) In the _west_, in the present provinces of Szechwan and in all the +mountain regions of the provinces of Kansu and Shensi, lived the +ancestors of the Tibetan peoples as another separate culture. They were +shepherds, generally wandering with their flocks of sheep and goats on +the mountain heights. + +(e) In the _south_ we meet with four further cultures. One is very +primitive, the Liao culture, the peoples of which are the Austroasiatics +already mentioned. These are peoples who never developed beyond the +stage of primitive hunters, some of whom were not even acquainted with +the bow and arrow. Farther east is the Yao culture, an early +Austronesian culture, the people of which also lived in the mountains, +some as collectors and hunters, some going over to a simple type of +agriculture (denshiring). They mingled later with the last great culture +of the south, the Tai culture, distinguished by agriculture. The people +lived in the valleys and mainly cultivated rice. + +The origin of rice is not yet known; according to some scholars, rice +was first cultivated in the area of present Burma and was perhaps at +first a perennial plant. Apart from the typical rice which needs much +water, there were also some strains of dry rice which, however, did not +gain much importance. The centre of this Tai culture may have been in +the present provinces of Kuangtung and Kuanghsi. Today, their +descendants form the principal components of the Tai in Thailand, the +Shan in Burma and the Lao in Laos. Their immigration into the areas of +the Shan States of Burma and into Thailand took place only in quite +recent historical periods, probably not much earlier than A.D. 1000. + +Finally there arose from the mixture of the Yao with the Tai culture, at +a rather later time, the Yüeh culture, another early Austronesian +culture, which then spread over wide regions of Indonesia, and of which +the axe of rectangular section, mentioned above, became typical. + +Thus, to sum up, we may say that, quite roughly, in the middle of the +third millennium we meet in the _north_ and west of present-day China +with a number of herdsmen cultures. In the _south_ there were a number +of agrarian cultures, of which the Tai was the most powerful, becoming +of most importance to the later China. We must assume that these +cultures were as yet undifferentiated in their social composition, that +is to say that as yet there was no distinct social stratification, but +at most beginnings of class-formation, especially among the nomad +herdsmen. + +[Illustration: Map 1. Regions of the principal local cultures in +prehistoric times. _Local cultures of minor importance have not been +shown_.] + +6 _The Yang-shao culture_ + +The various cultures here described gradually penetrated one another, +especially at points where they met. Such a process does not yield a +simple total of the cultural elements involved; any new combination +produces entirely different conditions with corresponding new results +which, in turn, represent the characteristics of the culture that +supervenes. We can no longer follow this process of penetration in +detail; it need not by any means have been always warlike. Conquest of +one group by another was only one way of mutual cultural penetration. In +other cases, a group which occupied the higher altitudes and practiced +hunting or slash-and-burn agriculture came into closer contacts with +another group in the valleys which practiced some form of higher +agriculture; frequently, such contacts resulted in particular forms of +division of labour in a unified and often stratified new form of +society. Recent and present developments in South-East Asia present a +number of examples for such changes. Increase of population is certainly +one of the most important elements which lead to these developments. The +result, as a rule, was a stratified society being made up of at least +one privileged and one ruled stratum. Thus there came into existence +around 2000 B.C. some new cultures, which are well known +archaeologically. The most important of these are the Yang-shao culture +in the west and the Lung-shan culture in the east. Our knowledge of both +these cultures is of quite recent date and there are many enigmas still +to be cleared up. + +The _Yang-shao culture_ takes its name from a prehistoric settlement in +the west of the present province of Honan, where Swedish investigators +discovered it. Typical of this culture is its wonderfully fine pottery, +apparently used as gifts to the dead. It is painted in three colours, +white, red, and black. The patterns are all stylized, designs copied +from nature being rare. We are now able to divide this painted pottery +into several sub-types of specific distribution, and we know that this +style existed from _c_. 2200 B.C. on. In general, it tends to disappear +as does painted pottery in other parts of the world with the beginning +of urban civilization and the invention of writing. The typical +Yang-shao culture seems to have come to an end around 1600 or 1500 B.C. +It continued in some more remote areas, especially of Kansu, perhaps to +about 700 B.C. Remnants of this painted pottery have been found over a +wide area from Southern Manchuria, Hopei, Shansi, Honan, Shensi to +Kansu; some pieces have also been discovered in Sinkiang. Thus far, it +seems that it occurred mainly in the mountainous parts of North and +North-West China. The people of this culture lived in villages near to +the rivers and creeks. They had various forms of houses, including +underground dwellings and animal enclosures. They practiced some +agriculture; some authors believe that rice was already known to them. +They also had domesticated animals. Their implements were of stone with +rare specimens of bone. The axes were of the rectangular type. Metal was +as yet unknown, but seems to have been introduced towards the end of the +period. They buried their dead on the higher elevations, and here the +painted pottery was found. For their daily life, they used predominantly +a coarse grey pottery. + +After the discovery of this culture, its pottery was compared with the +painted pottery of the West, and a number of resemblances were found, +especially with the pottery of the Lower Danube basin and that of Anau, +in Turkestan. Some authors claim that such resemblances are fortuitous +and believe that the older layers of this culture are to be found in the +eastern part of its distribution and only the later layers in the west. +It is, they say, these later stages which show the strongest +resemblances with the West. Other authors believe that the painted +pottery came from the West where it occurs definitely earlier than in +the Far East; some investigators went so far as to regard the +Indo-Europeans as the parents of that civilization. As we find people +who spoke an Indo-European language in the Far East in a later period, +they tend to connect the spread of painted pottery with the spread of +Indo-European-speaking groups. As most findings of painted pottery in +the Far East do not stem from scientific excavations it is difficult to +make any decision at this moment. We will have to wait for more and +modern excavations. + +From our knowledge of primeval settlement in West and North-West China +we know, however, that Tibetan groups, probably mixed with Turkish +elements, must have been the main inhabitants of the whole region in +which this painted pottery existed. Whatever the origin of the painted +pottery may be, it seems that people of these two groups were the main +users of it. Most of the shapes of their pottery are not found in later +Chinese pottery. + +7 _The Lung-shan culture_ + +While the Yang-shao culture flourished in the mountain regions of +northern and western China around 2000 B.C., there came into existence +in the plains of eastern China another culture, which is called the +Lung-shan culture, from the scene of the principal discoveries. +Lung-shan is in the province of Shantung, near Chinan-fu. This culture, +discovered only about twenty-five years ago, is distinguished by a black +pottery of exceptionally fine quality and by a similar absence of metal. +The pottery has a polished appearance on the exterior; it is never +painted, and mostly without decoration; at most it may have incised +geometrical patterns. The forms of the vessels are the same as have +remained typical of Chinese pottery, and of Far Eastern pottery in +general. To that extent the Lung-shan culture may be described as one of +the direct predecessors of the later Chinese civilization. + +As in the West, we find in Lung-shan much grey pottery out of which +vessels for everyday use were produced. This simple corded or matted +ware seems to be in connection with Tunguse people who lived in the +north-east. The people of the Lung-shan culture lived on mounds produced +by repeated building on the ruins of earlier settlements, as did the +inhabitants of the "Tells" in the Near East. They were therefore a +long-settled population of agriculturists. Their houses were of mud, and +their villages were surrounded with mud walls. There are signs that +their society was stratified. So far as is known at present, this +culture was spread over the present provinces of Shantung, Kiangsu, +Chekiang, and Anhui, and some specimens of its pottery went as far as +Honan and Shansi, into the region of the painted pottery. This culture +lasted in the east until about 1600 B.C., with clear evidence of rather +longer duration only in the south. As black pottery of a similar +character occurs also in the Near East, some authors believe that it has +been introduced into the Far East by another migration (Pontic +migration) following that migration which supposedly brought the painted +pottery. This theory has not been generally accepted because of the fact +that typical black pottery is limited to the plains of East China; if it +had been brought in from the West, we should expect to find it in +considerable amounts also in West China. Ordinary black pottery can be +simply the result of a special temperature in the pottery kiln; such +pottery can be found almost everywhere. The typical thin, fine black +pottery of Lung-shan, however, is in the Far East an eastern element, +and migrants would have had to pass through the area of the painted +pottery people without leaving many traces and without pushing their +predecessors to the East. On the basis of our present knowledge we +assume that the peoples of the Lung-shan culture were probably of Tai +and Yao stocks together with some Tunguses. + +Recently, a culture of mound-dwellers in Eastern China has been +discovered, and a southern Chinese culture of people with impressed or +stamped pottery. This latter seems to be connected with the Yüeh tribes. +As yet, no further details are known. + +8 _The first petty States in Shansi_ + +At the time in which, according to archaeological research, the painted +pottery flourished in West China, Chinese historical tradition has it +that the semi-historical rulers, Yao and Shun, and the first official +dynasty, the Hsia dynasty ruled over parts of China with a centre in +southern Shansi. While we dismiss as political myths the Confucianist +stories representing Yao and Shun as models of virtuous rulers, it may +be that a small state existed in south-western Shansi under a chieftain +Yao, and farther to the east another small state under a chieftain Shun, +and that these states warred against each other until Yao's state was +destroyed. These first small states may have existed around 2000 B.C. + +On the cultural scene we first find an important element of progress: +bronze, in traces in the middle layers of the Yang-shao culture, about +1800 B.C.; that element had become very widespread by 1400 B.C. The +forms of the oldest weapons and their ornamentation show similarities +with weapons from Siberia; and both mythology and other indications +suggest that the bronze came into China from the north and was not +produced in China proper. Thus, from the present state of our knowledge, +it seems most correct to say that the bronze was brought to the Far East +through the agency of peoples living north of China, such as the Turkish +tribes who in historical times were China's northern neighbours (or +perhaps only individual families or clans, the so-called smith families +with whom we meet later in Turkish tradition), reaching the Chinese +either through these people themselves or through the further agency of +Mongols. At first the forms of the weapons were left unaltered. The +bronze vessels, however, which made their appearance about 1450 B.C. are +entirely different from anything produced in other parts of Asia; their +ornamentation shows, on the one hand, elements of the so-called "animal +style" which is typical of the steppe people of the Ordos area and of +Central Asia. But most of the other elements, especially the "filling" +between stylized designs, is recognizably southern (probably of the Tai +culture), no doubt first applied to wooden vessels and vessels made from +gourds, and then transferred to bronze. This implies that the art of +casting bronze very soon spread from North China, where it was first +practiced by Turkish peoples, to the east and south, which quickly +developed bronze industries of their own. There are few deposits of +copper and tin in North China, while in South China both metals are +plentiful and easily extracted, so that a trade in bronze from south to +north soon set in. + +The origin of the Hsia state may have been a consequence of the progress +due to bronze. The Chinese tradition speaks of the Hsia _dynasty_, but +can say scarcely anything about it. The excavations, too, yield no +clear conclusions, so that we can only say that it flourished at the +time and in the area in which the painted pottery occurred, with a +centre in south-west Shansi. We date this dynasty now somewhere between +2000 and 1600 B.C. and believe that it was an agrarian culture with +bronze weapons and pottery vessels but without the knowledge of the art +of writing. + + + +Chapter Two + + +THE SHANG DYNASTY (_c_. 1600-1028 B.C.) + +1 _Period, origin, material culture_ + +About 1600 B.C. we come at last into the realm of history. Of the Shang +dynasty, which now followed, we have knowledge both from later texts and +from excavations and the documents they have brought to light. The Shang +civilization, an evident off-shoot of the Lung-shan culture (Tai, Yao, +and Tunguses), but also with elements of the Hsia culture (with Tibetan +and Mongol and/or Turkish elements), was beyond doubt a high +civilization. Of the origin of the Shang _State_ we have no details, nor +do we know how the Hsia culture passed into the Shang culture. + +The central territory of the Shang realm lay in north-western Honan, +alongside the Shansi mountains and extending into the plains. It was a +peasant civilization with towns. One of these towns has been excavated. +It adjoined the site of the present town of Anyang, in the province of +Honan. The town, the Shang capital from _c_. 1300 to 1028 B.C., was +probably surrounded by a mud wall, as were the settlements of the +Lung-shan people. In the centre was what evidently was the ruler's +palace. Round this were houses probably inhabited by artisans; for the +artisans formed a sort of intermediate class, as dependents of the +ruling class. From inscriptions we know that the Shang had, in addition +to their capital, at least two other large cities and many smaller +town-like settlements and villages. The rectangular houses were built in +a style still found in Chinese houses, except that their front did not +always face south as is now the general rule. The Shang buried their +kings in large, subterranean, cross-shaped tombs outside the city, and +many implements, animals and human sacrifices were buried together with +them. The custom of large burial mounds, which later became typical of +the Chou dynasty, did not yet exist. + +The Shang had sculptures in stone, an art which later more or less +completely disappeared and which was resuscitated only in post-Christian +times under the influence of Indian Buddhism. Yet, Shang culture cannot +well be called a "megalithic" culture. Bronze implements and especially +bronze vessels were cast in the town. We even know the trade marks of +some famous bronze founders. The bronze weapons are still similar to +those from Siberia, and are often ornamented in the so-called "animal +style", which was used among all the nomad peoples between the Ordos +region and Siberia until the beginning of the Christian era. On the +other hand, the famous bronze vessels are more of southern type, and +reveal an advanced technique that has scarcely been excelled since. +There can be no doubt that the bronze vessels were used for religious +service and not for everyday life. For everyday use there were +earthenware vessels. Even in the middle of the first millennium B.C., +bronze was exceedingly dear, as we know from the records of prices. +China has always suffered from scarcity of metal. For that reason metal +was accumulated as capital, entailing a further rise in prices; when +prices had reached a sufficient height, the stocks were thrown on the +market and prices fell again. Later, when there was a metal coinage, +this cycle of inflation and deflation became still clearer. The metal +coinage was of its full nominal value, so that it was possible to coin +money by melting down bronze implements. As the money in circulation was +increased in this way, the value of the currency fell. Then it paid to +turn coin into metal implements. This once more reduced the money in +circulation and increased the value of the remaining coinage. Thus +through the whole course of Chinese history the scarcity of metal and +insufficiency of production of metal continually produced extensive +fluctuations of the stocks and the value of metal, amounting virtually +to an economic law in China. Consequently metal implements were never +universally in use, and vessels were always of earthenware, with the +further result of the early invention of porcelain. Porcelain vessels +have many of the qualities of metal ones, but are cheaper. + +The earthenware vessels used in this period are in many cases already +very near to porcelain: there was a pottery of a brilliant white, +lacking only the glaze which would have made it into porcelain. Patterns +were stamped on the surface, often resembling the patterns on bronze +articles. This ware was used only for formal, ceremonial purposes. For +daily use there was also a perfectly simple grey pottery. + +Silk was already in use at this time. The invention of sericulture must +therefore have dated from very ancient times in China. It undoubtedly +originated in the south of China, and at first not only the threads +spun by the silkworm but those made by other caterpillars were also +used. The remains of silk fabrics that have been found show already an +advanced weaving technique. In addition to silk, various plant fibres, +such as hemp, were in use. Woollen fabrics do not seem to have been yet +used. + +The Shang were agriculturists, but their implements were still rather +primitive. There was no real plough yet; hoes and hoe-like implements +were used, and the grain, mainly different kinds of millet and some +wheat, was harvested with sickles. The materials, from which these +implements were made, were mainly wood and stone; bronze was still too +expensive to be utilized by the ordinary farmer. As a great number of +vessels for wine in many different forms have been excavated, we can +assume that wine, made from special kinds of millet, was a popular +drink. + +The Shang state had its centre in northern Honan, north of the Yellow +river. At various times, different towns were made into the capital +city; Yin-ch'ü, their last capital and the only one which has been +excavated, was their sixth capital. We do not know why the capitals were +removed to new locations; it is possible that floods were one of the +main reasons. The area under more or less organized Shang control +comprised towards the end of the dynasty the present provinces of Honan, +western Shantung, southern Hopei, central and south Shansi, east Shensi, +parts of Kiangsu and Anhui. We can only roughly estimate the size of the +population of the Shang state. Late texts say that at the time of the +annihilation of the dynasty, some 3.1 million free men and 1.1 million +serfs were captured by the conquerors; this would indicate a population +of at least some 4-5 millions. This seems a possible number, if we +consider that an inscription of the tenth century B.C. which reports +about an ordinary war against a small and unimportant western neighbour, +speaks of 13,081 free men and 4,812 serfs taken as prisoners. + +Inscriptions mention many neighbours of the Shang with whom they were in +more or less continuous state of war. Many of these neighbours can now +be identified. We know that Shansi at that time was inhabited by Ch'iang +tribes, belonging to the Tibetan culture, as well as by Ti tribes, +belonging to the northern culture, and by Hsien-yün and other tribes, +belonging to the north-western culture; the centre of the Ch'iang tribes +was more in the south-west of Shansi and in Shensi. Some of these tribes +definitely once formed a part of the earlier Hsia state. The +identification of the eastern neighbours of the Shang presents more +difficulties. We might regard them as representatives of the Tai and Yao +cultures. + +2 _Writing and Religion_ + +Not only the material but also the intellectual level attained in the +Shang period was very high. We meet for the first time with +writing--much later than in the Middle East and in India. Chinese +scholars have succeeded in deciphering some of the documents discovered, +so that we are able to learn a great deal from them. The writing is a +rudimentary form of the present-day Chinese script, and like it a +pictorial writing, but also makes use, as today, of many phonetic signs. +There were, however, a good many characters that no longer exist, and +many now used are absent. There were already more than 3,000 characters +in use of which some 1,000 can now be read. (Today newspapers use some +3,000 characters; scholars have command of up to 8,000; the whole of +Chinese literature, ancient and modern, comprises some 50,000 +characters.) With these 3,000 characters the Chinese of the Shang period +were able to express themselves well. + +The still existing fragments of writing of this period are found almost +exclusively on tortoiseshells or on other bony surfaces, and they +represent oracles. As early as in the Lung-shan culture there was +divination by means of "oracle bones", at first without written +characters. In the earliest period any bones of animals (especially +shoulder-bones) were used; later only tortoiseshell. For the purpose of +the oracle a depression was burnt in the shell so that cracks were +formed on the other side, and the future was foretold from their +direction. Subsequently particular questions were scratched on the +shells, and the answers to them; these are the documents that have come +down to us. In Anyang tens of thousands of these oracle bones with +inscriptions have been found. The custom of asking the oracle and of +writing the answers on the bones spread over the borders of the Shang +state and continued in some areas after the end of the dynasty. + +The bronze vessels of later times often bear long inscriptions, but +those of the Shang period have only very brief texts. On the other hand, +they are ornamented with pictures, as yet largely unintelligible, of +countless deities, especially in the shape of animals or birds--pictures +that demand interpretation. The principal form on these bronzes is that +of the so-called T'ao-t'ieh, a hybrid with the head of a water-buffalo +and tiger's teeth. + +The Shang period had a religion with many nature deities, especially +deities of fertility. There was no systematized pantheon, different +deities being revered in each locality, often under the most varied +names. These various deities were, however, similar in character, and +later it occurred often that many of them were combined by the priests +into a single god. The composite deities thus formed were officially +worshipped. Their primeval forms lived on, however, especially in the +villages, many centuries longer than the Shang dynasty. The sacrifices +associated with them became popular festivals, and so these gods or +their successors were saved from oblivion; some of them have lived on in +popular religion to the present day. The supreme god of the official +worship was called Shang Ti; he was a god of vegetation who guided all +growth and birth and was later conceived as a forefather of the races of +mankind. The earth was represented as a mother goddess, who bore the +plants and animals procreated by Shang Ti. In some parts of the Shang +realm the two were conceived as a married couple who later were parted +by one of their children. The husband went to heaven, and the rain is +the male seed that creates life on earth. In other regions it was +supposed that in the beginning of the world there was a world-egg, out +of which a primeval god came, whose body was represented by the earth: +his hair formed the plants, and his limbs the mountains and valleys. +Every considerable mountain was also itself a god and, similarly, the +river god, the thunder god, cloud, lightning, and wind gods, and many +others were worshipped. + +In order to promote the fertility of the earth, it was believed that +sacrifices must be offered to the gods. Consequently, in the Shang realm +and the regions surrounding it there were many sorts of human +sacrifices; often the victims were prisoners of war. One gains the +impression that many wars were conducted not as wars of conquest but +only for the purpose of capturing prisoners, although the area under +Shang control gradually increased towards the west and the south-east, a +fact demonstrating the interest in conquest. In some regions men lurked +in the spring for people from other villages; they slew them, sacrificed +them to the earth, and distributed portions of the flesh of the +sacrifice to the various owners of fields, who buried them. At a later +time all human sacrifices were prohibited, but we have reports down to +the eleventh century A.D., and even later, that such sacrifices were +offered secretly in certain regions of central China. In other regions a +great boat festival was held in the spring, to which many crews came +crowded in long narrow boats. At least one of the boats had to capsize; +the people who were thus drowned were a sacrifice to the deities of +fertility. This festival has maintained its fundamental character to +this day, in spite of various changes. The same is true of other +festivals, customs, and conceptions, vestiges of which are contained at +least in folklore. + +In addition to the nature deities which were implored to give fertility, +to send rain, or to prevent floods and storms, the Shang also +worshipped deceased rulers and even dead ministers as a kind of +intermediaries between man and the highest deity, Shang Ti. This +practice may be regarded as the forerunner of "ancestral worship" which +became so typical of later China. + + +3 _Transition to feudalism_ + +At the head of the Shang state was a king, posthumously called a "Ti", +the same word as in the name of the supreme god. We have found on bones +the names of all the rulers of this dynasty and even some of their +pre-dynastic ancestors. These names can be brought into agreement with +lists of rulers found in the ancient Chinese literature. The ruler seems +to have been a high priest, too; and around him were many other priests. +We know some of them now so well from the inscriptions that their +biographies could be written. The king seems to have had some kind of +bureaucracy. There were "ch'en", officials who served the ruler +personally, as well as scribes and military officials. The basic army +organization was in units of one hundred men which were combined as +"right", "left" and "central" units into an army of 300 men. But it +seems that the central power did not extend very far. In the more +distant parts of the realm were more or less independent lords, who +recognized the ruler only as their supreme lord and religious leader. We +may describe this as an early, loose form of the feudal system, although +the main element of real feudalism was still absent. The main +obligations of these lords were to send tributes of grain, to +participate with their soldiers in the wars, to send tortoise shells to +the capital to be used there for oracles, and to send occasionally +cattle and horses. There were some thirty such dependent states. +Although we do not know much about the general population, we know that +the rulers had a patrilinear system of inheritance. After the death of +the ruler his brothers followed him on the throne, the older brothers +first. After the death of all brothers, the sons of older or younger +brothers became rulers. No preference was shown to the son of the oldest +brother, and no preference between sons of main or of secondary wives is +recognizable. Thus, the Shang patrilinear system was much less extreme +than the later system. Moreover, the deceased wives of the rulers played +a great role in the cult, another element which later disappeared. From +these facts and from the general structure of Shang religion it has been +concluded that there was a strong matrilinear strain in Shang culture. +Although this cannot be proved, it seems quite plausible because we know +of matrilinear societies in the South of China at later times. + +About the middle of the Shang period there occurred interesting +changes, probably under the influence of nomad peoples from the +north-west. + +In religion there appears some evidence of star-worship. The deities +seem to have been conceived as a kind of celestial court of Shang Ti, +as his "officials". In the field of material culture, horse-breeding +becomes more and more evident. Some authors believe that the art of +riding was already known in late Shang times, although it was certainly +not yet so highly developed that cavalry units could be used in war. +With horse-breeding the two-wheeled light war chariot makes its +appearance. The wheel was already known in earlier times in the form of +the potter's wheel. Recent excavations have brought to light burials in +which up to eighteen chariots with two or four horses were found +together with the owners of the chariots. The cart is not a Chinese +invention but came from the north, possibly from Turkish peoples. It has +been contended that it was connected with the war chariot of the Near +East: shortly before the Shang period there had been vast upheavals in +western Asia, mainly in connection with the expansion of peoples who +spoke Indo-European languages (Hittites, etc.) and who became successful +through the use of quick, light, two-wheeled war-chariots. It is +possible, but cannot be proved, that the war-chariot spread +through Central Asia in connection with the spread of such +Indo-European-speaking groups or by the intermediary of Turkish tribes. +We have some reasons to believe that the first Indo-European-speaking +groups arrived in the Far East in the middle of the second millennium +B.C. Some authors even connect the Hsia with these groups. In any case, +the maximal distribution of these people seems to have been to the +western borders of the Shang state. As in Western Asia, a Shang-time +chariot was manned by three men: the warrior who was a nobleman, his +driver, and his servant who handed him arrows or other weapons when +needed. There developed a quite close relationship between the nobleman +and his chariot-driver. The chariot was a valuable object, manufactured +by specialists; horses were always expensive and rare in China, and in +many periods of Chinese history horses were directly imported from +nomadic tribes in the North or West. Thus, the possessors of vehicles +formed a privileged class in the Shang realm; they became a sort of +nobility, and the social organization began to move in the direction of +feudalism. One of the main sports of the noblemen in this period, in +addition to warfare, was hunting. The Shang had their special hunting +grounds south of the mountains which surround Shansi province, along the +slopes of the T'ai-hang mountain range, and south to the shores of the +Yellow river. Here, there were still forests and swamps in Shang time, +and boars, deer, buffaloes and other animals, as well as occasional +rhinoceros and elephants, were hunted. None of these wild animals was +used as a sacrifice; all sacrificial animals, such as cattle, pigs, +etc., were domesticated animals. + +Below the nobility we find large numbers of dependent people; modern +Chinese scholars call them frequently "slaves" and speak of a "slave +society". There is no doubt that at least some farmers were "free +farmers"; others were what we might call "serfs": families in hereditary +group dependence upon some noble families and working on land which the +noble families regarded as theirs. Families of artisans and craftsmen +also were hereditary servants of noble families--a type of social +organization which has its parallels in ancient Japan and in later India +and other parts of the world. There were also real slaves: persons who +were the personal property of noblemen. The independent states around +the Shang state also had serfs. When the Shang captured neighbouring +states, they resettled the captured foreign aristocracy by attaching +them as a group to their own noblemen. The captured serfs remained under +their masters and shared their fate. The same system was later practiced +by the Chou after their conquest of the Shang state. + +The conquests of late Shang added more territory to the realm than could +be coped with by the primitive communications of the time. When the last +ruler of Shang made his big war which lasted 260 days against the tribes +in the south-east, rebellions broke out which lead to the end of the +dynasty, about 1028 B.C. according to the new chronology (1122 B.C. old +chronology). + + + + +ANTIQUITY + + + +Chapter Three + + +THE CHOU DYNASTY (_c_. 1028-257 B.C.) + +1 _Cultural origin of the Chou and end of the Shang dynasty_ + +The Shang culture still lacked certain things that were to become +typical of "Chinese" civilization. The family system was not yet the +strong patriarchal system of the later Chinese. The religion, too, in +spite of certain other influences, was still a religion of agrarian +fertility. And although Shang society was strongly stratified and showed +some tendencies to develop a feudal system, feudalism was still very +primitive. Although the Shang script was the precursor of later Chinese +script, it seemed to have contained many words which later disappeared, +and we are not sure whether Shang language was the same as the language +of Chou time. With the Chou period, however, we enter a period in which +everything which was later regarded as typically "Chinese" began to +emerge. + +During the time of the Shang dynasty the Chou formed a small realm in +the west, at first in central Shensi, an area which even in much later +times was the home of many "non-Chinese" tribes. Before the beginning of +the eleventh century B.C. they must have pushed into eastern Shensi, due +to pressures of other tribes which may have belonged to the Turkish +ethnic group. However, it is also possible that their movement was +connected with pressures from Indo-European groups. An analysis of their +tribal composition at the time of the conquest seems to indicate that +the ruling house of the Chou was related to the Turkish group, and that +the population consisted mainly of Turks and Tibetans. Their culture was +closely related to that of Yang-shao, the previously described +painted-pottery culture, with, of course, the progress brought by time. +They had bronze weapons and, especially, the war-chariot. Their eastward +migration, however, brought them within the zone of the Shang culture, +by which they were strongly influenced, so that the Chou culture lost +more and more of its original character and increasingly resembled the +Shang culture. The Chou were also brought into the political sphere of +the Shang, as shown by the fact that marriages took place between the +ruling houses of Shang and Chou, until the Chou state became nominally +dependent on the Shang state in the form of a dependency with special +prerogatives. Meanwhile the power of the Chou state steadily grew, while +that of the Shang state diminished more and more through the disloyalty +of its feudatories and through wars in the East. Finally, about 1028 +B.C., the Chou ruler, named Wu Wang ("the martial king"), crossed his +eastern frontier and pushed into central Honan. His army was formed by +an alliance between various tribes, in the same way as happened again +and again in the building up of the armies of the rulers of the steppes. +Wu Wang forced a passage across the Yellow River and annihilated the +Shang army. He pursued its vestiges as far as the capital, captured the +last emperor of the Shang, and killed him. Thus was the Chou dynasty +founded, and with it we begin the actual history of China. The Chou +brought to the Shang culture strong elements of Turkish and also Tibetan +culture, which were needed for the release of such forces as could +create a new empire and maintain it through thousands of years as a +cultural and, generally, also a political unit. + +2 _Feudalism in the new empire_ + +A natural result of the situation thus produced was the turning of the +country into a feudal state. The conquerors were an alien minority, so +that they had to march out and spread over the whole country. Moreover, +the allied tribal chieftains expected to be rewarded. The territory to +be governed was enormous, but the communications in northern China at +that time were similar to those still existing not long ago in southern +China--narrow footpaths from one settlement to another. It is very +difficult to build roads in the loess of northern China; and the +war-chariots that required roads had only just been introduced. Under +such conditions, the simplest way of administering the empire was to +establish garrisons of the invading tribes in the various parts of the +country under the command of their chieftains. Thus separate regions of +the country were distributed as fiefs. If a former subject of the Shang +surrendered betimes with the territory under his rule, or if there was +one who could not be overcome by force, the Chou recognized him as a +feudal lord. + +We find in the early Chou time the typical signs of true feudalism: +fiefs were given in a ceremony in which symbolically a piece of earth +was handed over to the new fiefholder, and his instalment, his rights +and obligations were inscribed in a "charter". Most of the fiefholders +were members of the Chou ruling family or members of the clan to which +this family belonged; other fiefs were given to heads of the allied +tribes. The fiefholder (feudal lord) regarded the land of his fief, as +far as he and his clan actually used it, as "clan" land; parts of this +land he gave to members of his own branch-clan for their use without +transferring rights of property, thus creating new sub-fiefs and +sub-lords. In much later times the concept of landed property of a +_family_ developed, and the whole concept of "clan" disappeared. By 500 +B.C., most feudal lords had retained only a dim memory that they +originally belonged to the Chi clan of the Chou or to one of the few +other original clans, and their so-called sub-lords felt themselves as +members of independent noble families. Slowly, then, the family names of +later China began to develop, but it took many centuries until, at the +time of the Han Dynasty, all citizens (slaves excluded) had accepted +family names. Then, reversely, families grew again into new clans. + +Thus we have this picture of the early Chou state: the imperial central +power established in Shensi, near the present Sian; over a thousand +feudal states, great and small, often consisting only of a small +garrison, or sometimes a more considerable one, with the former +chieftain as feudal lord over it. Around these garrisons the old +population lived on, in the north the Shang population, farther east and +south various other peoples and cultures. The conquerors' garrisons were +like islands in a sea. Most of them formed new towns, walled, with a +rectangular plan and central crossroads, similar to the European towns +subsequently formed out of Roman encampments. This town plan has been +preserved to the present day. + +This upper class in the garrisons formed the nobility; it was sharply +divided from the indigenous population around the towns The conquerors +called the population "the black-haired people", and themselves "the +hundred families". The rest of the town populations consisted often of +urban Shang people: Shang noble families together with their bondsmen +and serfs had been given to Chou fiefholders. Such forced resettlements +of whole populations have remained typical even for much later periods. +By this method new cities were provided with urban, refined people and, +most important, with skilled craftsmen and businessmen who assisted in +building the cities and in keeping them alive. Some scholars believe +that many resettled Shang urbanites either were or became businessmen; +incidentally, the same word "Shang" means "merchant", up to the present +time. The people of the Shang capital lived on and even attempted a +revolt in collaboration with some Chou people. The Chou rulers +suppressed this revolt, and then transferred a large part of this +population to Loyang. They were settled there in a separate community, +and vestiges of the Shang population were still to be found there in the +fifth century A.D.: they were entirely impoverished potters, still +making vessels in the old style. + +3 _Fusion of Chou and Shang_ + +The conquerors brought with them, for their own purposes to begin with, +their rigid patriarchate in the family system and their cult of Heaven +(t'ien), in which the worship of sun and stars took the principal place; +a religion most closely related to that of the Turkish peoples and +derived from them. Some of the Shang popular deities, however, were +admitted into the official Heaven-worship. Popular deities became +"feudal lords" under the Heaven-god. The Shang conceptions of the soul +were also admitted into the Chou religion: the human body housed two +souls, the personality-soul and the life-soul. Death meant the +separation of the souls from the body, the life-soul also slowly dying. +The personality-soul, however, could move about freely and lived as long +as there were people who remembered it and kept it from hunger by means +of sacrifices. The Chou systematized this idea and made it into the +ancestor-worship that has endured down to the present time. + +The Chou officially abolished human sacrifices, especially since, as +former pastoralists, they knew of better means of employing prisoners of +war than did the more agrarian Shang. The Chou used Shang and other +slaves as domestic servants for their numerous nobility, and Shang serfs +as farm labourers on their estates. They seem to have regarded the land +under their control as "state land" and all farmers as "serfs". A slave, +here, must be defined as an individual, a piece of property, who was +excluded from membership in human society but, in later legal texts, was +included under domestic animals and immobile property, while serfs as a +class depended upon another class and had certain rights, at least the +right to work on the land. They could change their masters if the land +changed its master, but they could not legally be sold individually. +Thus, the following, still rather hypothetical, picture of the land +system of the early Chou time emerges: around the walled towns of the +feudal lords and sub-lords, always in the plains, was "state land" which +produced millet and more and more wheat. Cultivation was still largely +"shifting", so that the serfs in groups cultivated more or less +standardized plots for a year or more and then shifted to other plots. +During the growing season they lived in huts on the fields; during the +winter in the towns in adobe houses. In this manner the yearly life +cycle was divided into two different periods. The produce of the serfs +supplied the lords, their dependants and the farmers themselves. +Whenever the lord found it necessary, the serfs had to perform also +other services for the lord. Farther away from the towns were the +villages of the "natives", nominally also subjects of the lord. In most +parts of eastern China, these, too, were agriculturists. They +acknowledged their dependence by sending "gifts" to the lord in the +town. Later these gifts became institutionalized and turned into a form +of tax. The lord's serfs, on the other hand, tended to settle near the +fields in villages of their own because, with growing urban population, +the distances from the town to many of the fields became too great. It +was also at this time of new settlements that a more intensive +cultivation with a fallow system began. At latest from the sixth century +B.C. on, the distinctions between both land systems became unclear; and +the pure serf-cultivation, called by the old texts the "well-field +system" because eight cultivating families used one common well, +disappeared in practice. + +The actual structure of early Chou administration is difficult to +ascertain. The "Duke of Chou", brother of the first ruler, Wu Wang, +later regent during the minority of Wu Wang's son, and certainly one of +the most influential persons of this time, was the alleged creator of +the book _Chou-li_ which contains a detailed table of the bureaucracy of +the country. However, we know now from inscriptions that the bureaucracy +at the beginning of the Chou period was not much more developed than in +late Shang time. The _Chou-li_ gave an ideal picture of a bureaucratic +state, probably abstracted from actual conditions in feudal states +several centuries later. + +The Chou capital, at Sian, was a twin city. In one part lived the +master-race of the Chou with the imperial court, in the other the +subjugated population. At the same time, as previously mentioned, the +Chou built a second capital, Loyang, in the present province of Honan. +Loyang was just in the middle of the new state, and for the purposes of +Heaven-worship it was regarded as the centre of the universe, where it +was essential that the emperor should reside. Loyang was another twin +city: in one part were the rulers' administrative buildings, in the +other the transferred population of the Shang capital, probably artisans +for the most part. The valuable artisans seem all to have been taken +over from the Shang, for the bronze vessels of the early Chou age are +virtually identical with those of the Shang age. The shapes of the +houses also remained unaltered, and probably also the clothing, though +the Chou brought with them the novelties of felt and woollen fabrics, +old possessions of their earlier period. The only fundamental material +change was in the form of the graves: in the Shang age house-like tombs +were built underground; now great tumuli were constructed in the fashion +preferred by all steppe peoples. + +One professional class was severely hit by the changed +circumstances--the Shang priesthood. The Chou had no priests. As with +all the races of the steppes, the head of the family himself performed +the religious rites. Beyond this there were only shamans for certain +purposes of magic. And very soon Heaven-worship was combined with the +family system, the ruler being declared to be the Son of Heaven; the +mutual relations within the family were thus extended to the religious +relations with the deity. If, however, the god of Heaven is the father +of the ruler, the ruler as his son himself offers sacrifice, and so the +priest becomes superfluous. Thus the priests became "unemployed". Some +of them changed their profession. They were the only people who could +read and write, and as an administrative system was necessary they +obtained employment as scribes. Others withdrew to their villages and +became village priests. They organized the religious festivals in the +village, carried out the ceremonies connected with family events, and +even conducted the exorcism of evil spirits with shamanistic dances; +they took charge, in short, of everything connected with customary +observances and morality. The Chou lords were great respecters of +propriety. The Shang culture had, indeed, been a high one with an +ancient and highly developed moral system, and the Chou as rough +conquerors must have been impressed by the ancient forms and tried to +imitate them. In addition, they had in their religion of Heaven a +conception of the existence of mutual relations between Heaven and +Earth: all that went on in the skies had an influence on earth, and vice +versa. Thus, if any ceremony was "wrongly" performed, it had an evil +effect on Heaven--there would be no rain, or the cold weather would +arrive too soon, or some such misfortune would come. It was therefore of +great importance that everything should be done "correctly". Hence the +Chou rulers were glad to call in the old priests as performers of +ceremonies and teachers of morality similar to the ancient Indian rulers +who needed the Brahmans for the correct performance of all rites. There +thus came into existence in the early Chou empire a new social group, +later called "scholars", men who were not regarded as belonging to the +lower class represented by the subjugated population but were not +included in the nobility; men who were not productively employed but +belonged to a sort of independent profession. They became of very great +importance in later centuries. + +In the first centuries of the Chou dynasty the ruling house steadily +lost power. Some of the emperors proved weak, or were killed at war; +above all, the empire was too big and its administration too +slow-moving. The feudal lords and nobles were occupied with their own +problems in securing the submission of the surrounding villages to their +garrisons and in governing them; they soon paid little attention to the +distant central authority. In addition to this, the situation at the +centre of the empire was more difficult than that of its feudal states +farther east. The settlements around the garrisons in the east were +inhabited by agrarian tribes, but the subjugated population around the +centre at Sian was made up of nomadic tribes of Turks and Mongols +together with semi-nomadic Tibetans. Sian lies in the valley of the +river Wei; the riverside country certainly belonged, though perhaps only +insecurely, to the Shang empire and was specially well adapted to +agriculture; but its periphery--mountains in the south, steppes in the +north--was inhabited (until a late period, to some extent to the present +day) by nomads, who had also been subjugated by the Chou. The Chou +themselves were by no means strong, as they had been only a small tribe +and their strength had depended on auxiliary tribes, which had now +spread over the country as the new nobility and lived far from the Chou. +The Chou emperors had thus to hold in check the subjugated but warlike +tribes of Turks and Mongols who lived quite close to their capital. In +the first centuries of the dynasty they were more or less successful, +for the feudal lords still sent auxiliary forces. In time, however, +these became fewer and fewer, because the feudal lords pursued their own +policy; and the Chou were compelled to fight their own battles against +tribes that continually rose against them, raiding and pillaging their +towns. Campaigns abroad also fell mainly on the shoulders of the Chou, +as their capital lay near the frontier. + +It must not be simply assumed, as is often done by the Chinese and some +of the European historians, that the Turkish and Mongolian tribes were +so savage or so pugnacious that they continually waged war just for the +love of it. The problem is much deeper, and to fail to recognize this is +to fail to understand Chinese history down to the Middle Ages. The +conquering Chou established their garrisons everywhere, and these +garrisons were surrounded by the quarters of artisans and by the +villages of peasants, a process that ate into the pasturage of the +Turkish and Mongolian nomads. These nomads, as already mentioned, +pursued agriculture themselves on a small scale, but it occurred to them +that they could get farm produce much more easily by barter or by +raiding. Accordingly they gradually gave up cultivation and became pure +nomads, procuring the needed farm produce from their neighbours. This +abandonment of agriculture brought them into a precarious situation: if +for any reason the Chinese stopped supplying or demanded excessive +barter payment, the nomads had to go hungry. They were then virtually +driven to get what they needed by raiding. Thus there developed a mutual +reaction that lasted for centuries. Some of the nomadic tribes living +between garrisons withdrew, to escape from the growing pressure, mainly +into the province of Shansi, where the influence of the Chou was weak +and they were not numerous; some of the nomad chiefs lost their lives in +battle, and some learned from the Chou lords and turned themselves into +petty rulers. A number of "marginal" states began to develop; some of +them even built their own cities. This process of transformation of +agro-nomadic tribes into "warrior-nomadic" tribes continued over many +centuries and came to an end in the third or second century B.C. + +The result of the three centuries that had passed was a symbiosis +between the urban aristocrats and the country-people. The rulers of the +towns took over from the general population almost the whole vocabulary +of the language which from now on we may call "Chinese". They naturally +took over elements of the material civilization. The subjugated +population had, meanwhile, to adjust itself to its lords. In the +organism that thus developed, with its unified economic system, the +conquerors became an aristocratic ruling class, and the subjugated +population became a lower class, with varied elements but mainly a +peasantry. From now on we may call this society "Chinese"; it has +endured to the middle of the twentieth century. Most later essential +societal changes are the result of internal development and not of +aggression from without. + +4 _Limitation of the imperial power_ + +In 771 B.C. an alliance of northern feudal states had attacked the ruler +in his western capital; in a battle close to the city they had overcome +and killed him. This campaign appears to have set in motion considerable +groups from various tribes, so that almost the whole province of Shensi +was lost. With the aid of some feudal lords who had remained loyal, a +Chou prince was rescued and conducted eastward to the second capital, +Loyang, which until then had never been the ruler's actual place of +residence. In this rescue a lesser feudal prince, ruler of the feudal +state of Ch'in, specially distinguished himself. Soon afterwards this +prince, whose domain had lain close to that of the ruler, reconquered a +great part of the lost territory, and thereafter regarded it as his own +fief. The Ch'in family resided in the same capital in which the Chou +had lived in the past, and five hundred years later we shall meet with +them again as the dynasty that succeeded the Chou. + +The new ruler, resident now in Loyang, was foredoomed to impotence. He +was now in the centre of the country, and less exposed to large-scale +enemy attacks; but his actual rule extended little beyond the town +itself and its immediate environment. Moreover, attacks did not entirely +cease; several times parts of the indigenous population living between +the Chou towns rose against the towns, even in the centre of the +country. + +Now that the emperor had no territory that could be the basis of a +strong rule and, moreover, because he owed his position to the feudal +lords and was thus under an obligation to them, he ruled no longer as +the chief of the feudal lords but as a sort of sanctified overlord; and +this was the position of all his successors. A situation was formed at +first that may be compared with that of Japan down to the middle of the +nineteenth century. The ruler was a symbol rather than an exerciser of +power. There had to be a supreme ruler because, in the worship of Heaven +which was recognized by all the feudal lords, the supreme sacrifices +could only be offered by the Son of Heaven in person. There could not be +a number of sons of heaven because there were not a number of heavens. +The imperial sacrifices secured that all should be in order in the +country, and that the necessary equilibrium between Heaven and Earth +should be maintained. For in the religion of Heaven there was a close +parallelism between Heaven and Earth, and every omission of a sacrifice, +or failure to offer it in due form, brought down a reaction from Heaven. +For these religious reasons a central ruler was a necessity for the +feudal lords. They needed him also for practical reasons. In the course +of centuries the personal relationship between the various feudal lords +had ceased. Their original kinship and united struggles had long been +forgotten. When the various feudal lords proceeded to subjugate the +territories at a distance from their towns, in order to turn their city +states into genuine territorial states, they came into conflict with +each other. In the course of these struggles for power many of the small +fiefs were simply destroyed. It may fairly be said that not until the +eighth and seventh centuries B.C. did the old garrison towns became real +states. In these circumstances the struggles between the feudal states +called urgently for an arbiter, to settle simple cases, and in more +difficult cases either to try to induce other feudal lords to intervene +or to give sanction to the new situation. These were the only governing +functions of the ruler from the time of the transfer to the second +capital. + +5 _Changes in the relative strength of the feudal states_ + +In these disturbed times China also made changes in her outer frontiers. +When we speak of frontiers in this connection, we must take little +account of the European conception of a frontier. No frontier in that +sense existed in China until her conflict with the European powers. In +the dogma of the Chinese religion of Heaven, all the countries of the +world were subject to the Chinese emperor, the Son of Heaven. Thus there +could be no such thing as other independent states. In practice the +dependence of various regions on the ruler naturally varied: near the +centre, that is to say near the ruler's place of residence, it was most +pronounced; then it gradually diminished in the direction of the +periphery. The feudal lords of the inner territories were already rather +less subordinated than at the centre, and those at a greater distance +scarcely at all; at a still greater distance were territories whose +chieftains regarded themselves as independent, subject only in certain +respects to Chinese overlordship. In such a system it is difficult to +speak of frontiers. In practice there was, of course, a sort of +frontier, where the influence of the outer feudal lords ceased to exist. +The development of the original feudal towns into feudal states with +actual dominion over their territories proceeded, of course, not only in +the interior of China but also on its borders, where the feudal +territories had the advantage of more unrestricted opportunities of +expansion; thus they became more and more powerful. In the south (that +is to say, in the south of the Chou empire, in the present central +China) the garrisons that founded feudal states were relatively small +and widely separated; consequently their cultural system was largely +absorbed into that of the aboriginal population, so that they developed +into feudal states with a character of their own. Three of these +attained special importance--(1) Ch'u, in the neighbourhood of the +present Chungking and Hankow; (2) Wu, near the present Nanking; and (3) +Yüeh, near the present Hangchow. In 704 B.C. the feudal prince of Wu +proclaimed himself "Wang". "Wang", however was the title of the ruler of +the Chou dynasty. This meant that Wu broke away from the old Chou +religion of Heaven, according to which there could be only one ruler +(_wang_) in the world. + +At the beginning of the seventh century it became customary for the +ruler to unite with the feudal lord who was most powerful at the time. +This feudal lord became a dictator, and had the military power in his +hands, like the shoguns in nineteenth-century Japan. If there was a +disturbance of the peace, he settled the matter by military means. The +first of these dictators was the feudal lord of the state of Ch'i, in +the present province of Shantung. This feudal state had grown +considerably through the conquest of the outer end of the peninsula of +Shantung, which until then had been independent. Moreover, and this was +of the utmost importance, the state of Ch'i was a trade centre. Much of +the bronze, and later all the iron, for use in northern China came from +the south by road and in ships that went up the rivers to Ch'i, where it +was distributed among the various regions of the north, north-east, and +north-west. In addition to this, through its command of portions of the +coast, Ch'i had the means of producing salt, with which it met the needs +of great areas of eastern China. It was also in Ch'i that money was +first used. Thus Ch'i soon became a place of great luxury, far +surpassing the court of the Chou, and Ch'i also became the centre of the +most developed civilization. + +[Illustration: Map 2: The principal feudal States in the feudal epoch. +(_roughly 722-481 B.C._)] + +After the feudal lord of Ch'i, supported by the wealth and power of his +feudal state, became dictator, he had to struggle not only against other +feudal lords, but also many times against risings among the most various +parts of the population, and especially against the nomad tribes in the +southern part of the present province of Shansi. In the seventh century +not only Ch'i but the other feudal states had expanded. The regions in +which the nomad tribes were able to move had grown steadily smaller, and +the feudal lords now set to work to bring the nomads of their country +under their direct rule. The greatest conflict of this period was the +attack in 660 B.C. against the feudal state of Wei, in northern Honan. +The nomad tribes seem this time to have been proto-Mongols; they made a +direct attack on the garrison town and actually conquered it. The +remnant of the urban population, no more than 730 in number, had to flee +southward. It is clear from this incident that nomads were still living +in the middle of China, within the territory of the feudal states, and +that they were still decidedly strong, though no longer in a position to +get rid entirely of the feudal lords of the Chou. + +The period of the dictators came to an end after about a century, +because it was found that none of the feudal states was any longer +strong enough to exercise control over all the others. These others +formed alliances against which the dictator was powerless. Thus this +period passed into the next, which the Chinese call the period of the +Contending States. + +6 _Confucius_ + +After this survey of the political history we must consider the +intellectual history of this period, for between 550 and 280 B.C. the +enduring fundamental influences in the Chinese social order and in the +whole intellectual life of China had their original. We saw how the +priests of the earlier dynasty of the Shang developed into the group of +so-called "scholars". When the Chou ruler, after the move to the second +capital, had lost virtually all but his religious authority, these +"scholars" gained increased influence. They were the specialists in +traditional morals, in sacrifices, and in the organization of festivals. +The continually increasing ritualism at the court of the Chou called for +more and more of these men. The various feudal lords also attracted +these scholars to their side, employed them as tutors for their +children, and entrusted them with the conduct of sacrifices and +festivals. + +China's best-known philosopher, Confucius (Chinese: K'ung Tz[)u], was +one of these scholars. He was born in 551 B.C. in the feudal state Lu in +the present province of Shantung. In Lu and its neighbouring state Sung, +institutions of the Shang had remained strong; both states regarded +themselves as legitimate heirs of Shang culture, and many traces of +Shang culture can be seen in Confucius's political and ethical ideas. He +acquired the knowledge which a scholar had to possess, and then taught +in the families of nobles, also helping in the administration of their +properties. He made several attempts to obtain advancement, either in +vain or with only a short term of employment ending in dismissal. Thus +his career was a continuing pilgrimage from one noble to another, from +one feudal lord to another, accompanied by a few young men, sons of +scholars, who were partly his pupils and partly his servants. Many of +these disciples seem to have been "illegitimate" sons of noblemen, i.e. +sons of concubines, and Confucius's own family seems to have been of the +same origin. In the strongly patriarchal and patrilinear system of the +Chou and the developing primogeniture, children of secondary wives had a +lower social status. Ultimately Confucius gave up his wanderings, +settled in his home town of Lu, and there taught his disciples until his +death in 479 B.C. + +Such was briefly the life of Confucius. His enemies claim that he was a +political intriguer, inciting the feudal lords against each other in the +course of his wanderings from one state to another, with the intention +of somewhere coming into power himself. There may, indeed, be some truth +in that. + +Confucius's importance lies in the fact that he systematized a body of +ideas, not of his own creation, and communicated it to a circle of +disciples. His teachings were later set down in writing and formed, +right down to the twentieth century, the moral code of the upper classes +of China. Confucius was fully conscious of his membership of a social +class whose existence was tied to that of the feudal lords. With their +disappearance, his type of scholar would become superfluous. The common +people, the lower class, was in his view in an entirely subordinate +position. Thus his moral teaching is a code for the ruling class. +Accordingly it retains almost unaltered the elements of the old cult of +Heaven, following the old tradition inherited from the northern peoples. +For him Heaven is not an arbitrarily governing divine tyrant, but the +embodiment of a system of legality. Heaven does not act independently, +but follows a universal law, the so-called "Tao". Just as sun, moon, and +stars move in the heavens in accordance with law, so man should conduct +himself on earth in accord with the universal law, not against it. The +ruler should not actively intervene in day-to-day policy, but should +only act by setting an example, like Heaven; he should observe the +established ceremonies, and offer all sacrifices in accordance with the +rites, and then all else will go well in the world. The individual, too, +should be guided exactly in his life by the prescriptions of the rites, +so that harmony with the law of the universe may be established. + +A second idea of the Confucian system came also from the old conceptions +of the Chou conquerors, and thus originally from the northern peoples. +This is the patriarchal idea, according to which the family is the cell +of society, and at the head of the family stands the eldest male adult +as a sort of patriarch. The state is simply an extension of the family, +"state", of course, meaning simply the class of the feudal lords (the +"chün-tz[)u]"). And the organization of the family is also that of the +world of the gods. Within the family there are a number of ties, all of +them, however, one-sided: that of father to son (the son having to obey +the father unconditionally and having no rights of his own;) that of +husband to wife (the wife had no rights); that of elder to younger +brother. An extension of these is the association of friend with friend, +which is conceived as an association between an elder and a younger +brother. The final link, and the only one extending beyond the family +and uniting it with the state, is the association of the ruler with the +subject, a replica of that between father and son. The ruler in turn is +in the position of son to Heaven. Thus in Confucianism the cult of +Heaven, the family system, and the state are welded into unity. The +frictionless functioning of this whole system is effected by everyone +adhering to the rites, which prescribe every important action. It is +necessary, of course, that in a large family, in which there may be up +to a hundred persons living together, there shall be a precisely +established ordering of relationships between individuals if there is +not to be continual friction. Since the scholars of Confucius's type +specialized in the knowledge and conduct of ceremonies, Confucius gave +ritualism a correspondingly important place both in spiritual and in +practical life. + +So far as we have described it above, the teaching of Confucius was a +further development of the old cult of Heaven. Through bitter +experience, however, Confucius had come to realize that nothing could be +done with the ruling house as it existed in his day. So shadowy a figure +as the Chou ruler of that time could not fulfil what Confucius required +of the "Son of Heaven". But the opinions of students of Confucius's +actual ideas differ. Some say that in the only book in which he +personally had a hand, the so-called _Annals of Spring and Autumn_, he +intended to set out his conception of the character of a true emperor; +others say that in that book he showed how he would himself have acted +as emperor, and that he was only awaiting an opportunity to make himself +emperor. He was called indeed, at a later time, the "uncrowned ruler". +In any case, the _Annals of Spring and Autumn_ seem to be simply a dry +work of annals, giving the history of his native state of Lu on the +basis of the older documents available to him. In his text, however, +Confucius made small changes by means of which he expressed criticism or +recognition; in this way he indirectly made known how in his view a +ruler should act or should not act. He did not shrink from falsifying +history, as can today be demonstrated. Thus on one occasion a ruler had +to flee from a feudal prince, which in Confucius's view was impossible +behaviour for the ruler; accordingly he wrote instead that the ruler +went on a hunting expedition. Elsewhere he tells of an eclipse of the +sun on a certain day, on which in fact there was no eclipse. By writing +of an eclipse he meant to criticize the way a ruler had acted, for the +sun symbolized the ruler, and the eclipse meant that the ruler had not +been guided by divine illumination. The demonstration that the _Annals +of Spring and Autumn_ can only be explained in this way was the +achievement some thirty-five years ago of Otto Franke, and through this +discovery Confucius's work, which the old sinologists used to describe +as a dry and inadequate book, has become of special value to us. The +book ends with the year 481 B.C., and in spite of its distortions it is +the principal source for the two-and-a-half centuries with which it +deals. + +Rendered alert by this experience, we are able to see and to show that +most of the other later official works of history follow the example of +the _Annals of Spring and Autumn_ in containing things that have been +deliberately falsified. This is especially so in the work called +_T'ung-chien kang-mu_, which was the source of the history of the +Chinese empire translated into French by de Mailla. + +Apart from Confucius's criticism of the inadequate capacity of the +emperor of his day, there is discernible, though only in the form of +cryptic hints, a fundamentally important progressive idea. It is that a +nobleman (chün-tz[)u] should not be a member of the ruling _élite_ by +right of birth alone, but should be a man of superior moral qualities. +From Confucius on, "chün-tz[)u]" became to mean "a gentleman". +Consequently, a country should not be ruled by a dynasty based on +inheritance through birth, but by members of the nobility who show +outstanding moral qualification for rulership. That is to say, the rule +should pass from the worthiest to the worthiest, the successor first +passing through a period of probation as a minister of state. In an +unscrupulous falsification of the tradition, Confucius declared that +this principle was followed in early times. It is probably safe to +assume that Confucius had in view here an eventual justification of +claims to rulership of his own. + +Thus Confucius undoubtedly had ideas of reform, but he did not interfere +with the foundations of feudalism. For the rest, his system consists +only of a social order and a moral teaching. Metaphysics, logic, +epistemology, i.e. branches of philosophy which played so great a part +in the West, are of no interest to him. Nor can he be described as the +founder of a religion; for the cult of Heaven of which he speaks and +which he takes over existed in exactly the same form before his day. He +is merely the man who first systematized those notions. He had no +successes in his lifetime and gained no recognition; nor did his +disciples or their disciples gain any general recognition; his work did +not become of importance until some three hundred years after his death, +when in the second century B.C. his teaching was adjusted to the new +social conditions: out of a moral system for the decaying feudal society +of the past centuries developed the ethic of the rising social order of +the gentry. The gentry (in much the same way as the European +bourgeoisie) continually claimed that there should be access for every +civilized citizen to the highest places in the social pyramid, and the +rules of Confucianism became binding on every member of society if he +was to be considered a gentleman. Only then did Confucianism begin to +develop into the imposing system that dominated China almost down to the +present day. Confucianism did not become a religion. It was comparable +to the later Japanese Shintoism, or to a group of customs among us which +we all observe, if we do not want to find ourselves excluded from our +community, but which we should never describe as religion. We stand up +when the national anthem is played, we give precedency to older people, +we erect war memorials and decorate them with flowers, and by these and +many other things show our sense of belonging. A similar but much more +conscious and much more powerful part was played by Confucianism in the +life of the average Chinese, though he was not necessarily interested in +philosophical ideas. + +While the West has set up the ideal of individualism and is suffering +now because it no longer has any ethical system to which individuals +voluntarily submit; while for the Indians the social problem consisted +in the solving of the question how every man could be enabled to live +his life with as little disturbance as possible from his fellow-men, +Confucianism solved the problem of how families with groups of hundreds +of members could live together in peace and co-operation in a densely +populated country. Everyone knew his position in the family and so, in a +broader sense, in the state; and this prescribed his rights and duties. +We may feel that the rules to which he was subjected were pedantic; but +there was no limit to their effectiveness: they reduced to a minimum the +friction that always occurs when great masses of people live close +together; they gave Chinese society the strength through which it has +endured; they gave security to its individuals. China's first real +social crisis after the collapse of feudalism, that is to say, after the +fourth or third century B.C., began only in the present century with the +collapse of the social order of the gentry and the breakdown of the +family system. + +7 _Lao Tz[)u]_ + +In eighteenth-century Europe Confucius was the only Chinese philosopher +held in regard; in the last hundred years, the years of Europe's +internal crisis, the philosopher Lao Tz[)u] steadily advanced in repute, +so that his book was translated almost a hundred times into various +European languages. According to the general view among the Chinese, Lao +Tz[)u] was an older contemporary of Confucius; recent Chinese and +Western research (A. Waley; H.H. Dubs) has contested this view and +places Lao Tz[)u] in the latter part of the fourth century B.C., or even +later. Virtually nothing at all is known about his life; the oldest +biography of Lao Tz[)u], written about 100 B.C., says that he lived as +an official at the ruler's court and, one day, became tired of the life +of an official and withdrew from the capital to his estate, where he +died in old age. This, too, may be legendary, but it fits well into the +picture given to us by Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching and by the life of his +later followers. From the second century A.D., that is to say at least +four hundred years after his death, there are legends of his migrating +to the far west. Still later narratives tell of his going to Turkestan +(where a temple was actually built in his honour in the Medieval +period); according to other sources he travelled as far as India or +Sogdiana (Samarkand and Bokhara), where according to some accounts he +was the teacher or forerunner of Buddha, and according to others of +Mani, the founder of Manichaeism. For all this there is not a vestige of +documentary evidence. + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching is contained in a small book, the _Tao Tê Ching_, +the "Book of the World Law and its Power". The book is written in quite +simple language, at times in rhyme, but the sense is so vague that +countless versions, differing radically from each other, can be based on +it, and just as many translations are possible, all philologically +defensible. This vagueness is deliberate. + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching is essentially an effort to bring man's life on +earth into harmony with the life and law of the universe (Tao). This was +also Confucius's purpose. But while Confucius set out to attain that +purpose in a sort of primitive scientific way, by laying down a number +of rules of human conduct, Lao Tz[)u] tries to attain his ideal by an +intuitive, emotional method. Lao Tz[)u] is always described as a mystic, +but perhaps this is not entirely appropriate; it must be borne in mind +that in his time the Chinese language, spoken and written, still had +great difficulties in the expression of ideas. In reading Lao Tz[)u]'s +book we feel that he is trying to express something for which the +language of his day was inadequate; and what he wanted to express +belonged to the emotional, not the intellectual, side of the human +character, so that any perfectly clear expression of it in words was +entirely impossible. It must be borne in mind that the Chinese language +lacks definite word categories like substantive, adjective, adverb, or +verb; any word can be used now in one category and now in another, with +a few exceptions; thus the understanding of a combination like "white +horse" formed a difficult logical problem for the thinker of the fourth +century B.C.: did it mean "white" plus "horse"? Or was "white horse" no +longer a horse at all but something quite different? + +Confucius's way of bringing human life into harmony with the life of the +universe was to be a process of assimilating Man as a social being, Man +in his social environment, to Nature, and of so maintaining his activity +within the bounds of the community. Lao Tz[)u] pursues another path, the +path for those who feel disappointed with life in the community. A +Taoist, as a follower of Lao Tz[)u] is called, withdraws from all social +life, and carries out none of the rites and ceremonies which a man of +the upper class should observe throughout the day. He lives in +self-imposed seclusion, in an elaborate primitivity which is often +described in moving terms that are almost convincing of actual +"primitivity". Far from the city, surrounded by Nature, the Taoist lives +his own life, together with a few friends and his servants, entirely +according to his nature. His own nature, like everything else, +represents for him a part of the Tao, and the task of the individual +consists in the most complete adherence to the Tao that is conceivable, +as far as possible performing no act that runs counter to the Tao. This +is the main element of Lao Tz[)u]'s doctrine, the doctrine of _wu-wei_, +"passive achievement". + +Lao Tz[)u] seems to have thought that this doctrine could be applied to +the life of the state. He assumed that an ideal life in society was +possible if everyone followed his own nature entirely and no artificial +restrictions were imposed. Thus he writes: "The more the people are +forbidden to do this and that, the poorer will they be. The more sharp +weapons the people possess, the more will darkness and bewilderment +spread through the land. The more craft and cunning men have, the more +useless and pernicious contraptions will they invent. The more laws and +edicts are imposed, the more thieves and bandits there will be. 'If I +work through Non-action,' says the Sage, 'the people will transform +themselves.'"[1] Thus according to Lao Tz[)u], who takes the existence +of a monarchy for granted, the ruler must treat his subjects as follows: +"By emptying their hearts of desire and their minds of envy, and by +filling their stomachs with what they need; by reducing their ambitions +and by strengthening their bones and sinews; by striving to keep them +without the knowledge of what is evil and without cravings. Thus are the +crafty ones given no scope for tempting interference. For it is by +Non-action that the Sage governs, and nothing is really left +uncontrolled."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _The Way of Acceptance_: a new version of Lao Tz[)u]'s _Tao +Tê Ching_, by Hermon Ould (Dakers, 1946), Ch. 57.] + +[Footnote 2: _The Way of Acceptance_, Ch. 3.] + +Lao Tz[)u] did not live to learn that such rule of good government would +be followed by only one sort of rulers--dictators; and as a matter of +fact the "Legalist theory" which provided the philosophic basis for +dictatorship in the third century B.C. was attributable to Lao Tz[)u]. +He was not thinking, however, of dictatorship; he was an individualistic +anarchist, believing that if there were no active government all men +would be happy. Then everyone could attain unity with Nature for +himself. Thus we find in Lao Tz[)u], and later in all other Taoists, a +scornful repudiation of all social and official obligations. An answer +that became famous was given by the Taoist Chuang Tz[)u] (see below) +when it was proposed to confer high office in the state on him (the +story may or may not be true, but it is typical of Taoist thought): "I +have heard," he replied, "that in Ch'u there is a tortoise sacred to the +gods. It has now been dead for 3,000 years, and the king keeps it in a +shrine with silken cloths, and gives it shelter in the halls of a +temple. Which do you think that tortoise would prefer--to be dead and +have its vestigial bones so honoured, or to be still alive and dragging +its tail after it in the mud?" the officials replied: "No doubt it would +prefer to be alive and dragging its tail after it in the mud." Then +spoke Chuang Tz[)u]: "Begone! I, too, would rather drag my tail after me +in the mud!" (Chuang Tz[)u] 17, 10.) + +The true Taoist withdraws also from his family. Typical of this is +another story, surely apocryphal, from Chuang Tz[)u] (Ch. 3, 3). At the +death of Lao Tz[)u] a disciple went to the family and expressed his +sympathy quite briefly and formally. The other disciples were +astonished, and asked his reason. He said: "Yes, at first I thought that +he was our man, but he is not. When I went to grieve, the old men were +bewailing him as though they were bewailing a son, and the young wept as +though they were mourning a mother. To bind them so closely to himself, +he must have spoken words which he should not have spoken, and wept +tears which he should not have wept. That, however, is a falling away +from the heavenly nature." + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching, like that of Confucius, cannot be described as +religion; like Confucius's, it is a sort of social philosophy, but of +irrationalistic character. Thus it was quite possible, and later it +became the rule, for one and the same person to be both Confucian and +Taoist. As an official and as the head of his family, a man would think +and act as a Confucian; as a private individual, when he had retired far +from the city to live in his country mansion (often modestly described +as a cave or a thatched hut), or when he had been dismissed from his +post or suffered some other trouble, he would feel and think as a +Taoist. In order to live as a Taoist it was necessary, of course, to +possess such an estate, to which a man could retire with his servants, +and where he could live without himself doing manual work. This +difference between the Confucian and the Taoist found a place in the +works of many Chinese poets. I take the following quotation from an +essay by the statesman and poet Ts'ao Chih, of the end of the second +century A.D.: + +"Master Mysticus lived in deep seclusion on a mountain in the +wilderness; he had withdrawn as in flight from the world, desiring to +purify his spirit and give rest to his heart. He despised official +activity, and no longer maintained any relations with the world; he +sought quiet and freedom from care, in order in this way to attain +everlasting life. He did nothing but send his thoughts wandering between +sky and clouds, and consequently there was nothing worldly that could +attract and tempt him. + +[Illustration: 1 Painted pottery from Kansu: Neolithic. _In the +collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin_.] + +[Illustration: 2 Ancient bronze tripod found at Anyang. _From G. Ecke: +Frühe chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Oskar Trautmann, Peking_ +1939, _plate_ 3.] + +"When Mr. Rationalist heard of this man, he desired to visit him, in +order to persuade him to alter his views. He harnessed four horses, who +could quickly traverse the plain, and entered his light fast carriage. +He drove through the plain, leaving behind him the ruins of abandoned +settlements; he entered the boundless wilderness, and finally reached +the dwelling of Master Mysticus. Here there was a waterfall on one side, +and on the other were high crags; at the back a stream flowed deep down +in its bed, and in front was an odorous wood. The master wore a white +doeskin cap and a striped fox-pelt. He came forward from a cave buried +in the mountain, leaned against the tall crag, and enjoyed the prospect +of wild nature. His ideas floated on the breezes, and he looked as if +the wide spaces of the heavens and the countries of the earth were too +narrow for him; as if he was going to fly but had not yet left the +ground; as if he had already spread his wings but wanted to wait a +moment. Mr. Rationalist climbed up with the aid of vine shoots, reached +the top of the crag, and stepped up to him, saying very respectfully: + +"'I have heard that a man of nobility does not flee from society, but +seeks to gain fame; a man of wisdom does not swim against the current, +but seeks to earn repute. You, however, despise the achievements of +civilization and culture; you have no regard for the splendour of +philanthropy and justice; you squander your powers here in the +wilderness and neglect ordered relations between man....'" + +Frequently Master Mysticus and Mr. Rationalist were united in a single +person. Thus, Shih Ch'ung wrote in an essay on himself: + +"In my youth I had great ambition and wanted to stand out above the +multitude. Thus it happened that at a little over twenty years of age I +was already a court official; I remained in the service for twenty-five +years. When I was fifty I had to give up my post because of an +unfortunate occurrence.... The older I became, the more I appreciated +the freedom I had acquired; and as I loved forest and plain, I retired +to my villa. When I built this villa, a long embankment formed the +boundary behind it; in front the prospect extended over a clear canal; +all around grew countless cypresses, and flowing water meandered round +the house. There were pools there, and outlook towers; I bred birds and +fishes. In my harem there were always good musicians who played dance +tunes. When I went out I enjoyed nature or hunted birds and fished. When +I came home, I enjoyed playing the lute or reading; I also liked to +concoct an elixir of life and to take breathing exercises,[3] because I +did not want to die, but wanted one day to lift myself to the skies, +like an immortal genius. Suddenly I was drawn back into the official +career, and became once more one of the dignitaries of the Emperor." + +[Footnote 3: Both Taoist practices.] + +Thus Lao Tz[)u]'s individualist and anarchist doctrine was not suited to +form the basis of a general Chinese social order, and its employment in +support of dictatorship was certainly not in the spirit of Lao Tz[)u]. +Throughout history, however, Taoism remained the philosophic attitude of +individuals of the highest circle of society; its real doctrine never +became popularly accepted; for the strong feeling for nature that +distinguishes the Chinese, and their reluctance to interfere in the +sanctified order of nature by technical and other deliberate acts, was +not actually a result of Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching, but one of the +fundamentals from which his ideas started. + +If the date assigned to Lao Tz[)u] by present-day research (the fourth +instead of the sixth century B.C.) is correct, he was more or less +contemporary with Chuang Tz[)u], who was probably the most gifted poet +among the Chinese philosophers and Taoists. A thin thread extends from +them as far as the fourth century A.D.: Huai-nan Tz[)u], Chung-ch'ang +T'ung, Yüan Chi (210-263), Liu Ling (221-300), and T'ao Ch'ien +(365-427), are some of the most eminent names of Taoist philosophers. +After that the stream of original thought dried up, and we rarely find a +new idea among the late Taoists. These gentlemen living on their estates +had acquired a new means of expressing their inmost feelings: they wrote +poetry and, above all, painted. Their poems and paintings contain in a +different outward form what Lao Tz[)u] had tried to express with the +inadequate means of the language of his day. Thus Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching +has had the strongest influence to this day in this field, and has +inspired creative work which is among the finest achievements of +mankind. + + + +Chapter Four + + +THE CONTENDING STATES (481-256 B.C.): DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + + +1 _Social and military changes_ + +The period following that of the Chou dictatorships is known as that of +the Contending States. Out of over a thousand states, fourteen remained, +of which, in the period that now followed, one after another +disappeared, until only one remained. This period is the fullest, or one +of the fullest, of strife in all Chinese history. The various feudal +states had lost all sense of allegiance to the ruler, and acted in +entire independence. It is a pure fiction to speak of a Chinese State in +this period; the emperor had no more power than the ruler of the Holy +Roman Empire in the late medieval period of Europe, and the so-called +"feudal states" of China can be directly compared with the developing +national states of Europe. A comparison of this period with late +medieval Europe is, indeed, of highest interest. If we adopt a political +system of periodization, we might say that around 500 B.C. the unified +feudal state of the first period of Antiquity came to an end and the +second, a period of the national states began, although formally, the +feudal system continued and the national states still retained many +feudal traits. + +As none of these states was strong enough to control and subjugate the +rest, alliances were formed. The most favoured union was the north-south +axis; it struggled against an east-west league. The alliances were not +stable but broke up again and again through bribery or intrigue, which +produced new combinations. We must confine ourselves to mentioning the +most important of the events that took place behind this military +façade. + +Through the continual struggles more and more feudal lords lost their +lands; and not only they, but the families of the nobles dependent on +them, who had received so-called sub-fiefs. Some of the landless nobles +perished; some offered their services to the remaining feudal lords as +soldiers or advisers. Thus in this period we meet with a large number of +migratory politicians who became competitors of the wandering scholars. +Both these groups recommended to their lord ways and means of gaining +victory over the other feudal lords, so as to become sole ruler. In +order to carry out their plans the advisers claimed the rank of a +Minister or Chancellor. + +Realistic though these advisers and their lords were in their thinking, +they did not dare to trample openly on the old tradition. The emperor +might in practice be a completely powerless figurehead, but he belonged +nevertheless, according to tradition, to a family of divine origin, +which had obtained its office not merely by the exercise of force but +through a "divine mandate". Accordingly, if one of the feudal lords +thought of putting forward a claim to the imperial throne, he felt +compelled to demonstrate that his family was just as much of divine +origin as the emperor's, and perhaps of remoter origin. In this matter +the travelling "scholars" rendered valuable service as manufacturers of +genealogical trees. Each of the old noble families already had its +family tree, as an indispensable requisite for the sacrifices to +ancestors. But in some cases this tree began as a branch of that of the +imperial family: this was the case of the feudal lords who were of +imperial descent and whose ancestors had been granted fiefs after the +conquest of the country. Others, however, had for their first ancestor a +local deity long worshipped in the family's home country, such as the +ancient agrarian god Huang Ti, or the bovine god Shen Nung. Here the +"scholars" stepped in, turning the local deities into human beings and +"emperors". This suddenly gave the noble family concerned an imperial +origin. Finally, order was brought into this collection of ancient +emperors. They were arranged and connected with each other in +"dynasties" or in some other "historical" form. Thus at a stroke Huang +Ti, who about 450 B.C. had been a local god in the region of southern +Shansi, became the forefather of almost all the noble families, +including that of the imperial house of the Chou. Needless to say, there +would be discrepancies between the family trees constructed by the +various scholars for their lords, and later, when this problem had lost +its political importance, the commentators laboured for centuries on the +elaboration of an impeccable system of "ancient emperors"--and to this +day there are sinologists who continue to present these humanized gods +as historical personalities. + +In the earlier wars fought between the nobles they were themselves the +actual combatants, accompanied only by their retinue. As the struggles +for power grew in severity, each noble hired such mercenaries as he +could, for instance the landless nobles just mentioned. Very soon it +became the custom to arm peasants and send them to the wars. This +substantially increased the armies. The numbers of soldiers who were +killed in particular battles may have been greatly exaggerated (in a +single battle in 260 B.C., for instance, the number who lost their lives +was put at 450,000, a quite impossible figure); but there must have been +armies of several thousand men, perhaps as many as 10,000. The +population had grown considerably by that time. + +The armies of the earlier period consisted mainly of the nobles in their +war chariots; each chariot surrounded by the retinue of the nobleman. +Now came large troops of commoners as infantry as well, drawn from the +peasant population. To these, cavalry were first added in the fifth +century B.C., by the northern state of Chao (in the present Shansi), +following the example of its Turkish and Mongol neighbours. The general +theory among ethnologists is that the horse was first harnessed to a +chariot, and that riding came much later; but it is my opinion that +riders were known earlier, but could not be efficiently employed in war +because the practice had not begun of fighting in disciplined troops of +horsemen, and the art had not been learnt of shooting accurately with +the bow from the back of a galloping horse, especially shooting to the +rear. In any case, its cavalry gave the feudal state of Chao a military +advantage for a short time. Soon the other northern states copied it one +after another--especially Ch'in, in north-west China. The introduction +of cavalry brought a change in clothing all over China, for the former +long skirt-like garb could not be worn on horseback. Trousers and the +riding-cap were introduced from the north. + +The new technique of war made it important for every state to possess as +many soldiers as possible, and where it could to reduce the enemy's +numbers. One result of this was that wars became much more sanguinary; +another was that men in other countries were induced to immigrate and +settle as peasants, so that the taxes they paid should provide the means +for further recruitment of soldiers. In the state of Ch'in, especially, +the practice soon started of using the whole of the peasantry +simultaneously as a rough soldiery. Hence that state was particularly +anxious to attract peasants in large numbers. + +2 _Economic changes_ + +In the course of the wars much land of former noblemen had become free. +Often the former serfs had then silently become landowners. Others had +started to cultivate empty land in the area inhabited by the indigenous +population and regarded this land, which they themselves had made +fertile, as their private family property. There was, in spite of the +growth of the population, still much cultivable land available. +Victorious feudal lords induced farmers to come to their territory and +to cultivate the wasteland. This is a period of great migrations, +internal and external. It seems that from this period on not only +merchants but also farmers began to migrate southward into the area of +the present provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi and as far as Tonking. + +As long as the idea that all land belonged to the great clans of the +Chou prevailed, sale of land was inconceivable; but when individual +family heads acquired land or cultivated new land, they regarded it as +their natural right to dispose of the land as they wished. From now on +until the end of the medieval period, the family head as representative +of the family could sell or buy land. However, the land belonged to the +family and not to him as a person. This development was favoured by the +spread of money. In time land in general became an asset with a market +value and could be bought and sold. + +Another important change can be seen from this time on. Under the feudal +system of the Chou strict primogeniture among the nobility existed: the +fief went to the oldest son by the main wife. The younger sons were +given independent pieces of land with its inhabitants as new, secondary +fiefs. With the increase in population there was no more such land that +could be set up as a new fief. From now on, primogeniture was retained +in the field of ritual and religion down to the present time: only the +oldest son of the main wife represents the family in the ancestor +worship ceremonies; only the oldest son of the emperor could become his +successor. But the landed property from now on was equally divided among +all sons. Occasionally the oldest son was given some extra land to +enable him to pay the expenses for the family ancestral worship. Mobile +property, on the other side, was not so strictly regulated and often the +oldest son was given preferential treatment in the inheritance. + +The technique of cultivation underwent some significant changes. The +animal-drawn plough seems to have been invented during this period, and +from now on, some metal agricultural implements like iron sickles and +iron plough-shares became more common. A fallow system was introduced so +that cultivation became more intensive. Manuring of fields was already +known in Shang time. It seems that the consumption of meat decreased +from this period on: less mutton and beef were eaten. Pig and dog +became the main sources of meat, and higher consumption of beans made +up for the loss of proteins. All this indicates a strong population +increase. We have no statistics for this period, but by 400 B.C. it is +conceivable that the population under the control of the various +individual states comprised something around twenty-five millions. The +eastern plains emerge more and more as centres of production. + +The increased use of metal and the invention of coins greatly stimulated +trade. Iron which now became quite common, was produced mainly in +Shansi, other metals in South China. But what were the traders to do +with their profits? Even later in China, and almost down to recent +times, it was never possible to hoard large quantities of money. +Normally the money was of copper, and a considerable capital in the form +of copper coin took up a good deal of room and was not easy to conceal. +If anyone had much money, everyone in his village knew it. No one dared +to hoard to any extent for fear of attracting bandits and creating +lasting insecurity. On the other hand the merchants wanted to attain the +standard of living which the nobles, the landowners, used to have. Thus +they began to invest their money in land. This was all the easier for +them since it often happened that one of the lesser nobles or a peasant +fell deeply into debt to a merchant and found himself compelled to give +up his land in payment of the debt. + +Soon the merchants took over another function. So long as there had been +many small feudal states, and the feudal lords had created lesser lords +with small fiefs, it had been a simple matter for the taxes to be +collected, in the form of grain, from the peasants through the agents of +the lesser lords. Now that there were only a few great states in +existence, the old system was no longer effectual. This gave the +merchants their opportunity. The rulers of the various states entrusted +the merchants with the collection of taxes, and this had great +advantages for the ruler: he could obtain part of the taxes at once, as +the merchant usually had grain in stock, or was himself a landowner and +could make advances at any time. Through having to pay the taxes to the +merchant, the village population became dependent on him. Thus the +merchants developed into the first administrative officials in the +provinces. + +In connection with the growth of business, the cities kept on growing. +It is estimated that at the beginning of the third century, the city of +Lin-chin, near the present Chi-nan in Shantung, had a population of +210,000 persons. Each of its walls had a length of 4,000 metres; thus, +it was even somewhat larger than the famous city of Loyang, capital of +China during the Later Han dynasty, in the second century A.D. Several +other cities of this period have been recently excavated and must have +had populations far above 10,000 persons. There were two types of +cities: the rectangular, planned city of the Chou conquerors, a seat of +administration; and the irregularly shaped city which grew out of a +market place and became only later an administrative centre. We do not +know much about the organization and administration of these cities, but +they seem to have had considerable independence because some of them +issued their own city coins. + +When these cities grew, the food produced in the neighbourhood of the +towns no longer sufficed for their inhabitants. This led to the building +of roads, which also facilitated the transport of supplies for great +armies. These roads mainly radiated from the centre of consumption into +the surrounding country, and they were less in use for communication +between one administrative centre and another. For long journeys the +rivers were of more importance, since transport by wagon was always +expensive owing to the shortage of draught animals. Thus we see in this +period the first important construction of canals and a development of +communications. With the canal construction was connected the +construction of irrigation and drainage systems, which further promoted +agricultural production. The cities were places in which often great +luxury developed; music, dance, and other refinements were cultivated; +but the cities also seem to have harboured considerable industries. +Expensive and technically superior silks were woven; painters decorated +the walls of temples and palaces; blacksmiths and bronze-smiths produced +beautiful vessels and implements. It seems certain that the art of +casting iron and the beginnings of the production of steel were already +known at this time. The life of the commoners in these cities was +regulated by laws; the first codes are mentioned in 536 B.C. By the end +of the fourth century B.C. a large body of criminal law existed, +supposedly collected by Li K'uei, which became the foundation of all +later Chinese law. It seems that in this period the states of China +moved quickly towards a money economy, and an observer to whom the later +Chinese history was not known could have predicted the eventual +development of a capitalistic society out of the apparent tendencies. + +So far nothing has been said in these chapters about China's foreign +policy. Since the central ruling house was completely powerless, and the +feudal lords were virtually independent rulers, little can be said, of +course, about any "Chinese" foreign policy. There is less than ever to +be said about it for this period of the "Contending States". Chinese +merchants penetrated southward, and soon settlers moved in increasing +numbers into the plains of the south-east. In the north, there were +continual struggles with Turkish and Mongol tribes, and about 300 B.C. +the name of the Hsiung-nu (who are often described as "The Huns of the +Far East") makes its first appearance. It is known that these northern +peoples had mastered the technique of horseback warfare and were far +ahead of the Chinese, although the Chinese imitated their methods. The +peasants of China, as they penetrated farther and farther north, had to +be protected by their rulers against the northern peoples, and since the +rulers needed their armed forces for their struggles within China, a +beginning was made with the building of frontier walls, to prevent +sudden raids of the northern peoples against the peasant settlements. +Thus came into existence the early forms of the "Great Wall of China". +This provided for the first time a visible frontier between Chinese and +non-Chinese. Along this frontier, just as by the walls of towns, great +markets were held at which Chinese peasants bartered their produce to +non-Chinese nomads. Both partners in this trade became accustomed to it +and drew very substantial profits from it. We even know the names of +several great horse-dealers who bought horses from the nomads and sold +them within China. + +3 _Cultural changes_ + +Together with the economic and social changes in this period, there came +cultural changes. New ideas sprang up in exuberance, as would seem +entirely natural, because in times of change and crisis men always come +forward to offer solutions for pressing problems. We shall refer here +only briefly to the principal philosophers of the period. + +Mencius (_c_. 372-289 B.C.) and Hsün Tz[)u] (_c_. 298-238 B.C.) were +both followers of Confucianism. Both belonged to the so-called +"scholars", and both lived in the present Shantung, that is to say, in +eastern China. Both elaborated the ideas of Confucius, but neither of +them achieved personal success. Mencius (Meng Tz[)u]) recognized that +the removal of the ruling house of the Chou no longer presented any +difficulty. The difficult question for him was when a change of ruler +would be justified. And how could it be ascertained whom Heaven had +destined as successor if the existing dynasty was brought down? Mencius +replied that the voice of the "people", that is to say of the upper +class and its following, would declare the right man, and that this man +would then be Heaven's nominee. This theory persisted throughout the +history of China. Hsün Tz[)u]'s chief importance lies in the fact that +he recognized that the "laws" of nature are unchanging but that man's +fate is determined not by nature alone but, in addition, by his own +activities. Man's nature is basically bad, but by working on himself +within the framework of society, he can change his nature and can +develop. Thus, Hsün Tz[)u]'s philosophy contains a dynamic element, fit +for a dynamic period of history. + +In the strongest contrast to these thinkers was the school of Mo Ti (at +some time between 479 and 381 B.C.). The Confucian school held fast to +the old feudal order of society, and was only ready to agree to a few +superficial changes. The school of Mo Ti proposed to alter the +fundamental principles of society. Family ethics must no longer be +retained; the principles of family love must be extended to the whole +upper class, which Mo Ti called the "people". One must love another +member of the upper class just as much as one's own father. Then the +friction between individuals and between states would cease. Instead of +families, large groups of people friendly to one another must be +created. Further one should live frugally and not expend endless money +on effete rites, as the Confucianists demanded. The expenditure on +weddings and funerals under the Confucianist ritual consumed so much +money that many families fell into debt and, if they were unable to pay +off the debt, sank from the upper into the lower class. In order to +maintain the upper class, therefore, there must be more frugality. Mo +Ti's teaching won great influence. He and his successors surrounded +themselves with a private army of supporters which was rigidly organized +and which could be brought into action at any time as its leader wished. +Thus the Mohists came forward everywhere with an approach entirely +different from that of the isolated Confucians. When the Mohists offered +their assistance to a ruler, they brought with them a group of technical +and military experts who had been trained on the same principles. In +consequence of its great influence this teaching was naturally hotly +opposed by the Confucianists. + +We see clearly in Mo Ti's and his followers' ideas the influence of the +changed times. His principle of "universal love" reflects the breakdown +of the clans and the general weakening of family bonds which had taken +place. His ideal of social organization resembles organizations of +merchants and craftsmen which we know only of later periods. His stress +upon frugality, too, reflects a line of thought which is typical of +businessmen. The rationality which can also be seen in his metaphysical +ideas and which has induced modern Chinese scholars to call him an early +materialist is fitting to an age in which a developing money economy and +expanding trade required a cool, logical approach to the affairs of this +world. + +A similar mentality can be seen in another school which appeared from +the fifth century B.C. on, the "dialecticians". Here are a number of +names to mention: the most important are Kung-sun Lung and Hui Tz[)u], +who are comparable with the ancient Greek dialecticians and Sophists. +They saw their main task in the development of logic. Since, as we have +mentioned, many "scholars" journeyed from one princely court to another, +and other people came forward, each recommending his own method to the +prince for the increase of his power, it was of great importance to be +able to talk convincingly, so as to defeat a rival in a duel of words on +logical grounds. + +Unquestionably, however, the most important school of this period was +that of the so-called Legalists, whose most famous representative was +Shang Yang (or Shang Tz[)u], died 338 B.C.). The supporters of this +school came principally from old princely families that had lost their +feudal possessions, and not from among the so-called scholars. They were +people belonging to the upper class who possessed political experience +and now offered their knowledge to other princes who still reigned. +These men had entirely given up the old conservative traditions of +Confucianism; they were the first to make their peace with the new +social order. They recognized that little or nothing remained of the old +upper class of feudal lords and their following. The last of the feudal +lords collected around the heads of the last remaining princely courts, +or lived quietly on the estates that still remained to them. Such a +class, with its moral and economic strength broken, could no longer +lead. The Legalists recognized, therefore, only the ruler and next to +him, as the really active and responsible man, the chancellor; under +these there were to be only the common people, consisting of the richer +and poorer peasants; the people's duty was to live and work for the +ruler, and to carry out without question whatever orders they received. +They were not to discuss or think, but to obey. The chancellor was to +draft laws which came automatically into operation. The ruler himself +was to have nothing to do with the government or with the application of +the laws. He was only a symbol, a representative of the equally inactive +Heaven. Clearly these theories were much the best suited to the +conditions of the break-up of feudalism about 300 B.C. Thus they were +first adopted by the state in which the old idea of the feudal state had +been least developed, the state of Ch'in, in which alien peoples were +most strongly represented. Shang Yang became the actual organizer of the +state of Ch'in. His ideas were further developed by Han Fei Tz[)u] (died +233 B.C.). The mentality which speaks out of his writings has closest +similarity to the famous Indian Arthashastra which originated slightly +earlier; both books exhibit a "Machiavellian" spirit. It must be +observed that these theories had little or nothing to do with the ideas +of the old cult of Heaven or with family allegiance; on the other hand, +the soldierly element, with the notion of obedience, was well suited to +the militarized peoples of the west. The population of Ch'in, organized +throughout on these principles, was then in a position to remove one +opponent after another. In the middle of the third century B.C. the +greater part of the China of that time was already in the hands of +Ch'in, and in 256 B.C. the last emperor of the Chou dynasty was +compelled, in his complete impotence, to abdicate in favour of the ruler +of Ch'in. + +Apart from these more or less political speculations, there came into +existence in this period, by no mere chance, a school of thought which +never succeeded in fully developing in China, concerned with natural +science and comparable with the Greek natural philosophy. We have +already several times pointed to parallels between Chinese and Indian +thoughts. Such similarities may be the result of mere coincidence. But +recent findings in Central Asia indicate that direct connections between +India, Persia, and China may have started at a time much earlier than we +had formerly thought. Sogdian merchants who later played a great role in +commercial contacts might have been active already from 350 or 400 B.C. +on and might have been the transmitters of new ideas. The most important +philosopher of this school was Tsou Yen (flourished between 320 and 295 +B.C.); he, as so many other Chinese philosophers of this time, was a +native of Shantung, and the ports of the Shantung coast may well have +been ports of entrance of new ideas from Western Asia as were the roads +through the Turkestan basin into Western China. Tsou Yen's basic ideas +had their root in earlier Chinese speculations: the doctrine that all +that exists is to be explained by the positive, creative, or the +negative, passive action (Yang and Yin) of the five elements, wood, +fire, earth, metal, and water (Wu hsing). But Tsou Yen also considered +the form of the world, and was the first to put forward the theory that +the world consists not of a single continent with China in the middle of +it, but of nine continents. The names of these continents sound like +Indian names, and his idea of a central world-mountain may well have +come from India. The "scholars" of his time were quite unable to +appreciate this beginning of science, which actually led to the +contention of this school, in the first century B.C., that the earth was +of spherical shape. Tsou Yen himself was ridiculed as a dreamer; but +very soon, when the idea of the reciprocal destruction of the elements +was applied, perhaps by Tsou Yen himself, to politics, namely when, in +connection with the astronomical calculations much cultivated by this +school and through the identification of dynasties with the five +elements, the attempt was made to explain and to calculate the duration +and the supersession of dynasties, strong pressure began to be brought +to bear against this school. For hundreds of years its books were +distributed and read only in secret, and many of its members were +executed as revolutionaries. Thus, this school, instead of becoming the +nucleus of a school of natural science, was driven underground. The +secret societies which started to arise clearly from the first century +B.C. on, but which may have been in existence earlier, adopted the +politico-scientific ideas of Tsou Yen's school. Such secret societies +have existed in China down to the present time. They all contained a +strong religious, but heterodox element which can often be traced back +to influences from a foreign religion. In times of peace they were +centres of a true, emotional religiosity. In times of stress, a +"messianic" element tended to become prominent: the world is bad and +degenerating; morality and a just social order have decayed, but the +coming of a savior is close; the saviour will bring a new, fair order +and destroy those who are wicked. Tsou Yen's philosophy seemed to allow +them to calculate when this new order would start; later secret +societies contained ideas from Iranian Mazdaism, Manichaeism and +Buddhism, mixed with traits from the popular religions and often couched +in terms taken from the Taoists. The members of such societies were, +typically, ordinary farmers who here found an emotional outlet for their +frustrations in daily life. In times of stress, members of the leading +_élite_ often but not always established contacts with these societies, +took over their leadership and led them to open rebellion. The fate of +Tsou Yen's school did not mean that the Chinese did not develop in the +field of sciences. At about Tsou Yen's lifetime, the first mathematical +handbook was written. From these books it is obvious that the interest +of the government in calculating the exact size of fields, the content +of measures for grain, and other fiscal problems stimulated work in this +field, just as astronomy developed from the interest of the government +in the fixation of the calendar. Science kept on developing in other +fields, too, but mainly as a hobby of scholars and in the shops of +craftsmen, if it did not have importance for the administration and +especially taxation and budget calculations. + + + +Chapter Five + + +THE CH'IN DYNASTY (256-207 B.C.) + +1 _Towards the unitary State_ + +In 256 B.C. the last ruler of the Chou dynasty abdicated in favour of +the feudal lord of the state of Ch'in. Some people place the beginning +of the Ch'in dynasty in that year, 256 B.C.; others prefer the date 221 +B.C., because it was only in that year that the remaining feudal states +came to their end and Ch'in really ruled all China. + +The territories of the state of Ch'in, the present Shensi and eastern +Kansu, were from a geographical point of view transit regions, closed +off in the north by steppes and deserts and in the south by almost +impassable mountains. Only between these barriers, along the rivers Wei +(in Shensi) and T'ao (in Kansu), is there a rich cultivable zone which +is also the only means of transit from east to west. All traffic from +and to Turkestan had to take this route. It is believed that strong +relations with eastern Turkestan began in this period, and the state of +Ch'in must have drawn big profits from its "foreign trade". The merchant +class quickly gained more and more importance. The population was +growing through immigration from the east which the government +encouraged. This growing population with its increasing means of +production, especially the great new irrigation systems, provided a +welcome field for trade which was also furthered by the roads, though +these were actually built for military purposes. + +The state of Ch'in had never been so closely associated with the feudal +communities of the rest of China as the other feudal states. A great +part of its population, including the ruling class, was not purely +Chinese but contained an admixture of Turks and Tibetans. The other +Chinese even called Ch'in a "barbarian state", and the foreign influence +was, indeed, unceasing. This was a favourable soil for the overcoming of +feudalism, and the process was furthered by the factors mentioned in the +preceding chapter, which were leading to a change in the social +structure of China. Especially the recruitment of the whole population, +including the peasantry, for war was entirely in the interest of the +influential nomad fighting peoples within the state. About 250 B.C., +Ch'in was not only one of the economically strongest among the feudal +states, but had already made an end of its own feudal system. + +Every feudal system harbours some seeds of a bureaucratic system of +administration: feudal lords have their personal servants who are not +recruited from the nobility, but who by their easy access to the lord +can easily gain importance. They may, for instance, be put in charge of +estates, workshops, and other properties of the lord and thus acquire +experience in administration and an efficiency which are obviously of +advantage to the lord. When Chinese lords of the preceding period, with +the help of their sub-lords of the nobility, made wars, they tended to +put the newly-conquered areas not into the hands of newly-enfeoffed +noblemen, but to keep them as their property and to put their +administration into the hands of efficient servants; these were the +first bureaucratic officials. Thus, in the course of the later Chou +period, a bureaucratic system of administration had begun to develop, +and terms like "district" or "prefecture" began to appear, indicating +that areas under a bureaucratic administration existed beside and inside +areas under feudal rule. This process had gone furthest in Ch'in and was +sponsored by the representatives of the Legalist School, which was best +adapted to the new economic and social situation. + +A son of one of the concubines of the penultimate feudal ruler of Ch'in +was living as a hostage in the neighbouring state of Chao, in what is +now northern Shansi. There he made the acquaintance of an unusual man, +the merchant Lü Pu-wei, a man of education and of great political +influence. Lü Pu-wei persuaded the feudal ruler of Ch'in to declare this +son his successor. He also sold a girl to the prince to be his wife, and +the son of this marriage was to be the famous and notorious Shih +Huang-ti. Lü Pu-wei came with his protege to Ch'in, where he became his +Prime Minister, and after the prince's death in 247 B.C. Lü Pu-wei +became the regent for his young son Shih Huang-ti (then called Cheng). +For the first time in Chinese history a merchant, a commoner, had +reached one of the highest positions in the state. It is not known what +sort of trade Lü Pu-wei had carried on, but probably he dealt in horses, +the principal export of the state of Chao. As horses were an absolute +necessity for the armies of that time, it is easy to imagine that a +horse-dealer might gain great political influence. + +Soon after Shih Huang-ti's accession Lü Pu-wei was dismissed, and a new +group of advisers, strong supporters of the Legalist school, came into +power. These new men began an active policy of conquest instead of the +peaceful course which Lü Pu-wei had pursued. One campaign followed +another in the years from 230 to 222, until all the feudal states had +been conquered, annexed, and brought under Shih Huang-ti's rule. + +2 _Centralization in every field_ + +The main task of the now gigantic realm was the organization of +administration. One of the first acts after the conquest of the other +feudal states was to deport all the ruling families and other important +nobles to the capital of Ch'in; they were thus deprived of the basis of +their power, and their land could be sold. These upper-class families +supplied to the capital a class of consumers of luxury goods which +attracted craftsmen and businessmen and changed the character of the +capital from that of a provincial town to a centre of arts and crafts. +It was decided to set up the uniform system of administration throughout +the realm, which had already been successfully introduced in Ch'in: the +realm was split up into provinces and the provinces into prefectures; +and an official was placed in charge of each province or prefecture. +Originally the prefectures in Ch'in had been placed directly under the +central administration, with an official, often a merchant, being +responsible for the collection of taxes; the provinces, on the other +hand, formed a sort of military command area, especially in the +newly-conquered frontier territories. With the growing militarization of +Ch'in, greater importance was assigned to the provinces, and the +prefectures were made subordinate to them. Thus the officials of the +provinces were originally army officers but now, in the reorganization +of the whole realm, the distinction between civil and military +administration was abolished. At the head of the province were a civil +and also a military governor, and both were supervised by a controller +directly responsible to the emperor. Since there was naturally a +continual struggle for power between these three officials, none of them +was supreme and none could develop into a sort of feudal lord. In this +system we can see the essence of the later Chinese administration. + +[Illustration: 3 Bronze plaque representing two horses fighting each +other. Ordos region, animal style. _From V. Griessmaier: Sammlung Baron +Eduard von der Heydt, Vienna_ 1936, _illustration No_. 6.] + +[Illustration: 4 Hunting scene: detail from the reliefs in the tombs at +Wu-liang-tz'u. _From a print in the author's possession_.] + +[Illustration: 5 Part of the 'Great Wall'. _Photo Eberhard_.] + +Owing to the centuries of division into independent feudal states, the +various parts of the country had developed differently. Each province +spoke a different dialect which also contained many words borrowed from +the language of the indigenous population; and as these earlier +populations sometimes belonged to different races with different +languages, in each state different words had found their way into the +Chinese dialects. This caused divergences not only in the spoken but in +the written language, and even in the characters in use for writing. +There exist to this day dictionaries in which the borrowed words of that +time are indicated, and keys to the various old forms of writing also +exist. Thus difficulties arose if, for instance, a man from the old +territory of Ch'in was to be transferred as an official to the east: he +could not properly understand the language and could not read the +borrowed words, if he could read at all! For a large number of the +officials of that time, especially the officers who became military +governors, were certainly unable to read. The government therefore +ordered that the language of the whole country should be unified, and +that a definite style of writing should be generally adopted. The words +to be used were set out in lists, so that the first lexicography came +into existence simply through the needs of practical administration, as +had happened much earlier in Babylon. Thus, the few recently found +manuscripts from pre-Ch'in times still contain a high percentage of +Chinese characters which we cannot read because they were local +characters; but all words in texts after the Ch'in time can be read +because they belong to the standardized script. We know now that all +classical texts of pre-Ch'in time as we have them today, have been +re-written in this standardized script in the second century B.C.: we do +not know which words they actually contained at the time when they were +composed, nor how these words were actually pronounced, a fact which +makes the reconstruction of Chinese language before Ch'in very +difficult. + +The next requirement for the carrying on of the administration was the +unification of weights and measures and, a surprising thing to us, of +the gauge of the tracks for wagons. In the various feudal states there +had been different weights and measures in use, and this had led to +great difficulties in the centralization of the collection of taxes. The +centre of administration, that is to say the new capital of Ch'in, had +grown through the transfer of nobles and through the enormous size of +the administrative staff into a thickly populated city with very large +requirements of food. The fields of the former state of Ch'in alone +could not feed the city; and the grain supplied in payment of taxation +had to be brought in from far around, partly by cart. The only roads +then existing consisted of deep cart-tracks. If the axles were not of +the same length for all carts, the roads were simply unusable for many +of them. Accordingly a fixed length was laid down for axles. The +advocates of all these reforms were also their beneficiaries, the +merchants. + +The first principle of the Legalist school, a principle which had been +applied in Ch'in and which was to be extended to the whole realm, was +that of the training of the population in discipline and obedience, so +that it should become a convenient tool in the hands of the officials. +This requirement was best met by a people composed as far as possible +only of industrious, uneducated, and tax-paying peasants. Scholars and +philosophers were not wanted, in so far as they were not directly +engaged in work commissioned by the state. The Confucianist writings +came under special attack because they kept alive the memory of the old +feudal conditions, preaching the ethic of the old feudal class which had +just been destroyed and must not be allowed to rise again if the state +was not to suffer fresh dissolution or if the central administration was +not to be weakened. In 213 B.C. there took place the great holocaust of +books which destroyed the Confucianist writings with the exception of +one copy of each work for the State Library. Books on practical subjects +were not affected. In the fighting at the end of the Ch'in dynasty the +State Library was burnt down, so that many of the old works have only +come down to us in an imperfect state and with doubtful accuracy. The +real loss arose, however, from the fact that the new generation was +little interested in the Confucianist literature, so that when, fifty +years later, the effort was made to restore some texts from the oral +tradition, there no longer existed any scholars who really knew them by +heart, as had been customary in the past. + +In 221 B.C. Shih Huang-ti had become emperor of all China. The judgments +passed on him vary greatly: the official Chinese historiography rejects +him entirely--naturally, for he tried to exterminate Confucianism, while +every later historian was himself a Confucian. Western scholars often +treat him as one of the greatest men in world history. Closer research +has shown that Shih Huang-ti was evidently an average man without any +great gifts, that he was superstitious, and shared the tendency of his +time to mystical and shamanistic notions. His own opinion was that he +was the first of a series of ten thousand emperors of his dynasty (Shih +Huang-ti means "First Emperor"), and this merely suggests megalomania. +The basic principles of his administration had been laid down long +before his time by the philosophers of the Legalist school, and were +given effect by his Chancellor Li Ss[)u]. Li Ss[)u] was the really great +personality of that period. The Legalists taught that the ruler must do +as little as possible himself. His Ministers were there to act for him. +He himself was to be regarded as a symbol of Heaven. In that capacity +Shih Huang-ti undertook periodical journeys into the various parts of +the empire, less for any practical purpose of inspection than for +purposes of public worship. They corresponded to the course of the sun, +and this indicates that Shih Huang-ti had adopted a notion derived from +the older northern culture of the nomad peoples. + +He planned the capital in an ambitious style but, although there was +real need for extension of the city, his plans can scarcely be regarded +as of great service. His enormous palace, and also his mausoleum which +was built for him before his death, were constructed in accordance with +astral notions. Within the palace the emperor continually changed his +residential quarters, probably not only from fear of assassination but +also for astral reasons. His mausoleum formed a hemispherical dome, and +all the stars of the sky were painted on its interior. + +3 _Frontier defence. Internal collapse_ + +When the empire had been unified by the destruction of the feudal +states, the central government became responsible for the protection of +the frontiers from attack from without. In the south there were only +peoples in a very low state of civilization, who could offer no serious +menace to the Chinese. The trading colonies that gradually extended to +Canton and still farther south served as Chinese administrative centres +for provinces and prefectures, with small but adequate armies of their +own, so that in case of need they could defend themselves. In the north +the position was much more difficult. In addition to their conquest +within China, the rulers of Ch'in had pushed their frontier far to the +north. The nomad tribes had been pressed back and deprived of their best +pasturage, namely the Ordos region. When the livelihood of nomad peoples +is affected, when they are threatened with starvation, their tribes +often collect round a tribal leader who promises new pasturage and +better conditions of life for all who take part in the common campaigns. +In this way the first great union of tribes in the north of China came +into existence in this period, forming the realm of the Hsiung-nu under +their first leader, T'ou-man. This first realm of the Hsiung-nu was not +yet extensive, but its ambitious and warlike attitude made it a danger +to Ch'in. It was therefore decided to maintain a large permanent army in +the north. In addition to this, the frontier walls already existing in +the mountains were rebuilt and made into a single great system. Thus +came into existence in 214 B.C., out of the blood and sweat of countless +pressed labourers, the famous Great Wall. + +On one of his periodical journeys the emperor fell ill and died. His +death was the signal for the rising of many rebellious elements. Nobles +rose in order to regain power and influence; generals rose because they +objected to the permanent pressure from the central administration and +their supervision by controllers; men of the people rose as popular +leaders because the people were more tormented than ever by forced +labour, generally at a distance from their homes. Within a few months +there were six different rebellions and six different "rulers". +Assassinations became the order of the day; the young heir to the throne +was removed in this way and replaced by another young prince. But as +early as 206 B.C. one of the rebels, Liu Chi (also called Liu Pang), +entered the capital and dethroned the nominal emperor. Liu Chi at first +had to retreat and was involved in hard fighting with a rival, but +gradually he succeeded in gaining the upper hand and defeated not only +his rival but also the other eighteen states that had been set up anew +in China in those years. + + + + + +THE MIDDLE AGES + + + +Chapter Six + + +THE HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) + +I _Development of the gentry-state_ + +In 206 B.C. Liu Chi assumed the title of Emperor and gave his dynasty +the name of the Han Dynasty. After his death he was given as emperor the +name of Kao Tsu.[4] The period of the Han dynasty may be described as +the beginning of the Chinese Middle Ages, while that of the Ch'in +dynasty represents the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages; for +under the Han dynasty we meet in China with a new form of state, the +"gentry state". The feudalism of ancient times has come definitely to +its end. + +[Footnote 4: From then on, every emperor was given after his death an +official name as emperor, under which he appears in the Chinese sources. +We have adopted the original or the official name according to which of +the two has come into the more general use in Western books.] + +Emperor Kao Tsu came from eastern China, and his family seems to have +been a peasant family; in any case it did not belong to the old +nobility. After his destruction of his strongest rival, the removal of +the kings who had made themselves independent in the last years of the +Ch'in dynasty was a relatively easy task for the new autocrat, although +these struggles occupied the greater part of his reign. A much more +difficult question, however, faced him: How was the empire to be +governed? Kao Tsu's old friends and fellow-countrymen, who had helped +him into power, had been rewarded by appointment as generals or high +officials. Gradually he got rid of those who had been his best comrades, +as so many upstart rulers have done before and after him in every +country in the world. An emperor does not like to be reminded of a very +humble past, and he is liable also to fear the rivalry of men who +formerly were his equals. It is evident that little attention was paid +to theories of administration; policy was determined mainly by practical +considerations. Kao Tsu allowed many laws and regulations to remain in +force, including the prohibition of Confucianist writings. On the other +hand, he reverted to the allocation of fiefs, though not to old noble +families but to his relatives and some of his closest adherents, +generally men of inferior social standing. Thus a mixed administration +came into being: part of the empire was governed by new feudal princes, +and another part split up into provinces and prefectures and placed +directly under the central power through its officials. + +But whence came the officials? Kao Tsu and his supporters, as farmers +from eastern China, looked down upon the trading population to which +farmers always regard themselves as superior. The merchants were ignored +as potential officials although they had often enough held official +appointments under the former dynasty. The second group from which +officials had been drawn under the Ch'in was that of the army officers, +but their military functions had now, of course, fallen to Kao Tsu's +soldiers. The emperor had little faith, however, in the loyalty of +officers, even of his own, and apart from that he would have had first +to create a new administrative organization for them. Accordingly he +turned to another class which had come into existence, the class later +called the _gentry_, which in practice had the power already in its +hands. + +The term "gentry" has no direct parallel in Chinese texts; the later +terms "shen-shih" and "chin-shen" do not quite cover this concept. The +basic unit of the gentry class are families, not individuals. Such +families often derive their origin from branches of the Chou nobility. +But other gentry families were of different and more recent origin in +respect to land ownership. Some late Chou and Ch'in officials of +non-noble origin had become wealthy and had acquired land; the same was +true for wealthy merchants and finally, some non-noble farmers who were +successful in one or another way, bought additional land reaching the +size of large holdings. All "gentry" families owned substantial estates +in the provinces which they leased to tenants on a kind of contract +basis. The tenants, therefore, cannot be called "serfs" although their +factual position often was not different from the position of serfs. The +rents of these tenants, usually about half the gross produce, are the +basis of the livelihood of the gentry. One part of a gentry family +normally lives in the country on a small home farm in order to be able +to collect the rents. If the family can acquire more land and if this +new land is too far away from the home farm to make collection of rents +easy, a new home farm is set up under the control of another branch of +the family. But the original home remains to be regarded as the real +family centre. + +In a typical gentry family, another branch of the family is in the +capital or in a provincial administrative centre in official positions. +These officials at the same time are the most highly educated members +of the family and are often called the "literati". There are also always +individual family members who are not interested in official careers or +who failed in their careers and live as free "literati" either in the +big cities or on the home farms. It seems, to judge from much later +sources, that the families assisted their most able members to enter the +official careers, while those individuals who were less able were used +in the administration of the farms. This system in combination with the +strong familism of the Chinese, gave a double security to the gentry +families. If difficulties arose in the estates either by attacks of +bandits or by war or other catastrophes, the family members in official +positions could use their influence and power to restore the property in +the provinces. If, on the other hand, the family members in official +positions lost their positions or even their lives by displeasing the +court, the home branch could always find ways to remain untouched and +could, in a generation or two, recruit new members and regain power and +influence in the government. Thus, as families, the gentry was secure, +although failures could occur to individuals. There are many gentry +families who remained in the ruling _élite_ for many centuries, some +over more than a thousand years, weathering all vicissitudes of life. +Some authors believe that Chinese leading families generally pass +through a three- or four-generation cycle: a family member by his +official position is able to acquire much land, and his family moves +upward. He is able to give the best education and other facilities to +his sons who lead a good life. But either these sons or the grandsons +are spoiled and lazy; they begin to lose their property and status. The +family moves downward, until in the fourth or fifth generation a new +rise begins. Actual study of families seems to indicate that this is not +true. The main branch of the family retains its position over centuries. +But some of the branch families, created often by the less able family +members, show a tendency towards downward social mobility. + +It is clear from the above that a gentry family should be interested in +having a fair number of children. The more sons they have, the more +positions of power the family can occupy and thus, the more secure it +will be; the more daughters they have, the more "political" marriages +they can conclude, i.e. marriages with sons of other gentry families in +positions of influence. Therefore, gentry families in China tend to be, +on the average, larger than ordinary families, while in our Western +countries the leading families usually were smaller than the lower class +families. This means that gentry families produced more children than +was necessary to replenish the available leading positions; thus, some +family members had to get into lower positions and had to lose status. +In view of this situation it was very difficult for lower class families +to achieve access into this gentry group. In European countries the +leading _élite_ did not quite replenish their ranks in the next +generation, so that there was always some chance for the lower classes +to move up into leading ranks. The gentry society was, therefore, a +comparably stable society with little upward social mobility but with +some downward mobility. As a whole and for reasons of gentry +self-interest, the gentry stood for stability and against change. + +The gentry members in the bureaucracy collaborated closely with one +another because they were tied together by bonds of blood or marriage. +It was easy for them to find good tutors for their children, because a +pupil owed a debt of gratitude to his teacher and a child from a gentry +family could later on nicely repay this debt; often, these teachers +themselves were members of other gentry families. It was easy for sons +of the gentry to get into official positions, because the people who had +to recommend them for office were often related to them or knew the +position of their family. In Han time, local officials had the duty to +recommend young able men; if these men turned out to be good, the +officials were rewarded, if not they were blamed or even punished. An +official took less of a chance, if he recommended a son of an +influential family, and he obliged such a candidate so that he could +later count on his help if he himself should come into difficulties. +When, towards the end of the second century B.C., a kind of examination +system was introduced, this attitude was not basically changed. + +The country branch of the family by the fact that it controlled large +tracts of land, supplied also the logical tax collectors: they had the +standing and power required for this job. Even if they were appointed in +areas other than their home country (a rule which later was usually +applied), they knew the gentry families of the other district or were +related to them and got their support by appointing their members as +their assistants. + +Gentry society continued from Kao Tsu's time to 1948, but it went +through a number of phases of development and changed considerably in +time. We will later outline some of the most important changes. In +general the number of politically leading gentry families was around one +hundred (texts often speak of "the hundred families" in this time) and +they were concentrated in the capital; the most important home seats of +these families in Han time were close to the capital and east of it or +in the plains of eastern China, at that time the main centre of grain +production. + +We regard roughly the first one thousand years of "Gentry Society" as +the period of the Chinese "Middle Ages", beginning with the Han dynasty; +the preceding time of the Ch'in was considered as a period of +transition, a time in which the feudal period of "Antiquity" came to a +formal end and a new organization of society began to become visible. +Even those authors who do not accept a sociological classification of +periods and many authors who use Marxist categories, believe that with +Ch'in and Han a new era in Chinese history began. + + + + +2 _Situation of the Hsiung-nu empire; its relation to the Han empire. +Incorporation of South China_ + + +In the time of the Ch'in dynasty there had already come into unpleasant +prominence north of the Chinese frontier the tribal union, then +relatively small, of the Hsiung-nu. Since then, the Hsiung-nu empire had +destroyed the federation of the Yüeh-chih tribes (some of which seem to +have been of Indo-European language stock) and incorporated their people +into their own federation; they had conquered also the less well +organized eastern pastoral tribes, the Tung-hu and thus had become a +formidable power. Everything goes to show that it had close relations +with the territories of northern China. Many Chinese seem to have +migrated to the Hsiung-nu empire, where they were welcome as artisans +and probably also as farmers; but above all they were needed for the +staffing of a new state administration. The scriveners in the newly +introduced state secretariat were Chinese and wrote Chinese, for at that +time the Hsiung-nu apparently had no written language. There were +Chinese serving as administrators and court officials, and even as +instructors in the army administration, teaching the art of warfare +against non-nomads. But what was the purpose of all this? Mao Tun, the +second ruler of the Hsiung-nu, and his first successors undoubtedly +intended ultimately to conquer China, exactly as many other northern +peoples after them planned to do, and a few of them did. The main +purpose of this was always to bring large numbers of peasants under the +rule of the nomad rulers and so to solve, once for all, the problem of +the provision of additional winter food. Everything that was needed, and +everything that seemed to be worth trying to get as they grew more +civilized, would thus be obtained better and more regularly than by +raids or by tedious commercial negotiations. But if China was to be +conquered and ruled there must exist a state organization of equal +authority to hers; the Hsiung-nu ruler must himself come forward as Son +of Heaven and develop a court ceremonial similar to that of a Chinese +emperor. Thus the basis of the organization of the Hsiung-nu state lay +in its rivalry with the neighbouring China; but the details naturally +corresponded to the special nature of the Hsiung-nu social system. The +young Hsiung-nu feudal state differed from the ancient Chinese feudal +state not only in depending on a nomad economy with only supplementary +agriculture, but also in possessing, in addition to a whole class of +nobility and another of commoners, a stratum of slavery to be analysed +further below. Similar to the Chou state, the Hsiung-nu state contained, +especially around the ruler, an element of court bureaucracy which, +however, never developed far enough to replace the basically feudal +character of administration. + +Thus Kao Tsu was faced in Mao Tun not with a mere nomad chieftain but +with the most dangerous of enemies, and Kao Tsu's policy had to be +directed to preventing any interference of the Hsiung-nu in North +Chinese affairs, and above all to preventing alliances between Hsiung-nu +and Chinese. Hsiung-nu alone, with their technique of horsemen's +warfare, would scarcely have been equal to the permanent conquest of the +fortified towns of the north and the Great Wall, although they +controlled a population which may have been in excess of 2,000,000 +people. But they might have succeeded with Chinese aid. Actually a +Chinese opponent of Kao Tsu had already come to terms with Mao Tun, and +in 200 B.C. Kao Tsu was very near suffering disaster in northern Shansi, +as a result of which China would have come under the rule of the +Hsiung-nu. But it did not come to that, and Mao Tun made no further +attempt, although the opportunity came several times. Apparently the +policy adopted by his court was not imperialistic but national, in the +uncorrupted sense of the word. It was realized that a country so thickly +populated as China could only be administered from a centre within +China. The Hsiung-nu would thus have had to abandon their home territory +and rule in China itself. That would have meant abandoning the flocks, +abandoning nomad life, and turning into Chinese. The main supporters of +the national policy, the first principle of which was loyalty to the old +ways of life, seem to have been the tribal chieftains. Mao Tun fell in +with their view, and the Hsiung-nu maintained their state as long as +they adhered to that principle--for some seven hundred years. Other +nomad peoples, Toba, Mongols, and Manchus, followed the opposite policy, +and before long they were caught in the mechanism of the much more +highly developed Chinese economy and culture, and each of them +disappeared from the political scene in the course of a century or so. + +The national line of policy of the Hsiung-nu did not at all mean an end +of hostilities and raids on Chinese territory, so that Kao Tsu declared +himself ready to give the Hsiung-nu the foodstuffs and clothing +materials they needed if they would make an end of their raids. A treaty +to this effect was concluded, and sealed by the marriage of a Chinese +princess with Mao Tun. This was the first international treaty in the +Far East between two independent powers mutually recognized as equals, +and the forms of international diplomacy developed in this time remained +the standard forms for the next thousand years. The agreement was +renewed at the accession of each new ruler, but was never adhered to +entirely by either side. The needs of the Hsiung-nu increased with the +expansion of their empire and the growing luxury of their court; the +Chinese, on the other hand, wanted to give as little as possible, and no +doubt they did all they could to cheat the Hsiung-nu. Thus, in spite of +the treaties the Hsiung-nu raids went on. With China's progressive +consolidation, the voluntary immigration of Chinese into the Hsiung-nu +empire came to an end, and the Hsiung-nu actually began to kidnap +Chinese subjects. These were the main features of the relations between +Chinese and Hsiung-nu almost until 100 B.C. + +In the extreme south, around the present-day Canton, another independent +empire had been formed in the years of transition, under the leadership +of a Chinese. The narrow basis of this realm was no doubt provided by +the trading colonies, but the indigenous population of Yüeh tribes was +insufficiently civilized for the building up of a state that could have +maintained itself against China. Kao Tsu sent a diplomatic mission to +the ruler of this state, and invited him to place himself under Chinese +suzerainty (196 B.C.). The ruler realized that he could offer no serious +resistance, while the existing circumstances guaranteed him virtual +independence and he yielded to Kao Tsu without a struggle. + +3 _Brief feudal reaction. Consolidation of the gentry_ + +Kao Tsu died in 195 B.C. From then to 179 the actual ruler was his +widow, the empress Lü, while children were officially styled emperors. +The empress tried to remove all the representatives of the emperor's +family and to replace them with members of her own family. To secure her +position she revived the feudal system, but she met with strong +resistance from the dynasty and its supporters who already belonged in +many cases to the new gentry, and who did not want to find their +position jeopardized by the creation of new feudal lords. + +On the death of the empress her opponents rose, under the leadership of +Kao Tsu's family. Every member of the empress's family was exterminated, +and a son of Kao Tsu, known later under the name of Wen Ti (Emperor +Wen), came to the throne. He reigned from 179 to 157 B.C. Under him +there were still many fiefs, but with the limitation which the emperor +Kao Tsu had laid down shortly before his death: only members of the +imperial family should receive fiefs, to which the title of King was +attached. Thus all the more important fiefs were in the hands of the +imperial family, though this did not mean that rivalries came to an end. + +On the whole Wen Ti's period of rule passed in comparative peace. For +the first time since the beginning of Chinese history, great areas of +continuous territory were under unified rule, without unending internal +warfare such as had existed under Shih Huang-ti and Kao Tsu. The +creation of so extensive a region of peace produced great economic +advance. The burdens that had lain on the peasant population were +reduced, especially since under Wen Ti the court was very frugal. The +population grew and cultivated fresh land, so that production increased +and with it the exchange of goods. The most outstanding sign of this was +the abandonment of restrictions on the minting of copper coin, in order +to prevent deflation through insufficiency of payment media. As a +consequence more taxes were brought in, partly in kind, partly in coin, +and this increased the power of the central government. The new gentry +streamed into the towns, their standard of living rose, and they made +themselves more and more into a class apart from the general population. +As people free from material cares, they were able to devote themselves +to scholarship. They went back to the old writings and studied them once +more. They even began to identify themselves with the nobles of feudal +times, to adopt the rules of good behaviour and the ceremonial described +in the Confucianist books, and very gradually, as time went on, to make +these their textbooks of good form. From this point the Confucianist +ideals first began to penetrate the official class recruited from the +gentry, and then the state organization itself. It was expected that an +official should be versed in Confucianism, and schools were set up for +Confucianist education. Around 100 B.C. this led to the introduction of +the examination system, which gradually became the one method of +selection of new officials. The system underwent many changes, but +remained in operation in principle until 1904. The object of the +examinations was not to test job efficiency but command of the ideals of +the gentry and knowledge of the literature inculcating them: this was +regarded as sufficient qualification for any position in the service of +the state. + +In theory this path to training of character and to admission to the +state service was open to every "respectable" citizen. Of the +traditional four "classes" of Chinese society, only the first two, +officials (_shih_) and farmers (_nung_) were always regarded as fully +"respectable" (_liang-min_). Members of the other two classes, artisans +(_kung_) and merchants (_shang_), were under numerous restrictions. +Below these were classes of "lowly people" (_ch'ien-min_) and below +these the slaves which were not part of society proper. The privileges +and obligations of these categories were soon legally fixed. In +practice, during the first thousand years of the existence of the +examination system no peasant had a chance to become an official by +means of the examinations. In the Han period the provincial officials +had to propose suitable young persons for examination, and so for +admission to the state service, as was already mentioned. In addition, +schools had been instituted for the sons of officials; it is interesting +to note that there were, again and again, complaints about the low level +of instruction in these schools. Nevertheless, through these schools all +sons of officials, whatever their capacity or lack of capacity, could +become officials in their turn. In spite of its weaknesses, the system +had its good side. It inoculated a class of people with ideals that were +unquestionably of high ethical value. The Confucian moral system gave a +Chinese official or any member of the gentry a spiritual attitude and an +outward bearing which in their best representatives has always commanded +respect, an integrity that has always preserved its possessors, and in +consequence Chinese society as a whole, from moral collapse, from +spiritual nihilism, and has thus contributed to the preservation of +Chinese cultural values in spite of all foreign conquerors. + +In the time of Wen Ti and especially of his successors, the revival at +court of the Confucianist ritual and of the earlier Heaven-worship +proceeded steadily. The sacrifices supposed to have been performed in +ancient times, the ritual supposed to have been prescribed for the +emperor in the past, all this was reintroduced. Obviously much of it was +spurious: much of the old texts had been lost, and when fragments were +found they were arbitrarily completed. Moreover, the old writing was +difficult to read and difficult to understand; thus various things were +read into the texts without justification. The new Confucians who came +forward as experts in the moral code were very different men from their +predecessors; above all, like all their contemporaries, they were +strongly influenced by the shamanistic magic that had developed in the +Ch'in period. + +Wen Ti's reign had brought economic advance and prosperity; +intellectually it had been a period of renaissance, but like every such +period it did not simply resuscitate what was old, but filled the +ancient moulds with an entirely new content. Socially the period had +witnessed the consolidation of the new upper class, the gentry, who +copied the mode of life of the old nobility. This is seen most clearly +in the field of law. In the time of the Legalists the first steps had +been taken in the codification of the criminal law. They clearly +intended these laws to serve equally for all classes of the people. The +Ch'in code which was supposedly Li K'uei's code, was used in the Han +period, and was extensively elaborated by Siao Ho (died 193 B.C.) and +others. This code consisted of two volumes of the chief laws for grave +cases, one of mixed laws for the less serious cases, and six volumes on +the imposition of penalties. In the Han period "decisions" were added, +so that about A.D. 200 the code had grown to 26,272 paragraphs with over +17,000,000 words. The collection then consisted of 960 volumes. This +colossal code has been continually revised, abbreviated, or expanded, +and under its last name of "Collected Statues of the Manchu Dynasty" it +retained its validity down to the present century. + +Alongside this collection there was another book that came to be +regarded and used as a book of precedences. The great Confucianist +philosopher Tung Chung-shu (179-104 B.C.), a firm supporter of the +ideology of the new gentry class, declared that the classic Confucianist +writings, and especially the book _Ch'un-ch'iu_, "Annals of Spring and +Autumn", attributed to Confucius himself, were essentially books of +legal decisions. They contained "cases" and Confucius's decisions of +them. Consequently any case at law that might arise could be decided by +analogy with the cases contained in "Annals of Spring and Autumn". Only +an educated person, of course, a member of the gentry, could claim that +his action should be judged by the decisions of Confucius and not by the +code compiled for the common people, for Confucius had expressly stated +that his rules were intended only for the upper class. Thus, right down +to modern times an educated person could be judged under regulations +different from those applicable to the common people, or if judged on +the basis of the laws, he had to expect a special treatment. The +principle of the "equality before the law" which the Legalists had +advocated and which fitted well into the absolutistic, totalitarian +system of the Ch'in, had been attacked by the feudal nobility at that +time and was attacked by the new gentry of the Han time. Legalist +thinking remained an important undercurrent for many centuries to come, +but application of the equalitarian principle was from now on never +seriously considered. + +Against the growing influence of the officials belonging to the gentry +there came a last reaction. It came as a reply to the attempt of a +representative of the gentry to deprive the feudal princes of the whole +of their power. In the time of Wen Ti's successor a number of feudal +kings formed an alliance against the emperor, and even invited the +Hsiung-nu to join them. The Hsiung-nu did not do so, because they saw +that the rising had no prospect of success, and it was quelled. After +that the feudal princes were steadily deprived of rights. They were +divided into two classes, and only privileged ones were permitted to +live in the capital, the others being required to remain in their +domains. At first, the area was controlled by a "minister" of the +prince, an official of the state; later the area remained under normal +administration and the feudal prince kept only an empty title; the tax +income of a certain number of families of an area was assigned to him +and transmitted to him by normal administrative channels. Often, the +number of assigned families was fictional in that the actual income was +from far fewer families. This system differs from the Near Eastern +system in which also no actual enforcement took place, but where +deserving men were granted the right to collect themselves the taxes of +a certain area with certain numbers of families. + +Soon after this the whole government was given the shape which it +continued to have until A.D. 220, and which formed the point of +departure for all later forms of government. At the head of the state +was the emperor, in theory the holder of absolute power in the state +restricted only by his responsibility towards "Heaven", i.e. he had to +follow and to enforce the basic rules of morality, otherwise "Heaven" +would withdraw its "mandate", the legitimation of the emperor's rule, +and would indicate this withdrawal by sending natural catastrophes. Time +and again we find emperors publicly accusing themselves for their faults +when such catastrophes occurred; and to draw the emperor's attention to +actual or made-up calamities or celestial irregularities was one way to +criticize an emperor and to force him to change his behaviour. There are +two other indications which show that Chinese emperors--excepting a few +individual cases--at least in the first ten centuries of gentry society +were not despots: it can be proved that in some fields the +responsibility for governmental action did not lie with the emperor but +with some of his ministers. Secondly, the emperor was bound by the law +code: he could not change it nor abolish it. We know of cases in which +the ruler disregarded the code, but then tried to "defend" his arbitrary +action. Each new dynasty developed a new law code, usually changing only +details of the punishment, not the basic regulations. Rulers could issue +additional "regulations", but these, too, had to be in the spirit of +the general code and the existing moral norms. This situation has some +similarity to the situation in Muslim countries. At the ruler's side +were three counsellors who had, however, no active functions. The real +conduct of policy lay in the hands of the "chancellor", or of one of the +"nine ministers". Unlike the practice with which we are familiar in the +West, the activities of the ministries (one of them being the court +secretariat) were concerned primarily with the imperial palace. As, +however, the court secretariat, one of the nine ministries, was at the +same time a sort of imperial statistical office, in which all economic, +financial, and military statistical material was assembled, decisions on +issues of critical importance for the whole country could and did come +from it. The court, through the Ministry of Supplies, operated mines and +workshops in the provinces and organized the labour service for public +constructions. The court also controlled centrally the conscription for +the general military service. Beside the ministries there was an +extensive administration of the capital with its military guards. The +various parts of the country, including the lands given as fiefs to +princes, had a local administration, entirely independent of the central +government and more or less elaborated according to their size. The +regional administration was loosely associated with the central +government through a sort of primitive ministry of the interior, and +similarly the Chinese representatives in the protectorates, that is to +say the foreign states which had submitted to Chinese protective +overlordship, were loosely united with a sort of foreign ministry in the +central government. When a rising or a local war broke out, that was the +affair of the officer of the region concerned. If the regional troops +were insufficient, those of the adjoining regions were drawn upon; if +even these were insufficient, a real "state of war" came into being; +that is to say, the emperor appointed eight generals-in-chief, mobilized +the imperial troops, and intervened. This imperial army then had +authority over the regional and feudal troops, the troops of the +protectorates, the guards of the capital, and those of the imperial +palace. At the end of the war the imperial army was demobilized and the +generals-in-chief were transferred to other posts. + +In all this there gradually developed a division into civil and military +administration. A number of regions would make up a province with a +military governor, who was in a sense the representative of the imperial +army, and who was supposed to come into activity only in the event of +war. + +This administration of the Han period lacked the tight organization that +would make precise functioning possible. On the other hand, an +extremely important institution had already come into existence in a +primitive form. As central statistical authority, the court secretariat +had a special position within the ministries and supervised the +administration of the other offices. Thus there existed alongside the +executive a means of independent supervision of it, and the resulting +rivalry enabled the emperor or the chancellor to detect and eliminate +irregularities. Later, in the system of the T'ang period (A.D. 618-906), +this institution developed into an independent censorship, and the +system was given a new form as a "State and Court Secretariat", in which +the whole executive was comprised and unified. Towards the end of the +T'ang period the permanent state of war necessitated the permanent +commissioning of the imperial generals-in-chief and of the military +governors, and as a result there came into existence a "Privy Council of +State", which gradually took over functions of the executive. The system +of administration in the Han and in the T'ang period is shown in the +following table: + + _Han epoch_ _T'ang epoch_ + + 1. Emperor 1. Emperor + + 2. Three counsellors to the emperor 2. Three counsellors and three + (with no active functions) assistants (with no active + functions) + + 3. Eight supreme generals (only 3. Generals and Governors-General + appointed in time of war) (only appointed in time of + war; but in practice + continuously in office) + + 4. --------------------------- 4. (a) State secretariat + (1) Central secretariat + (2) Secretariat of the Crown + (3) Secretariat of the Palace + and imperial historical + commission + (b) Emperor's Secretariat + (1) Private Archives + (2) Court Adjutants' Office + (3) Harem administration + + 5. Court administration 5. Court administration + (Ministries) (Ministries) + (1) Ministry for state (1) Ministry for state + sacrifices sacrifices + (2) Ministry for imperial (2) Ministry for imperial + coaches and horses coaches and horses + (3) Ministry for justice at (3) Ministry for justice at + court court + (4) Ministry for receptions (4) Ministry for receptions + (i.e. foreign affairs) + (5) Ministry for ancestors' (5) Ministry for ancestors' + temples temples + (6) Ministry for supplies to (6) Ministry for supplies to + the court the court + (7) Ministry for the harem (7) Economic and financial + Ministry + (8) Ministry for the palace (8) Ministry for the payment + guards of salaries + (9) Ministry for the court (9) Ministry for armament + (state secretariat) and magazines + + 6. Administration of the 6. Administration of the + capital: capital: + (1) Crown prince's palace (1) Crown prince's palace + (2) Security service for the (2) Palace guards and guards' + capital office + (3) Capital administration: (3) Arms production department + (a) Guards of the capital + (b) Guards of the city gates + (c) Building department + (4) Labour service department + (5) Building department + (6) Transport department + (7) Department for education + (of sons of officials!) + + 7. Ministry of the Interior 7. Ministry of the Interior + (Provincial administration) (Provincial administration) + + 8. Foreign Ministry 8. --------------------------- + + 9. Censorship (Audit council) + +There is no denying that according to our standard this whole system was +still elementary and "personal", that is to say, attached to the +emperor's person--though it should not be overlooked that we ourselves +are not yet far from a similar phase of development. To this day the +titles of not a few of the highest officers of state--the Lord Privy +Seal, for instance--recall that in the past their offices were conceived +as concerned purely with the personal service of the monarch. In one +point, however, the Han administrative set-up was quite modern: it +already had a clear separation between the emperor's private treasury +and the state treasury; laws determined which of the two received +certain taxes and which had to make certain payments. This separation, +which in Europe occurred not until the late Middle Ages, in China was +abolished at the end of the Han Dynasty. + +The picture changes considerably to the advantage of the Chinese as +soon as we consider the provincial administration. The governor of a +province, and each of his district officers or prefects, had a staff +often of more than a hundred officials. These officials were drawn from +the province or prefecture and from the personal friends of the +administrator, and they were appointed by the governor or the prefect. +The staff was made up of officials responsible for communications with +the central or provincial administration (private secretary, controller, +finance officer), and a group of officials who carried on the actual +local administration. There were departments for transport, finance, +education, justice, medicine (hygiene), economic and military affairs, +market control, and presents (which had to be made to the higher +officials at the New Year and on other occasions). In addition to these +offices, organized in a quite modern style, there was an office for +advising the governor and another for drafting official documents and +letters. + +The interesting feature of this system is that the provincial +administration was _de facto_ independent of the central administration, +and that the governor and even his prefects could rule like kings in +their regions, appointing and discharging as they chose. This was a +vestige of feudalism, but on the other hand it was a healthy check +against excessive centralization. It is thanks to this system that even +the collapse of the central power or the cutting off of a part of the +empire did not bring the collapse of the country. In a remote frontier +town like Tunhuang, on the border of Turkestan, the life of the local +Chinese went on undisturbed whether communication with the capital was +maintained or was broken through invasions by foreigners. The official +sent from the centre would be liable at any time to be transferred +elsewhere; and he had to depend on the practical knowledge of his +subordinates, the members of the local families of the gentry. These +officials had the local government in their hands, and carried on the +administration of places like Tunhuang through a thousand years and +more. The Hsin family, for instance, was living there in 50 B.C. and was +still there in A.D. 950; and so were the Yin, Ling-hu, Li, and K'ang +families. + +All the officials of the various offices or Ministries were appointed +under the state examination system, but they had no special professional +training; only for the more important subordinate posts were there +specialists, such as jurists, physicians, and so on. A change came +towards the end of the T'ang period, when a Department of Commerce and +Monopolies was set up; only specialists were appointed to it, and it was +placed directly under the emperor. Except for this, any official could +be transferred from any ministry to any other without regard to his +experience. + +4 _Turkestan policy. End of the Hsiung-nu empire_ + +In the two decades between 160 and 140 B.C. there had been further +trouble with the Hsiung-nu, though there was no large-scale fighting. +There was a fundamental change of policy under the next emperor, Wu (or +Wu Ti, 141-86 B.C.). The Chinese entered for the first time upon an +active policy against the Hsiung-nu. There seem to have been several +reasons for this policy, and several objectives. The raids of the +Hsiung-nu from the Ordos region and from northern Shansi had shown +themselves to be a direct menace to the capital and to its extremely +important hinterland. Northern Shansi is mountainous, with deep ravines. +A considerable army on horseback could penetrate some distance to the +south before attracting attention. Northern Shensi and the Ordos region +are steppe country, in which there were very few Chinese settlements and +through which an army of horsemen could advance very quickly. It was +therefore determined to push back the Hsiung-nu far enough to remove +this threat. It was also of importance to break the power of the +Hsiung-nu in the province of Kansu, and to separate them as far as +possible from the Tibetans living in that region, to prevent any union +between those two dangerous adversaries. A third point of importance was +the safeguarding of caravan routes. The state, and especially the +capital, had grown rich through Wen Ti's policy. Goods streamed into the +capital from all quarters. Commerce with central Asia had particularly +increased, bringing the products of the Middle East to China. The +caravan routes passed through western Shensi and Kansu to eastern +Turkestan, but at that time the Hsiung-nu dominated the approaches to +Turkestan and were in a position to divert the trade to themselves or +cut it off. The commerce brought profit not only to the caravan traders, +most of whom were probably foreigners, but to the officials in the +provinces and prefectures through which the routes passed. Thus the +officials in western China were interested in the trade routes being +brought under direct control, so that the caravans could arrive +regularly and be immune from robbery. Finally, the Chinese government +may well have regarded it as little to its honour to be still paying +dues to the Hsiung-nu and sending princesses to their rulers, now that +China was incomparably wealthier and stronger than at the time when that +policy of appeasement had begun. + +[Illustration: Map 3. China in the struggle with the Huns or Hsiung Nu +(_roughly 128-100 B.C._)] + +The first active step taken was to try, in 133 B.C., to capture the +head of the Hsiung-nu state, who was called a _shan-yü_ but the +_shan-yü_ saw through the plan and escaped. There followed a period of +continuous fighting until 119 B.C. The Chinese made countless attacks, +without lasting success. But the Hsiung-nu were weakened, one sign of +this being that there were dissensions after the death of the _shan-yü_ +Chün-ch'en, and in 127 B.C. his son went over to the Chinese. Finally +the Chinese altered their tactics, advancing in 119 B.C. with a strong +army of cavalry, which suffered enormous losses but inflicted serious +loss on the Hsiung-nu. After that the Hsiung-nu withdrew farther to the +north, and the Chinese settled peasants in the important region of +Kansu. + +Meanwhile, in 125 B.C., the famous Chang Ch'ien had returned. He had +been sent in 138 to conclude an alliance with the Yüeh-chih against the +Hsiung-nu. The Yüeh-chih had formerly been neighbours of the Hsiung-nu +as far as the Ala Shan region, but owing to defeat by the Hsiung-nu +their remnants had migrated to western Turkestan. Chang Ch'ien had +followed them. Politically he had no success, but he brought back +accurate information about the countries in the far west, concerning +which nothing had been known beyond the vague reports of merchants. Now +it was learnt whence the foreign goods came and whither the Chinese +goods went. Chang Ch'ien's reports (which are one of the principal +sources for the history of central Asia at that remote time) +strengthened the desire to enter into direct and assured commercial +relations with those distant countries. The government evidently thought +of getting this commerce into its own hands. The way to do this was to +impose "tribute" on the countries concerned. The idea was that the +missions bringing the annual "tribute" would be a sort of state +bartering commissions. The state laid under tribute must supply +specified goods at its own cost, and received in return Chinese produce, +the value of which was to be roughly equal to the "tribute". Thus Chang +Ch'ien's reports had the result that, after the first successes against +the Hsiung-nu, there was increased interest in a central Asian policy. +The greatest military success were the campaigns of General Li Kuang-li +to Ferghana in 104 and 102 B.C. The result of the campaigns was to bring +under tribute all the small states in the Tarim basin and some of the +states of western Turkestan. From now on not only foreign consumer goods +came freely into China, but with them a great number of other things, +notably plants such as grape, peach, pomegranate. + +In 108 B.C. the western part of Korea was also conquered. Korea was +already an important transit region for the trade with Japan. Thus this +trade also came under the direct influence of the Chinese government. +Although this conquest represented a peril to the eastern flank of the +Hsiung-nu, it did not by any means mean that they were conquered. The +Hsiung-nu while weakened evaded the Chinese pressure, but in 104 B.C. +and again in 91 they inflicted defeats on the Chinese. The Hsiung-nu +were indirectly threatened by Chinese foreign policy, for the Chinese +concluded an alliance with old enemies of the Hsiung-nu, the Wu-sun, in +the north of the Tarim basin. This made the Tarim basin secure for the +Chinese, and threatened the Hsiung-nu with a new danger in their rear. +Finally the Chinese did all they could through intrigue, espionage, and +sabotage to promote disunity and disorder within the Hsiung-nu, though +it cannot be seen from the Chinese accounts how far the Chinese were +responsible for the actual conflicts and the continual changes of +_shan-yü_. Hostilities against the Hsiung-nu continued incessantly, +after the death of Wu Ti, under his successor, so that the Hsiung-nu +were further weakened. In consequence of this it was possible to rouse +against them other tribes who until then had been dependent on them--the +Ting-ling in the north and the Wu-huan in the east. The internal +difficulties of the Hsiung-nu increased further. + +Wu Ti's active policy had not been directed only against the Hsiung-nu. +After heavy fighting he brought southern China, with the region round +Canton, and the south-eastern coast, firmly under Chinese dominion--in +this case again on account of trade interests. No doubt there were +already considerable colonies of foreign merchants in Canton and other +coastal towns, trading in Indian and Middle East goods. The traders seem +often to have been Sogdians. The southern wars gave Wu Ti the control of +the revenues from this commerce. He tried several times to advance +through Yünnan in order to secure a better land route to India, but +these attempts failed. Nevertheless, Chinese influence became stronger +in the south-west. + +In spite of his long rule, Wu Ti did not leave an adult heir, as the +crown prince was executed, with many other persons, shortly before Wu +Ti's death. The crown prince had been implicated in an alleged attempt +by a large group of people to remove the emperor by various sorts of +magic. It is difficult to determine today what lay behind this affair; +probably it was a struggle between two cliques of the gentry. Thus a +regency council had to be set up for the young heir to the throne; it +included a member of a Hsiung-nu tribe. The actual government was in the +hands of a general and his clique until the death of the heir to the +throne, and at the beginning of his successor's reign. + +At this time came the end of the Hsiung-nu empire--a foreign event of +the utmost importance. As a result of the continual disastrous wars +against the Chinese, in which not only many men but, especially, large +quantities of cattle fell into Chinese hands, the livelihood of the +Hsiung-nu was seriously threatened; their troubles were increased by +plagues and by unusually severe winters. To these troubles were added +political difficulties, including unsettled questions in regard to the +succession to the throne. The result of all this was that the Hsiung-nu +could no longer offer effective military resistance to the Chinese. +There were a number of _shan-yü_ ruling contemporaneously as rivals, and +one of them had to yield to the Chinese in 58 B.C.; in 51 he came as a +vassal to the Chinese court. The collapse of the Hsiung-nu empire was +complete. After 58 B.C. the Chinese were freed from all danger from that +quarter and were able, for a time, to impose their authority in Central +Asia. + +5 _Impoverishment. Cliques. End of the Dynasty_ + +In other respects the Chinese were not doing as well as might have been +assumed. The wars carried on by Wu Ti and his successors had been +ruinous. The maintenance of large armies of occupation in the new +regions, especially in Turkestan, also meant a permanent drain on the +national funds. There was a special need for horses, for the people of +the steppes could only be fought by means of cavalry. As the Hsiung-nu +were supplying no horses, and the campaigns were not producing horses +enough as booty, the peasants had to rear horses for the government. +Additional horses were bought at very high prices, and apart from this +the general financing of the wars necessitated increased taxation of the +peasants, a burden on agriculture no less serious than was the enrolment +of many peasants for military service. Finally, the new external trade +did not by any means bring the advantages that had been hoped for. The +tribute missions brought tribute but, to begin with, this meant an +obligation to give presents in return; moreover, these missions had to +be fed and housed in the capital, often for months, as the official +receptions took place only on New Year's Day. Their maintenance entailed +much expense, and meanwhile the members of the missions traded privately +with the inhabitants and the merchants of the capital, buying things +they needed and selling things they had brought in addition to the +tribute. The tribute itself consisted mainly of "precious articles", +which meant strange or rare things of no practical value. The emperor +made use of them as elements of personal luxury, or made presents of +some of them to deserving officials. The gifts offered by the Chinese in +return consisted mainly of silk. Silk was received by the government as +a part of the tax payments and formed an important element of the +revenue of the state. It now went abroad without bringing in any +corresponding return. The private trade carried on by the members of the +missions was equally unserviceable to the Chinese. It, too, took from +them goods of economic value, silk and gold, which went abroad in +exchange for luxury articles of little or no economic importance, such +as glass, precious stones, or stud horses, which in no way benefited the +general population. Thus in this last century B.C. China's economic +situation grew steadily and fairly rapidly worse. The peasants, more +heavily taxed than ever, were impoverished, and yet the exchequer became +not fuller but emptier, so that gold began even to be no longer +available for payments. Wu Ti was aware of the situation and called +different groups together to discuss the problems of economics. Under +the name "Discussions on Salt and Iron" the gist of these talks is +preserved and shows that one group under the leadership of Sang +Hung-yang (143-80 B.C.) was business-oriented and thinking in economic +terms, while their opponents, mainly Confucianists, regarded the +situation mainly as a moral crisis. Sang proposed an "equable +transportation" and a "standardization" system and favoured other state +monopolies and controls; these ideas were taken up later and continued +to be discussed, again and again. + +Already under Wu Ti there had been signs of a development which now +appeared constantly in Chinese history. Among the new gentry, families +entered into alliances with each other, sealed their mutual allegiance +by matrimonial unions, and so formed large cliques. Each clique made it +its concern to get the most important government positions into its +hands, so that it should itself control the government. Under Wu Ti, for +example, almost all the important generals had belonged to a certain +clique, which remained dominant under his two successors. Two of the +chief means of attaining power were for such a clique to give the +emperor a girl from its ranks as wife, and to see to it that all the +eunuchs around the emperor should be persons dependent on the clique. +Eunuchs came generally from the poorer classes; they were launched at +court by members of the great cliques, or quite openly presented to the +emperor. + +The chief influence of the cliques lay, however, in the selection of +officials. It is not surprising that the officials recommended only sons +of people in their own clique--their family or its closest associates. +On top of all this, the examiners were in most cases themselves members +of the same families to which the provincial officials belonged. Thus it +was made doubly certain that only those candidates who were to the +liking of the dominant group among the gentry should pass. + +Surrounded by these cliques, the emperors became in most cases powerless +figureheads. At times energetic rulers were able to play off various +cliques against each other, and so to acquire personal power; but the +weaker emperors found themselves entirely in the hands of cliques. Not a +few emperors in China were removed by cliques which they had attempted +to resist; and various dynasties were brought to their end by the +cliques; this was the fate of the Han dynasty. + +The beginning of its fall came with the activities of the widow of the +emperor Yüan Ti. She virtually ruled in the name of her +eighteen-year-old son, the emperor Ch'eng Ti (32-7 B.C.), and placed all +her brothers, and also her nephew, Wang Mang, in the principal +government posts. They succeeded at first in either removing the +strongest of the other cliques or bringing them into dependence. Within +the Wang family the nephew Wang Mang steadily advanced, securing direct +supporters even in some branches of the imperial family; these +personages declared their readiness to join him in removing the existing +line of the imperial house. When Ch'eng Ti died without issue, a young +nephew of his (Ai Ti, 6-1 B.C.) was placed on the throne by Wang Mang, +and during this period the power of the Wangs and their allies grew +further, until all their opponents had been removed and the influence of +the imperial family very greatly reduced. When Ai Ti died, Wang Mang +placed an eight-year-old boy on the throne, himself acting as regent; +four years later the boy fell ill and died, probably with Wang Mang's +aid. Wang Mang now chose a one-year-old baby, but soon after he felt +that the time had come for officially assuming the rulership. In A.D. 8 +he dethroned the baby, ostensibly at Heaven's command, and declared +himself emperor and first of the Hsin ("new") dynasty. All the members +of the old imperial family in the capital were removed from office and +degraded to commoners, with the exception of those who had already been +supporting Wang Mang. Only those members who held unimportant posts at a +distance remained untouched. + +Wang Mang's "usurpation" is unusual from two points of view. First, he +paid great attention to public opinion and induced large masses of the +population to write petitions to the court asking the Han ruler to +abdicate; he even fabricated "heavenly omina" in his own favour and +against the Han dynasty in order to get wide support even from +intellectuals. Secondly, he inaugurated a formal abdication ceremony, +culminating in the transfer of the imperial seal to himself. This +ceremony became standard for the next centuries. The seal was made of a +precious stone, once presented to the Ch'in dynasty ruler before he +ascended the throne. From now on, the possessor of this seal was the +legitimate ruler. + +6 _The pseudo-socialistic dictatorship. Revolt of the "Red Eyebrows"_ + +Wang Mang's dynasty lasted only from A.D. 9 to 23; but it was one of the +most stirring periods of Chinese history. It is difficult to evaluate +Wang Mang, because all we know about him stems from sources hostile +towards him. Yet we gain the impression that some of his innovations, +such as the legalization of enthronement through the transfer of the +seal; the changes in the administration of provinces and in the +bureaucratic set-up in the capital; and even some of his economic +measures were so highly regarded that they were retained or +reintroduced, although this happened in some instances centuries later +and without mentioning Wang Mang's name. But most of his policies and +actions were certainly neither accepted nor acceptable. He made use of +every conceivable resource in order to secure power to his clique. As +far as possible he avoided using open force, and resorted to a +high-level propaganda. Confucianism, the philosophic basis of the power +of the gentry, served him as a bait; he made use of the so-called "old +character school" for his purposes. When, after the holocaust of books, +it was desired to collect the ancient classics again, texts were found +under strange circumstances in the walls of Confucius's house; they were +written in an archaic script. The people who occupied themselves with +these books were called the old character school. The texts came under +suspicion; most scholars had little belief in their genuineness. Wang +Mang, however, and his creatures energetically supported the cult of +these ancient writings. The texts were edited and issued, and in the +process, as can now be seen, certain things were smuggled into them that +fitted in well with Wang Mang's intentions. He even had other texts +reissued with falsifications. He now represented himself in all his +actions as a man who did with the utmost precision the things which the +books reported of rulers or ministers of ancient times. As regent he had +declared that his model was the brother of the first emperor of the Chou +dynasty; as emperor he took for his exemplar one of the mythical +emperors of ancient China; of his new laws he claimed that they were +simply revivals of decrees of the golden age. In all this he appealed to +the authority of literature that had been tampered with to suit his +aims. Actually, such laws had never before been customary; either Wang +Mang completely misinterpreted passages in an ancient text to suit his +purpose, or he had dicta that suited him smuggled into the text. There +can be no question that Wang Mang and his accomplices began by +deliberately falsifying and deceiving. However, as time went on, he +probably began to believe in his own frauds. + +Wang Mang's great series of certain laws has brought him the name of +"the first Socialist on the throne of China". But closer consideration +reveals that these measures, ostensibly and especially aimed at the good +of the poor, were in reality devised simply in order to fill the +imperial exchequer and to consolidate the imperial power. When we read +of the turning over of great landed estates to the state, do we not +imagine that we are faced with a modern land reform? But this applied +only to the wealthiest of all the landowners, who were to be deprived in +this way of their power. The prohibition of private slave-owning had a +similar purpose, the state reserving to itself the right to keep slaves. +Moreover, landless peasants were to receive land to till, at the expense +of those who possessed too much. This admirable law, however, was not +intended seriously to be carried into effect. Instead, the setting up of +a system of state credits for peasants held out the promise, in spite of +rather reduced interest rates, of important revenue. The peasants had +never been in a position to pay back their private debts together with +the usurious interest, but there were at least opportunities of coming +to terms with a private usurer, whereas the state proved a merciless +creditor. It could dispossess the peasant, and either turn his property +into a state farm, convey it to another owner, or make the peasant a +state slave. Thus this measure worked against the interest of the +peasants, as did the state monopoly of the exploitation of mountains and +lakes. "Mountains and lakes" meant the uncultivated land around +settlements, the "village commons", where people collected firewood or +went fishing. They now had to pay money for fishing rights and for the +right to collect wood, money for the emperor's exchequer. The same +purpose lay behind the wine, salt, and iron tool monopolies. Enormous +revenues came to the state from the monopoly of minting coin, when old +metal coin of full value was called in and exchanged for debased coin. +Another modern-sounding institution, that of the "equalization offices", +was supposed to buy cheap goods in times of plenty in order to sell them +to the people in times of scarcity at similarly low prices, so +preventing want and also preventing excessive price fluctuations. In +actual fact these state offices formed a new source of profit, buying +cheaply and selling as dearly as possible. + +Thus the character of these laws was in no way socialistic; nor, +however, did they provide an El Dorado for the state finances, for Wang +Mang's officials turned all the laws to their private advantage. The +revenues rarely reached the capital; they vanished into the pockets of +subordinate officials. The result was a further serious lowering of the +level of existence of the peasant population, with no addition to the +financial resources of the state. Yet Wang Mang had great need of money, +because he attached importance to display and because he was planning a +new war. He aimed at the final destruction of the Hsiung-nu, so that +access to central Asia should no longer be precarious and it should thus +be possible to reduce the expense of the military administration of +Turkestan. The war would also distract popular attention from the +troubles at home. By way of preparation for war, Wang Mang sent a +mission to the Hsiung-nu with dishonouring proposals, including changes +in the name of the Hsiung-nu and in the title of the _shan-yü_. The name +Hsiung-nu was to be given the insulting change of Hsiang-nu, meaning +"subjugated slaves". The result was that risings of the Hsiung-nu took +place, whereupon Wang Mang commanded that the whole of their country +should be partitioned among fifteen _shan-yü_ and declared the country +to be a Chinese province. Since this declaration had no practical +result, it robbed Wang Mang of the increased prestige he had sought and +only further infuriated the Hsiung-nu. Wang Mang concentrated a vast +army on the frontier. Meanwhile he lost the whole of the possessions in +Turkestan. + +But before Wang Mang's campaign against the Hsiung-nu could begin, the +difficulties at home grew steadily worse. In A.D. 12 Wang Mang felt +obliged to abrogate all his reform legislation because it could not be +carried into effect; and the economic situation proved more lamentable +than ever. There were continual risings, which culminated in A.D. 18 in +a great popular insurrection, a genuine revolutionary rising of the +peasants, whose distress had grown beyond bearing through Wang Mang's +ill-judged measures. The rebels called themselves "Red Eyebrows"; they +had painted their eyebrows red by way of badge and in order to bind +their members indissolubly to their movement. The nucleus of this rising +was a secret society. Such secret societies, usually are harmless, but +may, in emergency situations, become an immensely effective instrument +in the hands of the rural population. The secret societies then organize +the peasants, in order to achieve a forcible settlement of the matter in +dispute. Occasionally, however, the movement grows far beyond its +leaders' original objective and becomes a popular revolutionary +movement, directed against the whole ruling class. That is what happened +on this occasion. Vast swarms of peasants marched to the capital, +killing all officials and people of position on their way. The troops +sent against them by Wang Mang either went over to the Red Eyebrows or +copied them, plundering wherever they could and killing officials. Owing +to the appalling mass murders and the fighting, the forces placed by +Wang Mang along the frontier against the Hsiung-nu received no +reinforcements and, instead of attacking the Hsiung-nu, themselves went +over to plundering, so that ultimately the army simply disintegrated. +Fortunately for China, the _shan-yü_ of the time did not take advantage +of his opportunity, perhaps because his position within the Hsiung-nu +empire was too insecure. + +Scarcely had the popular rising begun when descendants of the deposed +Han dynasty appeared and tried to secure the support of the upper class. +They came forward as fighters against the usurper Wang Mang and as +defenders of the old social order against the revolutionary masses. But +the armies which these Han princes were able to collect were no better +than those of the other sides. They, too, consisted of poor and hungry +peasants, whose aim was to get money or goods by robbery; they too, +plundered and murdered more than they fought. + +However, one prince by the name of Liu Hsiu gradually gained the upper +hand. The basis of his power was the district of Nanyang in Honan, one +of the wealthiest agricultural centres of China at that time and also +the centre of iron and steel production. The big landowners, the gentry +of Nanyang, joined him, and the prince's party conquered the capital. +Wang Mang, placing entire faith in his sanctity, did not flee; he sat in +his robes in the throne-room and recited the ancient writings, convinced +that he would overcome his adversaries by the power of his words. But a +soldier cut off his head (A.D. 22). The skull was kept for two hundred +years in the imperial treasury. The fighting, nevertheless, went on. +Various branches of the prince's party fought one another, and all of +them fought the Red Eyebrows. In those years millions of men came to +their end. Finally, in A.D. 24, Liu Hsiu prevailed, becoming the first +emperor of the second Han dynasty, also called the Later Han dynasty; +his name as emperor was Kuang-wu Ti (A.D. 25-57). + +7 _Reaction and Restoration: the Later Han dynasty_ + +Within the country the period that followed was one of reaction and +restoration. The massacres of the preceding years had so reduced the +population that there was land enough for the peasants who remained +alive. Moreover, their lords and the moneylenders of the towns were +generally no longer alive, so that many peasants had become free of +debt. The government was transferred from Sian to Loyang, in the present +province of Honan. This brought the capital nearer to the great +wheat-producing regions, so that the transport of grain and other taxes +in kind to the capital was cheapened. Soon this cleared foundation was +covered by a new stratum, a very sparse one, of great landowners who +were supporters and members of the new imperial house, largely +descendants of the landowners of the earlier Han period. At first they +were not much in evidence, but they gained power more and more rapidly. +In spite of this, the first half-century of the Later Han period was one +of good conditions on the land and economic recovery. + +8 _Hsiung-nu policy_ + +In foreign policy the first period of the Later Han dynasty was one of +extraordinary success, both in the extreme south and in the question of +the Hsiung-nu. During the period of Wang Mang's rule and the fighting +connected with it, there had been extensive migration to the south and +south-west. Considerable regions of Chinese settlement had come into +existence in Yünnan and even in Annam and Tongking, and a series of +campaigns under General Ma Yuan (14 B.C.-A.D. 49) now added these +regions to the territory of the empire. These wars were carried on with +relatively small forces, as previously in the Canton region, the natives +being unable to offer serious resistance owing to their inferiority in +equipment and civilization. The hot climate, however, to which the +Chinese soldiers were unused, was hard for them to endure. + +The Hsiung-nu, in spite of internal difficulties, had regained +considerable influence in Turkestan during the reign of Wang Mang. But +the king of the city state of Yarkand had increased his power by +shrewdly playing off Chinese and Hsiung-nu against each other, so that +before long he was able to attack the Hsiung-nu. The small states in +Turkestan, however, regarded the overlordship of the distant China as +preferable to that of Yarkand or the Hsiung-nu both of whom, being +nearer, were able to bring their power more effectively into play. +Accordingly many of the small states appealed for Chinese aid. Kuang-wu +Ti met this appeal with a blank refusal, implying that order had only +just been restored in China and that he now simply had not the resources +for a campaign in Turkestan. Thus, the king of Yarkand was able to +extend his power over the remainder of the small states of Turkestan, +since the Hsiung-nu had been obliged to withdraw. Kuang-wu Ti had +several frontier wars with the Hsiung-nu without any decisive result. +But in the years around A.D. 45 the Hsiung-nu had suffered several +severe droughts and also great plagues of locusts, so that they had lost +a large part of their cattle. They were no longer able to assert +themselves in Turkestan and at the same time to fight the Chinese in the +south and the Hsien-pi and the Wu-huan in the east. These two peoples, +apparently largely of Mongol origin, had been subject in the past to +Hsiung-nu overlordship. They had spread steadily in the territories +bordering Manchuria and Mongolia, beyond the eastern frontier of the +Hsiung-nu empire. Living there in relative peace and at the same time in +possession of very fertile pasturage, these two peoples had grown in +strength. And since the great political collapse of 58 B.C. the +Hsiung-nu had not only lost their best pasturage in the north of the +provinces of Shensi and Shansi, but had largely grown used to living in +co-operation with the Chinese. They had become much more accustomed to +trade with China, exchanging animals for textiles and grain, than to +warfare, so that in the end they were defeated by the Hsien-pi and +Wu-huan, who had held to the older form of purely warlike nomad life. +Weakened by famine and by the wars against Wu-huan and Hsien-pi, the +Hsiung-nu split into two, one section withdrawing to the north. + +The southern Hsiung-nu were compelled to submit to the Chinese in order +to gain security from their other enemies. Thus the Chinese were able to +gain a great success without moving a finger: the Hsiung-nu, who for +centuries had shown themselves again and again to be the most dangerous +enemies of China, were reduced to political insignificance. About a +hundred years earlier the Hsiung-nu empire had suffered defeat; now half +of what remained of it became part of the Chinese state. Its place was +taken by the Hsien-pi and Wu-huan, but at first they were of much less +importance. + +In spite of the partition, the northern Hsiung-nu attempted in the years +between A.D. 60 and 70 to regain a sphere of influence in Turkestan; +this seemed the easier for them since the king of Yarkand had been +captured and murdered, and Turkestan was more or less in a state of +confusion. The Chinese did their utmost to play off the northern against +the southern Hsiung-nu and to maintain a political balance of power in +the west and north. So long as there were a number of small states in +Turkestan, of which at least some were friendly to China, Chinese trade +caravans suffered relatively little disturbance on their journeys. +Independent states in Turkestan had proved more profitable for trade +than when a large army of occupation had to be maintained there. When, +however, there appeared to be the danger of a new union of the two +parts of the Hsiung-nu as a restoration of a large empire also +comprising all Turkestan, the Chinese trading monopoly was endangered. +Any great power would secure the best goods for itself, and there would +be no good business remaining for China. For these reasons a great +Chinese campaign was undertaken against Turkestan in A.D. 73 under Tou +Ku. Mainly owing to the ability of the Chinese deputy commander Pan +Ch'ao, the whole of Turkestan was quickly conquered. Meanwhile the +emperor Ming Ti (A.D. 58-75) had died, and under the new emperor Chang +Ti (76-88) the "isolationist" party gained the upper hand against the +clique of Tou Ku and Pan Ch'ao: the danger of the restoration of a +Hsiung-nu empire, the isolationists contended, no longer existed; +Turkestan should be left to itself; the small states would favour trade +with China of their own accord. Meanwhile, a considerable part of +Turkestan had fallen away from China, for Chang Ti sent neither money +nor troops to hold the conquered territories. Pan Ch'ao nevertheless +remained in Turkestan (at Kashgar and Khotan) where he held on amid +countless difficulties. Although he reported (A.D. 78) that the troops +could feed themselves in Turkestan and needed neither supplies nor money +from home, no reinforcements of any importance were sent; only a few +hundred or perhaps a thousand men, mostly released criminals, reached +him. Not until A.D. 89 did the Pan Ch'ao clique return to power when the +mother of the young emperor Ho Ti (89-105) took over the government +during his minority: she was a member of the family of Tou Ku. She was +interested in bringing to a successful conclusion the enterprise which +had been started by members of her family and its followers. In +addition, it can be shown that a number of other members of the "war +party" had direct interests in the west, mainly in form of landed +estates. Accordingly, a campaign was started in 89 under her brother +against the northern Hsiung-nu, and it decided the fate of Turkestan in +China's favour. Turkestan remained firmly in Chinese possession until +the death of Pan Ch'ao in 102. Shortly afterwards heavy fighting broke +out again: the Tanguts advanced from the south in an attempt to cut off +Chinese access to Turkestan. The Chinese drove back the Tanguts and +maintained their hold on Turkestan, though no longer absolutely. + +9 _Economic situation. Rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans". Collapse of +the Han dynasty_ + +The economic results of the Turkestan trade in this period were not so +unfavourable as in the earlier Han period. The army of occupation was +incomparably smaller, and under Pan Ch'ao's policy the soldiers were fed +and paid in Turkestan itself, so that the cost to China remained small. +Moreover, the drain on the national income was no longer serious +because, in the intervening period, regular Chinese settlements had been +planted in Turkestan including Chinese merchants, so that the trade no +longer remained entirely in the hands of foreigners. + +In spite of the economic consolidation at the beginning of the Later Han +dynasty, and in spite of the more balanced trade, the political +situation within China steadily worsened from A.D. 80 onwards. Although +the class of great landowners was small, a number of cliques formed +within it, and their mutual struggle for power soon went beyond the +limits of court intrigue. New actors now came upon the stage, namely the +eunuchs. With the economic improvement there had been a general increase +in the luxury at the court of the Han emperors, and the court steadily +increased in size. The many hundred wives and concubines in the palace +made necessary a great army of eunuchs. As they had the ear of the +emperor and so could influence him, the eunuchs formed an important +political factor. For a time the main struggle was between the group of +eunuchs and the group of scholars. The eunuchs served a particular +clique to which some of the emperor's wives belonged. The scholars, that +is to say the ministers, together with members of the ministries and the +administrative staff, served the interests of another clique. The +struggles grew more and more sanguinary in the middle of the second +century A.D. It soon proved that the group with the firmest hold in the +provinces had the advantage, because it was not easy to control the +provinces from a distance. The result was that, from about A.D. 150, +events at court steadily lost importance, the lead being taken by the +generals commanding the provincial troops. It would carry us too far to +give the details of all these struggles. The provincial generals were at +first Ts'ao Ts'ao, Lü Pu, Yüan Shao, and Sun Ts'ê; later came Liu Pei. +All were striving to gain control of the government, and all were +engaged in mutual hostilities from about 180 onwards. Each general was +also trying to get the emperor into his hands. Several times the last +emperor of the Later Han dynasty, Hsien Ti (190-220), was captured by +one or another of the generals. As the successful general was usually +unable to maintain his hold on the capital, he dragged the poor emperor +with him from place to place until he finally had to give him up to +another general. The point of this chase after the emperor was that +according to the idea introduced earlier by Wang Mang the first ruler of +a new dynasty had to receive the imperial seals from the last emperor +of the previous dynasty. The last emperor must abdicate in proper form. +Accordingly, each general had to get possession of the emperor to begin +with, in order at the proper time to take over the seals. + +By about A.D. 200 the new conditions had more or less crystallized. +There remained only three great parties. The most powerful was that of +Ts'ao Ts'ao, who controlled the north and was able to keep permanent +hold of the emperor. In the west, in the province of Szechwan, Liu Pei +had established himself, and in the south-east Sun Ts'ê's brother. + +But we must not limit our view to these generals' struggles. At this +time there were two other series of events of equal importance with +those. The incessant struggles of the cliques against each other +continued at the expense of the people, who had to fight them and pay +for them. Thus, after A.D. 150 the distress of the country population +grew beyond all limits. Conditions were as disastrous as in the time of +Wang Mang. And once more, as then, a popular movement broke out, that of +the so-called "Yellow Turbans". This was the first of the two important +events. This popular movement had a characteristic which from now on +became typical of all these risings of the people. The intellectual +leaders of the movement, Chang Ling and others, were members of a +particular religious sect. This sect was influenced by Iranian Mazdaism +on the one side and by certain ideas from Lao Tz[)u] on the other side; +and these influences were superimposed on popular rural as well as, +perhaps, local tribal religious beliefs and superstitions. The sect had +roots along the coastal settlements of Eastern China, where it seems to +have gained the support of the peasantry and their local priests. These +priests of the people were opposed to the representatives of the +official religion, that is to say the officials drawn from the gentry. +In small towns and villages the temples of the gods of the fruits of the +field, of the soil, and so on, were administered by authorized local +officials, and these officials also carried out the prescribed +sacrifices. The old temples of the people were either done away with (we +have many edicts of the Han period concerning the abolition of popular +forms of religious worship), or their worship was converted into an +official cult: the all-powerful gentry extended their domination over +religion as well as all else. But the peasants regarded their local +unauthorized priests as their natural leaders against the gentry and +against gentry forms of religion. One branch, probably the main branch +of this movement, developed a stronghold in Eastern Szechwan province, +where its members succeeded to create a state of their own which +retained its independence for a while. It is the only group which +developed real religious communities in which men and women +participated, extensive welfare schemes existed and class differences +were discouraged. It had a real church organization with dioceses, +communal friendship meals and a confession ritual; in short, real piety +developed as it could not develop in the official religions. After the +annihilation of this state, remnants of the organization can be traced +through several centuries, mainly in central and south China. It may +well be that the many "Taoistic" traits which can be found in the +religions of late and present-day Mongolian and Tibetan tribes, can be +derived from this movement of the Yellow Turbans. + +The rising of the Yellow Turbans began in 184; all parties, cliques and +generals alike, were equally afraid of the revolutionaries, since these +were a threat to the gentry as such, and so to all parties. Consequently +a combined army of considerable size was got together and sent against +the rebels. The Yellow Turbans were beaten. + +During these struggles it became evident that Ts'ao Ts'ao with his +troops had become the strongest of all the generals. His troops seem to +have consisted not of Chinese soldiers alone, but also of Hsiung-nu. It +is understandable that the annals say nothing about this, and it can +only be inferred from the facts. It appears that in order to reinforce +their armies the generals recruited not only Chinese but foreigners. The +generals operating in the region of the present-day Peking had soldiers +of the Wu-huan and Hsien-pi, and even of the Ting-ling; Liu Pei, in the +west, made use of Tanguts, and Ts'ao Ts'ao clearly went farthest of all +in this direction; he seems to have been responsible for settling +nineteen tribes of Hsiung-nu in the Chinese province of Shansi between +180 and 200, in return for their armed aid. In this way Ts'ao Ts'ao +gained permanent power in the empire by means of these troops, so that +immediately after his death his son Ts'ao P'ei, with the support of +powerful allied families, was able to force the emperor to abdicate and +to found a new dynasty, the Wei dynasty (A.D. 220). + +This meant, however, that a part of China which for several centuries +had been Chinese was given up to the Hsiung-nu. This was not, of course, +what Ts'ao Ts'ao had intended; he had given the Hsiung-nu some area of +pasturage in Shansi with the idea that they should be controlled and +administered by the officials of the surrounding district. His plan had +been similar to what the Chinese had often done with success: aliens +were admitted into the territory of the empire in a body, but then the +influence of the surrounding administrative centres was steadily +extended over them, until the immigrants completely lost their own +nationality and became Chinese. The nineteen tribes of Hsiung-nu, +however, were much too numerous, and after the prolonged struggles in +China the provincial administration proved much too weak to be able to +carry out the plan. Thus there came into existence here, within China, a +small Hsiung-nu realm ruled by several _shan-yü_. This was the second +major development, and it became of the utmost importance to the history +of the next four centuries. + +10 _Literature and Art_ + +With the development of the new class of the gentry in the Han period, +there was an increase in the number of those who were anxious to +participate in what had been in the past an exclusively aristocratic +possession--education. Thus it is by no mere chance that in this period +many encyclopaedias were compiled. Encyclopaedias convey knowledge in an +easily grasped and easily found form. The first compilation of this sort +dates from the third century B.C. It was the work of Lü Pu wei, the +merchant who was prime minister and regent during the minority of Shih +Huang-ti. It contains general information concerning ceremonies, +customs, historic events, and other things the knowledge of which was +part of a general education. Soon afterwards other encyclopaedias +appeared, of which the best known is the Book of the Mountains and Seas +(_Shan Hai Ching_). This book, arranged according to regions of the +world, contains everything known at the time about geography, natural +philosophy, and the animal and plant world, and also about popular +myths. This tendency to systemization is shown also in the historical +works. The famous _Shih Chi_, one of our main sources for Chinese +history, is the first historical work of the modern type, that is to +say, built up on a definite plan, and it was also the model for all +later official historiography. Its author, Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien (born 135 +B.C.), and his father, made use of the material in the state archives +and of private documents, old historical and philosophical books, +inscriptions, and the results of their own travels. The philosophical +and historical books of earlier times (with the exception of those of +the nature of chronicles) consisted merely of a few dicta or reports of +particular events, but the _Shih Chi_ is a compendium of a mass of +source-material. The documents were abbreviated, but the text of the +extracts was altered as little as possible, so that the general result +retains in a sense the value of an original source. In its arrangement +the _Shih Chi_ became a model for all later historians: the first part +is in the form of annals, and there follow tables concerning the +occupants of official posts and fiefs, and then biographies of various +important personalities, though the type of the comprehensive biography +did not appear till later. The _Shih Chi_ also, like later historical +works, contains many monographs dealing with particular fields of +knowledge, such as astronomy, the calendar, music, economics, official +dress at court, and much else. The whole type of construction differs +fundamentally from such works as those of Thucydides or Herodotus. The +Chinese historical works have the advantage that the section of annals +gives at once the events of a particular year, the monographs describe +the development of a particular field of knowledge, and the biographical +section offers information concerning particular personalities. The +mental attitude is that of the gentry: shortly after the time of +Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien an historical department was founded, in which members +of the gentry worked as historians upon the documents prepared by +representatives of the gentry in the various government offices. + +In addition to encyclopaedias and historical works, many books of +philosophy were written in the Han period, but most of them offer no +fundamentally new ideas. They were the product of the leisure of rich +members of the gentry, and only three of them are of importance. One is +the work of Tung Chung-shu, already mentioned. The second is a book by +Liu An called _Huai-nan Tz[)u]_. Prince Liu An occupied himself with +Taoism and allied problems, gathered around him scholars of different +schools, and carried on discussions with them. Many of his writings are +lost, but enough is extant to show that he was one of the earliest +Chinese alchemists. The question has not yet been settled, but it is +probable that alchemy first appeared in China, together with the cult of +the "art" of prolonging life, and was later carried to the West, where +it flourished among the Arabs and in medieval Europe. + +The third important book of the Han period was the _Lun Hêng_ (Critique +of Opinions) of Wang Ch'ung, which appeared in the first century of the +Christian era. Wang Ch'ung advocated rational thinking and tried to pave +the way for a free natural science, in continuation of the beginnings +which the natural philosophers of the later Chou period had made. The +book analyses reports in ancient literature and customs of daily life, +and shows how much they were influenced by superstition and by ignorance +of the facts of nature. From this attitude a modern science might have +developed, as in Europe towards the end of the Middle Ages; but the +gentry had every reason to play down this tendency which, with its +criticism of all that was traditional, might have proceeded to an attack +on the dominance of the gentry and their oppression especially of the +merchants and artisans. It is fascinating to observe how it was the +needs of the merchants and seafarers of Asia Minor and Greece that +provided the stimulus for the growth of the classic sciences, and how on +the contrary the growth of Chinese science was stifled because the +gentry were so strongly hostile to commerce and navigation, though both +had always existed. + +There were great literary innovations in the field of poetry. The +splendour and elegance at the new imperial court of the Han dynasty +attracted many poets who sang the praises of the emperor and his court +and were given official posts and dignities. These praises were in the +form of grandiloquent, overloaded poetry, full of strange similes and +allusions, but with little real feeling. In contrast, the many women +singers and dancers at the court, mostly slaves from southern China, +introduced at the court southern Chinese forms of song and poem, which +were soon adopted and elaborated by poets. Poems and dance songs were +composed which belonged to the finest that Chinese poetry can show--full +of natural feeling, simple in language, moving in content. + +Our knowledge of the arts is drawn from two sources--literature, and the +actual discoveries in the excavations. Thus we know that most of the +painting was done on silk, of which plenty came into the market through +the control of silk-producing southern China. Paper had meanwhile been +invented in the second century B.C., by perfecting the techniques of +making bark-cloth and felt. Unfortunately nothing remains of the actual +works that were the first examples of what the Chinese everywhere were +beginning to call "art". "People", that is to say the gentry, painted as +a social pastime, just as they assembled together for poetry, +discussion, or performances of song and dance; they painted as an +aesthetic pleasure and rarely as a means of earning. We find philosophic +ideas or greetings, emotions, and experiences represented by +paintings--paintings with fanciful or ideal landscapes; paintings +representing life and environment of the cultured class in idealized +form, never naturalistic either in fact or in intention. Until recently +it was an indispensable condition in the Chinese view that an artist +must be "cultured" and be a member of the gentry--distinguished, +unoccupied, wealthy. A man who was paid for his work, for instance for a +portrait for the ancestral cult, was until late time regarded as a +craftsman, not as an artist. Yet, these "craftsmen" have produced in Han +time and even earlier, many works which, in our view, undoubtedly belong +to the realm of art. In the tombs have been found reliefs whose +technique is generally intermediate between simple outline engraving and +intaglio. The lining-in is most frequently executed in scratched lines. +The representations, mostly in strips placed one above another, are of +lively historical scenes, scenes from the life of the dead, great ritual +ceremonies, or adventurous scenes from mythology. Bronze vessels have +representations in inlaid gold and silver, mostly of animals. The most +important documents of the painting of the Han period have also been +found in tombs. We see especially ladies and gentlemen of society, with +richly ornamented, elegant, expensive clothing that is very reminiscent +of the clothing customary to this day in Japan. There are also artistic +representations of human figures on lacquer caskets. While sculpture was +not strongly developed, the architecture of the Han must have been +magnificent and technically highly complex. Sculpture and temple +architecture received a great stimulus with the spread of Buddhism in +China. According to our present knowledge, Buddhism entered China from +the south coast and through Central Asia at latest in the first century +B.C.; it came with foreign merchants from India or Central Asia. +According to Indian customs, Brahmans, the Hindu caste providing all +Hindu priests, could not leave their homes. As merchants on their trips +which lasted often several years, did not want to go without religious +services, they turned to Buddhist priests as well as to priests of Near +Eastern religions. These priests were not prevented from travelling and +used this opportunity for missionary purposes. Thus, for a long time +after the first arrival of Buddhists, the Buddhist priests in China were +foreigners who served foreign merchant colonies. The depressed +conditions of the people in the second century A.D. drove members of the +lower classes into their arms, while the parts of Indian science which +these priests brought with them from India aroused some interest in +certain educated circles. Buddhism, therefore, undeniably exercised an +influence at the end of the Han dynasty, although no Chinese were +priests and few, if any, gentry members were adherents of the religious +teachings. + +With the end of the Han period a further epoch of Chinese history comes +to its close. The Han period was that of the final completion and +consolidation of the social order of the gentry. The period that +followed was that of the conflicts of the Chinese with the populations +on their northern borders. + + + +Chapter Seven + + +THE EPOCH OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF CHINA (A.D. 220-580) + + +(A) The three kingdoms (220-265) + +1 _Social, intellectual, and economic problems during the first +division_ + +The end of the Han period was followed by the three and a half centuries +of the first division of China into several kingdoms, each with its own +dynasty. In fact, once before during the period of the Contending +States, China had been divided into a number of states, but at least in +theory they had been subject to the Chou dynasty, and none of the +contending states had made the claim to be the legitimate ruler of all +China. In this period of the "first division" several states claimed to +be legitimate rulers, and later Chinese historians tried to decide which +of these had "more right" to this claim. At the outset (220-280) there +were three kingdoms (Wei, Wu, Shu Han); then came an unstable reunion +during twenty-seven years (280-307) under the rule of the Western Chin. +This was followed by a still sharper division between north and south: +while a wave of non-Chinese nomad dynasties poured over the north, in +the south one Chinese clique after another seized power, so that dynasty +followed dynasty until finally, in 580, a united China came again into +existence, adopting the culture of the north and the traditions of the +gentry. + +In some ways, the period from 220 to 580 can be compared with the period +of the coincidentally synchronous breakdown of the Roman Empire: in both +cases there was no great increase in population, although in China +perhaps no over-all decrease in population as in the Roman Empire; +decrease occurred, however, in the population of the great Chinese +cities, especially of the capital; furthermore we witness, in both +empires, a disorganization of the monetary system, i.e. in China the +reversal to a predominance of natural economy after some 400 years of +money economy. Yet, this period cannot be simply dismissed as a +transition period, as was usually done by the older European works on +China. The social order of the gentry, whose birth and development +inside China we followed, had for the first time to defend itself +against views and systems entirely opposed to it; for the Turkish and +Mongol peoples who ruled northern China brought with them their +traditions of a feudal nobility with privileges of birth and all that +they implied. Thus this period, socially regarded, is especially that of +the struggle between the Chinese gentry and the northern nobility, the +gentry being excluded at first as a direct political factor in the +northern and more important part of China. In the south the gentry +continued in the old style with a constant struggle between cliques, the +only difference being that the class assumed a sort of "colonial" +character through the formation of gigantic estates and through +association with the merchant class. + +To throw light on the scale of events, we need to have figures of +population. There are no figures for the years around A.D. 220, and we +must make do with those of 140; but in order to show the relative +strength of the three states it is the ratio between the figures that +matters. In 140 the regions which later belonged to Wei had roughly +29,000,000 inhabitants; those later belonging to Wu had 11,700,000; +those which belonged later to Shu Han had a bare 7,500,000. (The figures +take no account of the primitive native population, which was not yet +included in the taxation lists.) The Hsiung-nu formed only a small part +of the population, as there were only the nineteen tribes which had +abandoned one of the parts, already reduced, of the Hsiung-nu empire. +The whole Hsiung-nu empire may never have counted more than some +3,000,000. At the time when the population of what became the Wei +territory totalled 29,000,000 the capital with its immediate environment +had over a million inhabitants. The figure is exclusive of most of the +officials and soldiers, as these were taxable in their homes and so were +counted there. It is clear that this was a disproportionate +concentration round the capital. + +It was at this time that both South and North China felt the influence +of Buddhism, which until A.D. 220 had no more real effect on China than +had, for instance, the penetration of European civilization between 1580 +and 1842. Buddhism offered new notions, new ideals, foreign science, and +many other elements of culture, with which the old Chinese philosophy +and science had to contend. At the same time there came with Buddhism +the first direct knowledge of the great civilized countries west of +China. Until then China had regarded herself as the only existing +civilized country, and all other countries had been regarded as +barbaric, for a civilized country was then taken to mean a country with +urban industrial crafts and agriculture. In our present period, however, +China's relations with the Middle East and with southern Asia were so +close that the existence of civilized countries outside China had to be +admitted. Consequently, when alien dynasties ruled in northern China and +a new high civilization came into existence there, it was impossible to +speak of its rulers as barbarians any longer. Even the theory that the +Chinese emperor was the Son of Heaven and enthroned at the centre of the +world was no longer tenable. Thus a vast widening of China's +intellectual horizon took place. + +Economically, our present period witnessed an adjustment in South China +between the Chinese way of life, which had penetrated from the north, +and that of the natives of the south. Large groups of Chinese had to +turn over from wheat culture in dry fields to rice culture in wet +fields, and from field culture to market gardening. In North China the +conflict went on between Chinese agriculture and the cattle breeding of +Central Asia. Was the will of the ruler to prevail and North China to +become a country of pasturage, or was the country to keep to the +agrarian tradition of the people under this rule? The Turkish and Mongol +conquerors had recently given up their old supplementary agriculture and +had turned into pure nomads, obtaining the agricultural produce they +needed by raiding or trade. The conquerors of North China were now faced +with a different question: if they were to remain nomads, they must +either drive the peasants into the south, or make them into slave +herdsmen, or exterminate them. There was one more possibility: they +might install themselves as a ruling upper class, as nobles over the +subjugated native peasants. The same question was faced much later by +the Mongols, and at first they answered it differently from the peoples +of our present period. Only by attention to this problem shall we be in +a position to explain why the rule of the Turkish peoples did not last, +why these peoples were gradually absorbed and disappeared. + +2 _Status of the two southern Kingdoms_ + +When the last emperor of the Han period had to abdicate in favour of +Ts'ao P'ei and the Wei dynasty began, China was in no way a unified +realm. Almost immediately, in 221, two other army commanders, who had +long been independent, declared themselves emperors. In the south-west +of China, in the present province of Szechwan, the Shu Han dynasty was +founded in this way, and in the south-east, in the region of the present +Nanking, the Wu dynasty. + +The situation of the southern kingdom of Shu Han (221-263) corresponded +more or less to that of the Chungking regime in the Second World War. +West of it the high Tibetan mountains towered up; there was very little +reason to fear any major attack from that direction. In the north and +east the realm was also protected by difficult mountain country. The +south lay relatively open, but at that time there were few Chinese +living there, but only natives with a relatively low civilization. The +kingdom could only be seriously attacked from two corners--through the +north-west, where there was a negotiable plateau, between the Ch'in-ling +mountains in the north and the Tibetan mountains in the west, a plateau +inhabited by fairly highly developed Tibetan tribes; and secondly +through the south-east corner, where it would be possible to penetrate +up the Yangtze. There was in fact incessant fighting at both these +dangerous corners. + +Economically, Shu Han was not in a bad position. The country had long +been part of the Chinese wheat lands, and had a fairly large Chinese +peasant population in the well irrigated plain of Ch'engtu. There was +also a wealthy merchant class, supplying grain to the surrounding +mountain peoples and buying medicaments and other profitable Tibetan +products. And there were trade routes from here through the present +province of Yünnan to India. + +Shu Han's difficulty was that its population was not large enough to be +able to stand against the northern State of Wei; moreover, it was +difficult to carry out an offensive from Shu Han, though the country +could defend itself well. The first attempt to find a remedy was a +campaign against the native tribes of the present Yünnan. The purpose of +this was to secure manpower for the army and also slaves for sale; for +the south-west had for centuries been a main source for traffic in +slaves. Finally it was hoped to gain control over the trade to India. +All these things were intended to strengthen Shu Han internally, but in +spite of certain military successes they produced no practical result, +as the Chinese were unable in the long run to endure the climate or to +hold out against the guerrilla tactics of the natives. Shu Han tried to +buy the assistance of the Tibetans and with their aid to carry out a +decisive attack on Wei, whose dynastic legitimacy was not recognized by +Shu Han. The ruler of Shu Han claimed to be a member of the imperial +family of the deposed Han dynasty, and therefore to be the rightful, +legitimate ruler over China. His descent, however, was a little +doubtful, and in any case it depended on a link far back in the past. +Against this the Wei of the north declared that the last ruler of the +Han dynasty had handed over to them with all due form the seals of the +state and therewith the imperial prerogative. The controversy was of no +great practical importance, but it played a big part in the Chinese +Confucianist school until the twelfth century, and contributed largely +to a revision of the old conceptions of legitimacy. + +The political plans of Shu Han were well considered and far-seeing. They +were evolved by the premier, a man from Shantung named Chu-ko Liang; for +the ruler died in 226 and his successor was still a child. But Chu-ko +Liang lived only for a further eight years, and after his death in 234 +the decline of Shu Han began. Its political leaders no longer had a +sense of what was possible. Thus Wei inflicted several defeats on Shu +Han, and finally subjugated it in 263. + +The situation of the state of Wu was much less favourable than that of +Shu Han, though this second southern kingdom lasted from 221 to 280. Its +country consisted of marshy, water-logged plains, or mountains with +narrow valleys. Here Tai peoples had long cultivated their rice, while +in the mountains Yao tribes lived by hunting and by simple agriculture. +Peasants immigrating from the north found that their wheat and pulse did +not thrive here, and slowly they had to gain familiarity with rice +cultivation. They were also compelled to give up their sheep and cattle +and in their place to breed pigs and water buffaloes, as was done by the +former inhabitants of the country. The lower class of the population was +mainly non-Chinese; above it was an upper class of Chinese, at first +relatively small, consisting of officials, soldiers, and merchants in a +few towns and administrative centres. The country was poor, and its only +important economic asset was the trade in metals, timber, and other +southern products; soon there came also a growing overseas trade with +India and the Middle East, bringing revenues to the state in so far as +the goods were re-exported from Wu to the north. + +Wu never attempted to conquer the whole of China, but endeavoured to +consolidate its own difficult territory with a view to building up a +state on a firm foundation. In general, Wu played mainly a passive part +in the incessant struggles between the three kingdoms, though it was +active in diplomacy. The Wu kingdom entered into relations with a man +who in 232 had gained control of the present South Manchuria and shortly +afterwards assumed the title of king. This new ruler of "Yen", as he +called his kingdom, had determined to attack the Wei dynasty, and hoped, +by putting pressure on it in association with Wu, to overrun Wei from +north and south. Wei answered this plan very effectively by recourse to +diplomacy and it began by making Wu believe that Wu had reason to fear +an attack from its western neighbour Shu Han. A mission was also +dispatched from Wei to negotiate with Japan. Japan was then emerging +from its stone age and introducing metals; there were countless small +principalities and states, of which the state of Yamato, then ruled by a +queen, was the most powerful. Yamato had certain interests in Korea, +where it already ruled a small coastal strip in the east. Wei offered +Yamato the prospect of gaining the whole of Korea if it would turn +against the state of Yen in South Manchuria. Wu, too, had turned to +Japan, but the negotiations came to nothing, since Wu, as an ally of +Yen, had nothing to offer. The queen of Yamato accordingly sent a +mission to Wei; she had already decided in favour of that state. Thus +Wei was able to embark on war against Yen, which it annihilated in 237. +This wrecked Wu's diplomatic projects, and no more was heard of any +ambitious plans of the kingdom of Wu. + +The two southern states had a common characteristic: both were +condottiere states, not built up from their own population but conquered +by generals from the north and ruled for a time by those generals and +their northern troops. Natives gradually entered these northern armies +and reduced their percentage of northerners, but a gulf remained between +the native population, including its gentry, and the alien military +rulers. This reduced the striking power of the southern states. + +On the other hand, this period had its positive element. For the first +time there was an emperor in south China, with all the organization that +implied. A capital full of officials, eunuchs, and all the satellites of +an imperial court provided incentives to economic advance, because it +represented a huge market. The peasants around it were able to increase +their sales and grew prosperous. The increased demand resulted in an +increase of tillage and a thriving trade. Soon the transport problem had +to be faced, as had happened long ago in the north, and new means of +transport, especially ships, were provided, and new trade routes opened +which were to last far longer than the three kingdoms; on the other +hand, the costs of transport involved fresh taxation burdens for the +population. The skilled staff needed for the business of administration +came into the new capital from the surrounding districts, for the +conquerors and new rulers of the territory of the two southern dynasties +had brought with them from the north only uneducated soldiers and +almost equally uneducated officers. The influx of scholars and +administrators into the chief cities produced cultural and economic +centres in the south, a circumstance of great importance to China's +later development. + +3 _The northern State of Wei_ + +The situation in the north, in the state of Wei (220-265) was anything +but rosy. Wei ruled what at that time were the most important and +richest regions of China, the plain of Shensi in the west and the great +plain east of Loyang, the two most thickly populated areas of China. But +the events at the end of the Han period had inflicted great economic +injury on the country. The southern and south-western parts of the Han +empire had been lost, and though parts of Central Asia still gave +allegiance to Wei, these, as in the past, were economically more of a +burden than an asset, because they called for incessant expenditure. At +least the trade caravans were able to travel undisturbed from and to +China through Turkestan. Moreover, the Wei kingdom, although much +smaller than the empire of the Han, maintained a completely staffed +court at great expense, because the rulers, claiming to rule the whole +of China, felt bound to display more magnificence than the rulers of the +southern dynasties. They had also to reward the nineteen tribes of the +Hsiung-nu in the north for their military aid, not only with cessions of +land but with payments of money. Finally, they would not disarm but +maintained great armies for the continual fighting against the southern +states. The Wei dynasty did not succeed, however, in closely +subordinating the various army commanders to the central government. +Thus the commanders, in collusion with groups of the gentry, were able +to enrich themselves and to secure regional power. The inadequate +strength of the central government of Wei was further undermined by the +rivalries among the dominant gentry. The imperial family (Ts'ao Pei, who +reigned from 220 to 226, had taken as emperor the name of Wen Ti) was +descended from one of the groups of great landowners that had formed in +the later Han period. The nucleus of that group was a family named +Ts'ui, of which there is mention from the Han period onward and which +maintained its power down to the tenth century; but it remained in the +background and at first held entirely aloof from direct intervention in +high policy. Another family belonging to this group was the Hsia-hou +family which was closely united to the family of Wen Ti by adoption; and +very soon there was also the Ss[)u]-ma family. Quite naturally Wen Ti, +as soon as he came into power, made provision for the members of these +powerful families, for only thanks to their support had he been able to +ascend the throne and to maintain his hold on the throne. Thus we find +many members of the Hsia-hou and Ss[)u]-ma families in government +positions. The Ss[)u]-ma family especially showed great activity, and at +the end of Wen Ti's reign their power had so grown that a certain +Ss[)u]-ma I was in control of the government, while the new emperor Ming +Ti (227-233) was completely powerless. This virtually sealed the fate of +the Wei dynasty, so far as the dynastic family was concerned. The next +emperor was installed and deposed by the Ss[)u]-ma family; dissensions +arose within the ruling family, leading to members of the family +assassinating one another. In 264 a member of the Ss[)u]-ma family +declared himself king; when he died and was succeeded by his son +Ss[)u]-ma Yen, the latter, in 265, staged a formal act of renunciation +of the throne of the Wei dynasty and made himself the first ruler of the +new Chin dynasty. There is nothing to gain by detailing all the +intrigues that led up to this event: they all took place in the +immediate environment of the court and in no way affected the people, +except that every item of expenditure, including all the bribery, had to +come out of the taxes paid by the people. + +With such a situation at court, with the bad economic situation in the +country, and with the continual fighting against the two southern +states, there could be no question of any far-reaching foreign policy. +Parts of eastern Turkestan still showed some measure of allegiance to +Wei, but only because at the time it had no stronger opponent. The +Hsiung-nu beyond the frontier were suffering from a period of depression +which was at the same time a period of reconstruction. They were +beginning slowly to form together with Mongol elements a new unit, the +Juan-juan, but at this time were still politically inactive. The +nineteen tribes within north China held more and more closely together +as militarily organized nomads, but did not yet represent a military +power and remained loyal to the Wei. The only important element of +trouble seems to have been furnished by the Hsien-pi tribes, who had +joined with Wu-huan tribes and apparently also with vestiges of the +Hsiung-nu in eastern Mongolia, and who made numerous raids over the +frontier into the Wei empire. The state of Yen, in southern Manchuria, +had already been destroyed by Wei in 238 thanks to Wei's good relations +with Japan. Loose diplomatic relations were maintained with Japan in the +period that followed; in that period many elements of Chinese +civilization found their way into Japan and there, together with +settlers from many parts of China, helped to transform the culture of +ancient Japan. + + +(B) The Western Chin dynasty (A.D. 265-317) + +1 _Internal situation in the Chin empire_ + +The change of dynasty in the state of Wei did not bring any turn in +China's internal history. Ss[)u]-ma Yen, who as emperor was called Wu Ti +(265-289), had come to the throne with the aid of his clique and his +extraordinarily large and widely ramified family. To these he had to +give offices as reward. There began at court once more the same +spectacle as in the past, except that princes of the new imperial family +now played a greater part than under the Wei dynasty, whose ruling house +had consisted of a small family. It was now customary, in spite of the +abolition of the feudal system, for the imperial princes to receive +large regions to administer, the fiscal revenues of which represented +their income. The princes were not, however, to exercise full authority +in the style of the former feudal lords: their courts were full of +imperial control officials. In the event of war it was their duty to +come forward, like other governors, with an army in support of the +central government. The various Chin princes succeeded, however, in +making other governors, beyond the frontiers of their regions, dependent +on them. Also, they collected armies of their own independently of the +central government and used those armies to pursue personal policies. +The members of the families allied with the ruling house, for their +part, did all they could to extend their own power. Thus the first ruler +of the dynasty was tossed to and fro between the conflicting interests +and was himself powerless. But though intrigue was piled on intrigue, +the ruler who, of course, himself had come to the head of the state by +means of intrigues, was more watchful than the rulers of the Wei dynasty +had been, and by shrewd counter-measures he repeatedly succeeded in +playing off one party against another, so that the dynasty remained in +power. Numerous widespread and furious risings nevertheless took place, +usually led by princes. Thus during this period the history of the +dynasty was of an extraordinarily dismal character. + +In spite of this, the Chin troops succeeded in overthrowing the second +southern state, that of Wu (A.D. 280), and in so restoring the unity of +the empire, the Shu Han realm having been already conquered by the Wei. +After the destruction of Wu there remained no external enemy that +represented a potential danger, so that a general disarmament was +decreed (280) in order to restore a healthy economic and financial +situation. This disarmament applied, of course, to the troops directly +under the orders of the dynasty, namely the troops of the court and the +capital and the imperial troops in the provinces. Disarmament could +not, however, be carried out in the princes' regions, as the princes +declared that they needed personal guards. The dismissal of the troops +was accompanied by a decree ordering the surrender of arms. It may be +assumed that the government proposed to mint money with the metal of the +weapons surrendered, for coin (the old coin of the Wei dynasty) had +become very scarce; as we indicated previously, money had largely been +replaced by goods so that, for instance, grain and silks were used for +the payment of salaries. China, from _c_. 200 A.D. on until the eighth +century, remained in a period of such partial "natural economy". + +Naturally the decree for the surrender of weapons remained a +dead-letter. The discharged soldiers kept their weapons at first and +then preferred to sell them. A large part of them was acquired by the +Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi in the north of China; apparently they +usually gave up land in return. In this way many Chinese soldiers, +though not all by any means, went as peasants to the regions in the +north of China and beyond the frontier. They were glad to do so, for the +Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi had not the efficient administration and +rigid tax collection of the Chinese; and above all, they had no great +landowners who could have organized the collection of taxes. For their +part, the Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi had no reason to regret this +immigration of peasants, who could provide them with the farm produce +they needed. And at the same time they were receiving from them large +quantities of the most modern weapons. + +This ineffective disarmament was undoubtedly the most pregnant event of +the period of the western Chin dynasty. The measure was intended to save +the cost of maintaining the soldiers and to bring them back to the land +as peasants (and taxpayers); but the discharged men were not given land +by the government. The disarmament achieved nothing, not even the +desired increase in the money in circulation; what did happen was that +the central government lost all practical power, while the military +strength both of the dangerous princes within the country and also of +the frontier people was increased. The results of these mistaken +measures became evident at once and compelled the government to arm +anew. + +2 _Effect on the frontier peoples_ + +Four groups of frontier peoples drew more or less advantage from the +demobilization law--the people of the Toba, the Tibetans, and the +Hsien-pi in the north, and the nineteen tribes of the Hsiung-nu within +the frontiers of the empire. In the course of time all sorts of +complicated relations developed among those ascending peoples as well +as between them and the Chinese. + +The Toba (T'o-pa) formed a small group in the north of the present +province of Shansi, north of the city of Tat'ungfu, and they were about +to develop their small state. They were primarily of Turkish origin, but +had absorbed many tribes of the older Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi. In +considering the ethnical relationships of all these northern peoples we +must rid ourselves of our present-day notions of national unity. Among +the Toba there were many Turkish tribes, but also Mongols, and probably +a Tungus tribe, as well as perhaps others whom we cannot yet analyse. +These tribes may even have spoken different languages, much as later not +only Mongol but also Turkish was spoken in the Mongol empire. The +political units they formed were tribal unions, not national states. + +Such a union or federation can be conceived of, structurally, as a cone. +At the top point of the cone there was the person of the ruler of the +federation. He was a member of the leading family or clan of the leading +tribe (the two top layers of the cone). If we speak of the Toba as of +Turkish stock, we mean that according to our present knowledge, this +leading tribe (_a_) spoke a language belonging to the Turkish language +family and (_b_) exhibited a pattern of culture which belonged to the +type called above in Chapter One as "North-western Culture". The next +layer of the cone represented the "inner circle of tribes", i.e. such +tribes as had joined with the leading tribe at an early moment. The +leading family of the leading tribe often took their wives from the +leading families of the "inner tribes", and these leaders served as +advisors and councillors to the leader of the federation. The next lower +layer consisted of the "outer tribes", i.e. tribes which had joined the +federation only later, often under strong pressure; their number was +always much larger than the number of the "inner tribes", but their +political influence was much weaker. Every layer below that of the +"outer tribes" was regarded as inferior and more or less "unfree". There +was many a tribe which, as a tribe, had to serve a free tribe; and there +were others who, as tribes, had to serve the whole federation. In +addition, there were individuals who had quit or had been forced to quit +their tribe or their home and had joined the federation leader as his +personal "bondsmen"; further, there were individual slaves and, finally, +there were the large masses of agriculturists who had been conquered by +the federation. When such a federation was dissolved, by defeat or inner +dissent, individual tribes or groups of tribes could join a new +federation or could resume independent life. + +Typically, such federations exhibited two tendencies. In the case of +the Hsiung-nu we indicated already previously that the leader of the +federation repeatedly attempted to build up a kind of bureaucratic +system, using his bondsmen as a nucleus. A second tendency was to +replace the original tribal leaders by members of the family of the +federation leader. If this initial step, usually first taken when "outer +tribes" were incorporated, was successful, a reorganization was +attempted: instead of using tribal units in war, military units on the +basis of "Groups of Hundred", "Groups of Thousand", etc., were created +and the original tribes were dissolved into military regiments. In the +course of time, and especially at the time of the dissolution of a +federation, these military units had gained social coherence and +appeared to be tribes again; we are probably correct in assuming that +all "tribes" which we find from this time on were already "secondary" +tribes of this type. A secondary tribe often took its name from its +leader, but it could also revive an earlier "primary tribe" name. + +The Toba represented a good example for this "cone" structure of +pastoral society. Also the Hsiung-nu of this time seem to have had a +similar structure. Incidentally, we will from now on call the Hsiung-nu +"Huns" because Chinese sources begin to call them "Hu", a term which +also had a more general meaning (all non-Chinese in the north and west +of China) as well as a more special meaning (non-Chinese in Central Asia +and India). + +The Tibetans fell apart into two sub-groups, the Ch'iang and the Ti. +Both names appeared repeatedly as political conceptions, but the +Tibetans, like all other state-forming groups of peoples, sheltered in +their realms countless alien elements. In the course of the third and +second centuries B.C. the group of the Ti, mainly living in the +territory of the present Szechwan, had mixed extensively with remains of +the Yüeh-chih; the others, the Ch'iang, were northern Tibetans or +so-called Tanguts; that is to say, they contained Turkish and Mongol +elements. In A.D. 296 there began a great rising of the Ti, whose leader +Ch'i Wan-nien took on the title emperor. The Ch'iang rose with them, but +it was not until later, from 312, that they pursued an independent +policy. The Ti State, however, though it had a second emperor, very soon +lost importance, so that we shall be occupied solely with the Ch'iang. + +As the tribal structure of Tibetan groups was always weak and as +leadership developed among them only in times of war, their states +always show a military rather than a tribal structure, and the +continuation of these states depended strongly upon the personal +qualities of their leaders. Incidentally, Tibetans fundamentally were +sheep-breeders and not horse-breeders and, therefore, they always +showed inclination to incorporate infantry into their armies. Thus, +Tibetan states differed strongly from the aristocratically organized +"Turkish" states as well as from the tribal, non-aristocratic "Mongol" +states of that period. + +The Hsien-pi, according to our present knowledge, were under "Mongol" +leadership, i.e. we believe that the language of the leading group +belonged to the family of Mongolian languages and that their culture +belonged to the type described above as "Northern culture". They had, in +addition, a strong admixture of Hunnic tribes. Throughout the period +during which they played a part in history, they never succeeded in +forming any great political unit, in strong contrast to the Huns, who +excelled in state formation. The separate groups of the Hsien-pi pursued +a policy of their own; very frequently Hsien-pi fought each other, and +they never submitted to a common leadership. Thus their history is +entirely that of small groups. As early as the Wei period there had been +small-scale conflicts with the Hsien-pi tribes, and at times the tribes +had some success. The campaigns of the Hsien-pi against North China now +increased, and in the course of them the various tribes formed firmer +groupings, among which the Mu-jung tribes played a leading part. In 281, +the year after the demobilization law, this group marched south into +China, and occupied the region round Peking. After fierce fighting, in +which the Mu-jung section suffered heavy losses, a treaty was signed in +289, under which the Mu-jung tribe of the Hsien-pi recognized Chinese +overlordship. The Mu-jung were driven to this step mainly because they +had been continually attacked from southern Manchuria by another +Hsien-pi tribe, the Yü-wen, the tribe most closely related to them. The +Mu-jung made use of the period of their so-called subjection to organize +their community in North China. + +South of the Toba were the nineteen tribes of the Hsiung-nu or Huns, as +we are now calling them. Their leader in A.D. 287, Liu Yüan, was one of +the principal personages of this period. His name is purely Chinese, but +he was descended from the Hun _shan-yü_, from the family and line of Mao +Tun. His membership of that long-famous noble line and old ruling family +of Huns gave him a prestige which he increased by his great organizing +ability. + +3 _Struggles for the throne_ + +We shall return to Liu Yüan later; we must now cast another glance at +the official court of the Chin. In that court a family named Yang had +become very powerful, a daughter of this family having become empress. +When, however, the emperor died, the wife of the new emperor Hui Ti +(290-306) secured the assassination of the old empress Yang and of her +whole family. Thus began the rule at court of the Chia family. In 299 +the Chia family got rid of the heir to the throne, to whom they +objected, assassinating this prince and another one. This event became +the signal for large-scale activity on the part of the princes, each of +whom was supported by particular groups of families. The princes had not +complied with the disarmament law of 280 and so had become militarily +supreme. The generals newly appointed in the course of the imperial +rearmament at once entered into alliance with the princes, and thus were +quite unreliable as officers of the government. Both the generals and +the princes entered into agreements with the frontier peoples to assure +their aid in the struggle for power. The most popular of these +auxiliaries were the Hsien-pi, who were fighting for one of the princes +whose territory lay in the east. Since the Toba were the natural enemies +of the Hsien-pi, who were continually contesting their hold on their +territory, the Toba were always on the opposite side to that supported +by the Hsien-pi, so that they now supported generals who were ostensibly +loyal to the government. The Huns, too, negotiated with several generals +and princes and received tempting offers. Above all, all the frontier +peoples were now militarily well equipped, continually receiving new war +material from the Chinese who from time to time were co-operating with +them. + +In A.D. 300 Prince Lun assassinated the empress Chia and removed her +group. In 301 he made himself emperor, but in the same year he was +killed by the prince of Ch'i. This prince was killed in 302 by the +prince of Ch'ang-sha, who in turned was killed in 303 by the prince of +Tung-hai. The prince of Ho-chien rose in 302 and was killed in 306; the +prince of Ch'engtu rose in 303, conquered the capital in 305, and then, +in 306, was himself removed. I mention all these names and dates only to +show the disunion within the ruling groups. + +4 _Migration of Chinese_ + +All these struggles raged round the capital, for each of the princes +wanted to secure full power and to become emperor. Thus the border +regions remained relatively undisturbed. Their population suffered much +less from the warfare than the unfortunate people in the neighbourhood +of the central government. For this reason there took place a mass +migration of Chinese from the centre of the empire to its periphery. +This process, together with the shifting of the frontier peoples, is one +of the most important events of that epoch. A great number of Chinese +migrated especially into the present province of Kansu, where a governor +who had originally been sent there to fight the Hsien-pi had created a +sort of paradise by his good administration and maintenance of peace. +The territory ruled by this Chinese, first as governor and then in +increasing independence, was surrounded by Hsien-pi, Tibetans, and other +peoples, but thanks to the great immigration of Chinese and to its +situation on the main caravan route to Turkestan, it was able to hold +its own, to expand, and to become prosperous. + +Other groups of Chinese peasants migrated southward into the +territories of the former state of Wu. A Chinese prince of the house of +the Chin was ruling there, in the present Nanking. His purpose was to +organize that territory, and then to intervene in the struggles of the +other princes. We shall meet him again at the beginning of the Hun rule +over North China in 317, as founder and emperor of the first south +Chinese dynasty, which was at once involved in the usual internal and +external struggles. For the moment, however, the southern region was +relatively at peace, and was accordingly attracting settlers. + +Finally, many Chinese migrated northward, into the territories of the +frontier peoples, not only of the Hsien-pi but especially of the Huns. +These alien peoples, although in the official Chinese view they were +still barbarians, at least maintained peace in the territories they +ruled, and they left in peace the peasants and craftsmen who came to +them, even while their own armies were involved in fighting inside +China. Not only peasants and craftsmen came to the north but more and +more educated persons. Members of families of the gentry that had +suffered from the fighting, people who had lost their influence in +China, were welcomed by the Huns and appointed teachers and political +advisers of the Hun nobility. + +5 _Victory of the Huns. The Hun Han dynasty (later renamed the Earlier +Chao dynasty_) + +With its self-confidence thus increased, the Hun council of nobles +declared that in future the Huns should no longer fight now for one and +now for another Chinese general or prince. They had promised loyalty to +the Chinese emperor, but not to any prince. No one doubted that the +Chinese emperor was a complete nonentity and no longer played any part +in the struggle for power. It was evident that the murders would +continue until one of the generals or princes overcame the rest and made +himself emperor. Why should not the Huns have the same right? Why should +not they join in this struggle for the Chinese imperial throne? + +There were two arguments against this course, one of which was already +out of date. The Chinese had for many centuries set down the Huns as +uncultured barbarians; but the inferiority complex thus engendered in +the Huns had virtually been overcome, because in the course of time +their upper class had deliberately acquired a Chinese education and so +ranked culturally with the Chinese. Thus the ruler Liu Yüan, for +example, had enjoyed a good Chinese education and was able to read all +the classical texts. The second argument was provided by the rigid +conceptions of legitimacy to which the Turkish-Hunnic aristocratic +society adhered. The Huns asked themselves: "Have we, as aliens, any +right to become emperors and rulers in China, when we are not descended +from an old Chinese family?" On this point Liu Yüan and his advisers +found a good answer. They called Liu Yüan's dynasty the "Han dynasty", +and so linked it with the most famous of all the Chinese dynasties, +pointing to the pact which their ancestor Mao Tun had concluded five +hundred years earlier with the first emperor of the Han dynasty and +which had described the two states as "brethren". They further recalled +the fact that the rulers of the Huns were closely related to the Chinese +ruling family, because Mao Tun and his successors had married Chinese +princesses. Finally, Liu Yüan's Chinese family name, Liu, had also been +the family name of the rulers of the Han dynasty. Accordingly the Hun +Lius came forward not as aliens but as the rightful successors in +continuation of the Han dynasty, as legitimate heirs to the Chinese +imperial throne on the strength of relationship and of treaties. + +Thus the Hun Liu Yüan had no intention of restoring the old empire of +Mao Tun, the empire of the nomads; he intended to become emperor of +China, emperor of a country of farmers. In this lay the fundamental +difference between the earlier Hun empire and this new one. The question +whether the Huns should join in the struggle for the Chinese imperial +throne was therefore decided among the Huns themselves in 304 in the +affirmative, by the founding of the "Hun Han dynasty". All that remained +was the practical question of how to hold out with their small army of +50,000 men if serious opposition should be offered to the "barbarians". + +Meanwhile Liu Yüan provided himself with court ceremonial on the Chinese +model, in a capital which, after several changes, was established at +P'ing-ch'êng in southern Shansi. He attracted more and more of the +Chinese gentry, who were glad to come to this still rather barbaric but +well-organized court. In 309 the first attack was made on the Chinese +capital, Loyang. Liu Yüan died in the following year, and in 311, under +his successor Liu Ts'ung (310-318), the attack was renewed and Loyang +fell. The Chin emperor, Huai Ti, was captured and kept a prisoner in +P'ing-ch'êng until in 313 a conspiracy in his favour was brought to +light in the Hun empire, and he and all his supporters were killed. +Meanwhile the Chinese clique of the Chin dynasty had hastened to make a +prince emperor in the second capital, Ch'ang-an (Min Ti, 313-316) while +the princes' struggles for the throne continued. Nobody troubled about +the fate of the unfortunate emperor in his capital. He received no +reinforcements, so that he was helpless in face of the next attack of +the Huns, and in 316 he was compelled to surrender like his predecessor. +Now the Hun Han dynasty held both capitals, which meant virtually the +whole of the western part of North China, and the so-called "Western +Chin dynasty" thus came to its end. Its princes and generals and many of +its gentry became landless and homeless and had to flee into the south. + + +(C) The alien empires in North China, down to the Toba (A.D. 317-385) + +1 _The Later Chao dynasty in eastern North China (Hun_; 329-352) + +At this time the eastern part of North China was entirely in the hands +of Shih Lo, a former follower of Liu Yüan. Shih Lo had escaped from +slavery in China and had risen to be a military leader among +detribalized Huns. In 310 he had not only undertaken a great campaign +right across China to the south, but had slaughtered more than 100,000 +Chinese, including forty-eight princes of the Chin dynasty, who had +formed a vast burial procession for a prince. This achievement added +considerably to Shih Lo's power, and his relations with Liu Ts'ung, +already tense, became still more so. Liu Yüan had tried to organize the +Hun state on the Chinese model, intending in this way to gain efficient +control of China; Shih Lo rejected Chinese methods, and held to the old +warrior-nomad tradition, making raids with the aid of nomad fighters. He +did not contemplate holding the territories of central and southern +China which he had conquered; he withdrew, and in the two years 314-315 +he contented himself with bringing considerable expanses in +north-eastern China, especially territories of the Hsien-pi, under his +direct rule, as a base for further raids. Many Huns in Liu Ts'ung's +dominion found Shih Lo's method of rule more to their taste than living +in a state ruled by officials, and they went over to Shih Lo and joined +him in breaking entirely with Liu Ts'ung. There was a further motive for +this: in states founded by nomads, with a federation of tribes as their +basis, the personal qualities of the ruler played an important part. The +chiefs of the various tribes would not give unqualified allegiance to +the son of a dead ruler unless the son was a strong personality or gave +promise of becoming one. Failing that, there would be independence +movements. Liu Ts'ung did not possess the indisputable charisma of his +predecessor Liu Yüan; and the Huns looked with contempt on his court +splendour, which could only have been justified if he had conquered all +China. Liu Ts'ung had no such ambition; nor had his successor Liu Yao +(319-329), who gave the Hun Han dynasty retroactively, from its start +with Liu Yüan, the new name of "Earlier Chao dynasty" (304-329). Many +tribes then went over to Shih Lo, and the remainder of Liu Yao's empire +was reduced to a precarious existence. In 329 the whole of it was +annexed by Shih Lo. + +Although Shih Lo had long been much more powerful than the emperors of +the "Earlier Chao dynasty", until their removal he had not ventured to +assume the title of emperor. The reason for this seems to have lain in +the conceptions of nobility held by the Turkish peoples in general and +the Huns in particular, according to which only those could become +_shan-yü_ (or, later, emperor) who could show descent from the Tu-ku +tribe the rightful _shan-yü_ stock. In accordance with this conception, +all later Hun dynasties deliberately disowned Shih Lo. For Shih Lo, +after his destruction of Liu Yao, no longer hesitated: ex-slave as he +was, and descended from one of the non-noble stocks of the Huns, he made +himself emperor of the "Later Chao dynasty" (329-352). + +Shih Lo was a forceful army commander, but he was a man without +statesmanship, and without the culture of his day. He had no Chinese +education; he hated the Chinese and would have been glad to make north +China a grazing ground for his nomad tribes of Huns. Accordingly he had +no desire to rule all China. The part already subjugated, embracing the +whole of north China with the exception of the present province of +Kansu, sufficed for his purpose. + +The governor of that province was a loyal subject of the Chinese Chin +dynasty, a man famous for his good administration, and himself a +Chinese. After the execution of the Chin emperor Huai Ti by the Huns in +313, he regarded himself as no longer bound to the central government; +he made himself independent and founded the "Earlier Liang dynasty", +which was to last until 376. This mainly Chinese realm was not very +large, although it had admitted a broad stream of Chinese emigrants from +the dissolving Chin empire; but economically the Liang realm was very +prosperous, so that it was able to extend its influence as far as +Turkestan. During the earlier struggles Turkestan had been virtually in +isolation, but now new contacts began to be established. Many traders +from Turkestan set up branches in Liang. In the capital there were whole +quarters inhabited only by aliens from western and eastern Turkestan and +from India. With the traders came Buddhist monks; trade and Buddhism +seemed to be closely associated everywhere. In the trading centres +monasteries were installed in the form of blocks of houses within strong +walls that successfully resisted many an attack. Consequently the +Buddhists were able to serve as bankers for the merchants, who deposited +their money in the monasteries, which made a charge for its custody; the +merchants also warehoused their goods in the monasteries. Sometimes the +process was reversed, a trade centre being formed around an existing +monastery. In this case the monastery also served as a hostel for the +merchants. Economically this Chinese state in Kansu was much more like a +Turkestan city state that lived by commerce than the agrarian states of +the Far East, although agriculture was also pursued under the Earlier +Liang. + +From this trip to the remote west we will return first to the Hun +capital. From 329 onward Shih Lo possessed a wide empire, but an +unstable one. He himself felt at all times insecure, because the Huns +regarded him, on account of his humble origin, as a "revolutionary". He +exterminated every member of the Liu family, that is to say the old +_shan-yü_ family, of whom he could get hold, in order to remove any +possible pretender to the throne; but he could not count on the loyalty +of the Hun and other Turkish tribes under his rule. During this period +not a few Huns went over to the small realm of the Toba; other Hun +tribes withdrew entirely from the political scene and lived with their +herds as nomad tribes in Shansi and in the Ordos region. The general +insecurity undermined the strength of Shih Lo's empire. He died in 333, +and there came to the throne, after a short interregnum, another +personality of a certain greatness, Shih Hu (334-349). He transferred +the capital to the city of Yeh, in northern Honan, where the rulers of +the Wei dynasty had reigned. There are many accounts of the magnificence +of the court of Yeh. Foreigners, especially Buddhist monks, played a +greater part there than Chinese. On the one hand, it was not easy for +Shih Hu to gain the active support of the educated Chinese gentry after +the murders of Shih Lo and, on the other hand, Shih Hu seems to have +understood that foreigners without family and without other relations to +the native population, but with special skills, are the most reliable +and loyal servants of a ruler. Indeed, his administration seems to have +been good, but the regime remained completely parasitic, with no +support of the masses or the gentry. After Shih Hu's death there were +fearful combats between his sons; ultimately a member of an entirely +different family of Hun origin seized power, but was destroyed in 352 by +the Hsien-pi, bringing to an end the Later Chao dynasty. + +2 _Earlier Yen dynasty in the north-east (proto-Mongol; 352-370), and +the Earlier Ch'in dynasty in all north China (Tibetan; 351-394_) + +In the north, proto-Mongol Hsien-pi tribes had again made themselves +independent; in the past they had been subjects of Liu Yüan and then of +Shih Lo. A man belonging to one of these tribes, the tribe of the +Mu-jung, became the leader of a league of tribes, and in 337 founded the +state of Yen. This proto-Mongol state of the Mu-jung, which the +historians call the "Earlier Yen" state, conquered parts of southern +Manchuria and also the state of Kao-li in Korea, and there began then an +immigration of Hsien-pi into Korea, which became noticeable at a later +date. The conquest of Korea, which was still, as in the past, a Japanese +market and was very wealthy, enormously strengthened the state of Yen. +Not until a little later, when Japan's trade relations were diverted to +central China, did Korea's importance begin to diminish. Although this +"Earlier Yen dynasty" of the Mu-jung officially entered on the heritage +of the Huns, and its regime was therefore dated only from 352 (until +370), it failed either to subjugate the whole realm of the "Later Chao" +or effectively to strengthen the state it had acquired. This old Hun +territory had suffered economically from the anti-agrarian nomad +tendency of the last of the Hun emperors; and unremunerative wars +against the Chinese in the south had done nothing to improve its +position. In addition to this, the realm of the Toba was dangerously +gaining strength on the flank of the new empire. But the most dangerous +enemy was in the west, on former Hun soil, in the province of +Shensi--Tibetans, who finally came forward once more with claims to +dominance. These were Tibetans of the P'u family, which later changed +its name to Fu. The head of the family had worked his way up as a leader +of Tibetan auxiliaries under the "Later Chao", gaining more and more +power and following. When under that dynasty the death of Shih Hu marked +the beginning of general dissolution, he gathered his Tibetans around +him in the west, declared himself independent of the Huns, and made +himself emperor of the "Earlier Ch'in dynasty" (351-394). He died in +355, and was followed after a short interregnum by Fu Chien (357-385), +who was unquestionably one of the most important figures of the fourth +century. This Tibetan empire ultimately defeated the "Earlier Yen +dynasty" and annexed the realm of the Mu-jung. Thus the Mu-jung Hsien-pi +came under the dominion of the Tibetans; they were distributed among a +number of places as garrisons of mounted troops. + +The empire of the Tibetans was organized quite differently from the +empires of the Huns and the Hsien-pi tribes. The Tibetan organization +was purely military and had nothing to do with tribal structure. This +had its advantages, for the leader of such a formation had no need to +take account of tribal chieftains; he was answerable to no one and +possessed considerable personal power. Nor was there any need for him to +be of noble rank or descended from an old family. The Tibetan ruler Fu +Chien organized all his troops, including the non-Tibetans, on this +system, without regard to tribal membership. + +Fu Chien's state showed another innovation: the armies of the Huns and +the Hsien-pi had consisted entirely of cavalry, for the nomads of the +north were, of course, horsemen; to fight on foot was in their eyes not +only contrary to custom but contemptible. So long as a state consisted +only of a league of tribes, it was simply out of the question to +transform part of the army into infantry. Fu Chien, however, with his +military organization that paid no attention to the tribal element, +created an infantry in addition to the great cavalry units, recruiting +for it large numbers of Chinese. The infantry proved extremely valuable, +especially in the fighting in the plains of north China and in laying +siege to fortified towns. Fu Chien thus very quickly achieved military +predominance over the neighbouring states. As we have seen already, he +annexed the "Earlier Yen" realm of the proto-Mongols (370), but he also +annihilated the Chinese "Earlier Liang" realm (376) and in the same year +the small Turkish Toba realm. This made him supreme over all north China +and stronger than any alien ruler before him. He had in his possession +both the ancient capitals, Ch'ang-an and Loyang; the whole of the rich +agricultural regions of north China belonged to him; he also controlled +the routes to Turkestan. He himself had a Chinese education, and he +attracted Chinese to his court; he protected the Buddhists; and he tried +in every way to make the whole country culturally Chinese. As soon as Fu +Chien had all north China in his power, as Liu Yüan and his Huns had +done before him, he resolved, like Liu Yüan, to make every effort to +gain the mastery over all China, to become emperor of China. Liu Yüan's +successors had not had the capacity for which such a venture called; Fu +Chien was to fail in it for other reasons. Yet, from a military point +of view, his chances were not bad. He had far more soldiers under his +command than the Chinese "Eastern Chin dynasty" which ruled the south, +and his troops were undoubtedly better. In the time of the founder of +the Tibetan dynasty the southern empire had been utterly defeated by his +troops (354), and the south Chinese were no stronger now. + +Against them the north had these assets: the possession of the best +northern tillage, the control of the trade routes, and "Chinese" culture +and administration. At the time, however, these represented only +potentialities and not tangible realities. It would have taken ten to +twenty years to restore the capacities of the north after its +devastation in many wars, to reorganize commerce, and to set up a really +reliable administration, and thus to interlock the various elements and +consolidate the various tribes. But as early as 383 Fu Chien started his +great campaign against the south, with an army of something like a +million men. At first the advance went well. The horsemen from the +north, however, were men of the mountain country, and in the soggy +plains of the Yangtze region, cut up by hundreds of water-courses and +canals, they suffered from climatic and natural conditions to which they +were unaccustomed. Their main strength was still in cavalry; and they +came to grief. The supplies and reinforcements for the vast army failed +to arrive in time; units did not reach the appointed places at the +appointed dates. The southern troops under the supreme command of Hsieh +Hsüan, far inferior in numbers and militarily of no great efficiency, +made surprise attacks on isolated units before these were in regular +formation. Some they defeated, others they bribed; they spread false +reports. Fu Chien's army was seized with widespread panic, so that he +was compelled to retreat in haste. As he did so it became evident that +his empire had no inner stability: in a very short time it fell into +fragments. The south Chinese had played no direct part in this, for in +spite of their victory they were not strong enough to advance far to the +north. + +3 _The fragmentation of north China_ + +The first to fall away from the Tibetan ruler was a noble of the +Mu-jung, a member of the ruling family of the "Earlier Yen dynasty", who +withdrew during the actual fighting to pursue a policy of his own. With +the vestiges of the Hsien-pi who followed him, mostly cavalry, he fought +his way northward into the old homeland of the Hsien-pi and there, in +central Hopei, founded the "Later Yen dynasty" (384-409), himself +reigning for twelve years. In the remaining thirteen years of the +existence of that dynasty there were no fewer than five rulers, the +last of them a member of another family. The history of this Hsien-pi +dynasty, as of its predecessor, is an unedifying succession of +intrigues; no serious effort was made to build up a true state. + +In the same year 384 there was founded, under several other Mu-jung +princes of the ruling family of the "Earlier Yen dynasty", the "Western +Yen dynasty" (384-394). Its nucleus was nothing more than a detachment +of troops of the Hsien-pi which had been thrown by Fu Chien into the +west of his empire, in Shensi, in the neighbourhood of the old capital +Ch'ang-an. There its commanders, on learning the news of Fu Chien's +collapse, declared their independence. In western China, however, far +removed from all liaison with the main body of the Hsien-pi, they were +unable to establish themselves, and when they tried to fight their way +to the north-east they were dispersed, so that they failed entirely to +form an actual state. + +There was a third attempt in 384 to form a state in north China. A +Tibetan who had joined Fu Chien with his followers declared himself +independent when Fu Chien came back, a beaten man, to Shensi. He caused +Fu Chien and almost the whole of his family to be assassinated, occupied +the capital, Ch'ang-an, and actually entered into the heritage of Fu +Chien. This Tibetan dynasty is known as the "Later Ch'in dynasty" +(384-417). It was certainly the strongest of those founded in 384, but +it still failed to dominate any considerable part of China and remained +of local importance, mainly confined to the present province of Shensi. +Fu Chien's empire nominally had three further rulers, but they did not +exert the slightest influence on events. + +With the collapse of the state founded by Fu Chien, the tribes of +Hsien-pi who had left their homeland in the third century and migrated +to the Ordos region proceeded to form their own state: a man of the +Hsien-pi tribe of the Ch'i-fu founded the so-called "Western Ch'in +dynasty" (385-431). Like the other Hsien-pi states, this one was of weak +construction, resting on the military strength of a few tribes and +failing to attain a really secure basis. Its territory lay in the east +of the present province of Kansu, and so controlled the eastern end of +the western Asian caravan route, which might have been a source of +wealth if the Ch'i-fu had succeeded in attracting commerce by discreet +treatment and in imposing taxation on it. Instead of this, the bulk of +the long-distance traffic passed through the Ordos region, a little +farther north, avoiding the Ch'i-fu state, which seemed to the merchants +to be too insecure. The Ch'i-fu depended mainly on cattle-breeding in +the remote mountain country in the south of their territory, a region +that gave them relative security from attack; on the other hand, this +made them unable to exercise any influence on the course of political +events in western China. + +Mention must be made of one more state that rose from the ruins of Fu +Chien's empire. It lay in the far west of China, in the western part of +the present province of Kansu, and was really a continuation of the +Chinese "Earlier Liang" realm, which had been annexed ten years earlier +(376) by Fu Chien. A year before his great march to the south, Fu Chien +had sent the Tibetan Lü Kuang into the "Earlier Liang" region in order +to gain influence over Turkestan. As mentioned previously, after the +great Hun rulers Fu Chien was the first to make a deliberate attempt to +secure cultural and political overlordship over the whole of China. +Although himself a Tibetan, he never succumbed to the temptation of +pursuing a "Tibetan" policy; like an entirely legitimate ruler of China, +he was concerned to prevent the northern peoples along the frontier from +uniting with the Tibetan peoples of the west for political ends. The +possession of Turkestan would avert that danger, which had shown signs +of becoming imminent of late: some tribes of the Hsien-pi had migrated +as far as the high mountains of Tibet and had imposed themselves as a +ruling class on the still very primitive Tibetans living there. From +this symbiosis there began to be formed a new people, the so-called +T'u-yü-hun, a hybridization of Mongol and Tibetan stock with a slight +Turkish admixture. Lü Kuang had considerable success in Turkestan; he +had brought considerable portions of eastern Turkestan under Fu Chien's +sovereignty and administered those regions almost independently. When +the news came of Fu Chien's end, he declared himself an independent +ruler, of the "Later Liang" dynasty (386-403). Strictly speaking, this +was simply a trading State, like the city-states of Turkestan: its basis +was the transit traffic that brought it prosperity. For commerce brought +good profit to the small states that lay right across the caravan route, +whereas it was of doubtful benefit, as we know, to agrarian China as a +whole, because the luxury goods which it supplied to the court were paid +for out of the production of the general population. + +This "Later Liang" realm was inhabited not only by a few Tibetans and +many Chinese, but also by Hsien-pi and Huns. These heterogeneous +elements with their divergent cultures failed in the long run to hold +together in this long but extremely narrow strip of territory, which was +almost incapable of military defence. As early as 397 a group of Huns in +the central section of the country made themselves independent, assuming +the name of the "Northern Liang" (397-439). These Huns quickly conquered +other parts of the "Later Liang" realm, which then fell entirely to +pieces. Chinese again founded a state, "West Liang" (400-421) in western +Kansu, and the Hsien-pi founded "South Liang" (379-414) in eastern +Kansu. Thus the "Later Liang" fell into three parts, more or less +differing ethnically, though they could not be described as ethnically +unadulterated states. + +4 _Sociological analysis of the two great alien empires_ + +The two great empires of north China at the time of its division had +been founded by non-Chinese--the first by the Hun Liu Yüan, the second +by the Tibetan Fu Chien. Both rulers went to work on the same principle +of trying to build up truly "Chinese" empires, but the traditions of +Huns and Tibetans differed, and the two experiments turned out +differently. Both failed, but not for the same reasons and not with the +same results. The Hun Liu Yüan was the ruler of a league of feudal +tribes, which was expected to take its place as an upper class above the +unchanged Chinese agricultural population with its system of officials +and gentry. But Liu Yüan's successors were national reactionaries who +stood for the maintenance of the nomad life against that new plan of +transition to a feudal class of urban nobles ruling an agrarian +population. Liu Yüan's more far-seeing policy was abandoned, with the +result that the Huns were no longer in a position to rule an immense +agrarian territory, and the empire soon disintegrated. For the various +Hun tribes this failure meant falling back into political +insignificance, but they were able to maintain their national character +and existence. + +Fu Chien, as a Tibetan, was a militarist and soldier, in accordance with +the past of the Tibetans. Under him were grouped Tibetans without tribal +chieftains; the great mass of Chinese; and dispersed remnants of tribes +of Huns, Hsien-pi, and others. His organization was militaristic and, +outside the military sphere, a militaristic bureaucracy. The Chinese +gentry, so far as they still existed, preferred to work with him rather +than with the feudalist Huns. These gentry probably supported Fu Chien's +southern campaign, for, in consequence of the wide ramifications of +their families, it was to their interest that China should form a single +economic unit. They were, of course, equally ready to work with another +group, one of southern Chinese, to attain the same end by other means, +if those means should prove more advantageous: thus the gentry were not +a reliable asset, but were always ready to break faith. Among other +things, Fu Chien's southern campaign was wrecked by that faithlessness. +When an essentially military state suffers military defeat, it can only +go to pieces. This explains the disintegration of that great empire +within a single year into so many diminutive states, as already +described. + +5 _Sociological analysis of the petty States_ + +The states that took the place of Fu Chien's empire, those many +diminutive states (the Chinese speak of the period of the Sixteen +Kingdoms), may be divided from the economic point of view into two +groups--trading states and warrior states; sociologically they also fall +into two groups, tribal states and military states. + +The small states in the west, in Kansu (the Later Liang and the Western, +Northern, and Southern Liang), were trading states: they lived on the +earnings of transit trade with Turkestan. The eastern states were +warrior states, in which an army commander ruled by means of an armed +group of non-Chinese and exploited an agricultural population. It is +only logical that such states should be short-lived, as in fact they all +were. + +Sociologically regarded, during this period only the Southern and +Northern Liang were still tribal states. In addition to these came the +young Toba realm, which began in 385 but of which mention has not yet +been made. The basis of that state was the tribe, not the family or the +individual; after its political disintegration the separate tribes +remained in existence. The other states of the east, however, were +military states, made up of individuals with no tribal allegiance but +subject to a military commandant. But where there is no tribal +association, after the political downfall of a state founded by ethnical +groups, those groups sooner or later disappear as such. We see this in +the years immediately following Fu Chien's collapse: the Tibetan +ethnical group to which he himself belonged disappeared entirely from +the historical scene. The two Tibetan groups that outlasted him, also +forming military states and not tribal states, similarly came to an end +shortly afterwards for all time. The Hsien-pi groups in the various +fragments of the empire, with the exception of the petty states in +Kansu, also continued, only as tribal fragments led by a few old ruling +families. They, too, after brief and undistinguished military rule, came +to an end; they disappeared so completely that thereafter we no longer +find the term Hsien-pi in history. Not that they had been exterminated. +When the social structure and its corresponding economic form fall to +pieces, there remain only two alternatives for its individuals. Either +they must go over to a new form, which in China could only mean that +they became Chinese; many Hsien-pi in this way became Chinese in the +decades following 384. Or, they could retain their old way of living in +association with another stock of similar formation; this, too, happened +in many cases. Both these courses, however, meant the end of the +Hsien-pi as an independent ethnical unit. We must keep this process and +its reasons in view if we are to understand how a great people can +disappear once and for all. + +The Huns, too, so powerful in the past, were suddenly scarcely to be +found any longer. Among the many petty states there were many Hsien-pi +kingdoms, but only a single, quite small Hun state, that of the Northern +Liang. The disappearance of the Huns was, however, only apparent; at +this time they remained in the Ordos region and in Shansi as separate +nomad tribes with no integrating political organization; their time had +still to come. + +6 _Spread of Buddhism_ + +According to the prevalent Chinese view, nothing of importance was +achieved during this period in north China in the intellectual sphere; +there was no culture in the north, only in the south. This is natural: +for a Confucian this period, the fourth century, was one of degeneracy +in north China, for no one came into prominence as a celebrated +Confucian. Nothing else could be expected, for in the north the gentry, +which had been the class that maintained Confucianism since the Han +period, had largely been destroyed; from political leadership especially +it had been shut out during the periods of alien rule. Nor could we +expect to find Taoists in the true sense, that is to say followers of +the teaching of Lao Tz[)u], for these, too, had been dependent since the +Han period on the gentry. Until the fourth century, these two had +remained the dominant philosophies. + +What could take their place? The alien rulers had left little behind +them. Most of them had been unable to write Chinese, and in so far as +they were warriors they had no interest in literature or in political +philosophy, for they were men of action. Few songs and poems of theirs +remain extant in translations from their language into Chinese, but +these preserve a strong alien flavour in their mental attitude and in +their diction. They are the songs of fighting men, songs that were sung +on horseback, songs of war and its sufferings. These songs have nothing +of the excessive formalism and aestheticism of the Chinese, but give +expression to simple emotions in unpolished language with a direct +appeal. The epic of the Turkish peoples had clearly been developed +already, and in north China it produced a rudimentary ballad literature, +to which four hundred years later no less attention was paid than to the +emotional world of contemporary songs. The actual literature, however, +and the philosophy of this period are Buddhist. How can we explain that +Buddhism had gained such influence? + +It will be remembered that Buddhism came to China overland and by sea in +the Han epoch. The missionary monks who came from abroad with the +foreign merchants found little approval among the Chinese gentry. They +were regarded as second-rate persons belonging, according to Chinese +notions, to an inferior social class. Thus the monks had to turn to the +middle and lower classes in China. Among these they found widespread +acceptance, not of their profound philosophic ideas, but of their +doctrine of the after life. This doctrine was in a certain sense +revolutionary: it declared that all the high officials and superiors who +treated the people so unjustly and who so exploited them, would in their +next reincarnation be born in poor circumstances or into inferior rank +and would have to suffer punishment for all their ill deeds. The poor +who had to suffer undeserved evils would be born in their next life into +high rank and would have a good time. This doctrine brought a ray of +light, a promise, to the country people who had suffered so much since +the later Han period of the second century A.D. Their situation remained +unaltered down to the fourth century; and under their alien rulers the +Chinese country population became Buddhist. + +The merchants made use of the Buddhist monasteries as banks and +warehouses. Thus they, too, were well inclined towards Buddhism and gave +money and land for its temples. The temples were able to settle peasants +on this land as their tenants. In those times a temple was a more +reliable landlord than an individual alien, and the poorer peasants +readily became temple tenants; this increased their inclination towards +Buddhism. + +The Indian, Sogdian, and Turkestani monks were readily allowed to settle +by the alien rulers of China, who had no national prejudice against +other aliens. The monks were educated men and brought some useful +knowledge from abroad. Educated Chinese were scarcely to be found, for +the gentry retired to their estates, which they protected as well as +they could from their alien ruler. So long as the gentry had no prospect +of regaining control of the threads of political life that extended +throughout China, they were not prepared to provide a class of officials +and scholars for the anti-Confucian foreigners, who showed interest only +in fighting and trading. Thus educated persons were needed at the courts +of the alien rulers, and Buddhists were therefore engaged. These foreign +Buddhists had all the important Buddhist writings translated into +Chinese, and so made use of their influence at court for religious +propaganda. This does not mean that every text was translated from +Indian languages; especially in the later period many works appeared +which came not from India but from Sogdia or Turkestan, or had even been +written in China by Sogdians or other natives of Turkestan, and were +then translated into Chinese. In Turkestan, Khotan in particular became +a centre of Buddhist culture. Buddhism was influenced by vestiges of +indigenous cults, so that Khotan developed a special religious +atmosphere of its own; deities were honoured there (for instance, the +king of Heaven of the northerners) to whom little regard was paid +elsewhere. This "Khotan Buddhism" had special influence on the Buddhist +Turkish peoples. + +Big translation bureaux were set up for the preparation of these +translations into Chinese, in which many copyists simultaneously took +down from dictation a translation made by a "master" with the aid of a +few native helpers. The translations were not literal, but were +paraphrases, most of them greatly reduced in length, glosses were +introduced when the translator thought fit for political or doctrinal +reasons, or when he thought that in this way he could better adapt the +texts to Chinese feeling. + +Buddhism, quite apart from the special case of "Khotan Buddhism", +underwent extensive modification on its way across Central Asia. Its +main Indian form (Hinayana) was a purely individualistic religion of +salvation without a God--related in this respect to genuine Taoism--and +based on a concept of two classes of people: the monks who could achieve +salvation and, secondly, the masses who fed the monks but could not +achieve salvation. This religion did not gain a footing in China; only +traces of it can be found in some Buddhistic sects in China. Mahayana +Buddhism, on the other hand, developed into a true popular religion of +salvation. It did not interfere with the indigenous deities and did not +discountenance life in human society; it did not recommend Nirvana at +once, but placed before it a here-after with all the joys worth striving +for. In this form Buddhism was certain of success in Asia. On its way +from India to China it divided into countless separate streams, each +characterized by a particular book. Every nuance, from profound +philosophical treatises to the most superficial little tracts written +for the simplest of souls, and even a good deal of Turkestan shamanism +and Tibetan belief in magic, found their way into Buddhist writings, so +that some Buddhist monks practiced Central Asian Shamanism. + +In spite of Buddhism, the old religion of the peasants retained its +vitality. Local diviners, Chinese shamans (_wu_), sorcerers, continued +their practices, although from now on they sometimes used Buddhist +phraseology. Often, this popular religion is called "Taoism ", because a +systematization of the popular pantheon was attempted, and Lao Tz[)u] +and other Taoists played a role in this pantheon. Philosophic Taoism +continued in this time, aside from the church-Taoism of Chang Ling and, +naturally, all kinds of contacts between these three currents occurred. +The Chinese state cult, the cult of Heaven saturated with Confucianism, +was another living form of religion. The alien rulers, in turn, had +brought their own mixture of worship of Heaven and shamanism. Their +worship of Heaven was their official "representative" religion; their +shamanism the private religion of the individual in his daily life. The +alien rulers, accordingly, showed interest in the Chinese shamans as +well as in the shamanistic aspects of Mahayana Buddhism. Not +infrequently competitions were arranged by the rulers between priests of +the different religious systems, and the rulers often competed for the +possession of monks who were particularly skilled in magic or +soothsaying. + +But what was the position of the "official" religion? Were the aliens to +hold to their own worship of heaven, or were they to take over the +official Chinese cult, or what else? This problem posed itself already +in the fourth century, but it was left unsolved. + + +(D) The Toba empire in North China (A.D. 385-550) + +1 _The rise of the Toba State_ + +On the collapse of Fu Chien's empire one more state made its appearance; +it has not yet been dealt with, although it was the most important one. +This was the empire of the Toba, in the north of the present province of +Shansi. Fu Chien had brought down the small old Toba state in 376, but +had not entirely destroyed it. Its territory was partitioned, and part +was placed under the administration of a Hun: in view of the old rivalry +between Toba and Huns, this seemed to Fu Chien to be the best way of +preventing any revival of the Toba. However, a descendant of the old +ruling family of the Toba succeeded, with the aid of related families, +in regaining power and forming a small new kingdom. Very soon many +tribes which still lived in north China and which had not been broken up +into military units, joined him. Of these there were ultimately 119, +including many Hun tribes from Shansi and also many Hsien-pi tribes. +Thus the question who the Toba were is not easy to answer. The leading +tribe itself had migrated southward in the third century from the +frontier territory between northern Mongolia and northern Manchuria. +After this migration the first Toba state, the so-called Tai state, was +formed (338-376); not much is known about it. The tribes that, from 385 +after the break-up of the Tibetan empire, grouped themselves round this +ruling tribe, were both Turkish and Mongol; but from the culture and +language of the Toba we think it must be inferred that the ruling tribe +itself as well as the majority of the other tribes were Turkish; in any +case, the Turkish element seems to have been stronger than the +Mongolian. + +Thus the new Toba kingdom was a tribal state, not a military state. But +the tribes were no longer the same as in the time of Liu Yüan a hundred +years earlier. Their total population must have been quite small; we +must assume that they were but the remains of 119 tribes rather than 119 +full-sized tribes. Only part of them were still living the old nomad +life; others had become used to living alongside Chinese peasants and +had assumed leadership among the peasants. These Toba now faced a +difficult situation. The country was arid and mountainous and did not +yield much agricultural produce. For the many people who had come into +the Toba state from all parts of the former empire of Fu Chien, to say +nothing of the needs of a capital and a court which since the time of +Liu Yüan had been regarded as the indispensable entourage of a ruler who +claimed imperial rank, the local production of the Chinese peasants was +not enough. All the government officials, who were Chinese, and all the +slaves and eunuchs needed grain to eat. Attempts were made to settle +more Chinese peasants round the new capital, but without success; +something had to be done. It appeared necessary to embark on a campaign +to conquer the fertile plain of eastern China. In the course of a number +of battles the Hsien-pi of the "Later Yen" were annihilated and eastern +China conquered (409). + +Now a new question arose: what should be done with all those people? +Nomads used to enslave their prisoners and use them for watching their +flocks. Some tribal chieftains had adopted the practice of establishing +captives on their tribal territory as peasants. There was an opportunity +now to subject the millions of Chinese captives to servitude to the +various tribal chieftains in the usual way. But those captives who were +peasants could not be taken away from their fields without robbing the +country of its food; therefore it would have been necessary to spread +the tribes over the whole of eastern China, and this would have added +immensely to the strength of the various tribes and would have greatly +weakened the central power. Furthermore almost all Chinese officials at +the court had come originally from the territories just conquered. They +had come from there about a hundred years earlier and still had all +their relatives in the east. If the eastern territories had been placed +under the rule of separate tribes, and the tribes had been distributed +in this way, the gentry in those territories would have been destroyed +and reduced to the position of enslaved peasants. The Chinese officials +accordingly persuaded the Toba emperor not to place the new territories +under the tribes, but to leave them to be administered by officials of +the central administration. These officials must have a firm footing in +their territory, for only they could extract from the peasants the grain +required for the support of the capital. Consequently the Toba +government did not enslave the Chinese in the eastern territory, but +made the local gentry into government officials, instructing them to +collect as much grain as possible for the capital. This Chinese local +gentry worked in close collaboration with the Chinese officials at +court, a fact which determined the whole fate of the Toba empire. + +The Hsien-pi of the newly conquered east no longer belonged to any +tribe, but only to military units. They were transferred as soldiers to +the Toba court and placed directly under the government, which was thus +notably strengthened, especially as the millions of peasants under their +Chinese officials were also directly responsible to the central +administration. The government now proceeded to convert also its own +Toba tribes into military formations. The tribal men of noble rank were +brought to the court as military officers, and so were separated from +the common tribesmen and the slaves who had to remain with the herds. +This change, which robbed the tribes of all means of independent action, +was not carried out without bloodshed. There were revolts of tribal +chieftains which were ruthlessly suppressed. The central government had +triumphed, but it realized that more reliance could be placed on Chinese +than on its own people, who were used to independence. Thus the Toba +were glad to employ more and more Chinese, and the Chinese pressed more +and more into the administration. In this process the differing social +organizations of Toba and Chinese played an important part. The Chinese +have patriarchal families with often hundreds of members. When a member +of a family obtains a good position, he is obliged to make provision for +the other members of his family and to secure good positions for them +too; and not only the members of his own family but those of allied +families and of families related to it by marriage. In contrast the Toba +had a patriarchal nuclear family system; as nomad warriors with no fixed +abode, they were unable to form extended family groups. Among them the +individual was much more independent; each one tried to do his best for +himself. No Toba thought of collecting a large clique around himself; +everybody should be the artificer of his own fortune. Thus, when a +Chinese obtained an official post, he was followed by countless others; +but when a Toba had a position he remained alone, and so the +sinification of the Toba empire went on incessantly. + +2 _The Hun kingdom of the Hsia (407-431_) + +At the rebuilding of the Toba empire, however, a good many Hun tribes +withdrew westward into the Ordos region beyond the reach of the Toba, +and there they formed the Hun "Hsia" kingdom. Its ruler, Ho-lien +P'o-p'o, belonged to the family of Mao Tun and originally, like Liu +Yüan, bore the sinified family name Liu; but he altered this to a Hun +name, taking the family name of Ho-lien. This one fact alone +demonstrates that the Hsia rejected Chinese culture and were +nationalistic Hun. Thus there were now two realms in North China, one +undergoing progressive sinification, the other falling back to the old +traditions of the Huns. + +3 _Rise of the Toba to a great Power_ + +The present province of Szechwan, in the west, had belonged to Fu +Chien's empire. At the break-up of the Tibetan state that province +passed to the southern Chinese empire and gave the southern Chinese +access, though it was very difficult access, to the caravan route +leading to Turkestan. The small states in Kansu, which dominated the +route, now passed on the traffic along two routes, one northward to the +Toba and the other alien states in north China, the other through +north-west Szechwan to south China. In this way the Kansu states were +strengthened both economically and politically, for they were able to +direct the commerce either to the northern states or to south China as +suited them. When the South Chinese saw the break-up of Fu Chien's +empire into numberless fragments, Liu Yü, who was then all-powerful at +the South Chinese court, made an attempt to conquer the whole of western +China. A great army was sent from South China into the province of +Shensi, where the Tibetan empire of the "Later Ch'in" was situated. The +Ch'in appealed to the Toba for help, but the Toba were themselves too +hotly engaged to be able to spare troops. They also considered that +South China would be unable to maintain these conquests, and that they +themselves would find them later an easy prey. Thus in 417 the state of +"Later Ch'in" received a mortal blow from the South Chinese army. Large +numbers of the upper class fled to the Toba. As had been foreseen, the +South Chinese were unable to maintain their hold over the conquered +territory, and it was annexed with ease by the Hun Ho-lien P'o-p'o. But +why not by the Toba? + +Towards the end of the fourth century, vestiges of Hun, Hsien-pi, and +other tribes had united in Mongolia to form the new people of the +Juan-juan (also called Ju-juan or Jou-jan). Scholars disagree as to +whether the Juan-juan were Turks or Mongols; European investigators +believe them to have been identical with the Avars who appeared in the +Near East in 558 and later in Europe, and are inclined, on the strength +of a few vestiges of their language, to regard them as Mongols. +Investigations concerning the various tribes, however, show that among +the Juan-juan there were both Mongol and Turkish tribes, and that the +question cannot be decided in favour of either group. Some of the tribes +belonging to the Juan-juan had formerly lived in China. Others had lived +farther north or west and came into the history of the Far East now for +the first time. + +This Juan-juan people threatened the Toba in the rear, from the north. +It made raids into the Toba empire for the same reasons for which the +Huns in the past had raided agrarian China; for agriculture had made +considerable progress in the Toba empire. Consequently, before the Toba +could attempt to expand southward, the Juan-juan peril must be removed. +This was done in the end, after a long series of hard and not always +successful struggles. That was why the Toba had played no part in the +fighting against South China, and had been unable to take immediate +advantage of that fighting. + +After 429 the Juan-juan peril no longer existed, and in the years that +followed the whole of the small states of the west were destroyed, one +after another, by the Toba--the "Hsia kingdom" in 431, bringing down +with it the "Western Ch'in", and the "Northern Liang" in 439. The +non-Chinese elements of the population of those countries were moved +northward and served the Toba as soldiers; the Chinese also, especially +the remains of the Kansu "Western Liang" state (conquered in 420), were +enslaved, and some of them transferred to the north. Here again, +however, the influence of the Chinese gentry made itself felt after a +short time. As we know, the Chinese of "Western Liang" in Kansu had +originally migrated there from eastern China. Their eastern relatives +who had come under Toba rule through the conquest of eastern China and +who through their family connections with Chinese officials of the Toba +empire had found safety, brought their influence to bear on behalf of +the Chinese of Kansu, so that several families regained office and +social standing. + +[Illustration: Map 4: The Toba empire (_about A.D. 500_)] + +Their expansion into Kansu gave the Toba control of the commerce with +Turkestan, and there are many mentions of tribute missions to the Toba +court in the years that followed, some even from India. The Toba also +spread in the east. And finally there was fighting with South China +(430-431), which brought to the Toba empire a large part of the province +of Honan with the old capital, Loyang. Thus about 440 the Toba must be +described as the most powerful state in the Far East, ruling the whole +of North China. + +4 _Economic and social conditions_ + +The internal changes of which there had only been indications in the +first period of the Toba empire now proceeded at an accelerated pace. +There were many different factors at work. The whole of the civil +administration had gradually passed into Chinese hands, the Toba +retaining only the military administration. But the wars in the south +called for the services of specialists in fortification and in infantry +warfare, who were only to be found among the Chinese. The growing +influence of the Chinese was further promoted by the fact that many Toba +families were exterminated in the revolts of the tribal chieftains, and +others were wiped out in the many battles. Thus the Toba lost ground +also in the military administration. + +The wars down to A.D. 440 had been large-scale wars of conquest, +lightning campaigns that had brought in a great deal of booty. With +their loot the Toba developed great magnificence and luxury. The +campaigns that followed were hard and long-drawn-out struggles, +especially against South China, where there was no booty, because the +enemy retired so slowly that they could take everything with them. The +Toba therefore began to be impoverished, because plunder was the main +source of their wealth. In addition to this, their herds gradually +deteriorated, for less and less use was made of them; for instance, +horses were little required for the campaign against South China, and +there was next to no fighting in the north. In contrast with the +impoverishment of the Toba, the Chinese gentry grew not only more +powerful but more wealthy. + +The Toba seem to have tried to prevent this development by introducing +the famous "land equalization system" (_chün-t'ien_), one of their most +important innovations. The direct purposes of this measure were to +resettle uprooted farm population; to prevent further migrations of +farmers; and to raise production and taxes. The founder of this system +was Li An-shih, member of a Toba family and later husband of an imperial +princess. The plan was basically accepted in 477, put into action in +485, and remained the land law until _c_. 750. Every man and every +woman had a right to receive a certain amount of land for lifetime. +After their death, the land was redistributed. In addition to this +"personal land" there was so-called "mulberry land" on which farmers +could plant mulberries for silk production; but they also could plant +other crops under the trees. This land could be inherited from father to +son and was not redistributed. Incidentally we know many similar +regulations for trees in the Near East and Central Asia. As the tax was +levied upon the personal land in form of grain, and on the tree land in +form of silk, this regulation stimulated the cultivation of diversified +crops on the tree land which then was not taxable. The basic idea behind +this law was, that all land belonged to the state, a concept for which +the Toba could point to the ancient Chou but which also fitted well for +a dynasty of conquest. The new "_chün-t'ien_" system required a complete +land and population survey which was done in the next years. We know +from much later census fragments that the government tried to enforce +this equalization law, but did not always succeed; we read statements +such as "X has so and so much land; he has a claim on so and so much +land and, therefore, has to get so and so much"; but there are no +records that X ever received the land due to him. + +One consequence of the new land law was a legal fixation of the social +classes. Already during Han time (and perhaps even earlier) a +distinction had been made between "free burghers" (_liang-min_) and +"commoners" (_ch'ien-min_). This distinction had continued as informal +tradition until, now, it became a legal concept. Only "burghers", i.e. +gentry and free farmers, were real citizens with all rights of a free +man. The "commoners" were completely or partly unfree and fell under +several heads. Ranking as the lowest class were the real slaves (_nu_), +divided into state and private slaves. By law, slaves were regarded as +pieces of property, not as members of human society. They were, however, +forced to marry and thus, as a class, were probably reproducing at a +rate similar to that of the normal population, while slaves in Europe +reproduced at a lower rate than the population. The next higher class +were serfs (_fan-hu_), hereditary state servants, usually descendants of +state slaves. They were obliged to work three months during the year for +the state and were paid for this service. They were not registered in +their place of residence but under the control of the Ministry of +Agriculture which distributed them to other offices, but did not use +them for farm work. Similar in status to them were the private bondsmen +(_pu-ch'ü_), hereditarily attached to gentry families. These serfs +received only 50 per cent of the land which a free burgher received +under the land law. Higher than these were the service families +(_tsa-hu_), who were registered in their place of residence, but had to +perform certain services; here we find "tomb families" who cared for the +imperial tombs, "shepherd families", postal families, kiln families, +soothsayer families, medical families, and musician families. Each of +these categories of commoners had its own laws; each had to marry within +the category. No intermarriage or adoption was allowed. It is +interesting to observe that a similar fixation of the social status of +citizens occurred in the Roman Empire from _c_. A.D. 300 on. + +Thus in the years between 440 and 490 there were great changes not only +in the economic but in the social sphere. The Toba declined in number +and influence. Many of them married into rich families of the Chinese +gentry and regarded themselves as no longer belonging to the Toba. In +the course of time the court was completely sinified. + +The Chinese at the court now formed the leading element, and they tried +to persuade the emperor to claim dominion over all China, at least in +theory, by installing his capital in Loyang, the old centre of China. +This transfer had the advantage for them personally that the territories +in which their properties were situated were close to that capital, so +that the grain they produced found a ready market. And it was indeed no +longer possible to rule the great Toba empire, now covering the whole of +North China from North Shansi. The administrative staff was so great +that the transport system was no longer able to bring in sufficient +food. For the present capital did not lie on a navigable river, and all +the grain had to be carted, an expensive and unsafe mode of transport. +Ultimately, in 493-4, the Chinese gentry officials secured the transfer +of the capital to Loyang. In the years 490 to 499 the Toba emperor Wen +Ti (471-499) took further decisive steps required by the stage reached +in internal development. All aliens were prohibited from using their own +language in public life. Chinese became the official language. Chinese +clothing and customs also became general. The system of administration +which had largely followed a pattern developed by the Wei dynasty in the +early third century, was changed and took a form which became the model +for the T'ang dynasty in the seventh century. It is important to note +that in this period, for the first time, an office for religious affairs +was created which dealt mainly with Buddhistic monasteries. While after +the Toba period such an office for religious affairs disappeared again, +this idea was taken up later by Japan when Japan accepted a Chinese-type +of administration. + +[Illustration: 6 Sun Ch'üan, ruler of Wu. _From a painting by Yen +Li-pen (c_. 640-680).] + +[Illustration: 7 General view of the Buddhist cave-temples of Yün-kang. +In the foreground, the present village; in the background, the rampart. +_Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +Owing to his bringing up, the emperor no longer regarded himself as Toba +but as Chinese; he adopted the Chinese culture, acting as he was bound +to do if he meant to be no longer an alien ruler in North China. Already +he regarded himself as emperor of all China, so that the South Chinese +empire was looked upon as a rebel state that had to be conquered. While, +however, he succeeded in everything else, the campaign against the south +failed except for some local successes. + +The transfer of the capital to Loyang was a blow to the Toba nobles. +Their herds became valueless, for animal products could not be carried +over the long distance to the new capital. In Loyang the Toba nobles +found themselves parted from their tribes, living in an unaccustomed +climate and with nothing to do, for all important posts were occupied by +Chinese. The government refused to allow them to return to the north. +Those who did not become Chinese by finding their way into Chinese +families grew visibly poorer and poorer. + +5 _Victory and retreat of Buddhism_ + +What we said in regard to the religious position of the other alien +peoples applied also to the Toba. As soon, however, as their empire +grew, they, too, needed an "official" religion of their own. For a few +years they had continued their old sacrifices to Heaven; then another +course opened to them. The Toba, together with many Chinese living in +the Toba empire, were all captured by Buddhism, and especially by its +shamanist element. One element in their preference of Buddhism was +certainly the fact that Buddhism accepted all foreigners alike--both the +Toba and the Chinese were "foreign" converts to an essentially Indian +religion; whereas the Confucianist Chinese always made the non-Chinese +feel that in spite of all their attempts they were still "barbarians" +and that only real Chinese could be real Confucianists. + +Secondly, it can be assumed that the Toba rulers by fostering Buddhism +intended to break the power of the Chinese gentry. A few centuries +later, Buddhism was accepted by the Tibetan kings to break the power of +the native nobility, by the Japanese to break the power of a federation +of noble clans, and still later by the Burmese kings for the same +reason. The acceptance of Buddhism by rulers in the Far East always +meant also an attempt to create a more autocratic, absolutistic regime. +Mahayana Buddhism, as an ideal, desired a society without clear-cut +classes under one enlightened ruler; in such a society all believers +could strive to attain the ultimate goal of salvation. + +Throughout the early period of Buddhism in the Far East, the question +had been discussed what should be the relations between the Buddhist +monks and the emperor, whether they were subject to him or not. This was +connected, of course, with the fact that to the early fourth century the +Buddhist monks were foreigners who, in the view prevalent in the Far +East, owed only a limited allegiance to the ruler of the land. The +Buddhist monks at the Toba court now submitted to the emperor, regarding +him as a reincarnation of Buddha. Thus the emperor became protector of +Buddhism and a sort of god. This combination was a good substitute for +the old Chinese theory that the emperor was the Son of Heaven; it +increased the prestige and the splendour of the dynasty. At the same +time the old shamanism was legitimized under a Buddhist +reinterpretation. Thus Buddhism became a sort of official religion. The +emperor appointed a Buddhist monk as head of the Buddhist state church, +and through this "Pope" he conveyed endowments on a large scale to the +church. T'an-yao, head of the state church since 460, induced the state +to attach state slaves, i.e. enslaved family members of criminals, and +their families to state temples. They were supposed to work on temple +land and to produce for the upkeep of the temples and monasteries. Thus, +the institution of "temple slaves" was created, an institution which +existed in South Asia and Burma for a long time, and which greatly +strengthened the economic position of Buddhism. + +Like all Turkish peoples, the Toba possessed a myth according to which +their ancestors came into the world from a sacred grotto. The Buddhists +took advantage of this conception to construct, with money from the +emperor, the vast and famous cave-temple of Yün-kang, in northern +Shansi. If we come from the bare plains into the green river valley, we +may see to this day hundreds of caves cut out of the steep cliffs of the +river bank. Here monks lived in their cells, worshipping the deities of +whom they had thousands of busts and reliefs sculptured in stone, some +of more than life-size, some diminutive. The majestic impression made +today by the figures does not correspond to their original effect, for +they were covered with a layer of coloured stucco. + +We know only few names of the artists and craftsmen who made these +objects. Probably some at least were foreigners from Turkestan, for in +spite of the predominantly Chinese character of these sculptures, some +of them are reminiscent of works in Turkestan and even in the Near East. +In the past the influences of the Near East on the Far East--influences +traced back in the last resort to Greece--were greatly exaggerated; it +was believed that Greek art, carried through Alexander's campaign as far +as the present Afghanistan, degenerated there in the hands of Indian +imitators (the so-called Gandhara art) and ultimately passed on in more +and more distorted forms through Turkestan to China. Actually, however, +some eight hundred years lay between Alexander's campaign and the Toba +period sculptures at Yün-kang and, owing to the different cultural +development, the contents of the Greek and the Toba-period art were +entirely different. We may say, therefore, that suggestions came from +the centre of the Greco-Bactrian culture (in the present Afghanistan) +and were worked out by the Toba artists; old forms were filled with a +new content, and the elements in the reliefs of Yün-kang that seem to us +to be non-Chinese were the result of this synthesis of Western +inspiration and Turkish initiative. It is interesting to observe that +all steppe rulers showed special interest in sculpture and, as a rule, +in architecture; after the Toba period, sculpture flourished in China in +the T'ang period, the period of strong cultural influence from Turkish +peoples, and there was a further advance of sculpture and of the +cave-dwellers' worship in the period of the "Five Dynasties" (906-960; +three of these dynasties were Turkish) and in the Mongol period. + +But not all Buddhists joined the "Church", just as not all Taoists had +joined the Church of Chang Ling's Taoism. Some Buddhists remained in the +small towns and villages and suffered oppression from the central +Church. These village Buddhist monks soon became instigators of a +considerable series of attempts at revolution. Their Buddhism was of the +so-called "Maitreya school", which promised the appearance on earth of a +new Buddha who would do away with all suffering and introduce a Golden +Age. The Chinese peasantry, exploited by the gentry, came to the support +of these monks whose Messianism gave the poor a hope in this world. The +nomad tribes also, abandoned by their nobles in the capital and +wandering in poverty with their now worthless herds, joined these monks. +We know of many revolts of Hun and Toba tribes in this period, revolts +that had a religious appearance but in reality were simply the result of +the extreme impoverishment of these remaining tribes. + +In addition to these conflicts between state and popular Buddhism, +clashes between Buddhists and representatives of organized Taoism +occurred. Such fights, however, reflected more the power struggle +between cliques than between religious groups. The most famous incident +was the action against the Buddhists in 446 which brought destruction to +many temples and monasteries and death to many monks. Here, a mighty +Chinese gentry faction under the leadership of the Ts'ui family had +united with the Taoist leader K'ou Ch'ien-chih against another faction +under the leadership of the crown prince. + +With the growing influence of the Chinese gentry, however, Confucianism +gained ground again, until with the transfer of the capital to Loyang it +gained a complete victory, taking the place of Buddhism and becoming +once more as in the past the official religion of the state. This +process shows us once more how closely the social order of the gentry +was associated with Confucianism. + + +(E) Succession States of the Toba (A.D. 550-580): Northern Ch'i dynasty, +Northern Chou dynasty + +1 _Reasons for the splitting of the Toba empire_ + +Events now pursued their logical course. The contrast between the +central power, now become entirely Chinese, and the remains of the +tribes who were with their herds mainly in Shansi and the Ordos region +and were hopelessly impoverished, grew more and more acute. From 530 +onward the risings became more and more formidable. A few Toba who still +remained with their old tribes placed themselves at the head of the +rebels and conquered not only the whole of Shansi but also the capital, +where there was a great massacre of Chinese and pro-Chinese Toba. The +rebels were driven back; in this a man of the Kao family distinguished +himself, and all the Chinese and pro-Chinese gathered round him. The Kao +family, which may have been originally a Hsien-pi family, had its +estates in eastern China and so was closely associated with the eastern +Chinese gentry, who were the actual rulers of the Toba State. In 534 +this group took the impotent emperor of their own creation to the city +of Yeh in the east, where he reigned _de jure_ for a further sixteen +years. Then he was deposed, and Kao Yang made himself the first emperor +of the Northern Ch'i dynasty (550-577). + +The national Toba group, on the other hand, found another man of the +imperial family and established him in the west. After a short time this +puppet was removed from the throne and a man of the Yü-wen family made +himself emperor, founding the "Northern Chou dynasty" (557-580). The +Hsien-pi family of Yü-wen was a branch of the Hsien-pi, but was closely +connected with the Huns and probably of Turkish origin. All the still +existing remains of Toba tribes who had eluded sinification moved into +this western empire. + +The splitting of the Toba empire into these two separate realms was the +result of the policy embarked on at the foundation of the empire. Once +the tribal chieftains and nobles had been separated from their tribes +and organized militarily, it was inevitable that the two elements should +have different social destinies. The nobles could not hold their own +against the Chinese; if they were not actually eliminated in one way or +another, they disappeared into Chinese families. The rest, the people of +the tribe, became destitute and were driven to revolt. The northern +peoples had been unable to perpetuate either their tribal or their +military organization, and the Toba had been equally unsuccessful in +their attempt to perpetuate the two forms of organization alongside each +other. + +These social processes are of particular importance because the ethnical +disappearance of the northern peoples in China had nothing to do with +any racial inferiority or with any particular power of assimilation; it +was a natural process resulting from the different economic, social, and +cultural organizations of the northern peoples and the Chinese. + +2 _Appearance of the (Gök) Turks_ + +The Toba had liberated themselves early in the fifth century from the +Juan-juan peril. None of the fighting that followed was of any great +importance. The Toba resorted to the old means of defence against +nomads--they built great walls. Apart from that, after their move +southward to Loyang, their new capital, they were no longer greatly +interested in their northern territories. When the Toba empire split +into the Ch'i and the Northern Chou, the remaining Juan-juan entered +into treaties first with one realm and then with the other: each realm +wanted to secure the help of the Juan-juan against the other. + +Meanwhile there came unexpectedly to the fore in the north a people +grouped round a nucleus tribe of Huns, the tribal union of the +"T'u-chüeh", that is to say the Gök Turks, who began to pursue a policy +of their own under their khan. In 546 they sent a mission to the western +empire, then in the making, of the Northern Chou, and created the first +bonds with it, following which the Northern Chou became allies of the +Turks. The eastern empire, Ch'i, accordingly made terms with the +Juan-juan, but in 552 the latter suffered a crushing defeat at the hands +of the Turks, their former vassals. The remains of the Juan-juan either +fled to the Ch'i state or went reluctantly into the land of the Chou. +Soon there was friction between the Juan-juan and the Ch'i, and in 555 +the Juan-juan in that state were annihilated. In response to pressure +from the Turks, the Juan-juan in the western empire of the Northern Chou +were delivered up to them and killed in the same year. The Juan-juan +then disappeared from the history of the Far East. They broke up into +their several tribes, some of which were admitted into the Turks' tribal +league. A few years later the Turks also annihilated the Ephtalites, +who had been allied with the Juan-juan; this made the Turks the dominant +power in Central Asia. The Ephtalites (Yeh-ta, Haytal) were a mixed +group which contained elements of the old Yüeh-chih and spoke an +Indo-European language. Some scholars regard them as a branch of the +Tocharians of Central Asia. One menace to the northern states of China +had disappeared--that of the Juan-juan. Their place was taken by a much +more dangerous power, the Turks. + +3 _The Northern Ch'i dynasty; the Northern Chou dynasty_ + +In consequence of this development the main task of the Northern Chou +state consisted in the attempt to come to some settlement with its +powerful Turkish neighbours, and meanwhile to gain what it could from +shrewd negotiations with its other neighbours. By means of intrigues and +diplomacy it intervened with some success in the struggles in South +China. One of the pretenders to the throne was given protection; he was +installed in the present Hankow as a quasi-feudal lord depending on +Chou, and there he founded the "Later Liang dynasty" (555-587). In this +way Chou had brought the bulk of South China under its control without +itself making any real contribution to that result. + +Unlike the Chinese state of Ch'i, Chou followed the old Toba tradition. +Old customs were revived, such as the old sacrifice to Heaven and the +lifting of the emperor on to a carpet at his accession to the throne; +family names that had been sinified were turned into Toba names again, +and even Chinese were given Toba names; but in spite of this the inner +cohesion had been destroyed. After two centuries it was no longer +possible to go back to the old nomad, tribal life. There were also too +many Chinese in the country, with whom close bonds had been forged +which, in spite of all attempts, could not be broken. Consequently there +was no choice but to organize a state essentially similar to that of the +great Toba empire. + +There is just as little of importance that can be said of the internal +politics of the Ch'i dynasty. The rulers of that dynasty were thoroughly +repulsive figures, with no positive achievements of any sort to their +credit. Confucianism had been restored in accordance with the Chinese +character of the state. It was a bad time for Buddhists, and especially +for the followers of the popularized Taoism. In spite of this, about +A.D. 555 great new Buddhist cave-temples were created in Lung-men, near +Loyang, in imitation of the famous temples of Yün-kang. + +The fighting with the western empire, the Northern Chou state, still +continued, and Ch'i was seldom successful. In 563 Chou made preparations +for a decisive blow against Ch'i, but suffered defeat because the Turks, +who had promised aid, gave none and shortly afterwards began campaigns +of their own against Ch'i. In 571 Ch'i had some success in the west +against Chou, but then it lost parts of its territory to the South +Chinese empire, and finally in 576-7 it was defeated by Chou in a great +counter-offensive. Thus for some three years all North China was once +more under a single rule, though of nothing approaching the strength of +the Toba at the height of their power. For in all these campaigns the +Turks had played an important part, and at the end they annexed further +territory in the north of Ch'i, so that their power extended far into +the east. + +Meanwhile intrigue followed intrigue at the court of Chou; the mutual +assassinations within the ruling group were as incessant as in the last +years of the great Toba empire, until the real power passed from the +emperor and his Toba entourage to a Chinese family, the Yang. Yang +Chien's daughter was the wife of a Chou emperor; his son was married to +a girl of the Hun family Tu-ku; her sister was the wife of the father of +the Chou emperor. Amid this tangled relationship in the imperial house +it is not surprising that Yang Chien should attain great power. The +Tu-ku were a very old family of the Hun nobility; originally the name +belonged to the Hun house from which the _shan-yü_ had to be descended. +This family still observed the traditions of the Hun rulers, and +relationship with it was regarded as an honour even by the Chinese. +Through their centuries of association with aristocratically organized +foreign peoples, some of the notions of nobility had taken root among +the Chinese gentry; to be related with old ruling houses was a welcome +means of evidencing or securing a position of special distinction among +the gentry. Yang Chien gained useful prestige from his family +connections. After the leading Chinese cliques had regained predominance +in the Chou empire, much as had happened before in the Toba empire, Yang +Chien's position was strong enough to enable him to massacre the members +of the imperial family and then, in 581, to declare himself emperor. +Thus began the Sui dynasty, the first dynasty that was once more to rule +all China. + +But what had happened to the Toba? With the ending of the Chou empire +they disappeared for all time, just as the Juan-juan had done a little +earlier. So far as the tribes did not entirely disintegrate, the people +of the tribes seem during the last years of Toba and Chou to have joined +Turkish and other tribes. In any case, nothing more is heard of them as +a people, and they themselves lived on under the name of the tribe that +led the new tribal league. + +Most of the Toba nobility, on the other hand, became Chinese. This +process can be closely followed in the Chinese annals. The tribes that +had disintegrated in the time of the Toba empire broke up into families +of which some adopted the name of the tribe as their family name, while +others chose Chinese family names. During the centuries that followed, +in some cases indeed down to modern times, these families continue to +appear, often playing an important part in Chinese history. + + +(F) The Southern Empires + +1 _Economic and social situation in the south_ + +During the 260 years of alien rule in North China, the picture of South +China also was full of change. When in 317 the Huns had destroyed the +Chinese Chin dynasty in the north, a Chin prince who normally would not +have become heir to the throne declared himself, under the name Yüan Ti, +the first emperor of the "Eastern Chin dynasty" (317-419). The capital +of this new southern empire adjoined the present Nanking. Countless +members of the Chinese gentry had fled from the Huns at that time and +had come into the southern empire. They had not done so out of loyalty +to the Chinese dynasty or out of national feeling, but because they saw +little prospect of attaining rank and influence at the courts of the +alien rulers, and because it was to be feared that the aliens would turn +the fields into pasturage, and also that they would make an end of the +economic and monetary system which the gentry had evolved for their own +benefit. + +But the south was, of course, not uninhabited. There were already two +groups living there--the old autochthonous population, consisting of +Yao, Tai and Yüeh, and the earlier Chinese immigrants from the north, +who had mainly arrived in the time of the Three Kingdoms, at the +beginning of the third century A.D. The countless new immigrants now +came into sharp conflict with the old-established earlier immigrants. +Each group looked down on the other and abused it. The two immigrant +groups in particular not only spoke different dialects but had developed +differently in respect to manners and customs. A look for example at +Formosa in the years after 1948 will certainly help in an understanding +of this situation: analogous tensions developed between the new +refugees, the old Chinese immigrants, and the native Formosan +population. But let us return to the southern empires. + +The two immigrant groups also differed economically and socially: the +old immigrants were firmly established on the large properties they had +acquired, and dominated their tenants, who were largely autochthones; or +they had engaged in large-scale commerce. In any case, they possessed +capital, and more capital than was usually possessed by the gentry of +the north. Some of the new immigrants, on the other hand, were military +people. They came with empty hands, and they had no land. They hoped +that the government would give them positions in the military +administration and so provide them with means; they tried to gain +possession of the government and to exclude the old settlers as far as +possible. The tension was increased by the effect of the influx of +Chinese in bringing more land into cultivation, thus producing a boom +period such as is produced by the opening up of colonial land. Everyone +was in a hurry to grab as much land as possible. There was yet a further +difference between the two groups of Chinese: the old settlers had long +lost touch with the remainder of their families in the north. They had +become South Chinese, and all their interests lay in the south. The new +immigrants had left part of their families in the north under alien +rule. Their interests still lay to some extent in the north. They were +working for the reconquest of the north by military means; at times +individuals or groups returned to the north, while others persuaded the +rest of their relatives to come south. It would be wrong to suppose that +there was no inter-communication between the two parts into which China +had fallen. As soon as the Chinese gentry were able to regain any +footing in the territories under alien rule, the official relations, +often those of belligerency, proceeded alongside unofficial intercourse +between individual families and family groupings, and these latter were, +as a rule, in no way belligerent. + +The lower stratum in the south consisted mainly of the remains of the +original non-Chinese population, particularly in border and southern +territories which had been newly annexed from time to time. In the +centre of the southern state the way of life of the non-Chinese was very +quickly assimilated to that of the Chinese, so that the aborigines were +soon indistinguishable from Chinese. The remaining part of the lower +class consisted of impoverished Chinese peasants. This whole lower +section of the population rarely took any active and visible part in +politics, except at times in the form of great popular risings. + +Until the third century, the south had been of no great economic +importance, in spite of the good climate and the extraordinary fertility +of the Yangtze valley. The country had been too thinly settled, and the +indigenous population had not become adapted to organized trade. After +the move southward of the Chin dynasty the many immigrants had made the +country of the lower Yangtze more thickly populated, but not +over-populated. The top-heavy court with more than the necessary number +of officials (because there was still hope for a reconquest of the north +which would mean many new jobs for administrators) was a great consumer; +prices went up and stimulated local rice production. The estates of the +southern gentry yielded more than before, and naturally much more than +the small properties of the gentry in the north where, moreover, the +climate is far less favourable. Thus the southern landowners were able +to acquire great wealth, which ultimately made itself felt in the +capital. + +One very important development was characteristic in this period in the +south, although it also occurred in the north. Already in pre-Han times, +some rulers had gardens with fruit trees. The Han emperors had large +hunting parks which were systematically stocked with rare animals; they +also had gardens and hot-houses for the production of vegetables for the +court. These "gardens" (_yüan_) were often called "manors" (_pieh-yeh_) +and consisted of fruit plantations with luxurious buildings. We hear +soon of water-cooled houses for the gentry, of artificial ponds for +pleasure and fish breeding, artificial water-courses, artificial +mountains, bamboo groves, and parks with parrots, ducks, and large +animals. Here, the wealthy gentry of both north and south, relaxed from +government work, surrounded by their friends and by women. These manors +grew up in the hills, on the "village commons" where formerly the +villagers had collected their firewood and had grazed their animals. +Thus, the village commons begin to disappear. The original farm land was +taxed, because it produced one of the two products subject to taxation, +namely grain or mulberry leaves for silk production. But the village +common had been and remained tax-free because it did not produce taxable +things. While land-holdings on the farmland were legally restricted in +their size, the "gardens" were unrestricted. Around A.D. 500 the ruler +allowed high officials to have manors of three hundred mou size, while +in the north a family consisting of husband and wife and children below +fifteen years of age were allowed a farm of sixty mou only; but we hear +of manors which were many times larger than the allowed size of three +hundred. These manors began to play an important economic role, too: +they were cultivated by tenants and produced fishes, vegetables, fruit +and bamboo for the market, thus they gave more income than ordinary rice +or wheat land. + +With the creation of manors the total amount of land under cultivation +increased, though not the amount of grain-producing land. We gain the +impression that from _c_. the third century A.D. on to the eleventh +century the intensity of cultivation was generally lower than in the +period before. + +The period from _c_. A.D. 300 on also seems to be the time of the second +change in Chinese dietary habits. The first change occurred probably +between 400 and 100 B.C. when the meat-eating Chinese reduced their meat +intake greatly, gave up eating beef and mutton and changed over to some +pork and dog meat. This first change was the result of increase of +population and decrease of available land for pasturage. Cattle breeding +in China was then reduced to the minimum of one cow or water-buffalo per +farm for ploughing. Wheat was the main staple for the masses of the +people. Between A.D. 300 and 600 rice became the main staple in the +southern states although, theoretically, wheat could have been grown and +some wheat probably was grown in the south. The vitamin and protein +deficiencies which this change from wheat to rice brought forth, were +made up by higher consumption of vegetables, especially beans, and +partially also by eating of fish and sea food. In the north, rice became +the staple food of the upper class, while wheat remained the main food +of the lower classes. However, new forms of preparation of wheat, such +as dumplings of different types, were introduced. The foreign rulers +consumed more meat and milk products. Chinese had given up the use of +milk products at the time of the first change, and took to them to some +extent only in periods of foreign rule. + +2 _Struggles between cliques under the Eastern Chin dynasty_ (A.D. +317-419) + +The officials immigrating from the north regarded the south as colonial +country, and so as more or less uncivilized. They went into its +provinces in order to get rich as quickly as possible, and they had no +desire to live there for long: they had the same dislike of a provincial +existence as had the families of the big landowners. Thus as a rule the +bulk of the families remained in the capital, close to the court. +Thither the products accumulated in the provinces were sent, and they +found a ready sale, as the capital was also a great and long-established +trading centre with a rich merchant class. Thus in the capital there was +every conceivable luxury and every refinement of civilization. The +people of the gentry class, who were maintained in the capital by +relatives serving in the provinces as governors or senior officers, +themselves held offices at court, though these gave them little to do. +They had time at their disposal, and made use of it--in much worse +intrigues than ever before, but also in music and poetry and in the +social life of the harems. There is no question at all that the highest +refinement of the civilization of the Far East between the fourth and +the sixth century was to be found in South China, but the accompaniments +of this over-refinement were terrible. + +We cannot enter into all the intrigues recorded at this time. The +details are, indeed, historically unimportant. They were concerned only +with the affairs of the court and its entourage. Not a single ruler of +the Eastern Chin dynasty possessed personal or political qualities of +any importance. The rulers' power was extremely limited because, with +the exception of the founder of the state, Yüan Ti, who had come rather +earlier, they belonged to the group of the new immigrants, and so had no +firm footing and were therefore caught at once in the net of the newly +re-grouping gentry class. + +The emperor Yüan Ti lived to see the first great rising. This rising +(under Wang Tun) started in the region of the present Hankow, a region +that today is one of the most important in China; it was already a +centre of special activity. To it lead all the trade routes from the +western provinces of Szechwan and Kweichow and from the central +provinces of Hupei, Hunan, and Kiangsi. Normally the traffic from those +provinces comes down the Yangtze, and thus in practice this region is +united with that of the lower Yangtze, the environment of Nanking, so +that Hankow might just as well have been the capital as Nanking. For +this reason, in the period with which we are now concerned the region of +the present Hankow was several times the place of origin of great +risings whose aim was to gain control of the whole of the southern +empire. + +Wang Tun had grown rich and powerful in this region; he also had near +relatives at the imperial court; so he was able to march against the +capital. The emperor in his weakness was ready to abdicate but died +before that stage was reached. His son, however, defeated Wang Tun with +the aid of General Yü Liang (A.D. 323). Yü Liang was the empress's +brother; he, too, came from a northern family. Yüan Ti's successor also +died early, and the young son of Yü Liang's sister came to the throne as +Emperor Ch'eng (326-342); his mother ruled as regent, but Yü Liang +carried on the actual business of government. Against this clique rose +Su Chün, another member of the northern gentry, who had made himself +leader of a bandit gang in A.D. 300 but had then been given a military +command by the dynasty. In 328 he captured the capital and kidnapped the +emperor, but then fell before the counterthrust of the Yü Liang party. +The domination of Yü Liang's clique continued after the death of the +twenty-one-years-old emperor. His twenty-year-old brother was set in +his place; he, too, died two years later, and his two-year-old son +became emperor (Mu Ti, 345-361). + +Meanwhile this clique was reinforced by the very important Huan family. +This family came from the same city as the imperial house and was a very +old gentry family of that city. One of the family attained a high post +through personal friendship with Yü Liang: on his death his son Huan Wen +came into special prominence as military commander. + +Huan Wen, like Wang Tun and others before him, tried to secure a firm +foundation for his power, once more in the west. In 347 he reconquered +Szechwan and deposed the local dynasty. Following this, Huan Wen and the +Yü family undertook several joint campaigns against northern states--the +first reaction of the south against the north, which in the past had +always been the aggressor. The first fighting took place directly to the +north, where the collapse of the "Later Chao" seemed to make +intervention easy. The main objective was the regaining of the regions +of eastern Honan, northern Anhui and Kiangsu, in which were the family +seats of Huan's and the emperor's families, as well as that of the Hsieh +family which also formed an important group in the court clique. The +purpose of the northern campaigns was not, of course, merely to defend +private interests of court cliques: the northern frontier was the weak +spot of the southern empire, for its plains could easily be overrun. It +was then observed that the new "Earlier Ch'in" state was trying to +spread from the north-west eastwards into this plain, and Ch'in was +attacked in an attempt to gain a more favourable frontier territory. +These expeditions brought no important practical benefit to the south; +and they were not embarked on with full force, because there was only +the one court clique at the back of them, and that not whole-heartedly, +since it was too much taken up with the politics of the court. + +Huan Wen's power steadily grew in the period that followed. He sent his +brothers and relatives to administer the regions along the upper +Yangtze; those fertile regions were the basis of his power. In 371 he +deposed the reigning emperor and appointed in his place a frail old +prince who died a year later, as required, and was replaced by a child. +The time had now come when Huan Wen might have ascended the throne +himself, but he died. None of his family could assemble as much power as +Huan Wen had done. The equality of strength of the Huan and the Hsieh +saved the dynasty for a time. + +In 383 came the great assault of the Tibetan Fu Chien against the +south. As we know, the defence was carried out more by the methods of +diplomacy and intrigue than by military means, and it led to the +disaster in the north already described. The successes of the southern +state especially strengthened the Hsieh family, whose generals had come +to the fore. The emperor (Hsiao Wu Ti, 373-396), who had come to the +throne as a child, played no part in events at any time during his +reign. He occupied himself occasionally with Buddhism, and otherwise +only with women and wine. He was followed by his five-year-old son. At +this time there were some changes in the court clique. In the Huan +family Huan Hsüan, a son of Huan Wen, came especially into prominence. +He parted from the Hsieh family, which had been closest to the emperor, +and united with the Wang (the empress's) and Yin families. The Wang, an +old Shansi family, had already provided two empresses, and was therefore +strongly represented at court. The Yin had worked at first with the +Hsieh, especially as the two families came from the same region, but +afterwards the Yin went over to Huan Hsüan. At first this new clique had +success, but later one of its generals, Liu Lao-chih, went over to the +Hsieh clique, and its power declined. Wang Kung was killed, and Yin +Chung-k'an fell away from Huan Hsüan and was killed by him in 399. Huan +Hsüan himself, however, held his own in the regions loyal to him. Liu +Lao-chih had originally belonged to the Hsieh clique, and his family +came from a region not far from that of the Hsieh. He was very +ambitious, however, and always took the side which seemed most to his +own interest. For a time he joined Huan Hsüan; then he went over to the +Hsieh, and finally returned to Huan Hsüan in 402 when the latter reached +the height of his power. At that moment Liu Lao-chih was responsible for +the defence of the capital from Huan Hsüan, but instead he passed over +to him. Thus Huan Hsüan conquered the capital, deposed the emperor, and +began a dynasty of his own. Then came the reaction, led by an earlier +subordinate of Liu Lao-chih, Liu Yü. It may be assumed that these two +army commanders were in some way related, though the two branches of +their family must have been long separated. Liu Yü had distinguished +himself especially in the suppression of a great popular rising which, +around the year 400, had brought wide stretches of Chinese territory +under the rebels' power, beginning with the southern coast. This rising +was the first in the south. It was led by members of a secret society +which was a direct continuation of the "Yellow Turbans" of the latter +part of the second century A.D. and of organized church-Taoism. The +whole course of this rising of the exploited and ill-treated lower +classes was very similar to that of the popular rising of the "Yellow +Turbans". The movement spread as far as the neighbourhood of Canton, +but in the end it was suppressed, mainly by Liu Yü. + +Through these achievements Liu Yü's military power and political +influence steadily increased; he became the exponent of all the cliques +working against the Huan clique. He arranged for his supporters to +dispose of Huan Hsüan's chief collaborators; and then, in 404, he +himself marched on the capital. Huan Hsüan had to flee, and in his +flight he was killed in the upper Yangtze region. The emperor was +restored to his throne, but he had as little to say as ever, for the +real power was Liu Yü's. + +Before making himself emperor, Liu Yü began his great northern campaign, +aimed at the conquest of the whole of western China. The Toba had +promised to remain neutral, and in 415 he was able to conquer the "Later +Ch'in" in Shensi. The first aim of this campaign was to make more +accessible the trade routes to Central Asia, which up to now had led +through the difficult mountain passes of Szechwan; to this end treaties +of alliance had been concluded with the states in Kansu against the +"Later Ch'in". In the second place, this war was intended to increase Liu +Yü's military strength to such an extent that the imperial crown would +be assured to him; and finally he hoped to cut the claws of pro-Huan +Hsüan elements in the "Later Ch'in" kingdom who, for the sake of the +link with Turkestan, had designs on Szechwan. + +3 _The Liu-Sung dynasty_ (A.D. 420-478) _and the Southern Ch'i dynasty_ +(479-501) + +After his successes in 416-17 in Shensi, Liu Yü returned to the capital, +and shortly after he lost the chief fruits of his victory to Ho-lien +P'o-p'o, the Hun ruler in the north, while Liu Yü himself was occupied +with the killing of the emperor (419) and the installation of a puppet. +In 420 the puppet had to abdicate and Liu Yü became emperor. He called +his dynasty the Sung dynasty, but to distinguish it from another and +more famous Sung dynasty of later time his dynasty is also called the +Liu-Sung dynasty. + +The struggles and intrigues of cliques against each other continued as +before. We shall pass quickly over this period after a glance at the +nature of these internal struggles. + +Part of the old imperial family and its following fled northward from +Liu Yü and surrendered to the Toba. There they agitated for a campaign +of vengeance against South China, and they were supported at the court +of the Toba by many families of the gentry with landed interests in the +south. Thus long-continued fighting started between Sung and Toba, +concerned mainly with the domains of the deposed imperial family and +its following. This fighting brought little success to south China, and +about 450 it produced among the Toba an economic and social crisis that +brought the wars to a temporary close. In this pause the Sung turned to +the extreme south, and tried to gain influence there and in Annam. The +merchant class and the gentry families of the capital who were allied +with it were those chiefly interested in this expansion. + +About 450 began the Toba policy of shifting the central government to +the region of the Yellow River, to Loyang; for this purpose the frontier +had to be pushed farther south. Their great campaign brought the Toba in +450 down to the Yangtze. The Sung suffered a heavy defeat; they had to +pay tribute, and the Toba annexed parts of their northern territory. + +The Sung emperors who followed were as impotent as their predecessors +and personally much more repulsive. Nothing happened at court but +drinking, licentiousness, and continual murders. + +From 460 onward there were a number of important risings of princes; in +some of them the Toba had a hand. They hoped by supporting one or +another of the pretenders to gain overlordship over the whole of the +southern empire. In these struggles in the south the Hsiao family, +thanks mainly to General Hsiao Tao-ch'eng, steadily gained in power, +especially as the family was united by marriage with the imperial house. +In 477 Hsiao Tao-ch'eng finally had the emperor killed by an accomplice, +the son of a shamaness; he set a boy on the throne and made himself +regent. Very soon after this the boy emperor and all the members of the +imperial family were murdered, and Hsiao Tao-ch'eng created the +"Southern Ch'i" dynasty (479-501). Once more the remaining followers of +the deposed dynasty fled northward to the Toba, and at once fighting +between Toba and the south began again. + +This fighting ended with a victory for the Toba and with the final +establishment of the Toba in the new capital of Loyang. South China was +heavily defeated again and again, but never finally conquered. There +were intervals of peace. In the years between 480 and 490 there was less +disorder in the south, at all events in internal affairs. Princes were +more often appointed to governorships, and the influence of the cliques +was thus weakened. In spite of this, a stable regime was not built up, +and in 494 a prince rose against the youthful emperor. This prince, with +the help of his clique including the Ch'en family, which later attained +importance, won the day, murdered the emperor, and became emperor +himself. All that is recorded about him is that he fought unsuccessfully +against the Toba, and that he had the whole of his own family killed out +of fear that one of its members might act exactly as he had done. After +his death there were conflicts between the emperor's few remaining +relatives; in these the Toba again had a hand. The victor was a person +named Hsiao Yen; he removed the reigning emperor in the usual way and +made himself emperor. Although he belonged to the imperial family, he +altered the name of the dynasty, and reigned from 502 as the first +emperor of the "Liang dynasty". + +[Illustration: 8 Detail from the Buddhist cave-reliefs of Lung-men. +_From a print in the author's possession_.] + +[Illustration: 9 Statue of Mi-lo (Maitreya, the next future Buddha), in +the 'Great Buddha Temple' at Chengting (Hopei). _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +4 _The Liang dynasty_ (A.D. 502-556) + +The fighting with the Toba continued until 515. As a rule the Toba were +the more successful, not at least through the aid of princes of the +deposed "Southern Ch'i dynasty" and their followers. Wars began also in +the west, where the Toba tried to cut off the access of the Liang to the +caravan routes to Turkestan. In 507, however, the Toba suffered an +important defeat. The southern states had tried at all times to work +with the Kansu states against the northern states; the Toba now followed +suit and allied themselves with a large group of native chieftains of +the south, whom they incited to move against the Liang. This produced +great native unrest, especially in the provinces by the upper Yangtze. +The natives, who were steadily pushed back by the Chinese peasants, were +reduced to migrating into the mountain country or to working for the +Chinese in semi-servile conditions; and they were ready for revolt and +very glad to work with the Toba. The result of this unrest was not +decisive, but it greatly reduced the strength of the regions along the +upper Yangtze. Thus the main strength of the southern state was more +than ever confined to the Nanking region. + +The first emperor of the Liang dynasty, who assumed the name Wu Ti +(502-549), became well known in the Western world owing to his love of +literature and of Buddhism. After he had come to the throne with the aid +of his followers, he took no further interest in politics; he left that +to his court clique. From now on, however, the political initiative +really belonged to the north. At this time there began in the Toba +empire the risings of tribal leaders against the government which we +have fully described above. One of these leaders, Hou Ching, who had +become powerful as a military leader in the north, tried in 547 to +conclude a private alliance with the Liang to strengthen his own +position. At the same time the ruler of the northern state of the +"Northern Ch'i", then in process of formation, himself wanted to +negotiate an alliance with the Liang, in order to be able to get rid of +Hou Ching. There was indecision in Liang. Hou Ching, who had been +getting into difficulties, now negotiated with a dissatisfied prince in +Liang, invaded the country in 548 with the prince's aid, captured the +capital in 549, and killed Emperor Wu. Hou Ching now staged the usual +spectacle: he put a puppet on the imperial throne, deposed him eighteen +months later and made himself emperor. + +This man of the Toba on the throne of South China was unable, however, +to maintain his position; he had not sufficient backing. He was at war +with the new rulers in the northern empire, and his own army, which was +not very large, melted away; above all, he proceeded with excessive +harshness against the helpers who had gained access for him to the +Liang, and thereafter he failed to secure a following from among the +leading cliques at court. In 552 he was driven out by a Chinese army led +by one of the princes and was killed. + +The new emperor had been a prince in the upper Yangtze region, and his +closest associates were engaged there. They did not want to move to the +distant capital, Nanking, because their private financial interests +would have suffered. The emperor therefore remained in the city now +called Hankow. He left the eastern territory in the hands of two +powerful generals, one of whom belonged to the Ch'en family, which he no +longer had the strength to remove. In this situation the generals in the +east made themselves independent, and this naturally produced tension at +once between the east and the west of the Liang empire; this tension was +now exploited by the leaders of the Chou state then in the making in the +north. On the invitation of a clique in the south and with its support, +the Chou invaded the present province of Hupei and in 555 captured the +Liang emperor's capital. They were now able to achieve their old +ambition: a prince of the Chou dynasty was installed as a feudatory of +the north, reigning until 587 in the present Hankow. He was permitted to +call his quasi-feudal territory a kingdom and his dynasty, as we know +already, the "Later Liang dynasty". + +5 _The Ch'en dynasty (A.D. 557-588) and its ending by the Sui_ + +The more important of the independent generals in the east, Ch'en +Pa-hsien, installed a shadow emperor, forced him to abdicate, and made +himself emperor. The Ch'en dynasty which thus began was even feebler +than the preceding dynasties. Its territory was confined to the lower +Yangtze valley. Once more cliques and rival pretenders were at work and +prevented any sort of constructive home policy. Abroad, certain +advantages were gained in north China over the Northern Ch'i dynasty, +but none of any great importance. + +Meanwhile in the north Yang Chien had brought into power the Chinese +Sui dynasty. It began by liquidating the quasi-feudal state of the +"Later Liang". Then followed, in 588-9, the conquest of the Ch'en +empire, almost without any serious resistance. This brought all China +once more under united rule, and a period of 360 years of division was +ended. + +6 _Cultural achievements of the south_ + +For nearly three hundred years the southern empire had witnessed +unceasing struggles between important cliques, making impossible any +peaceful development within the country. Culturally, however, the period +was rich in achievement. The court and the palaces of wealthy members of +the gentry attracted scholars and poets, and the gentry themselves had +time for artistic occupations. A large number of the best-known Chinese +poets appeared in this period, and their works plainly reflect the +conditions of that time: they are poems for the small circle of scholars +among the gentry and for cultured patrons, spiced with quotations and +allusions, elaborate in metre and construction, masterpieces of +aesthetic sensitivity--but unintelligible except to highly educated +members of the aristocracy. The works were of the most artificial type, +far removed from all natural feeling. + +Music, too, was never so assiduously cultivated as at this time. But the +old Chinese music disappeared in the south as in the north, where +dancing troupes and women musicians in the Sogdian commercial colonies +of the province of Kansu established the music of western Turkestan. +Here in the south, native courtesans brought the aboriginal, non-Chinese +music to the court; Chinese poets wrote songs in Chinese for this music, +and so the old Chinese music became unfashionable and was forgotten. The +upper class, the gentry, bought these girls, often in large numbers, and +organized them in troupes of singers and dancers, who had to appear on +festal occasions and even at the court. For merchants and other people +who lacked full social recognition there were brothels, a quite natural +feature wherever there were considerable commercial colonies or +collections of merchants, including the capital of the southern empire. + +In their ideology, as will be remembered, the Chinese gentry were always +in favour of Confucianism. Here in the south, however, the association +with Confucianism was less serious, the southern gentry, with their +relations with the merchant class, having acquired the character of +"colonial" gentry. They were brought up as Confucians, but were +interested in all sorts of different religious movements, and +especially in Buddhism. A different type of Buddhism from that in the +north had spread over most of the south, a meditative Buddhism that was +very close ideologically to the original Taoism, and so fulfilled the +same social functions as Taoism. Those who found the official life with +its intrigues repulsive, occupied themselves with meditative Buddhism. +The monks told of the sad fate of the wicked in the life to come, and +industriously filled the gentry with apprehension, so that they tried to +make up for their evil deeds by rich gifts to the monasteries. Many +emperors in this period, especially Wu Ti of the Liang dynasty, inclined +to Buddhism. Wu Ti turned to it especially in his old age, when he was +shut out entirely from the tasks of a ruler and was no longer satisfied +with the usual pleasures of the court. Several times he instituted +Buddhist ceremonies of purification on a large scale in the hope of so +securing forgiveness for the many murders he had committed. + +Genuine Taoism also came to the fore again, and with it the popular +religion with its magic, now amplified with the many local deities that +had been taken over from the indigenous population of the south. For a +time it became the fashion at court to pass the time in learned +discussions between Confucians, Buddhists, and Taoists, which were quite +similar to the debates between learned men centuries earlier at the +wealthy little Indian courts. For the court clique this was more a +matter of pastime than of religious controversy. It seems thoroughly in +harmony with the political events that here, for the first time in the +history of Chinese philosophy, materialist currents made their +appearance, running parallel with Machiavellian theories of power for +the benefit of the wealthiest of the gentry. + + Principal dynasties of North and South China + + _North and South_ + + Western Chin dynasty (A.D. 265-317) + + _North_ _South_ + + 1. Earlier Chao (Hsiung-nu) 304-329 1. Eastern Chin (Chinese) 317-419 + 2. Later Chao (Hsiung-nu) 328-352 + 3. Earlier Ch'in (Tibetans) 351-394 + 4. Later Ch'in (Tibetans) 384-417 + 5. Western Ch'in (Hsiung-nu)385-431 + 6. Earlier Yen (Hsien-pi) 352-370 + 7. Later Yen (Hsien-pi) 384-409 + 8. Western Yen (Hsien-pi) 384-395 + 9. Southern Yen (Hsien-pi) 398-410 + 10. Northern Yen (Hsien-pi) 409-436 + 11. Tai (Toba) 338-376 + 12. Earlier Liang (Chinese) 313-376 + 13. Northern Liang (Hsiung-nu) + 397-439 + 14. Western Liang (Chinese?) 400-421 + 15. Later Liang (Tibetans) 386-403 + 16. Southern Liang (Hsien-pi) + 379-414 + 17. Hsia (Hsiung-nu) 407-431 + 18. Toba (Turks) 385-550 + 2. Liu-Sung 420-478 + 3. Southern Ch'i 479-501 + 19. Northern Ch'i (Chinese?)550-576 4. Liang 502-556 + 20. Northern Chou (Toba) 557-579 5. Ch'en 557-588 + 21. Sui (Chinese) 580-618 6. Sui 580-618 + + + +Chapter Eight + + +THE EMPIRES OF THE SUI AND THE T'ANG + + +(A) The Sui dynasty (A.D. 580-618) + +1 _Internal situation in the newly unified empire_ + +The last of the northern dynasties, the Northern Chou, had been brought +to an end by Yang Chien: rapid campaigns had made an end of the +remaining petty states, and thus the Sui dynasty had come into power. +China, reunited after 360 years, was again under Chinese rule. This +event brought about a new epoch in the history of the Far East. But the +happenings of 360 years could not be wiped out by a change of dynasty. +The short Sui period can only be described as a period of transition to +unified forms. + +In the last resort the union of the various parts of China proceeded +from the north. The north had always, beyond question, been militarily +superior, because its ruling class had consisted of warlike peoples. Yet +it was not a northerner who had united China but a Chinese though, owing +to mixed marriages, he was certainly not entirely unrelated to the +northern peoples. The rule, however, of the actual northern peoples was +at an end. The start of the Sui dynasty, while the Chou still held the +north, was evidence, just like the emergence in the north-east some +thirty years earlier of the Northern Ch'i dynasty, that the Chinese +gentry with their landowning basis had gained the upper hand over the +warrior nomads. + +The Chinese gentry had not come unchanged out of that struggle. +Culturally they had taken over many things from the foreigners, +beginning with music and the style of their clothing, in which they had +entirely adopted the northern pattern, and including other elements of +daily life. Among the gentry were now many formerly alien families who +had gradually become entirely Chinese. On the other hand, the +foreigners' feudal outlook had influenced the gentry, so that a sense +of distinctions of rank had developed among them. There were Chinese +families who regarded themselves as superior to the rest, just as had +been the case among the northern peoples, and who married only among +themselves or with the ruling house and not with ordinary families of +the gentry. They paid great attention to their genealogies, had the +state keep records of them and insisted that the dynastic histories +mentioned their families and their main family members. Lists of +prominent gentry families were set up which mentioned the home of each +clan, so that pretenders could easily be detected. The rules of giving +personal names were changed so that it became possible to identify a +person's genealogical position within the family. At the same time the +contempt of the military underwent modification; the gentry were even +ready to take over high military posts, and also to profit by them. + +The new Sui empire found itself faced with many difficulties. During the +three and a half centuries of division, north and south had developed in +different ways. They no longer spoke the same language in everyday life +(we distinguish to this day between a Nanking and Peking "High Chinese", +to say nothing of dialects). The social and economic structures were +very different in the two parts of the country. How could unity be +restored in these things? + +Then there was the problem of population. The north-eastern plain had +always been thickly populated; it had early come under Toba rule and had +been able to develop further. The region round the old northern capital +Ch'ang-an, on the other hand, had suffered greatly from the struggles +before the Toba period and had never entirely recovered. Meanwhile, in +the south the population had greatly increased in the region north of +Nanking, while the regions south of the Yangtze and the upper Yangtze +valley were more thinly peopled. The real South, i.e. the modern +provinces of Fukien, Kwangtung and Kwangsi, was still underdeveloped, +mainly because of the malaria there. In the matter of population the +north unquestionably remained prominent. + +The founder of the Sui dynasty, known by his reign name of Wen Ti +(589-604), came from the west, close to Ch'ang-an. There he and his +following had their extensive domains. Owing to the scanty population +there and the resulting shortage of agricultural labourers, these +properties were very much less productive than the small properties in +the north-east. This state of things was well known in the south, and it +was expected, with good reason, that the government would try to +transfer parts of the population to the north-west, in order to settle a +peasantry round the capital for the support of its greatly increasing +staff of officials, and to satisfy the gentry of the region. This +produced several revolts in the south. + +As an old soldier who had long been a subject of the Toba, Wen Ti had no +great understanding of theory: he was a practical man. He was +anti-intellectual and emotionally attached to Buddhism; he opposed +Confucianism for emotional reasons and believed that it could give him +no serviceable officials of the sort he wanted. He demanded from his +officials the same obedience and sense of duty as from his soldiers; and +he was above all thrifty, almost miserly, because he realized that the +finances of his state could only be brought into order by the greatest +exertions. The budget had to be drawn up for the vast territory of the +empire without any possibility of saying in advance whether the revenues +would come in and whether the transport of dues to the capital would +function. + +This cautious calculation was entirely justified, but it aroused great +opposition. Both east and south were used to a much better style of +living; yet the gentry of both regions were now required to cut down +their consumption. On top of this they were excluded from the conduct of +political affairs. In the past, under the Northern Ch'i empire in the +north-east and under the Ch'en empire in the south, there had been +thousands of positions at court in which the whole of the gentry could +find accommodation of some kind. Now the central government was far in +the west, and other people were its administrators. In the past the +gentry had a profitable and easily accessible market for their produce +in the neighbouring capital; now the capital was far away, entailing +long-distance transport at heavy risk with little profit. + +The dissatisfied circles of the gentry in the north-east and in the +south incited Prince Kuang to rebellion. The prince and his followers +murdered the emperor and set aside the heir-apparent; and Kuang came to +the throne, assuming the name of Yang Ti. His first act was to transfer +the capital back to the east, to Loyang, close to the grain-producing +regions. His second achievement was to order the construction of great +canals, to facilitate the transport of grain to the capital and to +provide a valuable new market for the producers in the north-east and +the south. It was at this time that the first forerunner of the famous +"Imperial Canal" was constructed, the canal that connects the Yangtze +with the Yellow River. Small canals, connecting various streams, had +long been in existence, so that it was possible to travel from north to +south by water, but these canals were not deep enough or broad enough to +take large freight barges. There are records of lighters of 500 and even +800 tons capacity! These are dimensions unheard of in the West in those +times. In addition to a serviceable canal to the south, Yang Ti made +another that went north almost to the present Peking. + +Hand in hand with these successes of the north-eastern and southern +gentry went strong support for Confucianism, and a reorganization of the +Confucian examination system. As a rule, however, the examinations were +circumvented as an unimportant formality; the various governors were +ordered each to send annually to the capital three men with the required +education, for whose quality they were held personally responsible; +merchants and artisans were expressly excluded. + +2 _Relations with Turks and with Korea_ + +In foreign affairs an extraordinarily fortunate situation for the Sui +dynasty had come into existence. The T'u-chüeh, the Turks, much the +strongest people of the north, had given support now to one and now to +another of the northern kingdoms, and this, together with their many +armed incursions, had made them the dominant political factor in the +north. But in the first year of the Sui period (581) they split into two +sections, so that the Sui had hopes of gaining influence over them. At +first both sections of the Turks had entered into alliance with China, +but this was not a sufficient safeguard for the Sui, for one of the +Turkish khans was surrounded by Toba who had fled from the vanished +state of the Northern Chou, and who now tried to induce the Turks to +undertake a campaign for the reconquest of North China. The leader of +this agitation was a princess of the Yü-wen family, the ruling family of +the Northern Chou. The Chinese fought the Turks several times; but much +more effective results were gained by their diplomatic missions, which +incited the eastern against the western Turks and vice versa, and also +incited the Turks against the Toba clique. In the end one of the +sections of Turks accepted Chinese overlordship, and some tribes of the +other section were brought over to the Chinese side; also, fresh +disunion was sown among the Turks. + +Under the emperor Yang Ti, P'ei Chü carried this policy further. He +induced the Tölös tribes to attack the T'u-yü-hun, and then himself +attacked the latter, so destroying their power. The T'u-yü-hun were a +people living in the extreme north of Tibet, under a ruling class +apparently of Hsien-pi origin; the people were largely Tibetan. The +purpose of the conquest of the T'u-yü-hun was to safeguard access to +Central Asia. An effective Turkestan policy was, however, impossible so +long as the Turks were still a formidable power. Accordingly, the +intrigues that aimed at keeping the two sections of Turks apart were +continued. In 615 came a decisive counter-attack from the Turks. Their +khan, Shih-pi, made a surprise assault on the emperor himself, with all +his following, in the Ordos region, and succeeded in surrounding them. +They were in just the same desperate situation as when, eight centuries +earlier, the Chinese emperor had been beleaguered by Mao Tun. But the +Chinese again saved themselves by a trick. The young Chinese commander, +Li Shih-min, succeeded in giving the Turks the impression that large +reinforcements were on the way; a Chinese princess who was with the +Turks spread the rumour that the Turks were to be attacked by another +tribe--and Shih-pi raised the siege, although the Chinese had been +entirely defeated. + +In the Sui period the Chinese were faced with a further problem. Korea +or, rather, the most important of the three states in Korea, had +generally been on friendly terms with the southern state during the +period of China's division, and for this reason had been more or less +protected from its North Chinese neighbours. After the unification of +China, Korea had reason for seeking an alliance with the Turks, in order +to secure a new counterweight against China. + +A Turco-Korean alliance would have meant for China a sort of +encirclement that might have grave consequences. The alliance might be +extended to Japan, who had certain interests in Korea. Accordingly the +Chinese determined to attack Korea, though at the same time negotiations +were set on foot. The fighting, which lasted throughout the Sui period, +involved technical difficulties, as it called for combined land and sea +attacks; in general it brought little success. + +3 _Reasons for collapse_ + +The continual warfare entailed great expense, and so did the intrigues, +because they depended for their success on bribery. Still more expensive +were the great canal works. In addition to this, the emperor Yang Ti, +unlike his father, was very extravagant. He built enormous palaces and +undertook long journeys throughout the empire with an immense following. +All this wrecked the prosperity which his father had built up and had +tried to safeguard. The only productive expenditure was that on the +canals, and they could not begin to pay in so short a period. The +emperor's continual journeys were due, no doubt, in part simply to the +pursuit of pleasure, though they were probably intended at the same time +to hinder risings and to give the emperor direct control over every part +of the country. But the empire was too large and too complex for its +administration to be possible in the midst of journeying. + +[Illustration: Map 5: The T'ang realm (_about A.D. 750_)] + +The whole of the chancellery had to accompany the emperor, and all the +transport necessary for the feeding of the emperor and his government +had continually to be diverted to wherever he happened to be staying. +All this produced disorder and unrest. The gentry, who at first had so +strongly supported the emperor and had been able to obtain anything they +wanted from him, now began to desert him and set up pretenders. From 615 +onward, after the defeat at the hands of the Turks, risings broke out +everywhere. The emperor had to establish his government in the south, +where he felt safer. There, however, in 618, he was assassinated by +conspirators led by Toba of the Yü-wen family. Everywhere now +independent governments sprang up, and for five years China was split up +into countless petty states. + + +(B) The T'ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) + +1 _Reforms and decentralization_ + +The hero of the Turkish siege, Li Shih-min, had allied himself with the +Turks in 615-16. There were special reasons for his ability to do this. +In his family it had been a regular custom to marry women belonging to +Toba families, so that he naturally enjoyed the confidence of the Toba +party among the Turks. There are various theories as to the origin of +his family, the Li. The family itself claimed to be descended from the +ruling family of the Western Liang. It is doubtful whether that family +was purely Chinese, and in any case Li Shih-min's descent from it is a +matter of doubt. It is possible that his family was a sinified Toba +family, or at least came from a Toba region. However this may be, Li +Shih-min continued the policy which had been pursued since the beginning +of the Sui dynasty by the members of the deposed Toba ruling family of +the Northern Chou--the policy of collaboration with the Turks in the +effort to remove the Sui. + +The nominal leadership in the rising that now began lay in the hands of +Li Shih-min's father, Li Yüan; in practice Li Shih-min saw to +everything. At the end of 617 he was outside the first capital of the +Sui, Ch'ang-an, with a Turkish army that had come to his aid on the +strength of the treaty of alliance. After capturing Ch'ang-an he +installed a puppet emperor there, a grandson of Yang Ti. In 618 the +puppet was dethroned and Li Yüan, the father, was made emperor, in the +T'ang dynasty. Internal fighting went on until 623, and only then was +the whole empire brought under the rule of the T'ang. + +Great reforms then began. A new land law aimed at equalizing ownership, +so that as far as possible all peasants should own the same amount of +land and the formation of large estates be prevented. The law aimed also +at protecting the peasants from the loss of their land. The law was, +however, nothing but a modification of the Toba land law (_chün-t'ien_), +and it was hoped that now it would provide a sound and solid economic +foundation for the empire. From the first, however, members of the +gentry who were connected with the imperial house were given a +privileged position; then officials were excluded from the prohibition +of leasing, so that there continued to be tenant farmers in addition to +the independent peasants. Moreover, the temples enjoyed special +treatment, and were also exempted from taxation. All these exceptions +brought grist to the mills of the gentry, and so did the failure to +carry into effect many of the provisions of the law. Before long a new +gentry had been formed, consisting of the old gentry together with those +who had directly aided the emperor's ascent to the throne. From the +beginning of the eighth century there were repeated complaints that +peasants were "disappearing". They were entering the service of the +gentry as tenant farmers or farm workers, and owing to the privileged +position of the gentry in regard to taxation, the revenue sank in +proportion as the number of independent peasants decreased. One of the +reasons for the flight of farmers may have been the corvée laws +connected with the "equal land" system: small families were much less +affected by the corvée obligation than larger families with many sons. +It may be, therefore, that large families or at least sons of the sons +in large families moved away in order to escape these obligations. In +order to prevent irregularities, the T'ang renewed the old "_pao-chia_" +system, as a part of a general reform of the administration in 624. In +this system groups of five families were collectively responsible for +the payment of taxes, the corvée, for crimes committed by individuals +within one group, and for loans from state agencies. Such a system is +attested for pre-Christian times already; it was re-activated in the +eleventh century and again from time to time, down to the present. + +Yet the system of land equalization soon broke down and was abolished +officially around A.D. 780. But the classification of citizens into +different classes, first legalized under the Toba, was retained and even +more refined. + +As early as in the Han period there had been a dual administration--the +civil and, independent of it, the military administration. One and the +same area would belong to a particular administrative prefecture +(_chün_) and at the same time to a particular military prefecture +(_chou_). This dual organization had persisted during the Toba period +and, at first, remained unchanged in the beginning of the T'ang. + +The backbone of the military power in the seventh century was the +militia, some six hundred units of an average of a thousand men, +recruited from the general farming population for short-term service: +one month in five in the areas close to the capital. These men formed a +part of the emperor's guards and were under the command of members of +the Shensi gentry. This system which had its direct parallels in the Han +time and evolved out of a Toba system, broke down when short offensive +wars were no longer fought. Other imperial guards were staffed with +young sons of the gentry who were stationed in the most delicate parts +of the palaces. The emperor T'ai-tsung had his personal bodyguard, a +part of his own army of conquest, consisting of his former bondsmen +(_pu-ch'ü_). The ranks of the Army of conquest were later filled by +descendants of the original soldiers and by orphans. + +In the provinces, the armies of the military prefectures gradually lost +their importance when wars became longer and militiamen proved +insufficient. Many of the soldiers here were convicts and exiles. It is +interesting to note that the title of the commander of these armies, +_tu-tu_, in the fourth century meant a commander in the church-Taoist +organization; it was used by the Toba and from the seventh century on +became widely accepted as title among the Uighurs, Tibetans, Sogdians, +Turks and Khotanese. + +When the prefectural armies and the militia forces weakened, special +regional armies were created (from 678 on); this institution had existed +among the Toba, but they had greatly reduced these armies after 500. The +commanders of these new T'ang armies soon became more important than the +civil administrators, because they commanded a number of districts +making up a whole province. This assured a better functioning of the +military machine, but put the governors-general in a position to pursue +a policy of their own, even against the central government. In addition +to this, the financial administration of their commands was put under +them, whereas in the past it had been in the hands of the civil +administration of the various provinces. The civil administration was +also reorganized (see the table on pages 83-84). + +Towards the end of the T'ang period the state secretariat was set up in +two parts: it was in possession of all information about the economic +and political affairs of the empire, and it made the actual decisions. +Moreover, a number of technical departments had been created--in all, a +system that might compare favourably with European systems of the +eighteenth century. At the end of the T'ang period there was added to +this system a section for economic affairs, working quite independently +of it and directly under the emperor; it was staffed entirely with +economic or financial experts, while for the staffing of the other +departments no special qualification was demanded besides the passing of +the state examinations. In addition to these, at the end of the T'ang +period a new department was in preparation, a sort of Privy Council, a +mainly military organization, probably intended to control the generals +(section 3 of the table on page 83), just as the state secretariat +controlled the civil officials. The Privy Council became more and more +important in the tenth century and especially in the Mongol epoch. Its +absence in the early T'ang period gave the military governors much too +great freedom, ultimately with baneful results. + +At first, however, the reforms of A.D. 624 worked well. The +administration showed energy, and taxes flowed in. In the middle of the +eighth century the annual budget of the state included the following +items: over a million tons of grain for the consumption of the capital +and the palace and for salaries of civil and military officials; +twenty-seven million pieces of textiles, also for the consumption of +capital and palace and army, and for supplementary purchases of grain; +two million strings of money (a string nominally held a thousand copper +coins) for salaries and for the army. This was much more than the state +budget of the Han period. The population of the empire had also +increased; it seems to have amounted to some fifty millions. In the +capital a large staff of officials had been created to meet all +administrative needs. The capital grew enormously, at times containing +two million people. Great numbers of young members of the gentry +streamed into the capital for the examinations held under the Confucian +system. + +The crowding of people into the capital and the accumulation of +resources there promoted a rich cultural life. We know of many poets of +that period whose poems were real masterpieces; and artists whose works +were admired centuries later. These poets and artists were the pioneers +of the flourishing culture of the later T'ang period. Hand in hand with +this went luxury and refinement of manners. For those who retired from +the bustle of the capital to work on their estates and to enjoy the +society of their friends, there was time to occupy themselves with +Taoism and Buddhism, especially meditative Buddhism. Everyone, of +course, was Confucian, as was fitting for a member of the gentry, but +Confucianism was so taken for granted that it was not discussed. It was +the basis of morality for the gentry, but held no problems. It no longer +contained anything of interest. + +Conditions had been much the same once before, at the court of the Han +emperors, but with one great difference: at that time everything of +importance took place in the capital; now, in addition to the actual +capital, Ch'ang-an, there was the second capital, Loyang, in no way +inferior to the other in importance; and the great towns in the south +also played their part as commercial and cultural centres that had +developed in the 360 years of division between north and south. There +the local gentry gathered to lead a cultivated life, though not quite in +the grand style of the capital. If an official was transferred to the +Yangtze, it no longer amounted to a punishment as in the past; he would +not meet only uneducated people, but a society resembling that of the +capital. The institution of governors-general further promoted this +decentralization: the governor-general surrounded himself with a little +court of his own, drawn from the local gentry and the local +intelligentsia. This placed the whole edifice of the empire on a much +broader foundation, with lasting results. + +2 _Turkish policy_ + +The foreign policy of this first period of the T'ang, lasting until +about 690, was mainly concerned with the Turks and Turkestan. There were +still two Turkish realms in the Far East, both of considerable strength +but in keen rivalry with each other. The T'ang had come into power with +the aid of the eastern Turks, but they admitted the leader of the +western Turks to their court; he had been at Ch'ang-an in the time of +the Sui. He was murdered, however, by Chinese at the instigation of the +eastern Turks. The next khan of the eastern Turks nevertheless turned +against the T'ang, and gave his support to a still surviving pretender +to the throne representing the Sui dynasty; the khan contended that the +old alliance of the eastern Turks had been with the Sui and not with the +T'ang. The T'ang therefore tried to come to terms once more with the +western Turks, who had been affronted by the assassination; but the +negotiations came to nothing in face of an approach made by the eastern +Turks to the western, and of the distrust of the Chinese with which all +the Turks were filled. About 624 there were strong Turkish invasions, +carried right up to the capital. Suddenly, however, for reasons not +disclosed by the Chinese sources, the Turks withdrew, and the T'ang were +able to conclude a fairly honourable peace. This was the time of the +maximum power of the eastern Turks. Shortly afterwards disturbances +broke out (627), under the leadership of Turkish Uighurs and their +allies. The Chinese took advantage of these disturbances, and in a great +campaign in 629-30 succeeded in overthrowing the eastern Turks; the khan +was taken to the imperial court in Ch'ang-an, and the Chinese emperor +made himself "Heavenly Khan" of the Turks. In spite of the protest of +many of the ministers, who pointed to the result of the settlement +policy of the Later Han dynasty, the eastern Turks were settled in the +bend of the upper Hwang-ho and placed more or less under the +protectorate of two governors-general. Their leaders were admitted into +the Chinese army, and the sons of their nobles lived at the imperial +court. No doubt it was hoped in this way to turn the Turks into Chinese, +as had been done with the Toba, though for entirely different reasons. +More than a million Turks were settled in this way, and some of them +actually became Chinese later and gained important posts. + +In general, however, this in no way broke the power of the Turks. The +great Turkish empire, which extended as far as Byzantium, continued to +exist. The Chinese success had done no more than safeguard the frontier +from a direct menace and frustrate the efforts of the supporters of the +Sui dynasty and the Toba dynasty, who had been living among the eastern +Turks and had built on them. The power of the western Turks remained a +lasting menace to China, especially if they should succeed in +co-operating with the Tibetans. After the annihilation of the T'u-yü-hun +by the Sui at the very beginning of the seventh century, a new political +unit had formed in northern Tibet, the T'u-fan, who also seem to have +had an upper class of Turks and Mongols and a Tibetan lower class. Just +as in the Han period, Chinese policy was bound to be directed to +preventing a union between Turks and Tibetans. This, together with +commercial interests, seems to have been the political motive of the +Chinese Turkestan policy under the T'ang. + +3 _Conquest of Turkestan and Korea. Summit of power_ + +The Turkestan wars began in 639 with an attack on the city-state of +Kao-ch'ang (Khocho). This state had been on more or less friendly terms +with North China since the Toba period, and it had succeeded again and +again in preserving a certain independence from the Turks. Now, however, +Kao-ch'ang had to submit to the western Turks, whose power was +constantly increasing. China made that submission a pretext for war. By +640 the whole basin of Turkestan was brought under Chinese dominance. +The whole campaign was really directed against the western Turks, to +whom Turkestan had become subject. The western Turks had been crippled +by two internal events, to the advantage of the Chinese: there had been +a tribal rising, and then came the rebellion and the rise of the Uighurs +(640-650). These events belong to Turkish history, and we shall confine +ourselves here to their effects on Chinese history. The Chinese were +able to rely on the Uighurs; above all, they were furnished by the Tölös +Turks with a large army, with which they turned once more against +Turkestan in 647-48, and now definitely established their rule there. + +The active spirit at the beginning of the T'ang rule had not been the +emperor but his son Li Shih-min, who was not, however, named as heir to +the throne because he was not the eldest son. The result of this was +tension between Li Shih-min and his father and brothers, especially the +heir to the throne. When the brothers learned that Li Shih-min was +claiming the succession, they conspired against him, and in 626, at the +very moment when the western Turks had made a rapid incursion and were +once more threatening the Chinese capital, there came an armed collision +between the brothers, in which Li Shih-min was the victor. The brothers +and their families were exterminated, the father compelled to abdicate, +and Li Shih-min became emperor, assuming the name T'ai Tsung (627-649). +His reign marked the zenith of the power of China and of the T'ang +dynasty. Their inner struggles and the Chinese penetration of Turkestan +had weakened the position of the Turks; the reorganization of the +administration and of the system of taxation, the improved transport +resulting from the canals constructed under the Sui, and the useful +results of the creation of great administrative areas under strong +military control, had brought China inner stability and in consequence +external power and prestige. The reputation which she then obtained as +the most powerful state of the Far East endured when her inner stability +had begun to deteriorate. Thus in 638 the Sassanid ruler Jedzgerd sent a +mission to China asking for her help against the Arabs. Three further +missions came at intervals of a good many years. The Chinese declined, +however, to send a military expedition to such a distance; they merely +conferred on the ruler the title of a Chinese governor; this was of +little help against the Arabs, and in 675 the last ruler, Peruz, fled to +the Chinese court. + +The last years of T'ai Tsung's reign were filled with a great war +against Korea, which represented a continuation of the plans of the Sui +emperor Yang Ti. This time Korea came firmly into Chinese possession. In +661, under T'ai Tsung's son, the Korean fighting was resumed, this time +against Japanese who were defending their interests in Korea. This was +the period of great Japanese enthusiasm for China. The Chinese system of +administration was copied, and Buddhism was adopted, together with every +possible element of Chinese culture. This meant increased trade with +Japan, bringing in large profits to China, and so the Korean middleman +was to be eliminated. + +T'ai Tsung's son, Kao Tsung (650-683), merely carried to a conclusion +what had been begun. Externally China's prestige continued at its +zenith. The caravans streamed into China from western and central Asia, +bringing great quantities of luxury goods. At this time, however, the +foreign colonies were not confined to the capital but were installed in +all the important trading ports and inland trade centres. The whole +country was covered by a commercial network; foreign merchants who had +come overland to China met others who had come by sea. The foreigners +set up their own counting-houses and warehouses; whole quarters of the +capital were inhabited entirely by foreigners who lived as if they were +in their own country. They brought with them their own religions: +Manichaeism, Mazdaism, and Nestorian Christianity. The first Jews came +into China, apparently as dealers in fabrics, and the first Arabian +Mohammedans made their appearance. In China the foreigners bought +silkstuffs and collected everything of value that they could find, +especially precious metals. Culturally this influx of foreigners +enriched China; economically, as in earlier periods, it did not; its +disadvantages were only compensated for a time by the very beneficial +results of the trade with Japan, and this benefit did not last long. + +4 _The reign of the empress Wu: Buddhism and capitalism_ + +The pressure of the western Turks had been greatly weakened in this +period, especially as their attention had been diverted to the west, +where the advance of Islam and of the Arabs was a new menace for them. +On the other hand, from 650 onward the Tibetans gained immensely in +power, and pushed from the south into the Tarim basin. In 678 they +inflicted a heavy defeat on the Chinese, and it cost the T'ang decades +of diplomatic effort before they attained, in 699, their aim of breaking +up the Tibetans' realm and destroying their power. In the last year of +Kao Tsung's reign, 683, came the first of the wars of liberation of the +northern Turks, known until then as the western Turks, against the +Chinese. And with the end of Kao Tsung's reign began the decline of the +T'ang regime. Most of the historians attribute it to a woman, the later +empress Wu. She had been a concubine of T'ai Tsung, and after his death +had become a Buddhist nun--a frequent custom of the time--until Kao +Tsung fell in love with her and made her a concubine of his own. In the +end he actually divorced the empress and made the concubine empress +(655). She gained more and more influence, being placed on a par with +the emperor and soon entirely eliminating him in practice; in 680 she +removed the rightful heir to the throne and put her own son in his +place; after Kao Tsung's death in 683 she became regent for her son. +Soon afterward she dethroned him in favour of his twenty-two-year-old +brother; in 690 she deposed him too and made herself empress in the +"Chou dynasty" (690-701). This officially ended the T'ang dynasty. + +Matters, however, were not so simple as this might suggest. For +otherwise on the empress's deposition there would not have been a mass +of supporters moving heaven and earth to treat the new empress Wei +(705-712) in the same fashion. There is every reason to suppose that +behind the empress Wu there was a group opposing the ruling clique. In +spite of everything, the T'ang government clique was very pro-Turkish, +and many Turks and members of Toba families had government posts and, +above all, important military commands. No campaign of that period was +undertaken without Turkish auxiliaries. The fear seems to have been felt +in some quarters that this T'ang group might pursue a military policy +hostile to the gentry. The T'ang group had its roots mainly in western +China; thus the eastern Chinese gentry were inclined to be hostile to +it. The first act of the empress Wu had been to transfer the capital to +Loyang in the east. Thus, she tried to rely upon the co-operation of the +eastern gentry which since the Northern Chou and Sui dynasties had been +out of power. While the western gentry brought their children into +government positions by claiming family privileges (a son of a high +official had the right to a certain position without having passed the +regular examinations), the sons of the eastern gentry had to pass +through the examinations. Thus, there were differences in education and +outlook between both groups which continued long after the death of the +empress. In addition, the eastern gentry, who supported the empress Wu +and later the empress Wei, were closely associated with the foreign +merchants of western Asia and the Buddhist Church to which they adhered. +In gratitude for help from the Buddhists, the empress Wu endowed them +with enormous sums of money, and tried to make Buddhism a sort of state +religion. A similar development had taken place in the Toba and also in +the Sui period. Like these earlier rulers, the empress Wu seems to have +aimed at combining spiritual leadership with her position as ruler of +the empire. + +In this epoch Buddhism helped to create the first beginnings of +large-scale capitalism. In connection with the growing foreign trade, +the monasteries grew in importance as repositories of capital; the +temples bought more and more land, became more and more wealthy, and so +gained increasing influence over economic affairs. They accumulated +large quantities of metal, which they stored in the form of bronze +figures of Buddha, and with these stocks they exercised controlling +influence over the money market. There is a constant succession of +records of the total weight of the bronze figures, as an indication of +the money value they represented. It is interesting to observe that +temples and monasteries acquired also shops and had rental income from +them. They further operated many mills, as did the owners of private +estates (now called "_chuang_") and thus controlled the price of flour, +and polished rice. + +The cultural influence of Buddhism found expression in new and improved +translations of countless texts, and in the passage of pilgrims along +the caravan routes, helped by the merchants, as far as western Asia and +India, like the famous Hsüan-tsang. Translations were made not only from +Indian or other languages into Chinese, but also, for instance, from +Chinese into the Uighur and other Turkish tongues, and into Tibetan, +Korean, and Japanese. + +The attitude of the Turks can only be understood when we realize that +the background of events during the time of empress Wu was formed by the +activities of groups of the eastern Chinese gentry. The northern Turks, +who since 630 had been under Chinese overlordship, had fought many wars +of liberation against the Chinese; and through the conquest of +neighbouring Turks they had gradually become once more, in the +decade-and-a-half after the death of Kao Tsung, a great Turkish realm. +In 698 the Turkish khan, at the height of his power, demanded a Chinese +prince for his daughter--not, as had been usual in the past, a princess +for his son. His intention, no doubt, was to conquer China with the +prince's aid, to remove the empress Wu, and to restore the T'ang +dynasty--but under Turkish overlordship! Thus, when the empress Wu sent +a member of her own family, the khan rejected him and demanded the +restoration of the deposed T'ang emperor. To enforce this demand, he +embarked on a great campaign against China. In this the Turks must have +been able to rely on the support of a strong group inside China, for +before the Turkish attack became dangerous the empress Wu recalled the +deposed emperor, at first as "heir to the throne"; thus she yielded to +the khan's principal demand. + +In spite of this, the Turkish attacks did not cease. After a series of +imbroglios within the country in which a group under the leadership of +the powerful Ts'ui gentry family had liquidated the supporters of the +empress Wu shortly before her death, a T'ang prince finally succeeded in +killing empress Wei and her clique. At first, his father ascended the +throne, but was soon persuaded to abdicate in favour of his son, now +called emperor Hsüang Tsung (713-755), just as the first ruler of the +T'ang dynasty had done. The practice of abdicating--in contradiction +with the Chinese concept of the ruler as son of Heaven and the duties of +a son towards his father--seems to have impressed Japan where similar +steps later became quite common. With Hsüan Tsung there began now a +period of forty-five years, which the Chinese describe as the second +blossoming of T'ang culture, a period that became famous especially for +its painting and literature. + +5 _Second blossoming of T'ang culture_ + +The T'ang literature shows the co-operation of many favourable factors. +The ancient Chinese classical style of official reports and decrees +which the Toba had already revived, now led to the clear prose style of +the essayists, of whom Han Yü (768-825) and Liu Tsung-yüan (747-796) +call for special mention. But entirely new forms of sentences make their +appearance in prose writing, with new pictures and similes brought from +India through the medium of the Buddhist translations. Poetry was also +enriched by the simple songs that spread in the north under Turkish +influence, and by southern influences. The great poets of the T'ang +period adopted the rules of form laid down by the poetic art of the +south in the fifth century; but while at that time the writing of poetry +was a learned pastime, precious and formalistic, the T'ang poets brought +to it genuine feeling. Widespread fame came to Li T'ai-po (701-762) and +Tu Fu (712-770); in China two poets almost equal to these two in +popularity were Po Chü-i (772-846) and Yüan Chen (779-831), who in their +works kept as close as possible to the vernacular. + +New forms of poetry rarely made their appearance in the T'ang period, +but the existing forms were brought to the highest perfection. Not until +the very end of the T'ang period did there appear the form of a "free" +versification, with lines of no fixed length. This form came from the +indigenous folk-songs of south-western China, and was spread through the +agency of the _filles de joie_ in the tea-houses. Before long it became +the custom to string such songs together in a continuous series--the +first step towards opera. For these song sequences were sung by way of +accompaniment to the theatrical productions. The Chinese theatre had +developed from two sources--from religious games, bullfights and +wrestling, among Turkish and Mongol peoples, which developed into +dancing displays; and from sacrificial games of South Chinese origin. +Thus the Chinese theatre, with its union with music, should rather be +called opera, although it offers a sort of pantomimic show. What +amounted to a court conservatoire trained actors and musicians as early +as in the T'ang period for this court opera. These actors and musicians +were selected from the best-looking "commoners", but they soon tended to +become a special caste with a legal status just below that of +"burghers". + +In plastic art there are fine sculptures in stone and bronze, and we +have also technically excellent fabrics, the finest of lacquer, and +remains of artistic buildings; but the principal achievement of the +T'ang period lies undoubtedly in the field of painting. As in poetry, in +painting there are strong traces of alien influences; even before the +T'ang period, the painter Hsieh Ho laid down the six fundamental laws of +painting, in all probability drawn from Indian practice. Foreigners were +continually brought into China as decorators of Buddhist temples, since +the Chinese could not know at first how the new gods had to be +presented. The Chinese regarded these painters as craftsmen, but admired +their skill and their technique and learned from them. + +The most famous Chinese painter of the T'ang period is Wu Tao-tz[)u], +who was also the painter most strongly influenced by Central Asian +works. As a pious Buddhist he painted pictures for temples among others. +Among the landscape painters, Wang Wei (721-759) ranks first; he was +also a famous poet and aimed at uniting poem and painting into an +integral whole. With him begins the great tradition of Chinese landscape +painting, which attained its zenith later, in the Sung epoch. + +Porcelain had been invented in China long ago. There was as yet none of +the white porcelain that is preferred today; the inside was a +brownish-yellow; but on the whole it was already technically and +artistically of a very high quality. Since porcelain was at first +produced only for the requirements of the court and of high +dignitaries--mostly in state factories--a few centuries later the T'ang +porcelain had become a great rarity. But in the centuries that followed, +porcelain became an important new article of Chinese export. The Chinese +prisoners taken by the Arabs in the great battle of Samarkand (751), the +first clash between the world of Islam and China, brought to the West +the knowledge of Chinese culture, of several Chinese crafts, of the art +of papermaking, and also of porcelain. + +The emperor Hsüan Tsung gave active encouragement to all things +artistic. Poets and painters contributed to the elegance of his +magnificent court ceremonial. As time went on he showed less and less +interest in public affairs, and grew increasingly inclined to Taoism and +mysticism in general--an outcome of the fact that the conduct of matters +of state was gradually taken out of his hands. On the whole, however, +Buddhism was pushed into the background in favour of Confucianism, as a +reaction from the unusual privileges that had been accorded to the +Buddhists in the past fifteen years under the empress Wu. + +6 _Revolt of a military governor_ + +At the beginning of Hsüan Tsung's reign the capital had been in the east +at Loyang; then it was transferred once more to Ch'ang-an in the west +due to pressure of the western gentry. The emperor soon came under the +influence of the unscrupulous but capable and energetic Li Lin-fu, a +distant relative of the ruler. Li was a virtual dictator at the court +from 736 to 752, who had first advanced in power by helping the +concubine Wu, a relative of the famous empress Wu, and by continually +playing the eastern against the western gentry. After the death of the +concubine Wu, he procured for the emperor a new concubine named Yang, of +a western family. This woman, usually called "Concubine Yang" (Yang +Kui-fei), became the heroine of countless stage-plays and stories and +even films; all the misfortunes that marked the end of Hsüan Tsung's +reign were attributed solely to her. This is incorrect, as she was but a +link in the chain of influences that played upon the emperor. Naturally +she found important official posts for her brothers and all her +relatives; but more important than these was a military governor named +An Lu-shan (703-757). His mother was a Turkish shamaness, his father, a +foreigner probably of Sogdian origin. An Lu-shan succeeded in gaining +favour with the Li clique, which hoped to make use of him for its own +ends. Chinese sources describe him as a prodigy of evil, and it will be +very difficult today to gain a true picture of his personality. In any +case, he was certainly a very capable officer. His rise started from a +victory over the Kitan in 744. He spent some time establishing relations +with the court and then went back to resume operations against the +Kitan. He made so much of the Kitan peril that he was permitted a larger +army than usual, and he had command of 150,000 troops in the +neighbourhood of Peking. Meanwhile Li Lin-fu died. He had sponsored An +as a counterbalance against the western gentry. When now, within the +clique of Li Lin-fu, the Yang family tried to seize power, they turned +against An Lu-shan. But he marched against the capital, Ch'ang-an, with +200,000 men; on his way he conquered Loyang and made himself emperor +(756: Yen dynasty). T'ang troops were sent against him under the +leadership of the Chinese Kuo Tz[)u]-i, a Kitan commander, and a Turk, +Ko-shu Han. + +The first two generals had considerable success, but Ko-shu Han, whose +task was to prevent access to the western capital, was quickly defeated +and taken prisoner. The emperor fled betimes, and An Lu-shan captured +Ch'ang-an. The emperor now abdicated; his son, emperor Su Tsung +(756-762), also fled, though not with him into Szechwan, but into +north-western Shensi. There he defended himself against An Lu-shan and +his capable general Shih Ss[)u]-ming (himself a Turk), and sought aid in +Central Asia. A small Arab troop came from the caliph Abu-Jafar, and +also small bands from Turkestan; of more importance was the arrival of +Uighur cavalry in substantial strength. At the end of 757 there was a +great battle in the neighbourhood of the capital, in which An Lu-shan +was defeated by the Uighurs; shortly afterwards he was murdered by one +of his eunuchs. His followers fled; Loyang was captured and looted by +the Uighurs. The victors further received in payment from the T'ang +government 10,000 rolls of silk with a promise of 20,000 rolls a year; +the Uighur khan was given a daughter of the emperor as his wife. An +Lu-shan's general, the Turk Shih Ss[)u]-ming, entered into An Lu-shan's +heritage, and dominated so large a part of eastern China that the +Chinese once more made use of the Uighurs to bring him down. The +commanders in the fighting against Shih Ss[)u]-ming this time were once +more Kuo Tz[)u]-i and the Kitan general, together with P'u-ku Huai-en, a +member of a Tölös family that had long been living in China. At first +Shih Ss[)u]-ming was victorious, and he won back Loyang, but then he was +murdered by his own son, and only by taking advantage of the +disturbances that now arose were the government troops able to quell the +dangerous rising. + +In all this, two things seem interesting and important. To begin with, +An Lu-shan had been a military governor. His rising showed that while +this new office, with its great command of power, was of value in +attacking external enemies, it became dangerous, especially if the +central power was weak, the moment there were no external enemies of any +importance. An Lu-shan's rising was the first of many similar ones in +the later T'ang period. The gentry of eastern China had shown themselves +entirely ready to support An Lu-shan against the government, because +they had hoped to gain advantage as in the past from a realm with its +centre once more in the east. In the second place, the important part +played by aliens in events within China calls for notice: not only were +the rebels An Lu-shan and Shih Ss[)u]-ming non-Chinese, but so also were +most of the generals opposed to them. But they regarded themselves as +Chinese, not as members of another national group. The Turkish Uighurs +brought in to help against them were fighting actually against Turks, +though they regarded those Turks as Chinese. We must not bring to the +circumstances of those times the present-day notions with regard to +national feeling. + +7 _The role of the Uighurs. Confiscation of the capital of the +monasteries_ + +This rising and its sequels broke the power of the dynasty, and also of +the empire. The extremely sanguinary wars had brought fearful suffering +upon the population. During the years of the rising, no taxes came in +from the greater part of the empire, but great sums had to be paid to +the peoples who had lent aid to the empire. And the looting by +government troops and by the auxiliaries injured the population as much +as the war itself did. + +When the emperor Su Tsung died, in 762, Tengri, the khan of the Uighurs, +decided to make himself ruler over China. The events of the preceding +years had shown him that China alone was entirely defenceless. Part of +the court clique supported him, and only by the intervention of P'u-ku +Huai-en, who was related to Tengri by marriage, was his plan frustrated. +Naturally there were countless intrigues against P'u-ku Huai-en. He +entered into alliance with the Tibetan T'u-fan, and in this way the +union of Turks and Tibetans, always feared by the Chinese, had come into +existence. In 763 the Tibetans captured and burned down the western +capital, while P'u-ku Huai-en with the Uighurs advanced from the north. +Undoubtedly this campaign would have been successful, giving an entirely +different turn to China's destiny, if P'u-ku Huai-en had not died in 765 +and the Chinese under Kuo Tz[)u]-i had not succeeded in breaking up the +alliance. The Uighurs now came over into an alliance with the Chinese, +and the two allies fell upon the Tibetans and robbed them of their +booty. China was saved once more. + +Friendship with the Uighurs had to be paid for this time even more +dearly. They crowded into the capital and compelled the Chinese to buy +horses, in payment for which they demanded enormous quantities of +silkstuffs. They behaved in the capital like lords, and expected to be +maintained at the expense of the government. The system of military +governors was adhered to in spite of the country's experience of them, +while the difficult situation throughout the empire, and especially +along the western and northern frontiers, facing the Tibetans and the +more and more powerful Kitan, made it necessary to keep considerable +numbers of soldiers permanently with the colours. This made the military +governors stronger and stronger; ultimately they no longer remitted any +taxes to the central government, but spent them mainly on their armies. +Thus from 750 onward the empire consisted of an impotent central +government and powerful military governors, who handed on their +positions to their sons as a further proof of their independence. When +in 781 the government proposed to interfere with the inheriting of the +posts, there was a great new rising, which in 783 again extended as far +as the capital; in 784 the T'ang government at last succeeded in +overcoming it. A compromise was arrived at between the government and +the governors, but it in no way improved the situation. Life became more +and more difficult for the central government. In 780, the "equal land" +system was finally officially given up and with it a tax system which +was based upon the idea that every citizen had the same amount of land +and, therefore, paid the same amount of taxes. The new system tried to +equalize the tax burden and the corvée obligation, but not the land. +This change may indicate a step towards greater freedom for private +enterprise. Yet it did not benefit the government, as most of the tax +income was retained by the governors and was used for their armies and +their own court. + +In the capital, eunuchs ruled in the interests of various cliques. +Several emperors fell victim to them or to the drinking of "elixirs of +long life". + +Abroad, the Chinese lost their dominion over Turkestan, for which +Uighurs and Tibetans competed. There is nothing to gain from any full +description of events at court. The struggle between cliques soon became +a struggle between eunuchs and literati, in much the same way as at the +end of the second Han dynasty. Trade steadily diminished, and the state +became impoverished because no taxes were coming in and great armies had +to be maintained, though they did not even obey the government. + +Events that exerted on the internal situation an influence not to be +belittled were the break-up of the Uighurs (from 832 onward) the +appearance of the Turkish Sha-t'o, and almost at the same time, the +dissolution of the Tibetan empire (from 842). Many other foreigners had +placed themselves under the Uighurs living in China, in order to be able +to do business under the political protection of the Uighur embassy, but +the Uighurs no longer counted, and the T'ang government decided to seize +the capital sums which these foreigners had accumulated. It was hoped in +this way especially to remedy the financial troubles of the moment, +which were partly due to a shortage of metal for minting. As the trading +capital was still placed with the temples as banks, the government +attacked the religion of the Uighurs, Manichaeism, and also the +religions of the other foreigners, Mazdaism, Nestorianism, and +apparently also Islam. In 843 alien religions were prohibited; aliens +were also ordered to dress like Chinese. This gave them the status of +Chinese citizens and no longer of foreigners, so that Chinese justice +had a hold over them. That this law abolishing foreign religions was +aimed solely at the foreigners' capital is shown by the proceedings at +the same time against Buddhism which had long become a completely +Chinese Church. Four thousand, six hundred Buddhist temples, 40,000 +shrines and monasteries were secularized, and all statues were required +to be melted down and delivered to the government, even those in private +possession. Two hundred and sixty thousand, five hundred monks were to +become ordinary citizens once more. Until then monks had been free of +taxation, as had millions of acres of land belonging to the temples and +leased to tenants or some 150,000 temple slaves. + +Thus the edict of 843 must not be described as concerned with religion: +it was a measure of compulsion aimed at filling the government coffers. +All the property of foreigners and a large part of the property of the +Buddhist Church came into the hands of the government. The law was not +applied to Taoism, because the ruling gentry of the time were, as so +often before, Confucianist and at the same time Taoist. As early as 846 +there came a reaction: with the new emperor, Confucians came into power +who were at the same time Buddhists and who now evicted some of the +Taoists. From this time one may observe closer co-operation between +Confucianism and Buddhism; not only with meditative Buddhism (Dhyana) as +at the beginning of the T'ang epoch and earlier, but with the main +branch of Buddhism, monastery Buddhism (Vinaya). From now onward the +Buddhist doctrines of transmigration and retribution, which had been +really directed against the gentry and in favour of the common people, +were turned into an instrument serving the gentry: everyone who was +unfortunate in this life must show such amenability to the government +and the gentry that he would have a chance of a better existence at +least in the next life. Thus the revolutionary Buddhist doctrine of +retribution became a reactionary doctrine that was of great service to +the gentry. One of the Buddhist Confucians in whose works this revised +version makes its appearance most clearly was Niu Seng-yu, who was at +once summoned back to court in 846 by the new emperor. Three new large +Buddhist sects came into existence in the T'ang period. One of them, the +school of the Pure Land (_Ching-t'u tsung_, since 641) required of its +mainly lower class adherents only the permanent invocation of the Buddha +Amithabha who would secure them a place in the "Western Paradise"--a +place without social classes and economic troubles. The cult of +Maitreya, which was always more revolutionary, receded for a while. + +8 _First successful peasant revolt. Collapse of the empire_ + +The chief sufferers from the continual warfare of the military +governors, the sanguinary struggles between the cliques, and the +universal impoverishment which all this fighting produced, were, of +course, the common people. The Chinese annals are filled with records of +popular risings, but not one of these had attained any wide extent, for +want of organization. In 860 began the first great popular rising, a +revolt caused by famine in the province of Chekiang. Government troops +suppressed it with bloodshed. Further popular risings followed. In 874 +began a great rising in the south of the present province of Hopei, the +chief agrarian region. + +The rising was led by a peasant, Wang Hsien-chih, together with Huang +Ch'ao, a salt merchant, who had fallen into poverty and had joined the +hungry peasants, forming a fighting group of his own. It is important to +note that Huang was well educated. It is said that he failed in the +state examination. Huang is not the first merchant who became rebel. An +Lu-shan, too, had been a businessman for a while. It was pointed out +that trade had greatly developed in the T'ang period; of the lower +Yangtze region people it was said that "they were so much interested in +business that they paid no attention to agriculture". Yet merchants were +subject to many humiliating conditions. They could not enter the +examinations, except by illegal means. In various periods, from the Han +time on, they had to wear special dress. Thus, a law from _c_. A.D. 300 +required them to wear a white turban on which name and type of business +was written, and to wear one white and one black shoe. They were subject +to various taxes, but were either not allowed to own land, or were +allotted less land than ordinary citizens. Thus they could not easily +invest in land, the safest investment at that time. Finally, the +government occasionally resorted to the method which was often used in +the Near East: when in 782 the emperor ran out of money, he requested +the merchants of the capital to "loan" him a large sum--a request which +in fact was a special tax. + +Wang and Huang both proved good organizers of the peasant masses, and in +a short time they had captured the whole of eastern China, without the +military governors being able to do anything against them, for the +provincial troops were more inclined to show sympathy to the peasant +armies than to fight them. The terrified government issued an order to +arm the people of the other parts of the country against the rebels; +naturally this helped the rebels more than the government, since the +peasants thus armed went over to the rebels. Finally Wang was offered a +high office. But Huang urged him not to betray his own people, and Wang +declined the offer. In the end the government, with the aid of the +troops of the Turkish Sha-t'o, defeated Wang and beheaded him (878). +Huang Ch'ao now moved into the south-east and the south, where in 879 he +captured and burned down Canton; according to an Arab source, over +120,000 foreign merchants lost their lives in addition to the Chinese. +From Canton Huang Ch'ao returned to the north, laden with loot from that +wealthy commercial city. His advance was held up again by the Sha-t'o +troops; he turned away to the lower Yangtze, and from there marched +north again. At the end of 880 he captured the eastern capital. The +emperor fled from the western capital, Ch'ang-an, into Szechwan, and +Huang Ch'ao now captured with ease the western capital as well, and +removed every member of the ruling family on whom he could lay hands. He +then made himself emperor, in a Ch'i dynasty. It was the first time that +a peasant rising had succeeded against the gentry. + +There was still, however, the greatest disorder in the empire. There +were other peasant armies on the move, armies that had deserted their +governors and were fighting for themselves; finally, there were still a +few supporters of the imperial house and, above all, the Turkish +Sha-t'o, who had a competent commander with the sinified name of Li +K'o-yung. The Sha-t'o, who had remained loyal to the government, +revolted the moment the government had been overthrown. They ran the +risk, however, of defeat at the hands of an alien army of the Chinese +government's, commanded by an Uighur, and they therefore fled to the +Tatars. In spite of this, the Chinese entered again into relations with +the Sha-t'o, as without them there could be no possibility of getting +rid of Huang Ch'ao. At the end of 881 Li K'o-yung fell upon the capital; +there was a fearful battle. Huang Ch'ao was able to hold out, but a +further attack was made in 883 and he was defeated and forced to flee; +in 884 he was killed by the Sha-t'o. + +This popular rising, which had only been overcome with the aid of +foreign troops, brought the end of the T'ang dynasty. In 885 the T'ang +emperor was able to return to the capital, but the only question now was +whether China should be ruled by the Sha-t'o under Li K'o-yung or by +some other military commander. In a short time Chu Ch'üan-chung, a +former follower of Huang Ch'ao, proved to be the strongest of the +commanders. In 890 open war began between the two leaders. Li K'o-yung +was based on Shansi; Chu Ch'üan-chung had control of the plains in the +east. Meanwhile the governors of Szechwan in the west and Chekiang in +the south-east made themselves independent. Both declared themselves +kings or emperors and set up dynasties of their own (from 895). + +Within the capital, the emperor was threatened several times by revolts, +so that he had to flee and place himself in the hands of Li K'o-yung as +the only leader on whose loyalty he could count. Soon after this, +however, the emperor fell into the hands of Chu Ch'üan-chung, who killed +the whole entourage of the emperor, particularly the eunuchs; after a +time he had the emperor himself killed, set a puppet--as had become +customary--on the throne, and at the beginning of 907 took over the rule +from him, becoming emperor in the "Later Liang dynasty". + +That was the end of the T'ang dynasty, at the beginning of which China +had risen to unprecedented power. Its downfall had been brought about by +the military governors, who had built up their power and had become +independent hereditary satraps, exploiting the people for their own +purposes, and by their continual mutual struggles undermining the +economic structure of the empire. In addition to this, the empire had +been weakened first by its foreign trade and then by the dependence on +foreigners, especially Turks, into which it had fallen owing to internal +conditions. A large part of the national income had gone abroad. Such is +the explanation of the great popular risings which ultimately brought +the dynasty to its end. + + + + + MODERN TIMES + + + + Chapter Nine + + +THE EPOCH OF THE SECOND DIVISION OF CHINA + +(A) The period of transition: the Five Dynasties (A.D. 906-960) + +1 _Beginning of a new epoch_ + +The rebellion of Huang Ch'ao in fact meant the end of the T'ang dynasty +and the division of China into a number of independent states. Only for +reasons of convenience we keep the traditional division into dynasties +and have our new period begin with the official end of the T'ang dynasty +in 906. We decided to call the new thousand years of Chinese history +"Modern Times" in order to indicate that from _c_. 860 on changes in +China's social structure came about which set this epoch off from the +earlier thousand years which we called "The Middle Ages". Any division +into periods is arbitrary as changes do not happen from one year to the +next. The first beginnings of the changes which lead to the "Modern +Times" actually can be seen from the end of An Lu-shan's rebellion on, +from _c_. A.D. 780 on, and the transformation was more or less completed +only in the middle of the eleventh century. + +If we want to characterize the "Modern Times" by one concept, we would +have to call this epoch the time of the emergence of a middle class, and +it will be remembered that the growth of the middle class in Europe was +also the decisive change between the Middle Ages and Modern Times in +Europe. The parallelism should, however, not be overdone. The gentry +continued to play a role in China during the Modern Times, much more +than the aristocracy did in Europe. The middle class did not ever really +get into power during the whole period. + +While we will discuss the individual developments later in some detail, +a few words about the changes in general might be given already here. +The wars which followed Huang Ch'ao's rebellion greatly affected the +ruling gentry. A number of families were so strongly affected that they +lost their importance and disappeared. Commoners from the followers of +Huang Ch'ao or other armies succeeded to get into power, to acquire +property and to enter the ranks of the gentry. At about A.D. 1000 almost +half of the gentry families were new families of low origin. The state, +often ruled by men who had just moved up, was no more interested in the +aristocratic manners of the old gentry families, especially no more +interested in their genealogies. When conditions began to improve after +A.D. 1000, and when the new families felt themselves as real gentry +families, they tried to set up a mechanism to protect the status of +their families. In the eleventh century private genealogies began to be +kept, so that any claim against the clan could be checked. Clans set up +rules of behaviour and procedure to regulate all affairs of the clan +without the necessity of asking the state to interfere in case of +conflict. Many such "clan rules" exist in China and also in Japan which +took over this innovation. Clans set apart special pieces of land as +clan land; the income of this land was to be used to secure a minimum of +support for every clan member and his own family, so that no member ever +could fall into utter poverty. Clan schools which were run by income +from special pieces of clan land were established to guarantee an +education for the members of the clan, again in order to make sure that +the clan would remain a part of the _élite_. Many clans set up special +marriage rules for clan members, and after some time cross-cousin +marriages between two or three families were legally allowed; such +marriages tended to fasten bonds between clans and to prevent the loss +of property by marriage. While on the one hand, a new "clan +consciousness" grew up among the gentry families in order to secure +their power, tax and corvée legislation especially in the eleventh +century induced many families to split up into small families. + +It can be shown that over the next centuries, the power of the family +head increased. He was now regarded as owner of the property, not only +mere administrator of family property. He got power over life and death +of his children. This increase of power went together with a change of +the position of the ruler. The period transition (until _c_. A.D. 1000) +was followed by a period of "moderate absolutism" (until 1278) in which +emperors as persons played a greater role than before, and some +emperors, such as Shen Tsung (in 1071), even declared that they regarded +the welfare of the masses as more important than the profit of the +gentry. After 1278, however, the personal influence of the emperors grew +further towards absolutism and in times became pure despotism. + +Individuals, especially family heads, gained more freedom in "Modern +Times". Not only the period of transition, but also the following period +was a time of much greater social mobility than existed in the Middle +Ages. By various legal and/or illegal means people could move up into +positions of power and wealth: we know of many merchants who succeeded +in being allowed to enter the state examinations and thus got access to +jobs in the administration. Large, influential gentry families in the +capital protected sons from less important families and thus gave them a +chance to move into the gentry. Thus, these families built up a +clientele of lesser gentry families which assisted them and upon the +loyalty of which they could count. The gentry can from now on be divided +into two parts. First, there was a "big gentry" which consisted of much +fewer families than in earlier times and which directed the policy in +the capital; and secondly, there was a "small gentry" which was +operating mainly in the provincial cities, directing local affairs and +bound by ties of loyalty to big gentry families. Gentry cliques now +extended into the provinces and it often became possible to identify a +clique with a geographical area, which, however, usually did not +indicate particularistic tendencies. + +Individual freedom did not show itself only in greater social mobility. +The restrictions which, for instance, had made the craftsmen and +artisans almost into serfs, were gradually lifted. From the early +sixteenth century on, craftsmen were free and no more subject to forced +labour services for the state. Most craftsmen in this epoch still had +their shops in one lane or street and lived above their shops, as they +had done in the earlier period. But from now on, they began to organize +in guilds of an essentially religious character, as similar guilds in +other parts of Asia at the same time also did. They provided welfare +services for their members, made some attempts towards standardization +of products and prices, imposed taxes upon their members, kept their +streets clean and tried to regulate salaries. Apprentices were initiated +in a kind of semi-religious ceremony, and often meetings took place in +temples. No guild, however, connected people of the same craft living in +different cities. Thus, they did not achieve political power. +Furthermore, each trade had its own guild; in Peking in the nineteenth +century there existed over 420 different guilds. Thus, guilds failed to +achieve political influence even within individual cities. + +Probably at the same time, regional associations, the so-called +"_hui-kuan"_ originated. Such associations united people from one city +or one area who lived in another city. People of different trades, but +mainly businessmen, came together under elected chiefs and councillors. +Sometimes, such regional associations could function as pressure groups, +especially as they were usually financially stronger than the guilds. +They often owned city property or farm land. Not all merchants, however, +were so organized. Although merchants remained under humiliating +restrictions as to the colour and material of their dress and the +prohibition to ride a horse, they could more often circumvent such +restrictions and in general had much more freedom in this epoch. + +Trade, including overseas trade, developed greatly from now on. Soon we +find in the coastal ports a special office which handled custom and +registration affairs, supplied interpreters for foreigners, received +them officially and gave good-bye dinners when they left. Down to the +thirteenth century, most of this overseas trade was still in the hands +of foreigners, mainly Indians. Entrepreneurs hired ships, if they were +not ship-owners, hired trained merchants who in turn hired sailors +mainly from the South-East Asian countries, and sold their own +merchandise as well as took goods on commission. Wealthy Chinese gentry +families invested money in such foreign enterprises and in some cases +even gave their daughters in marriage to foreigners in order to profit +from this business. + +We also see an emergence of industry from the eleventh century on. We +find men who were running almost monopolistic enterprises, such as +preparing charcoal for iron production and producing iron and steel at +the same time; some of these men had several factories, operating under +hired and qualified managers with more than 500 labourers. We find +beginnings of a labour legislation and the first strikes (A.D. 782 the +first strike of merchants in the capital; 1601 first strike of textile +workers). + +Some of these labourers were so-called "vagrants", farmers who had +secretly left their land or their landlord's land for various reasons, +and had shifted to other regions where they did not register and thus +did not pay taxes. Entrepreneurs liked to hire them for industries +outside the towns where supervision by the government was not so strong; +naturally, these "vagrants" were completely at the mercy of their +employers. + +Since _c_. 780 the economy can again be called a money economy; more and +more taxes were imposed in form of money instead of in kind. This +pressure forced farmers out of the land and into the cities in order to +earn there the cash they needed for their tax payments. These men +provided the labour force for industries, and this in turn led to the +strong growth of the cities, especially in Central China where trade and +industries developed most. + +Wealthy people not only invested in industrial enterprises, but also +began to make heavy investments in agriculture in the vicinity of +cities in order to increase production and thus income. We find men who +drained lakes in order to create fields below the water level for easy +irrigation; others made floating fields on lakes and avoided land tax +payments; still others combined pig and fish breeding in one operation. + +The introduction of money economy and money taxes led to a need for more +coinage. As metal was scarce and minting very expensive, iron coins were +introduced, silver became more and more common as means of exchange, and +paper money was issued. As the relative value of these moneys changed +with supply and demand, speculation became a flourishing business which +led to further enrichment of people in business. Even the government +became more money-minded: costs of operations and even of wars were +carefully calculated in order to achieve savings; financial specialists +were appointed by the government, just as clans appointed such men for +the efficient administration of their clan properties. + +Yet no real capitalism or industrialism developed until towards the end +of this epoch, although at the end of the twelfth century almost all +conditions for such a development seemed to be given. + +2 _Political situation in the tenth century_ + +The Chinese call the period from 906 to 960 the "period of the Five +Dynasties" (_Wu Tai_). This is not quite accurate. It is true that there +were five dynasties in rapid succession in North China; but at the same +time there were ten other dynasties in South China. The ten southern +dynasties, however, are regarded as not legitimate. The south was much +better off with its illegitimate dynasties than the north with the +legitimate ones. The dynasties in the south (we may dispense with giving +their names) were the realms of some of the military governors so often +mentioned above. These governors had already become independent at the +end of the T'ang epoch; they declared themselves kings or emperors and +ruled particular provinces in the south, the chief of which covered the +territory of the present provinces of Szechwan, Kwangtung and Chekiang. +In these territories there was comparative peace and economic +prosperity, since they were able to control their own affairs and were +no longer dependent on a corrupt central government. They also made +great cultural progress, and they did not lose their importance later +when they were annexed in the period of the Sung dynasty. + +As an example of these states one may mention the small state of Ch'u in +the present province of Hunan. Here, Ma Yin, a former carpenter (died +931), had made himself a king. He controlled some of the main trade +routes, set up a clean administration, bought up all merchandise which +the merchants brought, but allowed them to export only local products, +mainly tea, iron and lead. This regulation gave him a personal income of +several millions every year, and in addition fostered the exploitation +of the natural resources of this hitherto retarded area. + +3 _Monopolistic trade in South China. Printing and paper money in the +north_ + +The prosperity of the small states of South China was largely due to the +growth of trade, especially the tea trade. The habit of drinking tea +seems to have been an ancient Tibetan custom, which spread to +south-eastern China in the third century A.D. Since then there had been +two main centres of production, Szechwan and south-eastern China. Until +the eleventh century Szechwan had remained the leading producer, and tea +had been drunk in the Tibetan fashion, mixed with flour, salt, and +ginger. It then began to be drunk without admixture. In the T'ang epoch +tea drinking spread all over China, and there sprang up a class of +wholesalers who bought the tea from the peasants, accumulated stocks, +and distributed them. From 783 date the first attempts of the state to +monopolize the tea trade and to make it a source of revenue; but it +failed in an attempt to make the cultivation a state monopoly. A tea +commissariat was accordingly set up to buy the tea from the producers +and supply it to traders in possession of a state licence. There +naturally developed then a pernicious collaboration between state +officials and the wholesalers. The latter soon eliminated the small +traders, so that they themselves secured all the profit; official +support was secured by bribery. The state and the wholesalers alike were +keenly interested in the prevention of tea smuggling, which was strictly +prohibited. + +The position was much the same with regard to salt. We have here for the +first time the association of officials with wholesalers or even with a +monopoly trade. This was of the utmost importance in all later times. +Monopoly progressed most rapidly in Szechwan, where there had always +been a numerous commercial community. In the period of political +fragmentation Szechwan, as the principal tea-producing region and at the +same time an important producer of salt, was much better off than any +other part of China. Salt in Szechwan was largely produced by, +technically, very interesting salt wells which existed there since _c_. +the first century B.C. The importance of salt will be understood if we +remember that a grown-up person in China uses an average of twelve +pounds of salt per year. The salt tax was the top budget item around +A.D. 900. + +South-eastern China was also the chief centre of porcelain production, +although china clay is found also in North China. The use of porcelain +spread more and more widely. The first translucent porcelain made its +appearance, and porcelain became an important article of commerce both +within the country and for export. Already the Muslim rulers of Baghdad +around 800 used imported Chinese porcelain, and by the end of the +fourteenth century porcelain was known in Eastern Africa. Exports to +South-East Asia and Indonesia, and also to Japan gained more and more +importance in later centuries. Manufacture of high quality porcelain +calls for considerable amounts of capital investment and working +capital; small manufacturers produce too many second-rate pieces; thus +we have here the first beginnings of an industry that developed +industrial towns such as Ching-tê, in which the majority of the +population were workers and merchants, with some 10,000 families alone +producing porcelain. Yet, for many centuries to come, the state +controlled the production and even the design of porcelain and +appropriated most of the production for use at court or as gifts. + +The third important new development to be mentioned was that of +printing, which since _c_. 770 was known in the form of wood-block +printing. The first reference to a printed book dated from 835, and the +most important event in this field was the first printing of the +Classics by the orders of Feng Tao (882-954) around 940. The first +attempts to use movable type in China occurred around 1045, although +this invention did not get general acceptance in China. It was more +commonly used in Korea from the thirteenth century on and revolutionized +Europe from 1538 on. It seems to me that from the middle of the +twentieth century on, the West, too, shows a tendency to come back to +the printing of whole pages, but replacing the wood blocks by +photographic plates or other means. In the Far East, just as in Europe, +the invention of printing had far-reaching consequences. Books, which +until then had been very dear, because they had to be produced by +copyists, could now be produced cheaply and in quantity. It became +possible for a scholar to accumulate a library of his own and to work in +a wide field, where earlier he had been confined to a few books or even +a single text. The results were the spread of education, beginning with +reading and writing, among wider groups, and the broadening of +education: a large number of texts were read and compared, and no longer +only a few. Private libraries came into existence, so that the imperial +libraries were no longer the only ones. Publishing soon grew in extent, +and in private enterprise works were printed that were not so serious +and politically important as the classic books of the past. Thus a new +type of literature, the literature of entertainment, could come into +existence. Not all these consequences showed themselves at once; some +made their first appearance later, in the Sung period. + +A fourth important innovation, this time in North China, was the +introduction of prototypes of paper money. The Chinese copper "cash" was +difficult or expensive to transport, simply because of its weight. It +thus presented great obstacles to trade. Occasionally a region with an +adverse balance of trade would lose all its copper money, with the +result of a local deflation. From time to time, iron money was +introduced in such deficit areas; it had for the first time been used in +Szechwan in the first century B.C., and was there extensively used in +the tenth century when after the conquest of the local state all copper +was taken to the east by the conquerors. So long as there was an orderly +administration, the government could send it money, though at +considerable cost; but if the administration was not functioning well, +the deflation continued. For this reason some provinces prohibited the +export of copper money from their territory at the end of the eighth +century. As the provinces were in the hands of military governors, the +central government could do next to nothing to prevent this. On the +other hand, the prohibition automatically made an end of all external +trade. The merchants accordingly began to prepare deposit certificates, +and in this way to set up a sort of transfer system. Soon these deposit +certificates entered into circulation as a sort of medium of payment at +first again in Szechwan, and gradually this led to a banking system and +the linking of wholesale trade with it. This made possible a much +greater volume of trade. Towards the end of the T'ang period the +government began to issue deposit certificates of its own: the merchant +deposited his copper money with a government agency, receiving in +exchange a certificate which he could put into circulation like money. +Meanwhile the government could put out the deposited money at interest, +or throw it into general circulation. The government's deposit +certificates were now printed. They were the predecessors of the paper +money used from the time of the Sung. + +4 _Political history of the Five Dynasties_ + +The southern states were a factor not to be ignored in the calculations +of the northern dynasties. Although the southern kingdoms were involved +in a confusion of mutual hostilities, any one of them might come to the +fore as the ally of Turks or other northern powers. The capital of the +first of the five northern dynasties (once more a Liang dynasty, but not +to be confused with the Liang dynasty of the south in the sixth century) +was, moreover, quite close to the territories of the southern dynasties, +close to the site of the present K'ai-feng, in the fertile plain of +eastern China with its good means of transport. Militarily the town +could not be held, for its one and only defence was the Yellow River. +The founder of this Later Liang dynasty, Chu Ch'üan-chung (906), was +himself an eastern Chinese and, as will be remembered, a past supporter +of the revolutionary Huang Ch'ao, but he had then gone over to the T'ang +and had gained high military rank. + +His northern frontier remained still more insecure than the southern, +for Chu Ch'üan-chung did not succeed in destroying the Turkish general +Li K'o-yung; on the contrary, the latter continually widened the range +of his power. Fortunately he, too, had an enemy at his back--the Kitan +(or Khitan), whose ruler had made himself emperor in 916, and so staked +a claim to reign over all China. The first Kitan emperor held a middle +course between Chu and Li, and so was able to establish and expand his +empire in peace. The striking power of his empire, which from 937 onward +was officially called the Liao empire, grew steadily, because the old +tribal league of the Kitan was transformed into a centrally commanded +military organization. + +To these dangers from abroad threatening the Later Liang state internal +troubles were added. Chu Ch'üan-chung's dynasty was one of the three +Chinese dynasties that have ever come to power through a popular rising. +He himself was of peasant origin, and so were a large part of his +subordinates and helpers. Many of them had originally been independent +peasant leaders; others had been under Huang Ch'ao. All of them were +opposed to the gentry, and the great slaughter of the gentry of the +capital, shortly before the beginning of Chu's rule, had been welcomed +by Chu and his followers. The gentry therefore would not co-operate with +Chu and preferred to join the Turk Li K'o-yung. But Chu could not +confidently rely on his old comrades. They were jealous of his success +in gaining the place they all coveted, and were ready to join in any +independent enterprise as opportunity offered. All of them, moreover, as +soon as they were given any administrative post, busied themselves with +the acquisition of money and wealth as quickly as possible. These abuses +not only ate into the revenues of the state but actually produced a +common front between the peasantry and the remnants of the gentry +against the upstarts. + +In 917, after Li K'o-yung's death, the Sha-t'o Turks beat off an attack +from the Kitan, and so were safe for a time from the northern menace. +They then marched against the Liang state, where a crisis had been +produced in 912 after the murder of Chu Ch'üan-chung by one of his sons. +The Liang generals saw no reason why they should fight for the dynasty, +and all of them went over to the enemy. Thus the "Later T'ang dynasty" +(923-936) came into power in North China, under the son of Li K'o-yung. + +The dominant element at this time was quite clearly the Chinese gentry, +especially in western and central China. The Sha-t'o themselves must +have been extraordinarily few in number, probably little more than +100,000 men. Most of them, moreover, were politically passive, being +simple soldiers. Only the ruling family and its following played any +active part, together with a few families related to it by marriage. The +whole state was regarded by the Sha-t'o rulers as a sort of family +enterprise, members of the family being placed in the most important +positions. As there were not enough of them, they adopted into the +family large numbers of aliens of all nationalities. Military posts were +given to faithful members of Li K'o-yung's or his successor's bodyguard, +and also to domestic servants and other clients of the family. Thus, +while in the Later Liang state elements from the peasantry had risen in +the world, some of these neo-gentry reaching the top of the social +pyramid in the centuries that followed, in the Sha-t'o state some of its +warriors, drawn from the most various peoples, entered the gentry class +through their personal relations with the ruler. But in spite of all +this the bulk of the officials came once more from the Chinese. These +educated Chinese not only succeeded in winning over the rulers +themselves to the Chinese cultural ideal, but persuaded them to adopt +laws that substantially restricted the privileges of the Sha-t'o and +brought advantages only to the Chinese gentry. Consequently all the +Chinese historians are enthusiastic about the "Later T'ang", and +especially about the emperor Ming Ti, who reigned from 927 onward, after +the assassination of his predecessor. They also abused the Liang because +they were against the gentry. + +In 936 the Later T'ang dynasty gave place to the Later Chin dynasty +(936-946), but this involved no change in the structure of the empire. +The change of dynasty meant no more than that instead of the son +following the father the son-in-law had ascended the throne. It was of +more importance that the son-in-law, the Sha-t'o Turk Shih Ching-t'ang, +succeeded in doing this by allying himself with the Kitan and ceding to +them some of the northern provinces. The youthful successor, however, of +the first ruler of this dynasty was soon made to realize that the Kitan +regarded the founding of his dynasty as no more than a transition stage +on the way to their annexation of the whole of North China. The old +Sha-t'o nobles, who had not been sinified in the slightest, suggested a +preventive war; the actual court group, strongly sinified, hesitated, +but ultimately were unable to avoid war. The war was very quickly +decided by several governors in eastern China going over to the Kitan, +who had promised them the imperial title. In the course of 946-7 the +Kitan occupied the capital and almost the whole of the country. In 947 +the Kitan ruler proclaimed himself emperor of the Kitan and the Chinese. + +[Illustration: Map 6: The State of the later T'ang dynasty] + +The Chinese gentry seem to have accepted this situation because a Kitan +emperor was just as acceptable to them as a Sha-t'o emperor; but the +Sha-t'o were not prepared to submit to the Kitan regime, because under +it they would have lost their position of privilege. At the head of this +opposition group stood the Sha-t'o general Liu Chih-yuan, who founded +the "Later Han dynasty" (947-950). He was able to hold out against the +Kitan only because in 947 the Kitan emperor died and his son had to +leave China and retreat to the north; fighting had broken out between +the empress dowager, who had some Chinese support, and the young heir to +the throne. The new Turkish dynasty, however, was unable to withstand +the internal Chinese resistance. Its founder died in 948, and his son, +owing to his youth, was entirely in the hands of a court clique. In his +effort to free himself from the tutelage of this group he made a +miscalculation, for the men on whom he thought he could depend were +largely supporters of the clique. So he lost his throne and his life, +and a Chinese general, Kuo Wei, took his place, founding the "Later Chou +dynasty" (951-959). + +A feature of importance was that in the years of the short-lived "Later +Han dynasty" a tendency showed itself among the Chinese military leaders +to work with the states in the south. The increase in the political +influence of the south was due to its economic advance while the north +was reduced to economic chaos by the continual heavy fighting, and by +the complete irresponsibility of the Sha-t'o ruler in financial matters: +several times in this period the whole of the money in the state +treasury was handed out to soldiers to prevent them from going over to +some enemy or other. On the other hand, there was a tendency in the +south for the many neighbouring states to amalgamate, and as this +process took place close to the frontier of North China the northern +states could not passively look on. During the "Later Han" period there +were wars and risings, which continued in the time of the "Later Chou". + +On the whole, the few years of the rule of the second emperor of the +"Later Chou" (954-958) form a bright spot in those dismal fifty-five +years. Sociologically regarded, that dynasty formed merely a transition +stage on the way to the Sung dynasty that now followed: the Chinese +gentry ruled under the leadership of an upstart who had risen from the +ranks, and they ruled in accordance with the old principles of gentry +rule. The Sha-t'o, who had formed the three preceding dynasties, had +been so reduced that they were now a tiny minority and no longer +counted. This minority had only been able to maintain its position +through the special social conditions created by the "Later Liang" +dynasty: the Liang, who had come from the lower classes of the +population, had driven the gentry into the arms of the Sha-t'o Turks. As +soon as the upstarts, in so far as they had not fallen again or been +exterminated, had more or less assimilated themselves to the old gentry, +and on the other hand the leaders of the Sha-t'o had become numerically +too weak, there was a possibility of resuming the old form of rule. + +There had been certain changes in this period. The north-west of China, +the region of the old capital Ch'ang-an, had been so ruined by the +fighting that had gone on mainly there and farther north, that it was +eliminated as a centre of power for a hundred years to come; it had been +largely depopulated. The north was under the rule of the Kitan: its +trade, which in the past had been with the Huang-ho basin, was now +perforce diverted to Peking, which soon became the main centre of the +power of the Kitan. The south, particularly the lower Yangtze region and +the province of Szechwan, had made economic progress, at least in +comparison with the north; consequently it had gained in political +importance. + +One other event of this time has to be mentioned: the great persecution +of Buddhism in 955, but not only because 30,336 temples and monasteries +were secularized and only some 2,700 with 61,200 monks were left. +Although the immediate reason for this action seems to have been that +too many men entered the monasteries in order to avoid being taken as +soldiers, the effect of the law of 955 was that from now on the +Buddhists were put under regulations which clarified once and for ever +their position within the framework of a society which had as its aim to +define clearly the status of each individual within each social class. +Private persons were no more allowed to erect temples and monasteries. +The number of temples per district was legally fixed. A person could +become monk only if the head of the family gave its permission. He had +to be over fifteen years of age and had to know by heart at least one +hundred pages of texts. The state took over the control of the +ordinations which could be performed only after a successful +examination. Each year a list of all monks had to be submitted to the +government in two copies. Monks had to carry six identification cards +with them, one of which was the ordination diploma for which a fee had +to be paid to the government (already since 755). The diploma was, in +the eleventh century, issued by the Bureau of Sacrifices, but the money +was collected by the Ministry of Agriculture. It can be regarded as a +payment _in lieu_ of land tax. The price was in the eleventh century 130 +strings, which represented the value of a small farm or the value of +some 17,000 litres of grain. The price of the diploma went up to 220 +strings in 1101, and the then government sold 30,000 diplomas per year +in order to get still more cash. But as diplomas could be traded, a +black market developed, on which they were sold for as little as twenty +strings. + + +(B) Period of Moderate Absolutism + +(1) The Northern Sung dynasty + +1 _Southward expansion_ + +The founder of the Sung dynasty, Chao K'uang-yin, came of a Chinese +military family living to the south of Peking. He advanced from general +to emperor, and so differed in no way from the emperors who had preceded +him. But his dynasty did not disappear as quickly as the others; for +this there were several reasons. To begin with, there was the simple +fact that he remained alive longer than the other founders of dynasties, +and so was able to place his rule on a firmer foundation. But in +addition to this he followed a new course, which in certain ways +smoothed matters for him and for his successors, in foreign policy. + +This Sung dynasty, as Chao K'uang-yin named it, no longer turned against +the northern peoples, particularly the Kitan, but against the south. +This was not exactly an heroic policy: the north of China remained in +the hands of the Kitan. There were frequent clashes, but no real effort +was made to destroy the Kitan, whose dynasty was now called "Liao". The +second emperor of the Sung was actually heavily defeated several times +by the Kitan. But they, for their part, made no attempt to conquer the +whole of China, especially since the task would have become more and +more burdensome the farther south the Sung expanded. And very soon there +were other reasons why the Kitan should refrain from turning their whole +strength against the Chinese. + +[Illustration: 10 Ladies of the Court: clay models which accompanied +the dead person to the grave. T'ang period. _In the collection of the +Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin_.] + +[Illustration: 11 Distinguished founder: a temple banner found at +Khotcho, Turkestan. _Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin, No. 1B_ 4524, +_illustration B_ 408.] + +As we said, the Sung turned at once against the states in the south. +Some of the many small southern states had made substantial economic and +cultural advance, but militarily they were not strong. Chao K'uang-yin +(named as emperor T'ai Tsu) attacked them in succession. Most of them +fell very quickly and without any heavy fighting, especially since the +Sung dealt mildly with the defeated rulers and their following. The +gentry and the merchants in these small states could not but realize the +advantages of a widened and well-ordered economic field, and they were +therefore entirely in favour of the annexation of their country so soon +as it proved to be tolerable. And the Sung empire could only endure and +gain strength if it had control of the regions along the Yangtze and +around Canton, with their great economic resources. The process of +absorbing the small states in the south continued until 980. Before it +was ended, the Sung tried to extend their influence in the south beyond +the Chinese border, and secured a sort of protectorate over parts of +Annam (973). This sphere of influence was politically insignificant and +not directly of any economic importance; but it fulfilled for the Sung +the same functions which colonial territories fulfilled for Europeans, +serving as a field of operation for the commercial class, who imported +raw materials from it--mainly, it is true, luxury articles such as +special sorts of wood, perfumes, ivory, and so on--and exported Chinese +manufactures. As the power of the empire grew, this zone of influence +extended as far as Indonesia: the process had begun in the T'ang period. +The trade with the south had not the deleterious effects of the trade +with Central Asia. There was no sale of refined metals, and none of +fabrics, as the natives produced their own textiles which sufficed for +their needs. And the export of porcelain brought no economic injury to +China, but the reverse. + +This Sung policy was entirely in the interest of the gentry and of the +trading community which was now closely connected with them. Undoubtedly +it strengthened China. The policy of nonintervention in the north was +endurable even when peace with the Kitan had to be bought by the payment +of an annual tribute. From 1004 onwards, 100,000 ounces of silver and +200,000 bales of silk were paid annually to the Kitan, amounting in +value to about 270,000 strings of cash, each of 1,000 coins. The state +budget amounted to some 20,000,000 strings of cash. In 1038 the payments +amounted to 500,000 strings, but the budget was by then much larger. One +is liable to get a false impression when reading of these big payments +if one does not take into account what percentage they formed of the +total revenues of the state. The tribute to the Kitan amounted to less +than 2 per cent of the revenue, while the expenditure on the army +accounted for 25 per cent of the budget. It cost much less to pay +tribute than to maintain large armies and go to war. Financial +considerations played a great part during the Sung epoch. The taxation +revenue of the empire rose rapidly after the pacification of the south; +soon after the beginning of the dynasty the state budget was double that +of the T'ang. If the state expenditure in the eleventh century had not +continually grown through the increase in military expenditure--in spite +of everything!--there would have come a period of great prosperity in +the empire. + +2 _Administration and army. Inflation_ + +The Sung emperor, like the rulers of the transition period, had gained +the throne by his personal abilities as military leader; in fact, he had +been made emperor by his soldiers as had happened to so many emperors in +later Imperial Rome. For the next 300 years we observe a change in the +position of the emperor. On the one hand, if he was active and +intelligent enough, he exercised much more personal influence than the +rulers of the Middle Ages. On the other hand, at the same time, the +emperors were much closer to their ministers as before. We hear of +ministers who patted the ruler on the shoulders when they retired from +an audience; another one fell asleep on the emperor's knee and was not +punished for this familiarity. The emperor was called "_kuan-chia_" +(Administrator) and even called himself so. And in the early twelfth +century an emperor stated "I do not regard the empire as my personal +property; my job is to guide the people". Financially-minded as the Sung +dynasty was, the cost of the operation of the palace was calculated, so +that the emperor had a budget: in 1068 the salaries of all officials in +the capital amounted to 40,000 strings of money per month, the armies +100,000, and the emperor's ordinary monthly budget was 70,000 strings. +For festivals, imperial birthdays, weddings and burials extra allowances +were made. Thus, the Sung rulers may be called "moderate absolutists" +and not despots. + +One of the first acts of the new Sung emperor, in 963, was a fundamental +reorganization of the administration of the country. The old system of a +civil administration and a military administration independent of it was +brought to an end and the whole administration of the country placed in +the hands of civil officials. The gentry welcomed this measure and gave +it full support, because it enabled the influence of the gentry to grow +and removed the fear of competition from the military, some of whom did +not belong by birth to the gentry. The generals by whose aid the empire +had been created were put on pension, or transferred to civil +employment, as quickly as possible. The army was demobilized, and this +measure was bound up with the settlement of peasants in the regions +which war had depopulated, or on new land. Soon after this the revenue +noticeably increased. Above all, the army was placed directly under the +central administration, and the system of military governors was thus +brought to an end. The soldiers became mercenaries of the state, whereas +in the past there had been conscription. In 975 the army had numbered +only 378,000, and its cost had not been insupportable. Although the +numbers increased greatly, reaching 912,000 in 1017 and 1,259,000 in +1045, this implied no increase in military strength; for men who had +once been soldiers remained with the army even when they were too old +for service. Moreover, the soldiers grew more and more exacting; when +detachments were transferred to another region, for instance, the +soldiers would not carry their baggage; an army of porters had to be +assembled. The soldiers also refused to go to regions remote from their +homes until they were given extra pay. Such allowances gradually became +customary, and so the military expenditure grew by leaps and bounds +without any corresponding increase in the striking power of the army. + +The government was unable to meet the whole cost of the army out of +taxation revenue. The attempt was made to cover the expenditure by +coining fresh money. In connection with the increase in commercial +capital described above, and the consequent beginning of an industry, +China's metal production had greatly increased. In 1050 thirteen times +as much silver, eight times as much copper, and fourteen times as much +iron was produced as in 800. Thus the circulation of the copper currency +was increased. The cost of minting, however, amounted in China to about +75 per cent and often over 100 per cent of the value of the money +coined. In addition to this, the metal was produced in the south, while +the capital was in the north. The coin had therefore to be carried a +long distance to reach the capital and to be sent on to the soldiers in +the north. + +To meet the increasing expenditure, an unexampled quantity of new money +was put into circulation. The state budget increased from 22,200,000 in +A.D. 1000 to 150,800,000 in 1021. The Kitan state coined a great deal of +silver, and some of the tribute was paid to it in silver. The greatly +increased production of silver led to its being put into circulation in +China itself. And this provided a new field of speculation, through the +variations in the rates for silver and for copper. Speculation was also +possible with the deposit certificates, which were issued in quantities +by the state from the beginning of the eleventh century, and to which +the first true paper money was soon added. The paper money and the +certificates were redeemable at a definite date, but at a reduction of +at least 3 per cent of their value; this, too, yielded a certain revenue +to the state. + +The inflation that resulted from all these measures brought profit to +the big merchants in spite of the fact that they had to supply directly +or indirectly all non-agricultural taxes (in 1160 some 40,000,000 +strings annually), especially the salt tax (50 per cent), wine tax (36 +per cent), tea tax (7 per cent) and customs (7 per cent). Although the +official economic thinking remained Confucian, i.e. anti-business and +pro-agrarian, we find in this time insight in price laws, for instance, +that peace times and/or decrease of population induce deflation. The +government had always attempted to manipulate the prices by +interference. Already in much earlier times, again and again, attempts +had been made to lower the prices by the so-called "ever-normal +granaries" of the government which threw grain on the market when prices +were too high and bought grain when prices were low. But now, in +addition to such measures, we also find others which exhibit a deeper +insight: in a period of starvation, the scholar and official Fan +Chung-yen instead of officially reducing grain prices, raised the prices +in his district considerably. Although the population got angry, +merchants started to import large amounts of grain; as soon as this +happened, Fan (himself a big landowner) reduced the price again. Similar +results were achieved by others by just stimulating merchants to import +grain into deficit areas. + +With the social structure of medieval Europe, similar financial and +fiscal developments which gave new chances to merchants, eventually led +to industrial capitalism and industrial society. In China, however, the +gentry in their capacity of officials hindered the growth of independent +trade, and permitted its existence only in association with themselves. +As they also represented landed property, it was in land that the +newly-formed capital was invested. Thus we see in the Sung period, and +especially in the eleventh century, the greatest accumulation of estates +that there had ever been up to then in China. + +Many of these estates came into origin as gifts of the emperor to +individuals or to temples, others were created on hillsides on land +which belonged to the villages. From this time on, the rest of the +village commons in China proper disappeared. Villagers could no longer +use the top-soil of the hills as fertilizer, or the trees as firewood +and building material. In addition, the hillside estates diverted the +water of springs and creeks, thus damaging severely the irrigation works +of the villagers in the plains. The estates (_chuang_) were controlled +by appointed managers who often became hereditary managers. The tenants +on the estates were quite often non-registered migrants, of whom we +spoke previously as "vagrants", and as such they depended upon the +managers who could always denounce them to the authorities which would +lead to punishment because nobody was allowed to leave his home without +officially changing his registration. Many estates operated mills and +even textile factories with non-registered weavers. Others seem to have +specialized in sheep breeding. Present-day village names ending with +-_chuang_ indicate such former estates. A new development in this period +were the "clan estates" (_i-chuang_), created by Fan Chung-yen +(989-1052) in 1048. The income of these clan estates were used for the +benefit of the whole clan, were controlled by clan-appointed managers +and had tax-free status, guaranteed by the government which regarded +them as welfare institutions. Technically, they might better be called +corporations because they were similar in structure to some of our +industrial corporations. Under the Chinese economic system, large-scale +landowning always proved socially and politically injurious. Up to very +recent times the peasant who rented his land paid 40-50 per cent of the +produce to the landowner, who was responsible for payment of the normal +land tax. The landlord, however, had always found means of evading +payment. As each district had to yield a definite amount of taxation, +the more the big landowners succeeded in evading payment the more had to +be paid by the independent small farmers. These independent peasants +could then either "give" their land to the big landowner and pay rent to +him, thus escaping from the attentions of the tax-officer, or simply +leave the district and secretly enter another one where they were not +registered. In either case the government lost taxes. + +Large-scale landowning proved especially injurious in the Sung period, +for two reasons. To begin with, the official salaries, which had always +been small in China, were now totally inadequate, and so the officials +were given a fixed quantity of land, the yield of which was regarded as +an addition to salary. This land was free from part of the taxes. Before +long the officials had secured the liberation of the whole of their land +from the chief taxes. In the second place, the taxation system was +simplified by making the amount of tax proportional to the amount of +land owned. The lowest bracket, however, in this new system of taxation +comprised more land than a poor peasant would actually own, and this was +a heavy blow to the small peasant-owners, who in the past had paid a +proportion of their produce. Most of them had so little land that they +could barely live on its yield. Their liability to taxation was at all +times a very heavy burden to them while the big landowners got off +lightly. Thus this measure, though administratively a saving of +expense, proved unsocial. + +All this made itself felt especially in the south with its great estates +of tax-evading landowners. Here the remaining small peasant-owners had +to pay the new taxes or to become tenants of the landowners and lose +their property. The north was still suffering from the war-devastation +of the tenth century. As the landlords were always the first sufferers +from popular uprisings as well as from war, they had disappeared, +leaving their former tenants as free peasants. From this period on, we +have enough data to observe a social "law ": as the capital was the +largest consumer, especially of high-priced products such as vegetables +which could not be transported over long distances, the gentry always +tried to control the land around the capital. Here, we find the highest +concentration of landlords and tenants. Production in this circle +shifted from rice and wheat to mulberry trees for silk, and vegetables +grown under the trees. These urban demands resulted in the growth of an +"industrial" quarter on the outskirts of the capital, in which +especially silk for the upper classes was produced. The next circle also +contained many landlords, but production was more in staple foods such +as wheat and rice which could be transported. Exploitation in this +second circle was not much less than in the first circle, because of +less close supervision by the authorities. In the third circle we find +independent subsistence farmers. Some provincial capitals, especially in +Szechwan, exhibited a similar pattern of circles. With the shift of the +capital, a complete reorganization appeared: landlords and officials +gave up their properties, cultivation changed, and a new system of +circles began to form around the new capital. We find, therefore, the +grotesque result that the thinly populated province of Shensi in the +north-west yielded about a quarter of the total revenues of the state: +it had no large landowners, no wealthy gentry, with their evasion of +taxation, only a mass of newly-settled small peasants' holdings. For +this reason the government was particularly interested in that province, +and closely watched the political changes in its neighbourhood. In 990 a +man belonging to a sinified Toba family, living on the border of Shensi, +had made himself king with the support of remnants of Toba tribes. In +1034 came severe fighting, and in 1038 the king proclaimed himself +emperor, in the Hsia dynasty, and threatened the whole of north-western +China. Tribute was now also paid to this state (250,000 strings), but +the fight against it continued, to save that important province. + +These were the main events in internal and external affairs during the +Sung period until 1068. It will be seen that foreign affairs were of +much less importance than developments in the country. + +3 _Reforms and Welfare schemes_ + +The situation just described was bound to produce a reaction. In spite +of the inflationary measures the revenue fell, partly in consequence of +the tax evasions of the great landowners. It fell from 150,000,000 in +1021 to 116,000,000 in 1065. Expenditure did not fall, and there was a +constant succession of budget deficits. The young emperor Shen Tsung +(1068-1085) became convinced that the policy followed by the ruling +clique of officials and gentry was bad, and he gave his adhesion to a +small group led by Wang An-shih (1021-1086). The ruling gentry clique +represented especially the interests of the large tea producers and +merchants in Szechwan and Kiangsi. It advocated a policy of +_laisser-faire_ in trade: it held that everything would adjust itself. +Wang An-shih himself came from Kiangsi and was therefore supported at +first by the government clique, within which the Kiangsi group was +trying to gain predominance over the Szechwan group. But Wang An-shih +came from a poor family, as did his supporters, for whom he quickly +secured posts. They represented the interests of the small landholders +and the small dealers. This group succeeded in gaining power, and in +carrying out a number of reforms, all directed against the monopolist +merchants. Credits for small peasants were introduced, and officials +were given bigger salaries, in order to make them independent and to +recruit officials who were not big landowners. The army was greatly +reduced, and in addition to the paid soldiery a national militia was +created. Special attention was paid to the province of Shensi, whose +conditions were taken more or less as a model. + +It seems that one consequence of Wang's reforms was a strong fall in the +prices, i.e. a deflation; therefore, as soon as the first decrees were +issued, the large plantation owners and the merchants who were allied to +them, offered furious opposition. A group of officials and landlords who +still had large properties in the vicinity of Loyang--at that time a +quiet cultural centre--also joined them. Even some of Wang An-shih's +former adherents came out against him. After a few years the emperor was +no longer able to retain Wang An-shih and had to abandon the new policy. +How really economic interests were here at issue may be seen from the +fact that for many of the new decrees which were not directly concerned +with economic affairs, such, for instance, as the reform of the +examination system, Wang An-shih was strongly attacked though his +opponents had themselves advocated them in the past and had no practical +objection to offer to them. The contest, however, between the two groups +was not over. The monopolistic landowners and their merchants had the +upper hand from 1086 to 1102, but then the advocates of the policy +represented by Wang again came into power for a short time. They had but +little success to show, as they did not remain in power long enough and, +owing to the strong opposition, they were never able to make their +control really effective. + +Basically, both groups were against allowing the developing middle class +and especially the merchants to gain too much freedom, and whatever +freedom they in fact gained, came through extra-legal or illegal +practices. A proverb of the time said "People hate their ruler as +animals hate the net (of the hunter)". The basic laws of medieval times +which had attempted to create stable social classes remained: down to +the nineteenth century there were slaves, different classes of serfs or +"commoners", and free burghers. Craftsmen remained under work +obligation. Merchants were second-class people. Each class had to wear +dresses of special colour and material, so that the social status of a +person, even if he was not an official and thus recognizable by his +insignia, was immediately clear when one saw him. The houses of +different classes differed from one another by the type of tiles, the +decorations of the doors and gates; the size of the main reception room +of the house was prescribed and was kept small for all non-officials; +and even size and form of the tombs was prescribed in detail for each +class. Once a person had a certain privilege, he and his descendants +even if they had lost their position in the bureaucracy, retained these +privileges over generations. All burghers were admitted to the +examinations and, thus, there was a certain social mobility allowed +within the leading class of the society, and a new "small gentry" +developed by this system. + +Yet, the wars of the transition period had created a feeling of +insecurity within the gentry. The eleventh and twelfth centuries were +periods of extensive social legislation in order to give the lower +classes some degree of security and thus prevent them from attempting to +upset the status quo. In addition to the "ever-normal granaries" of the +state, "social granaries" were revived, into which all farmers of a +village had to deliver grain for periods of need. In 1098 a bureau for +housing and care was created which created homes for the old and +destitute; 1102 a bureau for medical care sent state doctors to homes +and hospitals as well as to private homes to care for poor patients; +from 1104 a bureau of burials took charge of the costs of burials of +poor persons. Doctors as craftsmen were under corvée obligation and +could easily be ordered by the state. Often, however, Buddhist priests +took charge of medical care, burial costs and hospitalization. The state +gave them premiums if they did good work. The Ministry of Civil Affairs +made the surveys of cases and costs, while the Ministry of Finances paid +the costs. We hear of state orphanages in 1247, a free pharmacy in 1248, +state hospitals were reorganized in 1143. In 1167 the government gave +low-interest loans to poor persons and (from 1159 on) sold cheap grain +from state granaries. Fire protection services in large cities were +organized. Finally, from 1141 on, the government opened up to +twenty-three geisha houses for the entertainment of soldiers who were +far from home in the capital and had no possibility for other +amusements. Public baths had existed already some centuries ago; now +Buddhist temples opened public baths as social service. + +Social services for the officials were also extended. Already from the +eighth century on, offices were closed every tenth day and during +holidays, a total of almost eighty days per year. Even criminals got +some leave and exiles had the right of a home leave once every three +years. The pensions for retired officials after the age of seventy which +amounted to 50 per cent of the salary from the eighth century on, were +again raised, though widows did not receive benefits. + +4 _Cultural situation (philosophy, religion, literature, painting_) + +Culturally the eleventh century was the most active period China had so +far experienced, apart from the fourth century B.C. As a consequence of +the immensely increased number of educated people resulting from the +invention of printing, circles of scholars and private schools set up by +scholars were scattered all over the country. The various philosophical +schools differed in their political attitude and in the choice of +literary models with which they were politically in sympathy. Thus Wang +An-shih and his followers preferred the rigid classic style of Han Yü +(768-825) who lived in the T'ang period and had also been an opponent of +the monopolistic tendencies of pre-capitalism. For the Wang An-shih +group formed itself into a school with a philosophy of its own and with +its own commentaries on the classics. As the representative of the small +merchants and the small landholders, this school advocated policies of +state control and specialized in the study and annotation of classical +books which seemed to favour their ideas. + +But the Wang An-shih school was unable to hold its own against the +school that stood for monopolist trade capitalism, the new philosophy +described as Neo-Confucianism or the Sung school. Here Confucianism and +Buddhism were for the first time united. In the last centuries, +Buddhistic ideas had penetrated all of Chinese culture: the slaughtering +of animals and the executions of criminals were allowed only on certain +days, in accordance with Buddhist rules. Formerly, monks and nuns had to +greet the emperor as all citizens had to do; now they were exempt from +this rule. On the other hand, the first Sung emperor was willing to +throw himself to the earth in front of the Buddha statues, but he was +told he did not have to do it because he was the "Buddha of the present +time" and thus equal to the God. Buddhist priests participated in the +celebrations on the emperor's birthday, and emperors from time to time +gave free meals to large crowds of monks. Buddhist thought entered the +field of justice: in Sung time we hear complaints that judges did not +apply the laws and showed laxity, because they hoped to gain religious +merit by sparing the lives of criminals. We had seen how the main +current of Buddhism had changed from a revolutionary to a reactionary +doctrine. The new greater gentry of the eleventh century adopted a +number of elements of this reactionary Buddhism and incorporated them in +the Confucianist system. This brought into Confucianism a metaphysic +which it had lacked in the past, greatly extending its influence on the +people and at the same time taking the wind out of the sails of +Buddhism. The greater gentry never again placed themselves on the side +of the Buddhist Church as they had done in the T'ang period. When they +got tired of Confucianism, they interested themselves in Taoism of the +politically innocent, escapist, meditative Buddhism. + +Men like Chou Tun-i (1017-1073) and Chang Tsai (1020-1077) developed a +cosmological theory which could measure up with Buddhistic cosmology and +metaphysics. But perhaps more important was the attempt of the +Neo-Confucianists to explain the problem of evil. Confucius and his +followers had believed that every person could perfect himself by +overcoming the evil in him. As the good persons should be the _élite_ +and rule the others, theoretically everybody who was a member of human +society, could move up and become a leader. It was commonly assumed that +human nature is good or indifferent, and that human feelings are evil +and have to be tamed and educated. When in Han time with the +establishment of the gentry society and its social classes, the idea +that any person could move up to become a leader if he only perfected +himself, appeared to be too unrealistic, the theory of different grades +of men was formed which found its clearest formulation by Han Yü: some +people have a good, others a neutral, and still others a bad nature; +therefore, not everybody can become a leader. The Neo-Confucianists, +especially Ch'eng Hao (1032-1085) and Ch'eng I (1033-1107), tried to +find the reasons for this inequality. According to them, nature is +neutral; but physical form originates with the combination of nature +with Material Force (_ch'i_). This combination produces individuals in +which there is a lack of balance or harmony. Man should try to transform +physical form and recover original nature. The creative force by which +such a transformation is possible is _jen_, love, the creative, +life-giving quality of nature itself. + +It should be remarked that Neo-Confucianism accepts an inequality of +men, as early Confucianism did; and that _jen_, love, in its practical +application has to be channelled by _li_, the system of rules of +behaviour. The _li_, however, always started from the idea of a +stratified class society. Chu Hsi (1130-1200), the famous scholar and +systematizer of Neo-Confucian thoughts, brought out rules of behaviour +for those burghers who did not belong to the gentry and could not, +therefore, be expected to perform all _li_; his "simplified _li_" +exercised a great influence not only upon contemporary China, but also +upon Korea and Annam and there strengthened a hitherto looser +patriarchal, patrilinear family system. + +The Neo-Confucianists also compiled great analytical works of history +and encyclopaedias whose authority continued for many centuries. They +interpreted in these works all history in accordance with their outlook; +they issued new commentaries on all the classics in order to spread +interpretations that served their purposes. In the field of commentary +this school of thought was given perfect expression by Chu Hsi, who also +wrote one of the chief historical works. Chu Hsi's commentaries became +standard works for centuries, until the beginning of the twentieth +century. Yet, although Chu became the symbol of conservatism, he was +quite interested in science, and in this field he had an open eye for +changes. + +The Sung period is so important, because it is also the time of the +greatest development of Chinese science and technology. Many new +theories, but also many practical, new inventions were made. Medicine +made substantial progress. About 1145 the first autopsy was made, on the +body of a South Chinese captive. In the field of agriculture, new +varieties of rice were developed, new techniques applied, new plants +introduced. + +The Wang An-shih school of political philosophy had opponents also in +the field of literary style, the so-called Shu Group (Shu means the +present province of Szechwan), whose leaders were the famous Three Sus. +The greatest of the three was Su Tung-p'o (1036-1101); the others were +his father, Su Shih, and his brother, Su Che. It is characteristic of +these Shu poets, and also of the Kiangsi school associated with them, +that they made as much use as they could of the vernacular. It had not +been usual to introduce the phrases of everyday life into poetry, but Su +Tung-p'o made use of the most everyday expressions, without diminishing +his artistic effectiveness by so doing; on the contrary, the result was +to give his poems much more genuine feeling than those of other poets. +These poets were in harmony with the writings of the T'ang period poet +Po Chü-i (772-846) and were supported, like Neo-Confucianism, by +representatives of trade capitalism. Politically, in their conservatism +they were sharply opposed to the Wang An-shih group. Midway between the +two stood the so-called Loyang-School, whose greatest leaders were the +historian and poet Ss[)u]-ma Kuang (1019-1086) and the philosopher-poet +Shao Yung (1011-1077). + +In addition to its poems, the Sung literature was famous for the +so-called _pi-chi_ or miscellaneous notes. These consist of short notes +of the most various sort, notes on literature, art, politics, +archaeology, all mixed together. The _pi-chi_ are a treasure-house for +the history of the culture of the time; they contain many details, often +of importance, about China's neighbouring peoples. They were intended to +serve as suggestions for learned conversation when scholars came +together; they aimed at showing how wide was a scholar's knowledge. To +this group we must add the accounts of travel, of which some of great +value dating from the Sung period are still extant; they contain +information of the greatest importance about the early Mongols and also +about Turkestan and South China. + +While the Sung period was one of perfection in all fields of art, +painting undoubtedly gained its highest development in this time. We +find now two main streams in painting: some painters preferred the +decorative, pompous, but realistic approach, with great attention to the +detail. Later theoreticians brought this school in connection with one +school of meditative Buddhism, the so-called northern school. Men who +belonged to this school of painting often were active court officials or +painted for the court and for other representative purposes. One of the +most famous among them, Li Lung-mien (ca. 1040-1106), for instance +painted the different breeds of horses in the imperial stables. He was +also famous for his Buddhistic figures. Another school, later called the +southern school, regarded painting as an intimate, personal expression. +They tried to paint inner realities and not outer forms. They, too, were +educated, but they did not paint for anybody. They painted in their +country houses when they felt in the mood for expression. Their +paintings did not stress details, but tried to give the spirit of a +landscape, for in this field they excelled most. Best known of them is +Mi Fei (ca. 1051-1107), a painter as well as a calligrapher, art +collector, and art critic. Typically, his paintings were not much liked +by the emperor Hui Tsung (ruled 1101-1125) who was one of the greatest +art collectors and whose catalogue of his collection became very famous. +He created the Painting Academy, an institution which mainly gave +official recognition to painters in form of titles which gave the +painter access to and status at court. Ma Yüan (_c_. 1190-1224), member +of a whole painter's family, and Hsia Kui (_c_. 1180-1230) continued the +more "impressionistic" tradition. Already in Sung time, however, many +painters could and did paint in different styles, "copying", i.e. +painting in the way of T'ang painters, in order to express their +changing emotions by changed styles, a fact which often makes the dating +of Chinese paintings very difficult. + +Finally, art craft has left us famous porcelains of the Sung period. The +most characteristic production of that time is the green porcelain known +as "Celadon". It consists usually of a rather solid paste, less like +porcelain than stoneware, covered with a green glaze; decoration is +incised, not painted, under the glaze. In the Sung period, however, came +the first pure white porcelain with incised ornamentation under the +glaze, and also with painting on the glaze. Not until near the end of +the Sung period did the blue and white porcelain begin (blue painting on +a white ground). The cobalt needed for this came from Asia Minor. In +exchange for the cobalt, Chinese porcelain went to Asia Minor. This +trade did not, however, grow greatly until the Mongol epoch; later +really substantial orders were placed in China, the Chinese executing +the patterns wanted in the West. + +5 _Military collapse_ + +In foreign affairs the whole eleventh century was a period of diplomatic +manoeuvring, with every possible effort to avoid war. There was +long-continued fighting with the Kitan, and at times also with the +Turco-Tibetan Hsia, but diplomacy carried the day: tribute was paid to +both enemies, and the effort was made to stir up the Kitan against the +Hsia and vice versa; the other parties also intrigued in like fashion. +In 1110 the situation seemed to improve for the Sung in this game, as a +new enemy appeared in the rear of the Liao (Kitan), the Tungusic Juchên +(Jurchen), who in the past had been more or less subject to the Kitan. +In 1114 the Juchên made themselves independent and became a political +factor. The Kitan were crippled, and it became an easy matter to attack +them. But this pleasant situation did not last long. The Juchên +conquered Peking, and in 1125 the Kitan empire was destroyed; but in the +same year the Juchên marched against the Sung. In 1126 they captured +the Sung capital; the emperor and his art-loving father, who had retired +a little earlier, were taken prisoner, and the Northern Sung dynasty was +at an end. + +The collapse came so quickly because the whole edifice of security +between the Kitan and the Sung was based on a policy of balance and of +diplomacy. Neither state was armed in any way, and so both collapsed at +the first assault from a military power. + + +(2) The Liao (Kitan) dynasty in the north (937-1125) + +1 _Social structure. Claim to the Chinese imperial throne_ + +The Kitan, a league of tribes under the leadership of an apparently +Mongol tribe, had grown steadily stronger in north-eastern Mongolia +during the T'ang epoch. They had gained the allegiance of many tribes in +the west and also in Korea and Manchuria, and in the end, about A.D. +900, had become the dominant power in the north. The process of growth +of this nomad power was the same as that of other nomad states, such as +the Toba state, and therefore need not be described again in any detail +here. When the T'ang dynasty was deposed, the Kitan were among the +claimants to the Chinese throne, feeling fully justified in their claim +as the strongest power in the Far East. Owing to the strength of the +Sha-t'o Turks, who themselves claimed leadership in China, the expansion +of the Kitan empire slowed down. In the many battles the Kitan suffered +several setbacks. They also had enemies in the rear, a state named +Po-hai, ruled by Tunguses, in northern Korea, and the new Korean state +of Kao-li, which liberated itself from Chinese overlordship in 919. + +In 927 the Kitan finally destroyed Po-hai. This brought many Tungus +tribes, including the Jurchen (Juchên), under Kitan dominance. Then, in +936, the Kitan gained the allegiance of the Turkish general Shih +Ching-t'ang, and he was set on the Chinese throne as a feudatory of the +Kitan. It was hoped now to secure dominance over China, and accordingly +the Mongol name of the dynasty was altered to "Liao dynasty" in 937, +indicating the claim to the Chinese throne. Considerable regions of +North China came at once under the direct rule of the Liao. As a whole, +however, the plan failed: the feudatory Shih Ching-t'ang tried to make +himself independent; Chinese fought the Liao; and the Chinese sceptre +soon came back into the hands of a Sha-t'o dynasty (947). This ended the +plans of the Liao to conquer the whole of China. + +For this there were several reasons. A nomad people was again ruling +the agrarian regions of North China. This time the representatives of +the ruling class remained military commanders, and at the same time +retained their herds of horses. As early as 1100 they had well over +10,000 herds, each of more than a thousand animals. The army commanders +had been awarded large regions which they themselves had conquered. They +collected the taxes in these regions, and passed on to the state only +the yield of the wine tax. On the other hand, in order to feed the +armies, in which there were now many Chinese soldiers, the frontier +regions were settled, the soldiers working as peasants in times of +peace, and peasants being required to contribute to the support of the +army. Both processes increased the interest of the Kitan ruling class in +the maintenance of peace. That class was growing rich, and preferred +living on the income from its properties or settlements to going to war, +which had become a more and more serious matter after the founding of +the great Sung empire, and was bound to be less remunerative. The herds +of horses were a further excellent source of income, for they could be +sold to the Sung, who had no horses. Then, from 1004 onward, came the +tribute payments from China, strengthening the interest in the +maintenance of peace. Thus great wealth accumulated in Peking, the +capital of the Liao; in this wealth the whole Kitan ruling class +participated, but the tribes in the north, owing to their remoteness, +had no share in it. In 988 the Chinese began negotiations, as a move in +their diplomacy, with the ruler of the later realm of the Hsia; in 990 +the Kitan also negotiated with him, and they soon became a third partner +in the diplomatic game. Delegations were continually going from one to +another of the three realms, and they were joined by trade missions. +Agreement was soon reached on frontier questions, on armament, on +questions of demobilization, on the demilitarization of particular +regions, and so on, for the last thing anyone wanted was to fight. + +Then came the rising of the tribes of the north. They had remained +military tribes; of all the wealth nothing reached them, and they were +given no military employment, so that they had no hope of improving +their position. The leadership was assumed by the tribe of the Juchên +(1114). In a campaign of unprecedented rapidity they captured Peking, +and the Liao dynasty was ended (1125), a year earlier, as we know, than +the end of the Sung. + +2 _The State of the Kara-Kitai_ + +A small troop of Liao, under the command of a member of the ruling +family, fled into the west. They were pursued without cessation, but +they succeeded in fighting their way through. After a few years of +nomad life in the mountains of northern Turkestan, they were able to +gain the collaboration of a few more tribes, and with them they then +invaded western Turkestan. There they founded the "Western Liao" state, +or, as the western sources call it, the "Kara-Kitai" state, with its +capital at Balasagun. This state must not be regarded as a purely Kitan +state. The Kitan formed only a very thin stratum, and the real power was +in the hands of autochthonous Turkish tribes, to whom the Kitan soon +became entirely assimilated in culture. Thus the history of this state +belongs to that of western Asia, especially as the relations of the +Kara-Kitai with the Far East were entirely broken off. In 1211 the state +was finally destroyed. + + +(3) The Hsi-Hsia State in the north (1038-1227) + +1 _Continuation of Turkish traditions_ + +After the end of the Toba state in North China in 550, some tribes of +the Toba, including members of the ruling tribe with the tribal name +Toba, withdrew to the borderland between Tibet and China, where they +ruled over Tibetan and Tangut tribes. At the beginning of the T'ang +dynasty this tribe of Toba joined the T'ang. The tribal leader received +in return, as a distinction, the family name of the T'ang dynasty, Li. +His dependence on China was, however, only nominal and soon came +entirely to an end. In the tenth century the tribe gained in strength. +It is typical of the long continuance of old tribal traditions that a +leader of the tribe in the tenth century married a woman belonging to +the family to which the khans of the Hsiung-nu and all Turkish ruling +houses had belonged since 200 B.C. With the rise of the Kitan in the +north and of the Tibetan state in the south, the tribe decided to seek +the friendship of China. Its first mission, in 982, was well received. +Presents were sent to the chieftain of the tribe, he was helped against +his enemies, and he was given the status of a feudatory of the Sung; in +988 the family name of the Sung, Chao, was conferred on him. Then the +Kitan took a hand. They over-trumped the Sung by proclaiming the tribal +chieftain king of Hsia (990). Now the small state became interesting. It +was pampered by Liao and Sung in the effort to win it over or to keep +its friendship. The state grew; in 1031 its ruler resumed the old family +name of the Toba, thus proclaiming his intention to continue the Toba +empire; in 1034 he definitely parted from the Sung, and in 1038 he +proclaimed himself emperor in the Hsia dynasty, or, as the Chinese +generally called it, the "Hsi-Hsia", which means the Western Hsia. This +name, too, had associations with the old Hun tradition; it recalled the +state of Ho-lien P'o-p'o in the early fifth century. The state soon +covered the present province of Kansu, small parts of the adjoining +Tibetan territory, and parts of the Ordos region. It attacked the +province of Shensi, but the Chinese and the Liao attached the greatest +importance to that territory. Thus that was the scene of most of the +fighting. + +[Illustration: 12 Ancient tiled pagoda at Chengting (Hopei). _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +[Illustration: 13 Horse-training. Painting by Li Lung-mien. Late Sung +period. _Manchu Royal House Collection_.] The Hsia state had a ruling +group of Toba, but these Toba had become entirely tibetanized. The +language of the country was Tibetan; the customs were those of the +Tanguts. A script was devised, in imitation of the Chinese script. Only +in recent years has it begun to be studied. + +In 1125, when the Tungusic Juchên destroyed the Liao, the Hsia also lost +large territories in the east of their country, especially the province +of Shensi, which they had conquered; but they were still able to hold +their own. Their political importance to China, however, vanished, since +they were now divided from southern China and as partners were no longer +of the same value to it. Not until the Mongols became a power did the +Hsia recover some of their importance; but they were among the first +victims of the Mongols: in 1209 they had to submit to them, and in 1227, +the year of the death of Genghiz Khan, they were annihilated. + + +(4) The empire of the Southern Sung dynasty (1127-1279) + +1 _Foundation_ + +In the disaster of 1126, when the Juchên captured the Sung capital and +destroyed the Sung empire, a brother of the captive emperor escaped. He +made himself emperor in Nanking and founded the "Southern Sung" dynasty, +whose capital was soon shifted to the present Hangchow. The foundation +of the new dynasty was a relatively easy matter, and the new state was +much more solid than the southern kingdoms of 800 years earlier, for the +south had already been economically supreme, and the great families that +had ruled the state were virtually all from the south. The loss of the +north, i.e. the area north of the Yellow River and of parts of Kiangsu, +was of no importance to this governing group and meant no loss of +estates to it. Thus the transition from the Northern to the Southern +Sung was not of fundamental importance. Consequently the Juchên had no +chance of success when they arranged for Liu Yü, who came of a northern +Chinese family of small peasants and had become an official, to be +proclaimed emperor in the "Ch'i" dynasty in 1130. They hoped that this +puppet might attract the southern Chinese, but seven years later they +dropped him. + +2 _Internal situation_ + +As the social structure of the Southern Sung empire had not been +changed, the country was not affected by the dynastic development. Only +the policy of diplomacy could not be pursued at once, as the Juchên were +bellicose at first and would not negotiate. There were therefore several +battles at the outset (in 1131 and 1134), in which the Chinese were +actually the more successful, but not decisively. The Sung military +group was faced as early as in 1131 with furious opposition from the +greater gentry, led by Ch'in K'ui, one of the largest landowners of all. +His estates were around Nanking, and so in the deployment region and the +region from which most of the soldiers had to be drawn for the defensive +struggle. Ch'in K'ui secured the assassination of the leader of the +military party, General Yo Fei, in 1141, and was able to conclude peace +with the Juchên. The Sung had to accept the status of vassals and to pay +annual tribute to the Juchên. This was the situation that best pleased +the greater gentry. They paid hardly any taxes (in many districts the +greater gentry directly owned more than 30 per cent of the land, in +addition to which they had indirect interests in the soil), and they +were now free from the war peril that ate into their revenues. The +tribute amounted only to 500,000 strings of cash. Popular literature, +however, to this day represents Ch'in K'ui as a traitor and Yo Fei as a +national hero. + +In 1165 it was agreed between the Sung and the Juchên to regard each +other as states with equal rights. It is interesting to note here that +in the treaties during the Han time with the Hsiung-nu, the two +countries called one another brothers--with the Chinese ruler as the +older and thus privileged brother; but the treaties since the T'ang time +with northern powers and with Tibetans used the terms father-in-law and +son-in-law. The foreign power was the "father-in-law", i.e. the older +and, therefore, in a certain way the more privileged; the Chinese were +the "son-in-law", the representative of the paternal lineage and, +therefore, in another respect also the more privileged! In spite of such +agreements with the Juchên, fighting continued, but it was mainly of the +character of frontier engagements. Not until 1204 did the military +party, led by Han T'o-wei, regain power; it resolved upon an active +policy against the north. In preparation for this a military reform was +carried out. The campaign proved a disastrous failure, as a result of +which large territories in the north were lost. The Sung sued for +peace; Han T'o-wei's head was cut off and sent to the Juchên. In this +way peace was restored in 1208. The old treaty relationship was now +resumed, but the relations between the two states remained tense. +Meanwhile the Sung observed with malicious pleasure how the Mongols were +growing steadily stronger, first destroying the Hsia state and then +aiming the first heavy blows against the Juchên. In the end the Sung +entered into alliance with the Mongols (1233) and joined them in +attacking the Juchên, thus hastening the end of the Juchên state. + +The Sung now faced the Mongols, and were defenceless against them. All +the buffer states had gone. The Sung were quite without adequate +military defence. They hoped to stave off the Mongols in the same way as +they had met the Kitan and the Juchên. This time, however, they +misjudged the situation. In the great operations begun by the Mongols in +1273 the Sung were defeated over and over again. In 1276 their capital +was taken by the Mongols and the emperor was made prisoner. For three +years longer there was a Sung emperor, in flight from the Mongols, until +the last emperor perished near Macao in South China. + +3 _Cultural situation; reasons for the collapse_ + +The Southern Sung period was again one of flourishing culture. The +imperial court was entirely in the power of the greater gentry; several +times the emperors, who personally do not deserve individual mention, +were compelled to abdicate. They then lived on with a court of their +own, devoting themselves to pleasure in much the same way as the +"reigning" emperor. Round them was a countless swarm of poets and +artists. Never was there a time so rich in poets, though hardly one of +them was in any way outstanding. The poets, unlike those of earlier +times, belonged to the lesser gentry who were suffering from the +prevailing inflation. Salaries bore no relation to prices. Food was not +dear, but the things which a man of the upper class ought to have were +far out of reach: a big house cost 2,000 strings of cash, a concubine +800 strings. Thus the lesser gentry and the intelligentsia all lived on +their patrons among the greater gentry--with the result that they were +entirely shut out of politics. This explains why the literature of the +time is so unpolitical, and also why scarcely any philosophical works +appeared. The writers took refuge more and more in romanticism and +flight from realities. + +The greater gentry, on the other hand, led a very elegant life, building +themselves magnificent palaces in the capital. They also speculated in +every direction. They speculated in land, in money, and above all in +the paper money that was coming more and more into use. In 1166 the +paper circulation exceeded the value of 10,000,000 strings! + +It seems that after 1127 a good number of farmers had left Honan and the +Yellow River plains when the Juchên conquered these places and showed +little interest in fostering agriculture; more left the border areas of +Southern Sung because of permanent war threat. Many of these lived +miserably as tenants on the farms of the gentry between Nanking and +Hangchow. Others migrated farther to the south, across Kiangsi into +southern Fukien. These migrants seem to have been the ancestors of the +Hakka which in the following centuries continued their migration towards +the south and who from the nineteenth century on were most strongly +concentrated in Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces as free farmers on hill +slopes or as tenants of local landowners in the plains. + +The influx of migrants and the increase of tenants and their poverty +seriously threatened the state and cut down its defensive strength more +and more. + +At this stage, Chia Ssu-tao drafted a reform law. Chia had come to the +court through his sister becoming the emperor's concubine, but he +himself belonged to the lesser gentry. His proposal was that state funds +should be applied to the purchase of land in the possession of the +greater gentry over and above a fixed maximum. Peasants were to be +settled on this land, and its yield was to belong to the state, which +would be able to use it to meet military expenditure. In this way the +country's military strength was to be restored. Chia's influence lasted +just ten years, until 1275. He began putting the law into effect in the +region south of Nanking, where the principal estates of the greater +gentry were then situated. He brought upon himself, of course, the +mortal hatred of the greater gentry, and paid for his action with his +life. The emperor, in entering upon this policy, no doubt had hoped to +recover some of his power, but the greater gentry brought him down. The +gentry now openly played into the hands of the approaching Mongols, so +hastening the final collapse of the Sung. The peasants and the lesser +gentry would have fought the Mongols if it had been possible; but the +greater gentry enthusiastically went over to the Mongols, hoping to save +their property and so their influence by quickly joining the enemy. On a +long view they had not judged badly. The Mongols removed the members of +the gentry from all political posts, but left them their estates; and +before long the greater gentry reappeared in political life. And when, +later, the Mongol empire in China was brought down by a popular rising, +the greater gentry showed themselves to be the most faithful allies of +the Mongols! + + +(5) The empire of the Juchên in the north (1115-1234) + +1 _Rapid expansion from northern Korea to the Yangtze_ + +The Juchên in the past had been only a small league of Tungus tribes, +whose name is preserved in that of the present Tungus tribe of the +Jurchen, which came under the domination of the Kitan after the collapse +of the state of Po-hai in northern Korea. We have already briefly +mentioned the reasons for their rise. After their first successes +against the Kitan (1114), their chieftain at once proclaimed himself +emperor (1115), giving his dynasty the name "Chin" (The Golden). The +Chin quickly continued their victorious progress. In 1125 the Kitan +empire was destroyed. It will be remembered that the Sung were at once +attacked, although they had recently been allied with the Chin against +the Kitan. In 1126 the Sung capital was taken. The Chin invasions were +pushed farther south, and in 1130 the Yangtze was crossed. But the Chin +did not hold the whole of these conquests. Their empire was not yet +consolidated. Their partial withdrawal closed the first phase of the +Chin empire. + +2 _United front of all Chinese_ + +But a few years after this maximum expansion, a withdrawal began which +went on much more quickly than usual in such cases. The reasons were to +be found both in external and in internal politics. The Juchên had +gained great agrarian regions in a rapid march of conquest. Once more +great cities with a huge urban population and immense wealth had fallen +to alien conquerors. Now the Juchên wanted to enjoy this wealth as the +Kitan had done before them. All the Juchên people counted as citizens of +the highest class; they were free from taxation and only liable to +military service. They were entitled to take possession of as much +cultivable land as they wanted; this they did, and they took not only +the "state domains" actually granted to them but also peasant +properties, so that Chinese free peasants had nothing left but the worst +fields, unless they became tenants on Juchên estates. A united front was +therefore formed between all Chinese, both peasants and landowning +gentry, against the Chin, such as it had not been possible to form +against the Kitan. This made an important contribution later to the +rapid collapse of the Chin empire. + +The Chin who had thus come into possession of the cultivable land and +at the same time of the wealth of the towns, began a sort of competition +with each other for the best winnings, especially after the government +had returned to the old Sung capital, Pien-liang (now K'ai-feng, in +eastern Honan). Serious crises developed in their own ranks. In 1149 the +ruler was assassinated by his chancellor (a member of the imperial +family), who in turn was murdered in 1161. The Chin thus failed to +attain what had been secured by all earlier conquerors, a reconciliation +of the various elements of the population and the collaboration of at +least one group of the defeated Chinese. + +3 _Start of the Mongol empire_ + +The cessation of fighting against the Sung brought no real advantage in +external affairs, though the tribute payments appealed to the greed of +the rulers and were therefore welcomed. There could be no question of +further campaigns against the south, for the Hsia empire in the west had +not been destroyed, though some of its territory had been annexed; and a +new peril soon made its appearance in the rear of the Chin. When in the +tenth century the Sha-t'o Turks had to withdraw from their dominating +position in China, because of their great loss of numbers and +consequently of strength, they went back into Mongolia and there united +with the Ta-tan (Tatars), among whom a new small league of tribes had +formed towards the end of the eleventh century, consisting mainly of +Mongols and Turks. In 1139 one of the chieftains of the Juchên rebelled +and entered into negotiations with the South Chinese. He was killed, but +his sons and his whole tribe then rebelled and went into Mongolia, where +they made common cause with the Mongols. The Chin pursued them, and +fought against them and against the Mongols, but without success. +Accordingly negotiations were begun, and a promise was given to deliver +meat and grain every year and to cede twenty-seven military strongholds. +A high title was conferred on the tribal leader of the Mongols, in the +hope of gaining his favour. He declined it, however, and in 1147 assumed +the title of emperor of the "greater Mongol empire". This was the +beginning of the power of the Mongols, who remained thereafter a +dangerous enemy of the Chin in the north, until in 1189 Genghiz Khan +became their leader and made the Mongols the greatest power of central +Asia. In any case, the Chin had reason to fear the Mongols from 1147 +onward, and therefore were the more inclined to leave the Sung in peace. + +In 1210 the Mongols began the first great assault against the Chin, the +moment they had conquered the Hsia. In the years 1215-17 the Mongols +took the military key-positions from the Chin. After that there could be +no serious defence of the Chin empire. There came a respite only because +the Mongols had turned against the West. But in 1234 the empire finally +fell to the Mongols. + +Many of the Chin entered the service of the Mongols, and with their +permission returned to Manchuria; there they fell back to the cultural +level of a warlike nomad people. Not until the sixteenth century did +these Tunguses recover, reorganize, and appear again in history this +time under the name of Manchus. + +The North Chinese under Chin rule did not regard the Mongols as enemies +of their country, but were ready at once to collaborate with them. The +Mongols were even more friendly to them than to the South Chinese, and +treated them rather better. + + + +Chapter Ten + + +THE PERIOD OF ABSOLUTISM + +(A) The Mongol Epoch (1280-1368) + +1 _Beginning of new foreign rules_ + +During more than half of the third period of "Modern Times" which now +began, China was under alien rule. Of the 631 years from 1280 to 1911, +China was under national rulers for 276 years and under alien rule for +355. The alien rulers were first the Mongols, and later the Tungus +Manchus. It is interesting to note that the alien rulers in the earlier +period came mainly from the north-west, and only in modern times did +peoples from the north-east rule over China. This was due in part to the +fact that only peoples who had attained a certain level of civilization +were capable of dominance. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, eastern +Mongolia and Manchuria were at a relatively low level of civilization, +from which they emerged only gradually through permanent contact with +other nomad peoples, especially Turks. We are dealing here, of course, +only with the Mongol epoch in China and not with the great Mongol +empire, so that we need not enter further into these questions. + +Yet another point is characteristic: the Mongols were the first alien +people to rule the whole of China; the Manchus, who appeared in the +seventeenth century, were the second and last. All alien peoples before +these two ruled only parts of China. Why was it that the Mongols were +able to be so much more successful than their predecessors? In the first +place the Mongol political league was numerically stronger than those of +the earlier alien peoples; secondly, the military organization and +technical equipment of the Mongols were exceptionally advanced for their +day. It must be borne in mind, for instance, that during their many +years of war against the Sung dynasty in South China the Mongols already +made use of small cannon in laying siege to towns. We have no exact +knowledge of the number of Mongols who invaded and occupied China, but +it is estimated that there were more than a million Mongols living in +China. Not all of them, of course, were really Mongols! The name covered +Turks, Tunguses, and others; among the auxiliaries of the Mongols were +Uighurs, men from Central Asia and the Middle East, and even Europeans. +When the Mongols attacked China they had the advantage of all the arts +and crafts and all the new technical advances of western and central +Asia and of Europe. Thus they had attained a high degree of technical +progress, and at the same time their number was very great. + +2 "_Nationality legislation_" + +It was only after the Hsia empire in North China, and then the empire of +the Juchên, had been destroyed by the Mongols, and only after long and +remarkably modern tactical preparation, that the Mongols conquered South +China, the empire of the Sung dynasty. They were now faced with the +problem of ruling their great new empire. The conqueror of that empire, +Kublai, himself recognized that China could not be treated in quite the +same way as the Mongols' previous conquests; he therefore separated the +empire in China from the rest of the Mongol empire. Mongol China became +an independent realm within the Mongol empire, a sort of Dominion. The +Mongol rulers were well aware that in spite of their numerical strength +they were still only a minority in China, and this implied certain +dangers. They therefore elaborated a "nationality legislation", the +first of its kind in the Far East. The purpose of this legislation was, +of course, to be the protection of the Mongols. The population of +conquered China was divided into four groups--(1) Mongols, themselves +falling into four sub-groups (the oldest Mongol tribes, the White +Tatars, the Black Tatars, the Wild Tatars); (2) Central Asian +auxiliaries (Naimans, Uighurs, and various other Turkish people, +Tanguts, and so on); (3) North Chinese; (4) South Chinese. The Mongols +formed the privileged ruling class. They remained militarily organized, +and were distributed in garrisons over all the big towns of China as +soldiers, maintained by the state. All the higher government posts were +reserved for them, so that they also formed the heads of the official +staffs. The auxiliary peoples were also admitted into the government +service; they, too, had privileges, but were not all soldiers but in +many cases merchants, who used their privileged position to promote +business. Not a few of these merchants were Uighurs and Mohammedans; +many Uighurs were also employed as clerks, as the Mongols were very +often unable to read and write Chinese, and the government offices were +bilingual, working in Mongolian and Chinese. The clever Uighurs quickly +learned enough of both languages for official purposes, and made +themselves indispensable assistants to the Mongols. Persian, the main +language of administration in the western parts of the Mongol empire +besides Uighuric, also was a _lingua franca_ among the new rulers of +China. + +In the Mongol legislation the South Chinese had the lowest status, and +virtually no rights. Intermarriage with them was prohibited. The Chinese +were not allowed to carry arms. For a time they were forbidden even to +learn the Mongol or other foreign languages. In this way they were to be +prevented from gaining official positions and playing any political +part. Their ignorance of the languages of northern, central, and western +Asia also prevented them from engaging in commerce like the foreign +merchants, and every possible difficulty was put in the way of their +travelling for commercial purposes. On the other hand, foreigners were, +of course, able to learn Chinese, and so to gain a footing in Chinese +internal trade. + +Through legislation of this type the Mongols tried to build up and to +safeguard their domination over China. Yet their success did not last a +hundred years. + +3 _Military position_ + +In foreign affairs the Mongol epoch was for China something of a +breathing space, for the great wars of the Mongols took place at a +remote distance from China and without any Chinese participation. Only a +few concluding wars were fought under Kublai in the Far East. The first +was his war against Japan (1281): it ended in complete failure, the +fleet being destroyed by a storm. In this campaign the Chinese furnished +ships and also soldiers. The subjection of Japan would have been in the +interest of the Chinese, as it would have opened a market which had been +almost closed against them in the Sung period. Mongol wars followed in +the south. In 1282 began the war against Burma; in 1284 Annam and +Cambodia were conquered; in 1292 a campaign was started against Java. It +proved impossible to hold Java, but almost the whole of Indo-China came +under Mongol rule, to the satisfaction of the Chinese, for Indo-China +had already been one of the principal export markets in the Sung period. +After that, however, there was virtually no more warfare, apart from +small campaigns against rebellious tribes. The Mongol soldiers now lived +on their pay in their garrisons, with nothing to do. The old campaigners +died and were followed by their sons, brought up also as soldiers; but +these young Mongols were born in China, had seen nothing of war, and +learned of the soldiers' trade either nothing or very little; so that +after about 1320 serious things happened. An army nominally 1,000 strong +was sent against a group of barely fifty bandits and failed to defeat +them. Most of the 1,000 soldiers no longer knew how to use their +weapons, and many did not even join the force. Such incidents occurred +again and again. + +4 _Social situation_ + +The results, however, of conditions within the country were of much more +importance than events abroad. The Mongols made Peking their capital as +was entirely natural, for Peking was near their homeland Mongolia. The +emperor and his entourage could return to Mongolia in the summer, when +China became too hot or too humid for them; and from Peking they were +able to maintain contact with the rest of the Mongol empire. But as the +city had become the capital of a vast empire, an enormous staff of +officials had to be housed there, consisting of persons of many +different nationalities. The emperor naturally wanted to have a +magnificent capital, a city really worthy of so vast an empire. As the +many wars had brought in vast booty, there was money for the building of +great palaces, of a size and magnificence never before seen in China. +They were built by Chinese forced labour, and to this end men had to be +brought from all over the empire--poor peasants, whose fields went out +of cultivation while they were held in bondage far away. If they ever +returned home, they were destitute and had lost their land. The rich +gentry, on the other hand, were able to buy immunity from forced labour. +The immense increase in the population of Peking (the huge court with +its enormous expenditure, the mass of officials, the great merchant +community, largely foreigners, and the many servile labourers), +necessitated vast supplies of food. Now, as mentioned in earlier +chapters, since the time of the Later T'ang the region round Nanking had +become the main centre of production in China, and the Chinese +population had gone over more and more to the consumption of rice +instead of pulse or wheat. As rice could not be grown in the north, +practically the whole of the food supplies for the capital had to be +brought from the south. The transport system taken over by the Mongols +had not been created for long-distance traffic of this sort. The capital +of the Sung had lain in the main centre of production. Consequently, a +great fleet had suddenly to be built, canals and rivers had to be +regulated, and some new canals excavated. This again called for a vast +quantity of forced labour, often brought from afar to the points at +which it was needed. The Chinese peasants had suffered in the Sung +period. They had been exploited by the large landowners. The Mongols had +not removed these landowners, as the Chinese gentry had gone over to +their side. The Mongols had deprived them of their political power, but +had left them their estates, the basis of their power. In past changes +of dynasty the gentry had either maintained their position or been +replaced by a new gentry: the total number of their class had remained +virtually unchanged. Now, however, in addition to the original gentry +there were about a million Mongols, for whose maintenance the peasants +had also to provide, and their standard of maintenance was high. This +was an enormous increase in the burdens of the peasantry. + +Two other elements further pressed on the peasants in the Mongol +epoch--organized religion and the traders. The upper classes among the +Chinese had in general little interest in religion, but the Mongols, +owing to their historical development, were very religious. Some of them +and some of their allies were Buddhists, some were still shamanists. The +Chinese Buddhists and the representatives of popular Taoism approached +the Mongols and the foreign Buddhist monks trying to enlist the interest +of the Mongols and their allies. The old shamanism was unable to compete +with the higher religions, and the Mongols in China became Buddhist or +interested themselves in popular Taoism. They showed their interest +especially by the endowment of temples and monasteries. The temples were +given great estates, and the peasants on those estates became temple +servants. The land belonging to the temples was free from taxation. + +We have as yet no exact statistics of the Mongol epoch, only +approximations. These set the total area under cultivation at some six +million _ch'ing_ (a _ch'ing_ is the ideal size of the farm worked by a +peasant family, but it was rarely held in practice); the population +amounted to fourteen or fifteen million families. Of this total tillage +some 170,000 _ch'ing_ were allotted to the temples; that is to say, the +farms for some 400,000 peasant families were taken from the peasants and +no longer paid taxes to the state. The peasants, however, had to make +payments to the temples. Some 200,000 _ch'ing_ with some 450,000 peasant +families were turned into military settlements; that is to say, these +peasants had to work for the needs of the army. Their taxes went not to +the state but to the army. Moreover, in the event of war they had to +render service to the army. In addition to this, all higher officials +received official properties, the yield of which represented part +payment of their salaries. Then, Mongol nobles and dignitaries received +considerable grants of land, which was taken away from the free +peasants; the peasants had then to work their farms as tenants and to +pay dues to their landlords, no longer to the state. Finally, especially +in North China, many peasants were entirely dispossessed, and their land +was turned into pasturage for the Mongols' horses; the peasants +themselves were put to forced labour. On top of this came the +exploitation of the peasants by the great landowners of the past. All +this meant an enormous diminution in the number of free peasants and +thus of taxpayers. As the state was involved in more expenditure than in +the past owing to the large number of Mongols who were its virtual +pensioners, the taxes had to be continually increased. Meanwhile the +many peasants working as tenants of the great landlords, the temples, +and the Mongol nobles were entirely at their mercy. In this period, a +second migration of farmers into the southern provinces, mainly Fukien +and Kwangtung, took place; it had its main source in the lower Yangtze +valley. A few gentry families whose relatives had accompanied the Sung +emperor on their flight to the south, also settled with their followers +in the Canton basin. + +The many merchants from abroad, especially those belonging to the +peoples allied to the Mongols, also had in every respect a privileged +position in China. They were free of taxation, free to travel all over +the country, and received privileged treatment in the use of means of +transport. They were thus able to accumulate great wealth, most of which +went out of China to their own country. This produced a general +impoverishment of China. Chinese merchants fell more and more into +dependence on the foreign merchants; the only field of action really +remaining to them was the local trade within China and the trade with +Indo-China, where the Chinese had the advantage of knowing the language. + +The impoverishment of China began with the flow abroad of her metallic +currency. To make up for this loss, the government was compelled to +issue great quantities of paper money, which very quickly depreciated, +because after a few years the government would no longer accept the +money at its face value, so that the population could place no faith in +it. The depreciation further impoverished the people. + +Thus we have in the Mongol epoch in China the imposing picture of a +commerce made possible with every country from Europe to the Pacific; +this, however, led to the impoverishment of China. We also see the +rising of mighty temples and monumental buildings, but this again only +contributed to the denudation of the country. The Mongol epoch was thus +one of continual and rapid impoverishment in China, simultaneously with +a great display of magnificence. The enthusiastic descriptions of the +Mongol empire in China offered by travellers from the Near East or from +Europe, such as Marco Polo, give an entirely false picture: as +foreigners they had a privileged position, living in the cities and +seeing nothing of the situation of the general population. + +5 _Popular risings: National rising_ + +It took time for the effects of all these factors to become evident. The +first popular rising came in 1325. Statistics of 1329 show that there +were then some 7,600,000 persons in the empire who were starving; as +this was only the figure of the officially admitted sufferers, the +figure may have been higher. In any case, seven-and-a-half millions were +a substantial percentage of the total population, estimated at +45,000,000. The risings that now came incessantly were led by men of the +lower orders--a cloth-seller, a fisherman, a peasant, a salt smuggler, +the son of a soldier serving a sentence, an office messenger, and so on. +They never attacked the Mongols as aliens, but always the rich in +general, whether Chinese or foreign. Wherever they came, they killed all +the rich and distributed their money and possessions. + +As already mentioned, the Mongol garrisons were unable to cope with +these risings. But how was it that the Mongol rule did not collapse +until some forty years later? The Mongols parried the risings by raising +loans from the rich and using the money to recruit volunteers to fight +the rebels. The state revenues would not have sufficed for these +payments, and the item was not one that could be included in the +military budget. What was of much more importance was that the gentry +themselves recruited volunteers and fought the rebels on their own +account, without the authority or the support of the government. Thus it +was the Chinese gentry, in their fear of being killed by the insurgents, +who fought them and so bolstered up the Mongol rule. + +In 1351 the dykes along the Yellow River burst. The dykes had to be +reconstructed and further measures of conservancy undertaken. To this +end the government impressed 170,000 men. Following this action, great +new revolts broke out. Everywhere in Honan, Kiangsu, and Shantung, the +regions from which the labourers were summoned, revolutionary groups +were formed, some of them amounting to 100,000 men. Some groups had a +religious tinge; others declared their intention to restore the emperors +of the Sung dynasty. Before long great parts of central China were +wrested from the hands of the government. The government recognized the +menace to its existence, but resorted to contradictory measures. In 1352 +southern Chinese were permitted to take over certain official positions. +In this way it was hoped to gain the full support of the gentry, who had +a certain interest in combating the rebel movements. On the other hand, +the government tightened up its nationality laws. All the old +segregation laws were brought back into force, with the result that in a +few years the aim of the rebels became no longer merely the expulsion of +the rich but also the expulsion of the Mongols: a social movement thus +became a national one. A second element contributed to the change in the +character of the popular rising. The rebels captured many towns. Some of +these towns refused to fight and negotiated terms of submission. In +these cases the rebels did not murder the whole of the gentry, but took +some of them into their service. The gentry did not agree to this out of +sympathy with the rebels, but simply in order to save their own lives. +Once they had taken the step, however, they could not go back; they had +no alternative but to remain on the side of the rebels. + +In 1352 Kuo Tz[)u]-hsing rose in southern Honan. Kuo was the son of a +wandering soothsayer and a blind beggar-woman. He had success; his group +gained control of a considerable region round his home. There was no +longer any serious resistance from the Mongols, for at this time the +whole of eastern China was in full revolt. In 1353 Kuo was joined by a +man named Chu Yüan-chang, the son of a small peasant, probably a tenant +farmer. Chu's parents and all his relatives had died from a plague, +leaving him destitute. He had first entered a monastery and become a +monk. This was a favourite resource--and has been almost to the present +day--for poor sons of peasants who were threatened with starvation. As a +monk he had gone about begging, until in 1353 he returned to his home +and collected a group, mostly men from his own village, sons of peasants +and young fellows who had already been peasant leaders. Monks were often +peasant leaders. They were trusted because they promised divine aid, and +because they were usually rather better educated than the rest of the +peasants. Chu at first also had contacts with a secret society, a branch +of the White Lotus Society which several times in the course of Chinese +history has been the nucleus of rebellious movements. Chu took his small +group which identified itself by a red turban and a red banner to Kuo, +who received him gladly, entered into alliance with him, and in sign of +friendship gave him his daughter in marriage. In 1355 Kuo died, and Chu +took over his army, now many thousands strong. In his campaigns against +towns in eastern China, Chu succeeded in winning over some capable +members of the gentry. One was the chairman of a committee that yielded +a town to Chu; another was a scholar whose family had always been +opposed to the Mongols, and who had himself suffered injustice several +times in his official career, so that he was glad to join Chu out of +hatred of the Mongols. + +These men gained great influence over Chu, and persuaded him to give up +attacking rich individuals, and instead to establish an assured control +over large parts of the country. He would then, they pointed out, be +permanently enriched, while otherwise he would only be in funds at the +moment of the plundering of a town. They set before him strategic plans +with that aim. Through their counsel Chu changed from the leader of a +popular rising into a fighter against the dynasty. Of all the peasant +leaders he was now the only one pursuing a definite aim. He marched +first against Nanking, the great city of central China, and captured it +with ease. He then crossed the Yangtze, and conquered the rich provinces +of the south-east. He was a rebel who no longer slaughtered the rich or +plundered the towns, and the whole of the gentry with all their +followers came over to him _en masse_. The armies of volunteers went +over to Chu, and the whole edifice of the dynasty collapsed. + +The years 1355-1368 were full of small battles. After his conquest of +the whole of the south, Chu went north. In 1368 his generals captured +Peking almost without a blow. The Mongol ruler fled on horseback with +his immediate entourage into the north of China, and soon after into +Mongolia. The Mongol dynasty had been brought down, almost without +resistance. The Mongols in the isolated garrisons marched northward +wherever they could. A few surrendered to the Chinese and were used in +southern China as professional soldiers, though they were always +regarded with suspicion. The only serious resistance offered came from +the regions in which other Chinese popular leaders had established +themselves, especially the remote provinces in the west and south-west, +which had a different social structure and had been relatively little +affected by the Mongol regime. + +Thus the collapse of the Mongols came for the following reasons: (1) +They had not succeeded in maintaining their armed strength or that of +their allies during the period of peace that followed Kublai's conquest. +The Mongol soldiers had become effeminate through their life of idleness +in the towns. (2) The attempt to rule the empire through Mongols or +other aliens, and to exclude the Chinese gentry entirely from the +administration, failed through insufficient knowledge of the sources of +revenue and through the abuses due to the favoured treatment of aliens. +The whole country, and especially the peasantry, was completely +impoverished and so driven into revolt. (3) There was also a +psychological reason. In the middle of the fourteenth century it was +obvious to the Mongols that their hold over China was growing more and +more precarious, and that there was little to be got out of the +impoverished country: they seem in consequence to have lost interest in +the troublesome task of maintaining their rule, preferring, in so far as +they had not already entirely degenerated, to return to their old home +in the north. It is important to bear in mind these reasons for the +collapse of the Mongols, so that we may compare them later with the +reasons for the collapse of the Manchus. + +No mention need be made here of the names of the Mongol rulers in China +after Kublai. After his death in 1294, grandsons and great-grandsons of +his followed each other in rapid succession on the throne; not one of +them was of any personal significance. They had no influence on the +government of China. Their life was spent in intriguing against one +another. There were seven Mongol emperors after Kublai. + +6 _Cultural_ + +During the Mongol epoch a large number of the Chinese scholars withdrew +from official life. They lived in retirement among their friends, and +devoted themselves mainly to the pursuit of the art of poetry, which had +been elaborated in the Later Sung epoch, without themselves arriving at +any important innovations in form. Their poems were built up +meticulously on the rules laid down by the various schools; they were +routine productions rather than the outcome of any true poetic +inspiration. In the realm of prose the best achievements were the +"miscellaneous notes" already mentioned, collections of learned essays. +The foreigners who wrote in Chinese during this epoch are credited with +no better achievements by the Chinese historians of literature. Chief of +them were a statesman named Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, a Kitan in the service of +the Mongols; and a Mongol named T'o-t'o (Tokto). The former accompanied +Genghiz Khan in his great campaign against Turkestan, and left a very +interesting account of his journeys, together with many poems about +Samarkand and Turkestan. His other works were mainly letters and poems +addressed to friends. They differ in no way in style from the Chinese +literary works of the time, and are neither better nor worse than those +works. He shows strong traces of Taoist influence, as do other +contemporary writers. We know that Genghiz Khan was more or less +inclined to Taoism, and admitted a Taoist monk to his camp (1221-1224). +This man's account of his travels has also been preserved, and with the +numerous European accounts of Central Asia written at this time it forms +an important source. The Mongol Tokto was the head of an historical +commission that issued the annals of the Sung dynasty, the Kitan, and +the Juchên dynasty. The annals of the Sung dynasty became the largest of +all the historical works, but they were fiercely attacked from the first +by Chinese critics on account of their style and their hasty +composition, and, together with the annals of the Mongol dynasty, they +are regarded as the worst of the annals preserved. Tokto himself is less +to blame for this than the circumstance that he was compelled to work in +great haste, and had not time to put into order the overwhelming mass of +his material. + +The greatest literary achievements, however, of the Mongol period belong +beyond question to the theatre (or, rather, opera). The emperors were +great theatre-goers, and the wealthy private families were also +enthusiasts, so that gradually people of education devoted themselves to +writing librettos for the operas, where in the past this work had been +left to others. Most of the authors of these librettos remained unknown: +they used pseudonyms, partly because playwriting was not an occupation +that befitted a scholar, and partly because in these works they +criticized the conditions of their day. These works are divided in +regard to style into two groups, those of the "southern" and the +"northern" drama; these are distinguished from each other in musical +construction and in their intellectual attitude: in general the northern +works are more heroic and the southern more sentimental, though there +are exceptions. The most famous northern works of the Mongol epoch are +_P'i-p'a-chi_ ("The Story of a Lute"), written about 1356, probably by +Kao Ming, and _Chao-shih ku-erh-chi_ ("The Story of the Orphan of Chao +"), a work that enthralled Voltaire, who made a paraphrase of it; its +author was the otherwise unknown Chi Chün-hsiang. One of the most famous +of the southern dramas is _Hsi-hsiang-chi_ ("The Romance of the Western +Chamber"), by Wang Shih-fu and Kuan Han-ch'ing. Kuan lived under the +Juchên dynasty as a physician, and then among the Mongols. He is said to +have written fifty-eight dramas, many of which became famous. + +In the fine arts, foreign influence made itself felt during the Mongol +epoch much more than in literature. This was due in part to the Mongol +rulers' predilection for the Lamaism that was widespread in their +homeland. Lamaism is a special form of Buddhism which developed in +Tibet, where remnants of the old national Tibetan cult (_Bon_) were +fused with Buddhism into a distinctive religion. During the rise of the +Mongols this religion, which closely resembled the shamanism of the +ancient Mongols, spread in Mongolia, and through the Mongols it made +great progress in China, where it had been insignificant until their +time. Religious sculpture especially came entirely under Tibetan +influence (particularly that of the sculptor Aniko, who came from Nepal, +where he was born in 1244). This influence was noticeable in the Chinese +sculptor Liu Yüan; after him it became stronger and stronger, lasting +until the Manchu epoch. + +In architecture, too, Indian and Tibetan influence was felt in this +period. The Tibetan pagodas came into special prominence alongside the +previously known form of pagoda, which has many storeys, growing smaller +as they go upward; these towers originally contained relics of Buddha +and his disciples. The Tibetan pagoda has not this division into +storeys, and its lower part is much larger in circumference, and often +round. To this day Peking is rich in pagodas in the Tibetan style. + +The Mongols also developed in China the art of carpet-knotting, which to +this day is found only in North China in the zone of northern influence. +There were carpets before these, but they were mainly of felt. The +knotted carpets were produced in imperial workshops--only, of course, +for the Mongols, who were used to carpets. A further development +probably also due to West Asian influence was that of cloisonné +technique in China in this period. + +Painting, on the other hand, remained free from alien influence, with +the exception of the craft painting for the temples. The most famous +painters of the Mongol epoch were Chao Mêng-fu (also called Chao +Chung-mu, 1254-1322), a relative of the deposed imperial family of the +Sung dynasty, and Ni Tsan (1301-1374). + + +(B) The Ming Epoch (1368-1644) + +1 _Start. National feeling_ + +It was necessary to give special attention to the reasons for the +downfall of Mongol rule in China, in order to make clear the cause and +the character of the Ming epoch that followed it. It is possible that +the erroneous impression might be gained that the Mongol epoch in China +was entirely without merits, and that the Mongol rule over China +differed entirely from the Mongol rule over other countries of Asia. +Chinese historians have no good word to say of the Mongol epoch and +avoid the subject as far as they can. It is true that the union of the +national Mongol culture with Chinese culture, as envisaged by the Mongol +rulers, was not a sound conception, and consequently did not endure for +long. Nevertheless, the Mongol epoch in China left indelible traces, and +without it China's further development would certainly have taken a +different course. + +The many popular risings during the latter half of the period of Mongol +rule in China were all of a purely economic and social character, and at +first they were not directed at all against the Mongols as +representatives of an alien people. The rising under Chu Yüan-chang, +which steadily gained impetus, was at first a purely social movement; +indeed, it may fairly be called revolutionary. Chu was of the humblest +origin; he became a monk and a peasant leader at one and the same time. +Only three times in Chinese history has a man of the peasantry become +emperor and founder of a dynasty. The first of these three men founded +the Han dynasty; the second founded the first of the so-called "Five +Dynasties" in the tenth century; Chu was the third. + +Not until the Mongols had answered Chu's rising with a tightening of the +nationality laws did the revolutionary movement become a national +movement, directed against the foreigners as such. And only when Chu +came under the influence of the first people of the gentry who joined +him, whether voluntarily or perforce, did what had been a revolutionary +movement become a struggle for the substitution of one dynasty for +another without interfering with the existing social system. Both these +points were of the utmost importance to the whole development of the +Ming epoch. + +The Mongols were driven out fairly quickly and without great difficulty. +The Chinese drew from the ease of their success a sense of superiority +and a clear feeling of nationalism. This feeling should not be +confounded with the very old feeling of Chinese as a culturally superior +group according to which, at least in theory though rarely in practice, +every person who assimilated Chinese cultural values and traits was a +"Chinese". The roots of nationalism seem to lie in the Southern Sung +period, growing up in the course of contacts with the Juchên and +Mongols; but the discriminatory laws of the Mongols greatly fostered +this feeling. From now on, it was regarded a shame to serve a foreigner +as official, even if he was a ruler of China. + +2 _Wars against Mongols and Japanese_ + +It had been easy to drive the Mongols out of China, but they were never +really beaten in their own country. On the contrary, they seem to have +regained strength after their withdrawal from China: they reorganized +themselves and were soon capable of counter-thrusts, while Chinese +offensives had as a rule very little success, and at all events no +decisive success. In the course of time, however, the Chinese gained a +certain influence over Turkestan, but it was never absolute, always +challenged. After the Mongol empire had fallen to pieces, small states +came into existence in Turkestan, for a long time with varying fortunes; +the most important one during the Ming epoch was that of Hami, until in +1473 it was occupied by the city-state of Turfan. At this time China +actively intervened in the policy of Turkestan in a number of combats +with the Mongols. As the situation changed from time to time, these +city-states united more or less closely with China or fell away from her +altogether. In this period, however, Turkestan was of no military or +economic importance to China. + +In the time of the Ming there also began in the east and south the +plague of Japanese piracy. Japanese contacts with the coastal provinces +of China (Kiangsu, Chekiang and Fukien) had a very long history: +pilgrims from Japan often went to these places in order to study +Buddhism in the famous monasteries of Central China; businessmen sold at +high prices Japanese swords and other Japanese products here and bought +Chinese products; they also tried to get Chinese copper coins which had +a higher value in Japan. Chinese merchants co-operated with Japanese +merchants and also with pirates in the guise of merchants. Some Chinese +who were or felt persecuted by the government, became pirates +themselves. This trade-piracy had started already at the end of the Sung +dynasty, when Japanese navigation had become superior to Korean shipping +which had in earlier times dominated the eastern seaboard. These +conditions may even have been one of the reasons why the Mongols tried +to subdue Japan. As early as 1387 the Chinese had to begin the building +of fortifications along the eastern and southern coasts of the country; +The Japanese attacks now often took the character of organized raids: a +small, fast-sailing flotilla would land in a bay, as far as possible +without attracting notice; the soldiers would march against the nearest +town, generally overcoming it, looting, and withdrawing. The defensive +measures adopted from time to time during the Ming epoch were of little +avail, as it was impossible effectively to garrison the whole coast. +Some of the coastal settlements were transferred inland, to prevent the +Chinese from co-operating with the Japanese, and to give the Japanese so +long a march inland as to allow time for defensive measures. The +Japanese pirates prevented the creation of a Chinese navy in this period +by their continual threats to the coastal cities in which the shipyards +lay. Not until much later, at a time of unrest in Japan in 1467, was +there any peace from the Japanese pirates. + +The Japanese attacks were especially embarrassing for the Chinese +government for one other reason. Large armies had to be kept all along +China's northern border, from Manchuria to Central Asia. Food supplies +could not be collected in north China which did not have enough +surplusses. Canal transportation from Central China was not reliable, as +the canals did not always have enough water and were often clogged by +hundreds of ships. And even if canals were used, grain still had to be +transported by land from the end of the canals to the frontier. The Ming +government therefore, had organized an overseas flotilla of grain ships +which brought grain from Central China directly to the front in +Liao-tung and Manchuria. And these ships, vitally important, were so +often attacked by the pirates, that this plan later had to be given up +again. + +These activities along the coast led the Chinese to the belief that +basically all foreigners who came by ships were "barbarians"; when +towards the end of the Ming epoch the Japanese were replaced by +Europeans who did not behave much differently and were also +pirate-merchants, the nations of Western Europe, too, were regarded as +"barbarians" and were looked upon with great suspicion. On the other +side, continental powers, even if they were enemies, had long been +regarded as "states", sometimes even as equals. Therefore, when at a +much later time the Chinese came into contact with Russians, their +attitude towards them was similar to that which they had taken towards +other Asian continental powers. + +3 _Social legislation within the existing order_ + +At the time when Chu Yüan-chang conquered Peking, in 1368, becoming the +recognized emperor of China (Ming dynasty), it seemed as though he would +remain a revolutionary in spite of everything. His first laws were +directed against the rich. Many of the rich were compelled to migrate to +the capital, Nanking, thus losing their land and the power based on it. +Land was redistributed among poor peasants; new land registers were also +compiled, in order to prevent the rich from evading taxation. The number +of monks living in idleness was cut down and precisely determined; the +possessions of the temples were reduced, land exempted from taxation +being thus made taxable--all this, incidentally, although Chu had +himself been a monk! These laws might have paved the way to social +harmony and removed the worst of the poverty of the Mongol epoch. But +all this was frustrated in the very first years of Chu's reign. The laws +were only half carried into effect or not at all, especially in the +hinterland of the present Shanghai. That region had been conquered by +Chu at the very beginning of the Ming epoch; in it lived the wealthy +landowners who had already been paying the bulk of the taxes under the +Mongols. The emperor depended on this wealthy class for the financing of +his great armies, and so could not be too hard on it. + +Chu Yüan-chang and his entourage were also unable to free themselves +from some of the ideas of the Mongol epoch. Neither Chu, nor anybody +else before and long after him discussed the possibility of a form of +government other than that of a monarchy. The first ever to discuss this +question, although very timidly, was Huang Tsung-hsi (1610-1695), at the +end of the Ming dynasty. Chu's conception of an emperor was that of an +absolute monarch, master over life and death of his subjects; it was +formed by the Mongol emperors with their magnificence and the huge +expenditure of their life in Peking; Chu was oblivious of the fact that +Peking had been the capital of a vast empire embracing almost the whole +of Asia, and expenses could well be higher than for a capital only of +China. It did not occur to Chu and his supporters that they could have +done without imperial state and splendour; on the contrary, they felt +compelled to display it. At first Chu personally showed no excessive +signs of this tendency, though they emerged later; but he conferred +great land grants on all his relatives, friends, and supporters; he +would give to a single person land sufficient for 20,000 peasant +families; he ordered the payment of state pensions to members of the +imperial family, just as the Mongols had done, and the total of these +pension payments was often higher than the revenue of the region +involved. For the capital alone over eight million _shih_ of grain had +to be provided in payment of pensions--that is to say, more than 160,000 +tons! These pension payments were in themselves a heavy burden on the +state; not only that, but they formed a difficult transport problem! We +have no close figure of the total population at the beginning of the +Ming epoch; about 1500 it is estimated to have been 53,280,000, and this +population had to provide some 266,000,000 _shih_ in taxes. At the +beginning of the Ming epoch the population and revenue must, however, +have been smaller. + +The laws against the merchants and the restrictions under which the +craftsmen worked, remained essentially as they had been under the Sung, +but now the remaining foreign merchants of Mongol time also fell under +these laws, and their influence quickly diminished. All craftsmen, a +total of some 300,000 men with families, were still registered and had +to serve the government in the capital for three months once every three +years; others had to serve ten days per month, if they lived close by. +They were a hereditary caste as were the professional soldiers, and not +allowed to change their occupation except by special imperial +permission. When a craftsman or soldier died, another family member had +to replace him; therefore, families of craftsmen were not allowed to +separate into small nuclear families, in which there might not always be +a suitable male. Yet, in an empire as large as that of the Ming, this +system did not work too well: craftsmen lost too much time in travelling +and often succeeded in running away while travelling. Therefore, from +1505 on, they had to pay a tax instead of working for the government, +and from then on the craftsmen became relatively free. + +4 _Colonization and agricultural developments_ + +As already mentioned, the Ming had to keep a large army along the +northern frontiers. But they also had to keep armies in south China, +especially in Yünnan. Here, the Mongol invasions of Burma and Thailand +had brought unrest among the tribes, especially the Shan. The Ming did +not hold Burma but kept it in a loose dependency as "tributary nation". +In order to supply armies so far away from all agricultural surplus +centres, the Ming resorted to the old system of "military colonies" +which seems to have been invented in the second century B.C. and is +still used even today (in Sinkiang). Soldiers were settled in camps +called _ying_, and therefore there are so many place names ending with +_ying_ in the outlying areas of China. They worked as state farmers and +accumulated surplusses which were used in case of war in which these +same farmers turned soldiers again. Many criminals were sent to these +state farms, too. This system, especially in south China, transformed +territories formerly inhabited by native tribes or uninhabited, into +solidly Chinese areas. In addition to these military colonies, a steady +stream of settlers from Central China and the coast continued to move +into Kwangtung and Hunan provinces. They felt protected by the army +against attacks by natives. Yet Ming texts are full of reports on major +and minor clashes with the natives, from Kiangsi and Fukien to Kwangtung +and Kwangsi. + +But the production of military colonies was still not enough to feed the +armies, and the government in Chu's time resorted to a new design. It +promised to give merchants who transported grain from Central China to +the borders, government salt certificates. Upon the receipt, the +merchants could acquire a certain amount of salt and sell it with high +profits. Soon, these merchants began to invest some of their capital in +local land which was naturally cheap. They then attracted farmers from +their home countries as tenants. The rent of the tenants, paid in form +of grain, was then sold to the army, and the merchant's gains +increased. Tenants could easily be found: the density of population in +the Yangtze plains had further increased since the Sung time. This +system of merchant colonization did not last long, because soon, in +order to curb the profits of the merchants, money was given instead of +salt certificates, and the merchants lost interest in grain transports. +Thus, grain prices along the frontiers rose and the effectiveness of the +armies was diminished. + +Although the history of Chinese agriculture is as yet only partially +known, a number of changes in this field, which began to show up from +Sung time on, seem to have produced an "agricultural revolution" in Ming +time. We have already mentioned the Sung attempts to increase production +near the big cities by deep-lying fields, cultivation on and in lakes. +At the same time, there was an increase in cultivation of mountain +slopes by terracing and by distributing water over the terraces in +balanced systems. New irrigation machines, especially the so-called +Persian wheel, were introduced in the Ming time. Perhaps the most +important innovation, however, was the introduction of rice from +Indo-China's kingdom Champa in 1012 into Fukien from where it soon +spread. This rice had three advantages over ordinary Chinese rice: it +was drought-resistant and could, therefore, be planted in areas with +poor or even no irrigation. It had a great productivity, and it could be +sown very early in the year. At first it had the disadvantage that it +had a vegetation period of a hundred days. But soon, the Chinese +developed a quick-growing Champa rice, and the speediest varieties took +only sixty days from transplantation into the fields to the harvest. +This made it possible to grow two rice harvests instead of only one and +more than doubled the production. Rice varieties which grew again after +being cut and produced a second, but very much smaller harvest, +disappeared from now on. Furthermore, fish were kept in the ricefields +and produced not only food for the farmers but also fertilized the +fields, so that continuous cultivation of ricefields without any +decrease in fertility became possible. Incidentally, fish control the +malaria mosquitoes; although the Chinese did not know this fact, large +areas in South China which had formerly been avoided by Chinese because +of malaria, gradually became inhabitable. + +The importance of alternating crops was also discovered and from now on, +the old system of fallow cultivation was given up and continuous +cultivation with, in some areas, even more than one harvest per field +per year, was introduced even in wheat-growing areas. Considering that +under the fallow system from one half to one third of all fields +remained uncultivated each year, the increase in production under the +new system must have been tremendous. We believe that the population +revolution which in China started about 1550, was the result of this +earlier agrarian revolution. From the eighteenth century on we get +reports on depletion of fields due to wrong application of the new +system. + +Another plant deeply affected Chinese agriculture: cotton. It is often +forgotten that, from very early times, the Chinese in the south had used +kapok and similar fibres, and that the cocoons of different kinds of +worms had been used for silk. Real cotton probably came from Bengal over +South-East Asia first to the coastal provinces of China and spread +quickly into Fukien and Kwangtung in Sung time. + +On the other side, cotton reached China through Central Asia, and +already in the thirteenth century we find it in Shensi in north-western +China. Farmers in the north could in many places grow cotton in summer +and wheat in winter, and cotton was a high-priced product. They ginned +the cotton with iron rods; a mechanical cotton gin was introduced not +until later. The raw cotton was sold to merchants who transported it +into the industrial centre of the time, the Yangtze valley, and who +re-exported cotton cloth to the north. Raw cotton, loosened by the +string of the bow (a method which was known since Sung), could now in +the north also be used for quilts and padded winter garments. + +5 _Commercial and industrial developments_ + +Intensivation and modernization of agriculture led to strong population +increases especially in the Yangtze valley from Sung time on. Thus, in +this area commerce and industry also developed most quickly. +Urbanization was greatest here. Nanking, the new Ming capital, grew +tremendously because of the presence of the court and administration, +and even when later the capital was moved, Nanking continued to remain +the cultural capital of China. The urban population needed textiles and +food. From Ming time on, fashions changed quickly as soon as government +regulations which determined colour and material of the dress of each +social class were relaxed or as soon as they could be circumvented by +bribery or ingenious devices. Now, only factories could produce the +amounts which the consumers wanted. We hear of many men who started out +with one loom and later ended up with over forty looms, employing many +weavers. Shanghai began to emerge as a centre of cotton cloth +production. A system of middle-men developed who bought raw cotton and +raw silk from the producers and sold it to factories. + +Consumption in the Yangtze cities raised the value of the land around +the cities. The small farmers who were squeezed out, migrated to the +south. Absentee landlords in cities relied partly on migratory, seasonal +labour supplied by small farmers from Chekiang who came to the Yangtze +area after they had finished their own harvest. More and more, +vegetables and mulberries or cotton were planted in the vicinity of the +cities. As rice prices went up quickly a large organization of rice +merchants grew up. They ran large ships up to Hankow where they bought +rice which was brought down from Hunan in river boats by smaller +merchants. The small merchants again made contracts with the local +gentry who bought as much rice from the producers as they could and sold +it to these grain merchants. Thus, local grain prices went up and we +hear of cases where the local population attacked the grain boats in +order to prevent the depletion of local markets. + +Next to these grain merchants, the above-mentioned salt merchants have +to be mentioned again. Their centre soon became the city of Hsin-an, a +city on the border of Chekiang and Anhui, or in more general terms, the +cities in the district of Hui-chou. When the grain transportation to the +frontiers came to an end in early Ming time, the Hsin-an merchants +specialized first in silver trade. Later in Ming time, they spread their +activities all over China and often monopolized the salt, silver, rice, +cotton, silk or tea businesses. In the sixteenth century they had +well-established contacts with smugglers on the Fukien coast and brought +foreign goods into the interior. Their home was also close to the main +centres of porcelain production in Kiangsi which was exported to +overseas and to the urban centres. The demand for porcelain had +increased so much that state factories could not fulfil it. The state +factories seem often to have suffered from a lack of labour: indented +artisans were imported from other provinces and later sent back on state +expenses or were taken away from other state industries. Thus, private +porcelain factories began to develop, and in connection with quickly +changing fashions a great diversification of porcelain occurred. + +One other industry should also be mentioned. With the development of +printing, which will be discussed below, the paper industry was greatly +stimulated. The state also needed special types of paper for the paper +currency. Printing and book selling became a profitable business, and +with the application of block print to textiles (probably first used in +Sung time) another new field of commercial activity was opened. + +As already mentioned, silver in form of bars had been increasingly used +as currency in Sung time. The yearly government production of silver was +_c_. 10,000 kg. Mongol currency was actually based upon silver. The +Ming, however, reverted to copper as basic unit, in addition to the use +of paper money. This encouraged the use of silver for speculative +purposes. + +The development of business changed the face of cities. From Sung time +on, the division of cities into wards with gates which were closed +during the night, began to break down. Ming cities had no more wards. +Business was no more restricted to official markets but grew up in all +parts of the cities. The individual trades were no more necessarily all +in one street. Shops did not have to close at sunset. The guilds +developed and in some cases were able to exercise locally some influence +upon the officials. + +6 _Growth of the small gentry_ + +With the spread of book printing, all kinds of books became easily +accessible, including reprints of examination papers. Even businessmen +and farmers increasingly learned to read and to write, and many people +now could prepare themselves for the examinations. Attendance, however, +at the examinations cost a good deal. The candidate had to travel to the +local or provincial capital, and for the higher examinations to the +capital of the country; he had to live there for several months and, as +a rule, had to bribe the examiners or at least to gain the favour of +influential people. There were many cases of candidates becoming +destitute. Most of them were heavily in debt when at last they gained a +position. They naturally set to work at once to pay their debts out of +their salary, and to accumulate fresh capital to meet future +emergencies. The salaries of officials were, however, so small that it +was impossible to make ends meet; and at the same time every official +was liable with his own capital for the receipt in full of the taxes for +the collection of which he was responsible. Consequently every official +began at once to collect more taxes than were really due, so as to be +able to cover any deficits, and also to cover his own cost of +living--including not only the repayment of his debts but the +acquisition of capital or land so as to rise in the social scale. The +old gentry had been rich landowners, and had no need to exploit the +peasants on such a scale. + +The Chinese empire was greater than it had been before the Mongol epoch, +and the population was also greater, so that more officials were needed. +Thus in the Ming epoch there began a certain democratization, larger +sections of the population having the opportunity of gaining government +positions; but this democratization brought no benefit to the general +population but resulted in further exploitation of the peasants. + +The new "small gentry" did not consist of great families like the +original gentry. When, therefore, people of that class wanted to play a +political part in the central government, or to gain a position there, +they had either to get into close touch with one of the families of the +gentry, or to try to approach the emperor directly. In the immediate +entourage of the emperor, however, were the eunuchs. A good many members +of the new class had themselves castrated after they had passed their +state examination. Originally eunuchs were forbidden to acquire +education. But soon the Ming emperors used the eunuchs as a tool to +counteract the power of gentry cliques and thus to strengthen their +personal power. When, later, eunuchs controlled appointments to +government posts, long established practices of bureaucratic +administration were eliminated and the court, i.e. the emperor and his +tools, the eunuchs, could create a rule by way of arbitrary decisions, a +despotic rule. For such purposes, eunuchs had to have education, and +these new educated eunuchs, when they had once secured a position, were +able to gain great influence in the immediate entourage of the emperor; +later such educated eunuchs were preferred, especially as many offices +were created which were only filled by eunuchs and for which educated +eunuchs were needed. Whole departments of eunuchs came into existence at +court, and these were soon made use of for confidential business of the +emperor's outside the palace. + +These eunuchs worked, of course, in the interest of their families. On +the other hand, they were very ready to accept large bribes from the +gentry for placing the desires of people of the gentry before the +emperor and gaining his consent. Thus the eunuchs generally accumulated +great wealth, which they shared with their small gentry relatives. The +rise of the small gentry class was therefore connected with the +increased influence of the eunuchs at court. + +7 _Literature, art, crafts_ + +The growth of the small gentry which had its stronghold in the +provincial towns and cities, as well as the rise of the merchant class +and the liberation of the artisans, are reflected in the new literature +of Ming time. While the Mongols had developed the theatre, the novel may +be regarded as the typical Ming creation. Its precursors were the +stories of story-tellers centuries ago. They had developed many styles, +one of which, for instance, consisted of prose with intercalated poetic +parts (_pien-wen_). Buddhists monks had used these forms of popular +literature and spread their teachings in similar forms; due to them, +many Indian stories and tales found their way into the Chinese +folklore. Soon, these stories of story-tellers or monks were written +down, and out of them developed the Chinese classical novel. It +preserved many traits of the stories: it was cut into chapters +corresponding with the interruptions which the story-teller made in +order to collect money; it was interspersed with poems. But most of all, +it was written in everyday language, not in the language of the gentry. +To this day every Chinese knows and reads with enthusiasm +_Shui-hu-chuan_ ("The Story of the River Bank"), probably written about +1550 by Wang Tao-k'un, in which the ruling class was first described in +its decay. Against it are held up as ideals representatives of the +middle class in the guise of the gentleman brigand. Every Chinese also +knows the great satirical novel _Hsi-yu-chi_ ("The Westward Journey"), +by Feng Meng-lung (1574-1645), in which ironical treatment is meted out +to all religions and sects against a mythological background, with a +freedom that would not have been possible earlier. The characters are +not presented as individuals but as representatives of human types: the +intellectual, the hedonist, the pious man, and the simpleton, are drawn +with incomparable skill, with their merits and defects. A third famous +novel is _San-kuo yen-i_ ("The Tale of the Three Kingdoms"), by Lo +Kuan-chung. Just as the European middle class read with avidity the +romances of chivalry, so the comfortable class in China was enthusiastic +over romanticized pictures of the struggle of the gentry in the third +century. "The Tale of the Three Kingdoms" became the model for countless +historical novels of its own and subsequent periods. Later, mainly in +the sixteenth century, the sensational and erotic novel developed, most +of all in Nanking. It has deeply influenced Japanese writers, but was +mercilessly suppressed by the Chinese gentry which resented the +frivolity of this wealthy and luxurious urban class of middle or small +gentry families who associated with rich merchants, actors, artists and +musicians. Censorship of printed books had started almost with the +beginning of book printing as a private enterprise: to the famous +historian, anti-Buddhist and conservative Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072), the +enemy of Wang An-shih, belongs the sad glory of having developed the +first censorship rules. Since Ming time, it became a permanent feature +of Chinese governments. + +The best known of the erotic novels is the _Chin-p'ing-mei_ which, for +reasons of our own censors can be published only in expurgated +translations. It was written probably towards the end of the sixteenth +century. This novel, as all others, has been written and re-written by +many authors, so that many different versions exist. It might be pointed +out that many novels were printed in Hui-chou, the commercial centre of +the time. + +The short story which formerly served the entertainment of the educated +only and which was, therefore, written in classical Chinese, now also +became a literary form appreciated by the middle classes. The collection +_Chin-ku ch'i-kuan_ ("Strange Stories of New Times and Old"), compiled +by Feng Meng-lung, is the best-known of these collections in vernacular +Chinese. + +Little original work was done in the Ming epoch in the fields generally +regarded as "literature" by educated Chinese, those of poetry and the +essay. There are some admirable essays, but these are only isolated +examples out of thousands. So also with poetry: the poets of the gentry, +united in "clubs", chose the poets of the Sung epoch as their models to +emulate. + +The Chinese drama made further progress in the Ming epoch. Many of the +finest Chinese dramas were written under the Ming; they are still +produced again and again to this day. The most famous dramatists of the +Ming epoch are Wang Shih-chen (1526-1590) and T'ang Hsien-tsu +(1556-1617). T'ang wrote the well-known drama _Mu-tan-ting_ ("The Peony +Pavilion"), one of the finest love-stories of Chinese literature, full +of romance and remote from all reality. This is true also of the other +dramas by T'ang, especially his "Four Dreams", a series of four plays. +In them a man lives in dream through many years of his future life, with +the result that he realizes the worthlessness of life and decides to +become a monk. + +Together with the development of the drama (or, rather, the opera) in +the Ming epoch went an important endeavour in the modernization of +music, the attempt to create a "well-tempered scale" made in 1584 by Chu +Tsai-yü. This solved in China a problem which was not tackled till later +in Europe. The first Chinese theorists of music who occupied themselves +with this problem were Ching Fang (77-37 B.C.) and Ho Ch'êng-t'ien (A.D. +370-447). + +In the Mongol epoch, most of the Chinese painters had lived in central +China; this remained so in the Ming epoch. Of the many painters of the +Ming epoch, all held in high esteem in China, mention must be made +especially of Ch'in Ying (_c_. 1525), T'ang Yin (1470-1523), and Tung +Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636). Ch'in Ying painted in the Academic Style, +indicating every detail, however small, and showing preference for a +turquoise-green ground. T'ang Yin was the painter of elegant women; Tung +became famous especially as a calligraphist and a theoretician of the +art of painting; a textbook of the art was written by him. + +Just as puppet plays and shadow theatre are the "opera of the common +man" and took a new development in Ming time, the wood-cut and +block-printing developed largely as a cheap substitute of real +paintings. The new urbanites wanted to have paintings of the masters and +found in the wood-cut which soon became a multi-colour print a cheap +mass medium. Block printing in colours, developed in the Yangtze valley, +was adopted by Japan and found its highest refinement there. But the +Ming are also famous for their monumental architecture which largely +followed Mongol patterns. Among the most famous examples is the famous +Great Wall which had been in dilapidation and was rebuilt; the great +city walls of Peking; and large parts of the palaces of Peking, begun in +the Mongol epoch. It was at this time that the official style which we +may observe to this day in North China was developed, the style employed +everywhere, until in the age of concrete it lost its justification. + +In the Ming epoch the porcelain with blue decoration on a white ground +became general; the first examples, from the famous kilns in +Ching-te-chen, in the province of Kiangsi, were relatively coarse, but +in the fifteenth century the production was much finer. In the sixteenth +century the quality deteriorated, owing to the disuse of the cobalt from +the Middle East (perhaps from Persia) in favour of Sumatra cobalt, which +did not yield the same brilliant colour. In the Ming epoch there also +appeared the first brilliant red colour, a product of iron, and a start +was then made with three-colour porcelain (with lead glaze) or +five-colour (enamel). The many porcelains exported to western Asia and +Europe first influenced European ceramics (Delft), and then were +imitated in Europe (Böttger); the early European porcelains long showed +Chinese influence (the so-called onion pattern, blue on a white ground). +In addition to the porcelain of the Ming epoch, of which the finest +specimens are in the palace at Istanbul, especially famous are the +lacquers (carved lacquer, lacquer painting, gold lacquer) of the Ming +epoch and the cloisonné work of the same period. These are closely +associated with the contemporary work in Japan. + +8 _Politics at court_ + +After the founding of the dynasty by Chu Yüan-chang, important questions +had to be dealt with apart from the social legislation. What was to be +done, for instance, with Chu's helpers? Chu, like many revolutionaries +before and after him, recognized that these people had been serviceable +in the years of struggle but could no longer remain useful. He got rid +of them by the simple device of setting one against another so that they +murdered one another. In the first decades of his rule the dangerous +cliques of gentry had formed again, and were engaged in mutual +struggles. The most formidable clique was led by Hu Wei-yung. Hu was a +man of the gentry of Chu's old homeland, and one of his oldest +supporters. Hu and his relations controlled the country after 1370, +until in 1380 Chu succeeded in beheading Hu and exterminating his +clique. New cliques formed before long and were exterminated in turn. + +Chu had founded Nanking in the years of revolution, and he made it his +capital. In so doing he met the wishes of the rich grain producers of +the Yangtze delta. But the north was the most threatened part of his +empire, so that troops had to be permanently stationed there in +considerable strength. Thus Peking, where Chu placed one of his sons as +"king", was a post of exceptional importance. + +In Chu Yüan-chang's last years (he was named T'ai Tsu as emperor) +difficulties arose in regard to the dynasty. The heir to the throne died +in 1391; and when the emperor himself died in 1398, the son of the late +heir-apparent was installed as emperor (Hui Ti, 1399-1402). This choice +had the support of some of the influential Confucian gentry families of +the south. But a protest against his enthronement came from the other +son of Chu Yüan-chang, who as king in Peking had hoped to become +emperor. With his strong army this prince, Ch'eng Tsu, marched south and +captured Nanking, where the palaces were burnt down. There was a great +massacre of supporters of the young emperor, and the victor made himself +emperor (better known under his reign name, Yung-lo). As he had +established himself in Peking, he transferred the capital to Peking, +where it remained throughout the Ming epoch. Nanking became a sort of +subsidiary capital. + +This transfer of the capital to the north, as the result of the victory +of the military party and Buddhists allied to them, produced a new +element of instability: the north was of military importance, but the +Yangtze region remained the economic centre of the country. The +interests of the gentry of the Yangtze region were injured by the +transfer. The first Ming emperor had taken care to make his court +resemble the court of the Mongol rulers, but on the whole had exercised +relative economy. Yung-lo (1403-1424), however, lived in the actual +palaces of the Mongol rulers, and all the luxury of the Mongol epoch was +revived. This made the reign of Yung-lo the most magnificent period of +the Ming epoch, but beneath the surface decay had begun. Typical of the +unmitigated absolutism which developed now, was the word of one of the +emperor's political and military advisors, significantly a Buddhist +monk: "I know the way of heaven. Why discuss the hearts of the people?" + +9 _Navy. Southward expansion_ + +After the collapse of Mongol rule in Indo-China, partly through the +simple withdrawal of the Mongols, and partly through attacks from +various Chinese generals, there were independence movements in +south-west China and Indo-China. In 1393 wars broke out in Annam. +Yung-lo considered that the time had come to annex these regions to +China and so to open a new field for Chinese trade, which was suffering +continual disturbance from the Japanese. He sent armies to Yünnan and +Indo-China; at the same time he had a fleet built by one of his eunuchs, +Cheng Ho. The fleet was successfully protected from attack by the +Japanese. Cheng Ho, who had promoted the plan and also carried it out, +began in 1405 his famous mission to Indo-China, which had been envisaged +as giving at least moral support to the land operations, but was also +intended to renew trade connections with Indo-China, where they had been +interrupted by the collapse of Mongol rule. Cheng Ho sailed past +Indo-China and ultimately reached the coast of Arabia. His account of +his voyage is an important source of information about conditions in +southern Asia early in the fifteenth century. Cheng Ho and his fleet +made some further cruises, but they were discontinued. There may have +been several reasons, (1) As state enterprises, the expeditions were +very costly. Foreign goods could be obtained more cheaply and with less +trouble if foreign merchants came themselves to China or Chinese +merchants travelled at their own risk. (2) The moral success of the +naval enterprises was assured. China was recognized as a power +throughout southern Asia, and Annam had been reconquered. (3) After the +collapse of the Mongol emperor Timur, who died in 1406, there no longer +existed any great power in Central Asia, so that trade missions from the +kingdom of the Shahruk in North Persia were able to make their way to +China, including the famous mission of 1409-1411. (4) Finally, the fleet +would have had to be permanently guarded against the Japanese, as it had +been stationed not in South China but in the Yangtze region. As early as +1411 the canals had been repaired, and from 1415 onward all the traffic +of the country went by the canals, so evading the Japanese peril. This +ended the short chapter of Chinese naval history. + +These travels of Cheng Ho seem to have had one more cultural result: a +large number of fairy-tales from the Middle East were brought to China, +or at all events reached China at that time. The Chinese, being a +realistically-minded people, have produced few fairy-tales of their own. +The bulk of their finest fairy-tales were brought by Buddhist monks, in +the course of the first millennium A.D., from India by way of Central +Asia. The Buddhists made use of them to render their sermons more +interesting and impressive. As time went on, these stories spread all +over China, modified in harmony with the spirit of the people and +adapted to the Chinese environment. Only the fables failed to strike +root in China: the matter-of-fact Chinese was not interested in animals +that talked and behaved to each other like human beings. In addition, +however, to these early fairy-tales, there was another group of stories +that did not spread throughout China, but were found only in the +south-eastern coastal provinces. These came from the Middle East, +especially from Persia. The fairy-tales of Indian origin spread not only +to Central Asia but at the same time to Persia, where they found a very +congenial soil. The Persians made radical changes in the stories and +gave them the form in which they came to Europe by various +routes--through North Africa to Spain and France; through +Constantinople, Venice, or Genoa to France; through Russian Turkestan to +Russia, Finland, and Sweden; through Turkey and the Balkans to Hungary +and Germany. Thus the stories found a European home. And this same +Persian form was carried by sea in Cheng Ho's time to South China. Thus +we have the strange experience of finding some of our own finest +fairy-tales in almost the same form in South China. + +10 _Struggles between cliques_ + +Yung-lo's successor died early. Under the latter's son, the emperor +Hsüan Tsung (1426-1435; reign name Hsüan-tê), fixed numbers of +candidates were assigned for the state examinations. It had been found +that almost the whole of the gentry in the Yangtze region sat at the +examinations; and that at these examinations their representatives made +sure, through their mutual relations, that only their members should +pass, so that the candidates from the north were virtually excluded. The +important military clique in the north protested against this, and a +compromise was arrived at: at every examination one-third of the +candidates must come from the north and two-thirds from the south. This +system lasted for a long time, and led to many disputes. + +At his death Hsüan Tsung left the empire to his eight-year-old son Ying +Tsung (1436-49 and 1459-64), who was entirely in the hands of the Yang +clique, which was associated with his grandmother. Soon, however, +another clique, led by the eunuch Wang Chen, gained the upper hand at +court. The Mongols were very active at this time, and made several raids +on the province of Shansi; Wang Chen proposed a great campaign against +them, and in this campaign he took with him the young emperor, who had +reached his twenty-first birthday in 1449. The emperor had grown up in +the palace and knew nothing of the world outside; he was therefore glad +to go with Wang Chen; but that eunuch had also lived in the palace and +also knew nothing of the world, and in particular of war. Consequently +he failed in the organization of reinforcements for his army, some +100,000 strong; after a few brief engagements the Oirat-Mongol prince +Esen had the imperial army surrounded and the emperor a prisoner. The +eunuch Wang Chen came to his end, and his clique, of course, no longer +counted. The Mongols had no intention of killing the emperor; they +proposed to hold him to ransom, at a high price. The various cliques at +court cared little, however, about their ruler. After the fall of the +Wang clique there were two others, of which one, that of General Yü, +became particularly powerful, as he had been able to repel a Mongol +attack on Peking. Yü proclaimed a new emperor--not the captive emperor's +son, a baby, but his brother, who became the emperor Ching Tsung. The +Yang clique insisted on the rights of the imperial baby. From all this +the Mongols saw that the Chinese were not inclined to spend a lot of +money on their imperial captive. Accordingly they made an enormous +reduction in the ransom demanded, and more or less forced the Chinese to +take back their former emperor. The Mongols hoped that this would at +least produce political disturbances by which they might profit, once +the old emperor was back in Peking. And this did soon happen. At first +the ransomed emperor was pushed out of sight into a palace, and Ching +Tsung continued to reign. But in 1456 Ching Tsung fell ill, and a +successor to him had to be chosen. The Yü clique wanted to have the son +of Ching Tsung; the Yang clique wanted the son of the deposed emperor +Ying Tsung. No agreement was reached, so that in the end a third clique, +led by the soldier Shih Hêng, who had helped to defend Peking against +the Mongols, found its opportunity, and by a _coup d'état_ reinstated +the deposed emperor Ying Tsung. + +This was not done out of love for the emperor, but because Shih Hêng +hoped that under the rule of the completely incompetent Ying Tsung he +could best carry out a plan of his own, to set up his own dynasty. It is +not so easy, however, to carry a conspiracy to success when there are +several rival parties, each of which is ready to betray any of the +others. Shih Hêng's plan became known before long, and he himself was +beheaded (1460). + +The next forty years were filled with struggles between cliques, which +steadily grew in ferocity, particularly since a special office, a sort +of secret police headquarters, was set up in the palace, with functions +which it extended beyond the palace, with the result that many people +were arrested and disappeared. This office was set up by the eunuchs and +the clique at their back, and was the first dictatorial organ created in +the course of a development towards despotism that made steady progress +in these years. + +In 1505 Wu Tsung came to the throne, an inexperienced youth of fifteen +who was entirely controlled by the eunuchs who had brought him up. The +leader of the eunuchs was Liu Chin, who had the support of a group of +people of the gentry and the middle class. Liu Chin succeeded within a +year in getting rid of the eunuchs at court who belonged to other +cliques and were working against him. After that he proceeded to +establish his power. He secured in entirely official form the emperor's +permission for him to issue all commands himself; the emperor devoted +himself only to his pleasures, and care was taken that they should keep +him sufficiently occupied to have no chance to notice what was going on +in the country. The first important decree issued by Liu Chin resulted +in the removal from office or the punishment or murder of over three +hundred prominent persons, the leaders of the cliques opposed to him. He +filled their posts with his own supporters, until all the higher posts +in every department were in the hands of members of his group. He +collected large sums of money which he quite openly extracted from the +provinces as a special tax for his own benefit. When later his house was +searched there were found 240,000 bars and 57,800 pieces of gold (a bar +was equivalent of ten pieces), 791,800 ounces and 5,000,000 bars of +silver (a bar was five ounces), three bushels of precious stones, two +gold cuirasses, 3,000 gold rings, and much else--of a total value +exceeding the annual budget of the state! The treasure was to have been +used to finance a revolt planned by Liu Chin and his supporters. + +Among the people whom Liu Chin had punished were several members of the +former clique of the Yang, and also the philosopher Wang Yang-ming, who +later became so famous, a member of the Wang family which was allied to +the Yang. In 1510 the Yang won over one of the eunuchs in the palace and +so became acquainted with Liu Chin's plans. When a revolt broke out in +western China, this eunuch (whose political allegiance was, of course, +unknown to Liu Chin) secured appointment as army commander. With the +army intended for the crushing of the revolt, Liu Chin's palace was +attacked when he was asleep, and he and all his supporters were +arrested. Thus the other group came into power in the palace, including +the philosopher Wang Yang-ming (1473-1529). Liu Chin's rule had done +great harm to the country, as enormous taxation had been expended for +the private benefit of his clique. On top of this had been the young +emperor's extravagance: his latest pleasures had been the building of +palaces and the carrying out of military games; he constantly assumed +new military titles and was burning to go to war. + +11 _Risings_ + +The emperor might have had a good opportunity for fighting, for his +misrule had resulted in a great popular rising which began in the west, +in Szechwan, and then spread to the east. As always, the rising was +joined by some ruined scholars, and the movement, which had at first +been directed against the gentry as such, was turned into a movement +against the government of the moment. No longer were all the wealthy and +all officials murdered, but only those who did not join the movement. In +1512 the rebels were finally overcome, not so much by any military +capacity of the government armies as through the loss of the rebels' +fleet of boats in a typhoon. + +In 1517 a new favourite of the emperor's induced him to make a great +tour in the north, to which the favourite belonged. The tour and the +hunting greatly pleased the emperor, so that he continued his +journeying. This was the year in which the Portuguese Fernão Pires de +Andrade landed in Canton--the first modern European to enter China. + +In 1518 Wang Yang-ming, the philosopher general, crushed a rising in +Kiangsi. The rising had been the outcome of years of unrest, which had +two causes: native risings of the sort we described above, and loss for +the gentry due to the transfer of the capital. The province of Kiangsi +was a part of the Yangtze region, and the great landowners there had +lived on the profit from their supplies to Nanking. When the capital was +moved to Peking, their takings fell. They placed themselves under a +prince who lived in Nanking. This prince regarded Wang Yang-ming's move +into Kiangsi as a threat to him, and so rose openly against the +government and supported the Kiangsi gentry. Wang Yang-ming defeated +him, and so came into the highest favour with the incompetent emperor. +When peace had been restored in Nanking, the emperor dressed himself up +as an army commander, marched south, and made a triumphal entry into +Nanking. + +One other aspect of Wang Yang-ming's expeditions has not yet been +studied: he crushed also the so-called salt-merchant rebels in the +southernmost part of Kiangsi and adjoining Kwangtung. These +merchants-turned-rebels had dominated a small area, off and on since +the eleventh century. At this moment, they seem to have had connections +with the rich inland merchants of Hsin-an and perhaps also with +foreigners. Information is still too scanty to give more details, but a +local movement as persistent as this one deserves attention. + +Wang Yang-ming became acquainted as early as 1519 with the first +European rifles, imported by the Portuguese who had landed in 1517. (The +Chinese then called them Fu-lan-chi, meaning Franks. Wang was the first +Chinese who spoke of the "Franks".) The Chinese had already had mortars +which hurled stones, as early as the second century A.D. In the seventh +or eighth century their mortars had sent stones of a couple of +hundredweights some four hundred yards. There is mention in the eleventh +century of cannon which apparently shot with a charge of a sort of +gunpowder. The Mongols were already using true cannon in their sieges. +In 1519, the first Portuguese were presented to the Chinese emperor in +Nanking, where they were entertained for about a year in a hostel, a +certain Lin Hsün learned about their rifles and copied them for Wang +Yang-ming. In general, however, the Chinese had no respect for the +Europeans, whom they described as "bandits" who had expelled the lawful +king of Malacca and had now come to China as its representatives. Later +they were regarded as a sort of Japanese, because they, too, practiced +piracy. + +12 _Machiavellism_ + +All main schools of Chinese philosophy were still based on Confucius. +Wang Yang-ming's philosophy also followed Confucius, but he liberated +himself from the Neo-Confucian tendency as represented by Chu Hsi, which +started in the Sung epoch and continued to rule in China in his time and +after him; he introduced into Confucian philosophy the conception of +"intuition". He regarded intuition as the decisive philosophic +experience; only through intuition could man come to true knowledge. +This idea shows an element of meditative Buddhism along lines which the +philosopher Lu Hsiang-shan (1139-1192) had first developed, while +classical Neo-Confucianism was more an integration of monastic Buddhism +into Confucianism. Lu had felt himself close to Wang An-shih +(1021-1086), and this whole school, representing the small gentry of the +Yangtze area, was called the Southern or the Lin-ch'uan school, +Lin-ch'uan in Kiangsi being Wang An-shih's home. During the Mongol +period, a Taoist group, the _Cheng-i-chiao_ (Correct Unity Sect) had +developed in Lin-ch'uan and had accepted some of the Lin-ch'uan +school's ideas. Originally, this group was a continuation of Chang +Ling's church Taoism. Through the _Cheng-i_ adherents, the Southern +school had gained political influence on the despotic Mongol rulers. The +despotic Yung-lo emperor had favoured the monk Tao-yen (_c_. 1338-1418) +who had also Taoist training and proposed a philosophy which also +stressed intuition. He was, incidentally, in charge of the compilation +of the largest encyclopaedia ever written, the _Yung-lo ta-tien_ +commissioned by the Yung-lo emperor. + +Wang Yang-ming followed the Lin-ch'uan tradition. The introduction of +the conception of intuition, a highly subjective conception, into the +system of a practical state philosophy like Confucianism could not but +lead in the practice of the statesman to Machiavellism. The statesman +who followed the teaching of Wang Yang-ming had the opportunity of +justifying whatever he did by his intuition. + +Wang Yang-ming failed to gain acceptance for his philosophy. His +disciples also failed to establish his doctrine in China, because it +served the interests of an individual despot against those of the gentry +as a class, and the middle class, which might have formed a +counterweight against them, was not yet politically ripe for the seizure +of the opportunity here offered to it. In Japan, however, Wang's +doctrine gained many followers, because it admirably served the +dictatorial state system which had developed in that country. +Incidentally, Chiang Kai-shek in those years in which he showed Fascist +tendencies, also got interested in Wang Yang-ming. + +13 _Foreign relations in the sixteenth century_ + +The feeble emperor Wu Tsung died in 1521, after an ineffective reign, +without leaving an heir. The clique then in power at court looked among +the possible pretenders for the one who seemed least likely to do +anything, and their choice fell on the fifteen-year-old Shih Tsung, who +was made emperor. The forty-five years of his reign were filled in home +affairs with intrigues between the cliques at court, with growing +distress in the country, and with revolts on a larger and larger scale. +Abroad there were wars with Annam, increasing raids by the Japanese, +and, above all, long-continued fighting against the famous Mongol ruler +Yen-ta, from 1549 onward. At one time Yen-ta reached Peking and laid +siege to it. The emperor, who had no knowledge of affairs, and to whom +Yen-ta had been represented as a petty bandit, was utterly dismayed and +ready to do whatever Yen-ta asked; in the end he was dissuaded from +this, and an agreement was arrived at with Yen-ta for state-controlled +markets to be set up along the frontier, where the Mongols could +dispose of their goods against Chinese goods on very favourable terms. +After further difficulties lasting many years, a compromise was arrived +at: the Mongols were earning good profits from the markets, and in 1571 +Yen-ta accepted a Chinese title. On the Chinese side, this Mongol trade, +which continued in rather different form in the Manchu epoch, led to the +formation of a local merchant class in the frontier province of Shansi, +with great experience in credit business; later the first Chinese +bankers came almost entirely from this quarter. + +After a brief interregnum there came once more to the throne a +ten-year-old boy, the emperor Shen Tsung (reign name Wan-li; 1573-1619). +He, too, was entirely under the influence of various cliques, at first +that of his tutor, the scholar Chang Chü-chan. About the time of the +death, in 1582, of Yen-ta we hear for the first time of a new people. In +1581 there had been unrest in southern Manchuria. The Mongolian tribal +federation of the Tümet attacked China, and there resulted collisions +not only with the Chinese but between the different tribes living there. +In southern and central Manchuria were remnants of the Tungus Juchên. +The Mongols had subjugated the Juchên, but the latter had virtually +become independent after the collapse of Mongol rule over China. They +had formed several tribal alliances, but in 1581-83 these fought each +other, so that one of the alliances to all intents was destroyed. The +Chinese intervened as mediators in these struggles, and drew a +demarcation line between the territories of the various Tungus tribes. +All this is only worth mention because it was from these tribes that +there developed the tribal league of the Manchus, who were then to rule +China for some three hundred years. + +In 1592 the Japanese invaded Korea. This was their first real effort to +set foot on the continent, a purely imperialistic move. Korea, as a +Chinese vassal, appealed for Chinese aid. At first the Chinese army had +no success, but in 1598 the Japanese were forced to abandon Korea. They +revenged themselves by intensifying their raids on the coast of central +China; they often massacred whole towns, and burned down the looted +houses. The fighting in Korea had its influence on the Tungus tribes: as +they were not directly involved, it contributed to their further +strengthening. + +The East India Company was founded in 1600. At this time, while the +English were trying to establish themselves in India, the Chinese tried +to gain increased influence in the south by wars in Annam, Burma, and +Thailand (1594-1604). These wars were for China colonial wars, similar +to the colonial fighting by the British in India. But there began to be +defined already at that time in the south of Asia the outlines of the +states as they exist at the present time. + +In 1601 the first European, the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, succeeded in +gaining access to the Chinese court, through the agency of a eunuch. He +made some presents, and the Chinese regarded his visit as a mission from +Europe bringing tribute. Ricci was therefore permitted to remain in +Peking. He was an astronomer and was able to demonstrate to his Chinese +colleagues the latest achievements of European astronomy. In 1613, after +Ricci's death, the Jesuits and some Chinese whom they had converted were +commissioned to reform the Chinese calendar. In the time of the Mongols, +Arabs had been at work in Peking as astronomers, and their influence had +continued under the Ming until the Europeans came. By his astronomical +labours Ricci won a place of honour in Chinese literature; he is the +European most often mentioned. + +The missionary work was less effective. The missionaries penetrated by +the old trade routes from Canton and Macao into the province of Kiangsi +and then into Nanking. Kiangsi and Nanking were their chief centres. +They soon realized that missionary activity that began in the lower +strata would have no success; it was necessary to work from above, +beginning with the emperor, and then, they hoped, the whole country +could be converted to Christianity. When later the emperors of the Ming +dynasty were expelled and fugitives in South China, one of the +pretenders to the throne was actually converted--but it was politically +too late. The missionaries had, moreover, mistaken ideas as to the +nature of Chinese religion; we know today that a universal adoption of +Christianity in China would have been impossible even if an emperor had +personally adopted that foreign faith: there were emperors who had been +interested in Buddhism or in Taoism, but that had been their private +affair and had never prevented them, as heads of the state, from +promoting the religious system which politically was the most +expedient--that is to say, usually Confucianism. What we have said here +in regard to the Christian mission at the Ming court is applicable also +to the missionaries at the court of the first Manchu emperors, in the +seventeenth century. Early in the eighteenth century missionary activity +was prohibited--not for religious but for political reasons, and only +under the pressure of the Capitulations in the nineteenth century were +the missionaries enabled to resume their labours. + +14 _External and internal perils_ + +Towards the end of the reign of Wan-li, about 1620, the danger that +threatened the empire became more and more evident. The Manchus +complained, no doubt with justice, of excesses on the part of Chinese +officials; the friction constantly increased, and the Manchus began to +attack the Chinese cities in Manchuria. In 1616, after his first +considerable successes, their leader Nurhachu assumed the imperial +title; the name of the dynasty was Tai Ch'ing (interpreted as "The great +clarity", but probably a transliteration of a Manchurian word meaning +"hero"). In 1618, the year in which the Thirty Years War started in +Europe, the Manchus conquered the greater part of Manchuria, and in 1621 +their capital was Liaoyang, then the largest town in Manchuria. + +But the Manchu menace was far from being the only one. On the south-east +coast a pirate made himself independent; later, with his family, he +dominated Formosa and fought many battles with the Europeans there +(European sources call him Coxinga). In western China there came a great +popular rising, in which some of the natives joined, and which spread +through a large part of the southern provinces. This rising was +particularly sanguinary, and when it was ultimately crushed by the +Manchus the province of Szechwan, formerly so populous, was almost +depopulated, so that it had later to be resettled. And in the province +of Shantung in the east there came another great rising, also very +sanguinary, that of the secret society of the "White Lotus". We have +already pointed out that these risings of secret societies were always a +sign of intolerable conditions among the peasantry. This was now the +case once more. All the elements of danger which we mentioned at the +outset of this chapter began during this period, between 1610 and 1640, +to develop to the full. + +Then there were the conditions in the capital itself. The struggles +between cliques came to a climax. On the death of Shen Tsung (or Wan-li; +1573-1619), he was succeeded by his son, who died scarcely a month +later, and then by his sixteen-year-old grandson. The grandson had been +from his earliest youth under the influence of a eunuch, Wei +Chung-hsien, who had castrated himself. With the emperor's wet-nurse and +other people, mostly of the middle class, this man formed a powerful +group. The moment the new emperor ascended the throne, Wei was +all-powerful. He began by murdering every eunuch who did not belong to +his clique, and then murdered the rest of his opponents. Meanwhile the +gentry had concluded among themselves a defensive alliance that was a +sort of party; this party was called the Tung-lin Academy. It was +confined to literati among the gentry, and included in particular the +literati who had failed to make their way at court, and who lived on +their estates in Central China and were trying to gain power themselves. +This group was opposed to Wei Chung-hsien, who ruthlessly had every +discoverable member murdered. The remainder went into hiding and +organized themselves secretly under another name. As the new emperor had +no son, the attempt was made to foist a son upon him; at his death in +1627, eight women of the harem were suddenly found to be pregnant! He +was succeeded by his brother, who was one of the opponents of Wei +Chung-hsien and, with the aid of the opposing clique, was able to bring +him to his end. The new emperor tried to restore order at court and in +the capital by means of political and economic decrees, but in spite of +his good intentions and his unquestionable capacity he was unable to +cope with the universal confusion. There was insurrection in every part +of the country. The gentry, organized in their "Academies", and secretly +at work in the provinces, no longer supported the government; the +central power no longer had adequate revenues, so that it was unable to +pay the armies that should have marched against all the rebels and also +against external enemies. It was clear that the dynasty was approaching +its end, and the only uncertainty was as to its successor. The various +insurgents negotiated or fought with each other; generals loyal to the +government won occasional successes against the rebels; other generals +went over to the rebels or to the Manchus. The two most successful +leaders of bands were Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng and Chang Hsien-chung. Li came +from the province of Shensi; he had come to the fore during a disastrous +famine in his country. The years around 1640 brought several widespread +droughts in North China, a natural phenomenon that was repeated in the +nineteenth century, when unrest again ensued. Chang Hsien-chung returned +for a time to the support of the government, but later established +himself in western China. It was typical, however, of all these +insurgents that none of them had any great objective in view. They +wanted to get enough to eat for themselves and their followers; they +wanted to enrich themselves by conquest; but they were incapable of +building up an ordered and new administration. Li ultimately made +himself "king" in the province of Shensi and called his dynasty "Shun", +but this made no difference: there was no distribution of land among the +peasants serving in Li's army; no plan was set into operation for the +collection of taxes; not one of the pressing problems was faced. + +Meanwhile the Manchus were gaining support. Almost all the Mongol +princes voluntarily joined them and took part in the raids into North +China. In 1637 the united Manchus and Mongols conquered Korea. Their +power steadily grew. What the insurgents in China failed to achieve, the +Manchus achieved with the aid of their Chinese advisers: they created a +new military organization, the "Banner Organization". The men fit for +service were distributed among eight "banners", and these banners became +the basis of the Manchu state administration. By this device the +Manchus emerged from the stage of tribal union, just as before them +Turks and other northern peoples had several times abandoned the +traditional authority of a hierarchy of tribal leaders, a system of +ruling families, in favour of the authority, based on efficiency, of +military leaders. At the same time the Manchus set up a central +government with special ministries on the Chinese model. In 1638 the +Manchus appeared before Peking, but they retired once more. Manchu +armies even reached the province of Shantung. They were hampered by the +death at the critical moment of the Manchu ruler Abahai (1626-1643). His +son Fu Lin was not entirely normal and was barely six years old; there +was a regency of princes, the most prominent among them being Prince +Dorgon. + +Meanwhile Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng broke through to Peking. The city had a +strong garrison, but owing to the disorganization of the government the +different commanders were working against each other; and the soldiers +had no fighting spirit because they had no pay for a long time. Thus the +city fell, on April 24th, 1644, and the last Ming emperor killed +himself. A prince was proclaimed emperor; he fled through western and +southern China, continually trying to make a stand, but it was too late; +without the support of the gentry he had no resource, and ultimately, in +1659, he was compelled to flee into Burma. + +Thus Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng was now emperor. It should have been his task +rapidly to build up a government, and to take up arms against the other +rebels and against the Manchus. Instead of this he behaved in such a way +that he was unable to gain any support from the existing officials in +the capital; and as there was no one among his former supporters who had +any positive, constructive ideas, just nothing was done. + +This, however, improved the chances of all the other aspirants to the +imperial throne. The first to realize this clearly, and also to possess +enough political sagacity to avoid alienating the gentry, was General Wu +San-kui, who was commanding on the Manchu front. He saw that in the +existing conditions in the capital he could easily secure the imperial +throne for himself if only he had enough soldiers. Accordingly he +negotiated with the Manchu Prince Dorgon, formed an alliance with the +Manchus, and with them entered Peking on June 6th, 1644. Li +Tz[)u]-ch'eng quickly looted the city, burned down whatever he could, +and fled into the west, continually pursued by Wu San-kui. In the end he +was abandoned by all his supporters and killed by peasants. The Manchus, +however, had no intention of leaving Wu San-kui in power: they +established themselves in Peking, and Wu became their general. + + +(C) The Manchu Dynasty (1644-1911) + +1 _Installation of Manchus_ + +The Manchus had gained the mastery over China owing rather to China's +internal situation than to their military superiority. How was it that +the dynasty could endure for so long, although the Manchus were not +numerous, although the first Manchu ruler (Fu Lin, known under the rule +name Shun-chih; 1644-1662) was a psychopathic youth, although there were +princes of the Ming dynasty ruling in South China, and although there +were strong groups of rebels all over the country? The Manchus were +aliens; at that time the national feeling of the Chinese had already +been awakened; aliens were despised. In addition to this, the Manchus +demanded that as a sign of their subjection the Chinese should wear +pigtails and assume Manchurian clothing (law of 1645). Such laws could +not but offend national pride. Moreover, marriages between Manchus and +Chinese were prohibited, and a dual government was set up, with Manchus +always alongside Chinese in every office, the Manchus being of course in +the superior position. The Manchu soldiers were distributed in military +garrisons among the great cities, and were paid state pensions, which +had to be provided by taxation. They were the master race, and had no +need to work. Manchus did not have to attend the difficult state +examinations which the Chinese had to pass in order to gain an +appointment. How was it that in spite of all this the Manchus were able +to establish themselves? + +The conquering Manchu generals first went south from eastern China, and +in 1645 captured Nanking, where a Ming prince had ruled. The region +round Nanking was the economic centre of China. Soon the Manchus were in +the adjoining southern provinces, and thus they conquered the whole of +the territory of the landowning gentry, who after the events of the +beginning of the seventeenth century had no longer trusted the Ming +rulers. The Ming prince in Nanking was just as incapable, and surrounded +by just as evil a clique, as the Ming emperors of the past. The gentry +were not inclined to defend him. A considerable section of the gentry +were reduced to utter despair; they had no desire to support the Ming +any longer; in their own interest they could not support the rebel +leaders; and they regarded the Manchus as just a particular sort of +"rebels". Interpreting the refusal of some Sung ministers to serve the +foreign Mongols as an act of loyalty, it was now regarded as shameful to +desert a dynasty when it came to an end and to serve the new ruler, even +if the new regime promised to be better. Many thousands of officials, +scholars, and great landowners committed suicide. Many books, often +really moving and tragic, are filled with the story of their lives. Some +of them tried to form insurgent bands with their peasants and went into +the mountains, but they were unable to maintain themselves there. The +great bulk of the élite soon brought themselves to collaborate with the +conquerors when they were offered tolerable conditions. In the end the +Manchus did not interfere in the ownership of land in central China. + +At the time when in Europe Louis XIV was reigning, the Thirty Years War +was coming to an end, and Cromwell was carrying out his reforms in +England, the Manchus conquered the whole of China. Chang Hsien-chung and +Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng were the first to fall; the pirate Coxinga lasted a +little longer and was even able to plunder Nanking in 1659, but in 1661 +he had to retire to Formosa. Wu San-kui, who meanwhile had conquered +western China, saw that the situation was becoming difficult for him. +His task was to drive out the last Ming pretenders for the Manchus. As +he had already been opposed to the Ming in 1644, and as the Ming no +longer had any following among the gentry, he could not suddenly work +with them against the Manchus. He therefore handed over to the Manchus +the last Ming prince, whom the Burmese had delivered up to him in 1661. +Wu San-kui's only possible allies against the Manchus were the gentry. +But in the west, where he was in power, the gentry counted for nothing; +they had in any case been weaker in the west, and they had been +decimated by the insurrection of Chang Hsien-chung. Thus Wu San-kui was +compelled to try to push eastwards, in order to unite with the gentry of +the Yangtze region against the Manchus. The Manchus guessed Wu San-kui's +plan, and in 1673, after every effort at accommodation had failed, open +war came. Wu San-kui made himself emperor, and the Manchus marched +against him. Meanwhile, the Chinese gentry of the Yangtze region had +come to terms with the Manchus, and they gave Wu San-kui no help. He +vegetated in the south-west, a region too poor to maintain an army that +could conquer all China, and too small to enable him to last +indefinitely as an independent power. He was able to hold his own until +his death, although, with the loss of the support of the gentry, he had +no prospect of final success. Not until 1681 was his successor, his +grandson Wu Shih-fan, defeated. The end of the rule of Wu San-kui and +his successor marked the end of the national governments of China; the +whole country was now under alien domination, for the simple reason that +all the opponents of the Manchus had failed. Only the Manchus were +accredited with the ability to bring order out of the universal +confusion, so that there was clearly no alternative but to put up with +the many insults and humiliations they inflicted--with the result that +the national feeling that had just been aroused died away, except where +it was kept alive in a few secret societies. There will be more to say +about this, once the works which were suppressed by the Manchus are +published. + +In the first phase of the Manchu conquest the gentry had refused to +support either the Ming princes or Wu San-kui, or any of the rebels, or +the Manchus themselves. A second phase began about twenty years after +the capture of Peking, when the Manchus won over the gentry by desisting +from any interference with the ownership of land, and by the use of +Manchu troops to clear away the "rebels" who were hostile to the gentry. +A reputable government was then set up in Peking, free from eunuchs and +from all the old cliques; in their place the government looked for +Chinese scholars for its administrative posts. Literati and scholars +streamed into Peking, especially members of the "Academies" that still +existed in secret, men who had been the chief sufferers from the +conditions at the end of the Ming epoch. The young emperor Sheng Tsu +(1663-1722; K'ang-hsi is the name by which his rule was known, not his +name) was keenly interested in Chinese culture and gave privileged +treatment to the scholars of the gentry who came forward. A rapid +recovery quite clearly took place. The disturbances of the years that +had passed had got rid of the worst enemies of the people, the +formidable rival cliques and the individuals lusting for power; the +gentry had become more cautious in their behaviour to the peasants; and +bribery had been largely stamped out. Finally, the empire had been +greatly expanded. All these things helped to stabilize the regime of the +Manchus. + +2 _Decline in the eighteenth century_ + +The improvement continued until the middle of the eighteenth century. +About the time of the French Revolution there began a continuous +decline, slow at first and then gathering speed. The European works on +China offer various reasons for this: the many foreign wars (to which we +shall refer later) of the emperor, known by the name of his ruling +period, Ch'ien-lung, his craze for building, and the irruption of the +Europeans into Chinese trade. In the eighteenth century the court +surrounded itself with great splendour, and countless palaces and other +luxurious buildings were erected, but it must be borne in mind that so +great an empire as the China of that day possessed very considerable +financial strength, and could support this luxury. The wars were +certainly not inexpensive, as they took place along the Russian +frontier and entailed expenditure on the transport of reinforcements and +supplies; the wars against Turkestan and Tibet were carried on with +relatively small forces. This expenditure should not have been beyond +the resources of an ordered budget. Interestingly enough, the period +between 1640 and 1840 belongs to those periods for which almost no +significant work in the field of internal social and economic +developments has been made; Western scholars have been too much +interested in the impact of Western economy and culture or in the +military events. Chinese scholars thus far have shown a prejudice +against the Manchu dynasty and were mainly interested in the study of +anti-Manchu movements and the downfall of the dynasty. On the other +hand, the documentary material for this period is extremely extensive, +and many years of work are necessary to reach any general conclusions +even in one single field. The following remarks should, therefore, be +taken as very tentative and preliminary, and they are, naturally, +fragmentary. + +[Illustration: 14 Aborigines of South China, of the 'Black Miao' tribe, +at a festival. China-ink drawing of the eighteenth century. _Collection +of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1D 8756, 68_.] + +[Illustration: 15 Pavilion on the 'Coal Hill' at Peking, in which the +last Ming emperor committed suicide. _Photo Eberhard_.] + +[Illustration: Chart POPULATION GROWTH OF CHINA] + +The decline of the Manchu dynasty began at a time when the European +trade was still insignificant, and not as late as after 1842, when China +had to submit to the foreign Capitulations. These cannot have been the +true cause of the decline. Above all, the decline was not so noticeable +in the state of the Exchequer as in a general impoverishment of China. +The number of really wealthy persons among the gentry diminished, but +the middle class, that is to say the people who had education but little +or no money and property, grew steadily in number. + +One of the deeper reasons for the decline of the Manchu dynasty seems to +lie in the enormous increase in the population. Here are a few Chinese +statistics: + + _Year_ _Population_ + + 1578(before the Manchus) 10,621,463 families or 60,692,856 individuals + 1662 19,203,233 " 100,000,000 " [*] + 1710 23,311,236 " 116,000,000 " [*] + 1729 25,480,498 " 127,000,000 " [*] + 1741 " 143,411,559 " + 1754 184,504,493 " + 1778 242,965,618 " + 1796 275,662,414 " + 1814 374,601,132 " + 1850 414,493,899 " + (1953) (601,938,035 ") + + [*] Approximately + +It may be objected that these figures are incorrect and exaggerated. +Undoubtedly they contain errors. But the first figure (for 1578) of some +sixty millions is in close agreement with all other figures of early +times; the figure for 1850 seems high, but cannot be far wrong, for even +after the great T'ai P'ing Rebellion of 1851, which, together with its +after-effects, costs the lives of countless millions, all statisticians +of today estimate the population of China at more than four hundred +millions. If we enter these data together with the census of 1953 into a +chart (see p. 273), a fairly smooth curve emerges; the special features +are that already under the Ming the population was increasing and, +secondly, that the high rate of increase in the population began with +the long period of internal peace since about 1700. From that time +onwards, all China's wars were fought at so great a distance from China +proper that the population was not directly affected. Moreover, in the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Manchus saw to the maintenance +of the river dykes, so that the worst inundations were prevented. Thus +there were not so many of the floods which had often cost the lives of +many million people in China; and there were no internal wars, with +their heavy cost in lives. + +But while the population increased, the tillage failed to increase in +the needed proportion. I have, unfortunately, no statistics for all +periods; but the general tendency is shown by the following table: + + _Date Cultivated area_ mou _per person_ + _in_ mou + + 1578 701,397,600 11.6 + 1662 531,135,800 + 1719 663,113,200 + 1729 878,176,000 6.1 + (1953) (1,627,930,000) (2.7) + +Six _mou_ are about one acre. In 1578, there were 66 _mou_ land per +family of the total population. This was close to the figures regarded +as ideal by Chinese early economists for the producing family (100 +_mou_) considering the fact that about 80 per cent of all families at +that time were producers. By 1729 it was only 35 _mou_ per family, i.e. +the land had to produce almost twice as much as before. We have shown +that the agricultural developments in the Ming time greatly increased +the productivity of the land. This then, obviously resulted in an +increase of population. But by the middle of the eighteenth century, +assuming that production doubled since the sixteenth century, population +pressure was again as heavy as it had been then. And after _c_. 1750, +population pressure continued to build up to the present time. + +Internal colonization continued during the Manchu time; there was a +continuous, but slow flow of people into Kwangsi, Kweichow, Yünnan. In +spite of laws which prohibited emigration, Chinese also moved into +South-East Asia. Chinese settlement in Manchuria was allowed only in the +last years of the Manchus. But such internal colonization or emigration +could alleviated the pressure only in some areas, while it continued to +build up in others. + +In Europe as well as in Japan, we find a strong population increase; in +Europe at almost the same time as in China. But before population +pressure became too serious in Europe or Japan, industry developed and +absorbed the excess population. Thus, farms did not decrease too much in +size. Too small farms are always and in many ways uneconomical. With the +development of industries, the percentage of farm population decreased. +In China, however, the farm population was still as high as 73.3 per +cent of the total population in 1932 and the percentage rose to 81 per +cent in 1950. + +From the middle of the seventeenth century on, commercial activities, +especially along the coast, continued to increase and we find gentry +families who equip sons who were unwilling or not capable to study and +to enter the ranks of the officials, but who were too unruly to sit in +villages and collect the rent from the tenants of the family, with money +to enter business. The newly settled areas of Kwangtung and Kwangsi were +ideal places for them: here they could sell Chinese products to the +native tribes or to the new settlers at high prices. Some of these men +introduced new techniques from the old provinces of China into the +"colonial" areas and set up dye factories, textile factories, etc., in +the new towns of the south. But the greatest stimulus for these +commercial activities was foreign, European trade. American silver which +had flooded Europe in the sixteenth century, began to flow into China +from the beginning of the seventeenth century on. The influx was stopped +not until between 1661 and 1684 when the government again prohibited +coastal shipping and removed coastal settlements into the interior in +order to stop piracy along the coasts of Fukien and independence +movements on Formosa. But even during these twenty-three years, the +price of silver was so low that home production was given up because it +did not pay off. In the eighteenth century, silver again continued to +enter China, while silk and tea were exported. This demand led to a +strong rise in the prices of silk and tea, and benefited the merchants. +When, from the late eighteenth century on, opium began to be imported, +the silver left China again. The merchants profited this time from the +opium trade, but farmers had to suffer: the price of silver went up, and +taxes had to be paid in silver, while farm products were sold for +copper. By 1835, the ounce of silver had a value of 2,000 copper coins +instead of one thousand before 1800. High gains in commerce prevented +investment in industries, because they would give lower and later +profits than commerce. From the nineteenth century on, more and more +industrial goods were offered by importers which also prevented +industrialization. Finally, the gentry basically remained +anti-industrial and anti-business. They tried to operate necessary +enterprises such as mining, melting, porcelain production as far as +possible as government establishments; but as the operators were +officials, they were not too business-minded and these enterprises did +not develop well. The businessmen certainly had enough capital, but they +invested it in land instead of investing it in industries which could at +any moment be taken away by the government, controlled by the officials +or forced to sell at set prices, and which were always subject to +exploitation by dishonest officials. A businessman felt secure only when +he had invested in land, when he had received an official title upon the +payment of large sums of money, or when he succeeded to push at least +one of his sons into the government bureaucracy. No doubt, in spite of +all this, Chinese business and industry kept on developing in the Manchu +time, but they did not develop at such a speed as to transform the +country from an agrarian into a modern industrial nation. + +3 _Expansion in Central Asia; the first State treaty_ + +The rise of the Manchu dynasty actually began under the K'ang-hsi rule +(1663-1722). The emperor had three tasks. The first was the removal of +the last supporters of the Ming dynasty and of the generals, such as Wu +San-kui, who had tried to make themselves independent. This necessitated +a long series of campaigns, most of them in the south-west or south of +China; these scarcely affected the population of China proper. In 1683 +Formosa was occupied and the last of the insurgent army commanders was +defeated. It was shown above that the situation of all these leaders +became hopeless as soon as the Manchus had occupied the rich Yangtze +region and the intelligentsia and the gentry of that region had gone +over to them. + +A quite different type of insurgent commander was the Mongol prince +Galdan. He, too, planned to make himself independent of Manchu +overlordship. At first the Mongols had readily supported the Manchus, +when the latter were making raids into China and there was plenty of +booty. Now, however, the Manchus, under the influence of the Chinese +gentry whom they brought, and could not but bring, to their court, were +rapidly becoming Chinese in respect to culture. Even in the time of +K'ang-hsi the Manchus began to forget Manchurian; they brought tutors to +court to teach the young Manchus Chinese. Later even the emperors did +not understand Manchurian! As a result of this process, the Mongols +became alienated from the Manchurians, and the situation began once more +to be the same as at the time of the Ming rulers. Thus Galdan tried to +found an independent Mongol realm, free from Chinese influence. + +The Manchus could not permit this, as such a realm would have threatened +the flank of their homeland, Manchuria, and would have attracted those +Manchus who objected to sinification. Between 1690 and 1696 there were +battles, in which the emperor actually took part in person. Galdan was +defeated. In 1715, however, there were new disturbances, this time in +western Mongolia. Tsewang Rabdan, whom the Chinese had made khan of the +Ölöt, rose against the Chinese. The wars that followed, extending far +into Turkestan and also involving its Turkish population together with +the Dzungars, ended with the Chinese conquest of the whole of Mongolia +and of parts of eastern Turkestan. As Tsewang Rabdan had tried to extend +his power as far as Tibet, a campaign was undertaken also into Tibet, +Lhasa was occupied, a new Dalai Lama was installed there as supreme +ruler, and Tibet was made into a protectorate. Since then Tibet has +remained to this day under some form of Chinese colonial rule. + +This penetration of the Chinese into Turkestan took place just at the +time when the Russians were enormously expanding their empire in Asia, +and this formed the third problem for the Manchus. In 1650 the Russians +had established a fort by the river Amur. The Manchus regarded the Amur +(which they called the "River of the Black Dragon") as part of their own +territory, and in 1685 they destroyed the Russian settlement. After this +there were negotiations, which culminated in 1689 in the Treaty of +Nerchinsk. This treaty was the first concluded by the Chinese state with +a European power. Jesuit missionaries played a part in the negotiations +as interpreters. Owing to the difficulties of translation the text of +the treaty, in Chinese, Russian, and Manchurian, contained some +obscurities, particularly in regard to the frontier line. Accordingly, +in 1727 the Russians asked for a revision of the old treaty. The Chinese +emperor, whose rule name was Yung-cheng, arranged for the negotiations +to be carried on at the frontier, in the town of Kyakhta, in Mongolia, +where after long discussions a new treaty was concluded. Under this +treaty the Russians received permission to set up a legation and a +commercial agency in Peking, and also to maintain a church. This was the +beginning of the foreign Capitulations. From the Chinese point of view +there was nothing special in a facility of this sort. For some fifteen +centuries all the "barbarians" who had to bring tribute had been given +houses in the capital, where their envoys could wait until the emperor +would receive them--usually on New Year's Day. The custom had sprung up +at the reception of the Huns. Moreover, permission had always been given +for envoys to be accompanied by a few merchants, who during the envoy's +stay did a certain amount of business. Furthermore the time had been +when the Uighurs were permitted to set up a temple of their own. At the +time of the permission given to the Russians to set up a "legation", a +similar office was set up (in 1729) for "Uighur" peoples (meaning +Mohammedans), again under the control of an office, called the Office +for Regulation of Barbarians. The Mohammedan office was placed under two +Mohammedan leaders who lived in Peking. The Europeans, however, had +quite different ideas about a "legation", and about the significance of +permission to trade. They regarded this as the opening of diplomatic +relations between states on terms of equality, and the carrying on of +trade as a special privilege, a sort of Capitulation. This reciprocal +misunderstanding produced in the nineteenth century a number of serious +political conflicts. The Europeans charged the Chinese with breach of +treaties, failure to meet their obligations, and other such things, +while the Chinese considered that they had acted with perfect +correctness. + +4 _Culture_ + +In this K'ang-hsi period culture began to flourish again. The emperor +had attracted the gentry, and so the intelligentsia, to his court +because his uneducated Manchus could not alone have administered the +enormous empire; and he showed great interest in Chinese culture, +himself delved deeply into it, and had many works compiled, especially +works of an encyclopaedic character. The encyclopaedias enabled +information to be rapidly gained on all sorts of subjects, and thus were +just what an interested ruler needed, especially when, as a foreigner, +he was not in a position to gain really thorough instruction in things +Chinese. The Chinese encyclopaedias of the seventeenth and especially of +the eighteenth century were thus the outcome of the initiative of the +Manchurian emperor, and were compiled for his information; they were not +due, like the French encyclopaedias of the eighteenth century, to a +movement for the spread of knowledge among the people. For this latter +purpose the gigantic encyclopaedias of the Manchus, each of which fills +several bookcases, were much too expensive and were printed in much too +limited editions. The compilations began with the great geographical +encyclopaedia of Ku Yen-wu (1613-1682), and attained their climax in the +gigantic eighteenth-century encyclopaedia _T'u-shu chi-ch'eng_, +scientifically impeccable in the accuracy of its references to sources. +Here were already the beginnings of the "Archaeological School", built +up in the course of the eighteenth century. This school was usually +called "Han school" because the adherents went back to the commentaries +of the classical texts written in Han time and discarded the orthodox +explanations of Chu Hsi's school of Sung time. Later, its most prominent +leader was Tai Chen (1723-1777). Tai was greatly interested in +technology and science; he can be regarded as the first philosopher who +exhibited an empirical, scientific way of thinking. Late nineteenth and +early twentieth century Chinese scholarship is greatly obliged to him. + +The most famous literary works of the Manchu epoch belong once more to +the field which Chinese do not regard as that of true literature--the +novel, the short story, and the drama. Poetry did exist, but it kept to +the old paths and had few fresh ideas. All the various forms of the Sung +period were made use of. The essayists, too, offered nothing new, though +their number was legion. One of the best known is Yüan Mei (1716-1797), +who was also the author of the collection of short stories _Tse-pu-yü_ +("The Master did not tell"), which is regarded very highly by the +Chinese. The volume of short stories entitled _Liao-chai chich-i_, by +P'u Sung-lin (1640-1715?), is world-famous and has been translated into +every civilized language. Both collections are distinguished by their +simple but elegant style. The short story was popular among the greater +gentry; it abandoned the popular style it had in the Ming epoch, and +adopted the polished language of scholars. + +The Manchu epoch has left to us what is by general consent the finest +novel in Chinese literature, _Hung-lou-meng_ ("The Dream of the Red +Chamber"), by Ts'ao Hsüeh-ch'in, who died in 1763. It describes the +downfall of a rich and powerful family from the highest rank of the +gentry, and the decadent son's love of a young and emotional lady of the +highest circles. The story is clothed in a mystical garb that does +something to soften its tragic ending. The interesting novel _Ju-lin +wai-shih_ ("Private Reports from the Life of Scholars"), by Wu +Ching-tz[)u] (1701-1754), is a mordant criticism of Confucianism with +its rigid formalism, of the social system, and of the examination +system. Social criticism is the theme of many novels. The most modern in +spirit of the works of this period is perhaps the treatment of feminism +in the novel _Ching-hua-yüan_, by Li Yu-chên (d. 1830), which demanded +equal rights for men and women. + +The drama developed quickly in the Manchu epoch, particularly in +quantity, especially since the emperors greatly appreciated the theatre. +A catalogue of plays compiled in 1781 contains 1,013 titles! Some of +these dramas were of unprecedented length. One of them was played in 26 +parts containing 240 acts; a performance took two years to complete! +Probably the finest dramas of the Manchu epoch are those of Li Yü (born +1611), who also became the first of the Chinese dramatic critics. What +he had to say about the art of the theatre, and about aesthetics in +general, is still worth reading. + +About the middle of the nineteenth century the influence of Europe +became more and more marked. Translation began with Yen Fu (1853-1921), +who translated the first philosophical and scientific books and books on +social questions and made his compatriots acquainted with Western +thought. At the same time Lin Shu (1852-1924) translated the first +Western short stories and novels. With these two began the new style, +which was soon elaborated by Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, a collaborator of Sun +Yat-sen's, and by others, and which ultimately produced the "literary +revolution" of 1917. Translation has continued to this day; almost every +book of outstanding importance in world literature is translated within +a few months of its appearance, and on the average these translations +are of a fairly high level. + +Particularly fine work was produced in the field of porcelain in the +Manchu epoch. In 1680 the famous kilns in the province of Kiangsi were +reopened, and porcelain that is among the most artistically perfect in +the world was fired in them. Among the new colours were especially green +shades (one group is known as _famille verte_) and also black and yellow +compositions. Monochrome porcelain also developed further, including +very fine dark blue, brilliant red (called "ox-blood"), and white. In +the eighteenth century, however, there began an unmistakable decline, +which has continued to this day, although there are still a few +craftsmen and a few kilns that produce outstanding work (usually +attempts to imitate old models), often in small factories. + +In painting, European influence soon shows itself. The best-known +example of this is Lang Shih-ning, an Italian missionary whose original +name was Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766); he began to work in China in +1715. He learned the Chinese method of painting, but introduced a number +of technical tricks of European painters, which were adopted in general +practice in China, especially by the official court painters: the +painting of the scholars who lived in seclusion remained uninfluenced. +Dutch flower-painting also had some influence in China as early as the +eighteenth century. + +The missionaries played an important part at court. The first Manchu +emperors were as generous in this matter as the Mongols had been, and +allowed the foreigners to work in peace. They showed special interest in +the European science introduced by the missionaries; they had less +sympathy for their religious message. The missionaries, for their part, +sent to Europe enthusiastic accounts of the wonderful conditions in +China, and so helped to popularize the idea that was being formed in +Europe of an "enlightened", a constitutional, monarchy. The leaders of +the Enlightenment read these reports with enthusiasm, with the result +that they had an influence on the French Revolution. Confucius was found +particularly attractive, and was regarded as a forerunner of the +Enlightenment. The "Monadism" of the philosopher Leibniz was influenced +by these reports. + +The missionaries gained a reputation at court as "scientists", and in +this they were of service both to China and to Europe. The behaviour of +the European merchants who followed the missions, spreading gradually in +growing numbers along the coasts of China, was not by any means so +irreproachable. The Chinese were certainly justified when they declared +that European ships often made landings on the coast and simply looted, +just as the Japanese had done before them. Reports of this came to the +court, and as captured foreigners described themselves as "Christians" +and also seemed to have some connection with the missionaries living at +court, and as disputes had broken out among the missionaries themselves +in connection with papal ecclesiastical policy, in the Yung-cheng period +(1723-1736; the name of the emperor was Shih Tsung) Christianity was +placed under a general ban, being regarded as a secret political +organization. + +5 _Relations with the outer world_ + +During the Yung-cheng period there was long-continued guerrilla fighting +with natives in south-west China. The pressure of population in China +sought an outlet in emigration. More and more Chinese moved into the +south-west, and took the land from the natives, and the fighting was the +consequence of this. + +At the beginning of the Ch'ien-lung period (1736-1796), fighting started +again in Turkestan. Mongols, now called Kalmuks, defeated by the +Chinese, had migrated to the Ili region, where after heavy fighting they +gained supremacy over some of the Kazaks and other Turkish peoples +living there and in western Turkestan. Some Kazak tribes went over to +the Russians, and in 1735 the Russian colonialists founded the town of +Orenburg in the western Kazak region. The Kalmuks fought the Chinese +without cessation until, in 1739, they entered into an agreement under +which they ceded half their territory to Manchu China, retaining only +the Ili region. The Kalmuks subsequently reunited with other sections of +the Kazaks against the Chinese. In 1754 peace was again concluded with +China, but it was followed by raids on both sides, so that the Manchus +determined to enter on a great campaign against the Ili region. This +ended with a decisive victory for the Chinese (1755). In the years that +followed, however, the Chinese began to be afraid that the various Kazak +tribes might unite in order to occupy the territory of the Kalmuks, +which was almost unpopulated owing to the mass slaughter of Kalmuks by +the Chinese. Unrest began among the Mohammedans throughout the +neighbouring western Turkestan, and the same Chinese generals who had +fought the Kalmuks marched into Turkestan and captured the Mohammedan +city states of Uch, Kashgar, and Yarkand. + +The reinforcements for these campaigns, and for the garrisons which in +the following decades were stationed in the Ili region and in the west +of eastern Turkestan, marched along the road from Peking that leads +northward through Mongolia to the far distant Uliassutai and Kobdo. The +cost of transport for one _shih_ (about 66 lb.) amounted to 120 pieces +of silver. In 1781 certain economies were introduced, but between 1781 +and 1791 over 30,000 tons, making some 8 tons a day, was transported to +that region. The cost of transport for supplies alone amounted in the +course of time to the not inconsiderable sum of 120,000,000 pieces of +silver. In addition to this there was the cost of the transported goods +and of the pay of soldiers and of the administration. These figures +apply to the period of occupation, of relative peace: during the actual +wars of conquest the expenditure was naturally far higher. Thus these +campaigns, though I do not think they brought actual economic ruin to +China, were nevertheless a costly enterprise, and one which produced +little positive advantage. + +In addition to this, these wars brought China into conflict with the +European colonial powers. In the years during which the Chinese armies +were fighting in the Ili region, the Russians were putting out their +feelers in that direction, and the Chinese annals show plainly how the +Russians intervened in the fighting with the Kalmuks and Kazaks. The Hi +region remained thereafter a bone of contention between China and +Russia, until it finally went to Russia, bit by bit, between 1847 and +1881. The Kalmuks and Kazaks played a special part in Russo-Chinese +relations. The Chinese had sent a mission to the Kalmuks farthest west, +by the lower Volga, and had entered into relations with them, as early +as 1714. As Russian pressure on the Volga region continually grew, these +Kalmuks (mainly the Turgut tribe), who had lived there since 1630, +decided to return into Chinese territory (1771). During this enormously +difficult migration, almost entirely through hostile territory, a large +number of the Turgut perished; 85,000, however, reached the Hi region, +where they were settled by the Chinese on the lands of the eastern +Kalmuks, who had been largely exterminated. + +In the south, too, the Chinese came into direct touch with the European +powers. In 1757 the English occupied Calcutta, and in 1766 the province +of Bengal. In 1767 a Manchu general, Ming Jui, who had been victorious +in the fighting for eastern Turkestan, marched against Burma, which was +made a dependency once more in 1769. And in 1790-1791 the Chinese +conquered Nepal, south of Tibet, because Nepalese had made two attacks +on Tibet. Thus English and Chinese political interests came here into +contact. + +For the Ch'ien-lung period's many wars of conquest there seem to have +been two main reasons. The first was the need for security. The Mongols +had to be overthrown because otherwise the homeland of the Manchus was +menaced; in order to make sure of the suppression of the eastern +Mongols, the western Mongols (Kalmuks) had to be overthrown; to make +them harmless, Turkestan and the Ili region had to be conquered; Tibet +was needed for the security of Turkestan and Mongolia--and so on. Vast +territories, however, were conquered in this process which were of no +economic value, and most of which actually cost a great deal of money +and brought nothing in. They were conquered simply for security. That +advantage had been gained: an aggressor would have to cross great areas +of unproductive territory, with difficult conditions for reinforcements, +before he could actually reach China. In the second place, the Chinese +may actually have noticed the efforts that were being made by the +European powers, especially Russia and England, to divide Asia among +themselves, and accordingly they made sure of their own good share. + +6 _Decline; revolts_ + +The period of Ch'ien-lung is not only that of the greatest expansion of +the Chinese empire, but also that of the greatest prosperity under the +Manchu regime. But there began at the same time to be signs of internal +decline. If we are to fix a particular year for this, perhaps it should +be the year 1774, in which came the first great popular rising, in the +province of Shantung. In 1775 there came another popular rising, in +Honan--that of the "Society of the White Lotus". This society, which had +long existed as a secret organization and had played a part in the Ming +epoch, had been reorganized by a man named Liu Sung. Liu Sung was +captured and was condemned to penal servitude. His followers, however, +regrouped themselves, particularly in the province of Anhui. These +risings had been produced, as always, by excessive oppression of the +people by the government or the governing class. As, however, the anger +of the population was naturally directed also against the idle Manchus +of the cities, who lived on their state pensions, did no work, and +behaved as a ruling class, the government saw in these movements a +nationalist spirit, and took drastic steps against them. The popular +leaders now altered their program, and acclaimed a supposed descendant +from the Ming dynasty as the future emperor. Government troops caught +the leader of the "White Lotus" agitation, but he succeeded in escaping. +In the regions through which the society had spread, there then began a +sort of Inquisition, of exceptional ferocity. Six provinces were +affected, and in and around the single city of Wuch'ang in four months +more than 20,000 people were beheaded. The cost of the rising to the +government ran into millions. In answer to this oppression, the popular +leaders tightened their organization and marched north-west from the +western provinces of which they had gained control. The rising was +suppressed only by a very big military operation, and not until 1802. +There had been very heavy fighting between 1793 and 1802--just when in +Europe, in the French Revolution, another oppressed population won its +freedom. + +The Ch'ien-lung emperor abdicated on New Year's Day, 1795, after ruling +for sixty years. He died in 1799. His successor was Jen Tsung +(1796-1821; reign name: Chia-ch'ing). In the course of his reign the +rising of the "White Lotus" was suppressed, but in 1813 there began a +new rising, this time in North China--again that of a secret +organization, the "Society of Heaven's Law". One of its leaders bribed +some eunuchs, and penetrated with a group of followers into the palace; +he threw himself upon the emperor, who was only saved through the +intervention of his son. At the same time the rising spread in the +provinces. Once more the government succeeded in suppressing it and +capturing the leaders. But the memory of these risings was kept alive +among the Chinese people. For the government failed to realize that the +actual cause of the risings was the general impoverishment, and saw in +them a nationalist movement, thus actually arousing a national +consciousness, stronger than in the Ming epoch, among the middle and +lower classes of the people, together with hatred of the Manchus. They +were held responsible for every evil suffered, regardless of the fact +that similar evils had existed earlier. + +7 _European Imperialism in the Far East_ + +With the Tao-kuang period (1821-1850) began a new period in Chinese +history, which came to an end only in 1911. + +In foreign affairs these ninety years were marked by the steadily +growing influence of the Western powers, aimed at turning China into a +colony. Culturally this period was that of the gradual infiltration of +Western civilization into the Far East; it was recognized in China that +it was necessary to learn from the West. In home affairs we see the +collapse of the dynasty and the destruction of the unity of the empire; +of four great civil wars, one almost brought the dynasty to its end. +North and South China, the coastal area and the interior, developed in +different ways. + +Great Britain had made several attempts to improve her trade relations +with China, but the mission of 1793 had no success, and that of 1816 +also failed. English merchants, like all foreign merchants, were only +permitted to settle in a small area adjoining Canton and at Macao, and +were only permitted to trade with a particular group of monopolists, +known as the "Hong". The Hong had to pay taxes to the state, but they +had a wonderful opportunity of enriching themselves. The Europeans were +entirely at their mercy, for they were not allowed to travel inland, and +they were not allowed to try to negotiate with other merchants, to +secure lower prices by competition. + +The Europeans concentrated especially on the purchase of silk and tea; +but what could they import into China? The higher the price of the goods +and the smaller the cargo space involved, the better were the chances of +profit for the merchants. It proved, however, that European woollens or +luxury goods could not be sold; the Chinese would probably have been +glad to buy food, but transport was too expensive to permit profitable +business. Thus a new article was soon discovered--opium, carried from +India to China: the price was high and the cargo space involved was very +small. The Chinese were familiar with opium, and bought it readily. +Accordingly, from 1800 onwards opium became more and more the chief +article of trade, especially for the English, who were able to bring it +conveniently from India. Opium is harmful to the people; the opium trade +resulted in certain groups of merchants being inordinately enriched; a +great deal of Chinese money went abroad. The government became +apprehensive and sent Lin Tsê-hsü as its commissioner to Canton. In 1839 +he prohibited the opium trade and burned the chests of opium found in +British possession. The British view was that to tolerate the Chinese +action might mean the destruction of British trade in the Far East and +that, on the other hand, it might be possible by active intervention to +compel the Chinese to open other ports to European trade and to shake +off the monopoly of the Canton merchants. In 1840 British ships-of-war +appeared off the south-eastern coast of China and bombarded it. In 1841 +the Chinese opened negotiations and dismissed Lin Tsê-hsü. As the +Chinese concessions were regarded as inadequate, hostilities continued; +the British entered the Yangtze estuary and threatened Nanking. In this +first armed conflict with the West, China found herself defenceless +owing to her lack of a navy, and it was also found that the European +weapons were far superior to those of the Chinese. In 1842 China was +compelled to capitulate: under the Treaty of Nanking Hong Kong was ceded +to Great Britain, a war indemnity was paid, certain ports were thrown +open to European trade, and the monopoly was brought to an end. A great +deal of opium came, however, into China through smuggling--regrettably, +for the state lost the customs revenue! + +This treaty introduced the period of the Capitulations. It contained +the dangerous clause which added most to China's misfortunes--the Most +Favoured Nation clause, providing that if China granted any privilege to +any other state, that privilege should also automatically be granted to +Great Britain. In connection with this treaty it was agreed that the +Chinese customs should be supervised by European consuls; and a trade +treaty was granted. Similar treaties followed in 1844 with France and +the United States. The missionaries returned; until 1860, however, they +were only permitted to work in the treaty ports. Shanghai was thrown +open in 1843, and developed with extraordinary rapidity from a town to a +city of a million and a centre of world-wide importance. + +The terms of the Nanking Treaty were not observed by either side; both +evaded them. In order to facilitate the smuggling, the British had +permitted certain Chinese junks to fly the British flag. This also +enabled these vessels to be protected by British ships-of-war from +pirates, which at that time were very numerous off the southern coast +owing to the economic depression. The Chinese, for their part, placed +every possible obstacle in the way of the British. In 1856 the Chinese +held up a ship sailing under the British flag, pulled down its flag, and +arrested the crew on suspicion of smuggling. In connection with this and +other events, Britain decided to go to war. Thus began the "Lorcha War" +of 1857, in which France joined for the sake of the booty to be +expected. Britain had just ended the Crimean War, and was engaged in +heavy fighting against the Moguls in India. Consequently only a small +force of a few thousand men could be landed in China; Canton, however, +was bombarded, and also the forts of Tientsin. There still seemed no +prospect of gaining the desired objectives by negotiation, and in 1860 a +new expedition was fitted out, this time some 20,000 strong. The troops +landed at Tientsin and marched on Peking; the emperor fled to Jehol and +did not return; he died in 1861. The new Treaty of Tientsin (1860) +provided for (a) the opening of further ports to European traders; (b) +the session of Kowloon, the strip of land lying opposite Hong Kong; (c) +the establishment of a British legation in Peking; (d) freedom of +navigation along the Yangtze; (e) permission for British subjects to +purchase land in China; (f) the British to be subject to their own +consular courts and not to the Chinese courts; (g) missionary activity +to be permitted throughout the country. In addition to this, the +commercial treaty was revised, the opium trade was permitted once more, +and a war indemnity was to be paid by China. In the eyes of Europe, +Britain had now succeeded in turning China not actually into a colony, +but at all events into a semi-colony; China must be expected soon to +share the fate of India. China, however, with her very different +conceptions of intercourse between states, did not realize the full +import of these terms; some of them were regarded as concessions on +unimportant points, which there was no harm in granting to the trading +"barbarians", as had been done in the past; some were regarded as simple +injustices, which at a given moment could be swept away by +administrative action. + +But the result of this European penetration was that China's balance of +trade was adverse, and became more and more so, as under the commercial +treaties she could neither stop the importation of European goods nor +set a duty on them; and on the other hand she could not compel +foreigners to buy Chinese goods. The efflux of silver brought general +impoverishment to China, widespread financial stringency to the state, +and continuous financial crises and inflation. China had never had much +liquid capital, and she was soon compelled to take up foreign loans in +order to pay her debts. At that time internal loans were out of the +question (the first internal loan was floated in 1894): the population +did not even know what a state loan meant; consequently the loans had to +be issued abroad. This, however, entailed the giving of securities, +generally in the form of economic privileges. Under the Most Favoured +Nation clause, however, these privileges had then to be granted to other +states which had made no loans to China. Clearly a vicious spiral, which +in the end could only bring disaster. + +The only exception to the general impoverishment, in which not only the +peasants but the old upper classes were involved, was a certain section +of the trading community and the middle class, which had grown rich +through its dealings with the Europeans. These people now accumulated +capital, became Europeanized with their staffs, acquired land from the +impoverished gentry, and sent their sons abroad to foreign universities. +They founded the first industrial undertakings, and learned European +capitalist methods. This class was, of course, to be found mainly in the +treaty ports in the south and in their environs. The south, as far north +as Shanghai, became more modern and more advanced; the north made no +advance. In the south, European ways of thought were learnt, and Chinese +and European theories were compared. Criticism began. The first +revolutionary societies were formed in this atmosphere in the south. + +8 _Risings in Turkestan and within China: the T'ai P'ing Rebellion_ + +But the emperor Hsüan Tsung (reign name Tao-kuang), a man in poor health +though not without ability, had much graver anxieties than those caused +by the Europeans. He did not yet fully realize the seriousness of the +European peril. + +[Illustration: 16 The imperial summer palace of the Manchu rulers, at +Jehol. _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +[Illustration: 17 Tower on the city wall of Peking. _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +In Turkestan, where Turkish Mohammedans lived under +Chinese rule, conditions were far from being as the Chinese desired. The +Chinese, a fundamentally rationalistic people, regarded religion as a +purely political matter, and accordingly required every citizen to take +part in the official form of worship. Subject to that, he might +privately belong to any other religion. To a Mohammedan, this was +impossible and intolerable. The Mohammedans were only ready to practice +their own religion, and absolutely refused to take part in any other. +The Chinese also tried to apply to Turkestan in other matters the same +legislation that applied to all China, but this proved irreconcilable +with the demands made by Islam on its followers. All this produced +continual unrest. + +Turkestan had a feudal system of government with a number of feudal +lords (_beg_), who tried to maintain their influence and who had the +support of the Mohammedan population. The Chinese had come to Turkestan +as soldiers and officials, to administer the country. They regarded +themselves as the lords of the land and occupied themselves with the +extraction of taxes. Most of the officials were also associated with the +Chinese merchants who travelled throughout Turkestan and as far as +Siberia. The conflicts implicit in this situation produced great +Mohammedan risings in the nineteenth century. The first came in +1825-1827; in 1845 a second rising flamed up, and thirty years later +these revolts led to the temporary loss of the whole of Turkestan. + +In 1848, native unrest began in the province of Hunan, as a result of +the constantly growing pressure of the Chinese settlers on the native +population; in the same year there was unrest farther south, in the +province of Kwangsi, this time in connection with the influence of the +Europeans. The leader was a quite simple man of Hakka blood, Hung +Hsiu-ch'üan (born 1814), who gathered impoverished Hakka peasants round +him as every peasant leader had done in the past. Very often the nucleus +of these peasant movements had been a secret society with a particular +religious tinge; this time the peasant revolutionaries came forward as +at the same time the preachers of a new religion of their own. Hung had +heard of Christianity from missionaries (1837), and he mixed up +Christian ideas with those of ancient China and proclaimed to his +followers a doctrine that promised the Kingdom of God on earth. He +called himself "Christ's younger brother", and his kingdom was to be +called _T'ai P'ing_ ("Supreme Peace"). He made his first comrades, +charcoal makers, local doctors, peddlers and farmers, into kings, and +made himself emperor. At bottom the movement, like all similar ones +before it, was not religious but social; and it produced a great +response from the peasants. The program of the T'ai P'ing, in some +points influenced by Christian ideas but more so by traditional Chinese +thought, was in many points revolutionary: (a) all property was communal +property; (b) land was classified into categories according to its +fertility and equally distributed among men and women. Every producer +kept of the produce as much as he and his family needed and delivered +the rest into the communal granary; (c) administration and tax systems +were revised; (d) women were given equal rights: they fought together +with men in the army and had access to official position. They had to +marry, but monogamy was requested; (e) the use of opium, tobacco and +alcohol was prohibited, prostitution was illegal; (f) foreigners were +regarded as equals, capitulations as the Manchus had accepted were not +recognized. A large part of the officials, and particularly of the +soldiers sent against the revolutionaries, were Manchus, and +consequently the movement very soon became a nationalist movement, much +as the popular movement at the end of the Mongol epoch had done. Hung +made rapid progress; in 1852 he captured Hankow, and in 1853 Nanking, +the important centre in the east. With clear political insight he made +Nanking his capital. In this he returned to the old traditions of the +beginning of the Ming epoch, no doubt expecting in this way to attract +support from the eastern Chinese gentry, who had no liking for a capital +far away in the north. He made a parade of adhesion to the ancient +Chinese tradition: his followers cut off their pigtails and allowed +their hair to grow as in the past. + +He did not succeed, however, in carrying his reforms from the stage of +sporadic action to a systematic reorganization of the country, and he +also failed to enlist the elements needed for this as for all other +administrative work, so that the good start soon degenerated into a +terrorist regime. + +Hung's followers pressed on from Nanking, and in 1853-1855 they advanced +nearly to Tientsin; but they failed to capture Peking itself. + +The new T'ai P'ing state faced the Europeans with big problems. Should +they work with it or against it? The T'ai P'ing always insisted that +they were Christians; the missionaries hoped now to have the opportunity +of converting all China to Christianity. The T'ai P'ing treated the +missionaries well but did not let them operate. After long hesitation +and much vacillation, however, the Europeans placed themselves on the +side of the Manchus. Not out of any belief that the T'ai P'ing movement +was without justification, but because they had concluded treaties with +the Manchu government and given loans to it, of which nothing would +have remained if the Manchus had fallen; because they preferred the weak +Manchu government to a strong T'ai P'ing government; and because they +disliked the socialistic element in many of the measured adopted by the +T'ai P'ing. + +At first it seemed as if the Manchus would be able to cope unaided with +the T'ai P'ing, but the same thing happened as at the end of the Mongol +rule: the imperial armies, consisting of the "banners" of the Manchus, +the Mongols, and some Chinese, had lost their military skill in the long +years of peace; they had lost their old fighting spirit and were glad to +be able to live in peace on their state pensions. Now three men came to +the fore--a Mongol named Seng-ko-lin-ch'in, a man of great personal +bravery, who defended the interests of the Manchu rulers; and two +Chinese, Tsêng Kuo-fan (1811-1892) and Li Hung-chang (1823-1901), who +were in the service of the Manchus but used their position simply to +further the interests of the gentry. The Mongol saved Peking from +capture by the T'ai P'ing. The two Chinese were living in central China, +and there they recruited, Li at his own expense and Tsêng out of the +resources at his disposal as a provincial governor, a sort of militia, +consisting of peasants out to protect their homes from destruction by +the peasants of the T'ai P'ing. Thus the peasants of central China, all +suffering from impoverishment, were divided into two groups, one +following the T'ai P'ing, the other following Tsêng Kuo-fan. Tsêng's +army, too, might be described as a "national" army, because Tsêng was +not fighting for the interests of the Manchus. Thus the peasants, all +anti-Manchu, could choose between two sides, between the T'ai P'ing and +Tsêng Kuo-fan. Although Tsêng represented the gentry and was thus +against the simple common people, peasants fought in masses on his side, +for he paid better, and especially more regularly. Tsêng, being a good +strategist, won successes and gained adherents. Thus by 1856 the T'ai +P'ing were pressed back on Nanking and some of the towns round it; in +1864 Nanking was captured. + +While in the central provinces the T'ai P'ing rebellion was raging, +China was suffering grave setbacks owing to the Lorcha War of 1856; and +there were also great and serious risings in other parts of the country. +In 1855 the Yellow River had changed its course, entering the sea once +more at Tientsin, to the great loss of the regions of Honan and Anhui. +In these two central provinces the peasant rising of the so-called "Nien +Fei" had begun, but it only became formidable after 1855, owing to the +increasing misery of the peasants. This purely peasant revolt was not +suppressed by the Manchu government until 1868, after many collisions. +Then, however, there began the so-called "Mohammedan risings". Here +there are, in all, five movements to distinguish: (1) the Mohammedan +rising in Kansu (1864-5); (2) the Salar movement in Shensi; (3) the +Mohammedan revolt in Yünnan (1855-1873); (4) the rising in Kansu (1895); +(5) the rebellion of Yakub Beg in Turkestan (from 1866 onward). + +While we are fairly well informed about the other popular risings of +this period, the Mohammedan revolts have not yet been well studied. We +know from unofficial accounts that these risings were suppressed with +great brutality. To this day there are many Mohammedans in, for +instance, Yünnan, but the revolt there is said to have cost a million +lives. The figures all rest on very rough estimates: in Kansu the +population is said to have fallen from fifteen millions to one million; +the Turkestan revolt is said to have cost ten million lives. There are +no reliable statistics; but it is understandable that at that time the +population of China must have fallen considerably, especially if we bear +in mind the equally ferocious suppression of the risings of the T'ai +P'ing and the Nien Fei within China, and smaller risings of which we +have made no mention. + +The Mohammedan risings were not elements of a general Mohammedan revolt, +but separate events only incidentally connected with each other. The +risings had different causes. An important factor was the general +distress in China. This was partly due to the fact that the officials +were exploiting the peasant population more ruthlessly than ever. In +addition to this, owing to the national feeling which had been aroused +in so unfortunate a way, the Chinese felt a revulsion against +non-Chinese, such as the Salars, who were of Turkish race. Here there +were always possibilities of friction, which might have been removed +with a little consideration but which swelled to importance through the +tactless behaviour of Chinese officials. Finally there came divisions +among the Mohammedans of China which led to fighting between themselves. + +All these risings were marked by two characteristics. They had no +general political aim such as the founding of a great and universal +Islamic state. Separate states were founded, but they were too small to +endure; they would have needed the protection of great states. But they +were not moved by any pan-Islamic idea. Secondly, they all took place on +Chinese soil, and all the Mohammedans involved, except in the rising of +the Salars, were Chinese. These Chinese who became Mohammedans are +called Dungans. The Dungans are, of course, no longer pure Chinese, +because Chinese who have gone over to Islam readily form mixed +marriages with Islamic non-Chinese, that is to say with Turks and +Mongols. + +The revolt, however, of Yakub Beg in Turkestan had a quite different +character. Yakub Beg (his Chinese name was An Chi-yeh) had risen to the +Chinese governorship when he made himself ruler of Kashgar. In 1866 he +began to try to make himself independent of Chinese control. He +conquered Ili, and then in a rapid campaign made himself master of all +Turkestan. + +His state had a much better prospect of endurance than the other +Mohammedan states. He had full control of it from 1874. Turkestan was +connected with China only by the few routes that led between the desert +and the Tibetan mountains. The state was supported against China by +Russia, which was continually pressing eastward, and in the south by +Great Britain, which was pressing towards Tibet. Farther west was the +great Ottoman empire; the attempt to gain direct contact with it was not +hopeless in itself, and this was recognized at Istanbul. Missions went +to and fro, and Turkish officers came to Yakub Beg and organized his +army; Yakub Beg recognized the Turkish sultan as Khalif. He also +concluded treaties with Russia and Great Britain. But in spite of all +this he was unable to maintain his hold of Turkestan. In 1877 the famous +Chinese general Tso Tsung-t'ang (1812-1885), who had fought against the +T'ai P'ing and also against the Mohammedans in Kansu, marched into +Turkestan and ended Yakub Beg's rule. + +Yakub was defeated, however, not so much by Chinese superiority as by a +combination of circumstances. In order to build up his kingdom he was +compelled to impose heavy taxation, and this made him unpopular with his +own followers: they had to pay taxes under the Chinese, but the Chinese +collection had been much less rigorous than that of Yakub Beg. It was +technically impossible for the Ottoman empire to give him any aid, even +had its internal situation permitted it. Britain and Russia would +probably have been glad to see a weakening of the Chinese hold over +Turkestan, but they did not want a strong new state there, once they had +found that neither of them could control the country while it was in +Yakub Beg's hands. In 1881 Russia occupied the Ili region, Yakub's first +conquest. In the end the two great powers considered it better for +Turkestan to return officially into the hands of the weakened China, +hoping that in practice they would be able to bring Turkestan more and +more under their control. Consequently, when in 1880, three years after +the removal of Yakub Beg, China sent a mission to Russia with the +request for the return of the Ili region to her, Russia gave way, and +the Treaty of Ili was concluded, ending for the time the Russian +penetration of Turkestan. In 1882 the Manchu government raised +Turkestan to a "new frontier" (Sinkiang) with a special administration. + +This process of colonial penetration of Turkestan continued. Until the +end of the first world war there was no fundamental change in the +situation in the country, owing to the rivalry between Great Britain and +Russia. But after 1920 a period began in which Turkestan became almost +independent, under a number of rulers of parts of the country. Then, +from 1928 onward, a more and more thorough penetration by Russia began, +so that by 1940 Turkestan could almost be called a Soviet Republic. The +second world war diverted Russian attention to the West, and at the same +time compelled the Chinese to retreat into the interior from the +Japanese, so that by 1943 the country was more firmly held by the +Chinese government than it had been for seventy years. After the +creation of the People's Democracy mass immigration into Sinkiang began, +in connection with the development of oil fields and of many new +industries in the border area between Sinkiang and China proper. Roads +and air communications opened Sinkiang. Yet, the differences between +immigrant Chinese and local, Muslim Turks, continue to play a role. + +9 _Collision with Japan; further Capitulations_ + +The reign of Wen Tsung (reign name Hsien-feng 1851-1861) was marked +throughout by the T'ai P'ing and other rebellions and by wars with the +Europeans, and that of Mu Tsung (reign name T'ung-chih: 1862-1874) by +the great Mohammedan disturbances. There began also a conflict with +Japan which lasted until 1945. Mu Tsung came to the throne as a child of +five, and never played a part of his own. It had been the general rule +for princes to serve as regents for minors on the imperial throne, but +this time the princes concerned won such notoriety through their +intrigues that the Peking court circles decided to entrust the regency +to two concubines of the late emperor. One of these, called Tz[)u] Hsi +(born 1835), of the Manchu tribe of the Yehe-Nara, quickly gained the +upper hand. The empress Tz[)u] Hsi was one of the strongest +personalities of the later nineteenth century who played an active part +in Chinese political life. She played a more active part than any +emperor had played for many decades. + +Meanwhile great changes had taken place in Japan. The restoration of the +Meiji had ended the age of feudalism, at least on the surface. Japan +rapidly became Westernized, and at the same time entered on an +imperialist policy. Her aims from 1868 onward were clear, and remained +unaltered until the end of the second World War: she was to be +surrounded by a wide girdle of territories under Japanese domination, in +order to prevent the approach of any enemy to the Japanese homeland. +This girdle was divided into several zones--(1) the inner zone with the +Kurile Islands, Sakhalin, Korea, the Ryukyu archipelago, and Formosa; +(2) the outer zone with the Marianne, Philippine, and Caroline Islands, +eastern China, Manchuria, and eastern Siberia; (3) the third zone, not +clearly defined, including especially the Netherlands Indies, +Indo-China, and the whole of China, a zone of undefined extent. The +outward form of this subjugated region was to be that of the Greater +Japanese Empire, described as the Imperium of the Yellow Race (the main +ideas were contained in the Tanaka Memorandum 1927 and in the Tada +Interview of 1936). Round Japan, moreover, a girdle was to be created of +producers of raw materials and purchasers of manufactures, to provide +Japanese industry with a market. Japan had sent a delegation of amity to +China as early as 1869, and a first Sino-Japanese treaty was signed in +1871; from then on, Japan began to carry out her imperialistic plans. In +1874 she attacked the Ryukyu islands and Formosa on the pretext that +some Japanese had been murdered there. Under the treaty of 1874 Japan +withdrew once more, only demanding a substantial indemnity; but in 1876, +in violation of the treaty and without a declaration of war, she annexed +the Ryukyu Islands. In 1876 began the Japanese penetration into Korea; +by 1885 she had reached the stage of a declaration that Korea was a +joint sphere of interest of China and Japan; until then China's +protectorate over Korea had been unchallenged. At the same time (1876) +Great Britain had secured further Capitulations in the Chefoo +Convention; in 1862 France had acquired Cochin China, in 1864 Cambodia, +in 1874 Tongking, and in 1883 Annam. This led in 1884 to war between +France and China, in which the French did not by any means gain an +indubitable victory; but the Treaty of Tientsin left them with their +acquisitions. + +Meanwhile, at the beginning of 1875, the young Chinese emperor died of +smallpox, without issue. Under the influence of the two empresses, who +still remained regents, a cousin of the dead emperor, the three-year-old +prince Tsai T'ien was chosen as emperor Tê Tsung (reign name Kuang-hsü: +1875-1909). He came of age in 1889 and took over the government of the +country. The empress Tz[)u] Hsi retired, but did not really relinquish +the reins. + +In 1894 the Sino-Japanese War broke out over Korea, as an outcome of the +undefined position that had existed since 1885 owing to the +imperialistic policy of the Japanese. China had created a North China +squadron, but this was all that can be regarded as Chinese preparation +for the long-expected war. The Governor General of Chihli (now +Hopei--the province in which Peking is situated), Li Hung-chang, was a +general who had done good service, but he lost the war, and at +Shimonoseki (1895) he had to sign a treaty on very harsh terms, in which +China relinquished her protectorate over Korea and lost Formosa. The +intervention of France, Germany, and Russia compelled Japan to content +herself with these acquisitions, abandoning her demand for South +Manchuria. + +10 _Russia in Manchuria_ + +After the Crimean War, Russia had turned her attention once more to the +East. There had been hostilities with China over eastern Siberia, which +were brought to an end in 1858 by the Treaty of Aigun, under which China +ceded certain territories in northern Manchuria. This made possible the +founding of Vladivostok in 1860. Russia received Sakhalin from Japan in +1875 in exchange for the Kurile Islands. She received from China the +important Port Arthur as a leased territory, and then tried to secure +the whole of South Manchuria. This brought Japan's policy of expansion +into conflict with Russia's plans in the Far East. Russia wanted +Manchuria in order to be able to pursue a policy in the Pacific; but +Japan herself planned to march into Manchuria from Korea, of which she +already had possession. This imperialist rivalry made war inevitable: +Russia lost the war; under the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 Russia gave +Japan the main railway through Manchuria, with adjoining territory. Thus +Manchuria became Japan's sphere of influence and was lost to the Manchus +without their being consulted in any way. The Japanese penetration of +Manchuria then proceeded stage by stage, not without occasional +setbacks, until she had occupied the whole of Manchuria from 1932 to +1945. After the end of the second world war, Manchuria was returned to +China, with certain reservations in favour of the Soviet Union, which +were later revoked. + +11 _Reform and reaction: the Boxer Rising_ + +China had lost the war with Japan because she was entirely without +modern armament. While Japan went to work at once with all her energy to +emulate Western industrialization, the ruling class in China had shown a +marked repugnance to any modernization; and the centre of this +conservatism was the dowager empress Tz[)u] Hsi. She was a woman of +strong personality, but too uneducated--in the modern sense--to be able +to realize that modernization was an absolute necessity for China if it +was to remain an independent state. The empress failed to realize that +the Europeans were fundamentally different from the neighbouring tribes +or the pirates of the past; she had not the capacity to acquire a +general grasp of the realities of world politics. She felt instinctively +that Europeanization would wreck the foundations of the power of the +Manchus and the gentry, and would bring another class, the middle class +and the merchants, into power. + +There were reasonable men, however, who had seen the necessity of +reform--especially Li Hung-chang, who has already been mentioned. In +1896 he went on a mission to Moscow, and then toured Europe. The +reformers were, however, divided into two groups. One group advocated +the acquisition of a certain amount of technical knowledge from abroad +and its introduction by slow reforms, without altering the social +structure of the state or the composition of the government. The others +held that the state needed fundamental changes, and that superficial +loans from Europe were not enough. The failure in the war with Japan +made the general desire for reform more and more insistent not only in +the country but in Peking. Until now Japan had been despised as a +barbarian state; now Japan had won! The Europeans had been despised; now +they were all cutting bits out of China for themselves, extracting from +the government one privilege after another, and quite openly dividing +China into "spheres of interest", obviously as the prelude to annexation +of the whole country. + +In Europe at that time the question was being discussed over and over +again, why Japan had so quickly succeeded in making herself a modern +power, and why China was not succeeding in doing so; the Japanese were +praised for their capacity and the Chinese blamed for their lassitude. +Both in Europe and in Chinese circles it was overlooked that there were +fundamental differences in the social structures of the two countries. +The basis of the modern capitalist states of the West is the middle +class. Japan had for centuries had a middle class (the merchants) that +had entered into a symbiosis with the feudal lords. For the middle class +the transition to modern capitalism, and for the feudal lords the way to +Western imperialism, was easy. In China there was only a weak middle +class, vegetating under the dominance of the gentry; the middle class +had still to gain the strength to liberate itself before it could become +the support for a capitalistic state. And the gentry were still strong +enough to maintain their dominance and so to prevent a radical +reconstruction; all they would agree to were a few reforms from which +they might hope to secure an increase of power for their own ends. + +In 1895 and in 1698 a scholar, K'ang Yo-wei, who was admitted into the +presence of the emperor, submitted to him memoranda in which he called +for radical reform. K'ang was a scholar who belonged to the empiricist +school of philosophy of the early Manchu period, the so-called Han +school. He was a man of strong and persuasive personality, and had such +an influence on the emperor that in 1898 the emperor issued several +edicts ordering the fundamental reorganization of education, law, trade, +communications, and the army. These laws were not at all bad in +themselves; they would have paved the way for a liberalization of +Chinese society. But they aroused the utmost hatred in the conservative +gentry and also in the moderate reformers among the gentry. K'ang Yo-wei +and his followers, to whom a number of well-known modern scholars +belonged, had strong support in South China. We have already mentioned +that owing to the increased penetration of European goods and ideas, +South China had become more progressive than the north; this had added +to the tension already existing for other reasons between north and +south. In foreign policy the north was more favourable to Russia and +radically opposed to Japan and Great Britain; the south was in favour of +co-operation with Britain and Japan, in order to learn from those two +states how reform could be carried through. In the north the men of the +south were suspected of being anti-Manchu and revolutionary in feeling. +This was to some extent true, though K'ang Yo-wei and his friends were +as yet largely unconscious of it. + +When the empress Tz[)u] Hsi saw that the emperor was actually thinking +about reforms, she went to work with lightning speed. Very soon the +reformers had to flee; those who failed to make good their escape were +arrested and executed. The emperor was made a prisoner in a palace near +Peking, and remained a captive until his death; the empress resumed her +regency on his behalf. The period of reforms lasted only for a few +months of 1898. A leading part in the extermination of the reformers was +played by troops from Kansu under the command of a Mohammedan, Tung +Fu-hsiang. General Yüan Shih-k'ai, who was then stationed at Tientsin in +command of 7,000 troops with modern equipment, the only ones in China, +could have removed the empress and protected the reformers; but he was +already pursuing a personal policy, and thought it safer to give the +reformers no help. + +There now began, from 1898, a thoroughly reactionary rule of the dowager +empress. But China's general situation permitted no breathing-space. In +1900 came the so-called Boxer Rising, a new popular movement against the +gentry and the Manchus similar to the many that had preceded it. The +Peking government succeeded, however, in negotiations that brought the +movement into the service of the government and directed it against the +foreigners. This removed the danger to the government and at the same +time helped it against the hated foreigners. But incidents resulted +which the Peking government had not anticipated. An international army +was sent to China, and marched from Tientsin against Peking, to liberate +the besieged European legations and to punish the government. The +Europeans captured Peking (1900); the dowager empress and her prisoner, +the emperor, had to flee; some of the palaces were looted. The peace +treaty that followed exacted further concessions from China to the +Europeans and enormous war indemnities, the payment of which continued +into the 1940's, though most of the states placed the money at China's +disposal for educational purposes. When in 1902 the dowager empress +returned to Peking and put the emperor back into his palace-prison, she +was forced by what had happened to realize that at all events a certain +measure of reform was necessary. The reforms, however, which she +decreed, mainly in 1904, were very modest and were never fully carried +out. They were only intended to make an impression on the outer world +and to appease the continually growing body of supporters of the reform +party, especially numerous in South China. The south remained, +nevertheless, a focus of hostility to the Manchus. After his failure in +1898, K'ang Yo-wei went to Europe, and no longer played any important +political part. His place was soon taken by a young Chinese physician +who had been living abroad, Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), who turned the +reform party into a middle-class revolutionary party. + +12 _End of the dynasty_ + +Meanwhile the dowager empress held her own. General Yüan Shih-k'ai, who +had played so dubious a part in 1898, was not impeccably loyal to her, +and remained unreliable. He was beyond challenge the strongest man in +the country, for he possessed the only modern army; but he was still +biding his time. + +In 1908 the dowager empress fell ill; she was seventy-four years old. +When she felt that her end was near, she seems to have had the captive +emperor Tê Tsung assassinated (at 5 p.m. on November 14th); she herself +died next day (November 15th, 2 p.m.): she was evidently determined that +this man, whom she had ill-treated and oppressed all his life, should +not regain independence. As Tê Tsung had no children, she nominated on +the day of her death the two-year-old prince P'u Yi as emperor (reign +name Hsüan-t'ung, 1909-1911). + +The fact that another child was to reign and a new regency to act for +him, together with all the failures in home and foreign policy, brought +further strength to the revolutionary party. The government believed +that it could only maintain itself if it allowed Yüan Shih-k'ai, the +commander of the modern troops, to come to power. The chief regent, +however, worked against Yüan Shih-k'ai and dismissed him at the +beginning of 1909; Yüan's supporters remained at their posts. Yüan +himself now entered into relations with the revolutionaries, whose +centre was Canton, and whose undisputed leader was now Sun Yat-sen. At +this time Sun and his supporters had already made attempts at +revolution, but without success, as his following was as yet too small. +It consisted mainly of young intellectuals who had been educated in +Europe and America; the great mass of the Chinese people remained +unconvinced: the common people could not understand the new ideals, and +the middle class did not entirely trust the young intellectuals. + +The state of China in 1911 was as lamentable as could be: the European +states, Russia, America, and Japan regarded China as a field for their +own plans, and in their calculations paid scarcely any attention to the +Chinese government. Foreign capital was penetrating everywhere in the +form of loans or railway and other enterprises. If it had not been for +the mutual rivalries of the powers, China would long ago have been +annexed by one of them. The government needed a great deal of money for +the payment of the war indemnities, and for carrying out the few reforms +at last decided on. In order to get money from the provinces, it had to +permit the viceroys even more freedom than they already possessed. The +result was a spectacle altogether resembling that of the end of the +T'ang dynasty, about A.D. 900: the various governors were trying to make +themselves independent. In addition to this there was the revolutionary +movement in the south. + +The government made some concession to the progressives, by providing +the first beginnings of parliamentary rule. In 1910 a national assembly +was convoked. It had a Lower House with representatives of the provinces +(provincial diets were also set up), and an Upper House, in which sat +representatives of the imperial house, the nobility, the gentry, and +also the protectorates. The members of the Upper House were all +nominated by the regent. It very soon proved that the members of the +Lower House, mainly representatives of the provincial gentry, had a much +more practical outlook than the routineers of Peking. Thus the Lower +House grew in importance, a fact which, of course, brought grist to the +mills of the revolutionary movement. + +In 1910 the first risings directed actually against the regency took +place, in the province of Hunan. In 1911 the "railway disturbances" +broke out in western China as a reply of the railway shareholders in the +province of Szechwan to the government decree of nationalization of all +the railways. The modernist students, most of whom were sons of +merchants who owned railway shares, supported the movement, and the +government was unable to control them. At the same time a great +anti-Manchu revolution began in Wuch'ang, one of the cities of which +Wuhan, on the Yangtze, now consists. The revolution was the result of +government action against a group of terrorists. Its leader was an +officer named Li Yüan-hung. The Manchus soon had some success in this +quarter, but the other provincial governors now rose in rapid +succession, repudiated the Manchus, and declared themselves independent. +Most of the Manchu garrisons in the provinces were murdered. The +governors remained at the head of their troops in their provinces, and +for the moment made common cause with the revolutionaries, from whom +they meant to break free at the first opportunity. The Manchus +themselves failed at first to realize the gravity of the revolutionary +movement; they then fell into panic-stricken desperation. As a last +resource, Yüan Shih-k'ai was recalled (November 10th, 1911) and made +prime minister. + +Yüan's excellent troops were loyal to his person, and he could have made +use of them in fighting on behalf of the dynasty. But a victory would +have brought no personal gain to him; for his personal plans he +considered that the anti-Manchu side provided the springboard he needed. +The revolutionaries, for their part, had no choice but to win over Yüan +Shih-k'ai for the sake of his troops, since they were not themselves +strong enough to get rid of the Manchus, or even to wrest concessions +from them, so long as the Manchus were defended by Yüan's army. Thus +Yüan and the revolutionaries were forced into each other's arms. He then +began negotiations with them, explaining to the imperial house that the +dynasty could only be saved by concessions. The revolutionaries--apart +from their desire to neutralize the prime minister and general, if not +to bring him over to their side--were also readier than ever to +negotiate, because they were short of money and unable to obtain loans +from abroad, and because they could not themselves gain control of the +individual governors. The negotiations, which had been carried on at +Shanghai, were broken off on December 18th, 1911, because the +revolutionaries demanded a republic, but the imperial house was only +ready to grant a constitutional monarchy. + +Meanwhile the revolutionaries set up a provisional government at +Nanking (December 29th, 1911), with Sun Yat-sen as president and Li +Yüan-hung as vice-president. Yüan Shih-k'ai now declared to the imperial +house that the monarchy could no longer be defended, as his troops were +too unreliable, and he induced the Manchu government to issue an edict +on February 12th, 1912, in which they renounced the throne of China and +declared the Republic to be the constitutional form of state. The young +emperor of the Hsüan-t'ung period, after the Japanese conquest of +Manchuria in 1931, was installed there. He was, however, entirely +without power during the melancholy years of his nominal rule, which +lasted until 1945. + +In 1912 the Manchu dynasty came in reality to its end. On the news of +the abdication of the imperial house, Sun Yat-sen resigned in Nanking, +and recommended Yüan Shih-k'ai as president. + + + +Chapter Eleven + + +THE REPUBLIC (1912-1948) + +1 _Social and intellectual position_ + +In order to understand the period that now followed, let us first +consider the social and intellectual position in China in the period +between 1911 and 1927. The Manchu dynasty was no longer there, nor were +there any remaining real supporters of the old dynasty. The gentry, +however, still existed. Alongside it was a still numerically small +middle class, with little political education or enlightenment. + +The political interests of these two groups were obviously in conflict. +But after 1912 there had been big changes. The gentry were largely in a +process of decomposition. They still possessed the basis of their +existence, their land, but the land was falling in value, as there were +now other opportunities of capital investment, such as export-import, +shareholding in foreign enterprises, or industrial undertakings. It is +important to note, however, that there was not much fluid capital at +their disposal. In addition to this, cheaper rice and other foodstuffs +were streaming from abroad into China, bringing the prices for Chinese +foodstuffs down to the world market prices, another painful business +blow to the gentry. Silk had to meet the competition of Japanese silk +and especially of rayon; the Chinese silk was of very unequal quality +and sold with difficulty. On the other hand, through the influence of +the Western capitalistic system, which was penetrating more and more +into China, land itself became "capital", an object of speculation for +people with capital; its value no longer depended entirely on the rents +it could yield but, under certain circumstances, on quite other +things--the construction of railways or public buildings, and so on. +These changes impoverished and demoralized the gentry, who in the course +of the past century had grown fewer in number. The gentry were not in a +position to take part fully in the capitalist manipulations, because +they had never possessed much capital; their wealth had lain entirely +in their land, and the income from their rents was consumed quite +unproductively in luxurious living. + +Moreover, the class solidarity of the gentry was dissolving. In the +past, politics had been carried on by cliques of gentry families, with +the emperor at their head as an unchangeable institution. This edifice +had now lost its summit; the struggles between cliques still went on, +but entirely without the control which the emperor's power had after all +exercised, as a sort of regulative element in the play of forces among +the gentry. The arena for this competition had been the court. After the +destruction of the arena, the field of play lost its boundaries: the +struggles between cliques no longer had a definite objective; the only +objective left was the maintenance or securing of any and every hold on +power. Under the new conditions cliques or individuals among the gentry +could only ally themselves with the possessors of military power, the +generals or governors. In this last stage the struggle between rival +groups turned into a rivalry between individuals. Family ties began to +weaken and other ties, such as between school mates, or origin from the +same village or town, became more important than they had been before. +For the securing of the aim in view any means were considered +justifiable. Never was there such bribery and corruption among the +officials as in the years after 1912. This period, until 1927, may +therefore be described as a period of dissolution and destruction of the +social system of the gentry. + +Over against this dying class of the gentry stood, broadly speaking, a +tripartite opposition. To begin with, there was the new middle class, +divided and without clear political ideas; anti-dynastic of course, but +undecided especially as to the attitude it should adopt towards the +peasants who, to this day, form over 80 per cent of the Chinese +population. The middle class consisted mainly of traders and bankers, +whose aim was the introduction of Western capitalism in association with +foreign powers. There were also young students who were often the sons +of old gentry families and had been sent abroad for study with grants +given them by their friends and relatives in the government; or sons of +businessmen sent away by their fathers. These students not always +accepted the ideas of their fathers; they were influenced by the +ideologies of the West, Marxist or non-Marxist, and often created clubs +or groups in the University cities of Europe or the United States. Such +groups of people who had studied together or passed the exams together, +had already begun to play a role in politics in the nineteenth century. +Now, the influence of such organizations of usually informal character +increased. Against the returned students who often had difficulties in +adjustment, stood the students at Chinese Universities, especially the +National University in Peking (Peita). They represented people of the +same origin, but of the lower strata of the gentry or of business; they +were more nationalistic and politically active and often less influenced +by Western ideologies. + +In the second place, there was a relatively very small genuine +proletariat, the product of the first activities of big capitalists in +China, found mainly in Shanghai. Thirdly and finally, there was a +gigantic peasantry, uninterested in politics and uneducated, but ready +to give unthinking allegiance to anyone who promised to make an end of +the intolerable conditions in the matter of rents and taxes, conditions +that were growing steadily worse with the decay of the gentry. These +peasants were thinking of popular risings on the pattern of all the +risings in the history of China--attacks on the towns and the killing of +the hated landowners, officials, and moneylenders, that is to say of the +gentry. + +Such was the picture of the middle class and those who were ready to +support it, a group with widely divergent interests, held together only +by its opposition to the gentry system and the monarchy. It could not +but be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve political +success with such a group. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the "Father of the +Republic", accordingly laid down three stages of progress in his many +works, of which the best-known are _San-min chu-i_, ("The Three +Principles of the People"), and _Chien-kuo fang-lüeh_ ("Plans for the +Building up of the Realm"). The three phases of development through +which republican China was to pass were: the phase of struggle against +the old system, the phase of educative rule, and the phase of truly +democratic government. The phase of educative rule was to be a sort of +authoritarian system with a democratic content, under which the people +should be familiarized with democracy and enabled to grow politically +ripe for true democracy. + +Difficult as was the internal situation from the social point of view, +it was no less difficult in economic respects. China had recognized that +she must at least adopt Western technical and industrial progress in +order to continue to exist as an independent state. But the building up +of industry demanded large sums of money. The existing Chinese banks +were quite incapable of providing the capital needed; but the acceptance +of capital from abroad led at once, every time, to further political +capitulations. The gentry, who had no cash worth mention, were violently +opposed to the capitalization of their properties, and were in favour of +continuing as far as possible to work the soil in the old style. Quite +apart from all this, all over the country there were generals who had +come from the ranks of the gentry, and who collected the whole of the +financial resources of their region for the support of their private +armies. Investors had little confidence in the republican government so +long as they could not tell whether the government would decide in +favour of its right or of its left wing. + +No less complicated was the intellectual situation at this time. +Confucianism, and the whole of the old culture and morality bound up +with it, was unacceptable to the middle-class element. In the first +place, Confucianism rejected the principle, required at least in theory +by the middle class, of the equality of all people; secondly, the +Confucian great-family system was irreconcilable with middle-class +individualism, quite apart from the fact that the Confucian form of +state could only be a monarchy. Every attempt to bolster up Confucianism +in practice or theory was bound to fail and did fail. Even the gentry +could scarcely offer any real defence of the Confucian system any +longer. With Confucianism went the moral standards especially of the +upper classes of society. Taoism was out of the question as a +substitute, because of its anarchistic and egocentric character. +Consequently, in these years, part of the gentry turned to Buddhism and +part to Christianity. Some of the middle class who had come under +European influence also turned to Christianity, regarding it as a part +of the European civilization they had to adopt. Others adhered to modern +philosophic systems such as pragmatism and positivism. Marxist doctrines +spread rapidly. + +Education was secularized. Great efforts were made to develop modern +schools, though the work of development was continually hindered by the +incessant political unrest. Only at the universities, which became foci +of republican and progressive opinion, was any positive achievement +possible. Many students and professors were active in politics, +organizing demonstrations and strikes. They pursued a strong national +policy, often also socialistic. At the same time real scientific work +was done; many young scholars of outstanding ability were trained at the +Chinese universities, often better than the students who went abroad. +There is a permanent disagreement between these two groups of young men +with a modern education: the students who return from abroad claim to be +better educated, but in reality they often have only a very superficial +knowledge of things modern and none at all of China, her history, and +her special circumstances. The students of the Chinese universities have +been much better instructed in all the things that concern China, and +most of them are in no way behind the returned students in the modern +sciences. They are therefore a much more serviceable element. + +The intellectual modernization of China goes under the name of the +"Movement of May Fourth", because on May 4th, 1919, students of the +National University in Peking demonstrated against the government and +their pro-Japanese adherents. When the police attacked the students and +jailed some, more demonstrations and student strikes and finally a +general boycott of Japanese imports were the consequence. In these +protest actions, professors such as Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei, later president of +the Academia Sinica (died 1940), took an active part. The forces which +had now been mobilized, rallied around the journal "New Youth" (_Hsin +Ch'ing-nien_), created in 1915 by Ch'en Tu-hsiu. The journal was +progressive, against the monarchy, Confucius, and the old traditions. +Ch'en Tu-hsiu who put himself strongly behind the students, was more +radical than other contributors but at first favoured Western democracy +and Western science; he was influenced mainly by John Dewey who was +guest professor in Peking in 1919-20. Similarly tending towards +liberalism in politics and Dewey's ideas in the field of philosophy were +others, mainly Hu Shih. Finally, some reformers criticized +conservatism purely on the basis of Chinese thought. Hu Shih (born +1892) gained greatest acclaim by his proposal for a "literary +revolution", published in the "New Youth" in 1917. This revolution was +the logically necessary application of the political revolution to the +field of education. The new "vernacular" took place of the old +"classical" literary language. The language of the classical works is so +remote from the language of daily life that no uneducated person can +understand it. A command of it requires a full knowledge of all the +ancient literature, entailing decades of study. The gentry had +elaborated this style of speech for themselves and their dependants; it +was their monopoly; nobody who did not belong to the gentry and had not +attended its schools could take part in literary or in administrative +life. The literary revolution introduced the language of daily life, the +language of the people, into literature: newspapers, novels, scientific +treatises, translations, appeared in the vernacular, and could thus be +understood by anyone who could read and write, even if he had no +Confucianist education. + +It may be said that the literary revolution has achieved its main +objects. As a consequence of it, a great quantity of new literature has +been published. Not only is every important new book that appears in the +West published in translation within a few months, but modern novels and +short stories and poems have been written, some of them of high literary +value. + +At the same time as this revolution there took place another fundamental +change in the language. It was necessary to take over a vast number of +new scientific and technical terms. As Chinese, owing to the character +of its script, is unable to write foreign words accurately and can do no +more than provide a rather rough paraphrase, the practice was started of +expressing new ideas by newly formed native words. Thus modern Chinese +has very few foreign words, and yet it has all the new ideas. For +example, a telegram is a "lightning-letter"; a wireless telegram is a +"not-have-wire-lightning-communication"; a fountain-pen is a +"self-flow-ink-water-brush"; a typewriter is a "strike-letter-machine". +Most of these neologisms are similar in the modern languages of China +and Japan. + +There had been several proposals in recent decades to do away with the +Chinese characters and to introduce an alphabet in their place. They +have all proved to be unsatisfactory so far, because the character of +the Chinese language, as it is at this moment, is unsuited to an +alphabetical script. They would also destroy China's cultural unity: +there are many dialects in China that differ so greatly from each other +that, for instance, a man from Canton cannot understand a man from +Shanghai. If Chinese were written with letters, the result would be a +Canton literature and another literature confined to Shanghai, and China +would break up into a number of areas with different languages. The old +Chinese writing is independent of pronunciation. A Cantonese and a +Pekinger can read each other's newspapers without difficulty. They +pronounce the words quite differently, but the meaning is unaltered. +Even a Japanese can understand a Chinese newspaper without special study +of Chinese, and a Chinese with a little preparation can read a Japanese +newspaper without understanding a single word of Japanese. + +The aim of modern education in China is to work towards the +establishment of "High Chinese", the former official (Mandarin) +language, throughout the country, and to set limits to the use of the +various dialects. Once this has been done, it will be possible to +proceed to a radical reform of the script without running the risk of +political separatist movements, which are always liable to spring up, +and also without leading, through the adoption of various dialects as +the basis of separate literatures, to the break-up of China's cultural +unity. In the last years, the unification of the spoken language has +made great progress. Yet, alphabetic script is used only in cases in +which illiterate adults have to be enabled in a short time to read very +simple informations. More attention is given to a simplification of the +script as it is; Japanese had started this some forty years earlier. +Unfortunately, the new Chinese abbreviated forms of characters are not +always identical with long-established Japanese forms, and are not +developed in such a systematic form as would make learning of Chinese +characters easier. + +2 _First period of the Republic: The warlords_ + +The situation of the Republic after its foundation was far from hopeful. +Republican feeling existed only among the very small groups of students +who had modern education, and a few traders, in other words, among the +"middle class". And even in the revolutionary party to which these +groups belonged there were the most various conceptions of the form of +republican state to be aimed at. The left wing of the party, mainly +intellectuals and manual workers, had in view more or less vague +socialistic institutions; the liberals, for instance the traders, +thought of a liberal democracy, more or less on the American pattern; +and the nationalists merely wanted the removal of the alien Manchu rule. +The three groups had come together for the practical reason that only so +could they get rid of the dynasty. They gave unreserved allegiance to +Sun Yat-sen as their leader. He succeeded in mobilizing the enthusiasm +of continually widening circles for action, not only by the integrity of +his aims but also because he was able to present the new socialistic +ideology in an alluring form. The anti-republican gentry, however, whose +power was not yet entirely broken, took a stand against the party. The +generals who had gone over to the republicans had not the slightest +intention of founding a republic, but only wanted to get rid of the rule +of the Manchus and to step into their place. This was true also of Yüan +Shih-k'ai, who in his heart was entirely on the side of the gentry, +although the European press especially had always energetically defended +him. In character and capacity he stood far above the other generals, +but he was no republican. + +Thus the first period of the Republic, until 1927, was marked by +incessant attempts by individual generals to make themselves +independent. The Government could not depend on its soldiers, and so was +impotent. The first risings of military units began at the outset of +1912. The governors and generals who wanted to make themselves +independent sabotaged every decree of the central government; especially +they sent it no money from the provinces and also refused to give their +assent to foreign loans. The province of Canton, the actual birthplace +of the republican movement and the focus of radicalism, declared itself +in 1912 an independent republic. + +Within the Peking government matters soon came to a climax. Yüan +Shih-k'ai and his supporters represented the conservative view, with the +unexpressed but obvious aim of setting up a new imperial house and +continuing the old gentry system. Most of the members of the parliament +came, however, from the middle class and were opposed to any reaction of +this sort. One of their leaders was murdered, and the blame was thrown +upon Yüan Shih-k'ai; there then came, in the middle of 1912, a new +revolution, in which the radicals made themselves independent and tried +to gain control of South China. But Yüan Shih-k'ai commanded better +troops and won the day. At the end of October 1912 he was elected, +against the opposition, as president of China, and the new state was +recognized by foreign countries. + +China's internal difficulties reacted on the border states, in which the +European powers were keenly interested. The powers considered that the +time had come to begin the definitive partition of China. Thus there +were long negotiations and also hostilities between China and Tibet, +which was supported by Great Britain. The British demanded the complete +separation of Tibet from China, but the Chinese rejected this (1912); +the rejection was supported by a boycott of British goods. In the end +the Tibet question was left undecided. Tibet remained until recent years +a Chinese dependency with a good deal of internal freedom. The Second +World War and the Chinese retreat into the interior brought many Chinese +settlers into Eastern Tibet which was then separated from Tibet proper +and made a Chinese province (Hsi-k'ang) in which the native Khamba will +soon be a minority. The communist regime soon after its establishment +conquered Tibet (1950) and has tried to change the character of its +society and its system of government which lead to the unsuccessful +attempt of the Tibetans to throw off Chinese rule (1959) and the flight +of the Dalai Lama to India. The construction of highways, air and +missile bases and military occupation have thus tied Tibet closer to +China than ever since early Manchu times. + +In Outer Mongolia Russian interests predominated. In 1911 there were +diplomatic incidents in connection with the Mongolian question. At the +end of 1911 the Hutuktu of Urga declared himself independent, and the +Chinese were expelled from the country. A secret treaty was concluded in +1912 with Russia, under which Russia recognized the independence of +Outer Mongolia, but was accorded an important part as adviser and helper +in the development of the country. In 1913 a Russo-Chinese treaty was +concluded, under which the autonomy of Outer Mongolia was recognized, +but Mongolia became a part of the Chinese realm. After the Russian +revolution had begun, revolution was carried also into Mongolia. The +country suffered all the horrors of the struggles between White Russians +(General Ungern-Sternberg) and the Reds; there were also Chinese +attempts at intervention, though without success, until in the end +Mongolia became a Soviet Republic. As such she is closely associated +with Soviet Russia. China, however, did not quickly recognize Mongolia's +independence, and in his work _China's Destiny_ (1944) Chiang Kai-shek +insisted that China's aim remained the recovery of the frontiers of +1840, which means among other things the recovery of Outer Mongolia. In +spite of this, after the Second World War Chiang Kai-shek had to +renounce _de jure_ all rights in Outer Mongolia. Inner Mongolia was +always united to China much more closely; only for a time during the war +with Japan did the Japanese maintain there a puppet government. The +disappearance of this government went almost unnoticed. + +At the time when Russian penetration into Mongolia began, Japan had +entered upon a similar course in Manchuria, which she regarded as her +"sphere of influence". On the outbreak of the first world war Japan +occupied the former German-leased territory of Tsingtao, at the +extremity of the province of Shantung, and from that point she occupied +the railways of the province. Her plan was to make the whole province a +protectorate; Shantung is rich in coal and especially in metals. Japan's +plans were revealed in the notorious "Twenty-one Demands" (1915). +Against the furious opposition especially of the students of Peking, +Yüan Shih-k'ai's government accepted the greater part of these demands. +In negotiations with Great Britain, in which Japan took advantage of the +British commitments in Europe, Japan had to be conceded the predominant +position in the Far East. + +Meanwhile Yüan Shih-k'ai had made all preparations for turning the +Republic once more into an empire, in which he would be emperor; the +empire was to be based once more on the gentry group. In 1914 he secured +an amendment of the Constitution under which the governing power was to +be entirely in the hands of the president; at the end of 1914 he secured +his appointment as president for life, and at the end of 1915 he induced +the parliament to resolve that he should become emperor. + +This naturally aroused the resentment of the republicans, but it also +annoyed the generals belonging to the gentry, who had the same ambition. +Thus there were disturbances, especially in the south, where Sun Yat-sen +with his followers agitated for a democratic republic. The foreign +powers recognized that a divided China would be much easier to penetrate +and annex than a united China, and accordingly opposed Yüan Shih-k'ai. +Before he could ascend the throne, he died suddenly--and this +terminated the first attempt to re-establish monarchy. + +Yüan was succeeded as president by Li Yüan-hung. Meanwhile five +provinces had declared themselves independent. Foreign pressure on China +steadily grew. She was forced to declare war on Germany, and though this +made no practical difference to the war, it enabled the European powers +to penetrate further into China. Difficulties grew to such an extent in +1917 that a dictatorship was set up and soon after came an interlude, +the recall of the Manchus and the reinstatement of the deposed emperor +(July 1st-8th, 1917). + +This led to various risings of generals, each aiming simply at the +satisfaction of his thirst for personal power. Ultimately the victorious +group of generals, headed by Tuan Ch'i-jui, secured the election of Fêng +Kuo-chang in place of the retiring president. Fêng was succeeded at the +end of 1918 by Hsü Shih-ch'ang, who held office until 1922. Hsü, as a +former ward of the emperor, was a typical representative of the gentry, +and was opposed to all republican reforms. + +The south held aloof from these northern governments. In Canton an +opposition government was set up, formed mainly of followers of Sun +Yat-sen; the Peking government was unable to remove the Canton +government. But the Peking government and its president scarcely counted +any longer even in the north. All that counted were the generals, the +most prominent of whom were: (1) Chang Tso-lin, who had control of +Manchuria and had made certain terms with Japan, but who was ultimately +murdered by the Japanese (1928); (2) Wu P'ei-fu, who held North China; +(3) the so-called "Christian general", Fêng Yü-hsiang, and (4) Ts'ao +K'un, who became president in 1923. + +At the end of the first world war Japan had a hold over China amounting +almost to military control of the country. China did not sign the Treaty +of Versailles, because she considered that she had been duped by Japan, +since Japan had driven the Germans out of China but had not returned the +liberated territory to the Chinese. In 1921 peace was concluded with +Germany, the German privileges being abolished. The same applied to +Austria. Russia, immediately after the setting up of the Soviet +government, had renounced all her rights under the Capitulations. This +was the first step in the gradual rescinding of the Capitulations; the +last of them went only in 1943, as a consequence of the difficult +situation of the Europeans and Americans in the Pacific produced by the +Second World War. + +At the end of the first world war the foreign powers revised their +attitude towards China. The idea of territorial partitioning of the +country was replaced by an attempt at financial exploitation; military +friction between the Western powers and Japan was in this way to be +minimized. Financial control was to be exercised by an international +banking consortium (1920). It was necessary for political reasons that +this committee should be joined by Japan. After her Twenty-one Demands, +however, Japan was hated throughout China. During the world war she had +given loans to the various governments and rebels, and in this way had +secured one privilege after another. Consequently China declined the +banking consortium. She tried to secure capital from her own resources; +but in the existing political situation and the acute economic +depression internal loans had no success. + +In an agreement between the United States and Japan in 1917, the United +States, in consequence of the war, had to give their assent to special +rights for Japan in China. After the war the international conference at +Washington (November 1921-February 1922) tried to set narrower limits to +Japan's influence over China, and also to re-determine the relative +strength in the Pacific of the four great powers (America, Britain, +France, Japan). After the failure of the banking plan this was the last +means of preventing military conflicts between the powers in the Far +East. This brought some relief to China, as Japan had to yield for the +time to the pressure of the western powers. + +The years that followed until 1927 were those of the complete collapse +of the political power of the Peking government--years of entire +dissolution. In the south Sun Yat-sen had been elected generalissimo in +1921. In 1924 he was re-elected with a mandate for a campaign against +the north. In 1924 there also met in Canton the first general congress +of the Kuomintang ("People's Party"). The Kuomintang (in 1929 it had +653,000 members, or roughly 0.15 per cent of the population) is the +continuation of the Komingtang ("Revolutionary Party") founded by Sun +Yat-sen, which as a middle-class party had worked for the removal of the +dynasty. The new Kuomintang was more socialistic, as is shown by its +admission of Communists and the stress laid upon land reform. + +At the end of 1924 Sun Yat-sen with some of his followers went to +Peking, to discuss the possibility of a reunion between north and south +on the basis of the program of the People's Party. There, however, he +died at the beginning of 1925, before any definite results had been +attained; there was no prospect of achieving anything by the +negotiations, and the south broke them off. But the death of Sun Yat-sen +had been followed after a time by tension within the party between its +right and left wings. The southern government had invited a number of +Russian advisers in 1923 to assist in building up the administration, +civil and military, and on their advice the system of government had +been reorganized on lines similar to those of the soviet and commissar +system. This change had been advocated by an old friend of Sun Yat-sen, +Chiang Kai-shek, who later married Sun's sister-in-law. Chiang Kai-shek, +who was born in 1886, was the head of the military academy at Whampoa, +near Canton, where Russian instructors were at work. The new system was +approved by Sun Yat-sen's successor, Hu Han-min (who died in 1936), in +his capacity of party leader. It was opposed by the elements of the +right, who at first had little influence. Chiang Kai-shek soon became +one of the principal leaders of the south, as he had command of the +efficient troops of Canton, who had been organized by the Russians. + +The People's Party of the south and its governments, at that time fairly +radical in politics, were disliked by the foreign powers; only Japan +supported them for a time, owing to the anti-British feeling of the +South Chinese and in order to further her purpose of maintaining +disunion in China. The first serious collision with the outer world came +on May 30th, 1925, when British soldiers shot at a crowd demonstrating +in Shanghai. This produced a widespread boycott of British goods in +Canton and in British Hong Kong, inflicting a great loss on British +trade with China and bringing considerable advantages in consequence to +Japanese trade and shipping: from the time of this boycott began the +Japanese grip on Chinese coastwise shipping. + +The second party congress was held in Canton in 1926. Chiang Kai-shek +already played a prominent part. The People's Party, under Chiang +Kai-shek and with the support of the communists, began the great +campaign against the north. At first it had good success: the various +provincial governors and generals and the Peking government were played +off against each other, and in a short time one leader after another was +defeated. The Yangtze was reached, and in 1926 the southern government +moved to Hankow. All over the southern provinces there now came a +genuine rising of the masses of the people, mainly the result of +communist propaganda and of the government's promise to give land to the +peasants, to set limits to the big estates, and to bring order into the +taxation. In spite of its communist element, at the beginning of 1927 +the southern government was essentially one of the middle class and the +peasantry, with a socialistic tendency. + +3 _Second period of the Republic: Nationalist China_ + +With the continued success of the northern campaign, and with Chiang +Kai-shek's southern army at the gates of Shanghai (March 21st, 1927), a +decision had to be taken. Should the left wing be allowed to gain the +upper hand, and the great capitalists of Shanghai be expropriated as it +was proposed to expropriate the gentry? Or should the right wing +prevail, an alliance be concluded with the capitalists, and limits be +set to the expropriation of landed estates? Chiang Kai-shek, through his +marriage with Sun Yat-sen's wife's sister, had become allied with one of +the greatest banking families. In the days of the siege of Shanghai +Chiang, together with his closest colleagues (with the exception of Hu +Han-min and Wang Chying-wei, a leader who will be mentioned later), +decided on the second alternative. Shanghai came into his hands without +a struggle, and the capital of the Shanghai financiers, and soon foreign +capital as well, was placed at his disposal, so that he was able to pay +his troops and finance his administration. At the same time the Russian +advisers were dismissed or executed. + +The decision arrived at by Chiang Kai-shek and his friends did not +remain unopposed, and he parted from the "left group" (1927) which +formed a rival government in Hankow, while Chiang Kai-shek made Nanking +the seat of his government (April 1927). In that year Chiang not only +concluded peace with the financiers and industrialists, but also a sort +of "armistice" with the landowning gentry. "Land reform" still stood on +the party program, but nothing was done, and in this way the confidence +and co-operation of large sections of the gentry was secured. The choice +of Nanking as the new capital pleased both the industrialists and the +agrarians: the great bulk of China's young industries lay in the Yangtze +region, and that region was still the principal one for agricultural +produce; the landowners of the region were also in a better position +with the great market of the capital in their neighbourhood. + +Meanwhile the Nanking government had succeeded in carrying its dealings +with the northern generals to a point at which they were largely +out-manoeuvred and became ready for some sort of collaboration (1928). +There were now four supreme commanders--Chiang Kai-shek, Fêng Yü-hsiang +(the "Christian general"), Yen Hsi-shan, the governor of Shansi, and the +Muslim Li Chung-yen. Naturally this was not a permanent solution; not +only did Chiang Kai-shek's three rivals try to free themselves from his +ever-growing influence and to gain full power themselves, but various +groups under military leadership rose again and again, even in the home +of the Republic, Canton itself. These struggles, which were carried on +more by means of diplomacy and bribery than at arms, lasted until 1936. +Chiang Kai-shek, as by far the most skilful player in this game, and at +the same time the man who had the support of the foreign governments +and of the financiers of Shanghai, gained the victory. China became +unified under his dictatorship. + +As early as 1928, when there seemed a possibility of uniting China, with +the exception of Manchuria, which was dominated by Japan, and when the +European powers began more and more to support Chiang Kai-shek, Japan +felt that her interests in North China were threatened, and landed +troops in Shantung. There was hard fighting on May 3rd, 1928. General +Chang Tso-lin, in Manchuria, who was allied to Japan, endeavoured to +secure a cessation of hostilities, but he fell victim to a Japanese +assassin; his place was taken by his son, Chang Hsüeh-liang, who pursued +an anti-Japanese policy. The Japanese recognized, however, that in view +of the international situation the time had not yet come for +intervention in North China. In 1929 they withdrew their troops and +concentrated instead on their plans for Manchuria. + +Until the time of the "Manchurian incident" (1931), the Nanking +government steadily grew in strength. It gained the confidence of the +western powers, who proposed to make use of it in opposition to Japan's +policy of expansion in the Pacific sphere. On the strength of this +favourable situation in its foreign relations, the Nanking government +succeeded in getting rid of one after another of the Capitulations. +Above all, the administration of the "Maritime Customs", that is to say +of the collection of duties on imports and exports, was brought under +the control of the Chinese government: until then it had been under +foreign control. Now that China could act with more freedom in the +matter of tariffs, the government had greater financial resources, and +through this and other measures it became financially more independent +of the provinces. It succeeded in building up a small but modern army, +loyal to the government and superior to the still existing provincial +armies. This army gained its military experience in skirmishes with the +Communists and the remaining generals. + +It is true that when in 1931 the Japanese occupied Manchuria, Nanking +was helpless, since Manchuria was only loosely associated with Nanking, +and its governor, Chang Hsüeh-liang, had tried to remain independent of +it. Thus Manchuria was lost almost without a blow. On the other hand, +the fighting with Japan that broke out soon afterwards in Shanghai +brought credit to the young Nanking army, though owing to its numerical +inferiority it was unsuccessful. China protested to the League of +Nations against its loss of Manchuria. The League sent a commission (the +Lytton Commission), which condemned Japan's action, but nothing further +happened, and China indignantly broke away from her association with the +Western powers (1932-1933). In view of the tense European situation +(the beginning of the Hitler era in Germany, and the Italian plans of +expansion), the Western powers did not want to fight Japan on China's +behalf, and without that nothing more could be done. They pursued, +indeed, a policy of playing off Japan against China, in order to keep +those two powers occupied with each other, and so to divert Japan from +Indo-China and the Pacific. + +China had thus to be prepared for being involved one day in a great war +with Japan. Chiang Kai-shek wanted to postpone war as long as possible. +He wanted time to establish his power more thoroughly within the +country, and to strengthen his army. In regard to external relations, +the great powers would have to decide their attitude sooner or later. +America could not be expected to take up a clear attitude: she was for +peace and commerce, and she made greater profits out of her relations +with Japan than with China; she sent supplies to both (until 1941). On +the other hand, Britain and France were more and more turning away from +Japan, and Russo-Japanese relations were at all times tense. Japan tried +to emerge from her isolation by joining the "axis powers", Germany and +Italy (1936); but it was still doubtful whether the Western powers would +proceed with Russia, and therefore against Japan, or with the Axis, and +therefore in alliance with Japan. + +Japan for her part considered that if she was to raise the standard of +living of her large population and to remain a world power, she must +bring into being her "Greater East Asia", so as to have the needed raw +material sources and export markets in the event of a collision with the +Western powers; in addition to this, she needed a security girdle as +extensive as possible in case of a conflict with Russia. In any case, +"Greater East Asia" must be secured before the European conflict should +break out. + +4 _The Sino-Japanese war_ (1937-1945) + +Accordingly, from 1933 onward Japan followed up her conquest of +Manchuria by bringing her influence to bear in Inner Mongolia and in +North China. She succeeded first, by means of an immense system of +smuggling, currency manipulation, and propaganda, in bringing a number +of Mongol princes over to her side, and then (at the end of 1935) in +establishing a semi-dependent government in North China. Chiang Kai-shek +took no action. + +The signal for the outbreak of war was an "incident" by the Marco Polo +Bridge, south of Peking (July 7th, 1937). The Japanese government +profited by a quite unimportant incident, undoubtedly provoked by the +Japanese, in order to extend its dominion a little further. China still +hesitated; there were negotiations. Japan brought up reinforcements and +put forward demands which China could not be expected to be ready to +fulfil. Japan then occupied Peking and Tientsin and wide regions between +them and south of them. The Chinese soldiers stationed there withdrew +almost without striking a blow, but formed up again and began to offer +resistance. In order to facilitate the planned occupation of North +China, including the province of Shantung, Japan decided on a +diversionary campaign against Shanghai. The Nanking government sent its +best troops to the new front, and held it for nearly three months +against superior forces; but meanwhile the Japanese steadily advanced in +North China. On November 9th Nanking fell into their hands. By the +beginning of January 1938, the province of Shantung had also been +conquered. + +Chiang Kai-shek and his government fled to Ch'ung-k'ing (Chungking), the +most important commercial and financial centre of the interior after +Hankow, which was soon threatened by the Japanese fleet. By means of a +number of landings the Japanese soon conquered the whole coast of China, +so cutting off all supplies to the country; against hard fighting in +some places they pushed inland along the railways and conquered the +whole eastern half of China, the richest and most highly developed part +of the country. Chiang Kai-shek had the support only of the +agriculturally rich province of Szechwan, and of the scarcely developed +provinces surrounding it. Here there was as yet no industry. Everything +in the way of machinery and supplies that could be transported from the +hastily dismantled factories was carried westward. Students and +professors went west with all the contents of their universities, and +worked on in small villages under very difficult conditions--one of the +most memorable achievements of this war for China. But all this was by +no means enough for waging a defensive war against Japan. Even the +famous Burma Road could not save China. + +By 1940-1941 Japan had attained her war aim: China was no longer a +dangerous adversary. She was still able to engage in small-scale +fighting, but could no longer secure any decisive result. Puppet +governments were set up in Peking, Canton, and Nanking, and the Japanese +waited for these governments gradually to induce supporters of Chiang +Kai-shek to come over to their side. Most was expected of Wang +Ching-wei, who headed the new Nanking government. He was one of the +oldest followers of Sun Yat-sen, and was regarded as a democrat. In +1925, after Sun Yat-sen's death, he had been for a time the head of the +Nanking government, and for a short time in 1930 he had led a government +in Peking that was opposed to Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship. Beyond any +question Wang still had many followers, including some in the highest +circles at Chungking, men of eastern China who considered that +collaboration with Japan, especially in the economic field, offered good +prospects. Japan paid lip service to this policy: there was talk of +sister peoples, which could help each other and supply each other's +needs. There was propaganda for a new "Greater East Asian" philosophy, +_Wang-tao_, in accordance with which all the peoples of the East could +live together in peace under a thinly disguised dictatorship. What +actually happened was that everywhere Japanese capitalists established +themselves in the former Chinese industrial plants, bought up land and +securities, and exploited the country for the conduct of their war. + +After the great initial successes of Hitlerite Germany in 1939-1941, +Japan became convinced that the time had come for a decisive blow +against the positions of the Western European powers and the United +States in the Far East. Lightning blows were struck at Hong Kong and +Singapore, at French Indo-China, and at the Netherlands East Indies. The +American navy seemed to have been eliminated by the attack on Pearl +Harbour, and one group of islands after another fell into the hands of +the Japanese. Japan was at the gates of India and Australia. Russia was +carrying on a desperate defensive struggle against the Axis, and there +was no reason to expect any intervention from her in the Far East. +Greater East Asia seemed assured against every danger. + +The situation of Chiang Kai-shek's Chungking government seemed hopeless. +Even the Burma Road was cut, and supplies could only be sent by air; +there was shortage of everything. With immense energy small industries +were begun all over western China, often organized as co-operatives; +roads and railways were built--but with such resources would it ever be +possible to throw the Japanese into the sea? Everything depended on +holding out until a new page was turned in Europe. Infinitely slow +seemed the progress of the first gleams of hope--the steady front in +Burma, the reconquest of the first groups of inlands; the first bomb +attacks on Japan itself. Even in May, 1945, with the war ended in +Europe, there seemed no sign of its ending in the Far East. Then came +the atom bomb, bringing the collapse of Japan; the Japanese armies +receded from China, and suddenly China was free, mistress once more in +her own country as she had not been for decades. + + + +Chapter Twelve + + +PRESENT-DAY CHINA + +1 _The growth of communism_ + +In order to understand today's China, we have to go back in time to +report events which were cut short or left out of our earlier discussion +in order to present them in the context of this chapter. + +Although socialism and communism had been known in China long ago, this +line of development of Western philosophy had interested Chinese +intellectuals much less than liberalistic, democratic Western ideas. It +was widely believed that communism had no real prospects for China, as a +dictatorship of the proletariat seemed to be relevant only in a highly +industrialized and not in an agrarian society. Thus, in its beginning +the "Movement of May Fourth" of 1919 had Western ideological traits but +was not communistic. This changed with the success of communism in +Russia and with the theoretical writings of Lenin. Here it was shown +that communist theories could be applied to a country similar to China +in its level of development. Already from 1919 on, some of the leaders +of the Movement turned towards communism: the National University of +Peking became the first centre of this movement, and Ch'en Tu-hsiu, then +dean of the College of Letters, from 1920 on became one of its leaders. +Hu Shih did not move to the left with this group; he remained a liberal. +But another well-known writer, Lu Hsün (1881-1936), while following Hu +Shih in the "Literary Revolution," identified politically with Ch'en. +There was still another man, the Director of the University Library, Li +Ta-chao, who turned towards communism. With him we find one of his +employees in the Library, Mao Tse-tung. In fact, the nucleus of the +Communist Party, which was officially created as late as 1921, was a +student organization including some professors in Peking. On the other +hand, a student group in Paris had also learned about communism and had +organized; the leaders of this group were Chou En-lai and Li Li-san. A +little later, a third group organized in Germany; Chu Tê belonged to +this group. The leadership of Communist China since 1949 has been in the +hands of men of these three former student groups. + +After 1920, Sun Yat-sen, too, became interested in the developments in +Soviet Russia. Yet, he never actually became a communist; his belief +that the soil should belong to the tiller cannot really be combined with +communism, which advocates the abolition of individual land-holdings. +Yet, Soviet Russia found it useful to help Sun Yat-sen and advised the +Chinese Communist Party to collaborate with the KMT (Kuomintang). This +collaboration, not always easy, continued until the fall of Shanghai in +1927. + +In the meantime, Mao Tse-tung had given up his studies in Peking and had +returned to his home in Hunan. Here, he organized his countrymen, the +farmers of Hunan. It is said that at the verge of the northern +expedition of Chiang Kai-shek, Mao's adherents in Hunan already numbered +in the millions; this made the quick and smooth advance of the +communist-advised armies of Chiang Kai-shek possible. Mao developed his +ideas in written form in 1927; he showed that communism in China could +be successful only if it was based upon farmers. Because of this +unorthodox attitude, he was for years severely attacked as a +deviationist. + +When Chiang Kai-shek separated from the KMT in 1927, the main body of +the KMT remained in Hankow as the legal government. But now, while +Chiang Kai-shek executed all leftists, union leaders, and communists who +fell into his hands, tensions in Hankow increased between the Chinese +Communist Party and the rest of the KMT. Finally, the KMT turned against +the communists and reunited with Chiang Kai-shek. The remaining +communists retreated to the Hunan-Kiangsi border area, the centre of +Mao's activities; even the orthodox communist wing, which had condemned +Mao, now had to come to him for protection from the KMT. A small +communist state began to develop in Kiangsi, in spite of pressure and, +later, attacks of the KMT against them. By 1934, this pressure became so +strong that Kiangsi had to be abandoned, and in the epic "Long March" +the rest of the communists and their army fought their way through all +of western and north-western China into the sparsely inhabited, +underdeveloped northern part of Shensi, where a new socialistic state +was created with Yen-an as its capital. + +After the fall of the communist enclave in Kiangsi, the prospects for +the Nationalist regime were bright; indeed, the unification of China was +almost achieved. At this moment a new Japanese invasion threatened and +demanded the full attention of the regime. Thus, in spite of talk about +land reform and other reforms which might have led to a liberalization +of the government, no attention was given to internal and social +problems except to the suppression of communist thought. Although all +leftist publications were prohibited, most historians and sociologists +succeeded in writing Marxist books without using Marxist terminology, so +that they escaped Chiang's censors. These publications contributed +greatly to preparing China's intellectuals and youth for communism. + +When the Japanese War began, the communists in Yen-an and the +Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek agreed to co-operate against the +invaders. Yet, each side remembered its experiences in 1927 and +distrusted the other. Chiang's resistance against the invaders became +less effective after the Japanese occupied all of China's ports; +supplies could reach China only in small quantities by airlift or via +the Burma Road. There was also the belief that Japan could be defeated +only by an attack on Japan itself and that this would have to be +undertaken by the Western powers, not by China. The communists, on their +side, set up a guerrilla organization behind the Japanese lines, so +that, although the Japanese controlled the cities and the lines of +communication, they had little control over the countryside. The +communists also attempted to infiltrate the area held by the +Nationalists, who in turn were interested in preventing the communists +from becoming too strong; so, Nationalist troops guarded also the +borders of communist territory. + +American politicians and military advisers were divided in their +opinions. Although they recognized the internal weakness of the +Nationalist government, the fighting between cliques within the +government, and the ever-increasing corruption, some advocated more help +to the Nationalists and a firm attitude against the communists. Others, +influenced by impressions gained during visits to Yen-an, and believing +in the possibility of honest co-operation between a communist regime and +any other, as Roosevelt did, attempted to effect a coalition of the +Nationalists with the communists. + +At the end of the war, when the Nationalist government took over the +administration, it lacked popular support in the areas liberated from +the Japanese. Farmers who had been given land by the communists, or who +had been promised it, were afraid that their former landlords, whether +they had remained to collaborate with the Japanese or had fled to West +China, would regain control of the land. Workers hoped for new social +legislation and rights. Businessmen and industrialists were faced with +destroyed factories, worn-out or antiquated equipment, and an unchecked +inflation which induced them to shift their accounts into foreign banks +or to favour short-term gains rather than long-term investments. As in +all countries which have suffered from a long war and an occupation, +the youth believed that the old regime had been to blame, and saw +promise and hope on the political left. And, finally, the Nationalist +soldiers, most of whom had been separated for years from their homes and +families, were not willing to fight other Chinese in the civil war now +well under way; they wanted to go home and start a new life. The +communists, however, were now well organized militarily and well +equipped with arms surrendered by the Japanese to the Soviet armies as +well as with arms and ammunition sold to them by KMT soldiers; moreover, +they were constantly strengthened by deserters from the KMT. The civil +war witnessed a steady retreat by the KMT armies, which resisted only +sporadically. By the end of 1948, most of mainland China was in the +hands of the communists, who established their new capital in Peking. + +2 _Nationalist China in Taiwan_ + +The Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan with those soldiers who +remained loyal. This island was returned to China after the defeat of +Japan, though final disposition of its status had not yet been +determined. + +Taiwan's original population had been made up of more than a dozen +tribes who are probably distant relatives of tribes in the Philippines. +These are Taiwan's "aborigines," altogether about 200,000 people in +1948. + +At about the time of the Sung dynasty, Chinese began to establish +outposts on the island; these developed into regular agricultural +settlements toward the end of the Ming dynasty. Immigration increased in +the eighteenth and especially the nineteenth centuries. These Chinese +immigrants and their descendants are the "Taiwanese," Taiwan's main +population of about eight million people as of 1948. + +Taiwan was at first a part of the province of Fukien, whence most of its +Chinese settlers came; there was also a minority of Hakka, Chinese from +Kuangtung province. When Taiwan was ceded to Japan, it was still a +colonial area with much lawlessness and disorder, but with a number of +flourishing towns and a growing population. The Japanese, who sent +administrators but no settlers, established law and order, protected the +aborigines from land-hungry Chinese settlers, and attempted to abolish +headhunting by the aborigines and to raise the cultural level in +general. They built a road and railway system and strongly stressed the +production of sugar cane and rice. During the Second World War, the +island suffered from air attacks and from the inability of the Japanese +to protect its industries. + +After Chiang Kai-shek and the remainder of his army and of his +government officials arrived in Taiwan, they were followed by others +fleeing from the communist regime, mainly from Chekiang, Kiangsu, and +the northern provinces of the mainland. Eventually, there were on Taiwan +about two million of these "mainlanders," as they have sometimes been +called. + +When the Chinese Nationalists took over from the Japanese, they assumed +all the leading positions in the government. The Taiwanese nationals who +had opposed the Japanese were disappointed; for their part, the +Nationalists felt threatened because of their minority position. The +next years, especially up to 1952, were characterized by terror and +bloodshed. Tensions persisted for many years, but have lessened since +about 1960. + +The new government of Taiwan resembled China's pre-war government under +Chiang Kai-shek. First, to maintain his claim to the legitimate rule of +all of China, Chiang retained--and controlled through his party, the +KMT--his former government organization, complete with cabinet +ministers, administrators, and elected parliament, under the name +"Central Government of China." Secondly, the actual government of +Taiwan, which he considered one of China's provinces, was organized as +the "Provincial Government of Taiwan," whose leading positions were at +first in the hands of KMT mainlanders. There have since been elections +for the provincial assembly, for local government councils and boards, +and for various provincial and local positions. Thirdly, the military +forces were organized under the leadership and command of mainlanders. +And finally, the education system was set up in accordance with former +mainland practices by mainland specialists. However, evolutionary +changes soon occurred. + +The government's aim was to make Mandarin Chinese the language of all +Chinese in Taiwan, as it had been in mainland China long before the War, +and to weaken the Taiwanese dialects. Soon almost every child had a +minimum of six years of education (increased in 1968 to nine years), +with Mandarin Chinese as the medium of instruction. In the beginning few +Taiwanese qualified as teachers because, under Japanese rule, Japanese +had been the medium of instruction. As the children of Taiwanese and +mainland families went to school together, the Taiwanese children +quickly learned Mandarin, while most mainland children became familiar +with the Taiwan dialect. For the generation in school today, the +difference between mainlander and Taiwanese has lost its importance. At +the same time, more teachers of Taiwanese origin, but with modern +training, have begun to fill first the ranks of elementary, later of +high-school, and now even of university instructors, so that the end of +mainland predominance in the educational system is foreseeable. + +The country is still ruled by the KMT, but although at first hardly any +Taiwanese belonged to the Party, many of the elective jobs and almost +all positions in the provincial government are at present (1969) in the +hands of Taiwanese independents, or KMT members, more of whom are +entering the central government as well. Because military service is +compulsory, the majority of common soldiers are Taiwanese: as career +officers grow older and their sons show little interest in an army +career, more Taiwan-Chinese are occupying higher army positions. Foreign +policy and major political decisions still lie in the hands of mainland +Chinese, but economic power, once monopolized by them, is now held by +Taiwan-Chinese. + +This shift gained impetus with the end of American economic aid, which +had tied local businessmen to American industry and thus worked to the +advantage of mainland Chinese, for these had contacts in the United +States, whereas the Taiwan-Chinese had contacts only in Japan. After the +termination of American economic aid, Taiwanese trade with Japan, the +Philippines, and Korea grew in importance and with it the economic +strength of Taiwan-Chinese businessmen. After 1964, Taiwan became a +strong competitor of Hong Kong and Japan in some export industries, such +as electronics and textiles. We can regard Taiwan from 1964 on as +occupying the "takeoff" stage, to use Rostow's terminology--a stage of +rapid development of new, principally light and consumer, industries. +There has been a rapid rise of industrial towns around the major cities, +and there are already many factories in the countryside, even in some +villages. Electrification is essentially completed, and heavy +industries, such as fertilizer and assembly plants and oil refineries, +now exist. + +This rapid industrialization was accompanied by an unusually fast +development of agriculture. A land-reform program limited land +ownership, reduced rents, and redistributed formerly Japanese-owned +land. This was the program that the Nationalist government had attempted +unsuccessfully to enforce in liberated China after the Pacific War. It +is well known that the abolition of landlordism and the distribution of +land to small farmers do not in themselves improve or enlarge +production. The Joint Council on Rural Reconstruction, on which American +advisers worked with Chinese specialists to devise a system comparable +to American agricultural extension services but possessing added +elements of community development, introduced better seeds, more and +better fertilizers, and numerous other innovations which the farmers +quickly adopted, with the result that the island became +self-supporting, in spite of a steadily growing population (thirteen +million in 1968). + +At the same time, the government succeeded in stabilizing the currency +and in eliminating corruption, thus re-establishing public confidence +and security. Good incomes from farming as well as from industries were +invested on the island instead of flowing into foreign banks. In +addition, the population had enough surplus money to buy the products of +the new domestic industries as these appeared. Thus, the +industrialization of Taiwan may be called "industrialization without +tears," without the suffering, that is, of proletarian masses who +produce objects which they cannot afford for themselves. Today, even +lower middle-class families have television consoles which cost the +equivalent of US $200; they own electric fans and radios; they are +buying Taiwan-produced refrigerators and air conditioners; and more and +more think of buying Taiwan-assembled cars. They encourage their +children to finish high school and to attend college if at all possible; +competition for admission is very strong in spite of the continuous +building of new schools and universities. Education to the level of the +B.A. is of good quality, but for most graduate study students are still +sent abroad. Taiwan complains about the "brain drain," as about 93 per +cent of its students who go overseas do not return, but in many fields +it has sufficient trained manpower to continue its development, and in +any case there would not be enough jobs available if all the students +returned. Most of these expatriates would be available to develop +mainland China, if conditions there were to change in a way that would +make them compatible with the values with which these expatriates grew +up on Taiwan, or with the Western democratic values which they absorbed +abroad. + +Chiang Kai-shek's government still hopes that one day its people will +return to the mainland. This hope has changed from hope of victory in a +civil war to hope of revolutionary developments within Communist China +which might lead to the creation of a more liberal government in which +men with KMT loyalties could find a place. Because they are Chinese, the +present government and, it is believed, the majority of the people, +consider themselves a part of China from which they are temporarily +separated. Therefore they reject the idea, proposed by some American +politicians, that Taiwan should become an independent state. There are, +mainly in the United States and Japan, groups of Taiwan-Chinese who +favour an independent Taiwan, which naturally would be close to Japan +politically and economically. One may agree with their belief that +Taiwan, now larger than many European countries, could exist and +flourish as an independent country; yet few Chinese will wish to divorce +themselves from the world's largest society. + +3 _Communist China_ + +Both Taiwan and mainland China have developed extremely quickly. The +reasons do not seem to lie solely in the form of government, for the +pre-conditions for a "takeoff" existed in China as early as the 1920's, +if not earlier. That is, the quick development of China could have +started forty years ago but was prevented, primarily for political +reasons. One of the main pre-conditions for quick development is that a +large part of the population is inured to hard and repetitive work. The +Chinese farmer was accustomed to such work; he put more time and energy +into his land than any other farmer. He and his fellows were the +industrial workers of the future: reliable, hard-working, tractable, +intelligent. To train them was easy, and absenteeism was never a serious +problem, as it is in other developing nations. Another pre-condition is +the existence of sufficient trained people to manage industry. Forty +years ago China had enough such men to start modernization; foreign +assistance would have been necessary in some fields, but only briefly. + +Another requirement (at least in the period before radio and television) +is general literacy. Meaningful statistical data on literacy in China +before 1937 are lacking. Some authors remark that before 1800 probably +all upper-class sons and most daughters were educated, and that men in +the middle and even in the lower classes often had some degree of +literacy. In this context "educated" means that these persons could read +classical poetry and essays written in literary Chinese, which was not +the language of daily conversation. "Literacy," however, might mean only +that a person could read and write some 600 characters, enough to +conduct a business and to read simple stories. Although newspapers today +have a stock of about 6,000 characters, only some 600 characters are +commonly used, and a farmer or worker can manage well with a knowledge +of about 100 characters. Statements to the effect that in 1935 some 70 +per cent of all men and 95 per cent of all women were illiterate must +include the last category in these figures. In any case, the literacy +program of the Nationalist government had penetrated the countryside and +had reached even outlying villages before the Pacific War. + +The transportation system in China before the war was not highly +developed, but numerous railroads connecting the main industrial centers +did exist, and bus and truck services connected small towns with the +larger centers. What were missing in the pre-war years were laws to +protect the investor, efficient credit facilities, an insurance system +supported by law, and a modern tax structure. In addition, the monetary +system was inflation-prone. Although sufficient capital probably could +have been mobilized within the country, the available resources either +went into foreign banks or were invested in enterprises providing a +quick return. + +The failure to capitalize on existing means of development before the +War resulted from the chronic unrest caused by warlordism, +revolutionaries and foreign invaders, which occupied the energies of the +Nationalist government from its establishment to its fall. Once a stable +government free from internal troubles arose, national development, +whether private or socialist, could proceed at a rapid pace. + +Thus, the development of Communist China is not a miracle, possible only +because of its form of government. What is unusual about Communist China +is the fact that it is the only nation possessing a highly developed +culture of its own to have jettisoned it in favour of a foreign one. What +missionaries had dreamed of for centuries and knew they would never +accomplish, Mao Tse-tung achieved; he imposed an ideology created by +Europeans and understandable only in the context of Central Europe in +the nineteenth century. How long his success will last is uncertain. One +school of analysts believes that the friction between Soviet Russia and +Communist China indicates that China's communism has become Chinese. +These men point out that Communist Chinese practices are often direct +continuations of earlier Chinese practices, customs, and attitudes. And +they predict that this trend will continue, resulting in a form of +socialism or communism distinctly different from that found in any other +country. Another school, however, believes that communism precedes +"Sinism," and that the regime will slowly eliminate traits which once +were typical of China and replace them with institutions developed out +of Marxist thinking. In any case, for the present, although the +Communist government's aim is to impose communist thought and +institutions in the country, typically Chinese traits are still +omnipresent. + +Soon after the establishment of the Peking regime, a pact of friendship +and alliance with the Soviet Union was concluded (February 1950), and +Soviet specialists and civil and military products poured into China to +speed its development. China had to pay for this assistance as well as +for the loans it received from Russia, but the application of Russian +experience, often involving the duplication of whole factories, was +successful. In a few years, China developed its heavy industry, just as +Russia had done. It should not be forgotten that Manchuria, as well as +other parts of China, had modern heavy industries long before 1949. The +Manchurian factories ceased production because, when the Russians +invaded Manchuria at the end of the war, they removed the machinery to +Russia. + +Russian aid to Communist China continued to 1960. Its termination slowed +development briefly but was not disastrous. Russian assistance was a +"shot in the arm," as stimulating and about as lasting as American aid +to Taiwan or to European countries. The stress laid upon heavy industry, +in imitation of Russia, increased China's military strength quickly, but +the consumer had to wait for goods which would make his life more +enjoyable. One cause of friction in China today concerns the relative +desirability of heavy industry versus consumer industry, a problem which +arose in Russia after the death of Stalin. + +China's military strength was first demonstrated in the Korean War when +Chinese armies entered Korea (October 1950). Their successes contributed +to the prestige of the Peking regime at home and abroad, but they also +foreshadowed a conflict with Soviet Russia, which regarded North Korea +as lying within its own sphere of influence. + +In the same year, China invaded and conquered Tibet. Tibet, under Manchu +rule until 1911, had achieved a certain degree of independence +thereafter: no republican Chinese regime ever ruled Lhasa. The military +conquest of Tibet is regarded by many as an act of Chinese imperialism, +or colonialism, as the Tibetans certainly did not want to belong to +China or be forced to change their traditional form of government. +Having regarded themselves as subjects of the Manchu but not of the +Chinese, they rose against the communist rulers in March 1959, but +without success. + +Chinese control of Tibet, involving the construction of numerous roads, +airstrips, and military installations, as well as differences concerning +the international border, led in 1959 to conflicts with India, a country +which had previously sided with the new China in international affairs. +Indeed, the borders were uncertain and looked different depending on +whether one used Manchu or Indian maps. China's other border problem was +with Burma. Early in 1960 the two countries concluded a border agreement +which ended disputes dating from British colonial times. + +Very early in its existence Communist China assumed control of Sinkiang, +Chinese Central Asia, a large area originally inhabited by Turkish and +Mongolian tribes and states, later conquered by the Manchu, and then +integrated into China in the early nineteenth century. The communist +action was to be expected, although after the Revolution of 1911 Chinese +rule over this area had been spotty, and during the Pacific War some +Soviet-inspired hope had existed that Sinkiang might gain independence, +following the example of Outer Mongolia, another country which had been +attached to the Manchu until 1911 and which, with Russian assistance, +had gained its independence from China. Sinkiang is of great importance +to Communist China as the site of large sources of oil and of atomic +industries and testing grounds. The government has stimulated and often +forced Chinese immigration into Sinkiang, so that the erstwhile Turkish +and Mongolian majorities have become minorities, envious of their ethnic +brothers in Soviet Central Asia who enjoy a much higher standard of +living and more freedom. + +Inner Mongolia had a brief dream of independence under Japanese +protection during the war. But the majority of the population were +Chinese, and already before the Pacific War, the country had been +divided into three Chinese provinces, of which the Chinese Communists +gained control without delay. + +In general, when the Chinese Communists discuss territorial claims, they +appear to seek the restoration of borders that China claimed in the +eighteenth century. Thus, they make occasional remarks about the Hi area +and parts of Eastern Siberia, which the Manchu either lost to the +Russians or claimed as their territory. North Vietnam is probably aware +that Imperial China exercised political rights over Tongking and Annam +(the present-day North and part of South Vietnam). And, treaty or no, +the Sino-Burmese question may be reopened one day, for Burma was +semi-dependent on China under the Manchu. + +The build-up of heavy industry enabled China to conduct an aggressive +policy towards the countries surrounding her, but industrialization had +to be paid for, and, as in other countries, it was basically agriculture +that had to create the necessary capital. Therefore, in June 1950 a +land-reform law was promulgated. By October 1952 it had been implemented +at an estimated cost of two million human lives: the landlords. The next +step, socialization of the land, began in 1953. + +The co-operative farms were supposed to achieve higher production than +small individual farms. It may be that any farmer, but particularly the +Chinese, is emotionally involved in his crop, in contrast to the +industrial worker, who often is alienated from the product he makes. +Thus the farmer is unwilling to put unlimited energy and time into +working on a farm that does not belong to him. But it may also be that +the application of principles of industrial operation to agriculture +fails because emergencies often occur in farming and are followed by +periods of leisure, whereas in industry steady work is possible. + +In any case, in 1956 strains began to appear in China's economy. In +early 1958 the "Great Leap Forward" was promoted in an attempt to speed +production in all sectors. Soon after, the first communes were created, +against the advise of Russian specialists. The objective of the communes +seems to have been not only the creation of a new organizational form +which would allow the government to exercise more pressure upon farmers +to increase production, but also the correlation of labor and other +needs of industry with agriculture. The communes may have represented an +attempt to set up an organization which could function independently, +even in the event of a governmental breakdown in wartime. At the same +time, the decentralization of industries began and a people's militia +was created. The "back-yard furnaces," which produced high-cost iron of +low quality, seem to have had a similar purpose: to teach citizens how +to produce iron for armaments in case of war and enemy occupation, when +only guerrilla resistance would be possible. In the same year, +aggressive actions against offshore, Nationalist-held islands increased. +China may have believed that war with the United States was imminent. +Perhaps as a result of Russian talks with China, a detente followed in +1959, but so too did increased tension between Russia and China, while +the results of the Great Leap and its policies proved catastrophic. The +years 1961-64 provided a needed respite from the failures of the Great +Leap. Farmers regained limited rights to income from private efforts, +and improved farm techniques such as better seed and the use of +fertilizer began to produce results. China can now feed her population +in normal years. + +Chinese leaders realize that an improved level of living is difficult to +attain while the birth rate remains high. They have hesitated to adopt a +family-planning policy, which would fly in the face of Marxist doctrine, +although for a short period family planning was openly recommended. +Their most efficient method of limiting the birth rate has been to +recommend postponement of marriage. + +First the limitation of private enterprise and business and then the +nationalization of all important businesses following the completion of +land reform deprived many employers as well as small shopkeepers of an +occupation. But the new industries could not absorb all of the labor +that suddenly became available. When rural youth inundated the cities in +search of employment, the government returned the excess urban +population to die countryside and recruited students and other urban +youth to work on farms. Reeducation camps in outlying areas also +provided cheap farm labor. + +The problem facing China or any nation that modernizes and +industrializes in the twentieth century can be simply stated. +Nineteenth-century industry needed large masses of workers which only +the rural areas could supply; and, with the development of farming +methods, the countryside could afford to send its youth to the cities. +Twentieth-century industry, on the other hand, needs technicians and +highly qualified personnel, often with college degrees, but few +unskilled workers. China has traditionally employed human labor where +machines would have been cheaper and more efficient, simply because +labor was available and capital was not. But since, with the growth of +modern industry and modern farming, the problem will arise again, the +policy of employing urban youth on farms is shortsighted. + +The labor force also increased as a result of the "liberation" of women, +in which the marriage law of April 1950 was the first step. Nationalist +China had earlier created a modern and liberal marriage law; moreover, +women were never the slaves that they have sometimes been painted. In +many parts of China, long before the Pacific War, women worked in the +fields with their husbands. Elsewhere they worked in secondary +agricultural industries (weaving, preparation of food conserves, home +industries, and even textile factories) and provided supplementary +income for their families. All that "liberation" in 1950 really meant +was that women had to work a full day as their husbands did, and had, in +addition, to do house work and care for their children much as before. +The new marriage law did, indeed, make both partners equal; it also made +it easier for men to divorce their wives, political incompatibility +becoming a ground for divorce. + +The ideological justification for a new marriage law was the +desirability of destroying the traditional Chinese family and its +economic basis because a close family, and all the more an extended +family or a clan, could obviously serve as a center of resistance. Land +collectivization and the nationalization of business destroyed the +economic basis of families. The "liberation" of women brought them out +of the house and made it possible for the government to exploit +dissension between husband and wife, thereby increasing its control over +the family. Finally, the new education system, which indoctrinated all +children from nursery to the end of college, separated children from +parents, thus undermining parental control and enabling the state to +intimidate parents by encouraging their children to denounce their +"deviations." Sporadic efforts to dissolve the family completely by +separating women from men in communes--recalling an attempt made almost +a century earlier by the T'ai-p'ing--were unsuccessful. + +The best formula for a revolution seems to involve turning youth against +its elders, rather than turning one class against another. Not all +societies have a class system so clear-cut that class antagonism is +effective. On the other hand, Chinese youth, in its opposition to the +"establishment," to conservatism, to traditional religion, to blind +emulation of Western customs and institutions, to the traditional family +structure and the position of women, had hopes that communism would +eradicate the specific "evil" which each individual wanted abolished. +Mao and his followers had once been such rebellious youths, but by the +1960's they were mostly old men and a new youth had appeared, a +generation of revolutionaries for whom the "old regime" was dim history, +not reality. In the struggle between Mao and Liu Shao-ch'i, which became +increasingly apparent in 1966, Mao tried to retain his power by +mobilizing young people as "Red Guards" and by inciting them to make the +"Great Proletarian Revolution." The motives behind the struggle are +diverse. It is on the one hand a conflict of persons contending for +power, but there are also disagreements over theory: for example, should +China's present generation toil to make possible a better life only for +the next generation, or should it enjoy the fruits of its labor, after +its many years of suffering? Mao opposes such "weakening" and favours a +new generation willing to endure hardships, as he did in his youth. +There is also a question whether the Chinese Communist Party under the +banner of Maoism should replace the Russian party, establish Mao as the +fourth founder after Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, and become the leader of +world communism, or whether it should collaborate with the Russian +party, at least temporarily, and thus ensure China Russian support. +When, however, Chinese youth was summoned to take up the fight for Mao +and his group, forces were loosed which could not be controlled. +Following independent action by youth groups similar in nature to youth +revolts in Western countries, the power and prestige of older leaders +suffered. Even now (1969) it is impossible to re-establish unity and +order; the Mao and Liu groups still oppose each other, and local +factions have arisen. Violent confrontations, often resulting in +hundreds of deaths, occur in many provinces. The regime is no longer so +strong and unified as it was before 1966, although its end is not in +sight. Quite possibly far-reaching changes may occur in the future. + +Three factors will probably influence the future of China. First, the +emergence of neo-communism, as in Czechoslovakia in 1968, in an attempt +to soften traditional communist practice. Second, the outcome of the war +in Vietnam. Will China be able to continue its eighteenth-century dream +of direct or indirect domination of South-east Asia? Will North Vietnam +detach itself from China and attach itself more closely to Russia? Will +Russia and China continue to create separate spheres of influence in +Asia, Africa, and South America? The first factor depends on +developments inside China, the second on events outside, and at least in +part on decisions in the United States, Japan, and Europe. + +The third factor has to do with human nature. One may justifiably ask +whether the change in human personality which Chinese communism has +attempted to achieve is possible, let alone desirable. Studies of +animals and of human beings have demonstrated a tendency to identify +with a territory, with property, and with kin. Can the Chinese eradicate +this tendency? The Chinese have been family-centered and accustomed to +subordinating their individual inclinations to the requirements of +family and neighborhood. But beyond these established frameworks they +have been individualistic and highly idiosyncratic at all times. Under +the communist regime, however, the government is omnipresent, and people +must toe the official line. One senses the tragedy that affects +well-known scholars, writers and poets, who must degrade themselves, +their work, their past and their families in order to survive. They may +hope for comprehension of their actions, but nonetheless they must +suffer shame. Will the present government change the minds of these men +and eradicate their feelings? + +Communist China has made great progress, no doubt. Soon it may equal +other developed nations. But its progress has been achieved at an +unnecessary cost in human lives and happiness. + +That the regime is no longer so strong and unified as it was before 1966 +does not mean that its end is in sight. Far-reaching changes may occur +in the near future. Public opinion is impressed with mainland China's +progress, as the world usually is with strong nations. And public +opinion is still unimpressed by the achievements of Taiwan and has +hardly begun to change its attitude toward the government of the +"Republic of China." To the historian and the sociologist, the +experience of Taiwan indicates that China, if left alone and freed from +ideological pressures, could industrialize more quickly than any other +presently underdeveloped nation. Taiwan offers a model with which to +compare mainland China. + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +The following notes and references are intended to help the interested +reader. They draw his attention to some more specialized literature in +English, and occasionally in French and German. They also indicate for +the more advanced reader the sources for some of the interpretations of +historical events. As such sources are most often written in Chinese or +Japanese and, therefore, inaccessible to most readers, only brief hints +and not full bibliographical data are given. The specialists know the +names and can easily find details in the standard bibliographies. The +general reader will profit most from the bibliography on Chinese history +published each year in the _Journal of Asian Studies_. These Notes do +not mention the original Chinese sources which are the factual basis of +this book. + +_Chapter One_ + +p. 7: Reference is made here to the _T'ung-chien kang-mu_ and its +translation by de Mailla (1777-85). Criticism by O. Franke, Ku +Chieh-kang and his school, also by G. Haloun. + +p. 8: For the chronology, I rely here upon Ijima Tadao and my own +research. Excavations at Chou-k'ou-tien still continue and my account +should be taken as very preliminary. An earlier analysis is given by E. +von Eickstedt (_Rassendynamik von Ostasien_, Berlin 1944). For the +following periods, the best general study is still J.G. Andersson, +_Researches into the Prehistory of the Chinese_, Stockholm 1943. A great +number of new findings has been made recently, but no comprehensive +analysis in a Western language is available. + +p. 9: Comparison with Ainu has been made by Weidenreich. The theory of +desiccation of Asia is not the Huntington theory, but I rely here upon +arguments by J.G. Andersson and Sven Hedin. + +p. 10. The earlier theories of R. Heine-Geldern have been used here. + +p. 11: This is a summary of my own theories. Concerning the Tungus +tribes, K. Jettmar (_Wiener Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte_, vol. 9, +1952, p. 484f and later studies) has proposed a more refined theory; +other parts of the theory, as far as it is concerned with conditions in +Central Asia, have been modified by F. Kussmaul (in: _Tribus_, vol. +1952-3, pp. 305-60). Archaeological data from Central Asia have been +analysed again by K. Jettmar (in: _The Museum of Far Eastern +Antiquities, Bulletin_ No. 23, 1951). The discussion on domestication of +large animals relies on the studies by C.O. Sauer, H. von Wissmann, +Menghin, Amschler, Flohr and, most recently, F. Han[vc]ar (in: +_Saeculum_, vol. 10, 1959, pp. 21-37 with further literature), and also +on my own research. + +p. 12: An analysis of the situation in the South according to Western +and Chinese studies is found in H.J. Wiens, _China's March toward the +Tropics_, Hamden 1954. Much further work is now published by Ling +Shun-sheng, Rui Yi-fu and other anthropologists in Taipei. The best +analysis of denshiring in the Far East is still the book by K.J. Pelzer, +_Population and Land Utilization_, New York 1941. The anthropological +theories on this page are my own, influenced by ideas of R. +Heine-Geldern and Gordon Luce. + +p. 14: Sociological theory, as developed by R. Thurnwald and others, has +been used as a theoretical tool here, together with observations by A. +Credner and H. Bernatzik. Concerning rice in Yang-shao see R. +Heine-Geldern in _Anthropos_, vol. 27, p. 595. + +p. 15: Wu Chin-ting defended the local origin of Yang-shao; T.J. Arne, +J.G. Andersson and many others suggested Western influences. Most +recently R. Heine-Geldern elaborated this theory. The allusion to +Indo-Europeans refers to the studies by G. Haloun and others concerning +the Ta-Hsia, the later Yüeh-chih, and the Tocharian problem. + +p. 16: R. Heine-Geldern proposed a "Pontic migration". Yin Huan-chang +discussed most recently Lung-shan culture and the mound-dwellers. + +p. 17: The original _Chu-shu chi-nien_ version of the stories about Yao +has been accepted here, together with my own research and the studies by +B. Karlgren, M. Loehr, G. Haloun, E.H. Minns and others concerning the +origin and early distribution of bronze and the animal style. Smith +families or tribes are well known from Central Asia, but also from India +and Africa (see W. Ruben, _Eisenschmiede und Dämonen in Indien_, Leiden +1939, for general discussion).--For a discussion of the Hsia see E. +Erkes. + +_Chapter Two_ + +p. 19: The discussion in this chapter relies mainly upon the Anyang +excavation reports and the studies by Tung Tso-pin and, most strongly, +Ch'en Meng-chia. In English, the best work is still H.G. Creel, _The +Birth of China_, London 1936 and his more specialized _Studies in Early +Chinese Culture_, Baltimore 1937. + +p. 20: The possibility of a "megalithic" culture in the Far East has +often been discussed, by O. Menghin, R. Heine-Geldern, Cheng Tê-k'un, +Ling Shun-sheng and others. Megaliths occur mainly in South-East Asia, +southern China, Korea and Japan.--Teng Ch'u-min and others believe that +silk existed already in the time of Yang-shao. + +p. 21: Kuo Mo-jo believes, that the Shang already used a real plough +drawn by animals. The main discussion on ploughs in China is by Hsü +Chung-shu; for general anthropological discussion see E. Werth and H. +Kothe. + +p. 22: For the discussion of the T'ao-t'ieh see the research by B. +Karlgren and C. Hentze. + +p. 23: I follow here mainly Ch'en Meng-chia, but work by B. Schindler, +C. Hentze, H. Maspero and also my own research has been considered. + +p. 24: I am accepting here a narrow definition of feudalism (see my +_Conquerors and Rulers_, Leiden 1952).--The division of armies into +"right" and "left" is interesting in the light of the theories +concerning the importance of systems of orientation (Fr. Rock and +others). + +p. 25: Here, the work by W. Koppers, O. Spengler, F. Han[vc]ar, V.G. +Childe and many others, concerning the domestication of the horse and +the introduction of the war-chariot in general, and work by Shih +Chang-ju, Ch'en Meng-chia, O. Maenchen, Uchida Gimpu and others +concerning horses, riding and chariots in China has been used, in +addition to my own research. + +p. 26: Concerning the wild animals, I have relied upon Ch'en Meng-chia, +Hsü Chung-shu and Tung Tso-pin.--The discussion as to whether there was +a period of "slave society" (as postulated by Marxist theory) in China, +and when it flourished, is still going on under the leadership of Kuo +Mo-jo and his group. I prefer to differentiate between slaves and serfs, +and relied for factual data upon texts from oracle bones, not upon +historical texts.--The problem of Shang chronology is still not solved, +in spite of extensive work by Liu Ch'ao-yang, Tung Tso-pin and many +Japanese and Western scholars. The old chronology, however, seems to be +rejected by most scholars now. + +_Chapter Three_ + +p. 29: Discussing the early script and language, I refer to the great +number of unidentified Shang characters and, especially, to the +composite characters which have been mentioned often by C. Hentze in his +research; on the other hand, the original language of the Chou may have +been different from classical Chinese, if we can judge from the form of +the names of the earliest Chou ancestors. Problems of substrata +languages enter at this stage. Our first understanding of Chou language +and dialects seems to come through the method applied by P. Serruys, +rather than through the more generally accepted theories and methods of +B. Karlgren and his school. + +p. 30: I reject here the statement of classical texts that the last +Shang ruler was unworthy, and accept the new interpretation of Ch'en +Meng-chia which is based upon oracle bone texts,--The most recent +general study on feudalism, and on feudalism in China, is in R. +Coulborn, _Feudalism in History_, Princeton 1956. Stimulating, but in +parts antiquated, is M. Granet, _La Féodalité Chinoise_, Oslo 1952. I +rely here on my own research. The instalment procedure has been +described by H. Maspero and Ch'i Sz[)u]-ho. + +p. 31: The interpretation of land-holding and clans follows my own +research which is influenced by Niida Noboru, Kat[=o] Shigeru and other +Japanese scholars, as well as by G. Haloun.--Concerning the origin of +family names see preliminarily Yang Hsi-mei; much further research is +still necessary. The general development of Chinese names is now studied +by Wolfgang Bauer.--The spread of cities in this period has been studied +by Li Chi, _The Formation of the Chinese People_, Cambridge 1928. My +interpretation relies mainly upon a study of the distribution of +non-Chinese tribes and data on early cities coming from excavation +reports (see my "Data on the Structure of the Chinese City" in _Economic +Development and Cultural Change_, 1956, pp. 253-68, and "The Formation +of Chinese Civilization" in _Sociologus_ 7, 1959, pp. 97-112). + +p. 32: The work on slaves by T. Pippon, E. Erkes, M. Wilbur, Wan +Kuo-ting, Kuo Mo-jo, Niida Noboru, Kao Nien-chih and others has been +consulted; the interpretation by E.G. Pulleyblank, however, was not +accepted. + +p. 33: This interpretation of the "well-field" system relies in part +upon the work done by Hsü Ti-shan, in part upon M. Granet and H. +Maspero, and attempts to utilize insight from general anthropological +theory and field-work mainly in South-East Asia. Other interpretations +have been proposed by Yang Lien-sheng, Wan Kuo-ting, Ch'i Sz[)u]-ho P. +Demiéville, Hu Shih, Chi Ch'ao-ting, K.A. Wittfogel, and others Some +authors, such as Kuo Mo-jo, regard the whole system as an utopia, but +believe in an original "village community".--The characterization of the +_Chou-li_ relies in part upon the work done by Hsü Chung-shu and Ku +Chieh-kang on the titles of nobility, research by Yang K'uan and textual +criticism by B. Karlgren, O. Franke, and again Ku Chieh-kang and his +school.--The discussion on twin cities is intended to draw attention to +its West Asian parallels, the "acropolis" or "ark" city, as well as to +the theories on the difference between Western and Asian cities (M. +Weber) and the specific type of cities in "dual societies" (H. Boeke). + +p. 34: This is a modified form of the Hu Shih theory.--The problem of +nomadic agrarian inter-action and conflict has been studied for a later +period mainly by O. Lattimore. Here, general anthropological research as +well as my own have been applied. + +p. 36: The supra-stratification theory as developed by R. Thurnwald has +been used as analytic tool here. + +p. 38: For this period, a novel interpretation is presented by R.L. +Walker, _The Multi-State System of China_, Hamden 1953. For the concepts +of sovereignty, I have used here the _Chou-li_ text and interpretations +based upon this text. + +p. 40: For the introduction of iron and the importance of Ch'i, see Chu +Hsi-tsu, Kuo Mo-jo, Yang K'uan, Sekino, Takeshi.--Some scholars (G. +Haloun) tend to interpret attacks such as the one of 660 B.C. as attacks +from outside the borders of China. + +p. 41: For Confucius see H.G. Creel, _Confucius_, New York 1949. I do +not, however, follow his interpretation, but rather the ideas of Hu +Shih, O. Franke and others. + +p. 42: For "chün-tz[)u]" and its counterpart "hsiao-jen" see D. Bodde +and Ch'en Meng-chia. + +p 43: I rely strongly here upon O. Franke and Ku Chieh-kang and upon my +own work on eclipses. + +p. 44: I regard the Confucian traditions concerning the model emperors +of early time as such a falsification. The whole concept of "abdication" +has been analysed by M. Granet. The later ceremony of abdication was +developed upon the basis of the interpretations of Confucius and has +been studied by Ku Chieh-kang and Miyakawa Hisayuki. Already Confucius' +disciple Meng Tz[)u], and later Chuang Tz[)u] and Han Fei Tz[)u] were +against this theory.--As a general introduction to the philosophy of +this period, Y.L. Feng's _History of Chinese Philosophy_, London 1937 +has still to be recommended, although further research has made many +advances.--My analysis of the role of Confucianism in society is +influenced by theories in the field of Sociology of religion. + +p. 45: The temple in Turkestan was in Khotan and is already mentioned in +the _Wei-shu_ chapter 102. The analysis of the famous "Book on the +transfiguration of Lao Tz[)u] into a Western Barbarian" by Wang +Wei-cheng is penetrating and has been used here. The evaluation of Lao +Tz[)u] and his pupils as against Confucius by J. Needham, in his +_Science and Civilization in China_, Cambridge 1954 _et seq_. (in volume +2) is very stimulating, though necessarily limited to some aspects only. + +p. 47: The concept of _wu-wei_ has often been discussed; some, such as +Masaaki Matsumoto, interpreted the concept purely in social terms as +"refusal of actions carrying worldly estimation". + +p. 49 Further literature concerning alchemy and breathing exercises is +found in J. Needham's book. + +_Chapter Four_ + +p. 51: I have used here the general framework of R.L. Walker, but more +upon Yang K'uan's studies. + +p. 52: The interpretation of the change of myths in this period is based +in part upon the work done by H. Maspero, G. Haloun, and Ku Chieh-kang. +The analysis of legends made by B. Karlgren from a philological point of +view ("Legends and Cults in Ancient China", _The Museum of Far Eastern +Antiquities, Bulletin_ No. 18, 1946, pp. 199-365) follows another +direction. + +p. 53: The discussion on riding involves the theories concerning +horse-nomadic tribes and the period of this way of life. It also +involves the problem of the invention of stirrup and saddle. The saddle +seems to have been used in China already at the beginning of our period; +the stirrup seems to be as late as the fifth century A.D. The article by +A. Kroeber, _The Ancient Oikumene as an Historic Culture Aggregate_, +Huxley Memorial Lecture for 1945, is very instructive for our problems +and also for its theoretical approach.--The custom of attracting +settlers from other areas in order to have more production as well as +more manpower seems to have been known in India at the same time. + +p. 54: The work done by Kat[=o] Shigeru and Niida Noboru on property and +family has been used here. For the later period, work done by Makino +Tatsumi has also been incorporated.--Literature on the plough and on +iron for implements has been mentioned above. Concerning the fallow +system, I have incorporated the ideas of Kat[=o] Shigeru, [=O]shima +Toshikaza, Hsü Ti-shan and Wan Kuo-ting. Hsü Ti-shan believes that a +kind of 3-field system had developed by this time. Traces of such a +system have been observed in modern China (H.D. Scholz). For these +questions, the translation by N. Lee Swann, _Food and Money in Ancient +China_, 1959 is very important. + +p. 55: For all questions of money and credit from this period down to +modern times, the best brief introduction is by Lien-sheng Yang, _Money +and Credit in China_, Cambridge 1952. The _Introduction to the Economic +History of China_, London 1954, by E. Stuart Kirby is certainly still +the best brief introduction into all problems of Chinese Economic +history and contains a bibliography in Western and Chinese-Japanese +languages. Articles by Chinese authors on economic problems have been +translated in E-tu Zen Sun and J. de Francis, _Chinese Social History_, +Washington 1956.--Data on the size of early cities have been collected +by T. Sekino and Kat[=o] Shigeru. + +p. 56: T. Sekino studied the forms of cities. C. Hentze believes that +the city even in the Shang period normally had a square plan.--T. Sekino +has also made the first research on city coins. Such a privilege and +such independence of cities disappear later, but occasionally the +privilege of minting was given to persons of high rank.--K.A. Wittfogel, +_Oriental Despotism_, New Haven 1957 regards irrigation as a key +economic and social factor and has built up his theory around this +concept. I do not accept his theory here or later. Evidence seems to +point towards the importance of transportation systems rather than of +government-sponsored or operated irrigation systems.--Concerning steel, +we follow Yang K'uan; a special study by J. Needham is under +preparation. Centre of steel production at this time was Wan (later +Nanyang in Honan).--For early Chinese law, the study by A.F.P. Hulsewé, +_Remnants of Han Law_, Leiden 1955 is the best work in English. He does +not, however, regard Li K'ui as the main creator of Chinese law, though +Kuo Mo-jo and others do. It is obvious, however, that Han law was not a +creation of the Han Chinese alone and that some type of code must have +existed before Han, even if such a code was not written by the man Li +K'ui. A special study on Li was made by O. Franke. + +p. 57: In the description of border conditions, research by O. Lattimore +has been taken into consideration. + +p. 59: For Shang Yang and this whole period, the classical work in +English is still J.J.L. Duyvendak, _The Book of Lord Shang_, London +1928; the translation by Ma Perleberg of _The Works of Kung-sun +Lung-tzu_, Hongkong 1952 as well as the translation of the _Economic +Dialogues in Ancient China: The Kuan-tzu_, edited by L. Maverick, New +Haven 1954 have not found general approval, but may serve as +introductions to the way philosophers of our period worked. Han Fei +Tz[)u]; has been translated by W.K. Liao, _The Complete Works of Han Fei +Tz[)u]_, London 1939 (only part 1). + +p. 60: Needham does not have such a positive attitude towards Tsou Yen, +and regards Western influences upon Tsou Yen as not too likely. The +discussion on pp. 60-1 follows mainly my own researches. + +p. 61: The interpretation of secret societies is influenced by general +sociological theory and detailed reports on later secret societies. S. +Murayama and most modern Chinese scholars stress almost solely the +social element in the so-called "peasant rebellions". + +_Chapter Five_ + +p. 63: The analysis of the emergence of Ch'in bureaucracy has profited +from general sociological theory, especially M. Weber (see the new +analysis by R. Bendix, _Max Weber, an Intellectual Portrait_, Garden +City 1960, p. 117-157). Early administration systems of this type in +China have been studied in several articles in the journal _Yü-kung_ +(vol. 6 and 7). + +p. 65: In the discussion of language, I use arguments which have been +brought forth by P. Serruys against the previously generally accepted +theories of B. Karlgren.--For weights and measures I have referred to T. +Sekino, Liu Fu and Wu Ch'eng-lo. + +p. 66: For this period, D. Bodde's _China's First Unifier_, Leiden 1938 +and his _Statesman, Patriot, and General in Ancient China_, New Haven +1940 remain valuable studies. + +_Chapter Six_ + +p. 71: The basic historical text for this whole period, the _Dynastic +History of the Han Dynasty_, is now in part available in English +translation (H.H. Dubs, _The History of the Former Han Dynasty_, +Baltimore 1938, 3 volumes). + +p. 72: The description of the gentry is based upon my own research. +Other scholars define the word "gentry", if applied to China, +differently (some of the relevant studies are discussed in my note in +the _Bull. School of Orient. & African Studies_, 1955, p. 373 f.). + +p. 73: The theory of the cycle of mobility has been brought forth by Fr. +L.K. Hsu and others. I have based my criticism upon a forthcoming study +of _Social Mobility in Traditional Chinese Society_. The basic point is +not the momentary economic or political power of such a family, but the +social status of the family (_Li-shih yen-chiu_, Peking 1955, No. 4, p. +122). The social status was, increasingly, defined and fixed by law +(Ch'ü T'ung-tsu).--The difference in the size of gentry and other +families has been pointed out by a number of scholars such as Fr. L.K. +Hsu, H.T. Fei, O. Lang. My own research seems to indicate that gentry +families, on the average, married earlier than other families. + +p. 74: The Han system of examinations or rather of selection has been +studied by Yang Lien-sheng; and analysis of the social origin of +candidates has been made in the _Bull. Chinese Studies_, vol. 2, 1941, +and 3, 1942.--The meaning of the term "Hundred Families" has been +discussed by W. Eichhorn, Kuo Mo-jo, Ch'en Meng-chia and especially by +Hsü T'ung-hsin. It was later also a fiscal term. + +p. 75: The analysis of Hsiung-nu society is based mainly upon my own +research. There is no satisfactory history of these northern federations +available in English. The compilation of W.M. MacGovern, _The Early +Empires of Central Asia_, Chapel Hill 1939, is now quite antiquated.--An +attempt to construct a model of Central Asian nomadic social structure +has been made by E.E. Bacon, _Obok, a Study of Social Structure in +Eurasia_, New York 1958, but the model constructed by B. Vladimirtsov +and modified by O. Lattimore remains valuable.--For origin and +early-development of Hsiung-nu society see O. Maenchen, K. Jettmar, B. +Bernstam, Uchida Gimpu and many others. + +p. 79: Material on the "classes" (_sz[)u] min_) will be found in a +forthcoming book. Studies by Ch'ü T'ung-tsu and Tamai Korehiro are +important here. An up-to-date history of Chinese education is still a +desideratum. + +p. 80: For Tung Chung-shu, I rely mainly upon O. Franke.--Some scholars +do not accept this "double standard", although we have clear texts which +show that cases were evaluated on the basis of Confucian texts and not +on the basis of laws. In fact, local judges probably only in exceptional +cases knew the text of the law or had the code. They judged on the basis +of "customary law". + +p. 81: Based mainly upon my own research. K.A. Wittfogel, _Oriental +Despotism_, New Haven 1957, has a different interpretation. + +p. 82: Cases in which the Han emperors disregarded the law code were +studied by Y. Hisamura.--I have used here studies published in the +_Bull, of Chinese Studies_, vol. 2 and 3 and in _Tôyô gakuho_, +vol. 8 and 9, in addition to my own research. + +p. 85: On local administration see Kat[=o] Shigeru and Yen Keng-wang's +studies. + +p. 86: The problem of the Chinese gold, which will be touched upon later +again, has gained theoretical interest, because it could be used as a +test of M. Lombard's theories concerning the importance of gold in the +West (_Annales, Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations_, vol. 12, Paris +1957, No. 1, p. 7-28). It was used in China from c. 600 B.C. on in form +of coins or bars, but disappeared almost completely from A.D. 200 on, +i.e. the period of economic decline (see L.S. Yang, Kat[=o] +Shigeru).--The payment to border tribes occurs many times again in +Chinese history down to recent times; it has its parallel in British +payments to tribes in the North-West Frontier Province in India which +continued even after the Independence. + +p. 88: According to later sources, one third of the tributary gifts was +used in the Imperial ancestor temples, one third in the Imperial +mausolea, but one third was used as gifts to guests of the Emperor.--The +trade aspect of the tributes was first pointed but by E. Parker, later +by O. Lattimore, recently by J.K. Fairbank.--The importance of Chang +Ch'ien for East-West contacts was systematically studied by B. Laufer; +his _Sino-Iranica_, Chicago 1919 is still a classic. + +p. 89: The most important trait which points to foreign trade, is the +occurrence of glass in Chinese tombs in Indo-China and of glass in China +proper from the fifth century B.C. on; it is assumed that this glass was +imported from the Near East, possibly from Egypt (O. Janse, N. Egami, +Seligman). + +p. 91: Large parts of the "Discussions" have been translated by Esson M. +Gale, _Discourses on Salt and Iron_, Leiden 1931; the continuation of +this translation is in _Jour. Royal As. Society, North-China Branch_ +1934.--The history of eunuchs in China remains to be written. They were +known since at least the seventh century B.C. The hypothesis has been +made that this custom had its origin in Asia Minor and spread from there +(R.F. Spencer in _Ciba Symposia_, vol. 8, No. 7, 1946 with references). + +p. 92: The main source on Wang Mang is translated by C.B. Sargent, _Wang +Mang, a translation_, Shanghai 1950 and H.H. Dubs, _History of the +Former Han Dynasty_, vol, 3, Baltimore 1955. + +p. 93: This evaluation of the "Old character school" is not generally +accepted. A quite different view is represented by Tjan Tjoe Som and +R.P. Kramers and others who regard the differences between the schools +as of a philological and not a political kind. I follow here most +strongly the Chinese school as represented by Ku Chieh-kang and his +friends, and my own studies. + +p. 93: Falsification of texts refers to changes in the Tso-chuan. My +interpretation relies again upon Ku Chieh-kang, and Japanese +astronomical studies (Ijima Tadao), but others, too, admit +falsifications (H.H. Dubs); B. Karlgren and others regard the book as in +its main body genuine. The other text mentioned here is the _Chou-li_ +which is certainly not written by Wang Mang (_Jung-chai Hsü-pi_ 16), but +heavily mis-used by him (in general see S. Uno). + +p. 94: I am influenced here by some of H.H. Dubs's studies. For this and +the following period, the work by H. Bielenstein, _The Restoration of +the Han Dynasty_, Stockholm 1953 and 1959 is the best monograph.--The +"equalization offices" and their influence upon modern United States has +been studied by B. Bodde in the _Far Eastern Quarterly_, vol. 5, 1946. + +p. 95: H. Bielenstein regards a great flood as one of the main reasons +for the breakdown of Wang Mang's rule. + +p. 98: For the understanding of Chinese military colonies in Central +Asia as well as for the understanding of military organization, civil +administration and business, the studies of Lao Kan on texts excavated +in Central Asia and Kansu are of greatest importance. + +p. 101: Mazdaistic elements in this rebellion have been mentioned mainly +by H.H. Dubs. Zoroastrism (Zoroaster born 569 B.C.) and Mazdaism were +eminently "political" religions from their very beginning on. Most +scholars admit the presence of Mazdaism in China only from 519 on +(Ishida Mikinosuke, O. Franke). Dubs's theory can be strengthened by +astronomical material.--The basic religious text of this group, the +"Book of the Great Peace" has been studied by W. Eichhorn Maspero +and Ho Ch'ang-ch'ün. + +p. 102: For the "church" I rely mainly upon H. Maspero and W. Eichhorn. + +p. 103: I use here concepts developed by Cheng Chen-to and especially by +Jung Chao-tsu. + +p. 104: Wang Ch'ung's importance has recently been mentioned again by J. +Needham. + +p. 105: These "court poets" have their direct parallel in Western Asia. +This trend, however, did not become typical in China.--On the general +history of paper read A. Kroeber, _Anthropology_, New York 1948, p. +490f., and Dard Hunter, _Paper Making_, New York 1947 (2nd ed.). + +_Chapter Seven_ + +p. 109: The main historical sources for this period have been translated +by Achilles Fang, _The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms_, Cambridge, +Mass. 1952; the epic which describes this time is C.H. Brewitt-Taylor, +_San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Shanghai 1925. + +p. 112: For problems of migration and settlement in the South, we relied +in part upon research by Ch'en Yüan and Wang Yi-t'ung. + +p. 114: For the history of the Hsiung-nu I am relying mainly upon my own +studies. + +p. 117: This analysis of tribal structure is based mainly upon my own +research; it differs in detail from the studies by E. Bacon, _Obok, a +Study of Social Structure in Eurasia_, New York 1958, B. Vladimirtsov, +O. Lattimore's _Inner Asian Frontiers of China_, New York 1951 (2nd +edit.) and the studies by L.M.J. Schram, _The Monguors of the +Kansu-Tibetan Frontier_, Philadelphia 1954 and 1957. + +p. 118: The use of the word "Huns" does not imply that we identify the +early or the late Hsiung-nu with the European Huns. This question is +still very much under discussion (O. Maenchen, W. Haussig, W. Henning, +and others). + +p. 119: For the history of the early Hsien-pi states see the monograph +by G. Schreiber, "The History of the Former Yen Dynasty", in _Monomenta +Serica_, vol. 14 and 15 (1949-56). For all translations from Chinese +Dynastic Histories of the period between 220 and 960 the _Catalogue of +Translations from the Chinese Dynastic Histories for the Period +220-960_, by Hans H. Frankel, Berkeley 1957, is a reliable guide. + +p. 125: For the description of conditions in Turkestan, especially in +Tunhuang, I rely upon my own studies, but studies by A. von Gabein, L. +Ligeti, J.R. Ware, O. Franke and Tsukamoto Zenryû have been used, too. + +p. 133: These songs have first been studied by Hu Shih, later by Chinese +folklorists. + +p. 134: For problems of Chinese Buddhism see Arthur F. Wright, _Buddhism +in Chinese History_, Stanford 1959, with further bibliography. I have +used for this and later periods, in addition to my own sociological +studies, R. Michihata, J. Gernet, and Tamai Korehiro.--It is interesting +that the rise of landowning temples in India occurred at exactly the +same time (R.S. Sharma in _Journ. Econ. and Soc. Hist. Orient_, vol. 1, +1958, p. 316). Perhaps even more interesting, but still unstudied, is +the existence of Buddhist temples in India which owned land and villages +which were donated by contributions from China.--For the use of foreign +monks in Chinese bureaucracies, I have used M. Weber's theory as an +interpretative tool. + +p. 135: The important deities of Khotan Buddhism are Vai['s]ramana and +Kubera, (research by P. Demiéville, R. Stein and others).--Where, how, +and why Hinayana and Mahayana developed as separate sects, is not yet +studied. Also, a sociological analysis of the different Buddhist sects +in China has not even been attempted yet. + +p. 136: Such public religious disputations were known also in India. + +p. 137: Analysis of the tribal names has been made by L. Bazin. + +pp. 138-9: The personality type which was the ideal of the Toba +corresponded closely to the type described by G. Geesemann, _Heroische +Lebensform_, Berlin 1943. + +p. 142: The Toba occur in contemporary Western sources as Tabar, Tabgaç, +Tafkaç and similar names. The ethnic name also occurs as a title (O. +Pritsak, P. Pelliot, W. Haussig and others).--On the _chün-t'ien_ system +cf. the article by Wan Kuo-ting in E-tu Zen Sun, _Chinese Social +History_, Washington 1956, p. 157-184. I also used Yoshimi Matsumoto and +T'ang Ch'ang-ju.--Census fragments from Tunhuang have been published by +L. Giles, Niida Noboru and other Japanese scholars. + +p. 143: On slaves for the earlier time see M. Wilbur, _Slavery in China +during the Former Han Dynasty_, Chicago 1943. For our period Wang +Yi-t'ung and especially Niida Noboru and Ch'ü T'ung-tsu. I used for this +discussion Niida, Ch'ü and Tamai Korehiro.--For the _pu-ch'ü_ I used in +addition Yang Chung-i, H. Maspero, E. Balazs, W. Eichhorn. Yang's +article is translated in E-tu Zen Sun's book, _Chinese Social History_, +pp. 142-56.--The question of slaves and their importance in Chinese +society has always been given much attention by Chinese Communist +authors. I believe that a clear distinction between slaves and serfs is +very important. + +p. 145: The political use of Buddhism has been asserted for Japan as +well as for Korea and Tibet (H. Hoffmann, _Quellen zur Geschichte der +tibetischen Bon-Religion_, Mainz 1950, p. 220 f.). A case could be made +for Burma. In China, Buddhism was later again used as a tool by rulers +(see below). + +p. 146: The first text in which such problems of state versus church are +mentioned is Mou Tz[)u] (P. Pelliot transl.). More recently, some of the +problems have been studied by R. Michihata and E. Zürcher. Michihata +also studied the temple slaves. Temple families were slightly different. +They have been studied mainly by R. Michihata, J. Gernet and Wang +Yi-t'ung. The information on T'an-yao is mainly in _Wei-shu_ 114 +(transl. J. Ware).--The best work on Yün-kang is now Seiichi Mizuno and +Toshio Nagahiro, _Yün-kang. The Buddhist Cave-Temples of the Fifth +Century A.D. in North China_, Kyoto 1951-6, thus far 16 volumes. For +Chinese Buddhist art, the work by Tokiwa Daijô and Sekino Tadashi, +_Chinese Buddhist Monuments_, Tokyo 1926-38, 5 volumes, is most +profusely illustrated.--As a general reader for the whole of Chinese +art, Alexander Soper and L. Sickman's _The Art and Architecture of +China_, Baltimore 1956 may be consulted. + +p, 147: Zenryû Tsukamoto has analysed one such popular, revolutionary +Buddhist text from the fifth century A.D. I rely here for the whole +chapter mainly upon my own research. + +p. 150: On the Ephtalites (or Hephtalites) see R. Ghirshman and +Enoki.--The carpet ceremony has been studied by P. Boodberg, and in a +comparative way by L. Olschki, _The Myth of Felt_, Berkeley 1949. + +p. 151: For Yang Chien and his time see now A.F. Wright, "The Formation +of Sui Ideology" in John K. Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and +Institutions_, Chicago 1957, pp. 71-104. + +p. 153: The processes described here, have not yet been thoroughly +analysed. A preliminary review of literature is given by H. Wiens, +_China's March towards the Tropics_, Hamden 1954. I used Ch'en Yüan, +Wang Yi-t'ung and my own research. + +p. 154: It is interesting to compare such hunting parks with the +"_paradeisos"_ (Paradise) of the Near East and with the "Garden of +Eden".--Most of the data on gardens and manors have been brought +together and studied by Japanese scholars, especially by Kat[=o] +Shigeru, some also by Ho Tzû-ch'üan.--The disappearance of "village +commons" in China should be compared with the same process in Europe; +both processes, however, developed quite differently. The origin of +manors and their importance for the social structure of the Far East +(China as well as Japan) is the subject of many studies in Japan and in +modern China. This problem is connected with the general problem of +feudalism East and West. The manor (_chuang_: Japanese _shô_) in later +periods has been studied by Y. Sudô. H. Maspero also devotes attention +to this problem. Much more research remains to be done. + +p. 158: This popular rebellion by Sun En has been studied by W. +Eichhorn. + +p. 163: On foreign music in China see L.C. Goodrich and Ch'ü T'ung-tsu, +H.G. Farmer, S. Kishibe and others.--Niida Noboru pointed out that +musicians belonged to one of the lower social classes, but had special +privileges because of their close relations to the rulers. + +p. 164: Meditative or _Ch'an_ (Japanese: _Zen_) Buddhism in this period +has been studied by Hu Shih, but further analysis is necessary.--The +philosophical trends of this period have been analysed by E. +Balazs.--Mention should also be made of the aesthetic-philosophical +conversation which was fashionable in the third century, but in other +form still occurred in our period, the so-called "pure talk" +(_ch'ing-t'an_) (E. Balazs, H. Wilhelm and others). + +_Chapter Eight_ + +p. 167: For genealogies and rules of giving names, I use my own research +and the study by W. Bauer. + +p. 168: For Emperor Wen Ti, I rely mainly upon A.F. Wright's +above-mentioned article, but also upon O. Franke. + +p. 169: The relevant texts concerning the T'u-chüeh are available in +French (E. Chavannes) and recently also in German translation (Liu +Mau-tsai, _Die chinesischen Nachrichten zur Geschichte der Ost-T[vu]rken_, +Wiesbaden 1958, 2 vol.).--The Tölös are called T'e-lo in Chinese +sources; the T'u-yü-hun are called Aza in Central Asian sources (P. +Pelliot, A. Minorsky, F.W. Thomas, L. Hambis, _et al_.). The most +important text concerning the T'u-yü-hun had been translated by Th. D. +Caroll, _Account of the T'u-yü-hun in the History of the Chin Dynasty_, +Berkeley 1953. + +p. 171: The transcription of names on this and on the other maps could +not be adjusted to the transcription of the text for technical reasons. + +p. 172: It is possible that I have underestimated the role of Li Yüan. I +relied here mainly upon O. Franke and upon W. Bingham's _The Founding of +the T'ang Dynasty_, Baltimore 1941. + +p. 173: The best comprehensive study of T'ang economy in a Western +language is still E. Balazs's work. I relied, however, strongly upon Wan +Kuo-ting, Yang Chung-i, Kat[=o] Shigeru, J. Gernet, T. Naba, Niida +Noboru, Yoshimi Matsumoto. + +pp. 173-4: For the description of the administration I used my own +studies and the work of R. des Rotours; for the military organization I +used Kikuchi Hideo. A real study of Chinese army organization and +strategy does not yet exist. The best detailed study, but for the Han +period, is written by H. Maspero. + +p. 174: For the first occurrence of the title _tu-tu_ we used W. +Eichhorn; in the form _tutuq_ the title occurs since 646 in Central Asia +(J. Hamilton). + +p. 177: The name T'u-fan seems to be a transcription of Tüpöt which, +in turn, became our Tibet. (J. Hamilton).--The Uighurs are the Hui-ho or +Hui-hu of Chinese sources. + +p. 179: On relations with Central Asia and the West see Ho Chien-min and +Hsiang Ta, whose classical studies on Ch'ang-an city life have recently +been strongly criticized by Chinese scholars.--Some authors (J.K. +Rideout) point to the growing influence of eunuchs in this period.--The +sources paint the pictures of the Empress Wu in very dark colours. A +more detailed study of this period seems to be necessary. + +p. 180: The best study of "family privileges" (_yin_) in general is by +E.A. Kracke, _Civil Service in Early Sung China_, Cambridge, Mass. 1953. + +p. 180-1: The economic importance of organized Buddhism has been studied +by many authors, especially J. Gernet, Yang Lien-sheng, Ch'üan +Han-sheng, K. Tamai and R. Michihata. + +p. 182: The best comprehensive study on T'ang prose in English is still +E.D. Edwards, _Chinese Prose Literature of the T'ang Period_, London +1937-8, 2 vol. On Li T'ai-po and Po Chü-i we have well-written books by +A. Waley, _The Poetry and Career of Li Po_, London 1951 and _The Life +and Times of Po Chü-i_, London 1950.--On the "free poem" (_tz[)u]_), +which technically is not a free poem, see A. Hoffmann and Hu Shih. For +the early Chinese theatre, the classical study is still Wang Kuo-wei's +analysis, but there is an almost unbelievable number of studies +constantly written in China and Japan, especially on the later theatre +and drama. + +p. 184: Conditions at the court of Hsüan Tsung and the life of Yang +Kui-fei have been studied by Howard Levy and others, An Lu-shan's +importance mainly by E.G. Pulleyblank, _The Background of the Rebellion +of An Lu-shan_, London 1955. + +p. 187: The tax reform of Yang Yen has been studied by K. Hino; the most +important figures in T'ang economic history are Liu Yen (studied by Chü +Ch'ing-yüan) and Lu Chih (754-805; studied by E. Balazs and others). + +pp. 187-8: The conditions at the time of this persecution are well +described by E.O. Reischauer, _Ennin's Travels in T'ang China_, New York +1955, on the basis of his _Ennin's Diary. The Record of a Pilgrimage to +China_, New York 1955. The persecution of Buddhism has been analysed in +its economic character by Niida Noboru and other Japanese +scholars.--Metal statues had to be delivered to the Salt and Iron Office +in order to be converted into cash; iron statues were collected by local +offices for the production of agricultural implements; figures in gold, +silver or other rare materials were to be handed over to the Finance +Office. Figures made of stone, clay or wood were not affected +(Michihata). + +p. 189: It seems important to note that popular movements are often not +led by simple farmers of members of the lower classes. There are other +salt merchants and persons of similar status known as leaders. + +p. 190: For the Sha-t'o, I am relying upon my own research. Tatars are +the Ta-tan of the Chinese sources. The term is here used in a narrow +sense. + +_Chapter Nine_ + +p. 195: Many Chinese and Japanese authors have a new period begin with +the early (Ch'ien Mu) or the late tenth century (T'ao Hsi-sheng, Li +Chien-nung), while others prefer a cut already in the Middle of the +T'ang Dynasty (Teng Ch'u-min, Naito Torajiro). For many Marxists, the +period which we called "Modern Times" is at best a sub-period within a +larger period which really started with what we called "Medieval China". + +p. 196: For the change in the composition of the gentry, I am using my +own research.--For clan rules, clan foundations, etc., I used D.C. +Twitchett, J. Fischer, Hu Hsien-chin, Ch'ü T'ung-tsu, Niida Noboru and +T. Makino. The best analysis of the clan rules is by Wang Hui-chen in +D.S. Nivison, _Confucianism in Action_, Stanford 1959, p. 63-96.--I do +not regard such marriage systems as "survivals" of ancient systems which +have been studied by M. Granet and systematically analysed by C. +Lévy-Strauss in his _Les structures élémentaires de la parenté_, Paris +1949, pp. 381-443. In some cases, the reasons for the establishment of +such rules can still be recognized.--A detailed study of despotism in +China still has to be written. K.A. Wittfogel's _Oriental Despotism_, +New Haven 1957 does not go into the necessary detailed work. + +p. 197: The problem of social mobility is now under study, after +preliminary research by K.A. Wittfogel, E. Kracke, myself and others. E. +Kracke, Ho Ping-ti, R.M. Marsh and I are now working on this topic.--For +the craftsmen and artisans, much material has recently been collected by +Chinese scholars. I have used mainly Li Chien-nung and articles in +_Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3 and in _Mem. Inst. Orient. Cult_. +1956.--On the origin of guilds see Kat[=o] Shigeru; a general study of +guilds and their function has not yet been made (preliminary work by P. +Maybon, H.B. Morse, J. St. Burgess, K.A. Wittfogel and others). +Comparisons with Near-Eastern guilds on the one hand and with Japanese +guilds on the other, are quite interesting but parallels should not be +over-estimated. The _tong_ of U.S. Chinatowns (_tang_ in Mandarin) are +late and organizations of businessmen only (S. Yokoyama and Laai +Yi-faai). They are not the same as the _hui-kuan_. + +p. 198: For the merchants I used Ch'ü T'ung-tsu, Sung Hsi and Wada +Kiyoshi.--For trade, I used extensively Ch'üan Han-sheng and J. +Kuwabara.--On labour legislation in early modern times I used Ko +Ch'ang-chi and especially Li Chien-nung, also my own studies.--On +strikes I used Kat[=o] Shigeru and modern Chinese authors.--The problem +of "vagrants" has been taken up by Li Chien-nung who always refers to +the original sources and to modern Chinese research.--The growth of +cities, perhaps the most striking event in this period, has been studied +for the earlier part of our period by Kat[=o] Shigeru. Li Chien-nung +also deals extensively with investments in industry and agriculture. The +problem as to whether China would have developed into an industrial +society without outside stimulus is much discussed by Marxist authors in +China. + +p. 199: On money policy see Yang Lien-sheng, Kat[=o] Shigeru and others. + +p. 200: The history of one of the Southern Dynasties has been translated +by Ed. H. Schafer, _The Empire of Min_, Tokyo 1954; Schafer's +annotations provide much detail for the cultural and economic conditions +of the coastal area.--For tea and its history, I use my own research; +for tea trade a study by K. Kawakami and an article in the _Frontier +Studies_, vol. 3, 1943.--Salt consumption according to H.T. Fei, +_Earthbound China, 1945, p_. 163. + +p. 201: For salt I used largely my own research. For porcelain +production Li Chien-nung and other modern articles.--On paper, the +classical study is Th. F. Carter, _The Invention of Printing in China_, +New York 1925 (a revised edition now published by L.C. Goodrich). + +p. 202: For paper money in the early period, see Yang Lien-sheng, _Money +and Credit in China_, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. Although the origin of +paper money seems to be well established, it is interesting to note that +already in the third century A.D. money made of paper was produced and +was burned during funeral ceremonies to serve as financial help for the +dead. This money was, however, in the form of coins.--On iron money see +Yang Lien-sheng; I also used an article in _Tung-fang tsa-chih_, vol. +35, No. 10. + +p. 203: For the Kitan (Chines: Ch'i-tan) and their history see K.A. +Wittfogel and Feng Chia-sheng, _History of Chinese Society. Liao_, +Philadelphia 1949. + +p. 204: For these dynasties, I rely upon my own research.--Niida Noboru +and Kat[=o] Shigeru have studied adoption laws; our specific case has in +addition been studied by M. Kurihara. This system of adoptions is +non-Chinese and has its parallels among Turkish tribes (A. Kollantz, +Abdulkadir Inan, Osman Turan). + +p. 207: For the persecution I used K. Tamai and my own research. + +p. 211: This is based mainly upon my own research.--The remark on tax +income is from Ch'üan Han-sheng. + +p. 212: Fan Chung-yen has been studied recently by J. Fischer and D. +Twitchett, but these notes on price policies are based upon my own +work.--I regard the statement, that it was the gentry which prevented +the growth of an industrial society--a statement which has often been +made before--as preliminary, and believe that further research, +especially in the growth of cities and urban institutions may lead to +quite different explanations.--On estate management I relied on Y. +Sudô's work. + +p. 213: Research on place names such as mentioned here, has not yet been +systematically done.--On _i-chuang_ I relied upon the work by T. Makino +and D. Twitchett.--This process of tax-evasion has been used by K.A. +Wittfogel (1938) to construct a theory of a crisis cycle in China. I do +not think that such far-reaching conclusions are warranted. + +p. 214: This "law" was developed on the basis of Chinese materials from +different periods as well as on materials from other parts of Asia.--In +the study of tenancy, cases should be studied in which wealthier farmers +rent additional land which gets cultivated by farm labourers. Such cases +are well known from recent periods, but have not yet been studied in +earlier periods. At the same time, the problem of farm labourers should +be investigated. Such people were common in the Sung time. Research +along these lines could further clarify the importance of the so-called +"guest families" (_k'o-hu_) which were alluded to in these pages. They +constituted often one third of the total population in the Sung period. +The problem of migration and mobility might also be clarified by +studying the _k'o-hu_. + +p. 215: For Wang An-shih, the most comprehensive work is still H. +Williamson's _Wang An-shih_, London 1935, 3 vol., but this work in no +way exhausts the problems. We have so much personal data on Wang that a +psychological study could be attempted; and we have since Williamson's +time much deeper insight into the reforms and theories of Wang. I used, +in addition to Williamson, O. Franke, and my own research. + +p. 216: Based mainly upon Ch'ü T'ung-tsu.--For the social legislation +see Hsü I-t'ang; for economic problems I used Ch'üan Han-sheng, Ts'en +Chung-mien and Liu Ming-shu.--Most of these relief measures had their +precursors in the T'ang period. + +p. 217: It is interesting to note that later Buddhism gave up its +"social gospel" in China. Buddhist circles in Asian countries at the +present time attempt to revive this attitude. + +p. 218: For slaughtering I used A. Hulsewé; for greeting R. Michihata; +on law Ch'ü T'ung-tsu; on philosophy I adapted ideas from Chan Wing-sit. + +p. 219: A comprehensive study of Chu Hsi is a great desideratum. Thus +far, we have in English mainly the essays by Feng Yu-lan (transl. and +annotated by D. Bodde) in the _Harvard Journal of Asiat. Stud_., vol. 7, +1942. T. Makino emphasized Chu's influence upon the Far East, J. Needham +his interest in science. + +p. 220: For Su Tung-p'o as general introduction see Lin Yutang, _The Gay +Genius. The Life and Times of Su Tung-p'o_, New York 1947.--For +painting, I am using concepts of A. Soper here. + +p. 222: For this period the standard work is K.A. Wittfogel and Feng +Chia-sheng, _History of Chinese Society, Liao_, Philadelphia +1949.--Po-hai had been in tributary relations with the dynasties of +North China before its defeat, and resumed these from 932 on; there were +even relations with one of the South Chinese states; in the same way, +Kao-li continuously played one state against the other (M. Rogers _et +al_.). + +p. 223: On the Kara-Kitai see Appendix to Wittfogel-Feng. + +p. 228: For the Hakka, I relied mainly upon Lo Hsiang-lin; for Chia +Ssu-tao upon H. Franke. + +p. 229: The Juchên (Jurchen) are also called Nü-chih and Nü-chen, but +Juchên seems to be correct (_Studia Serica_, vol. 3, No. 2). + +_Chapter Ten_ + +p. 233: I use here mainly Meng Ssu-liang, but also others, such as Chü +Ch'ing-yüan and Li Chien-nung.--The early political developments are +described by H.D. Martin, _The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of +North China_, Baltimore 1950. + +p. 236: I am alluding here to such Taoist sects as the Cheng-i-chiao +(Sun K'o-k'uan and especially the study in _Kita Aziya gakuh[=o]_, vol. 2). + +pp. 236-7: For taxation and all other economic questions I have relied +upon Wan Kuo-ting and especially upon H. Franke. The first part of the +main economic text is translated and annotated by H.F. Schurmann, +_Economic Structure of the Yüan Dynasty_, Cambridge, Mass., 1956. + +p. 237: On migrations see T. Makino and others.--For the system of +communications during the Mongol time and the privileges of merchants, I +used P. Olbricht. + +p. 238: For the popular rebellions of this time, I used a study in the +_Bull. Acad. Sinica_, vol. 10, 1948, but also Meng Ssu-liang and others. + +p. 239: On the White Lotus Society (Pai-lien-hui) see note to previous +page and an article by Hagiwara Jumpei. + +p. 240: H. Serruys, _The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu Period_, +Bruges 1959, has studied in this book and in an article the fate of +isolated Mongol groups in China after the breakdown of the dynasty. + +pp. 241-2: The travel report of Ch'ang-ch'un has been translated by A. +Waley, _The Travels of an Alchemist_, London 1931. + +p. 242: _Hsi-hsiang-chi_ has been translated by S.I. Hsiung. _The +Romance of the Western Chamber_, London 1935. All important analytic +literature on drama and theatre is written by Chinese and Japanese +authors, especially by Yoshikawa Kôjirô.--For Bon and early Lamaism, I +used H. Hoffmann. + +p. 243: Lamaism in Mongolia disappeared later, however, and was +reintroduced in the reformed form (Tsong-kha-pa, 1358-1419) in the +sixteenth century. See R.J. Miller, _Monasteries and Culture Change in +Inner Mongolia_, Wiesbaden 1959. + +p. 245: Much more research is necessary to clarify Japanese-Chinese +relations in this period, especially to determine the size of trade. +Good material is in the article by S. Iwao. Important is also S. Sakuma +and an article in _Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3. For the loss of coins, +I relied upon D. Brown. + +p. 246: The necessity of transports of grain and salt was one of the +reasons for the emergence of the Hsin-an and Hui-chou merchants. The +importance of these developments is only partially known (studies mainly +by H. Fujii and in _Li-shih-yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3). Data are also in an +unpublished thesis by Ch. Mac Sherry, _The Impairment of the Ming +Tributary System_, and in an article by Wang Ch'ung-wu. + +p. 247: The tax system of the Ming has been studied among others by +Liang Fang-chung. Yoshiyuki Suto analysed the methods of tax evasion in +the periods before the reform. For the land grants, I used Wan +Kuo-ting's data. + +p. 248: Based mainly upon my own research. On the progress of +agriculture wrote Li Chien-nung and also Kat[=o] Shigeru and others. + +p. 250: I believe that further research would discover that the +"agrarian revolution" was a key factor in the economic and social +development of China. It probably led to another change in dietary +habits; it certainly led to a greater labour input per person, i.e. a +higher number of full working days per year than before. It may be--but +only further research can try to show this--that the "agrarian +revolution" turned China away from technology and industry.--On cotton +and its importance see the studies by M. Amano, and some preliminary +remarks by P. Pelliot. + +pp. 250-1: Detailed study of Central Chinese urban centres in this time +is a great desideratum. My remarks here have to be taken as very +preliminary. Notice the special character of the industries +mentioned!--The porcelain centre of Ching-tê-chen was inhabited by +workers and merchants (70-80 per cent of population); there were more +than 200 private kilns.--On indented labour see Li Chien-nung, H. Iwami +and Y. Yamane. + +p. 253: On _pien-wen_ I used R. Michihata, and for this general +discussion R. Irvin, _The Evolution of a Chinese Novel_, Cambridge, +Mass., 1953, and studies by J. Jaworski and J. Pru[vs]ek. Many texts of +_pien-wen_ and related styles have been found in Tunhuang and have been +recently republished by Chinese scholars. + +p. 254: _Shui-hu-chuan_ has been translated by Pearl Buck, _All Men are +Brothers_. Parts of _Hsi-yu-chi_ have been translated by A. Waley, +_Monkey_, London 1946. _San-kuo yen-i_ is translated by C.H. +Brewitt-Taylor, _San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Shanghai +1925 (a new edition just published). A purged translation of +Chin-p'ing-mei is published by Fr. Kuhn _Chin P'ing Mei_, New York 1940. + +p. 255: Even the "murder story" was already known in Ming time. An +example is R.H. van Gulik, _Dee Gong An. Three Murder Cases solved by +Judge Dee_, Tokyo 1949. + +p. 256: For a special group of block-prints see R.H. van Gulik, _Erotic +Colour Prints of the Ming Dynasty_, Tokyo 1951. This book is also an +excellent introduction into Chinese psychology. + +p. 257: Here I use work done by David Chan. + +p. 258: I use here the research of J.J.L. Duyvendak; the reasons for the +end of such enterprises, as given here, may not exhaust the problem. It +may not be without relevance that Cheng came from a Muslim family. His +father was a pilgrim (_Bull. Chin. Studies_, vol. 3, pp. 131-70). +Further research is desirable.--Concerning folk-tales, I use my own +research. The main Buddhist tales are the _Jataka_ stories. They are +still used by Burmese Buddhists in the same context. + +p. 260: The Oirat (Uyrat, Ojrot, Ölöt) were a confederation of four +tribal groups: Khosud, Dzungar, Dörbet and Turgut. + +p. 261: I regard this analysis of Ming political history as +unsatisfactory, but to my knowledge no large-scale analysis has been +made.--For Wang Yang-ming I use mainly my own research. + +p. 262: For the coastal salt-merchants I used Lo Hsiang-lin's work. + +p. 263: On the rifles I used P. Pelliot. There is a large literature on +the use of explosives and the invention of cannons, especially L.C. +Goodrich and Feng Chia-sheng in _Isis_, vol. 36, 1946 and 39, 1948; also +G. Sarton, Li Ch'iao-p'ing, J. Pru[vs]ek, J. Needham, and M. Ishida; a +comparative, general study is by K. Huuri, _Studia Orientalia_ vol. 9, +1941.--For the earliest contacts of Wang with Portuguese, I used Chang +Wei-hua's monograph.--While there is no satisfactory, comprehensive +study in English on Wang, for Lu Hsiang-shan the book by Huang Siu-ch'i, +_Lu Hsiang-shan, a Twelfth-century Chinese Idealist Philosopher_, New +Haven 1944, can be used. + +p. 264: For Tao-yen, I used work done by David Chan.--Large parts of the +_Yung-lo ta-tien_ are now lost (Kuo Po-kung, Yüan T'ung-li studied this +problem). + +p. 265: Yen-ta's Mongol name is Altan Qan (died 1582), leader of the +Tümet. He is also responsible for the re-introduction of Lamaism into +Mongolia (1574).--For the border trade I used Hou Jen-chih; for the +Shansi bankers Ch'en Ch'i-t'ien and P. Maybon. For the beginnings of the +Manchu see Fr. Michael, _The Origins of Manchu Rule in China_, Baltimore +1942. + +p. 266: M. Ricci's diary (Matthew Ricci, _China in the Sixteenth +Century_. The Journals of M. Ricci, transl. by L.J. Gallagher, New York +1953) gives much insight into the life of Chinese officials in this +period. Recently, J. Needham has tried to show that Ricci and his +followers did not bring much which was not already known in China, but +that they actually attempted to prevent the Chinese from learning about +the Copernican theory. + +p. 267: For Coxinga I used M. Eder's study.--The Szechwan rebellion was +led by Chang Hsien-chung (1606-1647); I used work done by James B. +Parsons. Cheng T'ien-t'ing, Sun Yueh and others have recently published +the important documents concerning all late Ming peasant +rebellions.--For the Tung-lin academy see Ch. O. Hucker in J.K. +Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and Institutions_, Chicago 1957. A different +interpretation is indicated by Shang Yüeh in _Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, +No. 3. + +p. 268: Work on the "academies" (shu-yüan) in the earlier time is done +by Ho Yu-shen. + +pp. 273-4: Based upon my own, as yet unfinished research. + +p. 274: The population of 1953 as given here, includes Chinese outside +of mainland China. The population of mainland China was 582.6 millions. +If the rate of increase of about 2 per cent per year has remained the +same, the population of mainland China in 1960 may be close to 680 +million. In general see P.T. Ho. _Studies on the Population of China, +1368-1953_, Cambridge, Mass., 1960. + +p. 276: Based upon my own research.--A different view of the development +of Chinese industry is found in Norman Jacobs, _Modern Capitalism and +Eastern Asia_, Hong Kong 1958. Jacobs attempted a comparison of China +with Japan and with Europe. Different again is Marion Levy and Shih +Kuo-heng, _The Rise of the Modern Chinese Business Class_, New York +1949. Both books are influenced by the sociological theories of T. +Parsons. + +p. 277: The Dzungars (Dsunghar; Chun-ko-erh) are one of the four Ölöt +(Oirat) groups. I am here using studies by E. Haenisch and W. Fuchs. + +p. 278: Tibetan-Chinese relations have been studied by L. Petech, _China +and Tibet in the Early 18th Century_, Leiden 1950. A collection of data +is found in M.W. Fisher and L.E. Rose, _England, India, Nepal, Tibet, +China, 1765-1958_, Berkeley 1959. For diplomatic relations and tributary +systems of this period, I referred to J.K. Fairbank and Teng Ssu-yü. + +p. 279: For Ku Yen-wu, I used the work by H. Wilhelm.--A man who +deserves special mention in this period is the scholar Huang Tsung-hsi +(1610-1695) as the first Chinese who discussed the possibility of a +non-monarchic form of government in his treatise of 1662. For him see +Lin Mou-sheng, _Men and Ideas_, New York 1942, and especially W.T. de +Bary in J.K. Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and Institutions_, Chicago 1957. + +pp. 280-1: On Liang see now J.R. Levenson, _Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and the Mind +of Modern China_, London 1959. + +p. 282: It should also be pointed out that the Yung-cheng emperor was +personally more inclined towards Lamaism.--The Kalmuks are largely +identical with the above-mentioned Ölöt. + +p. 286: The existence of _hong_ is known since 1686, see P'eng Tse-i and +Wang Chu-an's recent studies. For details on foreign trade see H.B. +Morse, _The Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China +1635-1834_, Oxford 1926, 4 vols., and J.K. Fairbank, _Trade and +Diplomacy on the China Coast. The Opening of the Treaty Ports, +1842-1854_, Cambridge, Mass., 1953, 2 vols.--For Lin I used G.W. +Overdijkink's study. + +p. 287: On customs read St. F. Wright, _Hart and the Chinese Customs_, +Belfast 1950. + +p. 288: For early industry see A. Feuerwerker, _China's Early +Industrialization: Sheng Hsuan-huai (1844-1916_), Cambridge, Mass., +1958. + +p. 289: The Chinese source materials for the Mohammedan revolts have +recently been published, but an analysis of the importance of the +revolts still remains to be done.--On T'ai-p'ing much has been +published, especially in the last years in China, so that all documents +are now available. I used among other studies, details brought out by Lo +Hsiang-lin and Jen Yu-wen. + +p. 291: For Tsêng Kuo-fan see W.J. Hail, _Tsêng Kuo-fan and the +T'ai-p'ing Rebellion_, New Haven 1927, but new research on him is about +to be published.--The Nien-fei had some connection with the White Lotus, +and were known since 1814, see Chiang Siang-tseh, _The Nien Rebellion_, +Seattle 1954. + +p. 292: Little is known about Salars, Dungans and Yakub Beg's rebellion, +mainly because relevant Turkish sources have not yet been studied. On +Salars see L. Schram, _The Monguors of Kansu_, Philadelphia 1954, p. 23 +and P. Pelliot; on Dungans see I. Grebe. + +p. 293: On Tso Tsung-t'ang see G. Ch'en, _Tso Tung T'ang, Pioneer +Promotor of the Modern Dockyard and Woollen Mill in China_, Peking 1938, +and _Yenching Journal of Soc. Studies_, vol. I. + +p. 294: For the T'ung-chih period, see now Mary C. Wright, _The Last +Stand of Chinese Conservativism. The T'ung-chih Restoration, 1862-1874_, +Stanford 1957. + +p. 295: Ryukyu is Chinese: Liu-ch'iu; Okinawa is one of the islands of +this group.--Formosa is Chinese: T'ai-wan (Taiwan). Korea is Chinese: +Chao-hsien, Japanese: Chôsen. + +p. 297: M.C. Wright has shown the advisers around the ruler before the +Empress Dowager realized the severity of the situation.--Much research +is under way to study the beginning of industrialization of Japan, and +my opinions have changed greatly, due to the research done by Japanese +scholars and such Western scholars as H. Rosovsky and Th. Smith. The +eminent role of the lower aristocracy has been established. Similar +research for China has not even seriously started. My remarks are +entirely preliminary. + +p. 298: For K'ang Yo-wei, I use work done by O. Franke and others. See +M.E. Cameron, _The Reform Movement in China, 1898-1921_, Stanford 1921. +The best bibliography for this period is J.K. Fairbank and Liu +Kwang-ching, _Modern China: A Bibliographical Guide to Chinese Works, +1898-1937_, Cambridge, Mass., 1950. The political history of the time, +as seen by a Chinese scholar, is found in Li Chien-nung, _The Political +History of China 1840-1928_, Princeton 1956.--For the social history of +this period see Chang Chung-li, _The Chinese Gentry_, Seattle 1955.--For +the history of Tz[)u] Hsi Bland-Backhouse, _China under the Empress +Dowager_, Peking 1939 (Third ed.) is antiquated, but still used. For +some of K'ang Yo-wei's ideas, see now K'ang Yo-wei: _Ta T'ung Shu. The +One World Philosophy of K'ang Yu Wei_, London 1957. + +_Chapter Eleven_ + +p. 305: I rely here partly upon W. Franke's recent studies. For Sun +Yat-sen (Sun I-hsien; also called Sun Chung-shan) see P. Linebarger, +_Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese Republic_, Cambridge, Mass., 1925 and his +later _The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat-sen_, Baltimore +1937.--Independently, Atatürk in Turkey developed a similar theory of +the growth of democracy. + +p. 306: On student activities see Kiang Wen-han, _The Ideological +Background of the Chinese Student Movement_, New York 1948. + +p. 307: On Hu Shih see his own _The Chinese Renaissance_, Chicago 1934 +and J. de Francis, _Nationalism and Language Reform in China_, Princeton +1950. + +p. 310: The declaration of Independence of Mongolia had its basis in the +early treaty of the Mongols with the Manchus (1636): "In case the Tai +Ch'ing Dynasty falls, you will exist according to previous basic laws" +(R.J. Miller, _Monasteries and Culture Change in Inner Mongolia_, +Wiesbaden 1959, p. 4). + +p. 315: For the military activities see F.F. Liu, _A Military History of +Modern China, 1924-1949_, Princeton 1956. A Marxist analysis of the 1927 +events is Manabendra Nath Roy, _Revolution and Counter-Revolution in +China_, Calcutta 1946; the relevant documents are translated in C. +Brandt, B. Schwartz, J.K. Fairbank, _A Documentary History of Chinese +Communism_, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. + +_Chapter Twelve_ + +For Mao Tse-tung, see B. Schwartz, _Chinese Communism and the Rise of +Mao_, second ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1958. For Mao's early years; see +J.E. Rue, _Mao Tse-tung in Opposition_, 1927-1935, Stanford 1966. For +the civil war, see L.M. Chassin, _The Communist Conquest of China: A +History of the Civil War, 1945-1949_, Cambridge, Mass., 1965. For brief +information on communist society, see Franz Schurmann and Orville +Schell, _The China Reader_, vol. 3, _Communist China_, New York 1967. +For problems of organization, see Franz Schurmann, _Ideology and +Organization in Communist China_, Berkeley 1966. For cultural and +political problems, see Ho Ping-ti, _China in Crisis_, vol. 1, _China's +Heritage and the Communist Political System_, Chicago 1968. For a +sympathetic view of rural life in communist China, see J. Myrdal, +_Report from a Chinese Village_, New York 1966; for Taiwanese village +life, see Bernard Gallin, _Hsin Hsing, Taiwan: A Chinese Village in +Change_, Berkeley 1966. + +INDEX + + Abahai, ruler + Abdication + Aborigines + Absolutism (_see_ Despotism, Dictator, Emperor, Monarchy) + Academia Sinica + Academies + Administration; + provincial + (_see_ Army, Feudalism, Bureaucracy) + Adobe (Mud bricks) + Adoptions + Afghanistan + Africa + Agriculture; + development; + Origin of; + of Shang; + shifting (denshiring) + (_see_ Wheat, Millet, Rice, Plough, Irrigation, Manure, Canals, + Fallow) + An Ti, ruler of Han + Ainu, tribes + Ala-shan mountain range + Alchemy (_see_ Elixir) + Alexander the Great + America (_see_ United States) + Amithabha, god + Amur, river + An Chi-yeh, rebel + An Lu-shan, rebel + Analphabetism + Anarchists + Ancestor, cult + Aniko, sculptor + Animal style + Annam (Vietnam) + Anyang (Yin-ch'ü) + Arabia; + Arabs + Architecture + Aristocracy (_see_ Nobility, Feudalism) + Army, cost of; + organization of; + size of; + Tibetan + (_see_ War, Militia, tu-tu, pu-ch'ü) + Art, Buddhist (_see_ Animal style, Architecture, Pottery, Painting, + Sculpture, Wood-cut) + Arthashastra, book, attributed to Kautilya + Artisans; + Organizations of + (_see_ Guilds, Craftsmen) + Assimilation (_see_ Colonization) + Astronomy + Austroasiatics + Austronesians + Avars, tribe (_see_ Juan-juan) + Axes, prehistoric + Axis, policy + + Babylon + Baghdad, city + Balasagun, city + Ballads + Banks + Banner organization + Barbarians (Foreigners) + Bastards + Bath + Beg, title + Beggar + Bengal + Boat festival + Bokhara (Bukhara), city + Bon, religion + Bondsmen (_see pu-ch'ü_, Serfs, Feudalism) + Book, printing; + B burning + Böttger, inventor + Boxer rebellion + Boycott + Brahmans, Indian caste + Brain drain + Bronze (_see_ Metal, Copper) + Brothel (Tea-house) + Buddha; + Buddhism + (_see_ Ch'an, Vinaya, Sects, Amithabha, Maitreya, Hinayana, + Mahayana, Monasteries, Church, Pagoda, Monks, Lamaism) + Budget (_see_ Treasury, Inflation, Deflation) + Bullfights + Bureaucracy; + religious B + (_see_ Administration; Army) + Burgher (_liang-min_) + Burma + Businessmen (_see_ Merchants, Trade) + Byzantium + + Calcutta, city + Caliph (Khaliph) + Cambodia + Canals; + Imperial C + (_see_ Irrigation) + Cannons + Canton (Kuang-chou), city + Capital of Empire (_see_ Ch'ang-an, Sian, Loyang, etc.) + Capitalism (_see_ Investments, Banks, Money, Economy, etc.) + Capitulations (privileges of foreign nations) + Caravans (_see_ Silk road, Trade) + Carpet + Castes, (_see_ Brahmans) + Castiglione, G., painter + Cattle, breeding + Cavalry, (_see_ Horse) + Cave temples (_see_ Lung-men, Yün-kang, Tunhuang) + Censorate + Censorship + Census (_see_ Population) + Central Asia (_see_ Turkestan, Sinkiang, Tarim, City States) + Champa, State + Ch'an (Zen), meditative Buddhism + Chan-kuo Period (Contending States) + Chancellor + Ch'ang-an, capital of China (_see_ Sian) + Chang Ch'ien, ambassador + Chang Chü-chan, teacher + Chang Hsien-chung, rebel + Chang Hsüeh-hang, war lord + Chang Ling, popular leader + Chang Ti, ruler + Chang Tsai, philosopher + Chang Tso-lin, war lord + Chao, state; + Earlier Chao; + Later Chao + Chao K'uang-yin (T'ai Tsu), ruler + Chao Mêng-fu, painter + Charters + Chefoo Convention + Ch'en, dynasty + Ch'en Pa-hsien, ruler + Ch'en Tu-hsiu, intellectual + Ch'eng Hao, philosopher + Cheng Ho, navy commander + Ch'eng I, philosopher + Cheng-i-chiao, religion + Ch'eng Ti, ruler of Han; + ruler of Chin + Ch'eng Tsu, ruler of Manchu + Ch'engtu, city + Ch'i, state; + short dynasty; + Northern Ch'i + Ch'i-fu, clan + Chi-nan, city + Ch'i-tan (_see_ Kitan) + Ch'i Wan-nien, leader + Chia, clan + Chia-ch'ing, period + Chia Ss[)u]-tao, politician + Ch'iang, tribes, (_see_ Tanguts) + Chiang Kai-shek, president + Ch'ien-lung, period + _ch'ien-min_ (commoners), + Chin, dynasty, (_see_ Juchên); + dynasty; + Eastern Chin dynasty; + Later Chin dynasty, + Ch'in, state; + Ch'in, dynasty; + Earlier Ch'in dynasty; + Later Ch'in dynasty; + Western Ch'in dynasty + Ch'in K'ui, politician + Chinese, origin of + Ching Fang, scholar + Ching-tê (-chen), city + _ching-t'ien_ system + Ching Tsung, Manchu ruler + Ch'iu Ying, painter + Chou, dynasty; + short Chou dynasty; + Later Chou dynasty; + Northern Chou dynasty + Chou En-lai, politician + Chou-k'ou-tien, archaeological site + Chou-kung (Duke of Chou) + Chou-li, book + Chou Tun-i, philosopher + Christianity (_see_ Nestorians, Jesuits, Missionaries) + Chronology + Ch'u, state + Chu Ch'üan-chung, general and ruler + Chu Hsi, philosopher + Chu-ko Liang, general + Chu Tê, general + Chu Tsai-yü, scholar + Chu Yüan-chang (T'ai Tsu), ruler + _chuang_ (_see_ Manors, Estates) + Chuang Tz[)u], philosopher + Chün-ch'en, ruler + Ch'un-ch'iu, book + _chün-t'ien_ system (land equalization system) + _chün-tz[)u]_ (gentleman) + Chung-ch'ang T'ung, philosopher + Chungking (Ch'ung-ch'ing), city + Church, Buddhistic + Taoistic + (_see_ Chang Ling) + Cities + spread and growth of cities + origin of cities + twin cities + (_see_ City states, Ch'ang-an, Sian, Loyang, Hankow, etc.) + City States (of Central Asia) + Clans + Classes, social classes + (_see_ Castes, _ch'ien-min, liang-min_, Gentry, etc.) + Climate, changes + Cliques + Cloisonné + Cobalt + Coins (_see_ Money) + Colonialism (_see_ Imperialism) + Colonization (_see_ Migration, Assimilation) + Colour prints + Communes + Communism (_see_ Marxism, Socialism, Soviets) + Concubines + Confessions + Confucian ritual + Confucianism + Confucian literature + false Confucian literature + Confucians + (_see_ Neo-Confucianism) + Conquests (_see_ War, Colonialism) + Conservatism + Constitution + Contending States + Co-operatives + Copper (_see_ Bronze, Metal) + Corruption + Corvée (forced labour) (_see_ Labour) + Cotton + Courtesans (_see_ Brothel) + Coxinga, rebel + Craftsmen (_see_ Artisans) + Credits + Criminals + Crop rotation + + Dalai Lama, religious ruler of Tibet + Dance + Deflation + Deities (_see_ T'ien, Shang Ti, Maitreya, Amithabha, etc.) + Delft, city + Demands, the twenty-one + Democracy + Denshiring + Despotism (_see_ Absolutism) + Dewey, J., educator + Dialects (_see_ Language) + Dialecticians + Dictators (_see_ Despotism) + Dictionaries + Diploma, for monks + Diplomacy + Disarmament + Discriminatory laws (_see_ Double Standard) + Dog + Dorgon, prince + Double standard, legal + Drama + Dress, changes + Dungan, tribes + Dynastic histories (_see_ History) + Dzungars, people + + Eclipses + Economy + Money economy + Natural economy + (_see_ Agriculture, Nomadism, Industry, Denshiring, Money, Trade, etc.) + Education (_see_ Schools, Universities, Academies, Script, + Examination system, etc.) + Elements, the five + Elephants + Élite (_see_ Intellectuals, Students, Gentry) + Elixir (_see_ Alchemy) + Emperor, position of + Emperor and church + (_see_ Despotism, King, Absolutism, Monarchy, etc.) + Empress (_see_ Lü, Wu, Wei, Tz[)u] Hsi) + Encyclopaedias + England (_see_ Great Britain) + Ephtalites, tribe + Epics + Equalization Office (_see chün-t'ien_) + Erotic literature + Estates (_chuang_) + Ethics (_see_ Confucianism) + Eunuchs + Europe + Europeans + Examination system + Examinations for Buddhists + + Fables + Factories + Fallow system + Falsifications (_see_ Confucianism) + Family structure + Family ethics + Family planning + Fan Chung-yen, politician + Fascism + Federations, tribal + Felt + Fêng Kuo-chang, politician + Fêng Meng-lung, writer + Fêng Tao, politician + Fêng Yü-hsiang, war lord + Ferghana, city + Fertility cults + differential fertility + Fertilizer + Feudalism + end of feudalism + late feudalism + new feudalism + nomadic feudalism + (_see_ Serfs, Aristocracy, Fiefs, Bondsmen, etc.) + Fiefs + Finances (_see_ Budget, Inflation, Money, Coins) + Fire-arms (_see_ Rifles, Cannons) + Fishing + Folk-tales + Food habits + Foreign relations (_see_ Diplomacy, Treaty, Tribute, War) + Forests + Formosa (T'aiwan) + France + Frontier, concept of + Frugality + Fu Chien, ruler + Fu-lan-chi (Franks) + Fu-lin, Manchu ruler + Fu-yü, country + Fukien, province + + Galdan, leader + Gandhara, country + Gardens + Geisha (_see_ Courtesans) + Genealogy + Genghiz Khan, ruler + Gentry (Upper class) + colonial gentry + definition of gentry + gentry state + southern gentry + Germany + Gök Turks + Governors, role of + Grain (_see_ Millet, Rice, Wheat) + Granaries + Great Britain (_see_ England) + Great Leap Forward + Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution + Great Wall + Greeks + Guilds + + Hakka, ethnic group + Hami, city state + Han, dynasty + Later Han dynasty + Han Fei Tz[)u], philosopher + Han T'o-wei, politician + Han Yü, philosopher + Hankow (Han-k'ou), city + Hangchow (Hang-chou), city + Heaven (_see_ Shang Ti, T'ien) + Hermits (_see_ Monks, Sages) + Hinayana, religion + Historians + Histories, dynastic + falsification of histories + Historiography + Hitler, Adolf, dictator + Hittites, ethnic group + Ho Ch'êng-t'ien, scholar + Ho-lien P'o-p'o, ruler + Ho Ti, Han ruler + _hong_, association + Hong Kong, colony + Hopei, province + Horse + horse chariot + horse riding + horse trade + Hospitals + Hou Ching, ruler + Houses (_see_ Adobe) + Hsi-hsia, kingdom + Hsi-k'ang, Tibet + Hsia, dynasty + Hunnic Hsia dynasty + (_see_ Hsi-hsia) + Hsia-hou, clan + Hsia Kui, painter + Hsiao Tao-ch'eng, general + Hsiao Wu Ti, Chin ruler + Hsieh, clan + Hsieh Hsüan, general + Hsien-feng, period + Hsien-pi, tribal federation + Hsien Ti, Han ruler + Hsien-yün, tribes + Hsin, dynasty + Hsin-an merchants + _Hsin Ch'ing-nien_, journal + Hsiung-nu, tribal federation (_see_ Huns) + Hsü Shih-ch'ang, president + Hsüan-tê, period + Hsüan-tsang, Buddhist + Hsüan Tsung, T'ang ruler + Manchu ruler + Hsüan-t'ung, period + Hsün Tz[)u], philosopher + Hu, name of tribes (_see_ Huns) + Hu Han-min, politician + Hu Shih, scholar and politician + Hu Wei-yung, politician + Huai-nan Tz[)u], philosopher + Huai, Ti, Chin ruler + Huan Hsüan, general + Huan Wen, general + Huang Ch'ao, leader of rebellion + Huang Ti, ruler + Huang Tsung-hsi, philosopher + Hui-chou merchants + _hui-kuan_, association + Hui Ti, Chin ruler + Manchu ruler + Hui Tsung, Sung ruler + Hui Tz[)u], philosopher + Human sacrifice + Hung Hsiu-ch'üan, leader of rebellion + Huns (_see_ Hu, Hsiung-nu) + Hunting + Hutuktu, religious ruler + Hydraulic society + + _i-chuang_, clan manors + Ili, river + Imperialism (_see_ Colonialism) + India (_see_ Brahmans, Bengal, Gandhara, Calcutta, Buddhism) + Indo-China (_see_ Cambodia, Annam, Laos). + Indo-Europeans, language group (_see_ Yüeh-chih, Tocharians, + Hittites) + Indonesia, (_see_ Java) + Industries + Industrialization + Industrial society + (_see_ Factories) + Inflation + Inheritance, laws of + Intellectuals (_see_ Élite, Students) + Investments + Iran (Persia) + Iron + Cast iron + Iron money + (_see_ Steel) + Irrigation + Islam (_see_ Muslims) + Istanbul (Constantinople) + Italy + Japan (_see_ Meiji, Tada, Tanaka) + Java + Jedzgerd, ruler, + Jehol, province, + Jen Tsung, Manchu ruler + Jesuits + Jews + _Ju_ (scribes) + Juchên (Chin Dynasty, Jurchen) + Juan-juan, tribal federation + Jurchen (_see_ Juchên) + + K'ai-feng, city (_see_ Yeh, Pien-liang) + Kalmuk, Mongol tribes (_see_ Ölöt) + K'ang-hsi, period + K'ang Yo-wei, politician and scholar + Kansu, province (_see_ Tunhuang) + Kao-ch'ang, city state + Kao, clan + Kao-li, state (_see_ Korea) + Kao Ming, writer + Kao Tsu, Han ruler + Kao Tsung, T'ang ruler + Kao Yang, ruler + Kapok, textile fibre + Kara Kitai, tribal federation + Kashgar, city + Kazak, tribal federation + Khalif (_see_ Caliph) + Khamba, Tibetans + Khan, Central Asian title + Khocho, city + Khotan, city + King, position of + first kings + religious character of kingship + (_see_ Yao, Shun, Hsia dynasty, Emperor, Wang, Prince) + Kitan (Ch'i-tan), tribal federation (_see_ Liao dynasty) + Ko-shu Han, general + Korea (_see_ Kao-li, Pai-chi, Sin-lo) + K'ou Ch'ien-chih, Taoist + Kowloon, city + Ku Yen-wu, geographer + Kuan Han-ch'ing, writer + Kuang-hsü, period + Kuang-wu Ti, Han ruler + Kub(i)lai Khan, Mongol ruler + Kung-sun Lung, philosopher + K'ung Tz[)u] (Confucius) + Kuomintang (KMT), party + Kuo Wei, ruler + Kuo Tz[)u]-hsing, rebel leader + Kuo Tz[)u]-i, loyal general + Kyakhta (Kiachta), city + + Labour, forced (_see_ Corvée) + Labour laws + Labour shortage + Lacquer + Lamaism, religion + Land ownership (_see_ Property) + Land reform (_see chün-t'ien, ching-t'ien_) + Landlords + temples as landlords + Language + dialects + Language reform + Lang Shih-ning, painter + La Tz[)u], philosopher + Laos, country + Law codes (_see_ Li K'ui, Property law, Inheritance, Legalists) + Leadership + League of Nations + Leibniz, philosopher + Legalists (_fa-chia_) + Legitimacy of rule (_see_ Abdication) + Lenin, V. + Lhasa, city + Li An-shih, economist + Li Chung-yen, governor + Li Hung-chang, politician + Li K'o-yung, ruler + Li Kuang-li, general + Li K'ui, law-maker + Li Li-san, politician + Li Lin-fu, politician + Li Lung-mien, painter + Li Shih-min (_see_ T'ai Tsung), T'ang ruler + Li Ss[)u], politician + Li Ta-chao, librarian + Li T'ai-po, poet + Li Tz[)u]-ch'eng, rebel + Li Yu, writer + Li Yu-chên, writer + Li Yüan, ruler + Li Yüan-hung, politician + Liang dynasty, Earlier + Later Liang + Northern Liang + Southern Liang + Western Liang + Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, journalist + _liang-min_ (burghers) + Liao, tribes, + Liao dynasty (_see_ Kitan) + Western Liao dynasty + _Liao-chai chih-i_, short-story collection + Libraries + Lin-chin, city + Lin-ch'uan, city + Lin Shu, translator + Lin Tsê-hsü, politician + Literati, (_see_ Scholars, Confucianists) + Literature (_see pien-wen, pi-chi_, Poetry, Drama, Novels, Epics, + Theatre, ballads, Folk-tales, Fables, History, Confucians, Writers, + Scholars, Scribes) + Literary revolution + Liu Chi, Han ruler + Liu Chin-yüan, ruler + Liu Chin, eunuch + Liu Hsiu (_see_ Kuang wu Ti), Han ruler + Liu Lao-chih, general + _liu-min_ (vagrants) + Liu Pang (_see_ Liu Chi) + Liu Pei, general and ruler + Liu Shao-ch'i, political leader + Liu Sung, rebel + Liu Tsung-yüan, writer + Liu Ts'ung, ruler + Liu Yao, ruler + Liu Yü, general + emperor + Liu Yüan, sculptor + emperor + Lo Kuan-chung, writer + Loans, to farmers + foreign + Loess, soil formation + Logic + Long March + Lorcha War + Loyang (Lo-yang), capital of China + Lu, state + Lü, empress + Lu Hsiang-shan, philosopher + Lu Hsün, writer + Lü Kuang, ruler + Lü Pu, general + Lü Pu-wei, politician + Lun, prince + _Lun-heng_, book + Lung-men, place + Lung-shan, excavation site + Lytton Commission + Ma Yin, ruler + Ma Yüan, general + painter + Machiavellism + Macao, Portuguese colony + Mahayana, Buddhist sect + Maitreya, Buddhist deity (_see_ Messianic movements) + Malacca, state + Malaria + Managers + Manchu, tribal federation and dynasty + Manchuria + Manichaeism, Iranian religion + Manors (_chuang, see_ Estates) + Mao Tun, Hsiung-nu ruler + Mao Tse-tung, party leader + Marco Polo, businessman + Market + Market control + Marriage systems + Marxism + Marxist theory of history + (_see_ Materialism, Communism, Lenin, Mao Tse-tung) + Materialism + Mathematics + Matrilinear societies + Mazdaism, Iranian religion + May Fourth Movement + Medicine + Medical doctors + Meditation (_see_ Ch'an) + Megalithic culture + Meiji, Japanese ruler + Melanesia + Mencius (Meng Tz[)u]), philosopher + Merchants + foreign merchants + (_see_ Trade, Salt, Caravans, Businessmen) + Messianic movements + Metal (_see_ Bronze, Copper, Iron) + Mi Fei, painter + Middle Class (_see_ Burgher, Merchant, Craftsmen, Artisans) + Middle East (_see_ Near East) + Migrations + forced migrations + (_see_ Colonization, Assimilation, Settlement) + Militarism + Militia + Millet + Mills + Min, state in Fukien + Ming dynasty + Ming Jui, general + Min Ti, Chin ruler + Ming Ti, Han ruler + Wei ruler + Later T'ang ruler + Minorate + Missionaries, Christian (_see_ Jesuits) + Mo Ti, philosopher + Modernization + Mohammedan rebellions (_see_ Muslim) + Mon-Khmer tribes + Monarchy (_see_ King, Emperor, Absolutism, Despotism) + Monasteries, Buddhist + economic importance + Money + Money economy + Origin of money + paper money + (_see_ Coins, Paper, Silver) + Mongolia + Mongols, tribes, tribal federation, dynasty (_see_ Yüan dynasty, + Kalmuk, Tümet, Oirat, Ölöt, Naiman, Turgut, Timur, Genghiz, Kublai) + Monks, Buddhist + Monopolies + Mound-dwellers + Mu-jung, tribes + Mu Ti, East Chin ruler + Mu Tsung, Manchu ruler + Mulberries + Munda tribes + Music (_see_ Theatre, Dance, Geisha) + Muslims + Muslim rebellions + (_see_ Islam, Mohammedans) + Mysticism + + Naiman, Mongol tribe + Nan-chao, state + Nanyang, city + Nanking (Nan-ching), capital of China + Nanking regime + Nationalism (_see_ Kuomintang) + Nature + Nature philosophers + Navy + Near East (_see_ Arabs, Iran, etc.) + Neo-Confucianism + Neolithicum + Nepal + Nerchinsk, place + Nestorian Christianity + Ni Tsan, painter + Nien Fei, rebels + Niu Seng-yu, politician + Nobility + Nomadic nobility + (_see_ Aristocracy) + Nomadism + Economy of nomads + Nomadic society structure + Novels + + Oil + Oirat, Mongol tribes + Okinawa (_see_ Ryukyu) + Ölöt, Mongol tribes + Opera + Opium + Opium War + Oracle bones + Ordos, area + Orenburg, city + Organizations (_see hui-kuan_ Guilds, _hong_, Secret Societies) + Orphanages + Ottoman (Turkish) Empire + Ou-yang Hsiu, writer + Outer Mongolia + + Pagoda + Pai-chi (Paikche), state in Korea + Pai-lien-hui (_see_ White Lotus) + Painting + Palaeolithicum + Pan Ch'ao, general + _pao-chia_, security system + Paper + Paper money + (_see_ Money) + Parliament + Party (_see_ Kuomintang, Communists) + Pearl Harbour + Peasant rebellions (_see_ Rebellions) + Peking, city + Peking Man + Pensions + People's Democracy + Persecution, religious + Persia (Iran) + Persian language + Peruz, ruler + Philippines, state + Philosophy, (_see_ Confucius, Lao Tz[)u], Chuang Tz[)u], + Huai-nan Tz[)u], Hsün Tz[)u], Mencius, Hui Tz[)u], Mo Ti, + Kung-sun Lung, Shang Tz[)u], Han Fei Tz[)u], Tsou Yen, Legalists, + Chung-ch'ang, T'ung, Yüan Chi, Liu Ling, Chu Hsi, Ch'eng Hao, + Lu Hsiang-shan, Wang Yang-ming, etc.) + _pi-chi_, literary form + _pieh-yeh_ (_see_ Manor) + Pien-liang, city (_see_ K'ai-feng) + _pien-wen_, literary form + Pig + Pilgrims + P'ing-ch'êng, city + Pirates + Plantation economy + Plough + Po Chü-i, poet + Po-hai, state + Poetry + Court Poetry + Northern Poetry + Poets (_see_ T'ao Ch'ien, Po Chü-i, Li T'ai-po, Tu Fu, etc.) + Politicians, migratory + Pontic migration + Population changes + Population decrease + (_see_ Census, Fertility) + Porcelain + Port Arthur, city + Portsmouth, treaty + Portuguese (_see_ Fu-lan-chi, Macao) + Potter + Pottery + black pottery + (_see_ Porcelain) + Price controls + Priests (_see_ Shamans, Ju, Monks) + Primogeniture + Princes + Printing (_see_ Colour, Book) + Privileges of gentry + Proletariat (_see_ Labour) + Propaganda + Property relations (_see_ Laws, Inheritance, Primogeniture) + Protectorate + Provinces, administration + _pu-ch'ü_, bondsmen + P'u-ku Huai-en, general + P'u Sung-lin, writer + P'u Yi, Manchu ruler + Puppet plays + + Railways + Manchurian Railway + Rebellions (_see_ Peasants, Secret Societies, Revolutions) + Red Eyebrows, peasant movement + Red Guards + Reforms; Reform of language (_see_ Land reform) + Regents + Religion + popular religion + (_see_ Bon, Shintoism, Persecution, Sacrifice, Ancestor cult, + Fertility cults, Deities, Temples, Monasteries, Christianity, Islam, + Buddhism, Mazdaism, Manichaeism, Messianic religions, Secret + societies, Soul, Shamanism, State religion) + Republic + Revolutions; legitimization of revolution (_see_ Rebellions) + Ricci, Matteo, missionary + Rice + Rifles + Ritualism + Roads + Roman Empire + Roosevelt, F.D., president + Russia (_see_ Soviet Republics) + Ryukyu (Liu-ch'iu), islands + + Sacrifices + Sages + Sakhalin (Karafuto), island + Salar, ethnic group + Salary + Salt + Salt merchants + Salt trade + Samarkand, city + _San-min chu-i_, book + Sang Hung-yang, economist + Sassanids, Iranian dynasty + Scholars (_Ju_) (_see_ Literati, Scribes, Intellectuals, + Confucianists) + Schools, (_see_ Education) + Science, (_see_ Mathematics, Astronomy, Nature) + Scribes + Script, Chinese + Sculpture + Buddhist sculptures + _sê-mu_ (auxiliary troops) + Seal, imperial + Secret societies (_see_ Red Eyebrows; Yellow Turbans; White Lotus; + Boxer; Rebellions) + Sects + Buddhist sects + Seng-ko-lin-ch'in, general + Serfs (_see_ Slaves, Servants, Bondsmen) + Servants + Settlement, of foreigners + military + (_see_ Colonization) + Sha-t'o, tribal federation + Shadow theatre + Shahruk, ruler + Shamans + Shamanism + Shan tribes of South East Asia + _Shan-hai-ching_, book + Shan-yü, title of nomadic ruler + Shang dynasty + Shang Ti, deity + Shang Tz[)u], philosopher (Shang Yang) + Shanghai, city + Shao Yung, philosopher + Sheep + Shen Nung, mythical figure + Shen Tsung, Sung ruler + Manchu ruler + Sheng Tsu, Manchu ruler + _Shih-chi_, book + Shih Ching-t'ang, ruler + Shih Ch'ung, writer + Shih Hêng, soldier + Shih Hu, ruler + Shih Huang-ti, ruler + Shih Lo, ruler + Shih-pi, ruler + Shih Ss[)u]-ming + Shih Tsung, Manchu ruler + Shih-wei, Mongol tribes + Shintoism, Japanese religion + Ships (_see_ Navy) + Short stories + Shoulder axes + Shu (Szechwan), area and/or state + Shu-Han dynasty + Shun, dynasty + mythical ruler + Shun-chih, reign period + Sian (Hsi-an, Ch'ang-an), city + Siao Ho (Hsiao Ho), jurist + Silk + Silk road + Silver + Sin-lo (Hsin-lo, Silla), state of Korea + Sinanthropos + Sinkiang (Hsin-Chiang, Turkestan) + Slash and burn agriculture (denshiring) + Slaves + Slave society + Temple slaves + Social mobility + Social structure of tribes + Socialism (_see_ Marxism, Communism) + Sogdiana, country in Central Asia + Soul, concept of soul + South-East Asia (_see_ Burma, Champa, Cambodia, Annam, Laos, + Vietnam, Tonking, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Mon-Khmer) + Soviet Republics (_see_ Russia) + Speculations, financial + Ss[)u]-ma, clan + Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien, historian + Ss[)u]-ma Kuang, historian + Ss[)u]-ma Yen, ruler + Standardization + States, territorial and national + State religion + Statistics (_see_ Population) + Steel + Steppe + Stone age + Stratification, social (_see_ Classes, Social mobility) + Strikes + Students + Su Chün, rebel + Su Tsung, T'ang ruler + Su Tung-p'o, poet + _su-wang_ (uncrowned king) + Sui, dynasty + Sun Ts'ê, ruler + Sun Yat-sen (Sun I-hsien), revolutionary leader, president + Sung, dynasty + Liu-Sung dynasty + Szechwan (Ss[)u]-ch'uan), province (_see_ Shu) + + Ta-tan (Tatars), tribal federation + Tada, Japanese militarist + Tai, tribes (_see_ Thailand) + Tai Chen, philosopher + Tai Ch'ing dynasty (Manchu) + T'ai P'ing, state + T'ai Tsu, Sung ruler + Manchu ruler + T'ai Tsung, T'ang ruler (_see_ Li Shih-min) + Taiwan (T'ai-wan, _see_ Formosa) + T'an-yao, priest + Tanaka, Japanese militarist + T'ang, dynasty + Later T'ang dynasty + T'ang Hsien-tsu, writer + T'ang Yin, painter + Tanguts, Tibetan tribal federation and/or state (_see_ Ch'iang) + Tao, philosophical term + Tao-kuang, reign period + _Tao-tê-ching_, book + T'ao-t'ieh, mythical emblem + Tao-yen, monk + Taoism, religion + Taoists + (_see_ Lao Tz[)u], Chuang Tz[)u], Chang Ling, etc.) + Tarim basin + Tatars (Ta-tan) Mongolian tribal federation + Taxation + Tax collectors + Tax evasion + Tax exemptions + Taxes for monks + Tax reform + Tê Tsung, Manchu ruler + Tea + Tea trade + Tea house (_see_ Brothel) + Teachers (_see_ Schools) + Technology + Tell, archaeological term + Temples (_see_ Monasteries) + Tengri khan, ruler + Textile industry (_see_ Silk, Cotton) + Thailand, state (_see_ Tai tribes) + Theatre (_see_ Shadow, Puppet, Opera) + Throne, accession to (_see_ Abdication, Legitimacy) + Ti, Tibetan tribes + Tibet (_see_ Ch'iang, Ti, T'u-fan, T'u-yü-hun, Lhasa Tanguts) + T'ien, deity + Tientsin (T'ien-chin), city + Timur, ruler + Tin + Ting-ling, tribal federation + T'o-pa (_see_ Toba) + T'o-t'o, writer + Toba, Turkish tribal federation + Tocharians, Central Asian ethnic group + Tokto (_see_ T'o-t'o) + Tölös, Turkish tribal group + Tombs + Tonking, state + Tortoise + Totalitarianism (_see_ Dictatorship, Fascism, Communism) + Tou Ku, general + T'ou-man, ruler + Towns (_see_ City) + Trade + barter trade + international trade + (_see_ Merchants, Commerce, Caravans, Silk road) + Translations + Transportation (_see_ Roads, Canals, Ships, Post, Caravans, Horses) + Travels of emperors + Treasury + Treaty, international + Tribal organization (_see_ Banner, Army, Nomads) + Tribes, disappearance of + social organization + military organization + Tribute (_kung_) + _tsa-hu_, social class + Tsai T'ien, prince + Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei, scholar + Ts'ao Chih, poet + Ts'ao Hsüeh-ch'in, writer + Ts'ao K'un, politician + Ts'ao P'ei, ruler + Ts'ao Ts'ao, general + Tsewang Rabdan, general + Tsêng Kuo-fan, general + Tso Tsung-t'ang, general + Tsou Yen, philosopher + Ts'ui, clan + T'u-chüeh, Gök Turk tribes (_see_ Turks) + Tu Fu, poet + T'u-fan, Tibetan tribal group + Tu-ku, Turkish tribe + _T'u-shu chi-ch'eng_, encyclopaedia + _tu-tu_, title + T'u-yü-hun, Tibetan tribal federation + Tuan Ch'i-jui, president + Tümet, Mongol tribal group + Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, painter + T'ung-chien kang-mu, historical encyclopaedia + T'ung-chih, reign period + Tung Chung-shu, thinker + Tung Fu-hsiang, politician + Tung-lin academy + Tungus tribes (_see_ Juchên, Po-hai, Manchu) + Tunhuang (Tun-huang), city + Turfan, city state + Turgut, Mongol tribal federation + Turkestan (_see_ Central Asia, Tarim, Turfan, Sinkiang, Ferghana, + Samarkand, Khotcho, Tocharians, Yüeh-chih, Sogdians, etc.) + Turkey + Turks (_see_ Gök Turks, T'u-chüeh, Toba, Tölös, Ting-ling, Uighur, + Sha-t'o, etc.) + Tz[)u] Hsi, empress + + Uighurs, Turkish federation + United States (_see_ America) + Ungern-Sternberg, general + Urbanization (_see_ City) + Urga, city + University + Usury + + Vagrants (_liu-min_) + Vietnam (_see_ Annam) + Village + Village commons + Vinaya Buddhism + Voltaire, writer + + Walls + Great Wall + Wan-li, reign period + _Wang_ (king) + Wang An-shih, statesman + Wang Chen, eunuch + Wang Ching-wei, collaborator + Wang Ch'ung, philosopher + Wang Hsien-chih, peasant leader + Wang Kung, general + Wang Mang, ruler + Wang Shih-chen, writer + Wang Shih-fu, writer + Wang Tao-k'un, writer + Wang Tun, rebel + Wang Yang-ming, general and philosopher + War + size of wars + War-chariot + cost of wars + War lords + Warrior-nomads + (_see_ Army, World War, Opium War, Lorcha War, Fire-arms) + Washington, conference + Wei, dynasty + small state + empress + Wei Chung-hsien, eunuch + Wei T'o, ruler in South China + Welfare state + Well-field system (_ching-t'ien_), + Wen Ti, Han ruler + Wei ruler + Toba ruler + Sui ruler + Wen Tsung, Manchu ruler + Whampoa, military academy + Wheat + White Lotus sect (Pai-lien) + Wholesalers + Wine + Wood-cut (_see_ Colour print) + Wool (_see_ Felt) + World Wars + Women rights + Writing, invention (_see_ Script) + Wu, empress + state + Wuch'ang, city (_see_ Hankow) + Wu Ching-tz[)u], writer + Wu-huan, tribal federation + Wu P'ei-fu, war lord + Wu San-kui, general + Wu Shih-fan, ruler + Wu-sun, tribal group + Wu Tai (Five Dynasties period) + Wu Tao-tz[)u], painter + Wu (Ti), Han ruler + Chin ruler + Liang ruler + Wu Tsung, Manchu ruler + Wu Wang, Chou ruler + _wu-wei_, philosophical term + + Yakub beg, ruler + Yamato, part of Japan + Yang, clan + Yang Chien, ruler (_see_ Wen Ti) + Yang (Kui-fei), concubine + Yang-shao, archaeological site + Yang Ti, Sui ruler + Yao, mythical ruler + tribes in South China + Yarkand, city in Turkestan + Yeh (K'ai-feng), city + Yeh-ta (_see_ Ephtalites) + Yehe-Nara, tribe + Yellow Turbans, secret society + Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, politician + Yen, state + dynasty + Earlier Yen dynasty + Later Yen dynasty + Western Yen dynasty + Yen-an, city + Yen Fu, translator + Yen Hsi-shan, war lord + Yen-ta (Altan), ruler + _Yen-t'ieh-lun_ (Discourses on Salt and Iron), book + Yin Chung-k'an, general + Yin-ch'ü, city + Yin and Yang, philosophical terms + Ying Tsung, Manchu ruler + Yo Fei, general + Yü Liang, general + Yü-wen, tribal group + Yüan Chen + Yüan Chi, philosopher + Yüan Mei, writer + Yüan Shao, general + Yüan Shih-k'ai, general and president + Yüan Ti, Han ruler + Chin ruler + Yüeh, tribal group and area + Yüeh-chih, Indo-European-speaking ethnic group + Yün-kang, caves + Yünnan (Yün-nan), province + Yung-cheng, reign period + Yung-lo, reign period + + Zen Buddhism (_see_ Ch'an) + Zoroaster, founder of religion + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of China, by Wolfram Eberhard + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11367 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c85351 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11367 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11367) diff --git a/old/11367-8.txt b/old/11367-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1cbd44b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11367-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16755 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of China, by Wolfram Eberhard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A History of China + +Author: Wolfram Eberhard + +Release Date: February 28, 2004 [EBook #11367] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Gene Smethers and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following text contains numerous non-English +words containing diacritical marks not contained in the ASCII character +set. Characters accented by those marks, and the corresponding text +representations are as follows (where x represents the character being +accented). All such symbols in this text above the character being +accented: + + breve (u-shaped symbol): [)x] + caron (v-shaped symbol): [vx] + macron (straight line): [=x] + acute (égu) accent: ['x] + +Additionally, the author has spelled certain words inconsistently. Those +have been adjusted to be consistent where possible. Examples of such +adjustments are as follows: + + From To +Northwestern North-western +Southwards Southward +Programme Program +re-introduced reintroduced +practise practice +Lotos Lotus +Ju-Chên Juchên +cooperate co-operate +life-time lifetime +man-power manpower +favor favour +etc. + +In general such changes are made to be consistent with the predominate +usage in the text, or if there was not a predominate spelling, to the +more modern.] + + + + + + +A HISTORY OF CHINA + +by + +WOLFRAM EBERHARD + + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + + + _THE EARLIEST TIMES_ + +Chapter I: PREHISTORY + + 1 Sources for the earliest history + 2 The Peking Man + 3 The Palaeolithic Age + 4 The Neolithic Age + 5 The eight principal prehistoric cultures + 6 The Yang-shao culture + 7 The Lung-shan culture + 8 The first petty States in Shansi + +Chapter II: THE SHANG DYNASTY (_c_. 1600-1028 B.C.) + + 1 Period, origin, material culture + 2 Writing and Religion + 3 Transition to feudalism + + + _ANTIQUITY_ + +Chapter III: THE CHOU DYNASTY (_c_. 1028-257 B.C.) + + 1 Cultural origin of the Chou and end of the Shang dynasty + 2 Feudalism in the new empire + 3 Fusion of Chou and Shang + 4 Limitation of the imperial power + 5 Changes in the relative strength of the feudal states + 6 Confucius + 7 Lao Tz[)u] + +Chapter IV: THE CONTENDING STATES (481-256 B.C.): +DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + + 1 Social and military changes + 2 Economic changes + 3 Cultural changes + +Chapter V: THE CH'IN DYNASTY (256-207 B.C.) + + 1 Towards the unitary State + 2 Centralization in every field + 3 Frontier Defence. Internal collapse + + + _THE MIDDLE AGES_ + +Chapter VI: THE HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) + + 1 Development of the gentry-state + 2 Situation of the Hsiung-nu empire; its relation to the + Han empire. Incorporation of South China + 3 Brief feudal reaction. Consolidation of the gentry + 4 Turkestan policy. End of the Hsiung-nu empire + 5 Impoverishment. Cliques. End of the Dynasty + 6 The pseudo-socialistic dictatorship. Revolt of the "Red Eyebrows" + 7 Reaction and Restoration: the Later Han dynasty + 8 Hsiung-nu policy + 9 Economic situation. Rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans". + Collapse of the Han dynasty + 10 Literature and Art + +Chapter VII: THE EPOCH OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF CHINA (A.D. 220-580) + + (A) _The three kingdoms_ (A.D. 220-265) + 1 Social, intellectual, and economic problems during the + period of the first division + 2 Status of the two southern Kingdoms + 3 The northern State of Wei + + (B) _The Western Chin dynasty_ (265-317) + 1 Internal situation in the Chin empire + 2 Effect on the frontier peoples + 3 Struggles for the throne + 4 Migration of Chinese + 5 Victory of the Huns. The Hun Han dynasty + (later renamed the Earlier Chao dynasty) + + (C) _The alien empires in North China, down to the Toba_ + (A.D. 317-385) + 1 The Later Chao dynasty in eastern North China (Hun; 329-352) + 2 Earlier Yen dynasty in the north-east (proto-Mongol; 352-370), + and the Earlier Ch'in dynasty in all north China (Tibetan; 351-394) + 3 The fragmentation of north China + 4 Sociological analysis of the two great alien empires + 5 Sociological analysis of the petty States + 6 Spread of Buddhism + + (D) _The Toba empire in North China_ (A.D. 385-550) + 1 The rise of the Toba State + 2 The Hun kingdom of the Hsia (407-431) + 3 Rise of the Toba to a great power + 4 Economic and social conditions + 5 Victory and retreat of Buddhism + + (E) _Succession States of the Toba_ (A.D. 550-580): + _Northern Ch'i dynasty, Northern Chou dynasty_ + 1 Reasons for the splitting of the Toba empire + 2 Appearance of the (Gök) Turks + 3 The Northern Ch'i dynasty; the Northern Chou dynasty + + (F) _The southern empires_ + 1 Economic and social situation in the south + 2 Struggles between cliques under the Eastern Chin dynasty + (A.D. 317-419) + 3 The Liu-Sung dynasty (A.D. 420-478) and the Southern Ch'i dynasty + (A.D. 479-501) + 4 The Liang dynasty (A.D. 502-556) + 5 The Ch'en dynasty (A.D. 557-588) and its ending by the Sui + 6 Cultural achievements of the south + +Chapter VIII: THE EMPIRES OF THE SUI AND THE T'ANG + + (A) _The Sui dynasty_ (A.D. 580-618) + 1 Internal situation in the newly unified empire + 2 Relations with Turks and with Korea + 3 Reasons for collapse + + (B) _The T'ang dynasty_ (A.D. 618-906) + 1 Reforms and decentralization + 2 Turkish policy + 3 Conquest of Turkestan and Korea. Summit of power + 4 The reign of the empress Wu: Buddhism and capitalism + 5 Second blossoming of T'ang culture + 6 Revolt of a military governor + 7 The role of the Uighurs. Confiscation of the capital of the + monasteries + 8 First successful peasant revolt. Collapse of the empire + + + _MODERN TIMES_ + +Chapter IX: THE EPOCH OF THE SECOND DIVISION OF CHINA + + (A) _The period of the Five Dynasties_ (906-960) + 1 Beginning of a new epoch + 2 Political situation in the tenth century + 3 Monopolistic trade in South China. Printing and paper money in the + north + 4 Political history of the Five Dynasties + + (B) _Period of Moderate Absolutism_ + (1) _The Northern Sung dynasty_ + 1 Southward expansion + 2 Administration and army. Inflation + 3 Reforms and Welfare schemes + 4 Cultural situation (philosophy, religion, literature, painting) + 5 Military collapse + + (2) _The Liao (Kitan) dynasty in the north_ (937-1125) + 1 Sociological structure. Claim to the Chinese imperial throne + 2 The State of the Kara-Kitai + + (3) _The Hsi-Hsia State in the north_ (1038-1227) + 1 Continuation of Turkish traditions + + (4) _The empire of the Southern Sung dynasty_ (1127-1279) + 1 Foundation + 2 Internal situation + 3 Cultural situation; reasons for the collapse + + (5) _The empire of the Juchên in the north (i_ 115-1234) + 1 Rapid expansion from northern Korea to the Yangtze + 2 United front of all Chinese + 3 Start of the Mongol empire + +Chapter X: THE PERIOD OF ABSOLUTISM + + (A) _The Mongol Epoch_ (1280-1368) + 1 Beginning of new foreign rules + 2 "Nationality legislation" + 3 Military position + 4 Social situation + 5 Popular risings: National rising + 6 Cultural + + (B) _The Ming Epoch_ (1368-1644) + 1 Start. National feeling + 2 Wars against Mongols and Japanese + 3 Social legislation within the existing order + 4 Colonization and agricultural developments + 5 Commercial and industrial developments + 6 Growth of the small gentry + 7 Literature, art, crafts + 8 Politics at court + 9 Navy. Southward expansion + 10 Struggles between cliques + 11 Risings + 12 Machiavellism + 13 Foreign relations in the sixteenth century + 14 External and internal perils + + (C) _The Manchu Dynasty_ (1644-1911) + 1 Installation of the Manchus + 2 Decline in the eighteenth century + 3 Expansion in Central Asia; the first State treaty + 4 Culture + 5 Relations with the outer world + 6 Decline; revolts + 7 European Imperialism in the Far East + 8 Risings in Turkestan and within China: the T'ai P'ing Rebellion + 9 Collision with Japan; further Capitulations + 10 Russia in Manchuria + 11 Reform and reaction: The Boxer Rising + 12 End of the dynasty + +Chapter XI: THE REPUBLIC (1912-1948) + + 1 Social and intellectual position + 2 First period of the Republic: The warlords + 3 Second period of the Republic: Nationalist China + 4 The Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945) + +Chapter XII: PRESENT-DAY CHINA + + 1 The growth of communism + 2 Nationalist China in Taiwan + 3 Communist China + +Notes and References + +Index + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +1 Painted pottery from Kansu: Neolithic. + _In the collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin_. + +2 Ancient bronze tripod found at Anyang. + _From G. Ecke: Frühe chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Oskar + Trautmann, Peking_ 1939, _plate_ 3. + +3 Bronze plaque representing two horses fighting each other. Ordos + region, animal style. + _From V. Griessmaier: Sammlung Baron Eduard von der Heydt, + Vienna 1936, illustration No. 6_. + +4 Hunting scene: detail from the reliefs in the tombs at Wu-liang-tz'u. + _From a print in the author's possession_. + +5 Part of the "Great Wall". + _Photo Eberhard_. + +6 Sun Ch'üan, ruler of Wu. + _From a painting by Yen Li-pen (c. 640-680_). + +7 General view of the Buddhist cave-temples of Yün-kang. + In the foreground, the present village; in the background the rampart. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +8 Detail from the Buddhist cave-reliefs of Lung-men. + _From a print in the author's possession_. + +9 Statue of Mi-lo (Maitreya, the next future Buddha), in the "Great + Buddha Temple" at Chengting (Hopei). + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +10 Ladies of the Court: Clay models which accompanied the dead person to + the grave. T'ang period. + _In the collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde. Berlin_. + +11 Distinguished founder: a temple banner found at Khotcho, Turkestan. + _Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1B 4524, illustration B 408_. + +12 Ancient tiled pagoda at Chengting (Hopei). + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +13 Horse-training. Painting by Li Lung-mien. Late Sung period. + _Manchu Royal House Collection_. + +14 Aborigines of South China, of the "Black Miao" tribe, at a festival. + China-ink drawing of the eighteenth century. + _Collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1D 8756, 68_. + +15 Pavilion on the "Coal Hill" at Peking, in which the last Ming emperor + committed suicide. + _Photo Eberhard_. + +16 The imperial summer palace of the Manchu rulers, at Jehol. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +17 Tower on the city wall of Peking. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + + + +MAPS + +1 Regions of the principal local cultures in prehistoric times + +2 The principal feudal States in the feudal epoch (roughly 722-481 B.C.) + +3 China in the struggle with the Huns or Hsiung-nu (roughly 128-100 +B.C.) + +4 The Toba empire (about A.D. 500) + +5 The T'ang realm (about A.D. 750) + +6 The State of the Later T'ang dynasty (923-935) + + +INTRODUCTION + +There are indeed enough Histories of China already: why yet another one? +Because the time has come for new departures; because we need to clear +away the false notions with which the general public is constantly being +fed by one author after another; because from time to time syntheses +become necessary for the presentation of the stage reached by research. + +Histories of China fall, with few exceptions, into one or the other of +two groups, pro-Chinese and anti-Chinese: the latter used to +predominate, but today the former type is much more frequently found. We +have no desire to show that China's history is the most glorious or her +civilization the oldest in the world. A claim to the longest history +does not establish the greatness of a civilization; the importance of a +civilization becomes apparent in its achievements. A thousand years ago +China's civilization towered over those of the peoples of Europe. Today +the West is leading; tomorrow China may lead again. We need to realize +how China became what she is, and to note the paths pursued by the +Chinese in human thought and action. The lives of emperors, the great +battles, this or the other famous deed, matter less to us than the +discovery of the great forces that underlie these features and govern +the human element. Only when we have knowledge of those forces and +counter-forces can we realize the significance of the great +personalities who have emerged in China; and only then will the history +of China become intelligible even to those who have little knowledge of +the Far East and can make nothing of a mere enumeration of dynasties and +campaigns. + +Views on China's history have radically changed in recent years. Until +about thirty years ago our knowledge of the earliest times in China +depended entirely on Chinese documents of much later date; now we are +able to rely on many excavations which enable us to check the written +sources. Ethnological, anthropological, and sociological research has +begun for China and her neighbours; thus we are in a position to write +with some confidence about the making of China, and about her ethnical +development, where formerly we could only grope in the dark. The claim +that "the Chinese race" produced the high Chinese civilization entirely +by its own efforts, thanks to its special gifts, has become just as +untenable as the other theory that immigrants from the West, some +conceivably from Europe, carried civilization to the Far East. We know +now that in early times there was no "Chinese race", there were not even +"Chinese", just as there were no "French" and no "Swiss" two thousand +years ago. The "Chinese" resulted from the amalgamation of many separate +peoples of different races in an enormously complicated and +long-drawn-out process, as with all the other high civilizations of the +world. + +The picture of ancient and medieval China has also been entirely changed +since it has been realized that the sources on which reliance has always +been placed were not objective, but deliberately and emphatically +represented a particular philosophy. The reports on the emperors and +ministers of the earliest period are not historical at all, but served +as examples of ideas of social policy or as glorifications of particular +noble families. Myths such as we find to this day among China's +neighbours were made into history; gods were made men and linked +together by long family trees. We have been able to touch on all these +things only briefly, and have had to dispense with any account of the +complicated processes that have taken place here. + +The official dynastic histories apply to the course of Chinese history +the criterion of Confucian ethics; for them history is a textbook of +ethics, designed to show by means of examples how the man of high +character should behave or not behave. We have to go deeper, and try to +extract the historic truth from these records. Many specialized studies +by Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars on problems of Chinese +history are now available and of assistance in this task. However, some +Chinese writers still imagine that they are serving their country by yet +again dishing up the old fables for the foreigner as history; and some +Europeans, knowing no better or aiming at setting alongside the +unedifying history of Europe the shining example of the conventional +story of China, continue in the old groove. To this day, of course, we +are far from having really worked through every period of Chinese +history; there are long periods on which scarcely any work has yet been +done. Thus the picture we are able to give today has no finality about +it and will need many modifications. But the time has come for a new +synthesis, so that criticism may proceed along the broadest possible +front and push our knowledge further forward. + +The present work is intended for the general reader and not for the +specialist, who will devote his attention to particular studies and to +the original texts. In view of the wide scope of the work, I have had to +confine myself to placing certain lines of thought in the foreground and +paying less attention to others. I have devoted myself mainly to showing +the main lines of China's social and cultural development down to the +present day. But I have also been concerned not to leave out of account +China's relations with her neighbours. Now that we have a better +knowledge of China's neighbours, the Turks, Mongols, Tibetans, Tunguses, +Tai, not confined to the narratives of Chinese, who always speak only of +"barbarians", we are better able to realize how closely China has been +associated with her neighbours from the first day of her history to the +present time; how greatly she is indebted to them, and how much she has +given them. We no longer see China as a great civilization surrounded by +barbarians, but we study the Chinese coming to terms with their +neighbours, who had civilizations of quite different types but +nevertheless developed ones. + +It is usual to split up Chinese history under the various dynasties that +have ruled China or parts thereof. The beginning or end of a dynasty +does not always indicate the beginning or the end of a definite period +of China's social or cultural development. We have tried to break +China's history down into the three large periods--"Antiquity", "The +Middle Ages", and "Modern Times". This does not mean that we compare +these periods with periods of the same name in Western history although, +naturally, we find some similarities with the development of society and +culture in the West. Every attempt towards periodization is to some +degree arbitrary: the beginning and end of the Middle Ages, for +instance, cannot be fixed to a year, because development is a continuous +process. To some degree any periodization is a matter of convenience, +and it should be accepted as such. + +The account of Chinese history here given is based on a study of the +original documents and excavations, and on a study of recent research +done by Chinese, Japanese and Western scholars, including my own +research. In many cases, these recent studies produced new data or +arranged new data in a new way without an attempt to draw general +conclusions. By putting such studies together, by fitting them into the +pattern that already existed, new insights into social and cultural +processes have been gained. The specialist in the field will, I hope, +easily recognize the sources, primary or secondary, on which such new +insights represented in this book are based. Brief notes are appended +for each chapter; they indicate the most important works in English and +provide the general reader with an opportunity of finding further +information on the problems touched on. For the specialist brief hints +to international research are given, mainly in cases in which different +interpretations have been proposed. + +Chinese words are transcribed according to the Wade-Giles system with +the exception of names for which already a popular way of transcription +exists (such as Peking). Place names are written without hyphen, if they +remain readable. + + + + +THE EARLIEST TIMES + + + +Chapter One + + +PREHISTORY + +1 _Sources for the earliest history_ + +Until recently we were dependent for the beginnings of Chinese history +on the written Chinese tradition. According to these sources China's +history began either about 4000 B.C. or about 2700 B.C. with a +succession of wise emperors who "invented" the elements of a +civilization, such as clothing, the preparation of food, marriage, and a +state system; they instructed their people in these things, and so +brought China, as early as in the third millennium B.C., to an +astonishingly high cultural level. However, all we know of the origin of +civilizations makes this of itself entirely improbable; no other +civilization in the world originated in any such way. As time went on, +Chinese historians found more and more to say about primeval times. All +these narratives were collected in the great imperial history that +appeared at the beginning of the Manchu epoch. That book was translated +into French, and all the works written in Western languages until recent +years on Chinese history and civilization have been based in the last +resort on that translation. + +Modern research has not only demonstrated that all these accounts are +inventions of a much later period, but has also shown _why_ such +narratives were composed. The older historical sources make no mention +of any rulers before 2200 B.C., no mention even of their names. The +names of earlier rulers first appear in documents of about 400 B.C.; the +deeds attributed to them and the dates assigned to them often do not +appear until much later. Secondly, it was shown that the traditional +chronology is wrong and another must be adopted, reducing all the dates +for the more ancient history, before 900 B.C. Finally, all narratives +and reports from China's earliest period have been dealt a mortal blow +by modern archaeology, with the excavations of recent years. There was +no trace of any high civilization in the third millennium B.C., and, +indeed, we can only speak of a real "Chinese civilization" from 1300 +B.C. onward. The peoples of the China of that time had come from the +most varied sources; from 1300 B.C. they underwent a common process of +development that welded them into a new unity. In this sense and +emphasizing the cultural aspects, we are justified in using from then on +a new name, "Chinese", for the peoples of China. Those sections, +however, of their ancestral populations who played no part in the +subsequent cultural and racial fusion, we may fairly call "non-Chinese". +This distinction answers the question that continually crops up, whether +the Chinese are "autochthonons". They are autochthonons in the sense +that they formed a unit in the Far East, in the geographical region of +the present China, and were not immigrants from the Middle East. + +2 _The Peking Man_ + +Man makes his appearance in the Far East at a time when remains in other +parts of the world are very rare and are disputed. He appears as the +so-called "Peking Man", whose bones were found in caves of +Chou-k'ou-tien south of Peking. The Peking Man is vastly different from +the men of today, and forms a special branch of the human race, closely +allied to the Pithecanthropus of Java. The formation of later races of +mankind from these types has not yet been traced, if it occurred at all. +Some anthropologists consider, however, that the Peking Man possessed +already certain characteristics peculiar to the yellow race. + +The Peking Man lived in caves; no doubt he was a hunter, already in +possession of very simple stone implements and also of the art of making +fire. As none of the skeletons so far found are complete, it is assumed +that he buried certain bones of the dead in different places from the +rest. This burial custom, which is found among primitive peoples in +other parts of the world, suggests the conclusion that the Peking Man +already had religious notions. We have no knowledge yet of the length of +time the Peking Man may have inhabited the Far East. His first traces +are attributed to a million years ago, and he may have flourished in +500,000 B.C. + +3 _The Palaeolithic Age_ + +After the period of the Peking Man there comes a great gap in our +knowledge. All that we know indicates that at the time of the Peking Man +there must have been a warmer and especially a damper climate in North +China and Inner Mongolia than today. Great areas of the Ordos region, +now dry steppe, were traversed in that epoch by small rivers and lakes +beside which men could live. There were elephants, rhinoceroses, extinct +species of stag and bull, even tapirs and other wild animals. About +50,000 B.C. there lived by these lakes a hunting people whose stone +implements (and a few of bone) have been found in many places. The +implements are comparable in type with the palaeolithic implements of +Europe (Mousterian type, and more rarely Aurignacian or even +Magdalenian). They are not, however, exactly like the European +implements, but have a character of their own. We do not yet know what +the men of these communities looked like, because as yet no indisputable +human remains have been found. All the stone implements have been found +on the surface, where they have been brought to light by the wind as it +swept away the loess. These stone-age communities seem to have lasted a +considerable time and to have been spread not only over North China but +over Mongolia and Manchuria. It must not be assumed that the stone age +came to an end at the same time everywhere. Historical accounts have +recorded, for instance, that stone implements were still in use in +Manchuria and eastern Mongolia at a time when metal was known and used +in western Mongolia and northern China. Our knowledge about the +palaeolithic period of Central and South China is still extremely +limited; we have to wait for more excavations before anything can be +said. Certainly, many implements in this area were made of wood or more +probably bamboo, such as we still find among the non-Chinese tribes of +the south-west and of South-East Asia. Such implements, naturally, could +not last until today. + +About 25,000 B.C. there appears in North China a new human type, found +in upper layers in the same caves that sheltered Peking Man. This type +is beyond doubt not Mongoloid, and may have been allied to the Ainu, a +non-Mongol race still living in northern Japan. These, too, were a +palaeolithic people, though some of their implements show technical +advance. Later they disappear, probably because they were absorbed into +various populations of central and northern Asia. Remains of them have +been found in badly explored graves in northern Korea. + +4 _The Neolithic age_ + +In the period that now followed, northern China must have gradually +become arid, and the formation of loess seems to have steadily advanced. +There is once more a great gap in our knowledge until, about 4000 B.C., +we can trace in North China a purely Mongoloid people with a neolithic +culture. In place of hunters we find cattle breeders, who are even to +some extent agriculturists as well. This may seem an astonishing +statement for so early an age. It is a fact, however, that pure pastoral +nomadism is exceptional, that normal pastoral nomads have always added a +little farming to their cattle-breeding, in order to secure the needed +additional food and above all fodder, for the winter. + +At this time, about 4000 B.C., the other parts of China come into view. +The neolithic implements of the various regions of the Far East are far +from being uniform; there are various separate cultures. In the +north-west of China there is a system of cattle-breeding combined with +agriculture, a distinguishing feature being the possession of finely +polished axes of rectangular section, with a cutting edge. Farther east, +in the north and reaching far to the south, is found a culture with axes +of round or oval section. In the south and in the coastal region from +Nanking to Tonking, Yünnan to Fukien, and reaching as far as the coasts +of Korea and Japan, is a culture with so-called shoulder-axes. Szechwan +and Yünnan represented a further independent culture. + +All these cultures were at first independent. Later the shoulder-axe +culture penetrated as far as eastern India. Its people are known to +philological research as Austroasiatics, who formed the original stock +of the Australian aborigines; they survived in India as the Munda +tribes, in Indo-China as the Mon-Khmer, and also remained in pockets on +the islands of Indonesia and especially Melanesia. All these peoples had +migrated from southern China. The peoples with the oval-axe culture are +the so-called Papuan peoples in Melanesia; they, too, migrated from +southern China, probably before the others. Both groups influenced the +ancient Japanese culture. The rectangular-axe culture of north-west +China spread widely, and moved southward, where the Austronesian peoples +(from whom the Malays are descended) were its principal constituents, +spreading that culture also to Japan. + +Thus we see here, in this period around 4000 B.C., an extensive mutual +penetration of the various cultures all over the Far East, including +Japan, which in the palaeolithic age was apparently without or almost +without settlers. + +5 _The eight principal prehistoric cultures_ + +In the period roughly around 2500 B.C. the general historical view +becomes much clearer. Thanks to a special method of working, making use +of the ethnological sources available from later times together with the +archaeological sources, much new knowledge has been gained in recent +years. At this time there is still no trace of a Chinese realm; we find +instead on Chinese soil a considerable number of separate local +cultures, each developing on its own lines. The chief of these cultures, +acquaintance with which is essential to a knowledge of the whole later +development of the Far East, are as follows: + +(a) _The north-east culture_, centred in the present provinces of Hopei +(in which Peking lies), Shantung, and southern Manchuria. The people of +this culture were ancestors of the Tunguses, probably mixed with an +element that is contained in the present-day Paleo-Siberian tribes. +These men were mainly hunters, but probably soon developed a little +primitive agriculture and made coarse, thick pottery with certain basic +forms which were long preserved in subsequent Chinese pottery (for +instance, a type of the so-called tripods). Later, pig-breeding became +typical of this culture. + +(b) _The northern culture_ existed to the west of that culture, in the +region of the present Chinese province of Shansi and in the province of +Jehol in Inner Mongolia. These people had been hunters, but then became +pastoral nomads, depending mainly on cattle. The people of this culture +were the tribes later known as Mongols, the so-called proto-Mongols. +Anthropologically they belonged, like the Tunguses, to the Mongol race. + +(c) The people of the culture farther west, the _north-west culture_, +were not Mongols. They, too, were originally hunters, and later became a +pastoral people, with a not inconsiderable agriculture (especially +growing wheat and millet). The typical animal of this group soon became +the horse. The horse seems to be the last of the great animals to be +domesticated, and the date of its first occurrence in domesticated form +in the Far East is not yet determined, but we can assume that by 2500 +B.C. this group was already in the possession of horses. The horse has +always been a "luxury", a valuable animal which needed special care. For +their economic needs, these tribes depended on other animals, probably +sheep, goats, and cattle. The centre of this culture, so far as can be +ascertained from Chinese sources, were the present provinces of Shensi +and Kansu, but mainly only the plains. The people of this culture were +most probably ancestors of the later Turkish peoples. It is not +suggested, of course, that the original home of the Turks lay in the +region of the Chinese provinces of Shensi and Kansu; one gains the +impression, however, that this was a border region of the Turkish +expansion; the Chinese documents concerning that period do not suffice +to establish the centre of the Turkish territory. + +(d) In the _west_, in the present provinces of Szechwan and in all the +mountain regions of the provinces of Kansu and Shensi, lived the +ancestors of the Tibetan peoples as another separate culture. They were +shepherds, generally wandering with their flocks of sheep and goats on +the mountain heights. + +(e) In the _south_ we meet with four further cultures. One is very +primitive, the Liao culture, the peoples of which are the Austroasiatics +already mentioned. These are peoples who never developed beyond the +stage of primitive hunters, some of whom were not even acquainted with +the bow and arrow. Farther east is the Yao culture, an early +Austronesian culture, the people of which also lived in the mountains, +some as collectors and hunters, some going over to a simple type of +agriculture (denshiring). They mingled later with the last great culture +of the south, the Tai culture, distinguished by agriculture. The people +lived in the valleys and mainly cultivated rice. + +The origin of rice is not yet known; according to some scholars, rice +was first cultivated in the area of present Burma and was perhaps at +first a perennial plant. Apart from the typical rice which needs much +water, there were also some strains of dry rice which, however, did not +gain much importance. The centre of this Tai culture may have been in +the present provinces of Kuangtung and Kuanghsi. Today, their +descendants form the principal components of the Tai in Thailand, the +Shan in Burma and the Lao in Laos. Their immigration into the areas of +the Shan States of Burma and into Thailand took place only in quite +recent historical periods, probably not much earlier than A.D. 1000. + +Finally there arose from the mixture of the Yao with the Tai culture, at +a rather later time, the Yüeh culture, another early Austronesian +culture, which then spread over wide regions of Indonesia, and of which +the axe of rectangular section, mentioned above, became typical. + +Thus, to sum up, we may say that, quite roughly, in the middle of the +third millennium we meet in the _north_ and west of present-day China +with a number of herdsmen cultures. In the _south_ there were a number +of agrarian cultures, of which the Tai was the most powerful, becoming +of most importance to the later China. We must assume that these +cultures were as yet undifferentiated in their social composition, that +is to say that as yet there was no distinct social stratification, but +at most beginnings of class-formation, especially among the nomad +herdsmen. + +[Illustration: Map 1. Regions of the principal local cultures in +prehistoric times. _Local cultures of minor importance have not been +shown_.] + +6 _The Yang-shao culture_ + +The various cultures here described gradually penetrated one another, +especially at points where they met. Such a process does not yield a +simple total of the cultural elements involved; any new combination +produces entirely different conditions with corresponding new results +which, in turn, represent the characteristics of the culture that +supervenes. We can no longer follow this process of penetration in +detail; it need not by any means have been always warlike. Conquest of +one group by another was only one way of mutual cultural penetration. In +other cases, a group which occupied the higher altitudes and practiced +hunting or slash-and-burn agriculture came into closer contacts with +another group in the valleys which practiced some form of higher +agriculture; frequently, such contacts resulted in particular forms of +division of labour in a unified and often stratified new form of +society. Recent and present developments in South-East Asia present a +number of examples for such changes. Increase of population is certainly +one of the most important elements which lead to these developments. The +result, as a rule, was a stratified society being made up of at least +one privileged and one ruled stratum. Thus there came into existence +around 2000 B.C. some new cultures, which are well known +archaeologically. The most important of these are the Yang-shao culture +in the west and the Lung-shan culture in the east. Our knowledge of both +these cultures is of quite recent date and there are many enigmas still +to be cleared up. + +The _Yang-shao culture_ takes its name from a prehistoric settlement in +the west of the present province of Honan, where Swedish investigators +discovered it. Typical of this culture is its wonderfully fine pottery, +apparently used as gifts to the dead. It is painted in three colours, +white, red, and black. The patterns are all stylized, designs copied +from nature being rare. We are now able to divide this painted pottery +into several sub-types of specific distribution, and we know that this +style existed from _c_. 2200 B.C. on. In general, it tends to disappear +as does painted pottery in other parts of the world with the beginning +of urban civilization and the invention of writing. The typical +Yang-shao culture seems to have come to an end around 1600 or 1500 B.C. +It continued in some more remote areas, especially of Kansu, perhaps to +about 700 B.C. Remnants of this painted pottery have been found over a +wide area from Southern Manchuria, Hopei, Shansi, Honan, Shensi to +Kansu; some pieces have also been discovered in Sinkiang. Thus far, it +seems that it occurred mainly in the mountainous parts of North and +North-West China. The people of this culture lived in villages near to +the rivers and creeks. They had various forms of houses, including +underground dwellings and animal enclosures. They practiced some +agriculture; some authors believe that rice was already known to them. +They also had domesticated animals. Their implements were of stone with +rare specimens of bone. The axes were of the rectangular type. Metal was +as yet unknown, but seems to have been introduced towards the end of the +period. They buried their dead on the higher elevations, and here the +painted pottery was found. For their daily life, they used predominantly +a coarse grey pottery. + +After the discovery of this culture, its pottery was compared with the +painted pottery of the West, and a number of resemblances were found, +especially with the pottery of the Lower Danube basin and that of Anau, +in Turkestan. Some authors claim that such resemblances are fortuitous +and believe that the older layers of this culture are to be found in the +eastern part of its distribution and only the later layers in the west. +It is, they say, these later stages which show the strongest +resemblances with the West. Other authors believe that the painted +pottery came from the West where it occurs definitely earlier than in +the Far East; some investigators went so far as to regard the +Indo-Europeans as the parents of that civilization. As we find people +who spoke an Indo-European language in the Far East in a later period, +they tend to connect the spread of painted pottery with the spread of +Indo-European-speaking groups. As most findings of painted pottery in +the Far East do not stem from scientific excavations it is difficult to +make any decision at this moment. We will have to wait for more and +modern excavations. + +From our knowledge of primeval settlement in West and North-West China +we know, however, that Tibetan groups, probably mixed with Turkish +elements, must have been the main inhabitants of the whole region in +which this painted pottery existed. Whatever the origin of the painted +pottery may be, it seems that people of these two groups were the main +users of it. Most of the shapes of their pottery are not found in later +Chinese pottery. + +7 _The Lung-shan culture_ + +While the Yang-shao culture flourished in the mountain regions of +northern and western China around 2000 B.C., there came into existence +in the plains of eastern China another culture, which is called the +Lung-shan culture, from the scene of the principal discoveries. +Lung-shan is in the province of Shantung, near Chinan-fu. This culture, +discovered only about twenty-five years ago, is distinguished by a black +pottery of exceptionally fine quality and by a similar absence of metal. +The pottery has a polished appearance on the exterior; it is never +painted, and mostly without decoration; at most it may have incised +geometrical patterns. The forms of the vessels are the same as have +remained typical of Chinese pottery, and of Far Eastern pottery in +general. To that extent the Lung-shan culture may be described as one of +the direct predecessors of the later Chinese civilization. + +As in the West, we find in Lung-shan much grey pottery out of which +vessels for everyday use were produced. This simple corded or matted +ware seems to be in connection with Tunguse people who lived in the +north-east. The people of the Lung-shan culture lived on mounds produced +by repeated building on the ruins of earlier settlements, as did the +inhabitants of the "Tells" in the Near East. They were therefore a +long-settled population of agriculturists. Their houses were of mud, and +their villages were surrounded with mud walls. There are signs that +their society was stratified. So far as is known at present, this +culture was spread over the present provinces of Shantung, Kiangsu, +Chekiang, and Anhui, and some specimens of its pottery went as far as +Honan and Shansi, into the region of the painted pottery. This culture +lasted in the east until about 1600 B.C., with clear evidence of rather +longer duration only in the south. As black pottery of a similar +character occurs also in the Near East, some authors believe that it has +been introduced into the Far East by another migration (Pontic +migration) following that migration which supposedly brought the painted +pottery. This theory has not been generally accepted because of the fact +that typical black pottery is limited to the plains of East China; if it +had been brought in from the West, we should expect to find it in +considerable amounts also in West China. Ordinary black pottery can be +simply the result of a special temperature in the pottery kiln; such +pottery can be found almost everywhere. The typical thin, fine black +pottery of Lung-shan, however, is in the Far East an eastern element, +and migrants would have had to pass through the area of the painted +pottery people without leaving many traces and without pushing their +predecessors to the East. On the basis of our present knowledge we +assume that the peoples of the Lung-shan culture were probably of Tai +and Yao stocks together with some Tunguses. + +Recently, a culture of mound-dwellers in Eastern China has been +discovered, and a southern Chinese culture of people with impressed or +stamped pottery. This latter seems to be connected with the Yüeh tribes. +As yet, no further details are known. + +8 _The first petty States in Shansi_ + +At the time in which, according to archaeological research, the painted +pottery flourished in West China, Chinese historical tradition has it +that the semi-historical rulers, Yao and Shun, and the first official +dynasty, the Hsia dynasty ruled over parts of China with a centre in +southern Shansi. While we dismiss as political myths the Confucianist +stories representing Yao and Shun as models of virtuous rulers, it may +be that a small state existed in south-western Shansi under a chieftain +Yao, and farther to the east another small state under a chieftain Shun, +and that these states warred against each other until Yao's state was +destroyed. These first small states may have existed around 2000 B.C. + +On the cultural scene we first find an important element of progress: +bronze, in traces in the middle layers of the Yang-shao culture, about +1800 B.C.; that element had become very widespread by 1400 B.C. The +forms of the oldest weapons and their ornamentation show similarities +with weapons from Siberia; and both mythology and other indications +suggest that the bronze came into China from the north and was not +produced in China proper. Thus, from the present state of our knowledge, +it seems most correct to say that the bronze was brought to the Far East +through the agency of peoples living north of China, such as the Turkish +tribes who in historical times were China's northern neighbours (or +perhaps only individual families or clans, the so-called smith families +with whom we meet later in Turkish tradition), reaching the Chinese +either through these people themselves or through the further agency of +Mongols. At first the forms of the weapons were left unaltered. The +bronze vessels, however, which made their appearance about 1450 B.C. are +entirely different from anything produced in other parts of Asia; their +ornamentation shows, on the one hand, elements of the so-called "animal +style" which is typical of the steppe people of the Ordos area and of +Central Asia. But most of the other elements, especially the "filling" +between stylized designs, is recognizably southern (probably of the Tai +culture), no doubt first applied to wooden vessels and vessels made from +gourds, and then transferred to bronze. This implies that the art of +casting bronze very soon spread from North China, where it was first +practiced by Turkish peoples, to the east and south, which quickly +developed bronze industries of their own. There are few deposits of +copper and tin in North China, while in South China both metals are +plentiful and easily extracted, so that a trade in bronze from south to +north soon set in. + +The origin of the Hsia state may have been a consequence of the progress +due to bronze. The Chinese tradition speaks of the Hsia _dynasty_, but +can say scarcely anything about it. The excavations, too, yield no +clear conclusions, so that we can only say that it flourished at the +time and in the area in which the painted pottery occurred, with a +centre in south-west Shansi. We date this dynasty now somewhere between +2000 and 1600 B.C. and believe that it was an agrarian culture with +bronze weapons and pottery vessels but without the knowledge of the art +of writing. + + + +Chapter Two + + +THE SHANG DYNASTY (_c_. 1600-1028 B.C.) + +1 _Period, origin, material culture_ + +About 1600 B.C. we come at last into the realm of history. Of the Shang +dynasty, which now followed, we have knowledge both from later texts and +from excavations and the documents they have brought to light. The Shang +civilization, an evident off-shoot of the Lung-shan culture (Tai, Yao, +and Tunguses), but also with elements of the Hsia culture (with Tibetan +and Mongol and/or Turkish elements), was beyond doubt a high +civilization. Of the origin of the Shang _State_ we have no details, nor +do we know how the Hsia culture passed into the Shang culture. + +The central territory of the Shang realm lay in north-western Honan, +alongside the Shansi mountains and extending into the plains. It was a +peasant civilization with towns. One of these towns has been excavated. +It adjoined the site of the present town of Anyang, in the province of +Honan. The town, the Shang capital from _c_. 1300 to 1028 B.C., was +probably surrounded by a mud wall, as were the settlements of the +Lung-shan people. In the centre was what evidently was the ruler's +palace. Round this were houses probably inhabited by artisans; for the +artisans formed a sort of intermediate class, as dependents of the +ruling class. From inscriptions we know that the Shang had, in addition +to their capital, at least two other large cities and many smaller +town-like settlements and villages. The rectangular houses were built in +a style still found in Chinese houses, except that their front did not +always face south as is now the general rule. The Shang buried their +kings in large, subterranean, cross-shaped tombs outside the city, and +many implements, animals and human sacrifices were buried together with +them. The custom of large burial mounds, which later became typical of +the Chou dynasty, did not yet exist. + +The Shang had sculptures in stone, an art which later more or less +completely disappeared and which was resuscitated only in post-Christian +times under the influence of Indian Buddhism. Yet, Shang culture cannot +well be called a "megalithic" culture. Bronze implements and especially +bronze vessels were cast in the town. We even know the trade marks of +some famous bronze founders. The bronze weapons are still similar to +those from Siberia, and are often ornamented in the so-called "animal +style", which was used among all the nomad peoples between the Ordos +region and Siberia until the beginning of the Christian era. On the +other hand, the famous bronze vessels are more of southern type, and +reveal an advanced technique that has scarcely been excelled since. +There can be no doubt that the bronze vessels were used for religious +service and not for everyday life. For everyday use there were +earthenware vessels. Even in the middle of the first millennium B.C., +bronze was exceedingly dear, as we know from the records of prices. +China has always suffered from scarcity of metal. For that reason metal +was accumulated as capital, entailing a further rise in prices; when +prices had reached a sufficient height, the stocks were thrown on the +market and prices fell again. Later, when there was a metal coinage, +this cycle of inflation and deflation became still clearer. The metal +coinage was of its full nominal value, so that it was possible to coin +money by melting down bronze implements. As the money in circulation was +increased in this way, the value of the currency fell. Then it paid to +turn coin into metal implements. This once more reduced the money in +circulation and increased the value of the remaining coinage. Thus +through the whole course of Chinese history the scarcity of metal and +insufficiency of production of metal continually produced extensive +fluctuations of the stocks and the value of metal, amounting virtually +to an economic law in China. Consequently metal implements were never +universally in use, and vessels were always of earthenware, with the +further result of the early invention of porcelain. Porcelain vessels +have many of the qualities of metal ones, but are cheaper. + +The earthenware vessels used in this period are in many cases already +very near to porcelain: there was a pottery of a brilliant white, +lacking only the glaze which would have made it into porcelain. Patterns +were stamped on the surface, often resembling the patterns on bronze +articles. This ware was used only for formal, ceremonial purposes. For +daily use there was also a perfectly simple grey pottery. + +Silk was already in use at this time. The invention of sericulture must +therefore have dated from very ancient times in China. It undoubtedly +originated in the south of China, and at first not only the threads +spun by the silkworm but those made by other caterpillars were also +used. The remains of silk fabrics that have been found show already an +advanced weaving technique. In addition to silk, various plant fibres, +such as hemp, were in use. Woollen fabrics do not seem to have been yet +used. + +The Shang were agriculturists, but their implements were still rather +primitive. There was no real plough yet; hoes and hoe-like implements +were used, and the grain, mainly different kinds of millet and some +wheat, was harvested with sickles. The materials, from which these +implements were made, were mainly wood and stone; bronze was still too +expensive to be utilized by the ordinary farmer. As a great number of +vessels for wine in many different forms have been excavated, we can +assume that wine, made from special kinds of millet, was a popular +drink. + +The Shang state had its centre in northern Honan, north of the Yellow +river. At various times, different towns were made into the capital +city; Yin-ch'ü, their last capital and the only one which has been +excavated, was their sixth capital. We do not know why the capitals were +removed to new locations; it is possible that floods were one of the +main reasons. The area under more or less organized Shang control +comprised towards the end of the dynasty the present provinces of Honan, +western Shantung, southern Hopei, central and south Shansi, east Shensi, +parts of Kiangsu and Anhui. We can only roughly estimate the size of the +population of the Shang state. Late texts say that at the time of the +annihilation of the dynasty, some 3.1 million free men and 1.1 million +serfs were captured by the conquerors; this would indicate a population +of at least some 4-5 millions. This seems a possible number, if we +consider that an inscription of the tenth century B.C. which reports +about an ordinary war against a small and unimportant western neighbour, +speaks of 13,081 free men and 4,812 serfs taken as prisoners. + +Inscriptions mention many neighbours of the Shang with whom they were in +more or less continuous state of war. Many of these neighbours can now +be identified. We know that Shansi at that time was inhabited by Ch'iang +tribes, belonging to the Tibetan culture, as well as by Ti tribes, +belonging to the northern culture, and by Hsien-yün and other tribes, +belonging to the north-western culture; the centre of the Ch'iang tribes +was more in the south-west of Shansi and in Shensi. Some of these tribes +definitely once formed a part of the earlier Hsia state. The +identification of the eastern neighbours of the Shang presents more +difficulties. We might regard them as representatives of the Tai and Yao +cultures. + +2 _Writing and Religion_ + +Not only the material but also the intellectual level attained in the +Shang period was very high. We meet for the first time with +writing--much later than in the Middle East and in India. Chinese +scholars have succeeded in deciphering some of the documents discovered, +so that we are able to learn a great deal from them. The writing is a +rudimentary form of the present-day Chinese script, and like it a +pictorial writing, but also makes use, as today, of many phonetic signs. +There were, however, a good many characters that no longer exist, and +many now used are absent. There were already more than 3,000 characters +in use of which some 1,000 can now be read. (Today newspapers use some +3,000 characters; scholars have command of up to 8,000; the whole of +Chinese literature, ancient and modern, comprises some 50,000 +characters.) With these 3,000 characters the Chinese of the Shang period +were able to express themselves well. + +The still existing fragments of writing of this period are found almost +exclusively on tortoiseshells or on other bony surfaces, and they +represent oracles. As early as in the Lung-shan culture there was +divination by means of "oracle bones", at first without written +characters. In the earliest period any bones of animals (especially +shoulder-bones) were used; later only tortoiseshell. For the purpose of +the oracle a depression was burnt in the shell so that cracks were +formed on the other side, and the future was foretold from their +direction. Subsequently particular questions were scratched on the +shells, and the answers to them; these are the documents that have come +down to us. In Anyang tens of thousands of these oracle bones with +inscriptions have been found. The custom of asking the oracle and of +writing the answers on the bones spread over the borders of the Shang +state and continued in some areas after the end of the dynasty. + +The bronze vessels of later times often bear long inscriptions, but +those of the Shang period have only very brief texts. On the other hand, +they are ornamented with pictures, as yet largely unintelligible, of +countless deities, especially in the shape of animals or birds--pictures +that demand interpretation. The principal form on these bronzes is that +of the so-called T'ao-t'ieh, a hybrid with the head of a water-buffalo +and tiger's teeth. + +The Shang period had a religion with many nature deities, especially +deities of fertility. There was no systematized pantheon, different +deities being revered in each locality, often under the most varied +names. These various deities were, however, similar in character, and +later it occurred often that many of them were combined by the priests +into a single god. The composite deities thus formed were officially +worshipped. Their primeval forms lived on, however, especially in the +villages, many centuries longer than the Shang dynasty. The sacrifices +associated with them became popular festivals, and so these gods or +their successors were saved from oblivion; some of them have lived on in +popular religion to the present day. The supreme god of the official +worship was called Shang Ti; he was a god of vegetation who guided all +growth and birth and was later conceived as a forefather of the races of +mankind. The earth was represented as a mother goddess, who bore the +plants and animals procreated by Shang Ti. In some parts of the Shang +realm the two were conceived as a married couple who later were parted +by one of their children. The husband went to heaven, and the rain is +the male seed that creates life on earth. In other regions it was +supposed that in the beginning of the world there was a world-egg, out +of which a primeval god came, whose body was represented by the earth: +his hair formed the plants, and his limbs the mountains and valleys. +Every considerable mountain was also itself a god and, similarly, the +river god, the thunder god, cloud, lightning, and wind gods, and many +others were worshipped. + +In order to promote the fertility of the earth, it was believed that +sacrifices must be offered to the gods. Consequently, in the Shang realm +and the regions surrounding it there were many sorts of human +sacrifices; often the victims were prisoners of war. One gains the +impression that many wars were conducted not as wars of conquest but +only for the purpose of capturing prisoners, although the area under +Shang control gradually increased towards the west and the south-east, a +fact demonstrating the interest in conquest. In some regions men lurked +in the spring for people from other villages; they slew them, sacrificed +them to the earth, and distributed portions of the flesh of the +sacrifice to the various owners of fields, who buried them. At a later +time all human sacrifices were prohibited, but we have reports down to +the eleventh century A.D., and even later, that such sacrifices were +offered secretly in certain regions of central China. In other regions a +great boat festival was held in the spring, to which many crews came +crowded in long narrow boats. At least one of the boats had to capsize; +the people who were thus drowned were a sacrifice to the deities of +fertility. This festival has maintained its fundamental character to +this day, in spite of various changes. The same is true of other +festivals, customs, and conceptions, vestiges of which are contained at +least in folklore. + +In addition to the nature deities which were implored to give fertility, +to send rain, or to prevent floods and storms, the Shang also +worshipped deceased rulers and even dead ministers as a kind of +intermediaries between man and the highest deity, Shang Ti. This +practice may be regarded as the forerunner of "ancestral worship" which +became so typical of later China. + + +3 _Transition to feudalism_ + +At the head of the Shang state was a king, posthumously called a "Ti", +the same word as in the name of the supreme god. We have found on bones +the names of all the rulers of this dynasty and even some of their +pre-dynastic ancestors. These names can be brought into agreement with +lists of rulers found in the ancient Chinese literature. The ruler seems +to have been a high priest, too; and around him were many other priests. +We know some of them now so well from the inscriptions that their +biographies could be written. The king seems to have had some kind of +bureaucracy. There were "ch'en", officials who served the ruler +personally, as well as scribes and military officials. The basic army +organization was in units of one hundred men which were combined as +"right", "left" and "central" units into an army of 300 men. But it +seems that the central power did not extend very far. In the more +distant parts of the realm were more or less independent lords, who +recognized the ruler only as their supreme lord and religious leader. We +may describe this as an early, loose form of the feudal system, although +the main element of real feudalism was still absent. The main +obligations of these lords were to send tributes of grain, to +participate with their soldiers in the wars, to send tortoise shells to +the capital to be used there for oracles, and to send occasionally +cattle and horses. There were some thirty such dependent states. +Although we do not know much about the general population, we know that +the rulers had a patrilinear system of inheritance. After the death of +the ruler his brothers followed him on the throne, the older brothers +first. After the death of all brothers, the sons of older or younger +brothers became rulers. No preference was shown to the son of the oldest +brother, and no preference between sons of main or of secondary wives is +recognizable. Thus, the Shang patrilinear system was much less extreme +than the later system. Moreover, the deceased wives of the rulers played +a great role in the cult, another element which later disappeared. From +these facts and from the general structure of Shang religion it has been +concluded that there was a strong matrilinear strain in Shang culture. +Although this cannot be proved, it seems quite plausible because we know +of matrilinear societies in the South of China at later times. + +About the middle of the Shang period there occurred interesting +changes, probably under the influence of nomad peoples from the +north-west. + +In religion there appears some evidence of star-worship. The deities +seem to have been conceived as a kind of celestial court of Shang Ti, +as his "officials". In the field of material culture, horse-breeding +becomes more and more evident. Some authors believe that the art of +riding was already known in late Shang times, although it was certainly +not yet so highly developed that cavalry units could be used in war. +With horse-breeding the two-wheeled light war chariot makes its +appearance. The wheel was already known in earlier times in the form of +the potter's wheel. Recent excavations have brought to light burials in +which up to eighteen chariots with two or four horses were found +together with the owners of the chariots. The cart is not a Chinese +invention but came from the north, possibly from Turkish peoples. It has +been contended that it was connected with the war chariot of the Near +East: shortly before the Shang period there had been vast upheavals in +western Asia, mainly in connection with the expansion of peoples who +spoke Indo-European languages (Hittites, etc.) and who became successful +through the use of quick, light, two-wheeled war-chariots. It is +possible, but cannot be proved, that the war-chariot spread +through Central Asia in connection with the spread of such +Indo-European-speaking groups or by the intermediary of Turkish tribes. +We have some reasons to believe that the first Indo-European-speaking +groups arrived in the Far East in the middle of the second millennium +B.C. Some authors even connect the Hsia with these groups. In any case, +the maximal distribution of these people seems to have been to the +western borders of the Shang state. As in Western Asia, a Shang-time +chariot was manned by three men: the warrior who was a nobleman, his +driver, and his servant who handed him arrows or other weapons when +needed. There developed a quite close relationship between the nobleman +and his chariot-driver. The chariot was a valuable object, manufactured +by specialists; horses were always expensive and rare in China, and in +many periods of Chinese history horses were directly imported from +nomadic tribes in the North or West. Thus, the possessors of vehicles +formed a privileged class in the Shang realm; they became a sort of +nobility, and the social organization began to move in the direction of +feudalism. One of the main sports of the noblemen in this period, in +addition to warfare, was hunting. The Shang had their special hunting +grounds south of the mountains which surround Shansi province, along the +slopes of the T'ai-hang mountain range, and south to the shores of the +Yellow river. Here, there were still forests and swamps in Shang time, +and boars, deer, buffaloes and other animals, as well as occasional +rhinoceros and elephants, were hunted. None of these wild animals was +used as a sacrifice; all sacrificial animals, such as cattle, pigs, +etc., were domesticated animals. + +Below the nobility we find large numbers of dependent people; modern +Chinese scholars call them frequently "slaves" and speak of a "slave +society". There is no doubt that at least some farmers were "free +farmers"; others were what we might call "serfs": families in hereditary +group dependence upon some noble families and working on land which the +noble families regarded as theirs. Families of artisans and craftsmen +also were hereditary servants of noble families--a type of social +organization which has its parallels in ancient Japan and in later India +and other parts of the world. There were also real slaves: persons who +were the personal property of noblemen. The independent states around +the Shang state also had serfs. When the Shang captured neighbouring +states, they resettled the captured foreign aristocracy by attaching +them as a group to their own noblemen. The captured serfs remained under +their masters and shared their fate. The same system was later practiced +by the Chou after their conquest of the Shang state. + +The conquests of late Shang added more territory to the realm than could +be coped with by the primitive communications of the time. When the last +ruler of Shang made his big war which lasted 260 days against the tribes +in the south-east, rebellions broke out which lead to the end of the +dynasty, about 1028 B.C. according to the new chronology (1122 B.C. old +chronology). + + + + +ANTIQUITY + + + +Chapter Three + + +THE CHOU DYNASTY (_c_. 1028-257 B.C.) + +1 _Cultural origin of the Chou and end of the Shang dynasty_ + +The Shang culture still lacked certain things that were to become +typical of "Chinese" civilization. The family system was not yet the +strong patriarchal system of the later Chinese. The religion, too, in +spite of certain other influences, was still a religion of agrarian +fertility. And although Shang society was strongly stratified and showed +some tendencies to develop a feudal system, feudalism was still very +primitive. Although the Shang script was the precursor of later Chinese +script, it seemed to have contained many words which later disappeared, +and we are not sure whether Shang language was the same as the language +of Chou time. With the Chou period, however, we enter a period in which +everything which was later regarded as typically "Chinese" began to +emerge. + +During the time of the Shang dynasty the Chou formed a small realm in +the west, at first in central Shensi, an area which even in much later +times was the home of many "non-Chinese" tribes. Before the beginning of +the eleventh century B.C. they must have pushed into eastern Shensi, due +to pressures of other tribes which may have belonged to the Turkish +ethnic group. However, it is also possible that their movement was +connected with pressures from Indo-European groups. An analysis of their +tribal composition at the time of the conquest seems to indicate that +the ruling house of the Chou was related to the Turkish group, and that +the population consisted mainly of Turks and Tibetans. Their culture was +closely related to that of Yang-shao, the previously described +painted-pottery culture, with, of course, the progress brought by time. +They had bronze weapons and, especially, the war-chariot. Their eastward +migration, however, brought them within the zone of the Shang culture, +by which they were strongly influenced, so that the Chou culture lost +more and more of its original character and increasingly resembled the +Shang culture. The Chou were also brought into the political sphere of +the Shang, as shown by the fact that marriages took place between the +ruling houses of Shang and Chou, until the Chou state became nominally +dependent on the Shang state in the form of a dependency with special +prerogatives. Meanwhile the power of the Chou state steadily grew, while +that of the Shang state diminished more and more through the disloyalty +of its feudatories and through wars in the East. Finally, about 1028 +B.C., the Chou ruler, named Wu Wang ("the martial king"), crossed his +eastern frontier and pushed into central Honan. His army was formed by +an alliance between various tribes, in the same way as happened again +and again in the building up of the armies of the rulers of the steppes. +Wu Wang forced a passage across the Yellow River and annihilated the +Shang army. He pursued its vestiges as far as the capital, captured the +last emperor of the Shang, and killed him. Thus was the Chou dynasty +founded, and with it we begin the actual history of China. The Chou +brought to the Shang culture strong elements of Turkish and also Tibetan +culture, which were needed for the release of such forces as could +create a new empire and maintain it through thousands of years as a +cultural and, generally, also a political unit. + +2 _Feudalism in the new empire_ + +A natural result of the situation thus produced was the turning of the +country into a feudal state. The conquerors were an alien minority, so +that they had to march out and spread over the whole country. Moreover, +the allied tribal chieftains expected to be rewarded. The territory to +be governed was enormous, but the communications in northern China at +that time were similar to those still existing not long ago in southern +China--narrow footpaths from one settlement to another. It is very +difficult to build roads in the loess of northern China; and the +war-chariots that required roads had only just been introduced. Under +such conditions, the simplest way of administering the empire was to +establish garrisons of the invading tribes in the various parts of the +country under the command of their chieftains. Thus separate regions of +the country were distributed as fiefs. If a former subject of the Shang +surrendered betimes with the territory under his rule, or if there was +one who could not be overcome by force, the Chou recognized him as a +feudal lord. + +We find in the early Chou time the typical signs of true feudalism: +fiefs were given in a ceremony in which symbolically a piece of earth +was handed over to the new fiefholder, and his instalment, his rights +and obligations were inscribed in a "charter". Most of the fiefholders +were members of the Chou ruling family or members of the clan to which +this family belonged; other fiefs were given to heads of the allied +tribes. The fiefholder (feudal lord) regarded the land of his fief, as +far as he and his clan actually used it, as "clan" land; parts of this +land he gave to members of his own branch-clan for their use without +transferring rights of property, thus creating new sub-fiefs and +sub-lords. In much later times the concept of landed property of a +_family_ developed, and the whole concept of "clan" disappeared. By 500 +B.C., most feudal lords had retained only a dim memory that they +originally belonged to the Chi clan of the Chou or to one of the few +other original clans, and their so-called sub-lords felt themselves as +members of independent noble families. Slowly, then, the family names of +later China began to develop, but it took many centuries until, at the +time of the Han Dynasty, all citizens (slaves excluded) had accepted +family names. Then, reversely, families grew again into new clans. + +Thus we have this picture of the early Chou state: the imperial central +power established in Shensi, near the present Sian; over a thousand +feudal states, great and small, often consisting only of a small +garrison, or sometimes a more considerable one, with the former +chieftain as feudal lord over it. Around these garrisons the old +population lived on, in the north the Shang population, farther east and +south various other peoples and cultures. The conquerors' garrisons were +like islands in a sea. Most of them formed new towns, walled, with a +rectangular plan and central crossroads, similar to the European towns +subsequently formed out of Roman encampments. This town plan has been +preserved to the present day. + +This upper class in the garrisons formed the nobility; it was sharply +divided from the indigenous population around the towns The conquerors +called the population "the black-haired people", and themselves "the +hundred families". The rest of the town populations consisted often of +urban Shang people: Shang noble families together with their bondsmen +and serfs had been given to Chou fiefholders. Such forced resettlements +of whole populations have remained typical even for much later periods. +By this method new cities were provided with urban, refined people and, +most important, with skilled craftsmen and businessmen who assisted in +building the cities and in keeping them alive. Some scholars believe +that many resettled Shang urbanites either were or became businessmen; +incidentally, the same word "Shang" means "merchant", up to the present +time. The people of the Shang capital lived on and even attempted a +revolt in collaboration with some Chou people. The Chou rulers +suppressed this revolt, and then transferred a large part of this +population to Loyang. They were settled there in a separate community, +and vestiges of the Shang population were still to be found there in the +fifth century A.D.: they were entirely impoverished potters, still +making vessels in the old style. + +3 _Fusion of Chou and Shang_ + +The conquerors brought with them, for their own purposes to begin with, +their rigid patriarchate in the family system and their cult of Heaven +(t'ien), in which the worship of sun and stars took the principal place; +a religion most closely related to that of the Turkish peoples and +derived from them. Some of the Shang popular deities, however, were +admitted into the official Heaven-worship. Popular deities became +"feudal lords" under the Heaven-god. The Shang conceptions of the soul +were also admitted into the Chou religion: the human body housed two +souls, the personality-soul and the life-soul. Death meant the +separation of the souls from the body, the life-soul also slowly dying. +The personality-soul, however, could move about freely and lived as long +as there were people who remembered it and kept it from hunger by means +of sacrifices. The Chou systematized this idea and made it into the +ancestor-worship that has endured down to the present time. + +The Chou officially abolished human sacrifices, especially since, as +former pastoralists, they knew of better means of employing prisoners of +war than did the more agrarian Shang. The Chou used Shang and other +slaves as domestic servants for their numerous nobility, and Shang serfs +as farm labourers on their estates. They seem to have regarded the land +under their control as "state land" and all farmers as "serfs". A slave, +here, must be defined as an individual, a piece of property, who was +excluded from membership in human society but, in later legal texts, was +included under domestic animals and immobile property, while serfs as a +class depended upon another class and had certain rights, at least the +right to work on the land. They could change their masters if the land +changed its master, but they could not legally be sold individually. +Thus, the following, still rather hypothetical, picture of the land +system of the early Chou time emerges: around the walled towns of the +feudal lords and sub-lords, always in the plains, was "state land" which +produced millet and more and more wheat. Cultivation was still largely +"shifting", so that the serfs in groups cultivated more or less +standardized plots for a year or more and then shifted to other plots. +During the growing season they lived in huts on the fields; during the +winter in the towns in adobe houses. In this manner the yearly life +cycle was divided into two different periods. The produce of the serfs +supplied the lords, their dependants and the farmers themselves. +Whenever the lord found it necessary, the serfs had to perform also +other services for the lord. Farther away from the towns were the +villages of the "natives", nominally also subjects of the lord. In most +parts of eastern China, these, too, were agriculturists. They +acknowledged their dependence by sending "gifts" to the lord in the +town. Later these gifts became institutionalized and turned into a form +of tax. The lord's serfs, on the other hand, tended to settle near the +fields in villages of their own because, with growing urban population, +the distances from the town to many of the fields became too great. It +was also at this time of new settlements that a more intensive +cultivation with a fallow system began. At latest from the sixth century +B.C. on, the distinctions between both land systems became unclear; and +the pure serf-cultivation, called by the old texts the "well-field +system" because eight cultivating families used one common well, +disappeared in practice. + +The actual structure of early Chou administration is difficult to +ascertain. The "Duke of Chou", brother of the first ruler, Wu Wang, +later regent during the minority of Wu Wang's son, and certainly one of +the most influential persons of this time, was the alleged creator of +the book _Chou-li_ which contains a detailed table of the bureaucracy of +the country. However, we know now from inscriptions that the bureaucracy +at the beginning of the Chou period was not much more developed than in +late Shang time. The _Chou-li_ gave an ideal picture of a bureaucratic +state, probably abstracted from actual conditions in feudal states +several centuries later. + +The Chou capital, at Sian, was a twin city. In one part lived the +master-race of the Chou with the imperial court, in the other the +subjugated population. At the same time, as previously mentioned, the +Chou built a second capital, Loyang, in the present province of Honan. +Loyang was just in the middle of the new state, and for the purposes of +Heaven-worship it was regarded as the centre of the universe, where it +was essential that the emperor should reside. Loyang was another twin +city: in one part were the rulers' administrative buildings, in the +other the transferred population of the Shang capital, probably artisans +for the most part. The valuable artisans seem all to have been taken +over from the Shang, for the bronze vessels of the early Chou age are +virtually identical with those of the Shang age. The shapes of the +houses also remained unaltered, and probably also the clothing, though +the Chou brought with them the novelties of felt and woollen fabrics, +old possessions of their earlier period. The only fundamental material +change was in the form of the graves: in the Shang age house-like tombs +were built underground; now great tumuli were constructed in the fashion +preferred by all steppe peoples. + +One professional class was severely hit by the changed +circumstances--the Shang priesthood. The Chou had no priests. As with +all the races of the steppes, the head of the family himself performed +the religious rites. Beyond this there were only shamans for certain +purposes of magic. And very soon Heaven-worship was combined with the +family system, the ruler being declared to be the Son of Heaven; the +mutual relations within the family were thus extended to the religious +relations with the deity. If, however, the god of Heaven is the father +of the ruler, the ruler as his son himself offers sacrifice, and so the +priest becomes superfluous. Thus the priests became "unemployed". Some +of them changed their profession. They were the only people who could +read and write, and as an administrative system was necessary they +obtained employment as scribes. Others withdrew to their villages and +became village priests. They organized the religious festivals in the +village, carried out the ceremonies connected with family events, and +even conducted the exorcism of evil spirits with shamanistic dances; +they took charge, in short, of everything connected with customary +observances and morality. The Chou lords were great respecters of +propriety. The Shang culture had, indeed, been a high one with an +ancient and highly developed moral system, and the Chou as rough +conquerors must have been impressed by the ancient forms and tried to +imitate them. In addition, they had in their religion of Heaven a +conception of the existence of mutual relations between Heaven and +Earth: all that went on in the skies had an influence on earth, and vice +versa. Thus, if any ceremony was "wrongly" performed, it had an evil +effect on Heaven--there would be no rain, or the cold weather would +arrive too soon, or some such misfortune would come. It was therefore of +great importance that everything should be done "correctly". Hence the +Chou rulers were glad to call in the old priests as performers of +ceremonies and teachers of morality similar to the ancient Indian rulers +who needed the Brahmans for the correct performance of all rites. There +thus came into existence in the early Chou empire a new social group, +later called "scholars", men who were not regarded as belonging to the +lower class represented by the subjugated population but were not +included in the nobility; men who were not productively employed but +belonged to a sort of independent profession. They became of very great +importance in later centuries. + +In the first centuries of the Chou dynasty the ruling house steadily +lost power. Some of the emperors proved weak, or were killed at war; +above all, the empire was too big and its administration too +slow-moving. The feudal lords and nobles were occupied with their own +problems in securing the submission of the surrounding villages to their +garrisons and in governing them; they soon paid little attention to the +distant central authority. In addition to this, the situation at the +centre of the empire was more difficult than that of its feudal states +farther east. The settlements around the garrisons in the east were +inhabited by agrarian tribes, but the subjugated population around the +centre at Sian was made up of nomadic tribes of Turks and Mongols +together with semi-nomadic Tibetans. Sian lies in the valley of the +river Wei; the riverside country certainly belonged, though perhaps only +insecurely, to the Shang empire and was specially well adapted to +agriculture; but its periphery--mountains in the south, steppes in the +north--was inhabited (until a late period, to some extent to the present +day) by nomads, who had also been subjugated by the Chou. The Chou +themselves were by no means strong, as they had been only a small tribe +and their strength had depended on auxiliary tribes, which had now +spread over the country as the new nobility and lived far from the Chou. +The Chou emperors had thus to hold in check the subjugated but warlike +tribes of Turks and Mongols who lived quite close to their capital. In +the first centuries of the dynasty they were more or less successful, +for the feudal lords still sent auxiliary forces. In time, however, +these became fewer and fewer, because the feudal lords pursued their own +policy; and the Chou were compelled to fight their own battles against +tribes that continually rose against them, raiding and pillaging their +towns. Campaigns abroad also fell mainly on the shoulders of the Chou, +as their capital lay near the frontier. + +It must not be simply assumed, as is often done by the Chinese and some +of the European historians, that the Turkish and Mongolian tribes were +so savage or so pugnacious that they continually waged war just for the +love of it. The problem is much deeper, and to fail to recognize this is +to fail to understand Chinese history down to the Middle Ages. The +conquering Chou established their garrisons everywhere, and these +garrisons were surrounded by the quarters of artisans and by the +villages of peasants, a process that ate into the pasturage of the +Turkish and Mongolian nomads. These nomads, as already mentioned, +pursued agriculture themselves on a small scale, but it occurred to them +that they could get farm produce much more easily by barter or by +raiding. Accordingly they gradually gave up cultivation and became pure +nomads, procuring the needed farm produce from their neighbours. This +abandonment of agriculture brought them into a precarious situation: if +for any reason the Chinese stopped supplying or demanded excessive +barter payment, the nomads had to go hungry. They were then virtually +driven to get what they needed by raiding. Thus there developed a mutual +reaction that lasted for centuries. Some of the nomadic tribes living +between garrisons withdrew, to escape from the growing pressure, mainly +into the province of Shansi, where the influence of the Chou was weak +and they were not numerous; some of the nomad chiefs lost their lives in +battle, and some learned from the Chou lords and turned themselves into +petty rulers. A number of "marginal" states began to develop; some of +them even built their own cities. This process of transformation of +agro-nomadic tribes into "warrior-nomadic" tribes continued over many +centuries and came to an end in the third or second century B.C. + +The result of the three centuries that had passed was a symbiosis +between the urban aristocrats and the country-people. The rulers of the +towns took over from the general population almost the whole vocabulary +of the language which from now on we may call "Chinese". They naturally +took over elements of the material civilization. The subjugated +population had, meanwhile, to adjust itself to its lords. In the +organism that thus developed, with its unified economic system, the +conquerors became an aristocratic ruling class, and the subjugated +population became a lower class, with varied elements but mainly a +peasantry. From now on we may call this society "Chinese"; it has +endured to the middle of the twentieth century. Most later essential +societal changes are the result of internal development and not of +aggression from without. + +4 _Limitation of the imperial power_ + +In 771 B.C. an alliance of northern feudal states had attacked the ruler +in his western capital; in a battle close to the city they had overcome +and killed him. This campaign appears to have set in motion considerable +groups from various tribes, so that almost the whole province of Shensi +was lost. With the aid of some feudal lords who had remained loyal, a +Chou prince was rescued and conducted eastward to the second capital, +Loyang, which until then had never been the ruler's actual place of +residence. In this rescue a lesser feudal prince, ruler of the feudal +state of Ch'in, specially distinguished himself. Soon afterwards this +prince, whose domain had lain close to that of the ruler, reconquered a +great part of the lost territory, and thereafter regarded it as his own +fief. The Ch'in family resided in the same capital in which the Chou +had lived in the past, and five hundred years later we shall meet with +them again as the dynasty that succeeded the Chou. + +The new ruler, resident now in Loyang, was foredoomed to impotence. He +was now in the centre of the country, and less exposed to large-scale +enemy attacks; but his actual rule extended little beyond the town +itself and its immediate environment. Moreover, attacks did not entirely +cease; several times parts of the indigenous population living between +the Chou towns rose against the towns, even in the centre of the +country. + +Now that the emperor had no territory that could be the basis of a +strong rule and, moreover, because he owed his position to the feudal +lords and was thus under an obligation to them, he ruled no longer as +the chief of the feudal lords but as a sort of sanctified overlord; and +this was the position of all his successors. A situation was formed at +first that may be compared with that of Japan down to the middle of the +nineteenth century. The ruler was a symbol rather than an exerciser of +power. There had to be a supreme ruler because, in the worship of Heaven +which was recognized by all the feudal lords, the supreme sacrifices +could only be offered by the Son of Heaven in person. There could not be +a number of sons of heaven because there were not a number of heavens. +The imperial sacrifices secured that all should be in order in the +country, and that the necessary equilibrium between Heaven and Earth +should be maintained. For in the religion of Heaven there was a close +parallelism between Heaven and Earth, and every omission of a sacrifice, +or failure to offer it in due form, brought down a reaction from Heaven. +For these religious reasons a central ruler was a necessity for the +feudal lords. They needed him also for practical reasons. In the course +of centuries the personal relationship between the various feudal lords +had ceased. Their original kinship and united struggles had long been +forgotten. When the various feudal lords proceeded to subjugate the +territories at a distance from their towns, in order to turn their city +states into genuine territorial states, they came into conflict with +each other. In the course of these struggles for power many of the small +fiefs were simply destroyed. It may fairly be said that not until the +eighth and seventh centuries B.C. did the old garrison towns became real +states. In these circumstances the struggles between the feudal states +called urgently for an arbiter, to settle simple cases, and in more +difficult cases either to try to induce other feudal lords to intervene +or to give sanction to the new situation. These were the only governing +functions of the ruler from the time of the transfer to the second +capital. + +5 _Changes in the relative strength of the feudal states_ + +In these disturbed times China also made changes in her outer frontiers. +When we speak of frontiers in this connection, we must take little +account of the European conception of a frontier. No frontier in that +sense existed in China until her conflict with the European powers. In +the dogma of the Chinese religion of Heaven, all the countries of the +world were subject to the Chinese emperor, the Son of Heaven. Thus there +could be no such thing as other independent states. In practice the +dependence of various regions on the ruler naturally varied: near the +centre, that is to say near the ruler's place of residence, it was most +pronounced; then it gradually diminished in the direction of the +periphery. The feudal lords of the inner territories were already rather +less subordinated than at the centre, and those at a greater distance +scarcely at all; at a still greater distance were territories whose +chieftains regarded themselves as independent, subject only in certain +respects to Chinese overlordship. In such a system it is difficult to +speak of frontiers. In practice there was, of course, a sort of +frontier, where the influence of the outer feudal lords ceased to exist. +The development of the original feudal towns into feudal states with +actual dominion over their territories proceeded, of course, not only in +the interior of China but also on its borders, where the feudal +territories had the advantage of more unrestricted opportunities of +expansion; thus they became more and more powerful. In the south (that +is to say, in the south of the Chou empire, in the present central +China) the garrisons that founded feudal states were relatively small +and widely separated; consequently their cultural system was largely +absorbed into that of the aboriginal population, so that they developed +into feudal states with a character of their own. Three of these +attained special importance--(1) Ch'u, in the neighbourhood of the +present Chungking and Hankow; (2) Wu, near the present Nanking; and (3) +Yüeh, near the present Hangchow. In 704 B.C. the feudal prince of Wu +proclaimed himself "Wang". "Wang", however was the title of the ruler of +the Chou dynasty. This meant that Wu broke away from the old Chou +religion of Heaven, according to which there could be only one ruler +(_wang_) in the world. + +At the beginning of the seventh century it became customary for the +ruler to unite with the feudal lord who was most powerful at the time. +This feudal lord became a dictator, and had the military power in his +hands, like the shoguns in nineteenth-century Japan. If there was a +disturbance of the peace, he settled the matter by military means. The +first of these dictators was the feudal lord of the state of Ch'i, in +the present province of Shantung. This feudal state had grown +considerably through the conquest of the outer end of the peninsula of +Shantung, which until then had been independent. Moreover, and this was +of the utmost importance, the state of Ch'i was a trade centre. Much of +the bronze, and later all the iron, for use in northern China came from +the south by road and in ships that went up the rivers to Ch'i, where it +was distributed among the various regions of the north, north-east, and +north-west. In addition to this, through its command of portions of the +coast, Ch'i had the means of producing salt, with which it met the needs +of great areas of eastern China. It was also in Ch'i that money was +first used. Thus Ch'i soon became a place of great luxury, far +surpassing the court of the Chou, and Ch'i also became the centre of the +most developed civilization. + +[Illustration: Map 2: The principal feudal States in the feudal epoch. +(_roughly 722-481 B.C._)] + +After the feudal lord of Ch'i, supported by the wealth and power of his +feudal state, became dictator, he had to struggle not only against other +feudal lords, but also many times against risings among the most various +parts of the population, and especially against the nomad tribes in the +southern part of the present province of Shansi. In the seventh century +not only Ch'i but the other feudal states had expanded. The regions in +which the nomad tribes were able to move had grown steadily smaller, and +the feudal lords now set to work to bring the nomads of their country +under their direct rule. The greatest conflict of this period was the +attack in 660 B.C. against the feudal state of Wei, in northern Honan. +The nomad tribes seem this time to have been proto-Mongols; they made a +direct attack on the garrison town and actually conquered it. The +remnant of the urban population, no more than 730 in number, had to flee +southward. It is clear from this incident that nomads were still living +in the middle of China, within the territory of the feudal states, and +that they were still decidedly strong, though no longer in a position to +get rid entirely of the feudal lords of the Chou. + +The period of the dictators came to an end after about a century, +because it was found that none of the feudal states was any longer +strong enough to exercise control over all the others. These others +formed alliances against which the dictator was powerless. Thus this +period passed into the next, which the Chinese call the period of the +Contending States. + +6 _Confucius_ + +After this survey of the political history we must consider the +intellectual history of this period, for between 550 and 280 B.C. the +enduring fundamental influences in the Chinese social order and in the +whole intellectual life of China had their original. We saw how the +priests of the earlier dynasty of the Shang developed into the group of +so-called "scholars". When the Chou ruler, after the move to the second +capital, had lost virtually all but his religious authority, these +"scholars" gained increased influence. They were the specialists in +traditional morals, in sacrifices, and in the organization of festivals. +The continually increasing ritualism at the court of the Chou called for +more and more of these men. The various feudal lords also attracted +these scholars to their side, employed them as tutors for their +children, and entrusted them with the conduct of sacrifices and +festivals. + +China's best-known philosopher, Confucius (Chinese: K'ung Tz[)u], was +one of these scholars. He was born in 551 B.C. in the feudal state Lu in +the present province of Shantung. In Lu and its neighbouring state Sung, +institutions of the Shang had remained strong; both states regarded +themselves as legitimate heirs of Shang culture, and many traces of +Shang culture can be seen in Confucius's political and ethical ideas. He +acquired the knowledge which a scholar had to possess, and then taught +in the families of nobles, also helping in the administration of their +properties. He made several attempts to obtain advancement, either in +vain or with only a short term of employment ending in dismissal. Thus +his career was a continuing pilgrimage from one noble to another, from +one feudal lord to another, accompanied by a few young men, sons of +scholars, who were partly his pupils and partly his servants. Many of +these disciples seem to have been "illegitimate" sons of noblemen, i.e. +sons of concubines, and Confucius's own family seems to have been of the +same origin. In the strongly patriarchal and patrilinear system of the +Chou and the developing primogeniture, children of secondary wives had a +lower social status. Ultimately Confucius gave up his wanderings, +settled in his home town of Lu, and there taught his disciples until his +death in 479 B.C. + +Such was briefly the life of Confucius. His enemies claim that he was a +political intriguer, inciting the feudal lords against each other in the +course of his wanderings from one state to another, with the intention +of somewhere coming into power himself. There may, indeed, be some truth +in that. + +Confucius's importance lies in the fact that he systematized a body of +ideas, not of his own creation, and communicated it to a circle of +disciples. His teachings were later set down in writing and formed, +right down to the twentieth century, the moral code of the upper classes +of China. Confucius was fully conscious of his membership of a social +class whose existence was tied to that of the feudal lords. With their +disappearance, his type of scholar would become superfluous. The common +people, the lower class, was in his view in an entirely subordinate +position. Thus his moral teaching is a code for the ruling class. +Accordingly it retains almost unaltered the elements of the old cult of +Heaven, following the old tradition inherited from the northern peoples. +For him Heaven is not an arbitrarily governing divine tyrant, but the +embodiment of a system of legality. Heaven does not act independently, +but follows a universal law, the so-called "Tao". Just as sun, moon, and +stars move in the heavens in accordance with law, so man should conduct +himself on earth in accord with the universal law, not against it. The +ruler should not actively intervene in day-to-day policy, but should +only act by setting an example, like Heaven; he should observe the +established ceremonies, and offer all sacrifices in accordance with the +rites, and then all else will go well in the world. The individual, too, +should be guided exactly in his life by the prescriptions of the rites, +so that harmony with the law of the universe may be established. + +A second idea of the Confucian system came also from the old conceptions +of the Chou conquerors, and thus originally from the northern peoples. +This is the patriarchal idea, according to which the family is the cell +of society, and at the head of the family stands the eldest male adult +as a sort of patriarch. The state is simply an extension of the family, +"state", of course, meaning simply the class of the feudal lords (the +"chün-tz[)u]"). And the organization of the family is also that of the +world of the gods. Within the family there are a number of ties, all of +them, however, one-sided: that of father to son (the son having to obey +the father unconditionally and having no rights of his own;) that of +husband to wife (the wife had no rights); that of elder to younger +brother. An extension of these is the association of friend with friend, +which is conceived as an association between an elder and a younger +brother. The final link, and the only one extending beyond the family +and uniting it with the state, is the association of the ruler with the +subject, a replica of that between father and son. The ruler in turn is +in the position of son to Heaven. Thus in Confucianism the cult of +Heaven, the family system, and the state are welded into unity. The +frictionless functioning of this whole system is effected by everyone +adhering to the rites, which prescribe every important action. It is +necessary, of course, that in a large family, in which there may be up +to a hundred persons living together, there shall be a precisely +established ordering of relationships between individuals if there is +not to be continual friction. Since the scholars of Confucius's type +specialized in the knowledge and conduct of ceremonies, Confucius gave +ritualism a correspondingly important place both in spiritual and in +practical life. + +So far as we have described it above, the teaching of Confucius was a +further development of the old cult of Heaven. Through bitter +experience, however, Confucius had come to realize that nothing could be +done with the ruling house as it existed in his day. So shadowy a figure +as the Chou ruler of that time could not fulfil what Confucius required +of the "Son of Heaven". But the opinions of students of Confucius's +actual ideas differ. Some say that in the only book in which he +personally had a hand, the so-called _Annals of Spring and Autumn_, he +intended to set out his conception of the character of a true emperor; +others say that in that book he showed how he would himself have acted +as emperor, and that he was only awaiting an opportunity to make himself +emperor. He was called indeed, at a later time, the "uncrowned ruler". +In any case, the _Annals of Spring and Autumn_ seem to be simply a dry +work of annals, giving the history of his native state of Lu on the +basis of the older documents available to him. In his text, however, +Confucius made small changes by means of which he expressed criticism or +recognition; in this way he indirectly made known how in his view a +ruler should act or should not act. He did not shrink from falsifying +history, as can today be demonstrated. Thus on one occasion a ruler had +to flee from a feudal prince, which in Confucius's view was impossible +behaviour for the ruler; accordingly he wrote instead that the ruler +went on a hunting expedition. Elsewhere he tells of an eclipse of the +sun on a certain day, on which in fact there was no eclipse. By writing +of an eclipse he meant to criticize the way a ruler had acted, for the +sun symbolized the ruler, and the eclipse meant that the ruler had not +been guided by divine illumination. The demonstration that the _Annals +of Spring and Autumn_ can only be explained in this way was the +achievement some thirty-five years ago of Otto Franke, and through this +discovery Confucius's work, which the old sinologists used to describe +as a dry and inadequate book, has become of special value to us. The +book ends with the year 481 B.C., and in spite of its distortions it is +the principal source for the two-and-a-half centuries with which it +deals. + +Rendered alert by this experience, we are able to see and to show that +most of the other later official works of history follow the example of +the _Annals of Spring and Autumn_ in containing things that have been +deliberately falsified. This is especially so in the work called +_T'ung-chien kang-mu_, which was the source of the history of the +Chinese empire translated into French by de Mailla. + +Apart from Confucius's criticism of the inadequate capacity of the +emperor of his day, there is discernible, though only in the form of +cryptic hints, a fundamentally important progressive idea. It is that a +nobleman (chün-tz[)u] should not be a member of the ruling _élite_ by +right of birth alone, but should be a man of superior moral qualities. +From Confucius on, "chün-tz[)u]" became to mean "a gentleman". +Consequently, a country should not be ruled by a dynasty based on +inheritance through birth, but by members of the nobility who show +outstanding moral qualification for rulership. That is to say, the rule +should pass from the worthiest to the worthiest, the successor first +passing through a period of probation as a minister of state. In an +unscrupulous falsification of the tradition, Confucius declared that +this principle was followed in early times. It is probably safe to +assume that Confucius had in view here an eventual justification of +claims to rulership of his own. + +Thus Confucius undoubtedly had ideas of reform, but he did not interfere +with the foundations of feudalism. For the rest, his system consists +only of a social order and a moral teaching. Metaphysics, logic, +epistemology, i.e. branches of philosophy which played so great a part +in the West, are of no interest to him. Nor can he be described as the +founder of a religion; for the cult of Heaven of which he speaks and +which he takes over existed in exactly the same form before his day. He +is merely the man who first systematized those notions. He had no +successes in his lifetime and gained no recognition; nor did his +disciples or their disciples gain any general recognition; his work did +not become of importance until some three hundred years after his death, +when in the second century B.C. his teaching was adjusted to the new +social conditions: out of a moral system for the decaying feudal society +of the past centuries developed the ethic of the rising social order of +the gentry. The gentry (in much the same way as the European +bourgeoisie) continually claimed that there should be access for every +civilized citizen to the highest places in the social pyramid, and the +rules of Confucianism became binding on every member of society if he +was to be considered a gentleman. Only then did Confucianism begin to +develop into the imposing system that dominated China almost down to the +present day. Confucianism did not become a religion. It was comparable +to the later Japanese Shintoism, or to a group of customs among us which +we all observe, if we do not want to find ourselves excluded from our +community, but which we should never describe as religion. We stand up +when the national anthem is played, we give precedency to older people, +we erect war memorials and decorate them with flowers, and by these and +many other things show our sense of belonging. A similar but much more +conscious and much more powerful part was played by Confucianism in the +life of the average Chinese, though he was not necessarily interested in +philosophical ideas. + +While the West has set up the ideal of individualism and is suffering +now because it no longer has any ethical system to which individuals +voluntarily submit; while for the Indians the social problem consisted +in the solving of the question how every man could be enabled to live +his life with as little disturbance as possible from his fellow-men, +Confucianism solved the problem of how families with groups of hundreds +of members could live together in peace and co-operation in a densely +populated country. Everyone knew his position in the family and so, in a +broader sense, in the state; and this prescribed his rights and duties. +We may feel that the rules to which he was subjected were pedantic; but +there was no limit to their effectiveness: they reduced to a minimum the +friction that always occurs when great masses of people live close +together; they gave Chinese society the strength through which it has +endured; they gave security to its individuals. China's first real +social crisis after the collapse of feudalism, that is to say, after the +fourth or third century B.C., began only in the present century with the +collapse of the social order of the gentry and the breakdown of the +family system. + +7 _Lao Tz[)u]_ + +In eighteenth-century Europe Confucius was the only Chinese philosopher +held in regard; in the last hundred years, the years of Europe's +internal crisis, the philosopher Lao Tz[)u] steadily advanced in repute, +so that his book was translated almost a hundred times into various +European languages. According to the general view among the Chinese, Lao +Tz[)u] was an older contemporary of Confucius; recent Chinese and +Western research (A. Waley; H.H. Dubs) has contested this view and +places Lao Tz[)u] in the latter part of the fourth century B.C., or even +later. Virtually nothing at all is known about his life; the oldest +biography of Lao Tz[)u], written about 100 B.C., says that he lived as +an official at the ruler's court and, one day, became tired of the life +of an official and withdrew from the capital to his estate, where he +died in old age. This, too, may be legendary, but it fits well into the +picture given to us by Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching and by the life of his +later followers. From the second century A.D., that is to say at least +four hundred years after his death, there are legends of his migrating +to the far west. Still later narratives tell of his going to Turkestan +(where a temple was actually built in his honour in the Medieval +period); according to other sources he travelled as far as India or +Sogdiana (Samarkand and Bokhara), where according to some accounts he +was the teacher or forerunner of Buddha, and according to others of +Mani, the founder of Manichaeism. For all this there is not a vestige of +documentary evidence. + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching is contained in a small book, the _Tao Tê Ching_, +the "Book of the World Law and its Power". The book is written in quite +simple language, at times in rhyme, but the sense is so vague that +countless versions, differing radically from each other, can be based on +it, and just as many translations are possible, all philologically +defensible. This vagueness is deliberate. + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching is essentially an effort to bring man's life on +earth into harmony with the life and law of the universe (Tao). This was +also Confucius's purpose. But while Confucius set out to attain that +purpose in a sort of primitive scientific way, by laying down a number +of rules of human conduct, Lao Tz[)u] tries to attain his ideal by an +intuitive, emotional method. Lao Tz[)u] is always described as a mystic, +but perhaps this is not entirely appropriate; it must be borne in mind +that in his time the Chinese language, spoken and written, still had +great difficulties in the expression of ideas. In reading Lao Tz[)u]'s +book we feel that he is trying to express something for which the +language of his day was inadequate; and what he wanted to express +belonged to the emotional, not the intellectual, side of the human +character, so that any perfectly clear expression of it in words was +entirely impossible. It must be borne in mind that the Chinese language +lacks definite word categories like substantive, adjective, adverb, or +verb; any word can be used now in one category and now in another, with +a few exceptions; thus the understanding of a combination like "white +horse" formed a difficult logical problem for the thinker of the fourth +century B.C.: did it mean "white" plus "horse"? Or was "white horse" no +longer a horse at all but something quite different? + +Confucius's way of bringing human life into harmony with the life of the +universe was to be a process of assimilating Man as a social being, Man +in his social environment, to Nature, and of so maintaining his activity +within the bounds of the community. Lao Tz[)u] pursues another path, the +path for those who feel disappointed with life in the community. A +Taoist, as a follower of Lao Tz[)u] is called, withdraws from all social +life, and carries out none of the rites and ceremonies which a man of +the upper class should observe throughout the day. He lives in +self-imposed seclusion, in an elaborate primitivity which is often +described in moving terms that are almost convincing of actual +"primitivity". Far from the city, surrounded by Nature, the Taoist lives +his own life, together with a few friends and his servants, entirely +according to his nature. His own nature, like everything else, +represents for him a part of the Tao, and the task of the individual +consists in the most complete adherence to the Tao that is conceivable, +as far as possible performing no act that runs counter to the Tao. This +is the main element of Lao Tz[)u]'s doctrine, the doctrine of _wu-wei_, +"passive achievement". + +Lao Tz[)u] seems to have thought that this doctrine could be applied to +the life of the state. He assumed that an ideal life in society was +possible if everyone followed his own nature entirely and no artificial +restrictions were imposed. Thus he writes: "The more the people are +forbidden to do this and that, the poorer will they be. The more sharp +weapons the people possess, the more will darkness and bewilderment +spread through the land. The more craft and cunning men have, the more +useless and pernicious contraptions will they invent. The more laws and +edicts are imposed, the more thieves and bandits there will be. 'If I +work through Non-action,' says the Sage, 'the people will transform +themselves.'"[1] Thus according to Lao Tz[)u], who takes the existence +of a monarchy for granted, the ruler must treat his subjects as follows: +"By emptying their hearts of desire and their minds of envy, and by +filling their stomachs with what they need; by reducing their ambitions +and by strengthening their bones and sinews; by striving to keep them +without the knowledge of what is evil and without cravings. Thus are the +crafty ones given no scope for tempting interference. For it is by +Non-action that the Sage governs, and nothing is really left +uncontrolled."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _The Way of Acceptance_: a new version of Lao Tz[)u]'s _Tao +Tê Ching_, by Hermon Ould (Dakers, 1946), Ch. 57.] + +[Footnote 2: _The Way of Acceptance_, Ch. 3.] + +Lao Tz[)u] did not live to learn that such rule of good government would +be followed by only one sort of rulers--dictators; and as a matter of +fact the "Legalist theory" which provided the philosophic basis for +dictatorship in the third century B.C. was attributable to Lao Tz[)u]. +He was not thinking, however, of dictatorship; he was an individualistic +anarchist, believing that if there were no active government all men +would be happy. Then everyone could attain unity with Nature for +himself. Thus we find in Lao Tz[)u], and later in all other Taoists, a +scornful repudiation of all social and official obligations. An answer +that became famous was given by the Taoist Chuang Tz[)u] (see below) +when it was proposed to confer high office in the state on him (the +story may or may not be true, but it is typical of Taoist thought): "I +have heard," he replied, "that in Ch'u there is a tortoise sacred to the +gods. It has now been dead for 3,000 years, and the king keeps it in a +shrine with silken cloths, and gives it shelter in the halls of a +temple. Which do you think that tortoise would prefer--to be dead and +have its vestigial bones so honoured, or to be still alive and dragging +its tail after it in the mud?" the officials replied: "No doubt it would +prefer to be alive and dragging its tail after it in the mud." Then +spoke Chuang Tz[)u]: "Begone! I, too, would rather drag my tail after me +in the mud!" (Chuang Tz[)u] 17, 10.) + +The true Taoist withdraws also from his family. Typical of this is +another story, surely apocryphal, from Chuang Tz[)u] (Ch. 3, 3). At the +death of Lao Tz[)u] a disciple went to the family and expressed his +sympathy quite briefly and formally. The other disciples were +astonished, and asked his reason. He said: "Yes, at first I thought that +he was our man, but he is not. When I went to grieve, the old men were +bewailing him as though they were bewailing a son, and the young wept as +though they were mourning a mother. To bind them so closely to himself, +he must have spoken words which he should not have spoken, and wept +tears which he should not have wept. That, however, is a falling away +from the heavenly nature." + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching, like that of Confucius, cannot be described as +religion; like Confucius's, it is a sort of social philosophy, but of +irrationalistic character. Thus it was quite possible, and later it +became the rule, for one and the same person to be both Confucian and +Taoist. As an official and as the head of his family, a man would think +and act as a Confucian; as a private individual, when he had retired far +from the city to live in his country mansion (often modestly described +as a cave or a thatched hut), or when he had been dismissed from his +post or suffered some other trouble, he would feel and think as a +Taoist. In order to live as a Taoist it was necessary, of course, to +possess such an estate, to which a man could retire with his servants, +and where he could live without himself doing manual work. This +difference between the Confucian and the Taoist found a place in the +works of many Chinese poets. I take the following quotation from an +essay by the statesman and poet Ts'ao Chih, of the end of the second +century A.D.: + +"Master Mysticus lived in deep seclusion on a mountain in the +wilderness; he had withdrawn as in flight from the world, desiring to +purify his spirit and give rest to his heart. He despised official +activity, and no longer maintained any relations with the world; he +sought quiet and freedom from care, in order in this way to attain +everlasting life. He did nothing but send his thoughts wandering between +sky and clouds, and consequently there was nothing worldly that could +attract and tempt him. + +[Illustration: 1 Painted pottery from Kansu: Neolithic. _In the +collection of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin_.] + +[Illustration: 2 Ancient bronze tripod found at Anyang. _From G. Ecke: +Frühe chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Oskar Trautmann, Peking_ +1939, _plate_ 3.] + +"When Mr. Rationalist heard of this man, he desired to visit him, in +order to persuade him to alter his views. He harnessed four horses, who +could quickly traverse the plain, and entered his light fast carriage. +He drove through the plain, leaving behind him the ruins of abandoned +settlements; he entered the boundless wilderness, and finally reached +the dwelling of Master Mysticus. Here there was a waterfall on one side, +and on the other were high crags; at the back a stream flowed deep down +in its bed, and in front was an odorous wood. The master wore a white +doeskin cap and a striped fox-pelt. He came forward from a cave buried +in the mountain, leaned against the tall crag, and enjoyed the prospect +of wild nature. His ideas floated on the breezes, and he looked as if +the wide spaces of the heavens and the countries of the earth were too +narrow for him; as if he was going to fly but had not yet left the +ground; as if he had already spread his wings but wanted to wait a +moment. Mr. Rationalist climbed up with the aid of vine shoots, reached +the top of the crag, and stepped up to him, saying very respectfully: + +"'I have heard that a man of nobility does not flee from society, but +seeks to gain fame; a man of wisdom does not swim against the current, +but seeks to earn repute. You, however, despise the achievements of +civilization and culture; you have no regard for the splendour of +philanthropy and justice; you squander your powers here in the +wilderness and neglect ordered relations between man....'" + +Frequently Master Mysticus and Mr. Rationalist were united in a single +person. Thus, Shih Ch'ung wrote in an essay on himself: + +"In my youth I had great ambition and wanted to stand out above the +multitude. Thus it happened that at a little over twenty years of age I +was already a court official; I remained in the service for twenty-five +years. When I was fifty I had to give up my post because of an +unfortunate occurrence.... The older I became, the more I appreciated +the freedom I had acquired; and as I loved forest and plain, I retired +to my villa. When I built this villa, a long embankment formed the +boundary behind it; in front the prospect extended over a clear canal; +all around grew countless cypresses, and flowing water meandered round +the house. There were pools there, and outlook towers; I bred birds and +fishes. In my harem there were always good musicians who played dance +tunes. When I went out I enjoyed nature or hunted birds and fished. When +I came home, I enjoyed playing the lute or reading; I also liked to +concoct an elixir of life and to take breathing exercises,[3] because I +did not want to die, but wanted one day to lift myself to the skies, +like an immortal genius. Suddenly I was drawn back into the official +career, and became once more one of the dignitaries of the Emperor." + +[Footnote 3: Both Taoist practices.] + +Thus Lao Tz[)u]'s individualist and anarchist doctrine was not suited to +form the basis of a general Chinese social order, and its employment in +support of dictatorship was certainly not in the spirit of Lao Tz[)u]. +Throughout history, however, Taoism remained the philosophic attitude of +individuals of the highest circle of society; its real doctrine never +became popularly accepted; for the strong feeling for nature that +distinguishes the Chinese, and their reluctance to interfere in the +sanctified order of nature by technical and other deliberate acts, was +not actually a result of Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching, but one of the +fundamentals from which his ideas started. + +If the date assigned to Lao Tz[)u] by present-day research (the fourth +instead of the sixth century B.C.) is correct, he was more or less +contemporary with Chuang Tz[)u], who was probably the most gifted poet +among the Chinese philosophers and Taoists. A thin thread extends from +them as far as the fourth century A.D.: Huai-nan Tz[)u], Chung-ch'ang +T'ung, Yüan Chi (210-263), Liu Ling (221-300), and T'ao Ch'ien +(365-427), are some of the most eminent names of Taoist philosophers. +After that the stream of original thought dried up, and we rarely find a +new idea among the late Taoists. These gentlemen living on their estates +had acquired a new means of expressing their inmost feelings: they wrote +poetry and, above all, painted. Their poems and paintings contain in a +different outward form what Lao Tz[)u] had tried to express with the +inadequate means of the language of his day. Thus Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching +has had the strongest influence to this day in this field, and has +inspired creative work which is among the finest achievements of +mankind. + + + +Chapter Four + + +THE CONTENDING STATES (481-256 B.C.): DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + + +1 _Social and military changes_ + +The period following that of the Chou dictatorships is known as that of +the Contending States. Out of over a thousand states, fourteen remained, +of which, in the period that now followed, one after another +disappeared, until only one remained. This period is the fullest, or one +of the fullest, of strife in all Chinese history. The various feudal +states had lost all sense of allegiance to the ruler, and acted in +entire independence. It is a pure fiction to speak of a Chinese State in +this period; the emperor had no more power than the ruler of the Holy +Roman Empire in the late medieval period of Europe, and the so-called +"feudal states" of China can be directly compared with the developing +national states of Europe. A comparison of this period with late +medieval Europe is, indeed, of highest interest. If we adopt a political +system of periodization, we might say that around 500 B.C. the unified +feudal state of the first period of Antiquity came to an end and the +second, a period of the national states began, although formally, the +feudal system continued and the national states still retained many +feudal traits. + +As none of these states was strong enough to control and subjugate the +rest, alliances were formed. The most favoured union was the north-south +axis; it struggled against an east-west league. The alliances were not +stable but broke up again and again through bribery or intrigue, which +produced new combinations. We must confine ourselves to mentioning the +most important of the events that took place behind this military +façade. + +Through the continual struggles more and more feudal lords lost their +lands; and not only they, but the families of the nobles dependent on +them, who had received so-called sub-fiefs. Some of the landless nobles +perished; some offered their services to the remaining feudal lords as +soldiers or advisers. Thus in this period we meet with a large number of +migratory politicians who became competitors of the wandering scholars. +Both these groups recommended to their lord ways and means of gaining +victory over the other feudal lords, so as to become sole ruler. In +order to carry out their plans the advisers claimed the rank of a +Minister or Chancellor. + +Realistic though these advisers and their lords were in their thinking, +they did not dare to trample openly on the old tradition. The emperor +might in practice be a completely powerless figurehead, but he belonged +nevertheless, according to tradition, to a family of divine origin, +which had obtained its office not merely by the exercise of force but +through a "divine mandate". Accordingly, if one of the feudal lords +thought of putting forward a claim to the imperial throne, he felt +compelled to demonstrate that his family was just as much of divine +origin as the emperor's, and perhaps of remoter origin. In this matter +the travelling "scholars" rendered valuable service as manufacturers of +genealogical trees. Each of the old noble families already had its +family tree, as an indispensable requisite for the sacrifices to +ancestors. But in some cases this tree began as a branch of that of the +imperial family: this was the case of the feudal lords who were of +imperial descent and whose ancestors had been granted fiefs after the +conquest of the country. Others, however, had for their first ancestor a +local deity long worshipped in the family's home country, such as the +ancient agrarian god Huang Ti, or the bovine god Shen Nung. Here the +"scholars" stepped in, turning the local deities into human beings and +"emperors". This suddenly gave the noble family concerned an imperial +origin. Finally, order was brought into this collection of ancient +emperors. They were arranged and connected with each other in +"dynasties" or in some other "historical" form. Thus at a stroke Huang +Ti, who about 450 B.C. had been a local god in the region of southern +Shansi, became the forefather of almost all the noble families, +including that of the imperial house of the Chou. Needless to say, there +would be discrepancies between the family trees constructed by the +various scholars for their lords, and later, when this problem had lost +its political importance, the commentators laboured for centuries on the +elaboration of an impeccable system of "ancient emperors"--and to this +day there are sinologists who continue to present these humanized gods +as historical personalities. + +In the earlier wars fought between the nobles they were themselves the +actual combatants, accompanied only by their retinue. As the struggles +for power grew in severity, each noble hired such mercenaries as he +could, for instance the landless nobles just mentioned. Very soon it +became the custom to arm peasants and send them to the wars. This +substantially increased the armies. The numbers of soldiers who were +killed in particular battles may have been greatly exaggerated (in a +single battle in 260 B.C., for instance, the number who lost their lives +was put at 450,000, a quite impossible figure); but there must have been +armies of several thousand men, perhaps as many as 10,000. The +population had grown considerably by that time. + +The armies of the earlier period consisted mainly of the nobles in their +war chariots; each chariot surrounded by the retinue of the nobleman. +Now came large troops of commoners as infantry as well, drawn from the +peasant population. To these, cavalry were first added in the fifth +century B.C., by the northern state of Chao (in the present Shansi), +following the example of its Turkish and Mongol neighbours. The general +theory among ethnologists is that the horse was first harnessed to a +chariot, and that riding came much later; but it is my opinion that +riders were known earlier, but could not be efficiently employed in war +because the practice had not begun of fighting in disciplined troops of +horsemen, and the art had not been learnt of shooting accurately with +the bow from the back of a galloping horse, especially shooting to the +rear. In any case, its cavalry gave the feudal state of Chao a military +advantage for a short time. Soon the other northern states copied it one +after another--especially Ch'in, in north-west China. The introduction +of cavalry brought a change in clothing all over China, for the former +long skirt-like garb could not be worn on horseback. Trousers and the +riding-cap were introduced from the north. + +The new technique of war made it important for every state to possess as +many soldiers as possible, and where it could to reduce the enemy's +numbers. One result of this was that wars became much more sanguinary; +another was that men in other countries were induced to immigrate and +settle as peasants, so that the taxes they paid should provide the means +for further recruitment of soldiers. In the state of Ch'in, especially, +the practice soon started of using the whole of the peasantry +simultaneously as a rough soldiery. Hence that state was particularly +anxious to attract peasants in large numbers. + +2 _Economic changes_ + +In the course of the wars much land of former noblemen had become free. +Often the former serfs had then silently become landowners. Others had +started to cultivate empty land in the area inhabited by the indigenous +population and regarded this land, which they themselves had made +fertile, as their private family property. There was, in spite of the +growth of the population, still much cultivable land available. +Victorious feudal lords induced farmers to come to their territory and +to cultivate the wasteland. This is a period of great migrations, +internal and external. It seems that from this period on not only +merchants but also farmers began to migrate southward into the area of +the present provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi and as far as Tonking. + +As long as the idea that all land belonged to the great clans of the +Chou prevailed, sale of land was inconceivable; but when individual +family heads acquired land or cultivated new land, they regarded it as +their natural right to dispose of the land as they wished. From now on +until the end of the medieval period, the family head as representative +of the family could sell or buy land. However, the land belonged to the +family and not to him as a person. This development was favoured by the +spread of money. In time land in general became an asset with a market +value and could be bought and sold. + +Another important change can be seen from this time on. Under the feudal +system of the Chou strict primogeniture among the nobility existed: the +fief went to the oldest son by the main wife. The younger sons were +given independent pieces of land with its inhabitants as new, secondary +fiefs. With the increase in population there was no more such land that +could be set up as a new fief. From now on, primogeniture was retained +in the field of ritual and religion down to the present time: only the +oldest son of the main wife represents the family in the ancestor +worship ceremonies; only the oldest son of the emperor could become his +successor. But the landed property from now on was equally divided among +all sons. Occasionally the oldest son was given some extra land to +enable him to pay the expenses for the family ancestral worship. Mobile +property, on the other side, was not so strictly regulated and often the +oldest son was given preferential treatment in the inheritance. + +The technique of cultivation underwent some significant changes. The +animal-drawn plough seems to have been invented during this period, and +from now on, some metal agricultural implements like iron sickles and +iron plough-shares became more common. A fallow system was introduced so +that cultivation became more intensive. Manuring of fields was already +known in Shang time. It seems that the consumption of meat decreased +from this period on: less mutton and beef were eaten. Pig and dog +became the main sources of meat, and higher consumption of beans made +up for the loss of proteins. All this indicates a strong population +increase. We have no statistics for this period, but by 400 B.C. it is +conceivable that the population under the control of the various +individual states comprised something around twenty-five millions. The +eastern plains emerge more and more as centres of production. + +The increased use of metal and the invention of coins greatly stimulated +trade. Iron which now became quite common, was produced mainly in +Shansi, other metals in South China. But what were the traders to do +with their profits? Even later in China, and almost down to recent +times, it was never possible to hoard large quantities of money. +Normally the money was of copper, and a considerable capital in the form +of copper coin took up a good deal of room and was not easy to conceal. +If anyone had much money, everyone in his village knew it. No one dared +to hoard to any extent for fear of attracting bandits and creating +lasting insecurity. On the other hand the merchants wanted to attain the +standard of living which the nobles, the landowners, used to have. Thus +they began to invest their money in land. This was all the easier for +them since it often happened that one of the lesser nobles or a peasant +fell deeply into debt to a merchant and found himself compelled to give +up his land in payment of the debt. + +Soon the merchants took over another function. So long as there had been +many small feudal states, and the feudal lords had created lesser lords +with small fiefs, it had been a simple matter for the taxes to be +collected, in the form of grain, from the peasants through the agents of +the lesser lords. Now that there were only a few great states in +existence, the old system was no longer effectual. This gave the +merchants their opportunity. The rulers of the various states entrusted +the merchants with the collection of taxes, and this had great +advantages for the ruler: he could obtain part of the taxes at once, as +the merchant usually had grain in stock, or was himself a landowner and +could make advances at any time. Through having to pay the taxes to the +merchant, the village population became dependent on him. Thus the +merchants developed into the first administrative officials in the +provinces. + +In connection with the growth of business, the cities kept on growing. +It is estimated that at the beginning of the third century, the city of +Lin-chin, near the present Chi-nan in Shantung, had a population of +210,000 persons. Each of its walls had a length of 4,000 metres; thus, +it was even somewhat larger than the famous city of Loyang, capital of +China during the Later Han dynasty, in the second century A.D. Several +other cities of this period have been recently excavated and must have +had populations far above 10,000 persons. There were two types of +cities: the rectangular, planned city of the Chou conquerors, a seat of +administration; and the irregularly shaped city which grew out of a +market place and became only later an administrative centre. We do not +know much about the organization and administration of these cities, but +they seem to have had considerable independence because some of them +issued their own city coins. + +When these cities grew, the food produced in the neighbourhood of the +towns no longer sufficed for their inhabitants. This led to the building +of roads, which also facilitated the transport of supplies for great +armies. These roads mainly radiated from the centre of consumption into +the surrounding country, and they were less in use for communication +between one administrative centre and another. For long journeys the +rivers were of more importance, since transport by wagon was always +expensive owing to the shortage of draught animals. Thus we see in this +period the first important construction of canals and a development of +communications. With the canal construction was connected the +construction of irrigation and drainage systems, which further promoted +agricultural production. The cities were places in which often great +luxury developed; music, dance, and other refinements were cultivated; +but the cities also seem to have harboured considerable industries. +Expensive and technically superior silks were woven; painters decorated +the walls of temples and palaces; blacksmiths and bronze-smiths produced +beautiful vessels and implements. It seems certain that the art of +casting iron and the beginnings of the production of steel were already +known at this time. The life of the commoners in these cities was +regulated by laws; the first codes are mentioned in 536 B.C. By the end +of the fourth century B.C. a large body of criminal law existed, +supposedly collected by Li K'uei, which became the foundation of all +later Chinese law. It seems that in this period the states of China +moved quickly towards a money economy, and an observer to whom the later +Chinese history was not known could have predicted the eventual +development of a capitalistic society out of the apparent tendencies. + +So far nothing has been said in these chapters about China's foreign +policy. Since the central ruling house was completely powerless, and the +feudal lords were virtually independent rulers, little can be said, of +course, about any "Chinese" foreign policy. There is less than ever to +be said about it for this period of the "Contending States". Chinese +merchants penetrated southward, and soon settlers moved in increasing +numbers into the plains of the south-east. In the north, there were +continual struggles with Turkish and Mongol tribes, and about 300 B.C. +the name of the Hsiung-nu (who are often described as "The Huns of the +Far East") makes its first appearance. It is known that these northern +peoples had mastered the technique of horseback warfare and were far +ahead of the Chinese, although the Chinese imitated their methods. The +peasants of China, as they penetrated farther and farther north, had to +be protected by their rulers against the northern peoples, and since the +rulers needed their armed forces for their struggles within China, a +beginning was made with the building of frontier walls, to prevent +sudden raids of the northern peoples against the peasant settlements. +Thus came into existence the early forms of the "Great Wall of China". +This provided for the first time a visible frontier between Chinese and +non-Chinese. Along this frontier, just as by the walls of towns, great +markets were held at which Chinese peasants bartered their produce to +non-Chinese nomads. Both partners in this trade became accustomed to it +and drew very substantial profits from it. We even know the names of +several great horse-dealers who bought horses from the nomads and sold +them within China. + +3 _Cultural changes_ + +Together with the economic and social changes in this period, there came +cultural changes. New ideas sprang up in exuberance, as would seem +entirely natural, because in times of change and crisis men always come +forward to offer solutions for pressing problems. We shall refer here +only briefly to the principal philosophers of the period. + +Mencius (_c_. 372-289 B.C.) and Hsün Tz[)u] (_c_. 298-238 B.C.) were +both followers of Confucianism. Both belonged to the so-called +"scholars", and both lived in the present Shantung, that is to say, in +eastern China. Both elaborated the ideas of Confucius, but neither of +them achieved personal success. Mencius (Meng Tz[)u]) recognized that +the removal of the ruling house of the Chou no longer presented any +difficulty. The difficult question for him was when a change of ruler +would be justified. And how could it be ascertained whom Heaven had +destined as successor if the existing dynasty was brought down? Mencius +replied that the voice of the "people", that is to say of the upper +class and its following, would declare the right man, and that this man +would then be Heaven's nominee. This theory persisted throughout the +history of China. Hsün Tz[)u]'s chief importance lies in the fact that +he recognized that the "laws" of nature are unchanging but that man's +fate is determined not by nature alone but, in addition, by his own +activities. Man's nature is basically bad, but by working on himself +within the framework of society, he can change his nature and can +develop. Thus, Hsün Tz[)u]'s philosophy contains a dynamic element, fit +for a dynamic period of history. + +In the strongest contrast to these thinkers was the school of Mo Ti (at +some time between 479 and 381 B.C.). The Confucian school held fast to +the old feudal order of society, and was only ready to agree to a few +superficial changes. The school of Mo Ti proposed to alter the +fundamental principles of society. Family ethics must no longer be +retained; the principles of family love must be extended to the whole +upper class, which Mo Ti called the "people". One must love another +member of the upper class just as much as one's own father. Then the +friction between individuals and between states would cease. Instead of +families, large groups of people friendly to one another must be +created. Further one should live frugally and not expend endless money +on effete rites, as the Confucianists demanded. The expenditure on +weddings and funerals under the Confucianist ritual consumed so much +money that many families fell into debt and, if they were unable to pay +off the debt, sank from the upper into the lower class. In order to +maintain the upper class, therefore, there must be more frugality. Mo +Ti's teaching won great influence. He and his successors surrounded +themselves with a private army of supporters which was rigidly organized +and which could be brought into action at any time as its leader wished. +Thus the Mohists came forward everywhere with an approach entirely +different from that of the isolated Confucians. When the Mohists offered +their assistance to a ruler, they brought with them a group of technical +and military experts who had been trained on the same principles. In +consequence of its great influence this teaching was naturally hotly +opposed by the Confucianists. + +We see clearly in Mo Ti's and his followers' ideas the influence of the +changed times. His principle of "universal love" reflects the breakdown +of the clans and the general weakening of family bonds which had taken +place. His ideal of social organization resembles organizations of +merchants and craftsmen which we know only of later periods. His stress +upon frugality, too, reflects a line of thought which is typical of +businessmen. The rationality which can also be seen in his metaphysical +ideas and which has induced modern Chinese scholars to call him an early +materialist is fitting to an age in which a developing money economy and +expanding trade required a cool, logical approach to the affairs of this +world. + +A similar mentality can be seen in another school which appeared from +the fifth century B.C. on, the "dialecticians". Here are a number of +names to mention: the most important are Kung-sun Lung and Hui Tz[)u], +who are comparable with the ancient Greek dialecticians and Sophists. +They saw their main task in the development of logic. Since, as we have +mentioned, many "scholars" journeyed from one princely court to another, +and other people came forward, each recommending his own method to the +prince for the increase of his power, it was of great importance to be +able to talk convincingly, so as to defeat a rival in a duel of words on +logical grounds. + +Unquestionably, however, the most important school of this period was +that of the so-called Legalists, whose most famous representative was +Shang Yang (or Shang Tz[)u], died 338 B.C.). The supporters of this +school came principally from old princely families that had lost their +feudal possessions, and not from among the so-called scholars. They were +people belonging to the upper class who possessed political experience +and now offered their knowledge to other princes who still reigned. +These men had entirely given up the old conservative traditions of +Confucianism; they were the first to make their peace with the new +social order. They recognized that little or nothing remained of the old +upper class of feudal lords and their following. The last of the feudal +lords collected around the heads of the last remaining princely courts, +or lived quietly on the estates that still remained to them. Such a +class, with its moral and economic strength broken, could no longer +lead. The Legalists recognized, therefore, only the ruler and next to +him, as the really active and responsible man, the chancellor; under +these there were to be only the common people, consisting of the richer +and poorer peasants; the people's duty was to live and work for the +ruler, and to carry out without question whatever orders they received. +They were not to discuss or think, but to obey. The chancellor was to +draft laws which came automatically into operation. The ruler himself +was to have nothing to do with the government or with the application of +the laws. He was only a symbol, a representative of the equally inactive +Heaven. Clearly these theories were much the best suited to the +conditions of the break-up of feudalism about 300 B.C. Thus they were +first adopted by the state in which the old idea of the feudal state had +been least developed, the state of Ch'in, in which alien peoples were +most strongly represented. Shang Yang became the actual organizer of the +state of Ch'in. His ideas were further developed by Han Fei Tz[)u] (died +233 B.C.). The mentality which speaks out of his writings has closest +similarity to the famous Indian Arthashastra which originated slightly +earlier; both books exhibit a "Machiavellian" spirit. It must be +observed that these theories had little or nothing to do with the ideas +of the old cult of Heaven or with family allegiance; on the other hand, +the soldierly element, with the notion of obedience, was well suited to +the militarized peoples of the west. The population of Ch'in, organized +throughout on these principles, was then in a position to remove one +opponent after another. In the middle of the third century B.C. the +greater part of the China of that time was already in the hands of +Ch'in, and in 256 B.C. the last emperor of the Chou dynasty was +compelled, in his complete impotence, to abdicate in favour of the ruler +of Ch'in. + +Apart from these more or less political speculations, there came into +existence in this period, by no mere chance, a school of thought which +never succeeded in fully developing in China, concerned with natural +science and comparable with the Greek natural philosophy. We have +already several times pointed to parallels between Chinese and Indian +thoughts. Such similarities may be the result of mere coincidence. But +recent findings in Central Asia indicate that direct connections between +India, Persia, and China may have started at a time much earlier than we +had formerly thought. Sogdian merchants who later played a great role in +commercial contacts might have been active already from 350 or 400 B.C. +on and might have been the transmitters of new ideas. The most important +philosopher of this school was Tsou Yen (flourished between 320 and 295 +B.C.); he, as so many other Chinese philosophers of this time, was a +native of Shantung, and the ports of the Shantung coast may well have +been ports of entrance of new ideas from Western Asia as were the roads +through the Turkestan basin into Western China. Tsou Yen's basic ideas +had their root in earlier Chinese speculations: the doctrine that all +that exists is to be explained by the positive, creative, or the +negative, passive action (Yang and Yin) of the five elements, wood, +fire, earth, metal, and water (Wu hsing). But Tsou Yen also considered +the form of the world, and was the first to put forward the theory that +the world consists not of a single continent with China in the middle of +it, but of nine continents. The names of these continents sound like +Indian names, and his idea of a central world-mountain may well have +come from India. The "scholars" of his time were quite unable to +appreciate this beginning of science, which actually led to the +contention of this school, in the first century B.C., that the earth was +of spherical shape. Tsou Yen himself was ridiculed as a dreamer; but +very soon, when the idea of the reciprocal destruction of the elements +was applied, perhaps by Tsou Yen himself, to politics, namely when, in +connection with the astronomical calculations much cultivated by this +school and through the identification of dynasties with the five +elements, the attempt was made to explain and to calculate the duration +and the supersession of dynasties, strong pressure began to be brought +to bear against this school. For hundreds of years its books were +distributed and read only in secret, and many of its members were +executed as revolutionaries. Thus, this school, instead of becoming the +nucleus of a school of natural science, was driven underground. The +secret societies which started to arise clearly from the first century +B.C. on, but which may have been in existence earlier, adopted the +politico-scientific ideas of Tsou Yen's school. Such secret societies +have existed in China down to the present time. They all contained a +strong religious, but heterodox element which can often be traced back +to influences from a foreign religion. In times of peace they were +centres of a true, emotional religiosity. In times of stress, a +"messianic" element tended to become prominent: the world is bad and +degenerating; morality and a just social order have decayed, but the +coming of a savior is close; the saviour will bring a new, fair order +and destroy those who are wicked. Tsou Yen's philosophy seemed to allow +them to calculate when this new order would start; later secret +societies contained ideas from Iranian Mazdaism, Manichaeism and +Buddhism, mixed with traits from the popular religions and often couched +in terms taken from the Taoists. The members of such societies were, +typically, ordinary farmers who here found an emotional outlet for their +frustrations in daily life. In times of stress, members of the leading +_élite_ often but not always established contacts with these societies, +took over their leadership and led them to open rebellion. The fate of +Tsou Yen's school did not mean that the Chinese did not develop in the +field of sciences. At about Tsou Yen's lifetime, the first mathematical +handbook was written. From these books it is obvious that the interest +of the government in calculating the exact size of fields, the content +of measures for grain, and other fiscal problems stimulated work in this +field, just as astronomy developed from the interest of the government +in the fixation of the calendar. Science kept on developing in other +fields, too, but mainly as a hobby of scholars and in the shops of +craftsmen, if it did not have importance for the administration and +especially taxation and budget calculations. + + + +Chapter Five + + +THE CH'IN DYNASTY (256-207 B.C.) + +1 _Towards the unitary State_ + +In 256 B.C. the last ruler of the Chou dynasty abdicated in favour of +the feudal lord of the state of Ch'in. Some people place the beginning +of the Ch'in dynasty in that year, 256 B.C.; others prefer the date 221 +B.C., because it was only in that year that the remaining feudal states +came to their end and Ch'in really ruled all China. + +The territories of the state of Ch'in, the present Shensi and eastern +Kansu, were from a geographical point of view transit regions, closed +off in the north by steppes and deserts and in the south by almost +impassable mountains. Only between these barriers, along the rivers Wei +(in Shensi) and T'ao (in Kansu), is there a rich cultivable zone which +is also the only means of transit from east to west. All traffic from +and to Turkestan had to take this route. It is believed that strong +relations with eastern Turkestan began in this period, and the state of +Ch'in must have drawn big profits from its "foreign trade". The merchant +class quickly gained more and more importance. The population was +growing through immigration from the east which the government +encouraged. This growing population with its increasing means of +production, especially the great new irrigation systems, provided a +welcome field for trade which was also furthered by the roads, though +these were actually built for military purposes. + +The state of Ch'in had never been so closely associated with the feudal +communities of the rest of China as the other feudal states. A great +part of its population, including the ruling class, was not purely +Chinese but contained an admixture of Turks and Tibetans. The other +Chinese even called Ch'in a "barbarian state", and the foreign influence +was, indeed, unceasing. This was a favourable soil for the overcoming of +feudalism, and the process was furthered by the factors mentioned in the +preceding chapter, which were leading to a change in the social +structure of China. Especially the recruitment of the whole population, +including the peasantry, for war was entirely in the interest of the +influential nomad fighting peoples within the state. About 250 B.C., +Ch'in was not only one of the economically strongest among the feudal +states, but had already made an end of its own feudal system. + +Every feudal system harbours some seeds of a bureaucratic system of +administration: feudal lords have their personal servants who are not +recruited from the nobility, but who by their easy access to the lord +can easily gain importance. They may, for instance, be put in charge of +estates, workshops, and other properties of the lord and thus acquire +experience in administration and an efficiency which are obviously of +advantage to the lord. When Chinese lords of the preceding period, with +the help of their sub-lords of the nobility, made wars, they tended to +put the newly-conquered areas not into the hands of newly-enfeoffed +noblemen, but to keep them as their property and to put their +administration into the hands of efficient servants; these were the +first bureaucratic officials. Thus, in the course of the later Chou +period, a bureaucratic system of administration had begun to develop, +and terms like "district" or "prefecture" began to appear, indicating +that areas under a bureaucratic administration existed beside and inside +areas under feudal rule. This process had gone furthest in Ch'in and was +sponsored by the representatives of the Legalist School, which was best +adapted to the new economic and social situation. + +A son of one of the concubines of the penultimate feudal ruler of Ch'in +was living as a hostage in the neighbouring state of Chao, in what is +now northern Shansi. There he made the acquaintance of an unusual man, +the merchant Lü Pu-wei, a man of education and of great political +influence. Lü Pu-wei persuaded the feudal ruler of Ch'in to declare this +son his successor. He also sold a girl to the prince to be his wife, and +the son of this marriage was to be the famous and notorious Shih +Huang-ti. Lü Pu-wei came with his protege to Ch'in, where he became his +Prime Minister, and after the prince's death in 247 B.C. Lü Pu-wei +became the regent for his young son Shih Huang-ti (then called Cheng). +For the first time in Chinese history a merchant, a commoner, had +reached one of the highest positions in the state. It is not known what +sort of trade Lü Pu-wei had carried on, but probably he dealt in horses, +the principal export of the state of Chao. As horses were an absolute +necessity for the armies of that time, it is easy to imagine that a +horse-dealer might gain great political influence. + +Soon after Shih Huang-ti's accession Lü Pu-wei was dismissed, and a new +group of advisers, strong supporters of the Legalist school, came into +power. These new men began an active policy of conquest instead of the +peaceful course which Lü Pu-wei had pursued. One campaign followed +another in the years from 230 to 222, until all the feudal states had +been conquered, annexed, and brought under Shih Huang-ti's rule. + +2 _Centralization in every field_ + +The main task of the now gigantic realm was the organization of +administration. One of the first acts after the conquest of the other +feudal states was to deport all the ruling families and other important +nobles to the capital of Ch'in; they were thus deprived of the basis of +their power, and their land could be sold. These upper-class families +supplied to the capital a class of consumers of luxury goods which +attracted craftsmen and businessmen and changed the character of the +capital from that of a provincial town to a centre of arts and crafts. +It was decided to set up the uniform system of administration throughout +the realm, which had already been successfully introduced in Ch'in: the +realm was split up into provinces and the provinces into prefectures; +and an official was placed in charge of each province or prefecture. +Originally the prefectures in Ch'in had been placed directly under the +central administration, with an official, often a merchant, being +responsible for the collection of taxes; the provinces, on the other +hand, formed a sort of military command area, especially in the +newly-conquered frontier territories. With the growing militarization of +Ch'in, greater importance was assigned to the provinces, and the +prefectures were made subordinate to them. Thus the officials of the +provinces were originally army officers but now, in the reorganization +of the whole realm, the distinction between civil and military +administration was abolished. At the head of the province were a civil +and also a military governor, and both were supervised by a controller +directly responsible to the emperor. Since there was naturally a +continual struggle for power between these three officials, none of them +was supreme and none could develop into a sort of feudal lord. In this +system we can see the essence of the later Chinese administration. + +[Illustration: 3 Bronze plaque representing two horses fighting each +other. Ordos region, animal style. _From V. Griessmaier: Sammlung Baron +Eduard von der Heydt, Vienna_ 1936, _illustration No_. 6.] + +[Illustration: 4 Hunting scene: detail from the reliefs in the tombs at +Wu-liang-tz'u. _From a print in the author's possession_.] + +[Illustration: 5 Part of the 'Great Wall'. _Photo Eberhard_.] + +Owing to the centuries of division into independent feudal states, the +various parts of the country had developed differently. Each province +spoke a different dialect which also contained many words borrowed from +the language of the indigenous population; and as these earlier +populations sometimes belonged to different races with different +languages, in each state different words had found their way into the +Chinese dialects. This caused divergences not only in the spoken but in +the written language, and even in the characters in use for writing. +There exist to this day dictionaries in which the borrowed words of that +time are indicated, and keys to the various old forms of writing also +exist. Thus difficulties arose if, for instance, a man from the old +territory of Ch'in was to be transferred as an official to the east: he +could not properly understand the language and could not read the +borrowed words, if he could read at all! For a large number of the +officials of that time, especially the officers who became military +governors, were certainly unable to read. The government therefore +ordered that the language of the whole country should be unified, and +that a definite style of writing should be generally adopted. The words +to be used were set out in lists, so that the first lexicography came +into existence simply through the needs of practical administration, as +had happened much earlier in Babylon. Thus, the few recently found +manuscripts from pre-Ch'in times still contain a high percentage of +Chinese characters which we cannot read because they were local +characters; but all words in texts after the Ch'in time can be read +because they belong to the standardized script. We know now that all +classical texts of pre-Ch'in time as we have them today, have been +re-written in this standardized script in the second century B.C.: we do +not know which words they actually contained at the time when they were +composed, nor how these words were actually pronounced, a fact which +makes the reconstruction of Chinese language before Ch'in very +difficult. + +The next requirement for the carrying on of the administration was the +unification of weights and measures and, a surprising thing to us, of +the gauge of the tracks for wagons. In the various feudal states there +had been different weights and measures in use, and this had led to +great difficulties in the centralization of the collection of taxes. The +centre of administration, that is to say the new capital of Ch'in, had +grown through the transfer of nobles and through the enormous size of +the administrative staff into a thickly populated city with very large +requirements of food. The fields of the former state of Ch'in alone +could not feed the city; and the grain supplied in payment of taxation +had to be brought in from far around, partly by cart. The only roads +then existing consisted of deep cart-tracks. If the axles were not of +the same length for all carts, the roads were simply unusable for many +of them. Accordingly a fixed length was laid down for axles. The +advocates of all these reforms were also their beneficiaries, the +merchants. + +The first principle of the Legalist school, a principle which had been +applied in Ch'in and which was to be extended to the whole realm, was +that of the training of the population in discipline and obedience, so +that it should become a convenient tool in the hands of the officials. +This requirement was best met by a people composed as far as possible +only of industrious, uneducated, and tax-paying peasants. Scholars and +philosophers were not wanted, in so far as they were not directly +engaged in work commissioned by the state. The Confucianist writings +came under special attack because they kept alive the memory of the old +feudal conditions, preaching the ethic of the old feudal class which had +just been destroyed and must not be allowed to rise again if the state +was not to suffer fresh dissolution or if the central administration was +not to be weakened. In 213 B.C. there took place the great holocaust of +books which destroyed the Confucianist writings with the exception of +one copy of each work for the State Library. Books on practical subjects +were not affected. In the fighting at the end of the Ch'in dynasty the +State Library was burnt down, so that many of the old works have only +come down to us in an imperfect state and with doubtful accuracy. The +real loss arose, however, from the fact that the new generation was +little interested in the Confucianist literature, so that when, fifty +years later, the effort was made to restore some texts from the oral +tradition, there no longer existed any scholars who really knew them by +heart, as had been customary in the past. + +In 221 B.C. Shih Huang-ti had become emperor of all China. The judgments +passed on him vary greatly: the official Chinese historiography rejects +him entirely--naturally, for he tried to exterminate Confucianism, while +every later historian was himself a Confucian. Western scholars often +treat him as one of the greatest men in world history. Closer research +has shown that Shih Huang-ti was evidently an average man without any +great gifts, that he was superstitious, and shared the tendency of his +time to mystical and shamanistic notions. His own opinion was that he +was the first of a series of ten thousand emperors of his dynasty (Shih +Huang-ti means "First Emperor"), and this merely suggests megalomania. +The basic principles of his administration had been laid down long +before his time by the philosophers of the Legalist school, and were +given effect by his Chancellor Li Ss[)u]. Li Ss[)u] was the really great +personality of that period. The Legalists taught that the ruler must do +as little as possible himself. His Ministers were there to act for him. +He himself was to be regarded as a symbol of Heaven. In that capacity +Shih Huang-ti undertook periodical journeys into the various parts of +the empire, less for any practical purpose of inspection than for +purposes of public worship. They corresponded to the course of the sun, +and this indicates that Shih Huang-ti had adopted a notion derived from +the older northern culture of the nomad peoples. + +He planned the capital in an ambitious style but, although there was +real need for extension of the city, his plans can scarcely be regarded +as of great service. His enormous palace, and also his mausoleum which +was built for him before his death, were constructed in accordance with +astral notions. Within the palace the emperor continually changed his +residential quarters, probably not only from fear of assassination but +also for astral reasons. His mausoleum formed a hemispherical dome, and +all the stars of the sky were painted on its interior. + +3 _Frontier defence. Internal collapse_ + +When the empire had been unified by the destruction of the feudal +states, the central government became responsible for the protection of +the frontiers from attack from without. In the south there were only +peoples in a very low state of civilization, who could offer no serious +menace to the Chinese. The trading colonies that gradually extended to +Canton and still farther south served as Chinese administrative centres +for provinces and prefectures, with small but adequate armies of their +own, so that in case of need they could defend themselves. In the north +the position was much more difficult. In addition to their conquest +within China, the rulers of Ch'in had pushed their frontier far to the +north. The nomad tribes had been pressed back and deprived of their best +pasturage, namely the Ordos region. When the livelihood of nomad peoples +is affected, when they are threatened with starvation, their tribes +often collect round a tribal leader who promises new pasturage and +better conditions of life for all who take part in the common campaigns. +In this way the first great union of tribes in the north of China came +into existence in this period, forming the realm of the Hsiung-nu under +their first leader, T'ou-man. This first realm of the Hsiung-nu was not +yet extensive, but its ambitious and warlike attitude made it a danger +to Ch'in. It was therefore decided to maintain a large permanent army in +the north. In addition to this, the frontier walls already existing in +the mountains were rebuilt and made into a single great system. Thus +came into existence in 214 B.C., out of the blood and sweat of countless +pressed labourers, the famous Great Wall. + +On one of his periodical journeys the emperor fell ill and died. His +death was the signal for the rising of many rebellious elements. Nobles +rose in order to regain power and influence; generals rose because they +objected to the permanent pressure from the central administration and +their supervision by controllers; men of the people rose as popular +leaders because the people were more tormented than ever by forced +labour, generally at a distance from their homes. Within a few months +there were six different rebellions and six different "rulers". +Assassinations became the order of the day; the young heir to the throne +was removed in this way and replaced by another young prince. But as +early as 206 B.C. one of the rebels, Liu Chi (also called Liu Pang), +entered the capital and dethroned the nominal emperor. Liu Chi at first +had to retreat and was involved in hard fighting with a rival, but +gradually he succeeded in gaining the upper hand and defeated not only +his rival but also the other eighteen states that had been set up anew +in China in those years. + + + + + +THE MIDDLE AGES + + + +Chapter Six + + +THE HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) + +I _Development of the gentry-state_ + +In 206 B.C. Liu Chi assumed the title of Emperor and gave his dynasty +the name of the Han Dynasty. After his death he was given as emperor the +name of Kao Tsu.[4] The period of the Han dynasty may be described as +the beginning of the Chinese Middle Ages, while that of the Ch'in +dynasty represents the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages; for +under the Han dynasty we meet in China with a new form of state, the +"gentry state". The feudalism of ancient times has come definitely to +its end. + +[Footnote 4: From then on, every emperor was given after his death an +official name as emperor, under which he appears in the Chinese sources. +We have adopted the original or the official name according to which of +the two has come into the more general use in Western books.] + +Emperor Kao Tsu came from eastern China, and his family seems to have +been a peasant family; in any case it did not belong to the old +nobility. After his destruction of his strongest rival, the removal of +the kings who had made themselves independent in the last years of the +Ch'in dynasty was a relatively easy task for the new autocrat, although +these struggles occupied the greater part of his reign. A much more +difficult question, however, faced him: How was the empire to be +governed? Kao Tsu's old friends and fellow-countrymen, who had helped +him into power, had been rewarded by appointment as generals or high +officials. Gradually he got rid of those who had been his best comrades, +as so many upstart rulers have done before and after him in every +country in the world. An emperor does not like to be reminded of a very +humble past, and he is liable also to fear the rivalry of men who +formerly were his equals. It is evident that little attention was paid +to theories of administration; policy was determined mainly by practical +considerations. Kao Tsu allowed many laws and regulations to remain in +force, including the prohibition of Confucianist writings. On the other +hand, he reverted to the allocation of fiefs, though not to old noble +families but to his relatives and some of his closest adherents, +generally men of inferior social standing. Thus a mixed administration +came into being: part of the empire was governed by new feudal princes, +and another part split up into provinces and prefectures and placed +directly under the central power through its officials. + +But whence came the officials? Kao Tsu and his supporters, as farmers +from eastern China, looked down upon the trading population to which +farmers always regard themselves as superior. The merchants were ignored +as potential officials although they had often enough held official +appointments under the former dynasty. The second group from which +officials had been drawn under the Ch'in was that of the army officers, +but their military functions had now, of course, fallen to Kao Tsu's +soldiers. The emperor had little faith, however, in the loyalty of +officers, even of his own, and apart from that he would have had first +to create a new administrative organization for them. Accordingly he +turned to another class which had come into existence, the class later +called the _gentry_, which in practice had the power already in its +hands. + +The term "gentry" has no direct parallel in Chinese texts; the later +terms "shen-shih" and "chin-shen" do not quite cover this concept. The +basic unit of the gentry class are families, not individuals. Such +families often derive their origin from branches of the Chou nobility. +But other gentry families were of different and more recent origin in +respect to land ownership. Some late Chou and Ch'in officials of +non-noble origin had become wealthy and had acquired land; the same was +true for wealthy merchants and finally, some non-noble farmers who were +successful in one or another way, bought additional land reaching the +size of large holdings. All "gentry" families owned substantial estates +in the provinces which they leased to tenants on a kind of contract +basis. The tenants, therefore, cannot be called "serfs" although their +factual position often was not different from the position of serfs. The +rents of these tenants, usually about half the gross produce, are the +basis of the livelihood of the gentry. One part of a gentry family +normally lives in the country on a small home farm in order to be able +to collect the rents. If the family can acquire more land and if this +new land is too far away from the home farm to make collection of rents +easy, a new home farm is set up under the control of another branch of +the family. But the original home remains to be regarded as the real +family centre. + +In a typical gentry family, another branch of the family is in the +capital or in a provincial administrative centre in official positions. +These officials at the same time are the most highly educated members +of the family and are often called the "literati". There are also always +individual family members who are not interested in official careers or +who failed in their careers and live as free "literati" either in the +big cities or on the home farms. It seems, to judge from much later +sources, that the families assisted their most able members to enter the +official careers, while those individuals who were less able were used +in the administration of the farms. This system in combination with the +strong familism of the Chinese, gave a double security to the gentry +families. If difficulties arose in the estates either by attacks of +bandits or by war or other catastrophes, the family members in official +positions could use their influence and power to restore the property in +the provinces. If, on the other hand, the family members in official +positions lost their positions or even their lives by displeasing the +court, the home branch could always find ways to remain untouched and +could, in a generation or two, recruit new members and regain power and +influence in the government. Thus, as families, the gentry was secure, +although failures could occur to individuals. There are many gentry +families who remained in the ruling _élite_ for many centuries, some +over more than a thousand years, weathering all vicissitudes of life. +Some authors believe that Chinese leading families generally pass +through a three- or four-generation cycle: a family member by his +official position is able to acquire much land, and his family moves +upward. He is able to give the best education and other facilities to +his sons who lead a good life. But either these sons or the grandsons +are spoiled and lazy; they begin to lose their property and status. The +family moves downward, until in the fourth or fifth generation a new +rise begins. Actual study of families seems to indicate that this is not +true. The main branch of the family retains its position over centuries. +But some of the branch families, created often by the less able family +members, show a tendency towards downward social mobility. + +It is clear from the above that a gentry family should be interested in +having a fair number of children. The more sons they have, the more +positions of power the family can occupy and thus, the more secure it +will be; the more daughters they have, the more "political" marriages +they can conclude, i.e. marriages with sons of other gentry families in +positions of influence. Therefore, gentry families in China tend to be, +on the average, larger than ordinary families, while in our Western +countries the leading families usually were smaller than the lower class +families. This means that gentry families produced more children than +was necessary to replenish the available leading positions; thus, some +family members had to get into lower positions and had to lose status. +In view of this situation it was very difficult for lower class families +to achieve access into this gentry group. In European countries the +leading _élite_ did not quite replenish their ranks in the next +generation, so that there was always some chance for the lower classes +to move up into leading ranks. The gentry society was, therefore, a +comparably stable society with little upward social mobility but with +some downward mobility. As a whole and for reasons of gentry +self-interest, the gentry stood for stability and against change. + +The gentry members in the bureaucracy collaborated closely with one +another because they were tied together by bonds of blood or marriage. +It was easy for them to find good tutors for their children, because a +pupil owed a debt of gratitude to his teacher and a child from a gentry +family could later on nicely repay this debt; often, these teachers +themselves were members of other gentry families. It was easy for sons +of the gentry to get into official positions, because the people who had +to recommend them for office were often related to them or knew the +position of their family. In Han time, local officials had the duty to +recommend young able men; if these men turned out to be good, the +officials were rewarded, if not they were blamed or even punished. An +official took less of a chance, if he recommended a son of an +influential family, and he obliged such a candidate so that he could +later count on his help if he himself should come into difficulties. +When, towards the end of the second century B.C., a kind of examination +system was introduced, this attitude was not basically changed. + +The country branch of the family by the fact that it controlled large +tracts of land, supplied also the logical tax collectors: they had the +standing and power required for this job. Even if they were appointed in +areas other than their home country (a rule which later was usually +applied), they knew the gentry families of the other district or were +related to them and got their support by appointing their members as +their assistants. + +Gentry society continued from Kao Tsu's time to 1948, but it went +through a number of phases of development and changed considerably in +time. We will later outline some of the most important changes. In +general the number of politically leading gentry families was around one +hundred (texts often speak of "the hundred families" in this time) and +they were concentrated in the capital; the most important home seats of +these families in Han time were close to the capital and east of it or +in the plains of eastern China, at that time the main centre of grain +production. + +We regard roughly the first one thousand years of "Gentry Society" as +the period of the Chinese "Middle Ages", beginning with the Han dynasty; +the preceding time of the Ch'in was considered as a period of +transition, a time in which the feudal period of "Antiquity" came to a +formal end and a new organization of society began to become visible. +Even those authors who do not accept a sociological classification of +periods and many authors who use Marxist categories, believe that with +Ch'in and Han a new era in Chinese history began. + + + + +2 _Situation of the Hsiung-nu empire; its relation to the Han empire. +Incorporation of South China_ + + +In the time of the Ch'in dynasty there had already come into unpleasant +prominence north of the Chinese frontier the tribal union, then +relatively small, of the Hsiung-nu. Since then, the Hsiung-nu empire had +destroyed the federation of the Yüeh-chih tribes (some of which seem to +have been of Indo-European language stock) and incorporated their people +into their own federation; they had conquered also the less well +organized eastern pastoral tribes, the Tung-hu and thus had become a +formidable power. Everything goes to show that it had close relations +with the territories of northern China. Many Chinese seem to have +migrated to the Hsiung-nu empire, where they were welcome as artisans +and probably also as farmers; but above all they were needed for the +staffing of a new state administration. The scriveners in the newly +introduced state secretariat were Chinese and wrote Chinese, for at that +time the Hsiung-nu apparently had no written language. There were +Chinese serving as administrators and court officials, and even as +instructors in the army administration, teaching the art of warfare +against non-nomads. But what was the purpose of all this? Mao Tun, the +second ruler of the Hsiung-nu, and his first successors undoubtedly +intended ultimately to conquer China, exactly as many other northern +peoples after them planned to do, and a few of them did. The main +purpose of this was always to bring large numbers of peasants under the +rule of the nomad rulers and so to solve, once for all, the problem of +the provision of additional winter food. Everything that was needed, and +everything that seemed to be worth trying to get as they grew more +civilized, would thus be obtained better and more regularly than by +raids or by tedious commercial negotiations. But if China was to be +conquered and ruled there must exist a state organization of equal +authority to hers; the Hsiung-nu ruler must himself come forward as Son +of Heaven and develop a court ceremonial similar to that of a Chinese +emperor. Thus the basis of the organization of the Hsiung-nu state lay +in its rivalry with the neighbouring China; but the details naturally +corresponded to the special nature of the Hsiung-nu social system. The +young Hsiung-nu feudal state differed from the ancient Chinese feudal +state not only in depending on a nomad economy with only supplementary +agriculture, but also in possessing, in addition to a whole class of +nobility and another of commoners, a stratum of slavery to be analysed +further below. Similar to the Chou state, the Hsiung-nu state contained, +especially around the ruler, an element of court bureaucracy which, +however, never developed far enough to replace the basically feudal +character of administration. + +Thus Kao Tsu was faced in Mao Tun not with a mere nomad chieftain but +with the most dangerous of enemies, and Kao Tsu's policy had to be +directed to preventing any interference of the Hsiung-nu in North +Chinese affairs, and above all to preventing alliances between Hsiung-nu +and Chinese. Hsiung-nu alone, with their technique of horsemen's +warfare, would scarcely have been equal to the permanent conquest of the +fortified towns of the north and the Great Wall, although they +controlled a population which may have been in excess of 2,000,000 +people. But they might have succeeded with Chinese aid. Actually a +Chinese opponent of Kao Tsu had already come to terms with Mao Tun, and +in 200 B.C. Kao Tsu was very near suffering disaster in northern Shansi, +as a result of which China would have come under the rule of the +Hsiung-nu. But it did not come to that, and Mao Tun made no further +attempt, although the opportunity came several times. Apparently the +policy adopted by his court was not imperialistic but national, in the +uncorrupted sense of the word. It was realized that a country so thickly +populated as China could only be administered from a centre within +China. The Hsiung-nu would thus have had to abandon their home territory +and rule in China itself. That would have meant abandoning the flocks, +abandoning nomad life, and turning into Chinese. The main supporters of +the national policy, the first principle of which was loyalty to the old +ways of life, seem to have been the tribal chieftains. Mao Tun fell in +with their view, and the Hsiung-nu maintained their state as long as +they adhered to that principle--for some seven hundred years. Other +nomad peoples, Toba, Mongols, and Manchus, followed the opposite policy, +and before long they were caught in the mechanism of the much more +highly developed Chinese economy and culture, and each of them +disappeared from the political scene in the course of a century or so. + +The national line of policy of the Hsiung-nu did not at all mean an end +of hostilities and raids on Chinese territory, so that Kao Tsu declared +himself ready to give the Hsiung-nu the foodstuffs and clothing +materials they needed if they would make an end of their raids. A treaty +to this effect was concluded, and sealed by the marriage of a Chinese +princess with Mao Tun. This was the first international treaty in the +Far East between two independent powers mutually recognized as equals, +and the forms of international diplomacy developed in this time remained +the standard forms for the next thousand years. The agreement was +renewed at the accession of each new ruler, but was never adhered to +entirely by either side. The needs of the Hsiung-nu increased with the +expansion of their empire and the growing luxury of their court; the +Chinese, on the other hand, wanted to give as little as possible, and no +doubt they did all they could to cheat the Hsiung-nu. Thus, in spite of +the treaties the Hsiung-nu raids went on. With China's progressive +consolidation, the voluntary immigration of Chinese into the Hsiung-nu +empire came to an end, and the Hsiung-nu actually began to kidnap +Chinese subjects. These were the main features of the relations between +Chinese and Hsiung-nu almost until 100 B.C. + +In the extreme south, around the present-day Canton, another independent +empire had been formed in the years of transition, under the leadership +of a Chinese. The narrow basis of this realm was no doubt provided by +the trading colonies, but the indigenous population of Yüeh tribes was +insufficiently civilized for the building up of a state that could have +maintained itself against China. Kao Tsu sent a diplomatic mission to +the ruler of this state, and invited him to place himself under Chinese +suzerainty (196 B.C.). The ruler realized that he could offer no serious +resistance, while the existing circumstances guaranteed him virtual +independence and he yielded to Kao Tsu without a struggle. + +3 _Brief feudal reaction. Consolidation of the gentry_ + +Kao Tsu died in 195 B.C. From then to 179 the actual ruler was his +widow, the empress Lü, while children were officially styled emperors. +The empress tried to remove all the representatives of the emperor's +family and to replace them with members of her own family. To secure her +position she revived the feudal system, but she met with strong +resistance from the dynasty and its supporters who already belonged in +many cases to the new gentry, and who did not want to find their +position jeopardized by the creation of new feudal lords. + +On the death of the empress her opponents rose, under the leadership of +Kao Tsu's family. Every member of the empress's family was exterminated, +and a son of Kao Tsu, known later under the name of Wen Ti (Emperor +Wen), came to the throne. He reigned from 179 to 157 B.C. Under him +there were still many fiefs, but with the limitation which the emperor +Kao Tsu had laid down shortly before his death: only members of the +imperial family should receive fiefs, to which the title of King was +attached. Thus all the more important fiefs were in the hands of the +imperial family, though this did not mean that rivalries came to an end. + +On the whole Wen Ti's period of rule passed in comparative peace. For +the first time since the beginning of Chinese history, great areas of +continuous territory were under unified rule, without unending internal +warfare such as had existed under Shih Huang-ti and Kao Tsu. The +creation of so extensive a region of peace produced great economic +advance. The burdens that had lain on the peasant population were +reduced, especially since under Wen Ti the court was very frugal. The +population grew and cultivated fresh land, so that production increased +and with it the exchange of goods. The most outstanding sign of this was +the abandonment of restrictions on the minting of copper coin, in order +to prevent deflation through insufficiency of payment media. As a +consequence more taxes were brought in, partly in kind, partly in coin, +and this increased the power of the central government. The new gentry +streamed into the towns, their standard of living rose, and they made +themselves more and more into a class apart from the general population. +As people free from material cares, they were able to devote themselves +to scholarship. They went back to the old writings and studied them once +more. They even began to identify themselves with the nobles of feudal +times, to adopt the rules of good behaviour and the ceremonial described +in the Confucianist books, and very gradually, as time went on, to make +these their textbooks of good form. From this point the Confucianist +ideals first began to penetrate the official class recruited from the +gentry, and then the state organization itself. It was expected that an +official should be versed in Confucianism, and schools were set up for +Confucianist education. Around 100 B.C. this led to the introduction of +the examination system, which gradually became the one method of +selection of new officials. The system underwent many changes, but +remained in operation in principle until 1904. The object of the +examinations was not to test job efficiency but command of the ideals of +the gentry and knowledge of the literature inculcating them: this was +regarded as sufficient qualification for any position in the service of +the state. + +In theory this path to training of character and to admission to the +state service was open to every "respectable" citizen. Of the +traditional four "classes" of Chinese society, only the first two, +officials (_shih_) and farmers (_nung_) were always regarded as fully +"respectable" (_liang-min_). Members of the other two classes, artisans +(_kung_) and merchants (_shang_), were under numerous restrictions. +Below these were classes of "lowly people" (_ch'ien-min_) and below +these the slaves which were not part of society proper. The privileges +and obligations of these categories were soon legally fixed. In +practice, during the first thousand years of the existence of the +examination system no peasant had a chance to become an official by +means of the examinations. In the Han period the provincial officials +had to propose suitable young persons for examination, and so for +admission to the state service, as was already mentioned. In addition, +schools had been instituted for the sons of officials; it is interesting +to note that there were, again and again, complaints about the low level +of instruction in these schools. Nevertheless, through these schools all +sons of officials, whatever their capacity or lack of capacity, could +become officials in their turn. In spite of its weaknesses, the system +had its good side. It inoculated a class of people with ideals that were +unquestionably of high ethical value. The Confucian moral system gave a +Chinese official or any member of the gentry a spiritual attitude and an +outward bearing which in their best representatives has always commanded +respect, an integrity that has always preserved its possessors, and in +consequence Chinese society as a whole, from moral collapse, from +spiritual nihilism, and has thus contributed to the preservation of +Chinese cultural values in spite of all foreign conquerors. + +In the time of Wen Ti and especially of his successors, the revival at +court of the Confucianist ritual and of the earlier Heaven-worship +proceeded steadily. The sacrifices supposed to have been performed in +ancient times, the ritual supposed to have been prescribed for the +emperor in the past, all this was reintroduced. Obviously much of it was +spurious: much of the old texts had been lost, and when fragments were +found they were arbitrarily completed. Moreover, the old writing was +difficult to read and difficult to understand; thus various things were +read into the texts without justification. The new Confucians who came +forward as experts in the moral code were very different men from their +predecessors; above all, like all their contemporaries, they were +strongly influenced by the shamanistic magic that had developed in the +Ch'in period. + +Wen Ti's reign had brought economic advance and prosperity; +intellectually it had been a period of renaissance, but like every such +period it did not simply resuscitate what was old, but filled the +ancient moulds with an entirely new content. Socially the period had +witnessed the consolidation of the new upper class, the gentry, who +copied the mode of life of the old nobility. This is seen most clearly +in the field of law. In the time of the Legalists the first steps had +been taken in the codification of the criminal law. They clearly +intended these laws to serve equally for all classes of the people. The +Ch'in code which was supposedly Li K'uei's code, was used in the Han +period, and was extensively elaborated by Siao Ho (died 193 B.C.) and +others. This code consisted of two volumes of the chief laws for grave +cases, one of mixed laws for the less serious cases, and six volumes on +the imposition of penalties. In the Han period "decisions" were added, +so that about A.D. 200 the code had grown to 26,272 paragraphs with over +17,000,000 words. The collection then consisted of 960 volumes. This +colossal code has been continually revised, abbreviated, or expanded, +and under its last name of "Collected Statues of the Manchu Dynasty" it +retained its validity down to the present century. + +Alongside this collection there was another book that came to be +regarded and used as a book of precedences. The great Confucianist +philosopher Tung Chung-shu (179-104 B.C.), a firm supporter of the +ideology of the new gentry class, declared that the classic Confucianist +writings, and especially the book _Ch'un-ch'iu_, "Annals of Spring and +Autumn", attributed to Confucius himself, were essentially books of +legal decisions. They contained "cases" and Confucius's decisions of +them. Consequently any case at law that might arise could be decided by +analogy with the cases contained in "Annals of Spring and Autumn". Only +an educated person, of course, a member of the gentry, could claim that +his action should be judged by the decisions of Confucius and not by the +code compiled for the common people, for Confucius had expressly stated +that his rules were intended only for the upper class. Thus, right down +to modern times an educated person could be judged under regulations +different from those applicable to the common people, or if judged on +the basis of the laws, he had to expect a special treatment. The +principle of the "equality before the law" which the Legalists had +advocated and which fitted well into the absolutistic, totalitarian +system of the Ch'in, had been attacked by the feudal nobility at that +time and was attacked by the new gentry of the Han time. Legalist +thinking remained an important undercurrent for many centuries to come, +but application of the equalitarian principle was from now on never +seriously considered. + +Against the growing influence of the officials belonging to the gentry +there came a last reaction. It came as a reply to the attempt of a +representative of the gentry to deprive the feudal princes of the whole +of their power. In the time of Wen Ti's successor a number of feudal +kings formed an alliance against the emperor, and even invited the +Hsiung-nu to join them. The Hsiung-nu did not do so, because they saw +that the rising had no prospect of success, and it was quelled. After +that the feudal princes were steadily deprived of rights. They were +divided into two classes, and only privileged ones were permitted to +live in the capital, the others being required to remain in their +domains. At first, the area was controlled by a "minister" of the +prince, an official of the state; later the area remained under normal +administration and the feudal prince kept only an empty title; the tax +income of a certain number of families of an area was assigned to him +and transmitted to him by normal administrative channels. Often, the +number of assigned families was fictional in that the actual income was +from far fewer families. This system differs from the Near Eastern +system in which also no actual enforcement took place, but where +deserving men were granted the right to collect themselves the taxes of +a certain area with certain numbers of families. + +Soon after this the whole government was given the shape which it +continued to have until A.D. 220, and which formed the point of +departure for all later forms of government. At the head of the state +was the emperor, in theory the holder of absolute power in the state +restricted only by his responsibility towards "Heaven", i.e. he had to +follow and to enforce the basic rules of morality, otherwise "Heaven" +would withdraw its "mandate", the legitimation of the emperor's rule, +and would indicate this withdrawal by sending natural catastrophes. Time +and again we find emperors publicly accusing themselves for their faults +when such catastrophes occurred; and to draw the emperor's attention to +actual or made-up calamities or celestial irregularities was one way to +criticize an emperor and to force him to change his behaviour. There are +two other indications which show that Chinese emperors--excepting a few +individual cases--at least in the first ten centuries of gentry society +were not despots: it can be proved that in some fields the +responsibility for governmental action did not lie with the emperor but +with some of his ministers. Secondly, the emperor was bound by the law +code: he could not change it nor abolish it. We know of cases in which +the ruler disregarded the code, but then tried to "defend" his arbitrary +action. Each new dynasty developed a new law code, usually changing only +details of the punishment, not the basic regulations. Rulers could issue +additional "regulations", but these, too, had to be in the spirit of +the general code and the existing moral norms. This situation has some +similarity to the situation in Muslim countries. At the ruler's side +were three counsellors who had, however, no active functions. The real +conduct of policy lay in the hands of the "chancellor", or of one of the +"nine ministers". Unlike the practice with which we are familiar in the +West, the activities of the ministries (one of them being the court +secretariat) were concerned primarily with the imperial palace. As, +however, the court secretariat, one of the nine ministries, was at the +same time a sort of imperial statistical office, in which all economic, +financial, and military statistical material was assembled, decisions on +issues of critical importance for the whole country could and did come +from it. The court, through the Ministry of Supplies, operated mines and +workshops in the provinces and organized the labour service for public +constructions. The court also controlled centrally the conscription for +the general military service. Beside the ministries there was an +extensive administration of the capital with its military guards. The +various parts of the country, including the lands given as fiefs to +princes, had a local administration, entirely independent of the central +government and more or less elaborated according to their size. The +regional administration was loosely associated with the central +government through a sort of primitive ministry of the interior, and +similarly the Chinese representatives in the protectorates, that is to +say the foreign states which had submitted to Chinese protective +overlordship, were loosely united with a sort of foreign ministry in the +central government. When a rising or a local war broke out, that was the +affair of the officer of the region concerned. If the regional troops +were insufficient, those of the adjoining regions were drawn upon; if +even these were insufficient, a real "state of war" came into being; +that is to say, the emperor appointed eight generals-in-chief, mobilized +the imperial troops, and intervened. This imperial army then had +authority over the regional and feudal troops, the troops of the +protectorates, the guards of the capital, and those of the imperial +palace. At the end of the war the imperial army was demobilized and the +generals-in-chief were transferred to other posts. + +In all this there gradually developed a division into civil and military +administration. A number of regions would make up a province with a +military governor, who was in a sense the representative of the imperial +army, and who was supposed to come into activity only in the event of +war. + +This administration of the Han period lacked the tight organization that +would make precise functioning possible. On the other hand, an +extremely important institution had already come into existence in a +primitive form. As central statistical authority, the court secretariat +had a special position within the ministries and supervised the +administration of the other offices. Thus there existed alongside the +executive a means of independent supervision of it, and the resulting +rivalry enabled the emperor or the chancellor to detect and eliminate +irregularities. Later, in the system of the T'ang period (A.D. 618-906), +this institution developed into an independent censorship, and the +system was given a new form as a "State and Court Secretariat", in which +the whole executive was comprised and unified. Towards the end of the +T'ang period the permanent state of war necessitated the permanent +commissioning of the imperial generals-in-chief and of the military +governors, and as a result there came into existence a "Privy Council of +State", which gradually took over functions of the executive. The system +of administration in the Han and in the T'ang period is shown in the +following table: + + _Han epoch_ _T'ang epoch_ + + 1. Emperor 1. Emperor + + 2. Three counsellors to the emperor 2. Three counsellors and three + (with no active functions) assistants (with no active + functions) + + 3. Eight supreme generals (only 3. Generals and Governors-General + appointed in time of war) (only appointed in time of + war; but in practice + continuously in office) + + 4. --------------------------- 4. (a) State secretariat + (1) Central secretariat + (2) Secretariat of the Crown + (3) Secretariat of the Palace + and imperial historical + commission + (b) Emperor's Secretariat + (1) Private Archives + (2) Court Adjutants' Office + (3) Harem administration + + 5. Court administration 5. Court administration + (Ministries) (Ministries) + (1) Ministry for state (1) Ministry for state + sacrifices sacrifices + (2) Ministry for imperial (2) Ministry for imperial + coaches and horses coaches and horses + (3) Ministry for justice at (3) Ministry for justice at + court court + (4) Ministry for receptions (4) Ministry for receptions + (i.e. foreign affairs) + (5) Ministry for ancestors' (5) Ministry for ancestors' + temples temples + (6) Ministry for supplies to (6) Ministry for supplies to + the court the court + (7) Ministry for the harem (7) Economic and financial + Ministry + (8) Ministry for the palace (8) Ministry for the payment + guards of salaries + (9) Ministry for the court (9) Ministry for armament + (state secretariat) and magazines + + 6. Administration of the 6. Administration of the + capital: capital: + (1) Crown prince's palace (1) Crown prince's palace + (2) Security service for the (2) Palace guards and guards' + capital office + (3) Capital administration: (3) Arms production department + (a) Guards of the capital + (b) Guards of the city gates + (c) Building department + (4) Labour service department + (5) Building department + (6) Transport department + (7) Department for education + (of sons of officials!) + + 7. Ministry of the Interior 7. Ministry of the Interior + (Provincial administration) (Provincial administration) + + 8. Foreign Ministry 8. --------------------------- + + 9. Censorship (Audit council) + +There is no denying that according to our standard this whole system was +still elementary and "personal", that is to say, attached to the +emperor's person--though it should not be overlooked that we ourselves +are not yet far from a similar phase of development. To this day the +titles of not a few of the highest officers of state--the Lord Privy +Seal, for instance--recall that in the past their offices were conceived +as concerned purely with the personal service of the monarch. In one +point, however, the Han administrative set-up was quite modern: it +already had a clear separation between the emperor's private treasury +and the state treasury; laws determined which of the two received +certain taxes and which had to make certain payments. This separation, +which in Europe occurred not until the late Middle Ages, in China was +abolished at the end of the Han Dynasty. + +The picture changes considerably to the advantage of the Chinese as +soon as we consider the provincial administration. The governor of a +province, and each of his district officers or prefects, had a staff +often of more than a hundred officials. These officials were drawn from +the province or prefecture and from the personal friends of the +administrator, and they were appointed by the governor or the prefect. +The staff was made up of officials responsible for communications with +the central or provincial administration (private secretary, controller, +finance officer), and a group of officials who carried on the actual +local administration. There were departments for transport, finance, +education, justice, medicine (hygiene), economic and military affairs, +market control, and presents (which had to be made to the higher +officials at the New Year and on other occasions). In addition to these +offices, organized in a quite modern style, there was an office for +advising the governor and another for drafting official documents and +letters. + +The interesting feature of this system is that the provincial +administration was _de facto_ independent of the central administration, +and that the governor and even his prefects could rule like kings in +their regions, appointing and discharging as they chose. This was a +vestige of feudalism, but on the other hand it was a healthy check +against excessive centralization. It is thanks to this system that even +the collapse of the central power or the cutting off of a part of the +empire did not bring the collapse of the country. In a remote frontier +town like Tunhuang, on the border of Turkestan, the life of the local +Chinese went on undisturbed whether communication with the capital was +maintained or was broken through invasions by foreigners. The official +sent from the centre would be liable at any time to be transferred +elsewhere; and he had to depend on the practical knowledge of his +subordinates, the members of the local families of the gentry. These +officials had the local government in their hands, and carried on the +administration of places like Tunhuang through a thousand years and +more. The Hsin family, for instance, was living there in 50 B.C. and was +still there in A.D. 950; and so were the Yin, Ling-hu, Li, and K'ang +families. + +All the officials of the various offices or Ministries were appointed +under the state examination system, but they had no special professional +training; only for the more important subordinate posts were there +specialists, such as jurists, physicians, and so on. A change came +towards the end of the T'ang period, when a Department of Commerce and +Monopolies was set up; only specialists were appointed to it, and it was +placed directly under the emperor. Except for this, any official could +be transferred from any ministry to any other without regard to his +experience. + +4 _Turkestan policy. End of the Hsiung-nu empire_ + +In the two decades between 160 and 140 B.C. there had been further +trouble with the Hsiung-nu, though there was no large-scale fighting. +There was a fundamental change of policy under the next emperor, Wu (or +Wu Ti, 141-86 B.C.). The Chinese entered for the first time upon an +active policy against the Hsiung-nu. There seem to have been several +reasons for this policy, and several objectives. The raids of the +Hsiung-nu from the Ordos region and from northern Shansi had shown +themselves to be a direct menace to the capital and to its extremely +important hinterland. Northern Shansi is mountainous, with deep ravines. +A considerable army on horseback could penetrate some distance to the +south before attracting attention. Northern Shensi and the Ordos region +are steppe country, in which there were very few Chinese settlements and +through which an army of horsemen could advance very quickly. It was +therefore determined to push back the Hsiung-nu far enough to remove +this threat. It was also of importance to break the power of the +Hsiung-nu in the province of Kansu, and to separate them as far as +possible from the Tibetans living in that region, to prevent any union +between those two dangerous adversaries. A third point of importance was +the safeguarding of caravan routes. The state, and especially the +capital, had grown rich through Wen Ti's policy. Goods streamed into the +capital from all quarters. Commerce with central Asia had particularly +increased, bringing the products of the Middle East to China. The +caravan routes passed through western Shensi and Kansu to eastern +Turkestan, but at that time the Hsiung-nu dominated the approaches to +Turkestan and were in a position to divert the trade to themselves or +cut it off. The commerce brought profit not only to the caravan traders, +most of whom were probably foreigners, but to the officials in the +provinces and prefectures through which the routes passed. Thus the +officials in western China were interested in the trade routes being +brought under direct control, so that the caravans could arrive +regularly and be immune from robbery. Finally, the Chinese government +may well have regarded it as little to its honour to be still paying +dues to the Hsiung-nu and sending princesses to their rulers, now that +China was incomparably wealthier and stronger than at the time when that +policy of appeasement had begun. + +[Illustration: Map 3. China in the struggle with the Huns or Hsiung Nu +(_roughly 128-100 B.C._)] + +The first active step taken was to try, in 133 B.C., to capture the +head of the Hsiung-nu state, who was called a _shan-yü_ but the +_shan-yü_ saw through the plan and escaped. There followed a period of +continuous fighting until 119 B.C. The Chinese made countless attacks, +without lasting success. But the Hsiung-nu were weakened, one sign of +this being that there were dissensions after the death of the _shan-yü_ +Chün-ch'en, and in 127 B.C. his son went over to the Chinese. Finally +the Chinese altered their tactics, advancing in 119 B.C. with a strong +army of cavalry, which suffered enormous losses but inflicted serious +loss on the Hsiung-nu. After that the Hsiung-nu withdrew farther to the +north, and the Chinese settled peasants in the important region of +Kansu. + +Meanwhile, in 125 B.C., the famous Chang Ch'ien had returned. He had +been sent in 138 to conclude an alliance with the Yüeh-chih against the +Hsiung-nu. The Yüeh-chih had formerly been neighbours of the Hsiung-nu +as far as the Ala Shan region, but owing to defeat by the Hsiung-nu +their remnants had migrated to western Turkestan. Chang Ch'ien had +followed them. Politically he had no success, but he brought back +accurate information about the countries in the far west, concerning +which nothing had been known beyond the vague reports of merchants. Now +it was learnt whence the foreign goods came and whither the Chinese +goods went. Chang Ch'ien's reports (which are one of the principal +sources for the history of central Asia at that remote time) +strengthened the desire to enter into direct and assured commercial +relations with those distant countries. The government evidently thought +of getting this commerce into its own hands. The way to do this was to +impose "tribute" on the countries concerned. The idea was that the +missions bringing the annual "tribute" would be a sort of state +bartering commissions. The state laid under tribute must supply +specified goods at its own cost, and received in return Chinese produce, +the value of which was to be roughly equal to the "tribute". Thus Chang +Ch'ien's reports had the result that, after the first successes against +the Hsiung-nu, there was increased interest in a central Asian policy. +The greatest military success were the campaigns of General Li Kuang-li +to Ferghana in 104 and 102 B.C. The result of the campaigns was to bring +under tribute all the small states in the Tarim basin and some of the +states of western Turkestan. From now on not only foreign consumer goods +came freely into China, but with them a great number of other things, +notably plants such as grape, peach, pomegranate. + +In 108 B.C. the western part of Korea was also conquered. Korea was +already an important transit region for the trade with Japan. Thus this +trade also came under the direct influence of the Chinese government. +Although this conquest represented a peril to the eastern flank of the +Hsiung-nu, it did not by any means mean that they were conquered. The +Hsiung-nu while weakened evaded the Chinese pressure, but in 104 B.C. +and again in 91 they inflicted defeats on the Chinese. The Hsiung-nu +were indirectly threatened by Chinese foreign policy, for the Chinese +concluded an alliance with old enemies of the Hsiung-nu, the Wu-sun, in +the north of the Tarim basin. This made the Tarim basin secure for the +Chinese, and threatened the Hsiung-nu with a new danger in their rear. +Finally the Chinese did all they could through intrigue, espionage, and +sabotage to promote disunity and disorder within the Hsiung-nu, though +it cannot be seen from the Chinese accounts how far the Chinese were +responsible for the actual conflicts and the continual changes of +_shan-yü_. Hostilities against the Hsiung-nu continued incessantly, +after the death of Wu Ti, under his successor, so that the Hsiung-nu +were further weakened. In consequence of this it was possible to rouse +against them other tribes who until then had been dependent on them--the +Ting-ling in the north and the Wu-huan in the east. The internal +difficulties of the Hsiung-nu increased further. + +Wu Ti's active policy had not been directed only against the Hsiung-nu. +After heavy fighting he brought southern China, with the region round +Canton, and the south-eastern coast, firmly under Chinese dominion--in +this case again on account of trade interests. No doubt there were +already considerable colonies of foreign merchants in Canton and other +coastal towns, trading in Indian and Middle East goods. The traders seem +often to have been Sogdians. The southern wars gave Wu Ti the control of +the revenues from this commerce. He tried several times to advance +through Yünnan in order to secure a better land route to India, but +these attempts failed. Nevertheless, Chinese influence became stronger +in the south-west. + +In spite of his long rule, Wu Ti did not leave an adult heir, as the +crown prince was executed, with many other persons, shortly before Wu +Ti's death. The crown prince had been implicated in an alleged attempt +by a large group of people to remove the emperor by various sorts of +magic. It is difficult to determine today what lay behind this affair; +probably it was a struggle between two cliques of the gentry. Thus a +regency council had to be set up for the young heir to the throne; it +included a member of a Hsiung-nu tribe. The actual government was in the +hands of a general and his clique until the death of the heir to the +throne, and at the beginning of his successor's reign. + +At this time came the end of the Hsiung-nu empire--a foreign event of +the utmost importance. As a result of the continual disastrous wars +against the Chinese, in which not only many men but, especially, large +quantities of cattle fell into Chinese hands, the livelihood of the +Hsiung-nu was seriously threatened; their troubles were increased by +plagues and by unusually severe winters. To these troubles were added +political difficulties, including unsettled questions in regard to the +succession to the throne. The result of all this was that the Hsiung-nu +could no longer offer effective military resistance to the Chinese. +There were a number of _shan-yü_ ruling contemporaneously as rivals, and +one of them had to yield to the Chinese in 58 B.C.; in 51 he came as a +vassal to the Chinese court. The collapse of the Hsiung-nu empire was +complete. After 58 B.C. the Chinese were freed from all danger from that +quarter and were able, for a time, to impose their authority in Central +Asia. + +5 _Impoverishment. Cliques. End of the Dynasty_ + +In other respects the Chinese were not doing as well as might have been +assumed. The wars carried on by Wu Ti and his successors had been +ruinous. The maintenance of large armies of occupation in the new +regions, especially in Turkestan, also meant a permanent drain on the +national funds. There was a special need for horses, for the people of +the steppes could only be fought by means of cavalry. As the Hsiung-nu +were supplying no horses, and the campaigns were not producing horses +enough as booty, the peasants had to rear horses for the government. +Additional horses were bought at very high prices, and apart from this +the general financing of the wars necessitated increased taxation of the +peasants, a burden on agriculture no less serious than was the enrolment +of many peasants for military service. Finally, the new external trade +did not by any means bring the advantages that had been hoped for. The +tribute missions brought tribute but, to begin with, this meant an +obligation to give presents in return; moreover, these missions had to +be fed and housed in the capital, often for months, as the official +receptions took place only on New Year's Day. Their maintenance entailed +much expense, and meanwhile the members of the missions traded privately +with the inhabitants and the merchants of the capital, buying things +they needed and selling things they had brought in addition to the +tribute. The tribute itself consisted mainly of "precious articles", +which meant strange or rare things of no practical value. The emperor +made use of them as elements of personal luxury, or made presents of +some of them to deserving officials. The gifts offered by the Chinese in +return consisted mainly of silk. Silk was received by the government as +a part of the tax payments and formed an important element of the +revenue of the state. It now went abroad without bringing in any +corresponding return. The private trade carried on by the members of the +missions was equally unserviceable to the Chinese. It, too, took from +them goods of economic value, silk and gold, which went abroad in +exchange for luxury articles of little or no economic importance, such +as glass, precious stones, or stud horses, which in no way benefited the +general population. Thus in this last century B.C. China's economic +situation grew steadily and fairly rapidly worse. The peasants, more +heavily taxed than ever, were impoverished, and yet the exchequer became +not fuller but emptier, so that gold began even to be no longer +available for payments. Wu Ti was aware of the situation and called +different groups together to discuss the problems of economics. Under +the name "Discussions on Salt and Iron" the gist of these talks is +preserved and shows that one group under the leadership of Sang +Hung-yang (143-80 B.C.) was business-oriented and thinking in economic +terms, while their opponents, mainly Confucianists, regarded the +situation mainly as a moral crisis. Sang proposed an "equable +transportation" and a "standardization" system and favoured other state +monopolies and controls; these ideas were taken up later and continued +to be discussed, again and again. + +Already under Wu Ti there had been signs of a development which now +appeared constantly in Chinese history. Among the new gentry, families +entered into alliances with each other, sealed their mutual allegiance +by matrimonial unions, and so formed large cliques. Each clique made it +its concern to get the most important government positions into its +hands, so that it should itself control the government. Under Wu Ti, for +example, almost all the important generals had belonged to a certain +clique, which remained dominant under his two successors. Two of the +chief means of attaining power were for such a clique to give the +emperor a girl from its ranks as wife, and to see to it that all the +eunuchs around the emperor should be persons dependent on the clique. +Eunuchs came generally from the poorer classes; they were launched at +court by members of the great cliques, or quite openly presented to the +emperor. + +The chief influence of the cliques lay, however, in the selection of +officials. It is not surprising that the officials recommended only sons +of people in their own clique--their family or its closest associates. +On top of all this, the examiners were in most cases themselves members +of the same families to which the provincial officials belonged. Thus it +was made doubly certain that only those candidates who were to the +liking of the dominant group among the gentry should pass. + +Surrounded by these cliques, the emperors became in most cases powerless +figureheads. At times energetic rulers were able to play off various +cliques against each other, and so to acquire personal power; but the +weaker emperors found themselves entirely in the hands of cliques. Not a +few emperors in China were removed by cliques which they had attempted +to resist; and various dynasties were brought to their end by the +cliques; this was the fate of the Han dynasty. + +The beginning of its fall came with the activities of the widow of the +emperor Yüan Ti. She virtually ruled in the name of her +eighteen-year-old son, the emperor Ch'eng Ti (32-7 B.C.), and placed all +her brothers, and also her nephew, Wang Mang, in the principal +government posts. They succeeded at first in either removing the +strongest of the other cliques or bringing them into dependence. Within +the Wang family the nephew Wang Mang steadily advanced, securing direct +supporters even in some branches of the imperial family; these +personages declared their readiness to join him in removing the existing +line of the imperial house. When Ch'eng Ti died without issue, a young +nephew of his (Ai Ti, 6-1 B.C.) was placed on the throne by Wang Mang, +and during this period the power of the Wangs and their allies grew +further, until all their opponents had been removed and the influence of +the imperial family very greatly reduced. When Ai Ti died, Wang Mang +placed an eight-year-old boy on the throne, himself acting as regent; +four years later the boy fell ill and died, probably with Wang Mang's +aid. Wang Mang now chose a one-year-old baby, but soon after he felt +that the time had come for officially assuming the rulership. In A.D. 8 +he dethroned the baby, ostensibly at Heaven's command, and declared +himself emperor and first of the Hsin ("new") dynasty. All the members +of the old imperial family in the capital were removed from office and +degraded to commoners, with the exception of those who had already been +supporting Wang Mang. Only those members who held unimportant posts at a +distance remained untouched. + +Wang Mang's "usurpation" is unusual from two points of view. First, he +paid great attention to public opinion and induced large masses of the +population to write petitions to the court asking the Han ruler to +abdicate; he even fabricated "heavenly omina" in his own favour and +against the Han dynasty in order to get wide support even from +intellectuals. Secondly, he inaugurated a formal abdication ceremony, +culminating in the transfer of the imperial seal to himself. This +ceremony became standard for the next centuries. The seal was made of a +precious stone, once presented to the Ch'in dynasty ruler before he +ascended the throne. From now on, the possessor of this seal was the +legitimate ruler. + +6 _The pseudo-socialistic dictatorship. Revolt of the "Red Eyebrows"_ + +Wang Mang's dynasty lasted only from A.D. 9 to 23; but it was one of the +most stirring periods of Chinese history. It is difficult to evaluate +Wang Mang, because all we know about him stems from sources hostile +towards him. Yet we gain the impression that some of his innovations, +such as the legalization of enthronement through the transfer of the +seal; the changes in the administration of provinces and in the +bureaucratic set-up in the capital; and even some of his economic +measures were so highly regarded that they were retained or +reintroduced, although this happened in some instances centuries later +and without mentioning Wang Mang's name. But most of his policies and +actions were certainly neither accepted nor acceptable. He made use of +every conceivable resource in order to secure power to his clique. As +far as possible he avoided using open force, and resorted to a +high-level propaganda. Confucianism, the philosophic basis of the power +of the gentry, served him as a bait; he made use of the so-called "old +character school" for his purposes. When, after the holocaust of books, +it was desired to collect the ancient classics again, texts were found +under strange circumstances in the walls of Confucius's house; they were +written in an archaic script. The people who occupied themselves with +these books were called the old character school. The texts came under +suspicion; most scholars had little belief in their genuineness. Wang +Mang, however, and his creatures energetically supported the cult of +these ancient writings. The texts were edited and issued, and in the +process, as can now be seen, certain things were smuggled into them that +fitted in well with Wang Mang's intentions. He even had other texts +reissued with falsifications. He now represented himself in all his +actions as a man who did with the utmost precision the things which the +books reported of rulers or ministers of ancient times. As regent he had +declared that his model was the brother of the first emperor of the Chou +dynasty; as emperor he took for his exemplar one of the mythical +emperors of ancient China; of his new laws he claimed that they were +simply revivals of decrees of the golden age. In all this he appealed to +the authority of literature that had been tampered with to suit his +aims. Actually, such laws had never before been customary; either Wang +Mang completely misinterpreted passages in an ancient text to suit his +purpose, or he had dicta that suited him smuggled into the text. There +can be no question that Wang Mang and his accomplices began by +deliberately falsifying and deceiving. However, as time went on, he +probably began to believe in his own frauds. + +Wang Mang's great series of certain laws has brought him the name of +"the first Socialist on the throne of China". But closer consideration +reveals that these measures, ostensibly and especially aimed at the good +of the poor, were in reality devised simply in order to fill the +imperial exchequer and to consolidate the imperial power. When we read +of the turning over of great landed estates to the state, do we not +imagine that we are faced with a modern land reform? But this applied +only to the wealthiest of all the landowners, who were to be deprived in +this way of their power. The prohibition of private slave-owning had a +similar purpose, the state reserving to itself the right to keep slaves. +Moreover, landless peasants were to receive land to till, at the expense +of those who possessed too much. This admirable law, however, was not +intended seriously to be carried into effect. Instead, the setting up of +a system of state credits for peasants held out the promise, in spite of +rather reduced interest rates, of important revenue. The peasants had +never been in a position to pay back their private debts together with +the usurious interest, but there were at least opportunities of coming +to terms with a private usurer, whereas the state proved a merciless +creditor. It could dispossess the peasant, and either turn his property +into a state farm, convey it to another owner, or make the peasant a +state slave. Thus this measure worked against the interest of the +peasants, as did the state monopoly of the exploitation of mountains and +lakes. "Mountains and lakes" meant the uncultivated land around +settlements, the "village commons", where people collected firewood or +went fishing. They now had to pay money for fishing rights and for the +right to collect wood, money for the emperor's exchequer. The same +purpose lay behind the wine, salt, and iron tool monopolies. Enormous +revenues came to the state from the monopoly of minting coin, when old +metal coin of full value was called in and exchanged for debased coin. +Another modern-sounding institution, that of the "equalization offices", +was supposed to buy cheap goods in times of plenty in order to sell them +to the people in times of scarcity at similarly low prices, so +preventing want and also preventing excessive price fluctuations. In +actual fact these state offices formed a new source of profit, buying +cheaply and selling as dearly as possible. + +Thus the character of these laws was in no way socialistic; nor, +however, did they provide an El Dorado for the state finances, for Wang +Mang's officials turned all the laws to their private advantage. The +revenues rarely reached the capital; they vanished into the pockets of +subordinate officials. The result was a further serious lowering of the +level of existence of the peasant population, with no addition to the +financial resources of the state. Yet Wang Mang had great need of money, +because he attached importance to display and because he was planning a +new war. He aimed at the final destruction of the Hsiung-nu, so that +access to central Asia should no longer be precarious and it should thus +be possible to reduce the expense of the military administration of +Turkestan. The war would also distract popular attention from the +troubles at home. By way of preparation for war, Wang Mang sent a +mission to the Hsiung-nu with dishonouring proposals, including changes +in the name of the Hsiung-nu and in the title of the _shan-yü_. The name +Hsiung-nu was to be given the insulting change of Hsiang-nu, meaning +"subjugated slaves". The result was that risings of the Hsiung-nu took +place, whereupon Wang Mang commanded that the whole of their country +should be partitioned among fifteen _shan-yü_ and declared the country +to be a Chinese province. Since this declaration had no practical +result, it robbed Wang Mang of the increased prestige he had sought and +only further infuriated the Hsiung-nu. Wang Mang concentrated a vast +army on the frontier. Meanwhile he lost the whole of the possessions in +Turkestan. + +But before Wang Mang's campaign against the Hsiung-nu could begin, the +difficulties at home grew steadily worse. In A.D. 12 Wang Mang felt +obliged to abrogate all his reform legislation because it could not be +carried into effect; and the economic situation proved more lamentable +than ever. There were continual risings, which culminated in A.D. 18 in +a great popular insurrection, a genuine revolutionary rising of the +peasants, whose distress had grown beyond bearing through Wang Mang's +ill-judged measures. The rebels called themselves "Red Eyebrows"; they +had painted their eyebrows red by way of badge and in order to bind +their members indissolubly to their movement. The nucleus of this rising +was a secret society. Such secret societies, usually are harmless, but +may, in emergency situations, become an immensely effective instrument +in the hands of the rural population. The secret societies then organize +the peasants, in order to achieve a forcible settlement of the matter in +dispute. Occasionally, however, the movement grows far beyond its +leaders' original objective and becomes a popular revolutionary +movement, directed against the whole ruling class. That is what happened +on this occasion. Vast swarms of peasants marched to the capital, +killing all officials and people of position on their way. The troops +sent against them by Wang Mang either went over to the Red Eyebrows or +copied them, plundering wherever they could and killing officials. Owing +to the appalling mass murders and the fighting, the forces placed by +Wang Mang along the frontier against the Hsiung-nu received no +reinforcements and, instead of attacking the Hsiung-nu, themselves went +over to plundering, so that ultimately the army simply disintegrated. +Fortunately for China, the _shan-yü_ of the time did not take advantage +of his opportunity, perhaps because his position within the Hsiung-nu +empire was too insecure. + +Scarcely had the popular rising begun when descendants of the deposed +Han dynasty appeared and tried to secure the support of the upper class. +They came forward as fighters against the usurper Wang Mang and as +defenders of the old social order against the revolutionary masses. But +the armies which these Han princes were able to collect were no better +than those of the other sides. They, too, consisted of poor and hungry +peasants, whose aim was to get money or goods by robbery; they too, +plundered and murdered more than they fought. + +However, one prince by the name of Liu Hsiu gradually gained the upper +hand. The basis of his power was the district of Nanyang in Honan, one +of the wealthiest agricultural centres of China at that time and also +the centre of iron and steel production. The big landowners, the gentry +of Nanyang, joined him, and the prince's party conquered the capital. +Wang Mang, placing entire faith in his sanctity, did not flee; he sat in +his robes in the throne-room and recited the ancient writings, convinced +that he would overcome his adversaries by the power of his words. But a +soldier cut off his head (A.D. 22). The skull was kept for two hundred +years in the imperial treasury. The fighting, nevertheless, went on. +Various branches of the prince's party fought one another, and all of +them fought the Red Eyebrows. In those years millions of men came to +their end. Finally, in A.D. 24, Liu Hsiu prevailed, becoming the first +emperor of the second Han dynasty, also called the Later Han dynasty; +his name as emperor was Kuang-wu Ti (A.D. 25-57). + +7 _Reaction and Restoration: the Later Han dynasty_ + +Within the country the period that followed was one of reaction and +restoration. The massacres of the preceding years had so reduced the +population that there was land enough for the peasants who remained +alive. Moreover, their lords and the moneylenders of the towns were +generally no longer alive, so that many peasants had become free of +debt. The government was transferred from Sian to Loyang, in the present +province of Honan. This brought the capital nearer to the great +wheat-producing regions, so that the transport of grain and other taxes +in kind to the capital was cheapened. Soon this cleared foundation was +covered by a new stratum, a very sparse one, of great landowners who +were supporters and members of the new imperial house, largely +descendants of the landowners of the earlier Han period. At first they +were not much in evidence, but they gained power more and more rapidly. +In spite of this, the first half-century of the Later Han period was one +of good conditions on the land and economic recovery. + +8 _Hsiung-nu policy_ + +In foreign policy the first period of the Later Han dynasty was one of +extraordinary success, both in the extreme south and in the question of +the Hsiung-nu. During the period of Wang Mang's rule and the fighting +connected with it, there had been extensive migration to the south and +south-west. Considerable regions of Chinese settlement had come into +existence in Yünnan and even in Annam and Tongking, and a series of +campaigns under General Ma Yuan (14 B.C.-A.D. 49) now added these +regions to the territory of the empire. These wars were carried on with +relatively small forces, as previously in the Canton region, the natives +being unable to offer serious resistance owing to their inferiority in +equipment and civilization. The hot climate, however, to which the +Chinese soldiers were unused, was hard for them to endure. + +The Hsiung-nu, in spite of internal difficulties, had regained +considerable influence in Turkestan during the reign of Wang Mang. But +the king of the city state of Yarkand had increased his power by +shrewdly playing off Chinese and Hsiung-nu against each other, so that +before long he was able to attack the Hsiung-nu. The small states in +Turkestan, however, regarded the overlordship of the distant China as +preferable to that of Yarkand or the Hsiung-nu both of whom, being +nearer, were able to bring their power more effectively into play. +Accordingly many of the small states appealed for Chinese aid. Kuang-wu +Ti met this appeal with a blank refusal, implying that order had only +just been restored in China and that he now simply had not the resources +for a campaign in Turkestan. Thus, the king of Yarkand was able to +extend his power over the remainder of the small states of Turkestan, +since the Hsiung-nu had been obliged to withdraw. Kuang-wu Ti had +several frontier wars with the Hsiung-nu without any decisive result. +But in the years around A.D. 45 the Hsiung-nu had suffered several +severe droughts and also great plagues of locusts, so that they had lost +a large part of their cattle. They were no longer able to assert +themselves in Turkestan and at the same time to fight the Chinese in the +south and the Hsien-pi and the Wu-huan in the east. These two peoples, +apparently largely of Mongol origin, had been subject in the past to +Hsiung-nu overlordship. They had spread steadily in the territories +bordering Manchuria and Mongolia, beyond the eastern frontier of the +Hsiung-nu empire. Living there in relative peace and at the same time in +possession of very fertile pasturage, these two peoples had grown in +strength. And since the great political collapse of 58 B.C. the +Hsiung-nu had not only lost their best pasturage in the north of the +provinces of Shensi and Shansi, but had largely grown used to living in +co-operation with the Chinese. They had become much more accustomed to +trade with China, exchanging animals for textiles and grain, than to +warfare, so that in the end they were defeated by the Hsien-pi and +Wu-huan, who had held to the older form of purely warlike nomad life. +Weakened by famine and by the wars against Wu-huan and Hsien-pi, the +Hsiung-nu split into two, one section withdrawing to the north. + +The southern Hsiung-nu were compelled to submit to the Chinese in order +to gain security from their other enemies. Thus the Chinese were able to +gain a great success without moving a finger: the Hsiung-nu, who for +centuries had shown themselves again and again to be the most dangerous +enemies of China, were reduced to political insignificance. About a +hundred years earlier the Hsiung-nu empire had suffered defeat; now half +of what remained of it became part of the Chinese state. Its place was +taken by the Hsien-pi and Wu-huan, but at first they were of much less +importance. + +In spite of the partition, the northern Hsiung-nu attempted in the years +between A.D. 60 and 70 to regain a sphere of influence in Turkestan; +this seemed the easier for them since the king of Yarkand had been +captured and murdered, and Turkestan was more or less in a state of +confusion. The Chinese did their utmost to play off the northern against +the southern Hsiung-nu and to maintain a political balance of power in +the west and north. So long as there were a number of small states in +Turkestan, of which at least some were friendly to China, Chinese trade +caravans suffered relatively little disturbance on their journeys. +Independent states in Turkestan had proved more profitable for trade +than when a large army of occupation had to be maintained there. When, +however, there appeared to be the danger of a new union of the two +parts of the Hsiung-nu as a restoration of a large empire also +comprising all Turkestan, the Chinese trading monopoly was endangered. +Any great power would secure the best goods for itself, and there would +be no good business remaining for China. For these reasons a great +Chinese campaign was undertaken against Turkestan in A.D. 73 under Tou +Ku. Mainly owing to the ability of the Chinese deputy commander Pan +Ch'ao, the whole of Turkestan was quickly conquered. Meanwhile the +emperor Ming Ti (A.D. 58-75) had died, and under the new emperor Chang +Ti (76-88) the "isolationist" party gained the upper hand against the +clique of Tou Ku and Pan Ch'ao: the danger of the restoration of a +Hsiung-nu empire, the isolationists contended, no longer existed; +Turkestan should be left to itself; the small states would favour trade +with China of their own accord. Meanwhile, a considerable part of +Turkestan had fallen away from China, for Chang Ti sent neither money +nor troops to hold the conquered territories. Pan Ch'ao nevertheless +remained in Turkestan (at Kashgar and Khotan) where he held on amid +countless difficulties. Although he reported (A.D. 78) that the troops +could feed themselves in Turkestan and needed neither supplies nor money +from home, no reinforcements of any importance were sent; only a few +hundred or perhaps a thousand men, mostly released criminals, reached +him. Not until A.D. 89 did the Pan Ch'ao clique return to power when the +mother of the young emperor Ho Ti (89-105) took over the government +during his minority: she was a member of the family of Tou Ku. She was +interested in bringing to a successful conclusion the enterprise which +had been started by members of her family and its followers. In +addition, it can be shown that a number of other members of the "war +party" had direct interests in the west, mainly in form of landed +estates. Accordingly, a campaign was started in 89 under her brother +against the northern Hsiung-nu, and it decided the fate of Turkestan in +China's favour. Turkestan remained firmly in Chinese possession until +the death of Pan Ch'ao in 102. Shortly afterwards heavy fighting broke +out again: the Tanguts advanced from the south in an attempt to cut off +Chinese access to Turkestan. The Chinese drove back the Tanguts and +maintained their hold on Turkestan, though no longer absolutely. + +9 _Economic situation. Rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans". Collapse of +the Han dynasty_ + +The economic results of the Turkestan trade in this period were not so +unfavourable as in the earlier Han period. The army of occupation was +incomparably smaller, and under Pan Ch'ao's policy the soldiers were fed +and paid in Turkestan itself, so that the cost to China remained small. +Moreover, the drain on the national income was no longer serious +because, in the intervening period, regular Chinese settlements had been +planted in Turkestan including Chinese merchants, so that the trade no +longer remained entirely in the hands of foreigners. + +In spite of the economic consolidation at the beginning of the Later Han +dynasty, and in spite of the more balanced trade, the political +situation within China steadily worsened from A.D. 80 onwards. Although +the class of great landowners was small, a number of cliques formed +within it, and their mutual struggle for power soon went beyond the +limits of court intrigue. New actors now came upon the stage, namely the +eunuchs. With the economic improvement there had been a general increase +in the luxury at the court of the Han emperors, and the court steadily +increased in size. The many hundred wives and concubines in the palace +made necessary a great army of eunuchs. As they had the ear of the +emperor and so could influence him, the eunuchs formed an important +political factor. For a time the main struggle was between the group of +eunuchs and the group of scholars. The eunuchs served a particular +clique to which some of the emperor's wives belonged. The scholars, that +is to say the ministers, together with members of the ministries and the +administrative staff, served the interests of another clique. The +struggles grew more and more sanguinary in the middle of the second +century A.D. It soon proved that the group with the firmest hold in the +provinces had the advantage, because it was not easy to control the +provinces from a distance. The result was that, from about A.D. 150, +events at court steadily lost importance, the lead being taken by the +generals commanding the provincial troops. It would carry us too far to +give the details of all these struggles. The provincial generals were at +first Ts'ao Ts'ao, Lü Pu, Yüan Shao, and Sun Ts'ê; later came Liu Pei. +All were striving to gain control of the government, and all were +engaged in mutual hostilities from about 180 onwards. Each general was +also trying to get the emperor into his hands. Several times the last +emperor of the Later Han dynasty, Hsien Ti (190-220), was captured by +one or another of the generals. As the successful general was usually +unable to maintain his hold on the capital, he dragged the poor emperor +with him from place to place until he finally had to give him up to +another general. The point of this chase after the emperor was that +according to the idea introduced earlier by Wang Mang the first ruler of +a new dynasty had to receive the imperial seals from the last emperor +of the previous dynasty. The last emperor must abdicate in proper form. +Accordingly, each general had to get possession of the emperor to begin +with, in order at the proper time to take over the seals. + +By about A.D. 200 the new conditions had more or less crystallized. +There remained only three great parties. The most powerful was that of +Ts'ao Ts'ao, who controlled the north and was able to keep permanent +hold of the emperor. In the west, in the province of Szechwan, Liu Pei +had established himself, and in the south-east Sun Ts'ê's brother. + +But we must not limit our view to these generals' struggles. At this +time there were two other series of events of equal importance with +those. The incessant struggles of the cliques against each other +continued at the expense of the people, who had to fight them and pay +for them. Thus, after A.D. 150 the distress of the country population +grew beyond all limits. Conditions were as disastrous as in the time of +Wang Mang. And once more, as then, a popular movement broke out, that of +the so-called "Yellow Turbans". This was the first of the two important +events. This popular movement had a characteristic which from now on +became typical of all these risings of the people. The intellectual +leaders of the movement, Chang Ling and others, were members of a +particular religious sect. This sect was influenced by Iranian Mazdaism +on the one side and by certain ideas from Lao Tz[)u] on the other side; +and these influences were superimposed on popular rural as well as, +perhaps, local tribal religious beliefs and superstitions. The sect had +roots along the coastal settlements of Eastern China, where it seems to +have gained the support of the peasantry and their local priests. These +priests of the people were opposed to the representatives of the +official religion, that is to say the officials drawn from the gentry. +In small towns and villages the temples of the gods of the fruits of the +field, of the soil, and so on, were administered by authorized local +officials, and these officials also carried out the prescribed +sacrifices. The old temples of the people were either done away with (we +have many edicts of the Han period concerning the abolition of popular +forms of religious worship), or their worship was converted into an +official cult: the all-powerful gentry extended their domination over +religion as well as all else. But the peasants regarded their local +unauthorized priests as their natural leaders against the gentry and +against gentry forms of religion. One branch, probably the main branch +of this movement, developed a stronghold in Eastern Szechwan province, +where its members succeeded to create a state of their own which +retained its independence for a while. It is the only group which +developed real religious communities in which men and women +participated, extensive welfare schemes existed and class differences +were discouraged. It had a real church organization with dioceses, +communal friendship meals and a confession ritual; in short, real piety +developed as it could not develop in the official religions. After the +annihilation of this state, remnants of the organization can be traced +through several centuries, mainly in central and south China. It may +well be that the many "Taoistic" traits which can be found in the +religions of late and present-day Mongolian and Tibetan tribes, can be +derived from this movement of the Yellow Turbans. + +The rising of the Yellow Turbans began in 184; all parties, cliques and +generals alike, were equally afraid of the revolutionaries, since these +were a threat to the gentry as such, and so to all parties. Consequently +a combined army of considerable size was got together and sent against +the rebels. The Yellow Turbans were beaten. + +During these struggles it became evident that Ts'ao Ts'ao with his +troops had become the strongest of all the generals. His troops seem to +have consisted not of Chinese soldiers alone, but also of Hsiung-nu. It +is understandable that the annals say nothing about this, and it can +only be inferred from the facts. It appears that in order to reinforce +their armies the generals recruited not only Chinese but foreigners. The +generals operating in the region of the present-day Peking had soldiers +of the Wu-huan and Hsien-pi, and even of the Ting-ling; Liu Pei, in the +west, made use of Tanguts, and Ts'ao Ts'ao clearly went farthest of all +in this direction; he seems to have been responsible for settling +nineteen tribes of Hsiung-nu in the Chinese province of Shansi between +180 and 200, in return for their armed aid. In this way Ts'ao Ts'ao +gained permanent power in the empire by means of these troops, so that +immediately after his death his son Ts'ao P'ei, with the support of +powerful allied families, was able to force the emperor to abdicate and +to found a new dynasty, the Wei dynasty (A.D. 220). + +This meant, however, that a part of China which for several centuries +had been Chinese was given up to the Hsiung-nu. This was not, of course, +what Ts'ao Ts'ao had intended; he had given the Hsiung-nu some area of +pasturage in Shansi with the idea that they should be controlled and +administered by the officials of the surrounding district. His plan had +been similar to what the Chinese had often done with success: aliens +were admitted into the territory of the empire in a body, but then the +influence of the surrounding administrative centres was steadily +extended over them, until the immigrants completely lost their own +nationality and became Chinese. The nineteen tribes of Hsiung-nu, +however, were much too numerous, and after the prolonged struggles in +China the provincial administration proved much too weak to be able to +carry out the plan. Thus there came into existence here, within China, a +small Hsiung-nu realm ruled by several _shan-yü_. This was the second +major development, and it became of the utmost importance to the history +of the next four centuries. + +10 _Literature and Art_ + +With the development of the new class of the gentry in the Han period, +there was an increase in the number of those who were anxious to +participate in what had been in the past an exclusively aristocratic +possession--education. Thus it is by no mere chance that in this period +many encyclopaedias were compiled. Encyclopaedias convey knowledge in an +easily grasped and easily found form. The first compilation of this sort +dates from the third century B.C. It was the work of Lü Pu wei, the +merchant who was prime minister and regent during the minority of Shih +Huang-ti. It contains general information concerning ceremonies, +customs, historic events, and other things the knowledge of which was +part of a general education. Soon afterwards other encyclopaedias +appeared, of which the best known is the Book of the Mountains and Seas +(_Shan Hai Ching_). This book, arranged according to regions of the +world, contains everything known at the time about geography, natural +philosophy, and the animal and plant world, and also about popular +myths. This tendency to systemization is shown also in the historical +works. The famous _Shih Chi_, one of our main sources for Chinese +history, is the first historical work of the modern type, that is to +say, built up on a definite plan, and it was also the model for all +later official historiography. Its author, Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien (born 135 +B.C.), and his father, made use of the material in the state archives +and of private documents, old historical and philosophical books, +inscriptions, and the results of their own travels. The philosophical +and historical books of earlier times (with the exception of those of +the nature of chronicles) consisted merely of a few dicta or reports of +particular events, but the _Shih Chi_ is a compendium of a mass of +source-material. The documents were abbreviated, but the text of the +extracts was altered as little as possible, so that the general result +retains in a sense the value of an original source. In its arrangement +the _Shih Chi_ became a model for all later historians: the first part +is in the form of annals, and there follow tables concerning the +occupants of official posts and fiefs, and then biographies of various +important personalities, though the type of the comprehensive biography +did not appear till later. The _Shih Chi_ also, like later historical +works, contains many monographs dealing with particular fields of +knowledge, such as astronomy, the calendar, music, economics, official +dress at court, and much else. The whole type of construction differs +fundamentally from such works as those of Thucydides or Herodotus. The +Chinese historical works have the advantage that the section of annals +gives at once the events of a particular year, the monographs describe +the development of a particular field of knowledge, and the biographical +section offers information concerning particular personalities. The +mental attitude is that of the gentry: shortly after the time of +Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien an historical department was founded, in which members +of the gentry worked as historians upon the documents prepared by +representatives of the gentry in the various government offices. + +In addition to encyclopaedias and historical works, many books of +philosophy were written in the Han period, but most of them offer no +fundamentally new ideas. They were the product of the leisure of rich +members of the gentry, and only three of them are of importance. One is +the work of Tung Chung-shu, already mentioned. The second is a book by +Liu An called _Huai-nan Tz[)u]_. Prince Liu An occupied himself with +Taoism and allied problems, gathered around him scholars of different +schools, and carried on discussions with them. Many of his writings are +lost, but enough is extant to show that he was one of the earliest +Chinese alchemists. The question has not yet been settled, but it is +probable that alchemy first appeared in China, together with the cult of +the "art" of prolonging life, and was later carried to the West, where +it flourished among the Arabs and in medieval Europe. + +The third important book of the Han period was the _Lun Hêng_ (Critique +of Opinions) of Wang Ch'ung, which appeared in the first century of the +Christian era. Wang Ch'ung advocated rational thinking and tried to pave +the way for a free natural science, in continuation of the beginnings +which the natural philosophers of the later Chou period had made. The +book analyses reports in ancient literature and customs of daily life, +and shows how much they were influenced by superstition and by ignorance +of the facts of nature. From this attitude a modern science might have +developed, as in Europe towards the end of the Middle Ages; but the +gentry had every reason to play down this tendency which, with its +criticism of all that was traditional, might have proceeded to an attack +on the dominance of the gentry and their oppression especially of the +merchants and artisans. It is fascinating to observe how it was the +needs of the merchants and seafarers of Asia Minor and Greece that +provided the stimulus for the growth of the classic sciences, and how on +the contrary the growth of Chinese science was stifled because the +gentry were so strongly hostile to commerce and navigation, though both +had always existed. + +There were great literary innovations in the field of poetry. The +splendour and elegance at the new imperial court of the Han dynasty +attracted many poets who sang the praises of the emperor and his court +and were given official posts and dignities. These praises were in the +form of grandiloquent, overloaded poetry, full of strange similes and +allusions, but with little real feeling. In contrast, the many women +singers and dancers at the court, mostly slaves from southern China, +introduced at the court southern Chinese forms of song and poem, which +were soon adopted and elaborated by poets. Poems and dance songs were +composed which belonged to the finest that Chinese poetry can show--full +of natural feeling, simple in language, moving in content. + +Our knowledge of the arts is drawn from two sources--literature, and the +actual discoveries in the excavations. Thus we know that most of the +painting was done on silk, of which plenty came into the market through +the control of silk-producing southern China. Paper had meanwhile been +invented in the second century B.C., by perfecting the techniques of +making bark-cloth and felt. Unfortunately nothing remains of the actual +works that were the first examples of what the Chinese everywhere were +beginning to call "art". "People", that is to say the gentry, painted as +a social pastime, just as they assembled together for poetry, +discussion, or performances of song and dance; they painted as an +aesthetic pleasure and rarely as a means of earning. We find philosophic +ideas or greetings, emotions, and experiences represented by +paintings--paintings with fanciful or ideal landscapes; paintings +representing life and environment of the cultured class in idealized +form, never naturalistic either in fact or in intention. Until recently +it was an indispensable condition in the Chinese view that an artist +must be "cultured" and be a member of the gentry--distinguished, +unoccupied, wealthy. A man who was paid for his work, for instance for a +portrait for the ancestral cult, was until late time regarded as a +craftsman, not as an artist. Yet, these "craftsmen" have produced in Han +time and even earlier, many works which, in our view, undoubtedly belong +to the realm of art. In the tombs have been found reliefs whose +technique is generally intermediate between simple outline engraving and +intaglio. The lining-in is most frequently executed in scratched lines. +The representations, mostly in strips placed one above another, are of +lively historical scenes, scenes from the life of the dead, great ritual +ceremonies, or adventurous scenes from mythology. Bronze vessels have +representations in inlaid gold and silver, mostly of animals. The most +important documents of the painting of the Han period have also been +found in tombs. We see especially ladies and gentlemen of society, with +richly ornamented, elegant, expensive clothing that is very reminiscent +of the clothing customary to this day in Japan. There are also artistic +representations of human figures on lacquer caskets. While sculpture was +not strongly developed, the architecture of the Han must have been +magnificent and technically highly complex. Sculpture and temple +architecture received a great stimulus with the spread of Buddhism in +China. According to our present knowledge, Buddhism entered China from +the south coast and through Central Asia at latest in the first century +B.C.; it came with foreign merchants from India or Central Asia. +According to Indian customs, Brahmans, the Hindu caste providing all +Hindu priests, could not leave their homes. As merchants on their trips +which lasted often several years, did not want to go without religious +services, they turned to Buddhist priests as well as to priests of Near +Eastern religions. These priests were not prevented from travelling and +used this opportunity for missionary purposes. Thus, for a long time +after the first arrival of Buddhists, the Buddhist priests in China were +foreigners who served foreign merchant colonies. The depressed +conditions of the people in the second century A.D. drove members of the +lower classes into their arms, while the parts of Indian science which +these priests brought with them from India aroused some interest in +certain educated circles. Buddhism, therefore, undeniably exercised an +influence at the end of the Han dynasty, although no Chinese were +priests and few, if any, gentry members were adherents of the religious +teachings. + +With the end of the Han period a further epoch of Chinese history comes +to its close. The Han period was that of the final completion and +consolidation of the social order of the gentry. The period that +followed was that of the conflicts of the Chinese with the populations +on their northern borders. + + + +Chapter Seven + + +THE EPOCH OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF CHINA (A.D. 220-580) + + +(A) The three kingdoms (220-265) + +1 _Social, intellectual, and economic problems during the first +division_ + +The end of the Han period was followed by the three and a half centuries +of the first division of China into several kingdoms, each with its own +dynasty. In fact, once before during the period of the Contending +States, China had been divided into a number of states, but at least in +theory they had been subject to the Chou dynasty, and none of the +contending states had made the claim to be the legitimate ruler of all +China. In this period of the "first division" several states claimed to +be legitimate rulers, and later Chinese historians tried to decide which +of these had "more right" to this claim. At the outset (220-280) there +were three kingdoms (Wei, Wu, Shu Han); then came an unstable reunion +during twenty-seven years (280-307) under the rule of the Western Chin. +This was followed by a still sharper division between north and south: +while a wave of non-Chinese nomad dynasties poured over the north, in +the south one Chinese clique after another seized power, so that dynasty +followed dynasty until finally, in 580, a united China came again into +existence, adopting the culture of the north and the traditions of the +gentry. + +In some ways, the period from 220 to 580 can be compared with the period +of the coincidentally synchronous breakdown of the Roman Empire: in both +cases there was no great increase in population, although in China +perhaps no over-all decrease in population as in the Roman Empire; +decrease occurred, however, in the population of the great Chinese +cities, especially of the capital; furthermore we witness, in both +empires, a disorganization of the monetary system, i.e. in China the +reversal to a predominance of natural economy after some 400 years of +money economy. Yet, this period cannot be simply dismissed as a +transition period, as was usually done by the older European works on +China. The social order of the gentry, whose birth and development +inside China we followed, had for the first time to defend itself +against views and systems entirely opposed to it; for the Turkish and +Mongol peoples who ruled northern China brought with them their +traditions of a feudal nobility with privileges of birth and all that +they implied. Thus this period, socially regarded, is especially that of +the struggle between the Chinese gentry and the northern nobility, the +gentry being excluded at first as a direct political factor in the +northern and more important part of China. In the south the gentry +continued in the old style with a constant struggle between cliques, the +only difference being that the class assumed a sort of "colonial" +character through the formation of gigantic estates and through +association with the merchant class. + +To throw light on the scale of events, we need to have figures of +population. There are no figures for the years around A.D. 220, and we +must make do with those of 140; but in order to show the relative +strength of the three states it is the ratio between the figures that +matters. In 140 the regions which later belonged to Wei had roughly +29,000,000 inhabitants; those later belonging to Wu had 11,700,000; +those which belonged later to Shu Han had a bare 7,500,000. (The figures +take no account of the primitive native population, which was not yet +included in the taxation lists.) The Hsiung-nu formed only a small part +of the population, as there were only the nineteen tribes which had +abandoned one of the parts, already reduced, of the Hsiung-nu empire. +The whole Hsiung-nu empire may never have counted more than some +3,000,000. At the time when the population of what became the Wei +territory totalled 29,000,000 the capital with its immediate environment +had over a million inhabitants. The figure is exclusive of most of the +officials and soldiers, as these were taxable in their homes and so were +counted there. It is clear that this was a disproportionate +concentration round the capital. + +It was at this time that both South and North China felt the influence +of Buddhism, which until A.D. 220 had no more real effect on China than +had, for instance, the penetration of European civilization between 1580 +and 1842. Buddhism offered new notions, new ideals, foreign science, and +many other elements of culture, with which the old Chinese philosophy +and science had to contend. At the same time there came with Buddhism +the first direct knowledge of the great civilized countries west of +China. Until then China had regarded herself as the only existing +civilized country, and all other countries had been regarded as +barbaric, for a civilized country was then taken to mean a country with +urban industrial crafts and agriculture. In our present period, however, +China's relations with the Middle East and with southern Asia were so +close that the existence of civilized countries outside China had to be +admitted. Consequently, when alien dynasties ruled in northern China and +a new high civilization came into existence there, it was impossible to +speak of its rulers as barbarians any longer. Even the theory that the +Chinese emperor was the Son of Heaven and enthroned at the centre of the +world was no longer tenable. Thus a vast widening of China's +intellectual horizon took place. + +Economically, our present period witnessed an adjustment in South China +between the Chinese way of life, which had penetrated from the north, +and that of the natives of the south. Large groups of Chinese had to +turn over from wheat culture in dry fields to rice culture in wet +fields, and from field culture to market gardening. In North China the +conflict went on between Chinese agriculture and the cattle breeding of +Central Asia. Was the will of the ruler to prevail and North China to +become a country of pasturage, or was the country to keep to the +agrarian tradition of the people under this rule? The Turkish and Mongol +conquerors had recently given up their old supplementary agriculture and +had turned into pure nomads, obtaining the agricultural produce they +needed by raiding or trade. The conquerors of North China were now faced +with a different question: if they were to remain nomads, they must +either drive the peasants into the south, or make them into slave +herdsmen, or exterminate them. There was one more possibility: they +might install themselves as a ruling upper class, as nobles over the +subjugated native peasants. The same question was faced much later by +the Mongols, and at first they answered it differently from the peoples +of our present period. Only by attention to this problem shall we be in +a position to explain why the rule of the Turkish peoples did not last, +why these peoples were gradually absorbed and disappeared. + +2 _Status of the two southern Kingdoms_ + +When the last emperor of the Han period had to abdicate in favour of +Ts'ao P'ei and the Wei dynasty began, China was in no way a unified +realm. Almost immediately, in 221, two other army commanders, who had +long been independent, declared themselves emperors. In the south-west +of China, in the present province of Szechwan, the Shu Han dynasty was +founded in this way, and in the south-east, in the region of the present +Nanking, the Wu dynasty. + +The situation of the southern kingdom of Shu Han (221-263) corresponded +more or less to that of the Chungking regime in the Second World War. +West of it the high Tibetan mountains towered up; there was very little +reason to fear any major attack from that direction. In the north and +east the realm was also protected by difficult mountain country. The +south lay relatively open, but at that time there were few Chinese +living there, but only natives with a relatively low civilization. The +kingdom could only be seriously attacked from two corners--through the +north-west, where there was a negotiable plateau, between the Ch'in-ling +mountains in the north and the Tibetan mountains in the west, a plateau +inhabited by fairly highly developed Tibetan tribes; and secondly +through the south-east corner, where it would be possible to penetrate +up the Yangtze. There was in fact incessant fighting at both these +dangerous corners. + +Economically, Shu Han was not in a bad position. The country had long +been part of the Chinese wheat lands, and had a fairly large Chinese +peasant population in the well irrigated plain of Ch'engtu. There was +also a wealthy merchant class, supplying grain to the surrounding +mountain peoples and buying medicaments and other profitable Tibetan +products. And there were trade routes from here through the present +province of Yünnan to India. + +Shu Han's difficulty was that its population was not large enough to be +able to stand against the northern State of Wei; moreover, it was +difficult to carry out an offensive from Shu Han, though the country +could defend itself well. The first attempt to find a remedy was a +campaign against the native tribes of the present Yünnan. The purpose of +this was to secure manpower for the army and also slaves for sale; for +the south-west had for centuries been a main source for traffic in +slaves. Finally it was hoped to gain control over the trade to India. +All these things were intended to strengthen Shu Han internally, but in +spite of certain military successes they produced no practical result, +as the Chinese were unable in the long run to endure the climate or to +hold out against the guerrilla tactics of the natives. Shu Han tried to +buy the assistance of the Tibetans and with their aid to carry out a +decisive attack on Wei, whose dynastic legitimacy was not recognized by +Shu Han. The ruler of Shu Han claimed to be a member of the imperial +family of the deposed Han dynasty, and therefore to be the rightful, +legitimate ruler over China. His descent, however, was a little +doubtful, and in any case it depended on a link far back in the past. +Against this the Wei of the north declared that the last ruler of the +Han dynasty had handed over to them with all due form the seals of the +state and therewith the imperial prerogative. The controversy was of no +great practical importance, but it played a big part in the Chinese +Confucianist school until the twelfth century, and contributed largely +to a revision of the old conceptions of legitimacy. + +The political plans of Shu Han were well considered and far-seeing. They +were evolved by the premier, a man from Shantung named Chu-ko Liang; for +the ruler died in 226 and his successor was still a child. But Chu-ko +Liang lived only for a further eight years, and after his death in 234 +the decline of Shu Han began. Its political leaders no longer had a +sense of what was possible. Thus Wei inflicted several defeats on Shu +Han, and finally subjugated it in 263. + +The situation of the state of Wu was much less favourable than that of +Shu Han, though this second southern kingdom lasted from 221 to 280. Its +country consisted of marshy, water-logged plains, or mountains with +narrow valleys. Here Tai peoples had long cultivated their rice, while +in the mountains Yao tribes lived by hunting and by simple agriculture. +Peasants immigrating from the north found that their wheat and pulse did +not thrive here, and slowly they had to gain familiarity with rice +cultivation. They were also compelled to give up their sheep and cattle +and in their place to breed pigs and water buffaloes, as was done by the +former inhabitants of the country. The lower class of the population was +mainly non-Chinese; above it was an upper class of Chinese, at first +relatively small, consisting of officials, soldiers, and merchants in a +few towns and administrative centres. The country was poor, and its only +important economic asset was the trade in metals, timber, and other +southern products; soon there came also a growing overseas trade with +India and the Middle East, bringing revenues to the state in so far as +the goods were re-exported from Wu to the north. + +Wu never attempted to conquer the whole of China, but endeavoured to +consolidate its own difficult territory with a view to building up a +state on a firm foundation. In general, Wu played mainly a passive part +in the incessant struggles between the three kingdoms, though it was +active in diplomacy. The Wu kingdom entered into relations with a man +who in 232 had gained control of the present South Manchuria and shortly +afterwards assumed the title of king. This new ruler of "Yen", as he +called his kingdom, had determined to attack the Wei dynasty, and hoped, +by putting pressure on it in association with Wu, to overrun Wei from +north and south. Wei answered this plan very effectively by recourse to +diplomacy and it began by making Wu believe that Wu had reason to fear +an attack from its western neighbour Shu Han. A mission was also +dispatched from Wei to negotiate with Japan. Japan was then emerging +from its stone age and introducing metals; there were countless small +principalities and states, of which the state of Yamato, then ruled by a +queen, was the most powerful. Yamato had certain interests in Korea, +where it already ruled a small coastal strip in the east. Wei offered +Yamato the prospect of gaining the whole of Korea if it would turn +against the state of Yen in South Manchuria. Wu, too, had turned to +Japan, but the negotiations came to nothing, since Wu, as an ally of +Yen, had nothing to offer. The queen of Yamato accordingly sent a +mission to Wei; she had already decided in favour of that state. Thus +Wei was able to embark on war against Yen, which it annihilated in 237. +This wrecked Wu's diplomatic projects, and no more was heard of any +ambitious plans of the kingdom of Wu. + +The two southern states had a common characteristic: both were +condottiere states, not built up from their own population but conquered +by generals from the north and ruled for a time by those generals and +their northern troops. Natives gradually entered these northern armies +and reduced their percentage of northerners, but a gulf remained between +the native population, including its gentry, and the alien military +rulers. This reduced the striking power of the southern states. + +On the other hand, this period had its positive element. For the first +time there was an emperor in south China, with all the organization that +implied. A capital full of officials, eunuchs, and all the satellites of +an imperial court provided incentives to economic advance, because it +represented a huge market. The peasants around it were able to increase +their sales and grew prosperous. The increased demand resulted in an +increase of tillage and a thriving trade. Soon the transport problem had +to be faced, as had happened long ago in the north, and new means of +transport, especially ships, were provided, and new trade routes opened +which were to last far longer than the three kingdoms; on the other +hand, the costs of transport involved fresh taxation burdens for the +population. The skilled staff needed for the business of administration +came into the new capital from the surrounding districts, for the +conquerors and new rulers of the territory of the two southern dynasties +had brought with them from the north only uneducated soldiers and +almost equally uneducated officers. The influx of scholars and +administrators into the chief cities produced cultural and economic +centres in the south, a circumstance of great importance to China's +later development. + +3 _The northern State of Wei_ + +The situation in the north, in the state of Wei (220-265) was anything +but rosy. Wei ruled what at that time were the most important and +richest regions of China, the plain of Shensi in the west and the great +plain east of Loyang, the two most thickly populated areas of China. But +the events at the end of the Han period had inflicted great economic +injury on the country. The southern and south-western parts of the Han +empire had been lost, and though parts of Central Asia still gave +allegiance to Wei, these, as in the past, were economically more of a +burden than an asset, because they called for incessant expenditure. At +least the trade caravans were able to travel undisturbed from and to +China through Turkestan. Moreover, the Wei kingdom, although much +smaller than the empire of the Han, maintained a completely staffed +court at great expense, because the rulers, claiming to rule the whole +of China, felt bound to display more magnificence than the rulers of the +southern dynasties. They had also to reward the nineteen tribes of the +Hsiung-nu in the north for their military aid, not only with cessions of +land but with payments of money. Finally, they would not disarm but +maintained great armies for the continual fighting against the southern +states. The Wei dynasty did not succeed, however, in closely +subordinating the various army commanders to the central government. +Thus the commanders, in collusion with groups of the gentry, were able +to enrich themselves and to secure regional power. The inadequate +strength of the central government of Wei was further undermined by the +rivalries among the dominant gentry. The imperial family (Ts'ao Pei, who +reigned from 220 to 226, had taken as emperor the name of Wen Ti) was +descended from one of the groups of great landowners that had formed in +the later Han period. The nucleus of that group was a family named +Ts'ui, of which there is mention from the Han period onward and which +maintained its power down to the tenth century; but it remained in the +background and at first held entirely aloof from direct intervention in +high policy. Another family belonging to this group was the Hsia-hou +family which was closely united to the family of Wen Ti by adoption; and +very soon there was also the Ss[)u]-ma family. Quite naturally Wen Ti, +as soon as he came into power, made provision for the members of these +powerful families, for only thanks to their support had he been able to +ascend the throne and to maintain his hold on the throne. Thus we find +many members of the Hsia-hou and Ss[)u]-ma families in government +positions. The Ss[)u]-ma family especially showed great activity, and at +the end of Wen Ti's reign their power had so grown that a certain +Ss[)u]-ma I was in control of the government, while the new emperor Ming +Ti (227-233) was completely powerless. This virtually sealed the fate of +the Wei dynasty, so far as the dynastic family was concerned. The next +emperor was installed and deposed by the Ss[)u]-ma family; dissensions +arose within the ruling family, leading to members of the family +assassinating one another. In 264 a member of the Ss[)u]-ma family +declared himself king; when he died and was succeeded by his son +Ss[)u]-ma Yen, the latter, in 265, staged a formal act of renunciation +of the throne of the Wei dynasty and made himself the first ruler of the +new Chin dynasty. There is nothing to gain by detailing all the +intrigues that led up to this event: they all took place in the +immediate environment of the court and in no way affected the people, +except that every item of expenditure, including all the bribery, had to +come out of the taxes paid by the people. + +With such a situation at court, with the bad economic situation in the +country, and with the continual fighting against the two southern +states, there could be no question of any far-reaching foreign policy. +Parts of eastern Turkestan still showed some measure of allegiance to +Wei, but only because at the time it had no stronger opponent. The +Hsiung-nu beyond the frontier were suffering from a period of depression +which was at the same time a period of reconstruction. They were +beginning slowly to form together with Mongol elements a new unit, the +Juan-juan, but at this time were still politically inactive. The +nineteen tribes within north China held more and more closely together +as militarily organized nomads, but did not yet represent a military +power and remained loyal to the Wei. The only important element of +trouble seems to have been furnished by the Hsien-pi tribes, who had +joined with Wu-huan tribes and apparently also with vestiges of the +Hsiung-nu in eastern Mongolia, and who made numerous raids over the +frontier into the Wei empire. The state of Yen, in southern Manchuria, +had already been destroyed by Wei in 238 thanks to Wei's good relations +with Japan. Loose diplomatic relations were maintained with Japan in the +period that followed; in that period many elements of Chinese +civilization found their way into Japan and there, together with +settlers from many parts of China, helped to transform the culture of +ancient Japan. + + +(B) The Western Chin dynasty (A.D. 265-317) + +1 _Internal situation in the Chin empire_ + +The change of dynasty in the state of Wei did not bring any turn in +China's internal history. Ss[)u]-ma Yen, who as emperor was called Wu Ti +(265-289), had come to the throne with the aid of his clique and his +extraordinarily large and widely ramified family. To these he had to +give offices as reward. There began at court once more the same +spectacle as in the past, except that princes of the new imperial family +now played a greater part than under the Wei dynasty, whose ruling house +had consisted of a small family. It was now customary, in spite of the +abolition of the feudal system, for the imperial princes to receive +large regions to administer, the fiscal revenues of which represented +their income. The princes were not, however, to exercise full authority +in the style of the former feudal lords: their courts were full of +imperial control officials. In the event of war it was their duty to +come forward, like other governors, with an army in support of the +central government. The various Chin princes succeeded, however, in +making other governors, beyond the frontiers of their regions, dependent +on them. Also, they collected armies of their own independently of the +central government and used those armies to pursue personal policies. +The members of the families allied with the ruling house, for their +part, did all they could to extend their own power. Thus the first ruler +of the dynasty was tossed to and fro between the conflicting interests +and was himself powerless. But though intrigue was piled on intrigue, +the ruler who, of course, himself had come to the head of the state by +means of intrigues, was more watchful than the rulers of the Wei dynasty +had been, and by shrewd counter-measures he repeatedly succeeded in +playing off one party against another, so that the dynasty remained in +power. Numerous widespread and furious risings nevertheless took place, +usually led by princes. Thus during this period the history of the +dynasty was of an extraordinarily dismal character. + +In spite of this, the Chin troops succeeded in overthrowing the second +southern state, that of Wu (A.D. 280), and in so restoring the unity of +the empire, the Shu Han realm having been already conquered by the Wei. +After the destruction of Wu there remained no external enemy that +represented a potential danger, so that a general disarmament was +decreed (280) in order to restore a healthy economic and financial +situation. This disarmament applied, of course, to the troops directly +under the orders of the dynasty, namely the troops of the court and the +capital and the imperial troops in the provinces. Disarmament could +not, however, be carried out in the princes' regions, as the princes +declared that they needed personal guards. The dismissal of the troops +was accompanied by a decree ordering the surrender of arms. It may be +assumed that the government proposed to mint money with the metal of the +weapons surrendered, for coin (the old coin of the Wei dynasty) had +become very scarce; as we indicated previously, money had largely been +replaced by goods so that, for instance, grain and silks were used for +the payment of salaries. China, from _c_. 200 A.D. on until the eighth +century, remained in a period of such partial "natural economy". + +Naturally the decree for the surrender of weapons remained a +dead-letter. The discharged soldiers kept their weapons at first and +then preferred to sell them. A large part of them was acquired by the +Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi in the north of China; apparently they +usually gave up land in return. In this way many Chinese soldiers, +though not all by any means, went as peasants to the regions in the +north of China and beyond the frontier. They were glad to do so, for the +Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi had not the efficient administration and +rigid tax collection of the Chinese; and above all, they had no great +landowners who could have organized the collection of taxes. For their +part, the Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi had no reason to regret this +immigration of peasants, who could provide them with the farm produce +they needed. And at the same time they were receiving from them large +quantities of the most modern weapons. + +This ineffective disarmament was undoubtedly the most pregnant event of +the period of the western Chin dynasty. The measure was intended to save +the cost of maintaining the soldiers and to bring them back to the land +as peasants (and taxpayers); but the discharged men were not given land +by the government. The disarmament achieved nothing, not even the +desired increase in the money in circulation; what did happen was that +the central government lost all practical power, while the military +strength both of the dangerous princes within the country and also of +the frontier people was increased. The results of these mistaken +measures became evident at once and compelled the government to arm +anew. + +2 _Effect on the frontier peoples_ + +Four groups of frontier peoples drew more or less advantage from the +demobilization law--the people of the Toba, the Tibetans, and the +Hsien-pi in the north, and the nineteen tribes of the Hsiung-nu within +the frontiers of the empire. In the course of time all sorts of +complicated relations developed among those ascending peoples as well +as between them and the Chinese. + +The Toba (T'o-pa) formed a small group in the north of the present +province of Shansi, north of the city of Tat'ungfu, and they were about +to develop their small state. They were primarily of Turkish origin, but +had absorbed many tribes of the older Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi. In +considering the ethnical relationships of all these northern peoples we +must rid ourselves of our present-day notions of national unity. Among +the Toba there were many Turkish tribes, but also Mongols, and probably +a Tungus tribe, as well as perhaps others whom we cannot yet analyse. +These tribes may even have spoken different languages, much as later not +only Mongol but also Turkish was spoken in the Mongol empire. The +political units they formed were tribal unions, not national states. + +Such a union or federation can be conceived of, structurally, as a cone. +At the top point of the cone there was the person of the ruler of the +federation. He was a member of the leading family or clan of the leading +tribe (the two top layers of the cone). If we speak of the Toba as of +Turkish stock, we mean that according to our present knowledge, this +leading tribe (_a_) spoke a language belonging to the Turkish language +family and (_b_) exhibited a pattern of culture which belonged to the +type called above in Chapter One as "North-western Culture". The next +layer of the cone represented the "inner circle of tribes", i.e. such +tribes as had joined with the leading tribe at an early moment. The +leading family of the leading tribe often took their wives from the +leading families of the "inner tribes", and these leaders served as +advisors and councillors to the leader of the federation. The next lower +layer consisted of the "outer tribes", i.e. tribes which had joined the +federation only later, often under strong pressure; their number was +always much larger than the number of the "inner tribes", but their +political influence was much weaker. Every layer below that of the +"outer tribes" was regarded as inferior and more or less "unfree". There +was many a tribe which, as a tribe, had to serve a free tribe; and there +were others who, as tribes, had to serve the whole federation. In +addition, there were individuals who had quit or had been forced to quit +their tribe or their home and had joined the federation leader as his +personal "bondsmen"; further, there were individual slaves and, finally, +there were the large masses of agriculturists who had been conquered by +the federation. When such a federation was dissolved, by defeat or inner +dissent, individual tribes or groups of tribes could join a new +federation or could resume independent life. + +Typically, such federations exhibited two tendencies. In the case of +the Hsiung-nu we indicated already previously that the leader of the +federation repeatedly attempted to build up a kind of bureaucratic +system, using his bondsmen as a nucleus. A second tendency was to +replace the original tribal leaders by members of the family of the +federation leader. If this initial step, usually first taken when "outer +tribes" were incorporated, was successful, a reorganization was +attempted: instead of using tribal units in war, military units on the +basis of "Groups of Hundred", "Groups of Thousand", etc., were created +and the original tribes were dissolved into military regiments. In the +course of time, and especially at the time of the dissolution of a +federation, these military units had gained social coherence and +appeared to be tribes again; we are probably correct in assuming that +all "tribes" which we find from this time on were already "secondary" +tribes of this type. A secondary tribe often took its name from its +leader, but it could also revive an earlier "primary tribe" name. + +The Toba represented a good example for this "cone" structure of +pastoral society. Also the Hsiung-nu of this time seem to have had a +similar structure. Incidentally, we will from now on call the Hsiung-nu +"Huns" because Chinese sources begin to call them "Hu", a term which +also had a more general meaning (all non-Chinese in the north and west +of China) as well as a more special meaning (non-Chinese in Central Asia +and India). + +The Tibetans fell apart into two sub-groups, the Ch'iang and the Ti. +Both names appeared repeatedly as political conceptions, but the +Tibetans, like all other state-forming groups of peoples, sheltered in +their realms countless alien elements. In the course of the third and +second centuries B.C. the group of the Ti, mainly living in the +territory of the present Szechwan, had mixed extensively with remains of +the Yüeh-chih; the others, the Ch'iang, were northern Tibetans or +so-called Tanguts; that is to say, they contained Turkish and Mongol +elements. In A.D. 296 there began a great rising of the Ti, whose leader +Ch'i Wan-nien took on the title emperor. The Ch'iang rose with them, but +it was not until later, from 312, that they pursued an independent +policy. The Ti State, however, though it had a second emperor, very soon +lost importance, so that we shall be occupied solely with the Ch'iang. + +As the tribal structure of Tibetan groups was always weak and as +leadership developed among them only in times of war, their states +always show a military rather than a tribal structure, and the +continuation of these states depended strongly upon the personal +qualities of their leaders. Incidentally, Tibetans fundamentally were +sheep-breeders and not horse-breeders and, therefore, they always +showed inclination to incorporate infantry into their armies. Thus, +Tibetan states differed strongly from the aristocratically organized +"Turkish" states as well as from the tribal, non-aristocratic "Mongol" +states of that period. + +The Hsien-pi, according to our present knowledge, were under "Mongol" +leadership, i.e. we believe that the language of the leading group +belonged to the family of Mongolian languages and that their culture +belonged to the type described above as "Northern culture". They had, in +addition, a strong admixture of Hunnic tribes. Throughout the period +during which they played a part in history, they never succeeded in +forming any great political unit, in strong contrast to the Huns, who +excelled in state formation. The separate groups of the Hsien-pi pursued +a policy of their own; very frequently Hsien-pi fought each other, and +they never submitted to a common leadership. Thus their history is +entirely that of small groups. As early as the Wei period there had been +small-scale conflicts with the Hsien-pi tribes, and at times the tribes +had some success. The campaigns of the Hsien-pi against North China now +increased, and in the course of them the various tribes formed firmer +groupings, among which the Mu-jung tribes played a leading part. In 281, +the year after the demobilization law, this group marched south into +China, and occupied the region round Peking. After fierce fighting, in +which the Mu-jung section suffered heavy losses, a treaty was signed in +289, under which the Mu-jung tribe of the Hsien-pi recognized Chinese +overlordship. The Mu-jung were driven to this step mainly because they +had been continually attacked from southern Manchuria by another +Hsien-pi tribe, the Yü-wen, the tribe most closely related to them. The +Mu-jung made use of the period of their so-called subjection to organize +their community in North China. + +South of the Toba were the nineteen tribes of the Hsiung-nu or Huns, as +we are now calling them. Their leader in A.D. 287, Liu Yüan, was one of +the principal personages of this period. His name is purely Chinese, but +he was descended from the Hun _shan-yü_, from the family and line of Mao +Tun. His membership of that long-famous noble line and old ruling family +of Huns gave him a prestige which he increased by his great organizing +ability. + +3 _Struggles for the throne_ + +We shall return to Liu Yüan later; we must now cast another glance at +the official court of the Chin. In that court a family named Yang had +become very powerful, a daughter of this family having become empress. +When, however, the emperor died, the wife of the new emperor Hui Ti +(290-306) secured the assassination of the old empress Yang and of her +whole family. Thus began the rule at court of the Chia family. In 299 +the Chia family got rid of the heir to the throne, to whom they +objected, assassinating this prince and another one. This event became +the signal for large-scale activity on the part of the princes, each of +whom was supported by particular groups of families. The princes had not +complied with the disarmament law of 280 and so had become militarily +supreme. The generals newly appointed in the course of the imperial +rearmament at once entered into alliance with the princes, and thus were +quite unreliable as officers of the government. Both the generals and +the princes entered into agreements with the frontier peoples to assure +their aid in the struggle for power. The most popular of these +auxiliaries were the Hsien-pi, who were fighting for one of the princes +whose territory lay in the east. Since the Toba were the natural enemies +of the Hsien-pi, who were continually contesting their hold on their +territory, the Toba were always on the opposite side to that supported +by the Hsien-pi, so that they now supported generals who were ostensibly +loyal to the government. The Huns, too, negotiated with several generals +and princes and received tempting offers. Above all, all the frontier +peoples were now militarily well equipped, continually receiving new war +material from the Chinese who from time to time were co-operating with +them. + +In A.D. 300 Prince Lun assassinated the empress Chia and removed her +group. In 301 he made himself emperor, but in the same year he was +killed by the prince of Ch'i. This prince was killed in 302 by the +prince of Ch'ang-sha, who in turned was killed in 303 by the prince of +Tung-hai. The prince of Ho-chien rose in 302 and was killed in 306; the +prince of Ch'engtu rose in 303, conquered the capital in 305, and then, +in 306, was himself removed. I mention all these names and dates only to +show the disunion within the ruling groups. + +4 _Migration of Chinese_ + +All these struggles raged round the capital, for each of the princes +wanted to secure full power and to become emperor. Thus the border +regions remained relatively undisturbed. Their population suffered much +less from the warfare than the unfortunate people in the neighbourhood +of the central government. For this reason there took place a mass +migration of Chinese from the centre of the empire to its periphery. +This process, together with the shifting of the frontier peoples, is one +of the most important events of that epoch. A great number of Chinese +migrated especially into the present province of Kansu, where a governor +who had originally been sent there to fight the Hsien-pi had created a +sort of paradise by his good administration and maintenance of peace. +The territory ruled by this Chinese, first as governor and then in +increasing independence, was surrounded by Hsien-pi, Tibetans, and other +peoples, but thanks to the great immigration of Chinese and to its +situation on the main caravan route to Turkestan, it was able to hold +its own, to expand, and to become prosperous. + +Other groups of Chinese peasants migrated southward into the +territories of the former state of Wu. A Chinese prince of the house of +the Chin was ruling there, in the present Nanking. His purpose was to +organize that territory, and then to intervene in the struggles of the +other princes. We shall meet him again at the beginning of the Hun rule +over North China in 317, as founder and emperor of the first south +Chinese dynasty, which was at once involved in the usual internal and +external struggles. For the moment, however, the southern region was +relatively at peace, and was accordingly attracting settlers. + +Finally, many Chinese migrated northward, into the territories of the +frontier peoples, not only of the Hsien-pi but especially of the Huns. +These alien peoples, although in the official Chinese view they were +still barbarians, at least maintained peace in the territories they +ruled, and they left in peace the peasants and craftsmen who came to +them, even while their own armies were involved in fighting inside +China. Not only peasants and craftsmen came to the north but more and +more educated persons. Members of families of the gentry that had +suffered from the fighting, people who had lost their influence in +China, were welcomed by the Huns and appointed teachers and political +advisers of the Hun nobility. + +5 _Victory of the Huns. The Hun Han dynasty (later renamed the Earlier +Chao dynasty_) + +With its self-confidence thus increased, the Hun council of nobles +declared that in future the Huns should no longer fight now for one and +now for another Chinese general or prince. They had promised loyalty to +the Chinese emperor, but not to any prince. No one doubted that the +Chinese emperor was a complete nonentity and no longer played any part +in the struggle for power. It was evident that the murders would +continue until one of the generals or princes overcame the rest and made +himself emperor. Why should not the Huns have the same right? Why should +not they join in this struggle for the Chinese imperial throne? + +There were two arguments against this course, one of which was already +out of date. The Chinese had for many centuries set down the Huns as +uncultured barbarians; but the inferiority complex thus engendered in +the Huns had virtually been overcome, because in the course of time +their upper class had deliberately acquired a Chinese education and so +ranked culturally with the Chinese. Thus the ruler Liu Yüan, for +example, had enjoyed a good Chinese education and was able to read all +the classical texts. The second argument was provided by the rigid +conceptions of legitimacy to which the Turkish-Hunnic aristocratic +society adhered. The Huns asked themselves: "Have we, as aliens, any +right to become emperors and rulers in China, when we are not descended +from an old Chinese family?" On this point Liu Yüan and his advisers +found a good answer. They called Liu Yüan's dynasty the "Han dynasty", +and so linked it with the most famous of all the Chinese dynasties, +pointing to the pact which their ancestor Mao Tun had concluded five +hundred years earlier with the first emperor of the Han dynasty and +which had described the two states as "brethren". They further recalled +the fact that the rulers of the Huns were closely related to the Chinese +ruling family, because Mao Tun and his successors had married Chinese +princesses. Finally, Liu Yüan's Chinese family name, Liu, had also been +the family name of the rulers of the Han dynasty. Accordingly the Hun +Lius came forward not as aliens but as the rightful successors in +continuation of the Han dynasty, as legitimate heirs to the Chinese +imperial throne on the strength of relationship and of treaties. + +Thus the Hun Liu Yüan had no intention of restoring the old empire of +Mao Tun, the empire of the nomads; he intended to become emperor of +China, emperor of a country of farmers. In this lay the fundamental +difference between the earlier Hun empire and this new one. The question +whether the Huns should join in the struggle for the Chinese imperial +throne was therefore decided among the Huns themselves in 304 in the +affirmative, by the founding of the "Hun Han dynasty". All that remained +was the practical question of how to hold out with their small army of +50,000 men if serious opposition should be offered to the "barbarians". + +Meanwhile Liu Yüan provided himself with court ceremonial on the Chinese +model, in a capital which, after several changes, was established at +P'ing-ch'êng in southern Shansi. He attracted more and more of the +Chinese gentry, who were glad to come to this still rather barbaric but +well-organized court. In 309 the first attack was made on the Chinese +capital, Loyang. Liu Yüan died in the following year, and in 311, under +his successor Liu Ts'ung (310-318), the attack was renewed and Loyang +fell. The Chin emperor, Huai Ti, was captured and kept a prisoner in +P'ing-ch'êng until in 313 a conspiracy in his favour was brought to +light in the Hun empire, and he and all his supporters were killed. +Meanwhile the Chinese clique of the Chin dynasty had hastened to make a +prince emperor in the second capital, Ch'ang-an (Min Ti, 313-316) while +the princes' struggles for the throne continued. Nobody troubled about +the fate of the unfortunate emperor in his capital. He received no +reinforcements, so that he was helpless in face of the next attack of +the Huns, and in 316 he was compelled to surrender like his predecessor. +Now the Hun Han dynasty held both capitals, which meant virtually the +whole of the western part of North China, and the so-called "Western +Chin dynasty" thus came to its end. Its princes and generals and many of +its gentry became landless and homeless and had to flee into the south. + + +(C) The alien empires in North China, down to the Toba (A.D. 317-385) + +1 _The Later Chao dynasty in eastern North China (Hun_; 329-352) + +At this time the eastern part of North China was entirely in the hands +of Shih Lo, a former follower of Liu Yüan. Shih Lo had escaped from +slavery in China and had risen to be a military leader among +detribalized Huns. In 310 he had not only undertaken a great campaign +right across China to the south, but had slaughtered more than 100,000 +Chinese, including forty-eight princes of the Chin dynasty, who had +formed a vast burial procession for a prince. This achievement added +considerably to Shih Lo's power, and his relations with Liu Ts'ung, +already tense, became still more so. Liu Yüan had tried to organize the +Hun state on the Chinese model, intending in this way to gain efficient +control of China; Shih Lo rejected Chinese methods, and held to the old +warrior-nomad tradition, making raids with the aid of nomad fighters. He +did not contemplate holding the territories of central and southern +China which he had conquered; he withdrew, and in the two years 314-315 +he contented himself with bringing considerable expanses in +north-eastern China, especially territories of the Hsien-pi, under his +direct rule, as a base for further raids. Many Huns in Liu Ts'ung's +dominion found Shih Lo's method of rule more to their taste than living +in a state ruled by officials, and they went over to Shih Lo and joined +him in breaking entirely with Liu Ts'ung. There was a further motive for +this: in states founded by nomads, with a federation of tribes as their +basis, the personal qualities of the ruler played an important part. The +chiefs of the various tribes would not give unqualified allegiance to +the son of a dead ruler unless the son was a strong personality or gave +promise of becoming one. Failing that, there would be independence +movements. Liu Ts'ung did not possess the indisputable charisma of his +predecessor Liu Yüan; and the Huns looked with contempt on his court +splendour, which could only have been justified if he had conquered all +China. Liu Ts'ung had no such ambition; nor had his successor Liu Yao +(319-329), who gave the Hun Han dynasty retroactively, from its start +with Liu Yüan, the new name of "Earlier Chao dynasty" (304-329). Many +tribes then went over to Shih Lo, and the remainder of Liu Yao's empire +was reduced to a precarious existence. In 329 the whole of it was +annexed by Shih Lo. + +Although Shih Lo had long been much more powerful than the emperors of +the "Earlier Chao dynasty", until their removal he had not ventured to +assume the title of emperor. The reason for this seems to have lain in +the conceptions of nobility held by the Turkish peoples in general and +the Huns in particular, according to which only those could become +_shan-yü_ (or, later, emperor) who could show descent from the Tu-ku +tribe the rightful _shan-yü_ stock. In accordance with this conception, +all later Hun dynasties deliberately disowned Shih Lo. For Shih Lo, +after his destruction of Liu Yao, no longer hesitated: ex-slave as he +was, and descended from one of the non-noble stocks of the Huns, he made +himself emperor of the "Later Chao dynasty" (329-352). + +Shih Lo was a forceful army commander, but he was a man without +statesmanship, and without the culture of his day. He had no Chinese +education; he hated the Chinese and would have been glad to make north +China a grazing ground for his nomad tribes of Huns. Accordingly he had +no desire to rule all China. The part already subjugated, embracing the +whole of north China with the exception of the present province of +Kansu, sufficed for his purpose. + +The governor of that province was a loyal subject of the Chinese Chin +dynasty, a man famous for his good administration, and himself a +Chinese. After the execution of the Chin emperor Huai Ti by the Huns in +313, he regarded himself as no longer bound to the central government; +he made himself independent and founded the "Earlier Liang dynasty", +which was to last until 376. This mainly Chinese realm was not very +large, although it had admitted a broad stream of Chinese emigrants from +the dissolving Chin empire; but economically the Liang realm was very +prosperous, so that it was able to extend its influence as far as +Turkestan. During the earlier struggles Turkestan had been virtually in +isolation, but now new contacts began to be established. Many traders +from Turkestan set up branches in Liang. In the capital there were whole +quarters inhabited only by aliens from western and eastern Turkestan and +from India. With the traders came Buddhist monks; trade and Buddhism +seemed to be closely associated everywhere. In the trading centres +monasteries were installed in the form of blocks of houses within strong +walls that successfully resisted many an attack. Consequently the +Buddhists were able to serve as bankers for the merchants, who deposited +their money in the monasteries, which made a charge for its custody; the +merchants also warehoused their goods in the monasteries. Sometimes the +process was reversed, a trade centre being formed around an existing +monastery. In this case the monastery also served as a hostel for the +merchants. Economically this Chinese state in Kansu was much more like a +Turkestan city state that lived by commerce than the agrarian states of +the Far East, although agriculture was also pursued under the Earlier +Liang. + +From this trip to the remote west we will return first to the Hun +capital. From 329 onward Shih Lo possessed a wide empire, but an +unstable one. He himself felt at all times insecure, because the Huns +regarded him, on account of his humble origin, as a "revolutionary". He +exterminated every member of the Liu family, that is to say the old +_shan-yü_ family, of whom he could get hold, in order to remove any +possible pretender to the throne; but he could not count on the loyalty +of the Hun and other Turkish tribes under his rule. During this period +not a few Huns went over to the small realm of the Toba; other Hun +tribes withdrew entirely from the political scene and lived with their +herds as nomad tribes in Shansi and in the Ordos region. The general +insecurity undermined the strength of Shih Lo's empire. He died in 333, +and there came to the throne, after a short interregnum, another +personality of a certain greatness, Shih Hu (334-349). He transferred +the capital to the city of Yeh, in northern Honan, where the rulers of +the Wei dynasty had reigned. There are many accounts of the magnificence +of the court of Yeh. Foreigners, especially Buddhist monks, played a +greater part there than Chinese. On the one hand, it was not easy for +Shih Hu to gain the active support of the educated Chinese gentry after +the murders of Shih Lo and, on the other hand, Shih Hu seems to have +understood that foreigners without family and without other relations to +the native population, but with special skills, are the most reliable +and loyal servants of a ruler. Indeed, his administration seems to have +been good, but the regime remained completely parasitic, with no +support of the masses or the gentry. After Shih Hu's death there were +fearful combats between his sons; ultimately a member of an entirely +different family of Hun origin seized power, but was destroyed in 352 by +the Hsien-pi, bringing to an end the Later Chao dynasty. + +2 _Earlier Yen dynasty in the north-east (proto-Mongol; 352-370), and +the Earlier Ch'in dynasty in all north China (Tibetan; 351-394_) + +In the north, proto-Mongol Hsien-pi tribes had again made themselves +independent; in the past they had been subjects of Liu Yüan and then of +Shih Lo. A man belonging to one of these tribes, the tribe of the +Mu-jung, became the leader of a league of tribes, and in 337 founded the +state of Yen. This proto-Mongol state of the Mu-jung, which the +historians call the "Earlier Yen" state, conquered parts of southern +Manchuria and also the state of Kao-li in Korea, and there began then an +immigration of Hsien-pi into Korea, which became noticeable at a later +date. The conquest of Korea, which was still, as in the past, a Japanese +market and was very wealthy, enormously strengthened the state of Yen. +Not until a little later, when Japan's trade relations were diverted to +central China, did Korea's importance begin to diminish. Although this +"Earlier Yen dynasty" of the Mu-jung officially entered on the heritage +of the Huns, and its regime was therefore dated only from 352 (until +370), it failed either to subjugate the whole realm of the "Later Chao" +or effectively to strengthen the state it had acquired. This old Hun +territory had suffered economically from the anti-agrarian nomad +tendency of the last of the Hun emperors; and unremunerative wars +against the Chinese in the south had done nothing to improve its +position. In addition to this, the realm of the Toba was dangerously +gaining strength on the flank of the new empire. But the most dangerous +enemy was in the west, on former Hun soil, in the province of +Shensi--Tibetans, who finally came forward once more with claims to +dominance. These were Tibetans of the P'u family, which later changed +its name to Fu. The head of the family had worked his way up as a leader +of Tibetan auxiliaries under the "Later Chao", gaining more and more +power and following. When under that dynasty the death of Shih Hu marked +the beginning of general dissolution, he gathered his Tibetans around +him in the west, declared himself independent of the Huns, and made +himself emperor of the "Earlier Ch'in dynasty" (351-394). He died in +355, and was followed after a short interregnum by Fu Chien (357-385), +who was unquestionably one of the most important figures of the fourth +century. This Tibetan empire ultimately defeated the "Earlier Yen +dynasty" and annexed the realm of the Mu-jung. Thus the Mu-jung Hsien-pi +came under the dominion of the Tibetans; they were distributed among a +number of places as garrisons of mounted troops. + +The empire of the Tibetans was organized quite differently from the +empires of the Huns and the Hsien-pi tribes. The Tibetan organization +was purely military and had nothing to do with tribal structure. This +had its advantages, for the leader of such a formation had no need to +take account of tribal chieftains; he was answerable to no one and +possessed considerable personal power. Nor was there any need for him to +be of noble rank or descended from an old family. The Tibetan ruler Fu +Chien organized all his troops, including the non-Tibetans, on this +system, without regard to tribal membership. + +Fu Chien's state showed another innovation: the armies of the Huns and +the Hsien-pi had consisted entirely of cavalry, for the nomads of the +north were, of course, horsemen; to fight on foot was in their eyes not +only contrary to custom but contemptible. So long as a state consisted +only of a league of tribes, it was simply out of the question to +transform part of the army into infantry. Fu Chien, however, with his +military organization that paid no attention to the tribal element, +created an infantry in addition to the great cavalry units, recruiting +for it large numbers of Chinese. The infantry proved extremely valuable, +especially in the fighting in the plains of north China and in laying +siege to fortified towns. Fu Chien thus very quickly achieved military +predominance over the neighbouring states. As we have seen already, he +annexed the "Earlier Yen" realm of the proto-Mongols (370), but he also +annihilated the Chinese "Earlier Liang" realm (376) and in the same year +the small Turkish Toba realm. This made him supreme over all north China +and stronger than any alien ruler before him. He had in his possession +both the ancient capitals, Ch'ang-an and Loyang; the whole of the rich +agricultural regions of north China belonged to him; he also controlled +the routes to Turkestan. He himself had a Chinese education, and he +attracted Chinese to his court; he protected the Buddhists; and he tried +in every way to make the whole country culturally Chinese. As soon as Fu +Chien had all north China in his power, as Liu Yüan and his Huns had +done before him, he resolved, like Liu Yüan, to make every effort to +gain the mastery over all China, to become emperor of China. Liu Yüan's +successors had not had the capacity for which such a venture called; Fu +Chien was to fail in it for other reasons. Yet, from a military point +of view, his chances were not bad. He had far more soldiers under his +command than the Chinese "Eastern Chin dynasty" which ruled the south, +and his troops were undoubtedly better. In the time of the founder of +the Tibetan dynasty the southern empire had been utterly defeated by his +troops (354), and the south Chinese were no stronger now. + +Against them the north had these assets: the possession of the best +northern tillage, the control of the trade routes, and "Chinese" culture +and administration. At the time, however, these represented only +potentialities and not tangible realities. It would have taken ten to +twenty years to restore the capacities of the north after its +devastation in many wars, to reorganize commerce, and to set up a really +reliable administration, and thus to interlock the various elements and +consolidate the various tribes. But as early as 383 Fu Chien started his +great campaign against the south, with an army of something like a +million men. At first the advance went well. The horsemen from the +north, however, were men of the mountain country, and in the soggy +plains of the Yangtze region, cut up by hundreds of water-courses and +canals, they suffered from climatic and natural conditions to which they +were unaccustomed. Their main strength was still in cavalry; and they +came to grief. The supplies and reinforcements for the vast army failed +to arrive in time; units did not reach the appointed places at the +appointed dates. The southern troops under the supreme command of Hsieh +Hsüan, far inferior in numbers and militarily of no great efficiency, +made surprise attacks on isolated units before these were in regular +formation. Some they defeated, others they bribed; they spread false +reports. Fu Chien's army was seized with widespread panic, so that he +was compelled to retreat in haste. As he did so it became evident that +his empire had no inner stability: in a very short time it fell into +fragments. The south Chinese had played no direct part in this, for in +spite of their victory they were not strong enough to advance far to the +north. + +3 _The fragmentation of north China_ + +The first to fall away from the Tibetan ruler was a noble of the +Mu-jung, a member of the ruling family of the "Earlier Yen dynasty", who +withdrew during the actual fighting to pursue a policy of his own. With +the vestiges of the Hsien-pi who followed him, mostly cavalry, he fought +his way northward into the old homeland of the Hsien-pi and there, in +central Hopei, founded the "Later Yen dynasty" (384-409), himself +reigning for twelve years. In the remaining thirteen years of the +existence of that dynasty there were no fewer than five rulers, the +last of them a member of another family. The history of this Hsien-pi +dynasty, as of its predecessor, is an unedifying succession of +intrigues; no serious effort was made to build up a true state. + +In the same year 384 there was founded, under several other Mu-jung +princes of the ruling family of the "Earlier Yen dynasty", the "Western +Yen dynasty" (384-394). Its nucleus was nothing more than a detachment +of troops of the Hsien-pi which had been thrown by Fu Chien into the +west of his empire, in Shensi, in the neighbourhood of the old capital +Ch'ang-an. There its commanders, on learning the news of Fu Chien's +collapse, declared their independence. In western China, however, far +removed from all liaison with the main body of the Hsien-pi, they were +unable to establish themselves, and when they tried to fight their way +to the north-east they were dispersed, so that they failed entirely to +form an actual state. + +There was a third attempt in 384 to form a state in north China. A +Tibetan who had joined Fu Chien with his followers declared himself +independent when Fu Chien came back, a beaten man, to Shensi. He caused +Fu Chien and almost the whole of his family to be assassinated, occupied +the capital, Ch'ang-an, and actually entered into the heritage of Fu +Chien. This Tibetan dynasty is known as the "Later Ch'in dynasty" +(384-417). It was certainly the strongest of those founded in 384, but +it still failed to dominate any considerable part of China and remained +of local importance, mainly confined to the present province of Shensi. +Fu Chien's empire nominally had three further rulers, but they did not +exert the slightest influence on events. + +With the collapse of the state founded by Fu Chien, the tribes of +Hsien-pi who had left their homeland in the third century and migrated +to the Ordos region proceeded to form their own state: a man of the +Hsien-pi tribe of the Ch'i-fu founded the so-called "Western Ch'in +dynasty" (385-431). Like the other Hsien-pi states, this one was of weak +construction, resting on the military strength of a few tribes and +failing to attain a really secure basis. Its territory lay in the east +of the present province of Kansu, and so controlled the eastern end of +the western Asian caravan route, which might have been a source of +wealth if the Ch'i-fu had succeeded in attracting commerce by discreet +treatment and in imposing taxation on it. Instead of this, the bulk of +the long-distance traffic passed through the Ordos region, a little +farther north, avoiding the Ch'i-fu state, which seemed to the merchants +to be too insecure. The Ch'i-fu depended mainly on cattle-breeding in +the remote mountain country in the south of their territory, a region +that gave them relative security from attack; on the other hand, this +made them unable to exercise any influence on the course of political +events in western China. + +Mention must be made of one more state that rose from the ruins of Fu +Chien's empire. It lay in the far west of China, in the western part of +the present province of Kansu, and was really a continuation of the +Chinese "Earlier Liang" realm, which had been annexed ten years earlier +(376) by Fu Chien. A year before his great march to the south, Fu Chien +had sent the Tibetan Lü Kuang into the "Earlier Liang" region in order +to gain influence over Turkestan. As mentioned previously, after the +great Hun rulers Fu Chien was the first to make a deliberate attempt to +secure cultural and political overlordship over the whole of China. +Although himself a Tibetan, he never succumbed to the temptation of +pursuing a "Tibetan" policy; like an entirely legitimate ruler of China, +he was concerned to prevent the northern peoples along the frontier from +uniting with the Tibetan peoples of the west for political ends. The +possession of Turkestan would avert that danger, which had shown signs +of becoming imminent of late: some tribes of the Hsien-pi had migrated +as far as the high mountains of Tibet and had imposed themselves as a +ruling class on the still very primitive Tibetans living there. From +this symbiosis there began to be formed a new people, the so-called +T'u-yü-hun, a hybridization of Mongol and Tibetan stock with a slight +Turkish admixture. Lü Kuang had considerable success in Turkestan; he +had brought considerable portions of eastern Turkestan under Fu Chien's +sovereignty and administered those regions almost independently. When +the news came of Fu Chien's end, he declared himself an independent +ruler, of the "Later Liang" dynasty (386-403). Strictly speaking, this +was simply a trading State, like the city-states of Turkestan: its basis +was the transit traffic that brought it prosperity. For commerce brought +good profit to the small states that lay right across the caravan route, +whereas it was of doubtful benefit, as we know, to agrarian China as a +whole, because the luxury goods which it supplied to the court were paid +for out of the production of the general population. + +This "Later Liang" realm was inhabited not only by a few Tibetans and +many Chinese, but also by Hsien-pi and Huns. These heterogeneous +elements with their divergent cultures failed in the long run to hold +together in this long but extremely narrow strip of territory, which was +almost incapable of military defence. As early as 397 a group of Huns in +the central section of the country made themselves independent, assuming +the name of the "Northern Liang" (397-439). These Huns quickly conquered +other parts of the "Later Liang" realm, which then fell entirely to +pieces. Chinese again founded a state, "West Liang" (400-421) in western +Kansu, and the Hsien-pi founded "South Liang" (379-414) in eastern +Kansu. Thus the "Later Liang" fell into three parts, more or less +differing ethnically, though they could not be described as ethnically +unadulterated states. + +4 _Sociological analysis of the two great alien empires_ + +The two great empires of north China at the time of its division had +been founded by non-Chinese--the first by the Hun Liu Yüan, the second +by the Tibetan Fu Chien. Both rulers went to work on the same principle +of trying to build up truly "Chinese" empires, but the traditions of +Huns and Tibetans differed, and the two experiments turned out +differently. Both failed, but not for the same reasons and not with the +same results. The Hun Liu Yüan was the ruler of a league of feudal +tribes, which was expected to take its place as an upper class above the +unchanged Chinese agricultural population with its system of officials +and gentry. But Liu Yüan's successors were national reactionaries who +stood for the maintenance of the nomad life against that new plan of +transition to a feudal class of urban nobles ruling an agrarian +population. Liu Yüan's more far-seeing policy was abandoned, with the +result that the Huns were no longer in a position to rule an immense +agrarian territory, and the empire soon disintegrated. For the various +Hun tribes this failure meant falling back into political +insignificance, but they were able to maintain their national character +and existence. + +Fu Chien, as a Tibetan, was a militarist and soldier, in accordance with +the past of the Tibetans. Under him were grouped Tibetans without tribal +chieftains; the great mass of Chinese; and dispersed remnants of tribes +of Huns, Hsien-pi, and others. His organization was militaristic and, +outside the military sphere, a militaristic bureaucracy. The Chinese +gentry, so far as they still existed, preferred to work with him rather +than with the feudalist Huns. These gentry probably supported Fu Chien's +southern campaign, for, in consequence of the wide ramifications of +their families, it was to their interest that China should form a single +economic unit. They were, of course, equally ready to work with another +group, one of southern Chinese, to attain the same end by other means, +if those means should prove more advantageous: thus the gentry were not +a reliable asset, but were always ready to break faith. Among other +things, Fu Chien's southern campaign was wrecked by that faithlessness. +When an essentially military state suffers military defeat, it can only +go to pieces. This explains the disintegration of that great empire +within a single year into so many diminutive states, as already +described. + +5 _Sociological analysis of the petty States_ + +The states that took the place of Fu Chien's empire, those many +diminutive states (the Chinese speak of the period of the Sixteen +Kingdoms), may be divided from the economic point of view into two +groups--trading states and warrior states; sociologically they also fall +into two groups, tribal states and military states. + +The small states in the west, in Kansu (the Later Liang and the Western, +Northern, and Southern Liang), were trading states: they lived on the +earnings of transit trade with Turkestan. The eastern states were +warrior states, in which an army commander ruled by means of an armed +group of non-Chinese and exploited an agricultural population. It is +only logical that such states should be short-lived, as in fact they all +were. + +Sociologically regarded, during this period only the Southern and +Northern Liang were still tribal states. In addition to these came the +young Toba realm, which began in 385 but of which mention has not yet +been made. The basis of that state was the tribe, not the family or the +individual; after its political disintegration the separate tribes +remained in existence. The other states of the east, however, were +military states, made up of individuals with no tribal allegiance but +subject to a military commandant. But where there is no tribal +association, after the political downfall of a state founded by ethnical +groups, those groups sooner or later disappear as such. We see this in +the years immediately following Fu Chien's collapse: the Tibetan +ethnical group to which he himself belonged disappeared entirely from +the historical scene. The two Tibetan groups that outlasted him, also +forming military states and not tribal states, similarly came to an end +shortly afterwards for all time. The Hsien-pi groups in the various +fragments of the empire, with the exception of the petty states in +Kansu, also continued, only as tribal fragments led by a few old ruling +families. They, too, after brief and undistinguished military rule, came +to an end; they disappeared so completely that thereafter we no longer +find the term Hsien-pi in history. Not that they had been exterminated. +When the social structure and its corresponding economic form fall to +pieces, there remain only two alternatives for its individuals. Either +they must go over to a new form, which in China could only mean that +they became Chinese; many Hsien-pi in this way became Chinese in the +decades following 384. Or, they could retain their old way of living in +association with another stock of similar formation; this, too, happened +in many cases. Both these courses, however, meant the end of the +Hsien-pi as an independent ethnical unit. We must keep this process and +its reasons in view if we are to understand how a great people can +disappear once and for all. + +The Huns, too, so powerful in the past, were suddenly scarcely to be +found any longer. Among the many petty states there were many Hsien-pi +kingdoms, but only a single, quite small Hun state, that of the Northern +Liang. The disappearance of the Huns was, however, only apparent; at +this time they remained in the Ordos region and in Shansi as separate +nomad tribes with no integrating political organization; their time had +still to come. + +6 _Spread of Buddhism_ + +According to the prevalent Chinese view, nothing of importance was +achieved during this period in north China in the intellectual sphere; +there was no culture in the north, only in the south. This is natural: +for a Confucian this period, the fourth century, was one of degeneracy +in north China, for no one came into prominence as a celebrated +Confucian. Nothing else could be expected, for in the north the gentry, +which had been the class that maintained Confucianism since the Han +period, had largely been destroyed; from political leadership especially +it had been shut out during the periods of alien rule. Nor could we +expect to find Taoists in the true sense, that is to say followers of +the teaching of Lao Tz[)u], for these, too, had been dependent since the +Han period on the gentry. Until the fourth century, these two had +remained the dominant philosophies. + +What could take their place? The alien rulers had left little behind +them. Most of them had been unable to write Chinese, and in so far as +they were warriors they had no interest in literature or in political +philosophy, for they were men of action. Few songs and poems of theirs +remain extant in translations from their language into Chinese, but +these preserve a strong alien flavour in their mental attitude and in +their diction. They are the songs of fighting men, songs that were sung +on horseback, songs of war and its sufferings. These songs have nothing +of the excessive formalism and aestheticism of the Chinese, but give +expression to simple emotions in unpolished language with a direct +appeal. The epic of the Turkish peoples had clearly been developed +already, and in north China it produced a rudimentary ballad literature, +to which four hundred years later no less attention was paid than to the +emotional world of contemporary songs. The actual literature, however, +and the philosophy of this period are Buddhist. How can we explain that +Buddhism had gained such influence? + +It will be remembered that Buddhism came to China overland and by sea in +the Han epoch. The missionary monks who came from abroad with the +foreign merchants found little approval among the Chinese gentry. They +were regarded as second-rate persons belonging, according to Chinese +notions, to an inferior social class. Thus the monks had to turn to the +middle and lower classes in China. Among these they found widespread +acceptance, not of their profound philosophic ideas, but of their +doctrine of the after life. This doctrine was in a certain sense +revolutionary: it declared that all the high officials and superiors who +treated the people so unjustly and who so exploited them, would in their +next reincarnation be born in poor circumstances or into inferior rank +and would have to suffer punishment for all their ill deeds. The poor +who had to suffer undeserved evils would be born in their next life into +high rank and would have a good time. This doctrine brought a ray of +light, a promise, to the country people who had suffered so much since +the later Han period of the second century A.D. Their situation remained +unaltered down to the fourth century; and under their alien rulers the +Chinese country population became Buddhist. + +The merchants made use of the Buddhist monasteries as banks and +warehouses. Thus they, too, were well inclined towards Buddhism and gave +money and land for its temples. The temples were able to settle peasants +on this land as their tenants. In those times a temple was a more +reliable landlord than an individual alien, and the poorer peasants +readily became temple tenants; this increased their inclination towards +Buddhism. + +The Indian, Sogdian, and Turkestani monks were readily allowed to settle +by the alien rulers of China, who had no national prejudice against +other aliens. The monks were educated men and brought some useful +knowledge from abroad. Educated Chinese were scarcely to be found, for +the gentry retired to their estates, which they protected as well as +they could from their alien ruler. So long as the gentry had no prospect +of regaining control of the threads of political life that extended +throughout China, they were not prepared to provide a class of officials +and scholars for the anti-Confucian foreigners, who showed interest only +in fighting and trading. Thus educated persons were needed at the courts +of the alien rulers, and Buddhists were therefore engaged. These foreign +Buddhists had all the important Buddhist writings translated into +Chinese, and so made use of their influence at court for religious +propaganda. This does not mean that every text was translated from +Indian languages; especially in the later period many works appeared +which came not from India but from Sogdia or Turkestan, or had even been +written in China by Sogdians or other natives of Turkestan, and were +then translated into Chinese. In Turkestan, Khotan in particular became +a centre of Buddhist culture. Buddhism was influenced by vestiges of +indigenous cults, so that Khotan developed a special religious +atmosphere of its own; deities were honoured there (for instance, the +king of Heaven of the northerners) to whom little regard was paid +elsewhere. This "Khotan Buddhism" had special influence on the Buddhist +Turkish peoples. + +Big translation bureaux were set up for the preparation of these +translations into Chinese, in which many copyists simultaneously took +down from dictation a translation made by a "master" with the aid of a +few native helpers. The translations were not literal, but were +paraphrases, most of them greatly reduced in length, glosses were +introduced when the translator thought fit for political or doctrinal +reasons, or when he thought that in this way he could better adapt the +texts to Chinese feeling. + +Buddhism, quite apart from the special case of "Khotan Buddhism", +underwent extensive modification on its way across Central Asia. Its +main Indian form (Hinayana) was a purely individualistic religion of +salvation without a God--related in this respect to genuine Taoism--and +based on a concept of two classes of people: the monks who could achieve +salvation and, secondly, the masses who fed the monks but could not +achieve salvation. This religion did not gain a footing in China; only +traces of it can be found in some Buddhistic sects in China. Mahayana +Buddhism, on the other hand, developed into a true popular religion of +salvation. It did not interfere with the indigenous deities and did not +discountenance life in human society; it did not recommend Nirvana at +once, but placed before it a here-after with all the joys worth striving +for. In this form Buddhism was certain of success in Asia. On its way +from India to China it divided into countless separate streams, each +characterized by a particular book. Every nuance, from profound +philosophical treatises to the most superficial little tracts written +for the simplest of souls, and even a good deal of Turkestan shamanism +and Tibetan belief in magic, found their way into Buddhist writings, so +that some Buddhist monks practiced Central Asian Shamanism. + +In spite of Buddhism, the old religion of the peasants retained its +vitality. Local diviners, Chinese shamans (_wu_), sorcerers, continued +their practices, although from now on they sometimes used Buddhist +phraseology. Often, this popular religion is called "Taoism ", because a +systematization of the popular pantheon was attempted, and Lao Tz[)u] +and other Taoists played a role in this pantheon. Philosophic Taoism +continued in this time, aside from the church-Taoism of Chang Ling and, +naturally, all kinds of contacts between these three currents occurred. +The Chinese state cult, the cult of Heaven saturated with Confucianism, +was another living form of religion. The alien rulers, in turn, had +brought their own mixture of worship of Heaven and shamanism. Their +worship of Heaven was their official "representative" religion; their +shamanism the private religion of the individual in his daily life. The +alien rulers, accordingly, showed interest in the Chinese shamans as +well as in the shamanistic aspects of Mahayana Buddhism. Not +infrequently competitions were arranged by the rulers between priests of +the different religious systems, and the rulers often competed for the +possession of monks who were particularly skilled in magic or +soothsaying. + +But what was the position of the "official" religion? Were the aliens to +hold to their own worship of heaven, or were they to take over the +official Chinese cult, or what else? This problem posed itself already +in the fourth century, but it was left unsolved. + + +(D) The Toba empire in North China (A.D. 385-550) + +1 _The rise of the Toba State_ + +On the collapse of Fu Chien's empire one more state made its appearance; +it has not yet been dealt with, although it was the most important one. +This was the empire of the Toba, in the north of the present province of +Shansi. Fu Chien had brought down the small old Toba state in 376, but +had not entirely destroyed it. Its territory was partitioned, and part +was placed under the administration of a Hun: in view of the old rivalry +between Toba and Huns, this seemed to Fu Chien to be the best way of +preventing any revival of the Toba. However, a descendant of the old +ruling family of the Toba succeeded, with the aid of related families, +in regaining power and forming a small new kingdom. Very soon many +tribes which still lived in north China and which had not been broken up +into military units, joined him. Of these there were ultimately 119, +including many Hun tribes from Shansi and also many Hsien-pi tribes. +Thus the question who the Toba were is not easy to answer. The leading +tribe itself had migrated southward in the third century from the +frontier territory between northern Mongolia and northern Manchuria. +After this migration the first Toba state, the so-called Tai state, was +formed (338-376); not much is known about it. The tribes that, from 385 +after the break-up of the Tibetan empire, grouped themselves round this +ruling tribe, were both Turkish and Mongol; but from the culture and +language of the Toba we think it must be inferred that the ruling tribe +itself as well as the majority of the other tribes were Turkish; in any +case, the Turkish element seems to have been stronger than the +Mongolian. + +Thus the new Toba kingdom was a tribal state, not a military state. But +the tribes were no longer the same as in the time of Liu Yüan a hundred +years earlier. Their total population must have been quite small; we +must assume that they were but the remains of 119 tribes rather than 119 +full-sized tribes. Only part of them were still living the old nomad +life; others had become used to living alongside Chinese peasants and +had assumed leadership among the peasants. These Toba now faced a +difficult situation. The country was arid and mountainous and did not +yield much agricultural produce. For the many people who had come into +the Toba state from all parts of the former empire of Fu Chien, to say +nothing of the needs of a capital and a court which since the time of +Liu Yüan had been regarded as the indispensable entourage of a ruler who +claimed imperial rank, the local production of the Chinese peasants was +not enough. All the government officials, who were Chinese, and all the +slaves and eunuchs needed grain to eat. Attempts were made to settle +more Chinese peasants round the new capital, but without success; +something had to be done. It appeared necessary to embark on a campaign +to conquer the fertile plain of eastern China. In the course of a number +of battles the Hsien-pi of the "Later Yen" were annihilated and eastern +China conquered (409). + +Now a new question arose: what should be done with all those people? +Nomads used to enslave their prisoners and use them for watching their +flocks. Some tribal chieftains had adopted the practice of establishing +captives on their tribal territory as peasants. There was an opportunity +now to subject the millions of Chinese captives to servitude to the +various tribal chieftains in the usual way. But those captives who were +peasants could not be taken away from their fields without robbing the +country of its food; therefore it would have been necessary to spread +the tribes over the whole of eastern China, and this would have added +immensely to the strength of the various tribes and would have greatly +weakened the central power. Furthermore almost all Chinese officials at +the court had come originally from the territories just conquered. They +had come from there about a hundred years earlier and still had all +their relatives in the east. If the eastern territories had been placed +under the rule of separate tribes, and the tribes had been distributed +in this way, the gentry in those territories would have been destroyed +and reduced to the position of enslaved peasants. The Chinese officials +accordingly persuaded the Toba emperor not to place the new territories +under the tribes, but to leave them to be administered by officials of +the central administration. These officials must have a firm footing in +their territory, for only they could extract from the peasants the grain +required for the support of the capital. Consequently the Toba +government did not enslave the Chinese in the eastern territory, but +made the local gentry into government officials, instructing them to +collect as much grain as possible for the capital. This Chinese local +gentry worked in close collaboration with the Chinese officials at +court, a fact which determined the whole fate of the Toba empire. + +The Hsien-pi of the newly conquered east no longer belonged to any +tribe, but only to military units. They were transferred as soldiers to +the Toba court and placed directly under the government, which was thus +notably strengthened, especially as the millions of peasants under their +Chinese officials were also directly responsible to the central +administration. The government now proceeded to convert also its own +Toba tribes into military formations. The tribal men of noble rank were +brought to the court as military officers, and so were separated from +the common tribesmen and the slaves who had to remain with the herds. +This change, which robbed the tribes of all means of independent action, +was not carried out without bloodshed. There were revolts of tribal +chieftains which were ruthlessly suppressed. The central government had +triumphed, but it realized that more reliance could be placed on Chinese +than on its own people, who were used to independence. Thus the Toba +were glad to employ more and more Chinese, and the Chinese pressed more +and more into the administration. In this process the differing social +organizations of Toba and Chinese played an important part. The Chinese +have patriarchal families with often hundreds of members. When a member +of a family obtains a good position, he is obliged to make provision for +the other members of his family and to secure good positions for them +too; and not only the members of his own family but those of allied +families and of families related to it by marriage. In contrast the Toba +had a patriarchal nuclear family system; as nomad warriors with no fixed +abode, they were unable to form extended family groups. Among them the +individual was much more independent; each one tried to do his best for +himself. No Toba thought of collecting a large clique around himself; +everybody should be the artificer of his own fortune. Thus, when a +Chinese obtained an official post, he was followed by countless others; +but when a Toba had a position he remained alone, and so the +sinification of the Toba empire went on incessantly. + +2 _The Hun kingdom of the Hsia (407-431_) + +At the rebuilding of the Toba empire, however, a good many Hun tribes +withdrew westward into the Ordos region beyond the reach of the Toba, +and there they formed the Hun "Hsia" kingdom. Its ruler, Ho-lien +P'o-p'o, belonged to the family of Mao Tun and originally, like Liu +Yüan, bore the sinified family name Liu; but he altered this to a Hun +name, taking the family name of Ho-lien. This one fact alone +demonstrates that the Hsia rejected Chinese culture and were +nationalistic Hun. Thus there were now two realms in North China, one +undergoing progressive sinification, the other falling back to the old +traditions of the Huns. + +3 _Rise of the Toba to a great Power_ + +The present province of Szechwan, in the west, had belonged to Fu +Chien's empire. At the break-up of the Tibetan state that province +passed to the southern Chinese empire and gave the southern Chinese +access, though it was very difficult access, to the caravan route +leading to Turkestan. The small states in Kansu, which dominated the +route, now passed on the traffic along two routes, one northward to the +Toba and the other alien states in north China, the other through +north-west Szechwan to south China. In this way the Kansu states were +strengthened both economically and politically, for they were able to +direct the commerce either to the northern states or to south China as +suited them. When the South Chinese saw the break-up of Fu Chien's +empire into numberless fragments, Liu Yü, who was then all-powerful at +the South Chinese court, made an attempt to conquer the whole of western +China. A great army was sent from South China into the province of +Shensi, where the Tibetan empire of the "Later Ch'in" was situated. The +Ch'in appealed to the Toba for help, but the Toba were themselves too +hotly engaged to be able to spare troops. They also considered that +South China would be unable to maintain these conquests, and that they +themselves would find them later an easy prey. Thus in 417 the state of +"Later Ch'in" received a mortal blow from the South Chinese army. Large +numbers of the upper class fled to the Toba. As had been foreseen, the +South Chinese were unable to maintain their hold over the conquered +territory, and it was annexed with ease by the Hun Ho-lien P'o-p'o. But +why not by the Toba? + +Towards the end of the fourth century, vestiges of Hun, Hsien-pi, and +other tribes had united in Mongolia to form the new people of the +Juan-juan (also called Ju-juan or Jou-jan). Scholars disagree as to +whether the Juan-juan were Turks or Mongols; European investigators +believe them to have been identical with the Avars who appeared in the +Near East in 558 and later in Europe, and are inclined, on the strength +of a few vestiges of their language, to regard them as Mongols. +Investigations concerning the various tribes, however, show that among +the Juan-juan there were both Mongol and Turkish tribes, and that the +question cannot be decided in favour of either group. Some of the tribes +belonging to the Juan-juan had formerly lived in China. Others had lived +farther north or west and came into the history of the Far East now for +the first time. + +This Juan-juan people threatened the Toba in the rear, from the north. +It made raids into the Toba empire for the same reasons for which the +Huns in the past had raided agrarian China; for agriculture had made +considerable progress in the Toba empire. Consequently, before the Toba +could attempt to expand southward, the Juan-juan peril must be removed. +This was done in the end, after a long series of hard and not always +successful struggles. That was why the Toba had played no part in the +fighting against South China, and had been unable to take immediate +advantage of that fighting. + +After 429 the Juan-juan peril no longer existed, and in the years that +followed the whole of the small states of the west were destroyed, one +after another, by the Toba--the "Hsia kingdom" in 431, bringing down +with it the "Western Ch'in", and the "Northern Liang" in 439. The +non-Chinese elements of the population of those countries were moved +northward and served the Toba as soldiers; the Chinese also, especially +the remains of the Kansu "Western Liang" state (conquered in 420), were +enslaved, and some of them transferred to the north. Here again, +however, the influence of the Chinese gentry made itself felt after a +short time. As we know, the Chinese of "Western Liang" in Kansu had +originally migrated there from eastern China. Their eastern relatives +who had come under Toba rule through the conquest of eastern China and +who through their family connections with Chinese officials of the Toba +empire had found safety, brought their influence to bear on behalf of +the Chinese of Kansu, so that several families regained office and +social standing. + +[Illustration: Map 4: The Toba empire (_about A.D. 500_)] + +Their expansion into Kansu gave the Toba control of the commerce with +Turkestan, and there are many mentions of tribute missions to the Toba +court in the years that followed, some even from India. The Toba also +spread in the east. And finally there was fighting with South China +(430-431), which brought to the Toba empire a large part of the province +of Honan with the old capital, Loyang. Thus about 440 the Toba must be +described as the most powerful state in the Far East, ruling the whole +of North China. + +4 _Economic and social conditions_ + +The internal changes of which there had only been indications in the +first period of the Toba empire now proceeded at an accelerated pace. +There were many different factors at work. The whole of the civil +administration had gradually passed into Chinese hands, the Toba +retaining only the military administration. But the wars in the south +called for the services of specialists in fortification and in infantry +warfare, who were only to be found among the Chinese. The growing +influence of the Chinese was further promoted by the fact that many Toba +families were exterminated in the revolts of the tribal chieftains, and +others were wiped out in the many battles. Thus the Toba lost ground +also in the military administration. + +The wars down to A.D. 440 had been large-scale wars of conquest, +lightning campaigns that had brought in a great deal of booty. With +their loot the Toba developed great magnificence and luxury. The +campaigns that followed were hard and long-drawn-out struggles, +especially against South China, where there was no booty, because the +enemy retired so slowly that they could take everything with them. The +Toba therefore began to be impoverished, because plunder was the main +source of their wealth. In addition to this, their herds gradually +deteriorated, for less and less use was made of them; for instance, +horses were little required for the campaign against South China, and +there was next to no fighting in the north. In contrast with the +impoverishment of the Toba, the Chinese gentry grew not only more +powerful but more wealthy. + +The Toba seem to have tried to prevent this development by introducing +the famous "land equalization system" (_chün-t'ien_), one of their most +important innovations. The direct purposes of this measure were to +resettle uprooted farm population; to prevent further migrations of +farmers; and to raise production and taxes. The founder of this system +was Li An-shih, member of a Toba family and later husband of an imperial +princess. The plan was basically accepted in 477, put into action in +485, and remained the land law until _c_. 750. Every man and every +woman had a right to receive a certain amount of land for lifetime. +After their death, the land was redistributed. In addition to this +"personal land" there was so-called "mulberry land" on which farmers +could plant mulberries for silk production; but they also could plant +other crops under the trees. This land could be inherited from father to +son and was not redistributed. Incidentally we know many similar +regulations for trees in the Near East and Central Asia. As the tax was +levied upon the personal land in form of grain, and on the tree land in +form of silk, this regulation stimulated the cultivation of diversified +crops on the tree land which then was not taxable. The basic idea behind +this law was, that all land belonged to the state, a concept for which +the Toba could point to the ancient Chou but which also fitted well for +a dynasty of conquest. The new "_chün-t'ien_" system required a complete +land and population survey which was done in the next years. We know +from much later census fragments that the government tried to enforce +this equalization law, but did not always succeed; we read statements +such as "X has so and so much land; he has a claim on so and so much +land and, therefore, has to get so and so much"; but there are no +records that X ever received the land due to him. + +One consequence of the new land law was a legal fixation of the social +classes. Already during Han time (and perhaps even earlier) a +distinction had been made between "free burghers" (_liang-min_) and +"commoners" (_ch'ien-min_). This distinction had continued as informal +tradition until, now, it became a legal concept. Only "burghers", i.e. +gentry and free farmers, were real citizens with all rights of a free +man. The "commoners" were completely or partly unfree and fell under +several heads. Ranking as the lowest class were the real slaves (_nu_), +divided into state and private slaves. By law, slaves were regarded as +pieces of property, not as members of human society. They were, however, +forced to marry and thus, as a class, were probably reproducing at a +rate similar to that of the normal population, while slaves in Europe +reproduced at a lower rate than the population. The next higher class +were serfs (_fan-hu_), hereditary state servants, usually descendants of +state slaves. They were obliged to work three months during the year for +the state and were paid for this service. They were not registered in +their place of residence but under the control of the Ministry of +Agriculture which distributed them to other offices, but did not use +them for farm work. Similar in status to them were the private bondsmen +(_pu-ch'ü_), hereditarily attached to gentry families. These serfs +received only 50 per cent of the land which a free burgher received +under the land law. Higher than these were the service families +(_tsa-hu_), who were registered in their place of residence, but had to +perform certain services; here we find "tomb families" who cared for the +imperial tombs, "shepherd families", postal families, kiln families, +soothsayer families, medical families, and musician families. Each of +these categories of commoners had its own laws; each had to marry within +the category. No intermarriage or adoption was allowed. It is +interesting to observe that a similar fixation of the social status of +citizens occurred in the Roman Empire from _c_. A.D. 300 on. + +Thus in the years between 440 and 490 there were great changes not only +in the economic but in the social sphere. The Toba declined in number +and influence. Many of them married into rich families of the Chinese +gentry and regarded themselves as no longer belonging to the Toba. In +the course of time the court was completely sinified. + +The Chinese at the court now formed the leading element, and they tried +to persuade the emperor to claim dominion over all China, at least in +theory, by installing his capital in Loyang, the old centre of China. +This transfer had the advantage for them personally that the territories +in which their properties were situated were close to that capital, so +that the grain they produced found a ready market. And it was indeed no +longer possible to rule the great Toba empire, now covering the whole of +North China from North Shansi. The administrative staff was so great +that the transport system was no longer able to bring in sufficient +food. For the present capital did not lie on a navigable river, and all +the grain had to be carted, an expensive and unsafe mode of transport. +Ultimately, in 493-4, the Chinese gentry officials secured the transfer +of the capital to Loyang. In the years 490 to 499 the Toba emperor Wen +Ti (471-499) took further decisive steps required by the stage reached +in internal development. All aliens were prohibited from using their own +language in public life. Chinese became the official language. Chinese +clothing and customs also became general. The system of administration +which had largely followed a pattern developed by the Wei dynasty in the +early third century, was changed and took a form which became the model +for the T'ang dynasty in the seventh century. It is important to note +that in this period, for the first time, an office for religious affairs +was created which dealt mainly with Buddhistic monasteries. While after +the Toba period such an office for religious affairs disappeared again, +this idea was taken up later by Japan when Japan accepted a Chinese-type +of administration. + +[Illustration: 6 Sun Ch'üan, ruler of Wu. _From a painting by Yen +Li-pen (c_. 640-680).] + +[Illustration: 7 General view of the Buddhist cave-temples of Yün-kang. +In the foreground, the present village; in the background, the rampart. +_Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +Owing to his bringing up, the emperor no longer regarded himself as Toba +but as Chinese; he adopted the Chinese culture, acting as he was bound +to do if he meant to be no longer an alien ruler in North China. Already +he regarded himself as emperor of all China, so that the South Chinese +empire was looked upon as a rebel state that had to be conquered. While, +however, he succeeded in everything else, the campaign against the south +failed except for some local successes. + +The transfer of the capital to Loyang was a blow to the Toba nobles. +Their herds became valueless, for animal products could not be carried +over the long distance to the new capital. In Loyang the Toba nobles +found themselves parted from their tribes, living in an unaccustomed +climate and with nothing to do, for all important posts were occupied by +Chinese. The government refused to allow them to return to the north. +Those who did not become Chinese by finding their way into Chinese +families grew visibly poorer and poorer. + +5 _Victory and retreat of Buddhism_ + +What we said in regard to the religious position of the other alien +peoples applied also to the Toba. As soon, however, as their empire +grew, they, too, needed an "official" religion of their own. For a few +years they had continued their old sacrifices to Heaven; then another +course opened to them. The Toba, together with many Chinese living in +the Toba empire, were all captured by Buddhism, and especially by its +shamanist element. One element in their preference of Buddhism was +certainly the fact that Buddhism accepted all foreigners alike--both the +Toba and the Chinese were "foreign" converts to an essentially Indian +religion; whereas the Confucianist Chinese always made the non-Chinese +feel that in spite of all their attempts they were still "barbarians" +and that only real Chinese could be real Confucianists. + +Secondly, it can be assumed that the Toba rulers by fostering Buddhism +intended to break the power of the Chinese gentry. A few centuries +later, Buddhism was accepted by the Tibetan kings to break the power of +the native nobility, by the Japanese to break the power of a federation +of noble clans, and still later by the Burmese kings for the same +reason. The acceptance of Buddhism by rulers in the Far East always +meant also an attempt to create a more autocratic, absolutistic regime. +Mahayana Buddhism, as an ideal, desired a society without clear-cut +classes under one enlightened ruler; in such a society all believers +could strive to attain the ultimate goal of salvation. + +Throughout the early period of Buddhism in the Far East, the question +had been discussed what should be the relations between the Buddhist +monks and the emperor, whether they were subject to him or not. This was +connected, of course, with the fact that to the early fourth century the +Buddhist monks were foreigners who, in the view prevalent in the Far +East, owed only a limited allegiance to the ruler of the land. The +Buddhist monks at the Toba court now submitted to the emperor, regarding +him as a reincarnation of Buddha. Thus the emperor became protector of +Buddhism and a sort of god. This combination was a good substitute for +the old Chinese theory that the emperor was the Son of Heaven; it +increased the prestige and the splendour of the dynasty. At the same +time the old shamanism was legitimized under a Buddhist +reinterpretation. Thus Buddhism became a sort of official religion. The +emperor appointed a Buddhist monk as head of the Buddhist state church, +and through this "Pope" he conveyed endowments on a large scale to the +church. T'an-yao, head of the state church since 460, induced the state +to attach state slaves, i.e. enslaved family members of criminals, and +their families to state temples. They were supposed to work on temple +land and to produce for the upkeep of the temples and monasteries. Thus, +the institution of "temple slaves" was created, an institution which +existed in South Asia and Burma for a long time, and which greatly +strengthened the economic position of Buddhism. + +Like all Turkish peoples, the Toba possessed a myth according to which +their ancestors came into the world from a sacred grotto. The Buddhists +took advantage of this conception to construct, with money from the +emperor, the vast and famous cave-temple of Yün-kang, in northern +Shansi. If we come from the bare plains into the green river valley, we +may see to this day hundreds of caves cut out of the steep cliffs of the +river bank. Here monks lived in their cells, worshipping the deities of +whom they had thousands of busts and reliefs sculptured in stone, some +of more than life-size, some diminutive. The majestic impression made +today by the figures does not correspond to their original effect, for +they were covered with a layer of coloured stucco. + +We know only few names of the artists and craftsmen who made these +objects. Probably some at least were foreigners from Turkestan, for in +spite of the predominantly Chinese character of these sculptures, some +of them are reminiscent of works in Turkestan and even in the Near East. +In the past the influences of the Near East on the Far East--influences +traced back in the last resort to Greece--were greatly exaggerated; it +was believed that Greek art, carried through Alexander's campaign as far +as the present Afghanistan, degenerated there in the hands of Indian +imitators (the so-called Gandhara art) and ultimately passed on in more +and more distorted forms through Turkestan to China. Actually, however, +some eight hundred years lay between Alexander's campaign and the Toba +period sculptures at Yün-kang and, owing to the different cultural +development, the contents of the Greek and the Toba-period art were +entirely different. We may say, therefore, that suggestions came from +the centre of the Greco-Bactrian culture (in the present Afghanistan) +and were worked out by the Toba artists; old forms were filled with a +new content, and the elements in the reliefs of Yün-kang that seem to us +to be non-Chinese were the result of this synthesis of Western +inspiration and Turkish initiative. It is interesting to observe that +all steppe rulers showed special interest in sculpture and, as a rule, +in architecture; after the Toba period, sculpture flourished in China in +the T'ang period, the period of strong cultural influence from Turkish +peoples, and there was a further advance of sculpture and of the +cave-dwellers' worship in the period of the "Five Dynasties" (906-960; +three of these dynasties were Turkish) and in the Mongol period. + +But not all Buddhists joined the "Church", just as not all Taoists had +joined the Church of Chang Ling's Taoism. Some Buddhists remained in the +small towns and villages and suffered oppression from the central +Church. These village Buddhist monks soon became instigators of a +considerable series of attempts at revolution. Their Buddhism was of the +so-called "Maitreya school", which promised the appearance on earth of a +new Buddha who would do away with all suffering and introduce a Golden +Age. The Chinese peasantry, exploited by the gentry, came to the support +of these monks whose Messianism gave the poor a hope in this world. The +nomad tribes also, abandoned by their nobles in the capital and +wandering in poverty with their now worthless herds, joined these monks. +We know of many revolts of Hun and Toba tribes in this period, revolts +that had a religious appearance but in reality were simply the result of +the extreme impoverishment of these remaining tribes. + +In addition to these conflicts between state and popular Buddhism, +clashes between Buddhists and representatives of organized Taoism +occurred. Such fights, however, reflected more the power struggle +between cliques than between religious groups. The most famous incident +was the action against the Buddhists in 446 which brought destruction to +many temples and monasteries and death to many monks. Here, a mighty +Chinese gentry faction under the leadership of the Ts'ui family had +united with the Taoist leader K'ou Ch'ien-chih against another faction +under the leadership of the crown prince. + +With the growing influence of the Chinese gentry, however, Confucianism +gained ground again, until with the transfer of the capital to Loyang it +gained a complete victory, taking the place of Buddhism and becoming +once more as in the past the official religion of the state. This +process shows us once more how closely the social order of the gentry +was associated with Confucianism. + + +(E) Succession States of the Toba (A.D. 550-580): Northern Ch'i dynasty, +Northern Chou dynasty + +1 _Reasons for the splitting of the Toba empire_ + +Events now pursued their logical course. The contrast between the +central power, now become entirely Chinese, and the remains of the +tribes who were with their herds mainly in Shansi and the Ordos region +and were hopelessly impoverished, grew more and more acute. From 530 +onward the risings became more and more formidable. A few Toba who still +remained with their old tribes placed themselves at the head of the +rebels and conquered not only the whole of Shansi but also the capital, +where there was a great massacre of Chinese and pro-Chinese Toba. The +rebels were driven back; in this a man of the Kao family distinguished +himself, and all the Chinese and pro-Chinese gathered round him. The Kao +family, which may have been originally a Hsien-pi family, had its +estates in eastern China and so was closely associated with the eastern +Chinese gentry, who were the actual rulers of the Toba State. In 534 +this group took the impotent emperor of their own creation to the city +of Yeh in the east, where he reigned _de jure_ for a further sixteen +years. Then he was deposed, and Kao Yang made himself the first emperor +of the Northern Ch'i dynasty (550-577). + +The national Toba group, on the other hand, found another man of the +imperial family and established him in the west. After a short time this +puppet was removed from the throne and a man of the Yü-wen family made +himself emperor, founding the "Northern Chou dynasty" (557-580). The +Hsien-pi family of Yü-wen was a branch of the Hsien-pi, but was closely +connected with the Huns and probably of Turkish origin. All the still +existing remains of Toba tribes who had eluded sinification moved into +this western empire. + +The splitting of the Toba empire into these two separate realms was the +result of the policy embarked on at the foundation of the empire. Once +the tribal chieftains and nobles had been separated from their tribes +and organized militarily, it was inevitable that the two elements should +have different social destinies. The nobles could not hold their own +against the Chinese; if they were not actually eliminated in one way or +another, they disappeared into Chinese families. The rest, the people of +the tribe, became destitute and were driven to revolt. The northern +peoples had been unable to perpetuate either their tribal or their +military organization, and the Toba had been equally unsuccessful in +their attempt to perpetuate the two forms of organization alongside each +other. + +These social processes are of particular importance because the ethnical +disappearance of the northern peoples in China had nothing to do with +any racial inferiority or with any particular power of assimilation; it +was a natural process resulting from the different economic, social, and +cultural organizations of the northern peoples and the Chinese. + +2 _Appearance of the (Gök) Turks_ + +The Toba had liberated themselves early in the fifth century from the +Juan-juan peril. None of the fighting that followed was of any great +importance. The Toba resorted to the old means of defence against +nomads--they built great walls. Apart from that, after their move +southward to Loyang, their new capital, they were no longer greatly +interested in their northern territories. When the Toba empire split +into the Ch'i and the Northern Chou, the remaining Juan-juan entered +into treaties first with one realm and then with the other: each realm +wanted to secure the help of the Juan-juan against the other. + +Meanwhile there came unexpectedly to the fore in the north a people +grouped round a nucleus tribe of Huns, the tribal union of the +"T'u-chüeh", that is to say the Gök Turks, who began to pursue a policy +of their own under their khan. In 546 they sent a mission to the western +empire, then in the making, of the Northern Chou, and created the first +bonds with it, following which the Northern Chou became allies of the +Turks. The eastern empire, Ch'i, accordingly made terms with the +Juan-juan, but in 552 the latter suffered a crushing defeat at the hands +of the Turks, their former vassals. The remains of the Juan-juan either +fled to the Ch'i state or went reluctantly into the land of the Chou. +Soon there was friction between the Juan-juan and the Ch'i, and in 555 +the Juan-juan in that state were annihilated. In response to pressure +from the Turks, the Juan-juan in the western empire of the Northern Chou +were delivered up to them and killed in the same year. The Juan-juan +then disappeared from the history of the Far East. They broke up into +their several tribes, some of which were admitted into the Turks' tribal +league. A few years later the Turks also annihilated the Ephtalites, +who had been allied with the Juan-juan; this made the Turks the dominant +power in Central Asia. The Ephtalites (Yeh-ta, Haytal) were a mixed +group which contained elements of the old Yüeh-chih and spoke an +Indo-European language. Some scholars regard them as a branch of the +Tocharians of Central Asia. One menace to the northern states of China +had disappeared--that of the Juan-juan. Their place was taken by a much +more dangerous power, the Turks. + +3 _The Northern Ch'i dynasty; the Northern Chou dynasty_ + +In consequence of this development the main task of the Northern Chou +state consisted in the attempt to come to some settlement with its +powerful Turkish neighbours, and meanwhile to gain what it could from +shrewd negotiations with its other neighbours. By means of intrigues and +diplomacy it intervened with some success in the struggles in South +China. One of the pretenders to the throne was given protection; he was +installed in the present Hankow as a quasi-feudal lord depending on +Chou, and there he founded the "Later Liang dynasty" (555-587). In this +way Chou had brought the bulk of South China under its control without +itself making any real contribution to that result. + +Unlike the Chinese state of Ch'i, Chou followed the old Toba tradition. +Old customs were revived, such as the old sacrifice to Heaven and the +lifting of the emperor on to a carpet at his accession to the throne; +family names that had been sinified were turned into Toba names again, +and even Chinese were given Toba names; but in spite of this the inner +cohesion had been destroyed. After two centuries it was no longer +possible to go back to the old nomad, tribal life. There were also too +many Chinese in the country, with whom close bonds had been forged +which, in spite of all attempts, could not be broken. Consequently there +was no choice but to organize a state essentially similar to that of the +great Toba empire. + +There is just as little of importance that can be said of the internal +politics of the Ch'i dynasty. The rulers of that dynasty were thoroughly +repulsive figures, with no positive achievements of any sort to their +credit. Confucianism had been restored in accordance with the Chinese +character of the state. It was a bad time for Buddhists, and especially +for the followers of the popularized Taoism. In spite of this, about +A.D. 555 great new Buddhist cave-temples were created in Lung-men, near +Loyang, in imitation of the famous temples of Yün-kang. + +The fighting with the western empire, the Northern Chou state, still +continued, and Ch'i was seldom successful. In 563 Chou made preparations +for a decisive blow against Ch'i, but suffered defeat because the Turks, +who had promised aid, gave none and shortly afterwards began campaigns +of their own against Ch'i. In 571 Ch'i had some success in the west +against Chou, but then it lost parts of its territory to the South +Chinese empire, and finally in 576-7 it was defeated by Chou in a great +counter-offensive. Thus for some three years all North China was once +more under a single rule, though of nothing approaching the strength of +the Toba at the height of their power. For in all these campaigns the +Turks had played an important part, and at the end they annexed further +territory in the north of Ch'i, so that their power extended far into +the east. + +Meanwhile intrigue followed intrigue at the court of Chou; the mutual +assassinations within the ruling group were as incessant as in the last +years of the great Toba empire, until the real power passed from the +emperor and his Toba entourage to a Chinese family, the Yang. Yang +Chien's daughter was the wife of a Chou emperor; his son was married to +a girl of the Hun family Tu-ku; her sister was the wife of the father of +the Chou emperor. Amid this tangled relationship in the imperial house +it is not surprising that Yang Chien should attain great power. The +Tu-ku were a very old family of the Hun nobility; originally the name +belonged to the Hun house from which the _shan-yü_ had to be descended. +This family still observed the traditions of the Hun rulers, and +relationship with it was regarded as an honour even by the Chinese. +Through their centuries of association with aristocratically organized +foreign peoples, some of the notions of nobility had taken root among +the Chinese gentry; to be related with old ruling houses was a welcome +means of evidencing or securing a position of special distinction among +the gentry. Yang Chien gained useful prestige from his family +connections. After the leading Chinese cliques had regained predominance +in the Chou empire, much as had happened before in the Toba empire, Yang +Chien's position was strong enough to enable him to massacre the members +of the imperial family and then, in 581, to declare himself emperor. +Thus began the Sui dynasty, the first dynasty that was once more to rule +all China. + +But what had happened to the Toba? With the ending of the Chou empire +they disappeared for all time, just as the Juan-juan had done a little +earlier. So far as the tribes did not entirely disintegrate, the people +of the tribes seem during the last years of Toba and Chou to have joined +Turkish and other tribes. In any case, nothing more is heard of them as +a people, and they themselves lived on under the name of the tribe that +led the new tribal league. + +Most of the Toba nobility, on the other hand, became Chinese. This +process can be closely followed in the Chinese annals. The tribes that +had disintegrated in the time of the Toba empire broke up into families +of which some adopted the name of the tribe as their family name, while +others chose Chinese family names. During the centuries that followed, +in some cases indeed down to modern times, these families continue to +appear, often playing an important part in Chinese history. + + +(F) The Southern Empires + +1 _Economic and social situation in the south_ + +During the 260 years of alien rule in North China, the picture of South +China also was full of change. When in 317 the Huns had destroyed the +Chinese Chin dynasty in the north, a Chin prince who normally would not +have become heir to the throne declared himself, under the name Yüan Ti, +the first emperor of the "Eastern Chin dynasty" (317-419). The capital +of this new southern empire adjoined the present Nanking. Countless +members of the Chinese gentry had fled from the Huns at that time and +had come into the southern empire. They had not done so out of loyalty +to the Chinese dynasty or out of national feeling, but because they saw +little prospect of attaining rank and influence at the courts of the +alien rulers, and because it was to be feared that the aliens would turn +the fields into pasturage, and also that they would make an end of the +economic and monetary system which the gentry had evolved for their own +benefit. + +But the south was, of course, not uninhabited. There were already two +groups living there--the old autochthonous population, consisting of +Yao, Tai and Yüeh, and the earlier Chinese immigrants from the north, +who had mainly arrived in the time of the Three Kingdoms, at the +beginning of the third century A.D. The countless new immigrants now +came into sharp conflict with the old-established earlier immigrants. +Each group looked down on the other and abused it. The two immigrant +groups in particular not only spoke different dialects but had developed +differently in respect to manners and customs. A look for example at +Formosa in the years after 1948 will certainly help in an understanding +of this situation: analogous tensions developed between the new +refugees, the old Chinese immigrants, and the native Formosan +population. But let us return to the southern empires. + +The two immigrant groups also differed economically and socially: the +old immigrants were firmly established on the large properties they had +acquired, and dominated their tenants, who were largely autochthones; or +they had engaged in large-scale commerce. In any case, they possessed +capital, and more capital than was usually possessed by the gentry of +the north. Some of the new immigrants, on the other hand, were military +people. They came with empty hands, and they had no land. They hoped +that the government would give them positions in the military +administration and so provide them with means; they tried to gain +possession of the government and to exclude the old settlers as far as +possible. The tension was increased by the effect of the influx of +Chinese in bringing more land into cultivation, thus producing a boom +period such as is produced by the opening up of colonial land. Everyone +was in a hurry to grab as much land as possible. There was yet a further +difference between the two groups of Chinese: the old settlers had long +lost touch with the remainder of their families in the north. They had +become South Chinese, and all their interests lay in the south. The new +immigrants had left part of their families in the north under alien +rule. Their interests still lay to some extent in the north. They were +working for the reconquest of the north by military means; at times +individuals or groups returned to the north, while others persuaded the +rest of their relatives to come south. It would be wrong to suppose that +there was no inter-communication between the two parts into which China +had fallen. As soon as the Chinese gentry were able to regain any +footing in the territories under alien rule, the official relations, +often those of belligerency, proceeded alongside unofficial intercourse +between individual families and family groupings, and these latter were, +as a rule, in no way belligerent. + +The lower stratum in the south consisted mainly of the remains of the +original non-Chinese population, particularly in border and southern +territories which had been newly annexed from time to time. In the +centre of the southern state the way of life of the non-Chinese was very +quickly assimilated to that of the Chinese, so that the aborigines were +soon indistinguishable from Chinese. The remaining part of the lower +class consisted of impoverished Chinese peasants. This whole lower +section of the population rarely took any active and visible part in +politics, except at times in the form of great popular risings. + +Until the third century, the south had been of no great economic +importance, in spite of the good climate and the extraordinary fertility +of the Yangtze valley. The country had been too thinly settled, and the +indigenous population had not become adapted to organized trade. After +the move southward of the Chin dynasty the many immigrants had made the +country of the lower Yangtze more thickly populated, but not +over-populated. The top-heavy court with more than the necessary number +of officials (because there was still hope for a reconquest of the north +which would mean many new jobs for administrators) was a great consumer; +prices went up and stimulated local rice production. The estates of the +southern gentry yielded more than before, and naturally much more than +the small properties of the gentry in the north where, moreover, the +climate is far less favourable. Thus the southern landowners were able +to acquire great wealth, which ultimately made itself felt in the +capital. + +One very important development was characteristic in this period in the +south, although it also occurred in the north. Already in pre-Han times, +some rulers had gardens with fruit trees. The Han emperors had large +hunting parks which were systematically stocked with rare animals; they +also had gardens and hot-houses for the production of vegetables for the +court. These "gardens" (_yüan_) were often called "manors" (_pieh-yeh_) +and consisted of fruit plantations with luxurious buildings. We hear +soon of water-cooled houses for the gentry, of artificial ponds for +pleasure and fish breeding, artificial water-courses, artificial +mountains, bamboo groves, and parks with parrots, ducks, and large +animals. Here, the wealthy gentry of both north and south, relaxed from +government work, surrounded by their friends and by women. These manors +grew up in the hills, on the "village commons" where formerly the +villagers had collected their firewood and had grazed their animals. +Thus, the village commons begin to disappear. The original farm land was +taxed, because it produced one of the two products subject to taxation, +namely grain or mulberry leaves for silk production. But the village +common had been and remained tax-free because it did not produce taxable +things. While land-holdings on the farmland were legally restricted in +their size, the "gardens" were unrestricted. Around A.D. 500 the ruler +allowed high officials to have manors of three hundred mou size, while +in the north a family consisting of husband and wife and children below +fifteen years of age were allowed a farm of sixty mou only; but we hear +of manors which were many times larger than the allowed size of three +hundred. These manors began to play an important economic role, too: +they were cultivated by tenants and produced fishes, vegetables, fruit +and bamboo for the market, thus they gave more income than ordinary rice +or wheat land. + +With the creation of manors the total amount of land under cultivation +increased, though not the amount of grain-producing land. We gain the +impression that from _c_. the third century A.D. on to the eleventh +century the intensity of cultivation was generally lower than in the +period before. + +The period from _c_. A.D. 300 on also seems to be the time of the second +change in Chinese dietary habits. The first change occurred probably +between 400 and 100 B.C. when the meat-eating Chinese reduced their meat +intake greatly, gave up eating beef and mutton and changed over to some +pork and dog meat. This first change was the result of increase of +population and decrease of available land for pasturage. Cattle breeding +in China was then reduced to the minimum of one cow or water-buffalo per +farm for ploughing. Wheat was the main staple for the masses of the +people. Between A.D. 300 and 600 rice became the main staple in the +southern states although, theoretically, wheat could have been grown and +some wheat probably was grown in the south. The vitamin and protein +deficiencies which this change from wheat to rice brought forth, were +made up by higher consumption of vegetables, especially beans, and +partially also by eating of fish and sea food. In the north, rice became +the staple food of the upper class, while wheat remained the main food +of the lower classes. However, new forms of preparation of wheat, such +as dumplings of different types, were introduced. The foreign rulers +consumed more meat and milk products. Chinese had given up the use of +milk products at the time of the first change, and took to them to some +extent only in periods of foreign rule. + +2 _Struggles between cliques under the Eastern Chin dynasty_ (A.D. +317-419) + +The officials immigrating from the north regarded the south as colonial +country, and so as more or less uncivilized. They went into its +provinces in order to get rich as quickly as possible, and they had no +desire to live there for long: they had the same dislike of a provincial +existence as had the families of the big landowners. Thus as a rule the +bulk of the families remained in the capital, close to the court. +Thither the products accumulated in the provinces were sent, and they +found a ready sale, as the capital was also a great and long-established +trading centre with a rich merchant class. Thus in the capital there was +every conceivable luxury and every refinement of civilization. The +people of the gentry class, who were maintained in the capital by +relatives serving in the provinces as governors or senior officers, +themselves held offices at court, though these gave them little to do. +They had time at their disposal, and made use of it--in much worse +intrigues than ever before, but also in music and poetry and in the +social life of the harems. There is no question at all that the highest +refinement of the civilization of the Far East between the fourth and +the sixth century was to be found in South China, but the accompaniments +of this over-refinement were terrible. + +We cannot enter into all the intrigues recorded at this time. The +details are, indeed, historically unimportant. They were concerned only +with the affairs of the court and its entourage. Not a single ruler of +the Eastern Chin dynasty possessed personal or political qualities of +any importance. The rulers' power was extremely limited because, with +the exception of the founder of the state, Yüan Ti, who had come rather +earlier, they belonged to the group of the new immigrants, and so had no +firm footing and were therefore caught at once in the net of the newly +re-grouping gentry class. + +The emperor Yüan Ti lived to see the first great rising. This rising +(under Wang Tun) started in the region of the present Hankow, a region +that today is one of the most important in China; it was already a +centre of special activity. To it lead all the trade routes from the +western provinces of Szechwan and Kweichow and from the central +provinces of Hupei, Hunan, and Kiangsi. Normally the traffic from those +provinces comes down the Yangtze, and thus in practice this region is +united with that of the lower Yangtze, the environment of Nanking, so +that Hankow might just as well have been the capital as Nanking. For +this reason, in the period with which we are now concerned the region of +the present Hankow was several times the place of origin of great +risings whose aim was to gain control of the whole of the southern +empire. + +Wang Tun had grown rich and powerful in this region; he also had near +relatives at the imperial court; so he was able to march against the +capital. The emperor in his weakness was ready to abdicate but died +before that stage was reached. His son, however, defeated Wang Tun with +the aid of General Yü Liang (A.D. 323). Yü Liang was the empress's +brother; he, too, came from a northern family. Yüan Ti's successor also +died early, and the young son of Yü Liang's sister came to the throne as +Emperor Ch'eng (326-342); his mother ruled as regent, but Yü Liang +carried on the actual business of government. Against this clique rose +Su Chün, another member of the northern gentry, who had made himself +leader of a bandit gang in A.D. 300 but had then been given a military +command by the dynasty. In 328 he captured the capital and kidnapped the +emperor, but then fell before the counterthrust of the Yü Liang party. +The domination of Yü Liang's clique continued after the death of the +twenty-one-years-old emperor. His twenty-year-old brother was set in +his place; he, too, died two years later, and his two-year-old son +became emperor (Mu Ti, 345-361). + +Meanwhile this clique was reinforced by the very important Huan family. +This family came from the same city as the imperial house and was a very +old gentry family of that city. One of the family attained a high post +through personal friendship with Yü Liang: on his death his son Huan Wen +came into special prominence as military commander. + +Huan Wen, like Wang Tun and others before him, tried to secure a firm +foundation for his power, once more in the west. In 347 he reconquered +Szechwan and deposed the local dynasty. Following this, Huan Wen and the +Yü family undertook several joint campaigns against northern states--the +first reaction of the south against the north, which in the past had +always been the aggressor. The first fighting took place directly to the +north, where the collapse of the "Later Chao" seemed to make +intervention easy. The main objective was the regaining of the regions +of eastern Honan, northern Anhui and Kiangsu, in which were the family +seats of Huan's and the emperor's families, as well as that of the Hsieh +family which also formed an important group in the court clique. The +purpose of the northern campaigns was not, of course, merely to defend +private interests of court cliques: the northern frontier was the weak +spot of the southern empire, for its plains could easily be overrun. It +was then observed that the new "Earlier Ch'in" state was trying to +spread from the north-west eastwards into this plain, and Ch'in was +attacked in an attempt to gain a more favourable frontier territory. +These expeditions brought no important practical benefit to the south; +and they were not embarked on with full force, because there was only +the one court clique at the back of them, and that not whole-heartedly, +since it was too much taken up with the politics of the court. + +Huan Wen's power steadily grew in the period that followed. He sent his +brothers and relatives to administer the regions along the upper +Yangtze; those fertile regions were the basis of his power. In 371 he +deposed the reigning emperor and appointed in his place a frail old +prince who died a year later, as required, and was replaced by a child. +The time had now come when Huan Wen might have ascended the throne +himself, but he died. None of his family could assemble as much power as +Huan Wen had done. The equality of strength of the Huan and the Hsieh +saved the dynasty for a time. + +In 383 came the great assault of the Tibetan Fu Chien against the +south. As we know, the defence was carried out more by the methods of +diplomacy and intrigue than by military means, and it led to the +disaster in the north already described. The successes of the southern +state especially strengthened the Hsieh family, whose generals had come +to the fore. The emperor (Hsiao Wu Ti, 373-396), who had come to the +throne as a child, played no part in events at any time during his +reign. He occupied himself occasionally with Buddhism, and otherwise +only with women and wine. He was followed by his five-year-old son. At +this time there were some changes in the court clique. In the Huan +family Huan Hsüan, a son of Huan Wen, came especially into prominence. +He parted from the Hsieh family, which had been closest to the emperor, +and united with the Wang (the empress's) and Yin families. The Wang, an +old Shansi family, had already provided two empresses, and was therefore +strongly represented at court. The Yin had worked at first with the +Hsieh, especially as the two families came from the same region, but +afterwards the Yin went over to Huan Hsüan. At first this new clique had +success, but later one of its generals, Liu Lao-chih, went over to the +Hsieh clique, and its power declined. Wang Kung was killed, and Yin +Chung-k'an fell away from Huan Hsüan and was killed by him in 399. Huan +Hsüan himself, however, held his own in the regions loyal to him. Liu +Lao-chih had originally belonged to the Hsieh clique, and his family +came from a region not far from that of the Hsieh. He was very +ambitious, however, and always took the side which seemed most to his +own interest. For a time he joined Huan Hsüan; then he went over to the +Hsieh, and finally returned to Huan Hsüan in 402 when the latter reached +the height of his power. At that moment Liu Lao-chih was responsible for +the defence of the capital from Huan Hsüan, but instead he passed over +to him. Thus Huan Hsüan conquered the capital, deposed the emperor, and +began a dynasty of his own. Then came the reaction, led by an earlier +subordinate of Liu Lao-chih, Liu Yü. It may be assumed that these two +army commanders were in some way related, though the two branches of +their family must have been long separated. Liu Yü had distinguished +himself especially in the suppression of a great popular rising which, +around the year 400, had brought wide stretches of Chinese territory +under the rebels' power, beginning with the southern coast. This rising +was the first in the south. It was led by members of a secret society +which was a direct continuation of the "Yellow Turbans" of the latter +part of the second century A.D. and of organized church-Taoism. The +whole course of this rising of the exploited and ill-treated lower +classes was very similar to that of the popular rising of the "Yellow +Turbans". The movement spread as far as the neighbourhood of Canton, +but in the end it was suppressed, mainly by Liu Yü. + +Through these achievements Liu Yü's military power and political +influence steadily increased; he became the exponent of all the cliques +working against the Huan clique. He arranged for his supporters to +dispose of Huan Hsüan's chief collaborators; and then, in 404, he +himself marched on the capital. Huan Hsüan had to flee, and in his +flight he was killed in the upper Yangtze region. The emperor was +restored to his throne, but he had as little to say as ever, for the +real power was Liu Yü's. + +Before making himself emperor, Liu Yü began his great northern campaign, +aimed at the conquest of the whole of western China. The Toba had +promised to remain neutral, and in 415 he was able to conquer the "Later +Ch'in" in Shensi. The first aim of this campaign was to make more +accessible the trade routes to Central Asia, which up to now had led +through the difficult mountain passes of Szechwan; to this end treaties +of alliance had been concluded with the states in Kansu against the +"Later Ch'in". In the second place, this war was intended to increase Liu +Yü's military strength to such an extent that the imperial crown would +be assured to him; and finally he hoped to cut the claws of pro-Huan +Hsüan elements in the "Later Ch'in" kingdom who, for the sake of the +link with Turkestan, had designs on Szechwan. + +3 _The Liu-Sung dynasty_ (A.D. 420-478) _and the Southern Ch'i dynasty_ +(479-501) + +After his successes in 416-17 in Shensi, Liu Yü returned to the capital, +and shortly after he lost the chief fruits of his victory to Ho-lien +P'o-p'o, the Hun ruler in the north, while Liu Yü himself was occupied +with the killing of the emperor (419) and the installation of a puppet. +In 420 the puppet had to abdicate and Liu Yü became emperor. He called +his dynasty the Sung dynasty, but to distinguish it from another and +more famous Sung dynasty of later time his dynasty is also called the +Liu-Sung dynasty. + +The struggles and intrigues of cliques against each other continued as +before. We shall pass quickly over this period after a glance at the +nature of these internal struggles. + +Part of the old imperial family and its following fled northward from +Liu Yü and surrendered to the Toba. There they agitated for a campaign +of vengeance against South China, and they were supported at the court +of the Toba by many families of the gentry with landed interests in the +south. Thus long-continued fighting started between Sung and Toba, +concerned mainly with the domains of the deposed imperial family and +its following. This fighting brought little success to south China, and +about 450 it produced among the Toba an economic and social crisis that +brought the wars to a temporary close. In this pause the Sung turned to +the extreme south, and tried to gain influence there and in Annam. The +merchant class and the gentry families of the capital who were allied +with it were those chiefly interested in this expansion. + +About 450 began the Toba policy of shifting the central government to +the region of the Yellow River, to Loyang; for this purpose the frontier +had to be pushed farther south. Their great campaign brought the Toba in +450 down to the Yangtze. The Sung suffered a heavy defeat; they had to +pay tribute, and the Toba annexed parts of their northern territory. + +The Sung emperors who followed were as impotent as their predecessors +and personally much more repulsive. Nothing happened at court but +drinking, licentiousness, and continual murders. + +From 460 onward there were a number of important risings of princes; in +some of them the Toba had a hand. They hoped by supporting one or +another of the pretenders to gain overlordship over the whole of the +southern empire. In these struggles in the south the Hsiao family, +thanks mainly to General Hsiao Tao-ch'eng, steadily gained in power, +especially as the family was united by marriage with the imperial house. +In 477 Hsiao Tao-ch'eng finally had the emperor killed by an accomplice, +the son of a shamaness; he set a boy on the throne and made himself +regent. Very soon after this the boy emperor and all the members of the +imperial family were murdered, and Hsiao Tao-ch'eng created the +"Southern Ch'i" dynasty (479-501). Once more the remaining followers of +the deposed dynasty fled northward to the Toba, and at once fighting +between Toba and the south began again. + +This fighting ended with a victory for the Toba and with the final +establishment of the Toba in the new capital of Loyang. South China was +heavily defeated again and again, but never finally conquered. There +were intervals of peace. In the years between 480 and 490 there was less +disorder in the south, at all events in internal affairs. Princes were +more often appointed to governorships, and the influence of the cliques +was thus weakened. In spite of this, a stable regime was not built up, +and in 494 a prince rose against the youthful emperor. This prince, with +the help of his clique including the Ch'en family, which later attained +importance, won the day, murdered the emperor, and became emperor +himself. All that is recorded about him is that he fought unsuccessfully +against the Toba, and that he had the whole of his own family killed out +of fear that one of its members might act exactly as he had done. After +his death there were conflicts between the emperor's few remaining +relatives; in these the Toba again had a hand. The victor was a person +named Hsiao Yen; he removed the reigning emperor in the usual way and +made himself emperor. Although he belonged to the imperial family, he +altered the name of the dynasty, and reigned from 502 as the first +emperor of the "Liang dynasty". + +[Illustration: 8 Detail from the Buddhist cave-reliefs of Lung-men. +_From a print in the author's possession_.] + +[Illustration: 9 Statue of Mi-lo (Maitreya, the next future Buddha), in +the 'Great Buddha Temple' at Chengting (Hopei). _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +4 _The Liang dynasty_ (A.D. 502-556) + +The fighting with the Toba continued until 515. As a rule the Toba were +the more successful, not at least through the aid of princes of the +deposed "Southern Ch'i dynasty" and their followers. Wars began also in +the west, where the Toba tried to cut off the access of the Liang to the +caravan routes to Turkestan. In 507, however, the Toba suffered an +important defeat. The southern states had tried at all times to work +with the Kansu states against the northern states; the Toba now followed +suit and allied themselves with a large group of native chieftains of +the south, whom they incited to move against the Liang. This produced +great native unrest, especially in the provinces by the upper Yangtze. +The natives, who were steadily pushed back by the Chinese peasants, were +reduced to migrating into the mountain country or to working for the +Chinese in semi-servile conditions; and they were ready for revolt and +very glad to work with the Toba. The result of this unrest was not +decisive, but it greatly reduced the strength of the regions along the +upper Yangtze. Thus the main strength of the southern state was more +than ever confined to the Nanking region. + +The first emperor of the Liang dynasty, who assumed the name Wu Ti +(502-549), became well known in the Western world owing to his love of +literature and of Buddhism. After he had come to the throne with the aid +of his followers, he took no further interest in politics; he left that +to his court clique. From now on, however, the political initiative +really belonged to the north. At this time there began in the Toba +empire the risings of tribal leaders against the government which we +have fully described above. One of these leaders, Hou Ching, who had +become powerful as a military leader in the north, tried in 547 to +conclude a private alliance with the Liang to strengthen his own +position. At the same time the ruler of the northern state of the +"Northern Ch'i", then in process of formation, himself wanted to +negotiate an alliance with the Liang, in order to be able to get rid of +Hou Ching. There was indecision in Liang. Hou Ching, who had been +getting into difficulties, now negotiated with a dissatisfied prince in +Liang, invaded the country in 548 with the prince's aid, captured the +capital in 549, and killed Emperor Wu. Hou Ching now staged the usual +spectacle: he put a puppet on the imperial throne, deposed him eighteen +months later and made himself emperor. + +This man of the Toba on the throne of South China was unable, however, +to maintain his position; he had not sufficient backing. He was at war +with the new rulers in the northern empire, and his own army, which was +not very large, melted away; above all, he proceeded with excessive +harshness against the helpers who had gained access for him to the +Liang, and thereafter he failed to secure a following from among the +leading cliques at court. In 552 he was driven out by a Chinese army led +by one of the princes and was killed. + +The new emperor had been a prince in the upper Yangtze region, and his +closest associates were engaged there. They did not want to move to the +distant capital, Nanking, because their private financial interests +would have suffered. The emperor therefore remained in the city now +called Hankow. He left the eastern territory in the hands of two +powerful generals, one of whom belonged to the Ch'en family, which he no +longer had the strength to remove. In this situation the generals in the +east made themselves independent, and this naturally produced tension at +once between the east and the west of the Liang empire; this tension was +now exploited by the leaders of the Chou state then in the making in the +north. On the invitation of a clique in the south and with its support, +the Chou invaded the present province of Hupei and in 555 captured the +Liang emperor's capital. They were now able to achieve their old +ambition: a prince of the Chou dynasty was installed as a feudatory of +the north, reigning until 587 in the present Hankow. He was permitted to +call his quasi-feudal territory a kingdom and his dynasty, as we know +already, the "Later Liang dynasty". + +5 _The Ch'en dynasty (A.D. 557-588) and its ending by the Sui_ + +The more important of the independent generals in the east, Ch'en +Pa-hsien, installed a shadow emperor, forced him to abdicate, and made +himself emperor. The Ch'en dynasty which thus began was even feebler +than the preceding dynasties. Its territory was confined to the lower +Yangtze valley. Once more cliques and rival pretenders were at work and +prevented any sort of constructive home policy. Abroad, certain +advantages were gained in north China over the Northern Ch'i dynasty, +but none of any great importance. + +Meanwhile in the north Yang Chien had brought into power the Chinese +Sui dynasty. It began by liquidating the quasi-feudal state of the +"Later Liang". Then followed, in 588-9, the conquest of the Ch'en +empire, almost without any serious resistance. This brought all China +once more under united rule, and a period of 360 years of division was +ended. + +6 _Cultural achievements of the south_ + +For nearly three hundred years the southern empire had witnessed +unceasing struggles between important cliques, making impossible any +peaceful development within the country. Culturally, however, the period +was rich in achievement. The court and the palaces of wealthy members of +the gentry attracted scholars and poets, and the gentry themselves had +time for artistic occupations. A large number of the best-known Chinese +poets appeared in this period, and their works plainly reflect the +conditions of that time: they are poems for the small circle of scholars +among the gentry and for cultured patrons, spiced with quotations and +allusions, elaborate in metre and construction, masterpieces of +aesthetic sensitivity--but unintelligible except to highly educated +members of the aristocracy. The works were of the most artificial type, +far removed from all natural feeling. + +Music, too, was never so assiduously cultivated as at this time. But the +old Chinese music disappeared in the south as in the north, where +dancing troupes and women musicians in the Sogdian commercial colonies +of the province of Kansu established the music of western Turkestan. +Here in the south, native courtesans brought the aboriginal, non-Chinese +music to the court; Chinese poets wrote songs in Chinese for this music, +and so the old Chinese music became unfashionable and was forgotten. The +upper class, the gentry, bought these girls, often in large numbers, and +organized them in troupes of singers and dancers, who had to appear on +festal occasions and even at the court. For merchants and other people +who lacked full social recognition there were brothels, a quite natural +feature wherever there were considerable commercial colonies or +collections of merchants, including the capital of the southern empire. + +In their ideology, as will be remembered, the Chinese gentry were always +in favour of Confucianism. Here in the south, however, the association +with Confucianism was less serious, the southern gentry, with their +relations with the merchant class, having acquired the character of +"colonial" gentry. They were brought up as Confucians, but were +interested in all sorts of different religious movements, and +especially in Buddhism. A different type of Buddhism from that in the +north had spread over most of the south, a meditative Buddhism that was +very close ideologically to the original Taoism, and so fulfilled the +same social functions as Taoism. Those who found the official life with +its intrigues repulsive, occupied themselves with meditative Buddhism. +The monks told of the sad fate of the wicked in the life to come, and +industriously filled the gentry with apprehension, so that they tried to +make up for their evil deeds by rich gifts to the monasteries. Many +emperors in this period, especially Wu Ti of the Liang dynasty, inclined +to Buddhism. Wu Ti turned to it especially in his old age, when he was +shut out entirely from the tasks of a ruler and was no longer satisfied +with the usual pleasures of the court. Several times he instituted +Buddhist ceremonies of purification on a large scale in the hope of so +securing forgiveness for the many murders he had committed. + +Genuine Taoism also came to the fore again, and with it the popular +religion with its magic, now amplified with the many local deities that +had been taken over from the indigenous population of the south. For a +time it became the fashion at court to pass the time in learned +discussions between Confucians, Buddhists, and Taoists, which were quite +similar to the debates between learned men centuries earlier at the +wealthy little Indian courts. For the court clique this was more a +matter of pastime than of religious controversy. It seems thoroughly in +harmony with the political events that here, for the first time in the +history of Chinese philosophy, materialist currents made their +appearance, running parallel with Machiavellian theories of power for +the benefit of the wealthiest of the gentry. + + Principal dynasties of North and South China + + _North and South_ + + Western Chin dynasty (A.D. 265-317) + + _North_ _South_ + + 1. Earlier Chao (Hsiung-nu) 304-329 1. Eastern Chin (Chinese) 317-419 + 2. Later Chao (Hsiung-nu) 328-352 + 3. Earlier Ch'in (Tibetans) 351-394 + 4. Later Ch'in (Tibetans) 384-417 + 5. Western Ch'in (Hsiung-nu)385-431 + 6. Earlier Yen (Hsien-pi) 352-370 + 7. Later Yen (Hsien-pi) 384-409 + 8. Western Yen (Hsien-pi) 384-395 + 9. Southern Yen (Hsien-pi) 398-410 + 10. Northern Yen (Hsien-pi) 409-436 + 11. Tai (Toba) 338-376 + 12. Earlier Liang (Chinese) 313-376 + 13. Northern Liang (Hsiung-nu) + 397-439 + 14. Western Liang (Chinese?) 400-421 + 15. Later Liang (Tibetans) 386-403 + 16. Southern Liang (Hsien-pi) + 379-414 + 17. Hsia (Hsiung-nu) 407-431 + 18. Toba (Turks) 385-550 + 2. Liu-Sung 420-478 + 3. Southern Ch'i 479-501 + 19. Northern Ch'i (Chinese?)550-576 4. Liang 502-556 + 20. Northern Chou (Toba) 557-579 5. Ch'en 557-588 + 21. Sui (Chinese) 580-618 6. Sui 580-618 + + + +Chapter Eight + + +THE EMPIRES OF THE SUI AND THE T'ANG + + +(A) The Sui dynasty (A.D. 580-618) + +1 _Internal situation in the newly unified empire_ + +The last of the northern dynasties, the Northern Chou, had been brought +to an end by Yang Chien: rapid campaigns had made an end of the +remaining petty states, and thus the Sui dynasty had come into power. +China, reunited after 360 years, was again under Chinese rule. This +event brought about a new epoch in the history of the Far East. But the +happenings of 360 years could not be wiped out by a change of dynasty. +The short Sui period can only be described as a period of transition to +unified forms. + +In the last resort the union of the various parts of China proceeded +from the north. The north had always, beyond question, been militarily +superior, because its ruling class had consisted of warlike peoples. Yet +it was not a northerner who had united China but a Chinese though, owing +to mixed marriages, he was certainly not entirely unrelated to the +northern peoples. The rule, however, of the actual northern peoples was +at an end. The start of the Sui dynasty, while the Chou still held the +north, was evidence, just like the emergence in the north-east some +thirty years earlier of the Northern Ch'i dynasty, that the Chinese +gentry with their landowning basis had gained the upper hand over the +warrior nomads. + +The Chinese gentry had not come unchanged out of that struggle. +Culturally they had taken over many things from the foreigners, +beginning with music and the style of their clothing, in which they had +entirely adopted the northern pattern, and including other elements of +daily life. Among the gentry were now many formerly alien families who +had gradually become entirely Chinese. On the other hand, the +foreigners' feudal outlook had influenced the gentry, so that a sense +of distinctions of rank had developed among them. There were Chinese +families who regarded themselves as superior to the rest, just as had +been the case among the northern peoples, and who married only among +themselves or with the ruling house and not with ordinary families of +the gentry. They paid great attention to their genealogies, had the +state keep records of them and insisted that the dynastic histories +mentioned their families and their main family members. Lists of +prominent gentry families were set up which mentioned the home of each +clan, so that pretenders could easily be detected. The rules of giving +personal names were changed so that it became possible to identify a +person's genealogical position within the family. At the same time the +contempt of the military underwent modification; the gentry were even +ready to take over high military posts, and also to profit by them. + +The new Sui empire found itself faced with many difficulties. During the +three and a half centuries of division, north and south had developed in +different ways. They no longer spoke the same language in everyday life +(we distinguish to this day between a Nanking and Peking "High Chinese", +to say nothing of dialects). The social and economic structures were +very different in the two parts of the country. How could unity be +restored in these things? + +Then there was the problem of population. The north-eastern plain had +always been thickly populated; it had early come under Toba rule and had +been able to develop further. The region round the old northern capital +Ch'ang-an, on the other hand, had suffered greatly from the struggles +before the Toba period and had never entirely recovered. Meanwhile, in +the south the population had greatly increased in the region north of +Nanking, while the regions south of the Yangtze and the upper Yangtze +valley were more thinly peopled. The real South, i.e. the modern +provinces of Fukien, Kwangtung and Kwangsi, was still underdeveloped, +mainly because of the malaria there. In the matter of population the +north unquestionably remained prominent. + +The founder of the Sui dynasty, known by his reign name of Wen Ti +(589-604), came from the west, close to Ch'ang-an. There he and his +following had their extensive domains. Owing to the scanty population +there and the resulting shortage of agricultural labourers, these +properties were very much less productive than the small properties in +the north-east. This state of things was well known in the south, and it +was expected, with good reason, that the government would try to +transfer parts of the population to the north-west, in order to settle a +peasantry round the capital for the support of its greatly increasing +staff of officials, and to satisfy the gentry of the region. This +produced several revolts in the south. + +As an old soldier who had long been a subject of the Toba, Wen Ti had no +great understanding of theory: he was a practical man. He was +anti-intellectual and emotionally attached to Buddhism; he opposed +Confucianism for emotional reasons and believed that it could give him +no serviceable officials of the sort he wanted. He demanded from his +officials the same obedience and sense of duty as from his soldiers; and +he was above all thrifty, almost miserly, because he realized that the +finances of his state could only be brought into order by the greatest +exertions. The budget had to be drawn up for the vast territory of the +empire without any possibility of saying in advance whether the revenues +would come in and whether the transport of dues to the capital would +function. + +This cautious calculation was entirely justified, but it aroused great +opposition. Both east and south were used to a much better style of +living; yet the gentry of both regions were now required to cut down +their consumption. On top of this they were excluded from the conduct of +political affairs. In the past, under the Northern Ch'i empire in the +north-east and under the Ch'en empire in the south, there had been +thousands of positions at court in which the whole of the gentry could +find accommodation of some kind. Now the central government was far in +the west, and other people were its administrators. In the past the +gentry had a profitable and easily accessible market for their produce +in the neighbouring capital; now the capital was far away, entailing +long-distance transport at heavy risk with little profit. + +The dissatisfied circles of the gentry in the north-east and in the +south incited Prince Kuang to rebellion. The prince and his followers +murdered the emperor and set aside the heir-apparent; and Kuang came to +the throne, assuming the name of Yang Ti. His first act was to transfer +the capital back to the east, to Loyang, close to the grain-producing +regions. His second achievement was to order the construction of great +canals, to facilitate the transport of grain to the capital and to +provide a valuable new market for the producers in the north-east and +the south. It was at this time that the first forerunner of the famous +"Imperial Canal" was constructed, the canal that connects the Yangtze +with the Yellow River. Small canals, connecting various streams, had +long been in existence, so that it was possible to travel from north to +south by water, but these canals were not deep enough or broad enough to +take large freight barges. There are records of lighters of 500 and even +800 tons capacity! These are dimensions unheard of in the West in those +times. In addition to a serviceable canal to the south, Yang Ti made +another that went north almost to the present Peking. + +Hand in hand with these successes of the north-eastern and southern +gentry went strong support for Confucianism, and a reorganization of the +Confucian examination system. As a rule, however, the examinations were +circumvented as an unimportant formality; the various governors were +ordered each to send annually to the capital three men with the required +education, for whose quality they were held personally responsible; +merchants and artisans were expressly excluded. + +2 _Relations with Turks and with Korea_ + +In foreign affairs an extraordinarily fortunate situation for the Sui +dynasty had come into existence. The T'u-chüeh, the Turks, much the +strongest people of the north, had given support now to one and now to +another of the northern kingdoms, and this, together with their many +armed incursions, had made them the dominant political factor in the +north. But in the first year of the Sui period (581) they split into two +sections, so that the Sui had hopes of gaining influence over them. At +first both sections of the Turks had entered into alliance with China, +but this was not a sufficient safeguard for the Sui, for one of the +Turkish khans was surrounded by Toba who had fled from the vanished +state of the Northern Chou, and who now tried to induce the Turks to +undertake a campaign for the reconquest of North China. The leader of +this agitation was a princess of the Yü-wen family, the ruling family of +the Northern Chou. The Chinese fought the Turks several times; but much +more effective results were gained by their diplomatic missions, which +incited the eastern against the western Turks and vice versa, and also +incited the Turks against the Toba clique. In the end one of the +sections of Turks accepted Chinese overlordship, and some tribes of the +other section were brought over to the Chinese side; also, fresh +disunion was sown among the Turks. + +Under the emperor Yang Ti, P'ei Chü carried this policy further. He +induced the Tölös tribes to attack the T'u-yü-hun, and then himself +attacked the latter, so destroying their power. The T'u-yü-hun were a +people living in the extreme north of Tibet, under a ruling class +apparently of Hsien-pi origin; the people were largely Tibetan. The +purpose of the conquest of the T'u-yü-hun was to safeguard access to +Central Asia. An effective Turkestan policy was, however, impossible so +long as the Turks were still a formidable power. Accordingly, the +intrigues that aimed at keeping the two sections of Turks apart were +continued. In 615 came a decisive counter-attack from the Turks. Their +khan, Shih-pi, made a surprise assault on the emperor himself, with all +his following, in the Ordos region, and succeeded in surrounding them. +They were in just the same desperate situation as when, eight centuries +earlier, the Chinese emperor had been beleaguered by Mao Tun. But the +Chinese again saved themselves by a trick. The young Chinese commander, +Li Shih-min, succeeded in giving the Turks the impression that large +reinforcements were on the way; a Chinese princess who was with the +Turks spread the rumour that the Turks were to be attacked by another +tribe--and Shih-pi raised the siege, although the Chinese had been +entirely defeated. + +In the Sui period the Chinese were faced with a further problem. Korea +or, rather, the most important of the three states in Korea, had +generally been on friendly terms with the southern state during the +period of China's division, and for this reason had been more or less +protected from its North Chinese neighbours. After the unification of +China, Korea had reason for seeking an alliance with the Turks, in order +to secure a new counterweight against China. + +A Turco-Korean alliance would have meant for China a sort of +encirclement that might have grave consequences. The alliance might be +extended to Japan, who had certain interests in Korea. Accordingly the +Chinese determined to attack Korea, though at the same time negotiations +were set on foot. The fighting, which lasted throughout the Sui period, +involved technical difficulties, as it called for combined land and sea +attacks; in general it brought little success. + +3 _Reasons for collapse_ + +The continual warfare entailed great expense, and so did the intrigues, +because they depended for their success on bribery. Still more expensive +were the great canal works. In addition to this, the emperor Yang Ti, +unlike his father, was very extravagant. He built enormous palaces and +undertook long journeys throughout the empire with an immense following. +All this wrecked the prosperity which his father had built up and had +tried to safeguard. The only productive expenditure was that on the +canals, and they could not begin to pay in so short a period. The +emperor's continual journeys were due, no doubt, in part simply to the +pursuit of pleasure, though they were probably intended at the same time +to hinder risings and to give the emperor direct control over every part +of the country. But the empire was too large and too complex for its +administration to be possible in the midst of journeying. + +[Illustration: Map 5: The T'ang realm (_about A.D. 750_)] + +The whole of the chancellery had to accompany the emperor, and all the +transport necessary for the feeding of the emperor and his government +had continually to be diverted to wherever he happened to be staying. +All this produced disorder and unrest. The gentry, who at first had so +strongly supported the emperor and had been able to obtain anything they +wanted from him, now began to desert him and set up pretenders. From 615 +onward, after the defeat at the hands of the Turks, risings broke out +everywhere. The emperor had to establish his government in the south, +where he felt safer. There, however, in 618, he was assassinated by +conspirators led by Toba of the Yü-wen family. Everywhere now +independent governments sprang up, and for five years China was split up +into countless petty states. + + +(B) The T'ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) + +1 _Reforms and decentralization_ + +The hero of the Turkish siege, Li Shih-min, had allied himself with the +Turks in 615-16. There were special reasons for his ability to do this. +In his family it had been a regular custom to marry women belonging to +Toba families, so that he naturally enjoyed the confidence of the Toba +party among the Turks. There are various theories as to the origin of +his family, the Li. The family itself claimed to be descended from the +ruling family of the Western Liang. It is doubtful whether that family +was purely Chinese, and in any case Li Shih-min's descent from it is a +matter of doubt. It is possible that his family was a sinified Toba +family, or at least came from a Toba region. However this may be, Li +Shih-min continued the policy which had been pursued since the beginning +of the Sui dynasty by the members of the deposed Toba ruling family of +the Northern Chou--the policy of collaboration with the Turks in the +effort to remove the Sui. + +The nominal leadership in the rising that now began lay in the hands of +Li Shih-min's father, Li Yüan; in practice Li Shih-min saw to +everything. At the end of 617 he was outside the first capital of the +Sui, Ch'ang-an, with a Turkish army that had come to his aid on the +strength of the treaty of alliance. After capturing Ch'ang-an he +installed a puppet emperor there, a grandson of Yang Ti. In 618 the +puppet was dethroned and Li Yüan, the father, was made emperor, in the +T'ang dynasty. Internal fighting went on until 623, and only then was +the whole empire brought under the rule of the T'ang. + +Great reforms then began. A new land law aimed at equalizing ownership, +so that as far as possible all peasants should own the same amount of +land and the formation of large estates be prevented. The law aimed also +at protecting the peasants from the loss of their land. The law was, +however, nothing but a modification of the Toba land law (_chün-t'ien_), +and it was hoped that now it would provide a sound and solid economic +foundation for the empire. From the first, however, members of the +gentry who were connected with the imperial house were given a +privileged position; then officials were excluded from the prohibition +of leasing, so that there continued to be tenant farmers in addition to +the independent peasants. Moreover, the temples enjoyed special +treatment, and were also exempted from taxation. All these exceptions +brought grist to the mills of the gentry, and so did the failure to +carry into effect many of the provisions of the law. Before long a new +gentry had been formed, consisting of the old gentry together with those +who had directly aided the emperor's ascent to the throne. From the +beginning of the eighth century there were repeated complaints that +peasants were "disappearing". They were entering the service of the +gentry as tenant farmers or farm workers, and owing to the privileged +position of the gentry in regard to taxation, the revenue sank in +proportion as the number of independent peasants decreased. One of the +reasons for the flight of farmers may have been the corvée laws +connected with the "equal land" system: small families were much less +affected by the corvée obligation than larger families with many sons. +It may be, therefore, that large families or at least sons of the sons +in large families moved away in order to escape these obligations. In +order to prevent irregularities, the T'ang renewed the old "_pao-chia_" +system, as a part of a general reform of the administration in 624. In +this system groups of five families were collectively responsible for +the payment of taxes, the corvée, for crimes committed by individuals +within one group, and for loans from state agencies. Such a system is +attested for pre-Christian times already; it was re-activated in the +eleventh century and again from time to time, down to the present. + +Yet the system of land equalization soon broke down and was abolished +officially around A.D. 780. But the classification of citizens into +different classes, first legalized under the Toba, was retained and even +more refined. + +As early as in the Han period there had been a dual administration--the +civil and, independent of it, the military administration. One and the +same area would belong to a particular administrative prefecture +(_chün_) and at the same time to a particular military prefecture +(_chou_). This dual organization had persisted during the Toba period +and, at first, remained unchanged in the beginning of the T'ang. + +The backbone of the military power in the seventh century was the +militia, some six hundred units of an average of a thousand men, +recruited from the general farming population for short-term service: +one month in five in the areas close to the capital. These men formed a +part of the emperor's guards and were under the command of members of +the Shensi gentry. This system which had its direct parallels in the Han +time and evolved out of a Toba system, broke down when short offensive +wars were no longer fought. Other imperial guards were staffed with +young sons of the gentry who were stationed in the most delicate parts +of the palaces. The emperor T'ai-tsung had his personal bodyguard, a +part of his own army of conquest, consisting of his former bondsmen +(_pu-ch'ü_). The ranks of the Army of conquest were later filled by +descendants of the original soldiers and by orphans. + +In the provinces, the armies of the military prefectures gradually lost +their importance when wars became longer and militiamen proved +insufficient. Many of the soldiers here were convicts and exiles. It is +interesting to note that the title of the commander of these armies, +_tu-tu_, in the fourth century meant a commander in the church-Taoist +organization; it was used by the Toba and from the seventh century on +became widely accepted as title among the Uighurs, Tibetans, Sogdians, +Turks and Khotanese. + +When the prefectural armies and the militia forces weakened, special +regional armies were created (from 678 on); this institution had existed +among the Toba, but they had greatly reduced these armies after 500. The +commanders of these new T'ang armies soon became more important than the +civil administrators, because they commanded a number of districts +making up a whole province. This assured a better functioning of the +military machine, but put the governors-general in a position to pursue +a policy of their own, even against the central government. In addition +to this, the financial administration of their commands was put under +them, whereas in the past it had been in the hands of the civil +administration of the various provinces. The civil administration was +also reorganized (see the table on pages 83-84). + +Towards the end of the T'ang period the state secretariat was set up in +two parts: it was in possession of all information about the economic +and political affairs of the empire, and it made the actual decisions. +Moreover, a number of technical departments had been created--in all, a +system that might compare favourably with European systems of the +eighteenth century. At the end of the T'ang period there was added to +this system a section for economic affairs, working quite independently +of it and directly under the emperor; it was staffed entirely with +economic or financial experts, while for the staffing of the other +departments no special qualification was demanded besides the passing of +the state examinations. In addition to these, at the end of the T'ang +period a new department was in preparation, a sort of Privy Council, a +mainly military organization, probably intended to control the generals +(section 3 of the table on page 83), just as the state secretariat +controlled the civil officials. The Privy Council became more and more +important in the tenth century and especially in the Mongol epoch. Its +absence in the early T'ang period gave the military governors much too +great freedom, ultimately with baneful results. + +At first, however, the reforms of A.D. 624 worked well. The +administration showed energy, and taxes flowed in. In the middle of the +eighth century the annual budget of the state included the following +items: over a million tons of grain for the consumption of the capital +and the palace and for salaries of civil and military officials; +twenty-seven million pieces of textiles, also for the consumption of +capital and palace and army, and for supplementary purchases of grain; +two million strings of money (a string nominally held a thousand copper +coins) for salaries and for the army. This was much more than the state +budget of the Han period. The population of the empire had also +increased; it seems to have amounted to some fifty millions. In the +capital a large staff of officials had been created to meet all +administrative needs. The capital grew enormously, at times containing +two million people. Great numbers of young members of the gentry +streamed into the capital for the examinations held under the Confucian +system. + +The crowding of people into the capital and the accumulation of +resources there promoted a rich cultural life. We know of many poets of +that period whose poems were real masterpieces; and artists whose works +were admired centuries later. These poets and artists were the pioneers +of the flourishing culture of the later T'ang period. Hand in hand with +this went luxury and refinement of manners. For those who retired from +the bustle of the capital to work on their estates and to enjoy the +society of their friends, there was time to occupy themselves with +Taoism and Buddhism, especially meditative Buddhism. Everyone, of +course, was Confucian, as was fitting for a member of the gentry, but +Confucianism was so taken for granted that it was not discussed. It was +the basis of morality for the gentry, but held no problems. It no longer +contained anything of interest. + +Conditions had been much the same once before, at the court of the Han +emperors, but with one great difference: at that time everything of +importance took place in the capital; now, in addition to the actual +capital, Ch'ang-an, there was the second capital, Loyang, in no way +inferior to the other in importance; and the great towns in the south +also played their part as commercial and cultural centres that had +developed in the 360 years of division between north and south. There +the local gentry gathered to lead a cultivated life, though not quite in +the grand style of the capital. If an official was transferred to the +Yangtze, it no longer amounted to a punishment as in the past; he would +not meet only uneducated people, but a society resembling that of the +capital. The institution of governors-general further promoted this +decentralization: the governor-general surrounded himself with a little +court of his own, drawn from the local gentry and the local +intelligentsia. This placed the whole edifice of the empire on a much +broader foundation, with lasting results. + +2 _Turkish policy_ + +The foreign policy of this first period of the T'ang, lasting until +about 690, was mainly concerned with the Turks and Turkestan. There were +still two Turkish realms in the Far East, both of considerable strength +but in keen rivalry with each other. The T'ang had come into power with +the aid of the eastern Turks, but they admitted the leader of the +western Turks to their court; he had been at Ch'ang-an in the time of +the Sui. He was murdered, however, by Chinese at the instigation of the +eastern Turks. The next khan of the eastern Turks nevertheless turned +against the T'ang, and gave his support to a still surviving pretender +to the throne representing the Sui dynasty; the khan contended that the +old alliance of the eastern Turks had been with the Sui and not with the +T'ang. The T'ang therefore tried to come to terms once more with the +western Turks, who had been affronted by the assassination; but the +negotiations came to nothing in face of an approach made by the eastern +Turks to the western, and of the distrust of the Chinese with which all +the Turks were filled. About 624 there were strong Turkish invasions, +carried right up to the capital. Suddenly, however, for reasons not +disclosed by the Chinese sources, the Turks withdrew, and the T'ang were +able to conclude a fairly honourable peace. This was the time of the +maximum power of the eastern Turks. Shortly afterwards disturbances +broke out (627), under the leadership of Turkish Uighurs and their +allies. The Chinese took advantage of these disturbances, and in a great +campaign in 629-30 succeeded in overthrowing the eastern Turks; the khan +was taken to the imperial court in Ch'ang-an, and the Chinese emperor +made himself "Heavenly Khan" of the Turks. In spite of the protest of +many of the ministers, who pointed to the result of the settlement +policy of the Later Han dynasty, the eastern Turks were settled in the +bend of the upper Hwang-ho and placed more or less under the +protectorate of two governors-general. Their leaders were admitted into +the Chinese army, and the sons of their nobles lived at the imperial +court. No doubt it was hoped in this way to turn the Turks into Chinese, +as had been done with the Toba, though for entirely different reasons. +More than a million Turks were settled in this way, and some of them +actually became Chinese later and gained important posts. + +In general, however, this in no way broke the power of the Turks. The +great Turkish empire, which extended as far as Byzantium, continued to +exist. The Chinese success had done no more than safeguard the frontier +from a direct menace and frustrate the efforts of the supporters of the +Sui dynasty and the Toba dynasty, who had been living among the eastern +Turks and had built on them. The power of the western Turks remained a +lasting menace to China, especially if they should succeed in +co-operating with the Tibetans. After the annihilation of the T'u-yü-hun +by the Sui at the very beginning of the seventh century, a new political +unit had formed in northern Tibet, the T'u-fan, who also seem to have +had an upper class of Turks and Mongols and a Tibetan lower class. Just +as in the Han period, Chinese policy was bound to be directed to +preventing a union between Turks and Tibetans. This, together with +commercial interests, seems to have been the political motive of the +Chinese Turkestan policy under the T'ang. + +3 _Conquest of Turkestan and Korea. Summit of power_ + +The Turkestan wars began in 639 with an attack on the city-state of +Kao-ch'ang (Khocho). This state had been on more or less friendly terms +with North China since the Toba period, and it had succeeded again and +again in preserving a certain independence from the Turks. Now, however, +Kao-ch'ang had to submit to the western Turks, whose power was +constantly increasing. China made that submission a pretext for war. By +640 the whole basin of Turkestan was brought under Chinese dominance. +The whole campaign was really directed against the western Turks, to +whom Turkestan had become subject. The western Turks had been crippled +by two internal events, to the advantage of the Chinese: there had been +a tribal rising, and then came the rebellion and the rise of the Uighurs +(640-650). These events belong to Turkish history, and we shall confine +ourselves here to their effects on Chinese history. The Chinese were +able to rely on the Uighurs; above all, they were furnished by the Tölös +Turks with a large army, with which they turned once more against +Turkestan in 647-48, and now definitely established their rule there. + +The active spirit at the beginning of the T'ang rule had not been the +emperor but his son Li Shih-min, who was not, however, named as heir to +the throne because he was not the eldest son. The result of this was +tension between Li Shih-min and his father and brothers, especially the +heir to the throne. When the brothers learned that Li Shih-min was +claiming the succession, they conspired against him, and in 626, at the +very moment when the western Turks had made a rapid incursion and were +once more threatening the Chinese capital, there came an armed collision +between the brothers, in which Li Shih-min was the victor. The brothers +and their families were exterminated, the father compelled to abdicate, +and Li Shih-min became emperor, assuming the name T'ai Tsung (627-649). +His reign marked the zenith of the power of China and of the T'ang +dynasty. Their inner struggles and the Chinese penetration of Turkestan +had weakened the position of the Turks; the reorganization of the +administration and of the system of taxation, the improved transport +resulting from the canals constructed under the Sui, and the useful +results of the creation of great administrative areas under strong +military control, had brought China inner stability and in consequence +external power and prestige. The reputation which she then obtained as +the most powerful state of the Far East endured when her inner stability +had begun to deteriorate. Thus in 638 the Sassanid ruler Jedzgerd sent a +mission to China asking for her help against the Arabs. Three further +missions came at intervals of a good many years. The Chinese declined, +however, to send a military expedition to such a distance; they merely +conferred on the ruler the title of a Chinese governor; this was of +little help against the Arabs, and in 675 the last ruler, Peruz, fled to +the Chinese court. + +The last years of T'ai Tsung's reign were filled with a great war +against Korea, which represented a continuation of the plans of the Sui +emperor Yang Ti. This time Korea came firmly into Chinese possession. In +661, under T'ai Tsung's son, the Korean fighting was resumed, this time +against Japanese who were defending their interests in Korea. This was +the period of great Japanese enthusiasm for China. The Chinese system of +administration was copied, and Buddhism was adopted, together with every +possible element of Chinese culture. This meant increased trade with +Japan, bringing in large profits to China, and so the Korean middleman +was to be eliminated. + +T'ai Tsung's son, Kao Tsung (650-683), merely carried to a conclusion +what had been begun. Externally China's prestige continued at its +zenith. The caravans streamed into China from western and central Asia, +bringing great quantities of luxury goods. At this time, however, the +foreign colonies were not confined to the capital but were installed in +all the important trading ports and inland trade centres. The whole +country was covered by a commercial network; foreign merchants who had +come overland to China met others who had come by sea. The foreigners +set up their own counting-houses and warehouses; whole quarters of the +capital were inhabited entirely by foreigners who lived as if they were +in their own country. They brought with them their own religions: +Manichaeism, Mazdaism, and Nestorian Christianity. The first Jews came +into China, apparently as dealers in fabrics, and the first Arabian +Mohammedans made their appearance. In China the foreigners bought +silkstuffs and collected everything of value that they could find, +especially precious metals. Culturally this influx of foreigners +enriched China; economically, as in earlier periods, it did not; its +disadvantages were only compensated for a time by the very beneficial +results of the trade with Japan, and this benefit did not last long. + +4 _The reign of the empress Wu: Buddhism and capitalism_ + +The pressure of the western Turks had been greatly weakened in this +period, especially as their attention had been diverted to the west, +where the advance of Islam and of the Arabs was a new menace for them. +On the other hand, from 650 onward the Tibetans gained immensely in +power, and pushed from the south into the Tarim basin. In 678 they +inflicted a heavy defeat on the Chinese, and it cost the T'ang decades +of diplomatic effort before they attained, in 699, their aim of breaking +up the Tibetans' realm and destroying their power. In the last year of +Kao Tsung's reign, 683, came the first of the wars of liberation of the +northern Turks, known until then as the western Turks, against the +Chinese. And with the end of Kao Tsung's reign began the decline of the +T'ang regime. Most of the historians attribute it to a woman, the later +empress Wu. She had been a concubine of T'ai Tsung, and after his death +had become a Buddhist nun--a frequent custom of the time--until Kao +Tsung fell in love with her and made her a concubine of his own. In the +end he actually divorced the empress and made the concubine empress +(655). She gained more and more influence, being placed on a par with +the emperor and soon entirely eliminating him in practice; in 680 she +removed the rightful heir to the throne and put her own son in his +place; after Kao Tsung's death in 683 she became regent for her son. +Soon afterward she dethroned him in favour of his twenty-two-year-old +brother; in 690 she deposed him too and made herself empress in the +"Chou dynasty" (690-701). This officially ended the T'ang dynasty. + +Matters, however, were not so simple as this might suggest. For +otherwise on the empress's deposition there would not have been a mass +of supporters moving heaven and earth to treat the new empress Wei +(705-712) in the same fashion. There is every reason to suppose that +behind the empress Wu there was a group opposing the ruling clique. In +spite of everything, the T'ang government clique was very pro-Turkish, +and many Turks and members of Toba families had government posts and, +above all, important military commands. No campaign of that period was +undertaken without Turkish auxiliaries. The fear seems to have been felt +in some quarters that this T'ang group might pursue a military policy +hostile to the gentry. The T'ang group had its roots mainly in western +China; thus the eastern Chinese gentry were inclined to be hostile to +it. The first act of the empress Wu had been to transfer the capital to +Loyang in the east. Thus, she tried to rely upon the co-operation of the +eastern gentry which since the Northern Chou and Sui dynasties had been +out of power. While the western gentry brought their children into +government positions by claiming family privileges (a son of a high +official had the right to a certain position without having passed the +regular examinations), the sons of the eastern gentry had to pass +through the examinations. Thus, there were differences in education and +outlook between both groups which continued long after the death of the +empress. In addition, the eastern gentry, who supported the empress Wu +and later the empress Wei, were closely associated with the foreign +merchants of western Asia and the Buddhist Church to which they adhered. +In gratitude for help from the Buddhists, the empress Wu endowed them +with enormous sums of money, and tried to make Buddhism a sort of state +religion. A similar development had taken place in the Toba and also in +the Sui period. Like these earlier rulers, the empress Wu seems to have +aimed at combining spiritual leadership with her position as ruler of +the empire. + +In this epoch Buddhism helped to create the first beginnings of +large-scale capitalism. In connection with the growing foreign trade, +the monasteries grew in importance as repositories of capital; the +temples bought more and more land, became more and more wealthy, and so +gained increasing influence over economic affairs. They accumulated +large quantities of metal, which they stored in the form of bronze +figures of Buddha, and with these stocks they exercised controlling +influence over the money market. There is a constant succession of +records of the total weight of the bronze figures, as an indication of +the money value they represented. It is interesting to observe that +temples and monasteries acquired also shops and had rental income from +them. They further operated many mills, as did the owners of private +estates (now called "_chuang_") and thus controlled the price of flour, +and polished rice. + +The cultural influence of Buddhism found expression in new and improved +translations of countless texts, and in the passage of pilgrims along +the caravan routes, helped by the merchants, as far as western Asia and +India, like the famous Hsüan-tsang. Translations were made not only from +Indian or other languages into Chinese, but also, for instance, from +Chinese into the Uighur and other Turkish tongues, and into Tibetan, +Korean, and Japanese. + +The attitude of the Turks can only be understood when we realize that +the background of events during the time of empress Wu was formed by the +activities of groups of the eastern Chinese gentry. The northern Turks, +who since 630 had been under Chinese overlordship, had fought many wars +of liberation against the Chinese; and through the conquest of +neighbouring Turks they had gradually become once more, in the +decade-and-a-half after the death of Kao Tsung, a great Turkish realm. +In 698 the Turkish khan, at the height of his power, demanded a Chinese +prince for his daughter--not, as had been usual in the past, a princess +for his son. His intention, no doubt, was to conquer China with the +prince's aid, to remove the empress Wu, and to restore the T'ang +dynasty--but under Turkish overlordship! Thus, when the empress Wu sent +a member of her own family, the khan rejected him and demanded the +restoration of the deposed T'ang emperor. To enforce this demand, he +embarked on a great campaign against China. In this the Turks must have +been able to rely on the support of a strong group inside China, for +before the Turkish attack became dangerous the empress Wu recalled the +deposed emperor, at first as "heir to the throne"; thus she yielded to +the khan's principal demand. + +In spite of this, the Turkish attacks did not cease. After a series of +imbroglios within the country in which a group under the leadership of +the powerful Ts'ui gentry family had liquidated the supporters of the +empress Wu shortly before her death, a T'ang prince finally succeeded in +killing empress Wei and her clique. At first, his father ascended the +throne, but was soon persuaded to abdicate in favour of his son, now +called emperor Hsüang Tsung (713-755), just as the first ruler of the +T'ang dynasty had done. The practice of abdicating--in contradiction +with the Chinese concept of the ruler as son of Heaven and the duties of +a son towards his father--seems to have impressed Japan where similar +steps later became quite common. With Hsüan Tsung there began now a +period of forty-five years, which the Chinese describe as the second +blossoming of T'ang culture, a period that became famous especially for +its painting and literature. + +5 _Second blossoming of T'ang culture_ + +The T'ang literature shows the co-operation of many favourable factors. +The ancient Chinese classical style of official reports and decrees +which the Toba had already revived, now led to the clear prose style of +the essayists, of whom Han Yü (768-825) and Liu Tsung-yüan (747-796) +call for special mention. But entirely new forms of sentences make their +appearance in prose writing, with new pictures and similes brought from +India through the medium of the Buddhist translations. Poetry was also +enriched by the simple songs that spread in the north under Turkish +influence, and by southern influences. The great poets of the T'ang +period adopted the rules of form laid down by the poetic art of the +south in the fifth century; but while at that time the writing of poetry +was a learned pastime, precious and formalistic, the T'ang poets brought +to it genuine feeling. Widespread fame came to Li T'ai-po (701-762) and +Tu Fu (712-770); in China two poets almost equal to these two in +popularity were Po Chü-i (772-846) and Yüan Chen (779-831), who in their +works kept as close as possible to the vernacular. + +New forms of poetry rarely made their appearance in the T'ang period, +but the existing forms were brought to the highest perfection. Not until +the very end of the T'ang period did there appear the form of a "free" +versification, with lines of no fixed length. This form came from the +indigenous folk-songs of south-western China, and was spread through the +agency of the _filles de joie_ in the tea-houses. Before long it became +the custom to string such songs together in a continuous series--the +first step towards opera. For these song sequences were sung by way of +accompaniment to the theatrical productions. The Chinese theatre had +developed from two sources--from religious games, bullfights and +wrestling, among Turkish and Mongol peoples, which developed into +dancing displays; and from sacrificial games of South Chinese origin. +Thus the Chinese theatre, with its union with music, should rather be +called opera, although it offers a sort of pantomimic show. What +amounted to a court conservatoire trained actors and musicians as early +as in the T'ang period for this court opera. These actors and musicians +were selected from the best-looking "commoners", but they soon tended to +become a special caste with a legal status just below that of +"burghers". + +In plastic art there are fine sculptures in stone and bronze, and we +have also technically excellent fabrics, the finest of lacquer, and +remains of artistic buildings; but the principal achievement of the +T'ang period lies undoubtedly in the field of painting. As in poetry, in +painting there are strong traces of alien influences; even before the +T'ang period, the painter Hsieh Ho laid down the six fundamental laws of +painting, in all probability drawn from Indian practice. Foreigners were +continually brought into China as decorators of Buddhist temples, since +the Chinese could not know at first how the new gods had to be +presented. The Chinese regarded these painters as craftsmen, but admired +their skill and their technique and learned from them. + +The most famous Chinese painter of the T'ang period is Wu Tao-tz[)u], +who was also the painter most strongly influenced by Central Asian +works. As a pious Buddhist he painted pictures for temples among others. +Among the landscape painters, Wang Wei (721-759) ranks first; he was +also a famous poet and aimed at uniting poem and painting into an +integral whole. With him begins the great tradition of Chinese landscape +painting, which attained its zenith later, in the Sung epoch. + +Porcelain had been invented in China long ago. There was as yet none of +the white porcelain that is preferred today; the inside was a +brownish-yellow; but on the whole it was already technically and +artistically of a very high quality. Since porcelain was at first +produced only for the requirements of the court and of high +dignitaries--mostly in state factories--a few centuries later the T'ang +porcelain had become a great rarity. But in the centuries that followed, +porcelain became an important new article of Chinese export. The Chinese +prisoners taken by the Arabs in the great battle of Samarkand (751), the +first clash between the world of Islam and China, brought to the West +the knowledge of Chinese culture, of several Chinese crafts, of the art +of papermaking, and also of porcelain. + +The emperor Hsüan Tsung gave active encouragement to all things +artistic. Poets and painters contributed to the elegance of his +magnificent court ceremonial. As time went on he showed less and less +interest in public affairs, and grew increasingly inclined to Taoism and +mysticism in general--an outcome of the fact that the conduct of matters +of state was gradually taken out of his hands. On the whole, however, +Buddhism was pushed into the background in favour of Confucianism, as a +reaction from the unusual privileges that had been accorded to the +Buddhists in the past fifteen years under the empress Wu. + +6 _Revolt of a military governor_ + +At the beginning of Hsüan Tsung's reign the capital had been in the east +at Loyang; then it was transferred once more to Ch'ang-an in the west +due to pressure of the western gentry. The emperor soon came under the +influence of the unscrupulous but capable and energetic Li Lin-fu, a +distant relative of the ruler. Li was a virtual dictator at the court +from 736 to 752, who had first advanced in power by helping the +concubine Wu, a relative of the famous empress Wu, and by continually +playing the eastern against the western gentry. After the death of the +concubine Wu, he procured for the emperor a new concubine named Yang, of +a western family. This woman, usually called "Concubine Yang" (Yang +Kui-fei), became the heroine of countless stage-plays and stories and +even films; all the misfortunes that marked the end of Hsüan Tsung's +reign were attributed solely to her. This is incorrect, as she was but a +link in the chain of influences that played upon the emperor. Naturally +she found important official posts for her brothers and all her +relatives; but more important than these was a military governor named +An Lu-shan (703-757). His mother was a Turkish shamaness, his father, a +foreigner probably of Sogdian origin. An Lu-shan succeeded in gaining +favour with the Li clique, which hoped to make use of him for its own +ends. Chinese sources describe him as a prodigy of evil, and it will be +very difficult today to gain a true picture of his personality. In any +case, he was certainly a very capable officer. His rise started from a +victory over the Kitan in 744. He spent some time establishing relations +with the court and then went back to resume operations against the +Kitan. He made so much of the Kitan peril that he was permitted a larger +army than usual, and he had command of 150,000 troops in the +neighbourhood of Peking. Meanwhile Li Lin-fu died. He had sponsored An +as a counterbalance against the western gentry. When now, within the +clique of Li Lin-fu, the Yang family tried to seize power, they turned +against An Lu-shan. But he marched against the capital, Ch'ang-an, with +200,000 men; on his way he conquered Loyang and made himself emperor +(756: Yen dynasty). T'ang troops were sent against him under the +leadership of the Chinese Kuo Tz[)u]-i, a Kitan commander, and a Turk, +Ko-shu Han. + +The first two generals had considerable success, but Ko-shu Han, whose +task was to prevent access to the western capital, was quickly defeated +and taken prisoner. The emperor fled betimes, and An Lu-shan captured +Ch'ang-an. The emperor now abdicated; his son, emperor Su Tsung +(756-762), also fled, though not with him into Szechwan, but into +north-western Shensi. There he defended himself against An Lu-shan and +his capable general Shih Ss[)u]-ming (himself a Turk), and sought aid in +Central Asia. A small Arab troop came from the caliph Abu-Jafar, and +also small bands from Turkestan; of more importance was the arrival of +Uighur cavalry in substantial strength. At the end of 757 there was a +great battle in the neighbourhood of the capital, in which An Lu-shan +was defeated by the Uighurs; shortly afterwards he was murdered by one +of his eunuchs. His followers fled; Loyang was captured and looted by +the Uighurs. The victors further received in payment from the T'ang +government 10,000 rolls of silk with a promise of 20,000 rolls a year; +the Uighur khan was given a daughter of the emperor as his wife. An +Lu-shan's general, the Turk Shih Ss[)u]-ming, entered into An Lu-shan's +heritage, and dominated so large a part of eastern China that the +Chinese once more made use of the Uighurs to bring him down. The +commanders in the fighting against Shih Ss[)u]-ming this time were once +more Kuo Tz[)u]-i and the Kitan general, together with P'u-ku Huai-en, a +member of a Tölös family that had long been living in China. At first +Shih Ss[)u]-ming was victorious, and he won back Loyang, but then he was +murdered by his own son, and only by taking advantage of the +disturbances that now arose were the government troops able to quell the +dangerous rising. + +In all this, two things seem interesting and important. To begin with, +An Lu-shan had been a military governor. His rising showed that while +this new office, with its great command of power, was of value in +attacking external enemies, it became dangerous, especially if the +central power was weak, the moment there were no external enemies of any +importance. An Lu-shan's rising was the first of many similar ones in +the later T'ang period. The gentry of eastern China had shown themselves +entirely ready to support An Lu-shan against the government, because +they had hoped to gain advantage as in the past from a realm with its +centre once more in the east. In the second place, the important part +played by aliens in events within China calls for notice: not only were +the rebels An Lu-shan and Shih Ss[)u]-ming non-Chinese, but so also were +most of the generals opposed to them. But they regarded themselves as +Chinese, not as members of another national group. The Turkish Uighurs +brought in to help against them were fighting actually against Turks, +though they regarded those Turks as Chinese. We must not bring to the +circumstances of those times the present-day notions with regard to +national feeling. + +7 _The role of the Uighurs. Confiscation of the capital of the +monasteries_ + +This rising and its sequels broke the power of the dynasty, and also of +the empire. The extremely sanguinary wars had brought fearful suffering +upon the population. During the years of the rising, no taxes came in +from the greater part of the empire, but great sums had to be paid to +the peoples who had lent aid to the empire. And the looting by +government troops and by the auxiliaries injured the population as much +as the war itself did. + +When the emperor Su Tsung died, in 762, Tengri, the khan of the Uighurs, +decided to make himself ruler over China. The events of the preceding +years had shown him that China alone was entirely defenceless. Part of +the court clique supported him, and only by the intervention of P'u-ku +Huai-en, who was related to Tengri by marriage, was his plan frustrated. +Naturally there were countless intrigues against P'u-ku Huai-en. He +entered into alliance with the Tibetan T'u-fan, and in this way the +union of Turks and Tibetans, always feared by the Chinese, had come into +existence. In 763 the Tibetans captured and burned down the western +capital, while P'u-ku Huai-en with the Uighurs advanced from the north. +Undoubtedly this campaign would have been successful, giving an entirely +different turn to China's destiny, if P'u-ku Huai-en had not died in 765 +and the Chinese under Kuo Tz[)u]-i had not succeeded in breaking up the +alliance. The Uighurs now came over into an alliance with the Chinese, +and the two allies fell upon the Tibetans and robbed them of their +booty. China was saved once more. + +Friendship with the Uighurs had to be paid for this time even more +dearly. They crowded into the capital and compelled the Chinese to buy +horses, in payment for which they demanded enormous quantities of +silkstuffs. They behaved in the capital like lords, and expected to be +maintained at the expense of the government. The system of military +governors was adhered to in spite of the country's experience of them, +while the difficult situation throughout the empire, and especially +along the western and northern frontiers, facing the Tibetans and the +more and more powerful Kitan, made it necessary to keep considerable +numbers of soldiers permanently with the colours. This made the military +governors stronger and stronger; ultimately they no longer remitted any +taxes to the central government, but spent them mainly on their armies. +Thus from 750 onward the empire consisted of an impotent central +government and powerful military governors, who handed on their +positions to their sons as a further proof of their independence. When +in 781 the government proposed to interfere with the inheriting of the +posts, there was a great new rising, which in 783 again extended as far +as the capital; in 784 the T'ang government at last succeeded in +overcoming it. A compromise was arrived at between the government and +the governors, but it in no way improved the situation. Life became more +and more difficult for the central government. In 780, the "equal land" +system was finally officially given up and with it a tax system which +was based upon the idea that every citizen had the same amount of land +and, therefore, paid the same amount of taxes. The new system tried to +equalize the tax burden and the corvée obligation, but not the land. +This change may indicate a step towards greater freedom for private +enterprise. Yet it did not benefit the government, as most of the tax +income was retained by the governors and was used for their armies and +their own court. + +In the capital, eunuchs ruled in the interests of various cliques. +Several emperors fell victim to them or to the drinking of "elixirs of +long life". + +Abroad, the Chinese lost their dominion over Turkestan, for which +Uighurs and Tibetans competed. There is nothing to gain from any full +description of events at court. The struggle between cliques soon became +a struggle between eunuchs and literati, in much the same way as at the +end of the second Han dynasty. Trade steadily diminished, and the state +became impoverished because no taxes were coming in and great armies had +to be maintained, though they did not even obey the government. + +Events that exerted on the internal situation an influence not to be +belittled were the break-up of the Uighurs (from 832 onward) the +appearance of the Turkish Sha-t'o, and almost at the same time, the +dissolution of the Tibetan empire (from 842). Many other foreigners had +placed themselves under the Uighurs living in China, in order to be able +to do business under the political protection of the Uighur embassy, but +the Uighurs no longer counted, and the T'ang government decided to seize +the capital sums which these foreigners had accumulated. It was hoped in +this way especially to remedy the financial troubles of the moment, +which were partly due to a shortage of metal for minting. As the trading +capital was still placed with the temples as banks, the government +attacked the religion of the Uighurs, Manichaeism, and also the +religions of the other foreigners, Mazdaism, Nestorianism, and +apparently also Islam. In 843 alien religions were prohibited; aliens +were also ordered to dress like Chinese. This gave them the status of +Chinese citizens and no longer of foreigners, so that Chinese justice +had a hold over them. That this law abolishing foreign religions was +aimed solely at the foreigners' capital is shown by the proceedings at +the same time against Buddhism which had long become a completely +Chinese Church. Four thousand, six hundred Buddhist temples, 40,000 +shrines and monasteries were secularized, and all statues were required +to be melted down and delivered to the government, even those in private +possession. Two hundred and sixty thousand, five hundred monks were to +become ordinary citizens once more. Until then monks had been free of +taxation, as had millions of acres of land belonging to the temples and +leased to tenants or some 150,000 temple slaves. + +Thus the edict of 843 must not be described as concerned with religion: +it was a measure of compulsion aimed at filling the government coffers. +All the property of foreigners and a large part of the property of the +Buddhist Church came into the hands of the government. The law was not +applied to Taoism, because the ruling gentry of the time were, as so +often before, Confucianist and at the same time Taoist. As early as 846 +there came a reaction: with the new emperor, Confucians came into power +who were at the same time Buddhists and who now evicted some of the +Taoists. From this time one may observe closer co-operation between +Confucianism and Buddhism; not only with meditative Buddhism (Dhyana) as +at the beginning of the T'ang epoch and earlier, but with the main +branch of Buddhism, monastery Buddhism (Vinaya). From now onward the +Buddhist doctrines of transmigration and retribution, which had been +really directed against the gentry and in favour of the common people, +were turned into an instrument serving the gentry: everyone who was +unfortunate in this life must show such amenability to the government +and the gentry that he would have a chance of a better existence at +least in the next life. Thus the revolutionary Buddhist doctrine of +retribution became a reactionary doctrine that was of great service to +the gentry. One of the Buddhist Confucians in whose works this revised +version makes its appearance most clearly was Niu Seng-yu, who was at +once summoned back to court in 846 by the new emperor. Three new large +Buddhist sects came into existence in the T'ang period. One of them, the +school of the Pure Land (_Ching-t'u tsung_, since 641) required of its +mainly lower class adherents only the permanent invocation of the Buddha +Amithabha who would secure them a place in the "Western Paradise"--a +place without social classes and economic troubles. The cult of +Maitreya, which was always more revolutionary, receded for a while. + +8 _First successful peasant revolt. Collapse of the empire_ + +The chief sufferers from the continual warfare of the military +governors, the sanguinary struggles between the cliques, and the +universal impoverishment which all this fighting produced, were, of +course, the common people. The Chinese annals are filled with records of +popular risings, but not one of these had attained any wide extent, for +want of organization. In 860 began the first great popular rising, a +revolt caused by famine in the province of Chekiang. Government troops +suppressed it with bloodshed. Further popular risings followed. In 874 +began a great rising in the south of the present province of Hopei, the +chief agrarian region. + +The rising was led by a peasant, Wang Hsien-chih, together with Huang +Ch'ao, a salt merchant, who had fallen into poverty and had joined the +hungry peasants, forming a fighting group of his own. It is important to +note that Huang was well educated. It is said that he failed in the +state examination. Huang is not the first merchant who became rebel. An +Lu-shan, too, had been a businessman for a while. It was pointed out +that trade had greatly developed in the T'ang period; of the lower +Yangtze region people it was said that "they were so much interested in +business that they paid no attention to agriculture". Yet merchants were +subject to many humiliating conditions. They could not enter the +examinations, except by illegal means. In various periods, from the Han +time on, they had to wear special dress. Thus, a law from _c_. A.D. 300 +required them to wear a white turban on which name and type of business +was written, and to wear one white and one black shoe. They were subject +to various taxes, but were either not allowed to own land, or were +allotted less land than ordinary citizens. Thus they could not easily +invest in land, the safest investment at that time. Finally, the +government occasionally resorted to the method which was often used in +the Near East: when in 782 the emperor ran out of money, he requested +the merchants of the capital to "loan" him a large sum--a request which +in fact was a special tax. + +Wang and Huang both proved good organizers of the peasant masses, and in +a short time they had captured the whole of eastern China, without the +military governors being able to do anything against them, for the +provincial troops were more inclined to show sympathy to the peasant +armies than to fight them. The terrified government issued an order to +arm the people of the other parts of the country against the rebels; +naturally this helped the rebels more than the government, since the +peasants thus armed went over to the rebels. Finally Wang was offered a +high office. But Huang urged him not to betray his own people, and Wang +declined the offer. In the end the government, with the aid of the +troops of the Turkish Sha-t'o, defeated Wang and beheaded him (878). +Huang Ch'ao now moved into the south-east and the south, where in 879 he +captured and burned down Canton; according to an Arab source, over +120,000 foreign merchants lost their lives in addition to the Chinese. +From Canton Huang Ch'ao returned to the north, laden with loot from that +wealthy commercial city. His advance was held up again by the Sha-t'o +troops; he turned away to the lower Yangtze, and from there marched +north again. At the end of 880 he captured the eastern capital. The +emperor fled from the western capital, Ch'ang-an, into Szechwan, and +Huang Ch'ao now captured with ease the western capital as well, and +removed every member of the ruling family on whom he could lay hands. He +then made himself emperor, in a Ch'i dynasty. It was the first time that +a peasant rising had succeeded against the gentry. + +There was still, however, the greatest disorder in the empire. There +were other peasant armies on the move, armies that had deserted their +governors and were fighting for themselves; finally, there were still a +few supporters of the imperial house and, above all, the Turkish +Sha-t'o, who had a competent commander with the sinified name of Li +K'o-yung. The Sha-t'o, who had remained loyal to the government, +revolted the moment the government had been overthrown. They ran the +risk, however, of defeat at the hands of an alien army of the Chinese +government's, commanded by an Uighur, and they therefore fled to the +Tatars. In spite of this, the Chinese entered again into relations with +the Sha-t'o, as without them there could be no possibility of getting +rid of Huang Ch'ao. At the end of 881 Li K'o-yung fell upon the capital; +there was a fearful battle. Huang Ch'ao was able to hold out, but a +further attack was made in 883 and he was defeated and forced to flee; +in 884 he was killed by the Sha-t'o. + +This popular rising, which had only been overcome with the aid of +foreign troops, brought the end of the T'ang dynasty. In 885 the T'ang +emperor was able to return to the capital, but the only question now was +whether China should be ruled by the Sha-t'o under Li K'o-yung or by +some other military commander. In a short time Chu Ch'üan-chung, a +former follower of Huang Ch'ao, proved to be the strongest of the +commanders. In 890 open war began between the two leaders. Li K'o-yung +was based on Shansi; Chu Ch'üan-chung had control of the plains in the +east. Meanwhile the governors of Szechwan in the west and Chekiang in +the south-east made themselves independent. Both declared themselves +kings or emperors and set up dynasties of their own (from 895). + +Within the capital, the emperor was threatened several times by revolts, +so that he had to flee and place himself in the hands of Li K'o-yung as +the only leader on whose loyalty he could count. Soon after this, +however, the emperor fell into the hands of Chu Ch'üan-chung, who killed +the whole entourage of the emperor, particularly the eunuchs; after a +time he had the emperor himself killed, set a puppet--as had become +customary--on the throne, and at the beginning of 907 took over the rule +from him, becoming emperor in the "Later Liang dynasty". + +That was the end of the T'ang dynasty, at the beginning of which China +had risen to unprecedented power. Its downfall had been brought about by +the military governors, who had built up their power and had become +independent hereditary satraps, exploiting the people for their own +purposes, and by their continual mutual struggles undermining the +economic structure of the empire. In addition to this, the empire had +been weakened first by its foreign trade and then by the dependence on +foreigners, especially Turks, into which it had fallen owing to internal +conditions. A large part of the national income had gone abroad. Such is +the explanation of the great popular risings which ultimately brought +the dynasty to its end. + + + + + MODERN TIMES + + + + Chapter Nine + + +THE EPOCH OF THE SECOND DIVISION OF CHINA + +(A) The period of transition: the Five Dynasties (A.D. 906-960) + +1 _Beginning of a new epoch_ + +The rebellion of Huang Ch'ao in fact meant the end of the T'ang dynasty +and the division of China into a number of independent states. Only for +reasons of convenience we keep the traditional division into dynasties +and have our new period begin with the official end of the T'ang dynasty +in 906. We decided to call the new thousand years of Chinese history +"Modern Times" in order to indicate that from _c_. 860 on changes in +China's social structure came about which set this epoch off from the +earlier thousand years which we called "The Middle Ages". Any division +into periods is arbitrary as changes do not happen from one year to the +next. The first beginnings of the changes which lead to the "Modern +Times" actually can be seen from the end of An Lu-shan's rebellion on, +from _c_. A.D. 780 on, and the transformation was more or less completed +only in the middle of the eleventh century. + +If we want to characterize the "Modern Times" by one concept, we would +have to call this epoch the time of the emergence of a middle class, and +it will be remembered that the growth of the middle class in Europe was +also the decisive change between the Middle Ages and Modern Times in +Europe. The parallelism should, however, not be overdone. The gentry +continued to play a role in China during the Modern Times, much more +than the aristocracy did in Europe. The middle class did not ever really +get into power during the whole period. + +While we will discuss the individual developments later in some detail, +a few words about the changes in general might be given already here. +The wars which followed Huang Ch'ao's rebellion greatly affected the +ruling gentry. A number of families were so strongly affected that they +lost their importance and disappeared. Commoners from the followers of +Huang Ch'ao or other armies succeeded to get into power, to acquire +property and to enter the ranks of the gentry. At about A.D. 1000 almost +half of the gentry families were new families of low origin. The state, +often ruled by men who had just moved up, was no more interested in the +aristocratic manners of the old gentry families, especially no more +interested in their genealogies. When conditions began to improve after +A.D. 1000, and when the new families felt themselves as real gentry +families, they tried to set up a mechanism to protect the status of +their families. In the eleventh century private genealogies began to be +kept, so that any claim against the clan could be checked. Clans set up +rules of behaviour and procedure to regulate all affairs of the clan +without the necessity of asking the state to interfere in case of +conflict. Many such "clan rules" exist in China and also in Japan which +took over this innovation. Clans set apart special pieces of land as +clan land; the income of this land was to be used to secure a minimum of +support for every clan member and his own family, so that no member ever +could fall into utter poverty. Clan schools which were run by income +from special pieces of clan land were established to guarantee an +education for the members of the clan, again in order to make sure that +the clan would remain a part of the _élite_. Many clans set up special +marriage rules for clan members, and after some time cross-cousin +marriages between two or three families were legally allowed; such +marriages tended to fasten bonds between clans and to prevent the loss +of property by marriage. While on the one hand, a new "clan +consciousness" grew up among the gentry families in order to secure +their power, tax and corvée legislation especially in the eleventh +century induced many families to split up into small families. + +It can be shown that over the next centuries, the power of the family +head increased. He was now regarded as owner of the property, not only +mere administrator of family property. He got power over life and death +of his children. This increase of power went together with a change of +the position of the ruler. The period transition (until _c_. A.D. 1000) +was followed by a period of "moderate absolutism" (until 1278) in which +emperors as persons played a greater role than before, and some +emperors, such as Shen Tsung (in 1071), even declared that they regarded +the welfare of the masses as more important than the profit of the +gentry. After 1278, however, the personal influence of the emperors grew +further towards absolutism and in times became pure despotism. + +Individuals, especially family heads, gained more freedom in "Modern +Times". Not only the period of transition, but also the following period +was a time of much greater social mobility than existed in the Middle +Ages. By various legal and/or illegal means people could move up into +positions of power and wealth: we know of many merchants who succeeded +in being allowed to enter the state examinations and thus got access to +jobs in the administration. Large, influential gentry families in the +capital protected sons from less important families and thus gave them a +chance to move into the gentry. Thus, these families built up a +clientele of lesser gentry families which assisted them and upon the +loyalty of which they could count. The gentry can from now on be divided +into two parts. First, there was a "big gentry" which consisted of much +fewer families than in earlier times and which directed the policy in +the capital; and secondly, there was a "small gentry" which was +operating mainly in the provincial cities, directing local affairs and +bound by ties of loyalty to big gentry families. Gentry cliques now +extended into the provinces and it often became possible to identify a +clique with a geographical area, which, however, usually did not +indicate particularistic tendencies. + +Individual freedom did not show itself only in greater social mobility. +The restrictions which, for instance, had made the craftsmen and +artisans almost into serfs, were gradually lifted. From the early +sixteenth century on, craftsmen were free and no more subject to forced +labour services for the state. Most craftsmen in this epoch still had +their shops in one lane or street and lived above their shops, as they +had done in the earlier period. But from now on, they began to organize +in guilds of an essentially religious character, as similar guilds in +other parts of Asia at the same time also did. They provided welfare +services for their members, made some attempts towards standardization +of products and prices, imposed taxes upon their members, kept their +streets clean and tried to regulate salaries. Apprentices were initiated +in a kind of semi-religious ceremony, and often meetings took place in +temples. No guild, however, connected people of the same craft living in +different cities. Thus, they did not achieve political power. +Furthermore, each trade had its own guild; in Peking in the nineteenth +century there existed over 420 different guilds. Thus, guilds failed to +achieve political influence even within individual cities. + +Probably at the same time, regional associations, the so-called +"_hui-kuan"_ originated. Such associations united people from one city +or one area who lived in another city. People of different trades, but +mainly businessmen, came together under elected chiefs and councillors. +Sometimes, such regional associations could function as pressure groups, +especially as they were usually financially stronger than the guilds. +They often owned city property or farm land. Not all merchants, however, +were so organized. Although merchants remained under humiliating +restrictions as to the colour and material of their dress and the +prohibition to ride a horse, they could more often circumvent such +restrictions and in general had much more freedom in this epoch. + +Trade, including overseas trade, developed greatly from now on. Soon we +find in the coastal ports a special office which handled custom and +registration affairs, supplied interpreters for foreigners, received +them officially and gave good-bye dinners when they left. Down to the +thirteenth century, most of this overseas trade was still in the hands +of foreigners, mainly Indians. Entrepreneurs hired ships, if they were +not ship-owners, hired trained merchants who in turn hired sailors +mainly from the South-East Asian countries, and sold their own +merchandise as well as took goods on commission. Wealthy Chinese gentry +families invested money in such foreign enterprises and in some cases +even gave their daughters in marriage to foreigners in order to profit +from this business. + +We also see an emergence of industry from the eleventh century on. We +find men who were running almost monopolistic enterprises, such as +preparing charcoal for iron production and producing iron and steel at +the same time; some of these men had several factories, operating under +hired and qualified managers with more than 500 labourers. We find +beginnings of a labour legislation and the first strikes (A.D. 782 the +first strike of merchants in the capital; 1601 first strike of textile +workers). + +Some of these labourers were so-called "vagrants", farmers who had +secretly left their land or their landlord's land for various reasons, +and had shifted to other regions where they did not register and thus +did not pay taxes. Entrepreneurs liked to hire them for industries +outside the towns where supervision by the government was not so strong; +naturally, these "vagrants" were completely at the mercy of their +employers. + +Since _c_. 780 the economy can again be called a money economy; more and +more taxes were imposed in form of money instead of in kind. This +pressure forced farmers out of the land and into the cities in order to +earn there the cash they needed for their tax payments. These men +provided the labour force for industries, and this in turn led to the +strong growth of the cities, especially in Central China where trade and +industries developed most. + +Wealthy people not only invested in industrial enterprises, but also +began to make heavy investments in agriculture in the vicinity of +cities in order to increase production and thus income. We find men who +drained lakes in order to create fields below the water level for easy +irrigation; others made floating fields on lakes and avoided land tax +payments; still others combined pig and fish breeding in one operation. + +The introduction of money economy and money taxes led to a need for more +coinage. As metal was scarce and minting very expensive, iron coins were +introduced, silver became more and more common as means of exchange, and +paper money was issued. As the relative value of these moneys changed +with supply and demand, speculation became a flourishing business which +led to further enrichment of people in business. Even the government +became more money-minded: costs of operations and even of wars were +carefully calculated in order to achieve savings; financial specialists +were appointed by the government, just as clans appointed such men for +the efficient administration of their clan properties. + +Yet no real capitalism or industrialism developed until towards the end +of this epoch, although at the end of the twelfth century almost all +conditions for such a development seemed to be given. + +2 _Political situation in the tenth century_ + +The Chinese call the period from 906 to 960 the "period of the Five +Dynasties" (_Wu Tai_). This is not quite accurate. It is true that there +were five dynasties in rapid succession in North China; but at the same +time there were ten other dynasties in South China. The ten southern +dynasties, however, are regarded as not legitimate. The south was much +better off with its illegitimate dynasties than the north with the +legitimate ones. The dynasties in the south (we may dispense with giving +their names) were the realms of some of the military governors so often +mentioned above. These governors had already become independent at the +end of the T'ang epoch; they declared themselves kings or emperors and +ruled particular provinces in the south, the chief of which covered the +territory of the present provinces of Szechwan, Kwangtung and Chekiang. +In these territories there was comparative peace and economic +prosperity, since they were able to control their own affairs and were +no longer dependent on a corrupt central government. They also made +great cultural progress, and they did not lose their importance later +when they were annexed in the period of the Sung dynasty. + +As an example of these states one may mention the small state of Ch'u in +the present province of Hunan. Here, Ma Yin, a former carpenter (died +931), had made himself a king. He controlled some of the main trade +routes, set up a clean administration, bought up all merchandise which +the merchants brought, but allowed them to export only local products, +mainly tea, iron and lead. This regulation gave him a personal income of +several millions every year, and in addition fostered the exploitation +of the natural resources of this hitherto retarded area. + +3 _Monopolistic trade in South China. Printing and paper money in the +north_ + +The prosperity of the small states of South China was largely due to the +growth of trade, especially the tea trade. The habit of drinking tea +seems to have been an ancient Tibetan custom, which spread to +south-eastern China in the third century A.D. Since then there had been +two main centres of production, Szechwan and south-eastern China. Until +the eleventh century Szechwan had remained the leading producer, and tea +had been drunk in the Tibetan fashion, mixed with flour, salt, and +ginger. It then began to be drunk without admixture. In the T'ang epoch +tea drinking spread all over China, and there sprang up a class of +wholesalers who bought the tea from the peasants, accumulated stocks, +and distributed them. From 783 date the first attempts of the state to +monopolize the tea trade and to make it a source of revenue; but it +failed in an attempt to make the cultivation a state monopoly. A tea +commissariat was accordingly set up to buy the tea from the producers +and supply it to traders in possession of a state licence. There +naturally developed then a pernicious collaboration between state +officials and the wholesalers. The latter soon eliminated the small +traders, so that they themselves secured all the profit; official +support was secured by bribery. The state and the wholesalers alike were +keenly interested in the prevention of tea smuggling, which was strictly +prohibited. + +The position was much the same with regard to salt. We have here for the +first time the association of officials with wholesalers or even with a +monopoly trade. This was of the utmost importance in all later times. +Monopoly progressed most rapidly in Szechwan, where there had always +been a numerous commercial community. In the period of political +fragmentation Szechwan, as the principal tea-producing region and at the +same time an important producer of salt, was much better off than any +other part of China. Salt in Szechwan was largely produced by, +technically, very interesting salt wells which existed there since _c_. +the first century B.C. The importance of salt will be understood if we +remember that a grown-up person in China uses an average of twelve +pounds of salt per year. The salt tax was the top budget item around +A.D. 900. + +South-eastern China was also the chief centre of porcelain production, +although china clay is found also in North China. The use of porcelain +spread more and more widely. The first translucent porcelain made its +appearance, and porcelain became an important article of commerce both +within the country and for export. Already the Muslim rulers of Baghdad +around 800 used imported Chinese porcelain, and by the end of the +fourteenth century porcelain was known in Eastern Africa. Exports to +South-East Asia and Indonesia, and also to Japan gained more and more +importance in later centuries. Manufacture of high quality porcelain +calls for considerable amounts of capital investment and working +capital; small manufacturers produce too many second-rate pieces; thus +we have here the first beginnings of an industry that developed +industrial towns such as Ching-tê, in which the majority of the +population were workers and merchants, with some 10,000 families alone +producing porcelain. Yet, for many centuries to come, the state +controlled the production and even the design of porcelain and +appropriated most of the production for use at court or as gifts. + +The third important new development to be mentioned was that of +printing, which since _c_. 770 was known in the form of wood-block +printing. The first reference to a printed book dated from 835, and the +most important event in this field was the first printing of the +Classics by the orders of Feng Tao (882-954) around 940. The first +attempts to use movable type in China occurred around 1045, although +this invention did not get general acceptance in China. It was more +commonly used in Korea from the thirteenth century on and revolutionized +Europe from 1538 on. It seems to me that from the middle of the +twentieth century on, the West, too, shows a tendency to come back to +the printing of whole pages, but replacing the wood blocks by +photographic plates or other means. In the Far East, just as in Europe, +the invention of printing had far-reaching consequences. Books, which +until then had been very dear, because they had to be produced by +copyists, could now be produced cheaply and in quantity. It became +possible for a scholar to accumulate a library of his own and to work in +a wide field, where earlier he had been confined to a few books or even +a single text. The results were the spread of education, beginning with +reading and writing, among wider groups, and the broadening of +education: a large number of texts were read and compared, and no longer +only a few. Private libraries came into existence, so that the imperial +libraries were no longer the only ones. Publishing soon grew in extent, +and in private enterprise works were printed that were not so serious +and politically important as the classic books of the past. Thus a new +type of literature, the literature of entertainment, could come into +existence. Not all these consequences showed themselves at once; some +made their first appearance later, in the Sung period. + +A fourth important innovation, this time in North China, was the +introduction of prototypes of paper money. The Chinese copper "cash" was +difficult or expensive to transport, simply because of its weight. It +thus presented great obstacles to trade. Occasionally a region with an +adverse balance of trade would lose all its copper money, with the +result of a local deflation. From time to time, iron money was +introduced in such deficit areas; it had for the first time been used in +Szechwan in the first century B.C., and was there extensively used in +the tenth century when after the conquest of the local state all copper +was taken to the east by the conquerors. So long as there was an orderly +administration, the government could send it money, though at +considerable cost; but if the administration was not functioning well, +the deflation continued. For this reason some provinces prohibited the +export of copper money from their territory at the end of the eighth +century. As the provinces were in the hands of military governors, the +central government could do next to nothing to prevent this. On the +other hand, the prohibition automatically made an end of all external +trade. The merchants accordingly began to prepare deposit certificates, +and in this way to set up a sort of transfer system. Soon these deposit +certificates entered into circulation as a sort of medium of payment at +first again in Szechwan, and gradually this led to a banking system and +the linking of wholesale trade with it. This made possible a much +greater volume of trade. Towards the end of the T'ang period the +government began to issue deposit certificates of its own: the merchant +deposited his copper money with a government agency, receiving in +exchange a certificate which he could put into circulation like money. +Meanwhile the government could put out the deposited money at interest, +or throw it into general circulation. The government's deposit +certificates were now printed. They were the predecessors of the paper +money used from the time of the Sung. + +4 _Political history of the Five Dynasties_ + +The southern states were a factor not to be ignored in the calculations +of the northern dynasties. Although the southern kingdoms were involved +in a confusion of mutual hostilities, any one of them might come to the +fore as the ally of Turks or other northern powers. The capital of the +first of the five northern dynasties (once more a Liang dynasty, but not +to be confused with the Liang dynasty of the south in the sixth century) +was, moreover, quite close to the territories of the southern dynasties, +close to the site of the present K'ai-feng, in the fertile plain of +eastern China with its good means of transport. Militarily the town +could not be held, for its one and only defence was the Yellow River. +The founder of this Later Liang dynasty, Chu Ch'üan-chung (906), was +himself an eastern Chinese and, as will be remembered, a past supporter +of the revolutionary Huang Ch'ao, but he had then gone over to the T'ang +and had gained high military rank. + +His northern frontier remained still more insecure than the southern, +for Chu Ch'üan-chung did not succeed in destroying the Turkish general +Li K'o-yung; on the contrary, the latter continually widened the range +of his power. Fortunately he, too, had an enemy at his back--the Kitan +(or Khitan), whose ruler had made himself emperor in 916, and so staked +a claim to reign over all China. The first Kitan emperor held a middle +course between Chu and Li, and so was able to establish and expand his +empire in peace. The striking power of his empire, which from 937 onward +was officially called the Liao empire, grew steadily, because the old +tribal league of the Kitan was transformed into a centrally commanded +military organization. + +To these dangers from abroad threatening the Later Liang state internal +troubles were added. Chu Ch'üan-chung's dynasty was one of the three +Chinese dynasties that have ever come to power through a popular rising. +He himself was of peasant origin, and so were a large part of his +subordinates and helpers. Many of them had originally been independent +peasant leaders; others had been under Huang Ch'ao. All of them were +opposed to the gentry, and the great slaughter of the gentry of the +capital, shortly before the beginning of Chu's rule, had been welcomed +by Chu and his followers. The gentry therefore would not co-operate with +Chu and preferred to join the Turk Li K'o-yung. But Chu could not +confidently rely on his old comrades. They were jealous of his success +in gaining the place they all coveted, and were ready to join in any +independent enterprise as opportunity offered. All of them, moreover, as +soon as they were given any administrative post, busied themselves with +the acquisition of money and wealth as quickly as possible. These abuses +not only ate into the revenues of the state but actually produced a +common front between the peasantry and the remnants of the gentry +against the upstarts. + +In 917, after Li K'o-yung's death, the Sha-t'o Turks beat off an attack +from the Kitan, and so were safe for a time from the northern menace. +They then marched against the Liang state, where a crisis had been +produced in 912 after the murder of Chu Ch'üan-chung by one of his sons. +The Liang generals saw no reason why they should fight for the dynasty, +and all of them went over to the enemy. Thus the "Later T'ang dynasty" +(923-936) came into power in North China, under the son of Li K'o-yung. + +The dominant element at this time was quite clearly the Chinese gentry, +especially in western and central China. The Sha-t'o themselves must +have been extraordinarily few in number, probably little more than +100,000 men. Most of them, moreover, were politically passive, being +simple soldiers. Only the ruling family and its following played any +active part, together with a few families related to it by marriage. The +whole state was regarded by the Sha-t'o rulers as a sort of family +enterprise, members of the family being placed in the most important +positions. As there were not enough of them, they adopted into the +family large numbers of aliens of all nationalities. Military posts were +given to faithful members of Li K'o-yung's or his successor's bodyguard, +and also to domestic servants and other clients of the family. Thus, +while in the Later Liang state elements from the peasantry had risen in +the world, some of these neo-gentry reaching the top of the social +pyramid in the centuries that followed, in the Sha-t'o state some of its +warriors, drawn from the most various peoples, entered the gentry class +through their personal relations with the ruler. But in spite of all +this the bulk of the officials came once more from the Chinese. These +educated Chinese not only succeeded in winning over the rulers +themselves to the Chinese cultural ideal, but persuaded them to adopt +laws that substantially restricted the privileges of the Sha-t'o and +brought advantages only to the Chinese gentry. Consequently all the +Chinese historians are enthusiastic about the "Later T'ang", and +especially about the emperor Ming Ti, who reigned from 927 onward, after +the assassination of his predecessor. They also abused the Liang because +they were against the gentry. + +In 936 the Later T'ang dynasty gave place to the Later Chin dynasty +(936-946), but this involved no change in the structure of the empire. +The change of dynasty meant no more than that instead of the son +following the father the son-in-law had ascended the throne. It was of +more importance that the son-in-law, the Sha-t'o Turk Shih Ching-t'ang, +succeeded in doing this by allying himself with the Kitan and ceding to +them some of the northern provinces. The youthful successor, however, of +the first ruler of this dynasty was soon made to realize that the Kitan +regarded the founding of his dynasty as no more than a transition stage +on the way to their annexation of the whole of North China. The old +Sha-t'o nobles, who had not been sinified in the slightest, suggested a +preventive war; the actual court group, strongly sinified, hesitated, +but ultimately were unable to avoid war. The war was very quickly +decided by several governors in eastern China going over to the Kitan, +who had promised them the imperial title. In the course of 946-7 the +Kitan occupied the capital and almost the whole of the country. In 947 +the Kitan ruler proclaimed himself emperor of the Kitan and the Chinese. + +[Illustration: Map 6: The State of the later T'ang dynasty] + +The Chinese gentry seem to have accepted this situation because a Kitan +emperor was just as acceptable to them as a Sha-t'o emperor; but the +Sha-t'o were not prepared to submit to the Kitan regime, because under +it they would have lost their position of privilege. At the head of this +opposition group stood the Sha-t'o general Liu Chih-yuan, who founded +the "Later Han dynasty" (947-950). He was able to hold out against the +Kitan only because in 947 the Kitan emperor died and his son had to +leave China and retreat to the north; fighting had broken out between +the empress dowager, who had some Chinese support, and the young heir to +the throne. The new Turkish dynasty, however, was unable to withstand +the internal Chinese resistance. Its founder died in 948, and his son, +owing to his youth, was entirely in the hands of a court clique. In his +effort to free himself from the tutelage of this group he made a +miscalculation, for the men on whom he thought he could depend were +largely supporters of the clique. So he lost his throne and his life, +and a Chinese general, Kuo Wei, took his place, founding the "Later Chou +dynasty" (951-959). + +A feature of importance was that in the years of the short-lived "Later +Han dynasty" a tendency showed itself among the Chinese military leaders +to work with the states in the south. The increase in the political +influence of the south was due to its economic advance while the north +was reduced to economic chaos by the continual heavy fighting, and by +the complete irresponsibility of the Sha-t'o ruler in financial matters: +several times in this period the whole of the money in the state +treasury was handed out to soldiers to prevent them from going over to +some enemy or other. On the other hand, there was a tendency in the +south for the many neighbouring states to amalgamate, and as this +process took place close to the frontier of North China the northern +states could not passively look on. During the "Later Han" period there +were wars and risings, which continued in the time of the "Later Chou". + +On the whole, the few years of the rule of the second emperor of the +"Later Chou" (954-958) form a bright spot in those dismal fifty-five +years. Sociologically regarded, that dynasty formed merely a transition +stage on the way to the Sung dynasty that now followed: the Chinese +gentry ruled under the leadership of an upstart who had risen from the +ranks, and they ruled in accordance with the old principles of gentry +rule. The Sha-t'o, who had formed the three preceding dynasties, had +been so reduced that they were now a tiny minority and no longer +counted. This minority had only been able to maintain its position +through the special social conditions created by the "Later Liang" +dynasty: the Liang, who had come from the lower classes of the +population, had driven the gentry into the arms of the Sha-t'o Turks. As +soon as the upstarts, in so far as they had not fallen again or been +exterminated, had more or less assimilated themselves to the old gentry, +and on the other hand the leaders of the Sha-t'o had become numerically +too weak, there was a possibility of resuming the old form of rule. + +There had been certain changes in this period. The north-west of China, +the region of the old capital Ch'ang-an, had been so ruined by the +fighting that had gone on mainly there and farther north, that it was +eliminated as a centre of power for a hundred years to come; it had been +largely depopulated. The north was under the rule of the Kitan: its +trade, which in the past had been with the Huang-ho basin, was now +perforce diverted to Peking, which soon became the main centre of the +power of the Kitan. The south, particularly the lower Yangtze region and +the province of Szechwan, had made economic progress, at least in +comparison with the north; consequently it had gained in political +importance. + +One other event of this time has to be mentioned: the great persecution +of Buddhism in 955, but not only because 30,336 temples and monasteries +were secularized and only some 2,700 with 61,200 monks were left. +Although the immediate reason for this action seems to have been that +too many men entered the monasteries in order to avoid being taken as +soldiers, the effect of the law of 955 was that from now on the +Buddhists were put under regulations which clarified once and for ever +their position within the framework of a society which had as its aim to +define clearly the status of each individual within each social class. +Private persons were no more allowed to erect temples and monasteries. +The number of temples per district was legally fixed. A person could +become monk only if the head of the family gave its permission. He had +to be over fifteen years of age and had to know by heart at least one +hundred pages of texts. The state took over the control of the +ordinations which could be performed only after a successful +examination. Each year a list of all monks had to be submitted to the +government in two copies. Monks had to carry six identification cards +with them, one of which was the ordination diploma for which a fee had +to be paid to the government (already since 755). The diploma was, in +the eleventh century, issued by the Bureau of Sacrifices, but the money +was collected by the Ministry of Agriculture. It can be regarded as a +payment _in lieu_ of land tax. The price was in the eleventh century 130 +strings, which represented the value of a small farm or the value of +some 17,000 litres of grain. The price of the diploma went up to 220 +strings in 1101, and the then government sold 30,000 diplomas per year +in order to get still more cash. But as diplomas could be traded, a +black market developed, on which they were sold for as little as twenty +strings. + + +(B) Period of Moderate Absolutism + +(1) The Northern Sung dynasty + +1 _Southward expansion_ + +The founder of the Sung dynasty, Chao K'uang-yin, came of a Chinese +military family living to the south of Peking. He advanced from general +to emperor, and so differed in no way from the emperors who had preceded +him. But his dynasty did not disappear as quickly as the others; for +this there were several reasons. To begin with, there was the simple +fact that he remained alive longer than the other founders of dynasties, +and so was able to place his rule on a firmer foundation. But in +addition to this he followed a new course, which in certain ways +smoothed matters for him and for his successors, in foreign policy. + +This Sung dynasty, as Chao K'uang-yin named it, no longer turned against +the northern peoples, particularly the Kitan, but against the south. +This was not exactly an heroic policy: the north of China remained in +the hands of the Kitan. There were frequent clashes, but no real effort +was made to destroy the Kitan, whose dynasty was now called "Liao". The +second emperor of the Sung was actually heavily defeated several times +by the Kitan. But they, for their part, made no attempt to conquer the +whole of China, especially since the task would have become more and +more burdensome the farther south the Sung expanded. And very soon there +were other reasons why the Kitan should refrain from turning their whole +strength against the Chinese. + +[Illustration: 10 Ladies of the Court: clay models which accompanied +the dead person to the grave. T'ang period. _In the collection of the +Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin_.] + +[Illustration: 11 Distinguished founder: a temple banner found at +Khotcho, Turkestan. _Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin, No. 1B_ 4524, +_illustration B_ 408.] + +As we said, the Sung turned at once against the states in the south. +Some of the many small southern states had made substantial economic and +cultural advance, but militarily they were not strong. Chao K'uang-yin +(named as emperor T'ai Tsu) attacked them in succession. Most of them +fell very quickly and without any heavy fighting, especially since the +Sung dealt mildly with the defeated rulers and their following. The +gentry and the merchants in these small states could not but realize the +advantages of a widened and well-ordered economic field, and they were +therefore entirely in favour of the annexation of their country so soon +as it proved to be tolerable. And the Sung empire could only endure and +gain strength if it had control of the regions along the Yangtze and +around Canton, with their great economic resources. The process of +absorbing the small states in the south continued until 980. Before it +was ended, the Sung tried to extend their influence in the south beyond +the Chinese border, and secured a sort of protectorate over parts of +Annam (973). This sphere of influence was politically insignificant and +not directly of any economic importance; but it fulfilled for the Sung +the same functions which colonial territories fulfilled for Europeans, +serving as a field of operation for the commercial class, who imported +raw materials from it--mainly, it is true, luxury articles such as +special sorts of wood, perfumes, ivory, and so on--and exported Chinese +manufactures. As the power of the empire grew, this zone of influence +extended as far as Indonesia: the process had begun in the T'ang period. +The trade with the south had not the deleterious effects of the trade +with Central Asia. There was no sale of refined metals, and none of +fabrics, as the natives produced their own textiles which sufficed for +their needs. And the export of porcelain brought no economic injury to +China, but the reverse. + +This Sung policy was entirely in the interest of the gentry and of the +trading community which was now closely connected with them. Undoubtedly +it strengthened China. The policy of nonintervention in the north was +endurable even when peace with the Kitan had to be bought by the payment +of an annual tribute. From 1004 onwards, 100,000 ounces of silver and +200,000 bales of silk were paid annually to the Kitan, amounting in +value to about 270,000 strings of cash, each of 1,000 coins. The state +budget amounted to some 20,000,000 strings of cash. In 1038 the payments +amounted to 500,000 strings, but the budget was by then much larger. One +is liable to get a false impression when reading of these big payments +if one does not take into account what percentage they formed of the +total revenues of the state. The tribute to the Kitan amounted to less +than 2 per cent of the revenue, while the expenditure on the army +accounted for 25 per cent of the budget. It cost much less to pay +tribute than to maintain large armies and go to war. Financial +considerations played a great part during the Sung epoch. The taxation +revenue of the empire rose rapidly after the pacification of the south; +soon after the beginning of the dynasty the state budget was double that +of the T'ang. If the state expenditure in the eleventh century had not +continually grown through the increase in military expenditure--in spite +of everything!--there would have come a period of great prosperity in +the empire. + +2 _Administration and army. Inflation_ + +The Sung emperor, like the rulers of the transition period, had gained +the throne by his personal abilities as military leader; in fact, he had +been made emperor by his soldiers as had happened to so many emperors in +later Imperial Rome. For the next 300 years we observe a change in the +position of the emperor. On the one hand, if he was active and +intelligent enough, he exercised much more personal influence than the +rulers of the Middle Ages. On the other hand, at the same time, the +emperors were much closer to their ministers as before. We hear of +ministers who patted the ruler on the shoulders when they retired from +an audience; another one fell asleep on the emperor's knee and was not +punished for this familiarity. The emperor was called "_kuan-chia_" +(Administrator) and even called himself so. And in the early twelfth +century an emperor stated "I do not regard the empire as my personal +property; my job is to guide the people". Financially-minded as the Sung +dynasty was, the cost of the operation of the palace was calculated, so +that the emperor had a budget: in 1068 the salaries of all officials in +the capital amounted to 40,000 strings of money per month, the armies +100,000, and the emperor's ordinary monthly budget was 70,000 strings. +For festivals, imperial birthdays, weddings and burials extra allowances +were made. Thus, the Sung rulers may be called "moderate absolutists" +and not despots. + +One of the first acts of the new Sung emperor, in 963, was a fundamental +reorganization of the administration of the country. The old system of a +civil administration and a military administration independent of it was +brought to an end and the whole administration of the country placed in +the hands of civil officials. The gentry welcomed this measure and gave +it full support, because it enabled the influence of the gentry to grow +and removed the fear of competition from the military, some of whom did +not belong by birth to the gentry. The generals by whose aid the empire +had been created were put on pension, or transferred to civil +employment, as quickly as possible. The army was demobilized, and this +measure was bound up with the settlement of peasants in the regions +which war had depopulated, or on new land. Soon after this the revenue +noticeably increased. Above all, the army was placed directly under the +central administration, and the system of military governors was thus +brought to an end. The soldiers became mercenaries of the state, whereas +in the past there had been conscription. In 975 the army had numbered +only 378,000, and its cost had not been insupportable. Although the +numbers increased greatly, reaching 912,000 in 1017 and 1,259,000 in +1045, this implied no increase in military strength; for men who had +once been soldiers remained with the army even when they were too old +for service. Moreover, the soldiers grew more and more exacting; when +detachments were transferred to another region, for instance, the +soldiers would not carry their baggage; an army of porters had to be +assembled. The soldiers also refused to go to regions remote from their +homes until they were given extra pay. Such allowances gradually became +customary, and so the military expenditure grew by leaps and bounds +without any corresponding increase in the striking power of the army. + +The government was unable to meet the whole cost of the army out of +taxation revenue. The attempt was made to cover the expenditure by +coining fresh money. In connection with the increase in commercial +capital described above, and the consequent beginning of an industry, +China's metal production had greatly increased. In 1050 thirteen times +as much silver, eight times as much copper, and fourteen times as much +iron was produced as in 800. Thus the circulation of the copper currency +was increased. The cost of minting, however, amounted in China to about +75 per cent and often over 100 per cent of the value of the money +coined. In addition to this, the metal was produced in the south, while +the capital was in the north. The coin had therefore to be carried a +long distance to reach the capital and to be sent on to the soldiers in +the north. + +To meet the increasing expenditure, an unexampled quantity of new money +was put into circulation. The state budget increased from 22,200,000 in +A.D. 1000 to 150,800,000 in 1021. The Kitan state coined a great deal of +silver, and some of the tribute was paid to it in silver. The greatly +increased production of silver led to its being put into circulation in +China itself. And this provided a new field of speculation, through the +variations in the rates for silver and for copper. Speculation was also +possible with the deposit certificates, which were issued in quantities +by the state from the beginning of the eleventh century, and to which +the first true paper money was soon added. The paper money and the +certificates were redeemable at a definite date, but at a reduction of +at least 3 per cent of their value; this, too, yielded a certain revenue +to the state. + +The inflation that resulted from all these measures brought profit to +the big merchants in spite of the fact that they had to supply directly +or indirectly all non-agricultural taxes (in 1160 some 40,000,000 +strings annually), especially the salt tax (50 per cent), wine tax (36 +per cent), tea tax (7 per cent) and customs (7 per cent). Although the +official economic thinking remained Confucian, i.e. anti-business and +pro-agrarian, we find in this time insight in price laws, for instance, +that peace times and/or decrease of population induce deflation. The +government had always attempted to manipulate the prices by +interference. Already in much earlier times, again and again, attempts +had been made to lower the prices by the so-called "ever-normal +granaries" of the government which threw grain on the market when prices +were too high and bought grain when prices were low. But now, in +addition to such measures, we also find others which exhibit a deeper +insight: in a period of starvation, the scholar and official Fan +Chung-yen instead of officially reducing grain prices, raised the prices +in his district considerably. Although the population got angry, +merchants started to import large amounts of grain; as soon as this +happened, Fan (himself a big landowner) reduced the price again. Similar +results were achieved by others by just stimulating merchants to import +grain into deficit areas. + +With the social structure of medieval Europe, similar financial and +fiscal developments which gave new chances to merchants, eventually led +to industrial capitalism and industrial society. In China, however, the +gentry in their capacity of officials hindered the growth of independent +trade, and permitted its existence only in association with themselves. +As they also represented landed property, it was in land that the +newly-formed capital was invested. Thus we see in the Sung period, and +especially in the eleventh century, the greatest accumulation of estates +that there had ever been up to then in China. + +Many of these estates came into origin as gifts of the emperor to +individuals or to temples, others were created on hillsides on land +which belonged to the villages. From this time on, the rest of the +village commons in China proper disappeared. Villagers could no longer +use the top-soil of the hills as fertilizer, or the trees as firewood +and building material. In addition, the hillside estates diverted the +water of springs and creeks, thus damaging severely the irrigation works +of the villagers in the plains. The estates (_chuang_) were controlled +by appointed managers who often became hereditary managers. The tenants +on the estates were quite often non-registered migrants, of whom we +spoke previously as "vagrants", and as such they depended upon the +managers who could always denounce them to the authorities which would +lead to punishment because nobody was allowed to leave his home without +officially changing his registration. Many estates operated mills and +even textile factories with non-registered weavers. Others seem to have +specialized in sheep breeding. Present-day village names ending with +-_chuang_ indicate such former estates. A new development in this period +were the "clan estates" (_i-chuang_), created by Fan Chung-yen +(989-1052) in 1048. The income of these clan estates were used for the +benefit of the whole clan, were controlled by clan-appointed managers +and had tax-free status, guaranteed by the government which regarded +them as welfare institutions. Technically, they might better be called +corporations because they were similar in structure to some of our +industrial corporations. Under the Chinese economic system, large-scale +landowning always proved socially and politically injurious. Up to very +recent times the peasant who rented his land paid 40-50 per cent of the +produce to the landowner, who was responsible for payment of the normal +land tax. The landlord, however, had always found means of evading +payment. As each district had to yield a definite amount of taxation, +the more the big landowners succeeded in evading payment the more had to +be paid by the independent small farmers. These independent peasants +could then either "give" their land to the big landowner and pay rent to +him, thus escaping from the attentions of the tax-officer, or simply +leave the district and secretly enter another one where they were not +registered. In either case the government lost taxes. + +Large-scale landowning proved especially injurious in the Sung period, +for two reasons. To begin with, the official salaries, which had always +been small in China, were now totally inadequate, and so the officials +were given a fixed quantity of land, the yield of which was regarded as +an addition to salary. This land was free from part of the taxes. Before +long the officials had secured the liberation of the whole of their land +from the chief taxes. In the second place, the taxation system was +simplified by making the amount of tax proportional to the amount of +land owned. The lowest bracket, however, in this new system of taxation +comprised more land than a poor peasant would actually own, and this was +a heavy blow to the small peasant-owners, who in the past had paid a +proportion of their produce. Most of them had so little land that they +could barely live on its yield. Their liability to taxation was at all +times a very heavy burden to them while the big landowners got off +lightly. Thus this measure, though administratively a saving of +expense, proved unsocial. + +All this made itself felt especially in the south with its great estates +of tax-evading landowners. Here the remaining small peasant-owners had +to pay the new taxes or to become tenants of the landowners and lose +their property. The north was still suffering from the war-devastation +of the tenth century. As the landlords were always the first sufferers +from popular uprisings as well as from war, they had disappeared, +leaving their former tenants as free peasants. From this period on, we +have enough data to observe a social "law ": as the capital was the +largest consumer, especially of high-priced products such as vegetables +which could not be transported over long distances, the gentry always +tried to control the land around the capital. Here, we find the highest +concentration of landlords and tenants. Production in this circle +shifted from rice and wheat to mulberry trees for silk, and vegetables +grown under the trees. These urban demands resulted in the growth of an +"industrial" quarter on the outskirts of the capital, in which +especially silk for the upper classes was produced. The next circle also +contained many landlords, but production was more in staple foods such +as wheat and rice which could be transported. Exploitation in this +second circle was not much less than in the first circle, because of +less close supervision by the authorities. In the third circle we find +independent subsistence farmers. Some provincial capitals, especially in +Szechwan, exhibited a similar pattern of circles. With the shift of the +capital, a complete reorganization appeared: landlords and officials +gave up their properties, cultivation changed, and a new system of +circles began to form around the new capital. We find, therefore, the +grotesque result that the thinly populated province of Shensi in the +north-west yielded about a quarter of the total revenues of the state: +it had no large landowners, no wealthy gentry, with their evasion of +taxation, only a mass of newly-settled small peasants' holdings. For +this reason the government was particularly interested in that province, +and closely watched the political changes in its neighbourhood. In 990 a +man belonging to a sinified Toba family, living on the border of Shensi, +had made himself king with the support of remnants of Toba tribes. In +1034 came severe fighting, and in 1038 the king proclaimed himself +emperor, in the Hsia dynasty, and threatened the whole of north-western +China. Tribute was now also paid to this state (250,000 strings), but +the fight against it continued, to save that important province. + +These were the main events in internal and external affairs during the +Sung period until 1068. It will be seen that foreign affairs were of +much less importance than developments in the country. + +3 _Reforms and Welfare schemes_ + +The situation just described was bound to produce a reaction. In spite +of the inflationary measures the revenue fell, partly in consequence of +the tax evasions of the great landowners. It fell from 150,000,000 in +1021 to 116,000,000 in 1065. Expenditure did not fall, and there was a +constant succession of budget deficits. The young emperor Shen Tsung +(1068-1085) became convinced that the policy followed by the ruling +clique of officials and gentry was bad, and he gave his adhesion to a +small group led by Wang An-shih (1021-1086). The ruling gentry clique +represented especially the interests of the large tea producers and +merchants in Szechwan and Kiangsi. It advocated a policy of +_laisser-faire_ in trade: it held that everything would adjust itself. +Wang An-shih himself came from Kiangsi and was therefore supported at +first by the government clique, within which the Kiangsi group was +trying to gain predominance over the Szechwan group. But Wang An-shih +came from a poor family, as did his supporters, for whom he quickly +secured posts. They represented the interests of the small landholders +and the small dealers. This group succeeded in gaining power, and in +carrying out a number of reforms, all directed against the monopolist +merchants. Credits for small peasants were introduced, and officials +were given bigger salaries, in order to make them independent and to +recruit officials who were not big landowners. The army was greatly +reduced, and in addition to the paid soldiery a national militia was +created. Special attention was paid to the province of Shensi, whose +conditions were taken more or less as a model. + +It seems that one consequence of Wang's reforms was a strong fall in the +prices, i.e. a deflation; therefore, as soon as the first decrees were +issued, the large plantation owners and the merchants who were allied to +them, offered furious opposition. A group of officials and landlords who +still had large properties in the vicinity of Loyang--at that time a +quiet cultural centre--also joined them. Even some of Wang An-shih's +former adherents came out against him. After a few years the emperor was +no longer able to retain Wang An-shih and had to abandon the new policy. +How really economic interests were here at issue may be seen from the +fact that for many of the new decrees which were not directly concerned +with economic affairs, such, for instance, as the reform of the +examination system, Wang An-shih was strongly attacked though his +opponents had themselves advocated them in the past and had no practical +objection to offer to them. The contest, however, between the two groups +was not over. The monopolistic landowners and their merchants had the +upper hand from 1086 to 1102, but then the advocates of the policy +represented by Wang again came into power for a short time. They had but +little success to show, as they did not remain in power long enough and, +owing to the strong opposition, they were never able to make their +control really effective. + +Basically, both groups were against allowing the developing middle class +and especially the merchants to gain too much freedom, and whatever +freedom they in fact gained, came through extra-legal or illegal +practices. A proverb of the time said "People hate their ruler as +animals hate the net (of the hunter)". The basic laws of medieval times +which had attempted to create stable social classes remained: down to +the nineteenth century there were slaves, different classes of serfs or +"commoners", and free burghers. Craftsmen remained under work +obligation. Merchants were second-class people. Each class had to wear +dresses of special colour and material, so that the social status of a +person, even if he was not an official and thus recognizable by his +insignia, was immediately clear when one saw him. The houses of +different classes differed from one another by the type of tiles, the +decorations of the doors and gates; the size of the main reception room +of the house was prescribed and was kept small for all non-officials; +and even size and form of the tombs was prescribed in detail for each +class. Once a person had a certain privilege, he and his descendants +even if they had lost their position in the bureaucracy, retained these +privileges over generations. All burghers were admitted to the +examinations and, thus, there was a certain social mobility allowed +within the leading class of the society, and a new "small gentry" +developed by this system. + +Yet, the wars of the transition period had created a feeling of +insecurity within the gentry. The eleventh and twelfth centuries were +periods of extensive social legislation in order to give the lower +classes some degree of security and thus prevent them from attempting to +upset the status quo. In addition to the "ever-normal granaries" of the +state, "social granaries" were revived, into which all farmers of a +village had to deliver grain for periods of need. In 1098 a bureau for +housing and care was created which created homes for the old and +destitute; 1102 a bureau for medical care sent state doctors to homes +and hospitals as well as to private homes to care for poor patients; +from 1104 a bureau of burials took charge of the costs of burials of +poor persons. Doctors as craftsmen were under corvée obligation and +could easily be ordered by the state. Often, however, Buddhist priests +took charge of medical care, burial costs and hospitalization. The state +gave them premiums if they did good work. The Ministry of Civil Affairs +made the surveys of cases and costs, while the Ministry of Finances paid +the costs. We hear of state orphanages in 1247, a free pharmacy in 1248, +state hospitals were reorganized in 1143. In 1167 the government gave +low-interest loans to poor persons and (from 1159 on) sold cheap grain +from state granaries. Fire protection services in large cities were +organized. Finally, from 1141 on, the government opened up to +twenty-three geisha houses for the entertainment of soldiers who were +far from home in the capital and had no possibility for other +amusements. Public baths had existed already some centuries ago; now +Buddhist temples opened public baths as social service. + +Social services for the officials were also extended. Already from the +eighth century on, offices were closed every tenth day and during +holidays, a total of almost eighty days per year. Even criminals got +some leave and exiles had the right of a home leave once every three +years. The pensions for retired officials after the age of seventy which +amounted to 50 per cent of the salary from the eighth century on, were +again raised, though widows did not receive benefits. + +4 _Cultural situation (philosophy, religion, literature, painting_) + +Culturally the eleventh century was the most active period China had so +far experienced, apart from the fourth century B.C. As a consequence of +the immensely increased number of educated people resulting from the +invention of printing, circles of scholars and private schools set up by +scholars were scattered all over the country. The various philosophical +schools differed in their political attitude and in the choice of +literary models with which they were politically in sympathy. Thus Wang +An-shih and his followers preferred the rigid classic style of Han Yü +(768-825) who lived in the T'ang period and had also been an opponent of +the monopolistic tendencies of pre-capitalism. For the Wang An-shih +group formed itself into a school with a philosophy of its own and with +its own commentaries on the classics. As the representative of the small +merchants and the small landholders, this school advocated policies of +state control and specialized in the study and annotation of classical +books which seemed to favour their ideas. + +But the Wang An-shih school was unable to hold its own against the +school that stood for monopolist trade capitalism, the new philosophy +described as Neo-Confucianism or the Sung school. Here Confucianism and +Buddhism were for the first time united. In the last centuries, +Buddhistic ideas had penetrated all of Chinese culture: the slaughtering +of animals and the executions of criminals were allowed only on certain +days, in accordance with Buddhist rules. Formerly, monks and nuns had to +greet the emperor as all citizens had to do; now they were exempt from +this rule. On the other hand, the first Sung emperor was willing to +throw himself to the earth in front of the Buddha statues, but he was +told he did not have to do it because he was the "Buddha of the present +time" and thus equal to the God. Buddhist priests participated in the +celebrations on the emperor's birthday, and emperors from time to time +gave free meals to large crowds of monks. Buddhist thought entered the +field of justice: in Sung time we hear complaints that judges did not +apply the laws and showed laxity, because they hoped to gain religious +merit by sparing the lives of criminals. We had seen how the main +current of Buddhism had changed from a revolutionary to a reactionary +doctrine. The new greater gentry of the eleventh century adopted a +number of elements of this reactionary Buddhism and incorporated them in +the Confucianist system. This brought into Confucianism a metaphysic +which it had lacked in the past, greatly extending its influence on the +people and at the same time taking the wind out of the sails of +Buddhism. The greater gentry never again placed themselves on the side +of the Buddhist Church as they had done in the T'ang period. When they +got tired of Confucianism, they interested themselves in Taoism of the +politically innocent, escapist, meditative Buddhism. + +Men like Chou Tun-i (1017-1073) and Chang Tsai (1020-1077) developed a +cosmological theory which could measure up with Buddhistic cosmology and +metaphysics. But perhaps more important was the attempt of the +Neo-Confucianists to explain the problem of evil. Confucius and his +followers had believed that every person could perfect himself by +overcoming the evil in him. As the good persons should be the _élite_ +and rule the others, theoretically everybody who was a member of human +society, could move up and become a leader. It was commonly assumed that +human nature is good or indifferent, and that human feelings are evil +and have to be tamed and educated. When in Han time with the +establishment of the gentry society and its social classes, the idea +that any person could move up to become a leader if he only perfected +himself, appeared to be too unrealistic, the theory of different grades +of men was formed which found its clearest formulation by Han Yü: some +people have a good, others a neutral, and still others a bad nature; +therefore, not everybody can become a leader. The Neo-Confucianists, +especially Ch'eng Hao (1032-1085) and Ch'eng I (1033-1107), tried to +find the reasons for this inequality. According to them, nature is +neutral; but physical form originates with the combination of nature +with Material Force (_ch'i_). This combination produces individuals in +which there is a lack of balance or harmony. Man should try to transform +physical form and recover original nature. The creative force by which +such a transformation is possible is _jen_, love, the creative, +life-giving quality of nature itself. + +It should be remarked that Neo-Confucianism accepts an inequality of +men, as early Confucianism did; and that _jen_, love, in its practical +application has to be channelled by _li_, the system of rules of +behaviour. The _li_, however, always started from the idea of a +stratified class society. Chu Hsi (1130-1200), the famous scholar and +systematizer of Neo-Confucian thoughts, brought out rules of behaviour +for those burghers who did not belong to the gentry and could not, +therefore, be expected to perform all _li_; his "simplified _li_" +exercised a great influence not only upon contemporary China, but also +upon Korea and Annam and there strengthened a hitherto looser +patriarchal, patrilinear family system. + +The Neo-Confucianists also compiled great analytical works of history +and encyclopaedias whose authority continued for many centuries. They +interpreted in these works all history in accordance with their outlook; +they issued new commentaries on all the classics in order to spread +interpretations that served their purposes. In the field of commentary +this school of thought was given perfect expression by Chu Hsi, who also +wrote one of the chief historical works. Chu Hsi's commentaries became +standard works for centuries, until the beginning of the twentieth +century. Yet, although Chu became the symbol of conservatism, he was +quite interested in science, and in this field he had an open eye for +changes. + +The Sung period is so important, because it is also the time of the +greatest development of Chinese science and technology. Many new +theories, but also many practical, new inventions were made. Medicine +made substantial progress. About 1145 the first autopsy was made, on the +body of a South Chinese captive. In the field of agriculture, new +varieties of rice were developed, new techniques applied, new plants +introduced. + +The Wang An-shih school of political philosophy had opponents also in +the field of literary style, the so-called Shu Group (Shu means the +present province of Szechwan), whose leaders were the famous Three Sus. +The greatest of the three was Su Tung-p'o (1036-1101); the others were +his father, Su Shih, and his brother, Su Che. It is characteristic of +these Shu poets, and also of the Kiangsi school associated with them, +that they made as much use as they could of the vernacular. It had not +been usual to introduce the phrases of everyday life into poetry, but Su +Tung-p'o made use of the most everyday expressions, without diminishing +his artistic effectiveness by so doing; on the contrary, the result was +to give his poems much more genuine feeling than those of other poets. +These poets were in harmony with the writings of the T'ang period poet +Po Chü-i (772-846) and were supported, like Neo-Confucianism, by +representatives of trade capitalism. Politically, in their conservatism +they were sharply opposed to the Wang An-shih group. Midway between the +two stood the so-called Loyang-School, whose greatest leaders were the +historian and poet Ss[)u]-ma Kuang (1019-1086) and the philosopher-poet +Shao Yung (1011-1077). + +In addition to its poems, the Sung literature was famous for the +so-called _pi-chi_ or miscellaneous notes. These consist of short notes +of the most various sort, notes on literature, art, politics, +archaeology, all mixed together. The _pi-chi_ are a treasure-house for +the history of the culture of the time; they contain many details, often +of importance, about China's neighbouring peoples. They were intended to +serve as suggestions for learned conversation when scholars came +together; they aimed at showing how wide was a scholar's knowledge. To +this group we must add the accounts of travel, of which some of great +value dating from the Sung period are still extant; they contain +information of the greatest importance about the early Mongols and also +about Turkestan and South China. + +While the Sung period was one of perfection in all fields of art, +painting undoubtedly gained its highest development in this time. We +find now two main streams in painting: some painters preferred the +decorative, pompous, but realistic approach, with great attention to the +detail. Later theoreticians brought this school in connection with one +school of meditative Buddhism, the so-called northern school. Men who +belonged to this school of painting often were active court officials or +painted for the court and for other representative purposes. One of the +most famous among them, Li Lung-mien (ca. 1040-1106), for instance +painted the different breeds of horses in the imperial stables. He was +also famous for his Buddhistic figures. Another school, later called the +southern school, regarded painting as an intimate, personal expression. +They tried to paint inner realities and not outer forms. They, too, were +educated, but they did not paint for anybody. They painted in their +country houses when they felt in the mood for expression. Their +paintings did not stress details, but tried to give the spirit of a +landscape, for in this field they excelled most. Best known of them is +Mi Fei (ca. 1051-1107), a painter as well as a calligrapher, art +collector, and art critic. Typically, his paintings were not much liked +by the emperor Hui Tsung (ruled 1101-1125) who was one of the greatest +art collectors and whose catalogue of his collection became very famous. +He created the Painting Academy, an institution which mainly gave +official recognition to painters in form of titles which gave the +painter access to and status at court. Ma Yüan (_c_. 1190-1224), member +of a whole painter's family, and Hsia Kui (_c_. 1180-1230) continued the +more "impressionistic" tradition. Already in Sung time, however, many +painters could and did paint in different styles, "copying", i.e. +painting in the way of T'ang painters, in order to express their +changing emotions by changed styles, a fact which often makes the dating +of Chinese paintings very difficult. + +Finally, art craft has left us famous porcelains of the Sung period. The +most characteristic production of that time is the green porcelain known +as "Celadon". It consists usually of a rather solid paste, less like +porcelain than stoneware, covered with a green glaze; decoration is +incised, not painted, under the glaze. In the Sung period, however, came +the first pure white porcelain with incised ornamentation under the +glaze, and also with painting on the glaze. Not until near the end of +the Sung period did the blue and white porcelain begin (blue painting on +a white ground). The cobalt needed for this came from Asia Minor. In +exchange for the cobalt, Chinese porcelain went to Asia Minor. This +trade did not, however, grow greatly until the Mongol epoch; later +really substantial orders were placed in China, the Chinese executing +the patterns wanted in the West. + +5 _Military collapse_ + +In foreign affairs the whole eleventh century was a period of diplomatic +manoeuvring, with every possible effort to avoid war. There was +long-continued fighting with the Kitan, and at times also with the +Turco-Tibetan Hsia, but diplomacy carried the day: tribute was paid to +both enemies, and the effort was made to stir up the Kitan against the +Hsia and vice versa; the other parties also intrigued in like fashion. +In 1110 the situation seemed to improve for the Sung in this game, as a +new enemy appeared in the rear of the Liao (Kitan), the Tungusic Juchên +(Jurchen), who in the past had been more or less subject to the Kitan. +In 1114 the Juchên made themselves independent and became a political +factor. The Kitan were crippled, and it became an easy matter to attack +them. But this pleasant situation did not last long. The Juchên +conquered Peking, and in 1125 the Kitan empire was destroyed; but in the +same year the Juchên marched against the Sung. In 1126 they captured +the Sung capital; the emperor and his art-loving father, who had retired +a little earlier, were taken prisoner, and the Northern Sung dynasty was +at an end. + +The collapse came so quickly because the whole edifice of security +between the Kitan and the Sung was based on a policy of balance and of +diplomacy. Neither state was armed in any way, and so both collapsed at +the first assault from a military power. + + +(2) The Liao (Kitan) dynasty in the north (937-1125) + +1 _Social structure. Claim to the Chinese imperial throne_ + +The Kitan, a league of tribes under the leadership of an apparently +Mongol tribe, had grown steadily stronger in north-eastern Mongolia +during the T'ang epoch. They had gained the allegiance of many tribes in +the west and also in Korea and Manchuria, and in the end, about A.D. +900, had become the dominant power in the north. The process of growth +of this nomad power was the same as that of other nomad states, such as +the Toba state, and therefore need not be described again in any detail +here. When the T'ang dynasty was deposed, the Kitan were among the +claimants to the Chinese throne, feeling fully justified in their claim +as the strongest power in the Far East. Owing to the strength of the +Sha-t'o Turks, who themselves claimed leadership in China, the expansion +of the Kitan empire slowed down. In the many battles the Kitan suffered +several setbacks. They also had enemies in the rear, a state named +Po-hai, ruled by Tunguses, in northern Korea, and the new Korean state +of Kao-li, which liberated itself from Chinese overlordship in 919. + +In 927 the Kitan finally destroyed Po-hai. This brought many Tungus +tribes, including the Jurchen (Juchên), under Kitan dominance. Then, in +936, the Kitan gained the allegiance of the Turkish general Shih +Ching-t'ang, and he was set on the Chinese throne as a feudatory of the +Kitan. It was hoped now to secure dominance over China, and accordingly +the Mongol name of the dynasty was altered to "Liao dynasty" in 937, +indicating the claim to the Chinese throne. Considerable regions of +North China came at once under the direct rule of the Liao. As a whole, +however, the plan failed: the feudatory Shih Ching-t'ang tried to make +himself independent; Chinese fought the Liao; and the Chinese sceptre +soon came back into the hands of a Sha-t'o dynasty (947). This ended the +plans of the Liao to conquer the whole of China. + +For this there were several reasons. A nomad people was again ruling +the agrarian regions of North China. This time the representatives of +the ruling class remained military commanders, and at the same time +retained their herds of horses. As early as 1100 they had well over +10,000 herds, each of more than a thousand animals. The army commanders +had been awarded large regions which they themselves had conquered. They +collected the taxes in these regions, and passed on to the state only +the yield of the wine tax. On the other hand, in order to feed the +armies, in which there were now many Chinese soldiers, the frontier +regions were settled, the soldiers working as peasants in times of +peace, and peasants being required to contribute to the support of the +army. Both processes increased the interest of the Kitan ruling class in +the maintenance of peace. That class was growing rich, and preferred +living on the income from its properties or settlements to going to war, +which had become a more and more serious matter after the founding of +the great Sung empire, and was bound to be less remunerative. The herds +of horses were a further excellent source of income, for they could be +sold to the Sung, who had no horses. Then, from 1004 onward, came the +tribute payments from China, strengthening the interest in the +maintenance of peace. Thus great wealth accumulated in Peking, the +capital of the Liao; in this wealth the whole Kitan ruling class +participated, but the tribes in the north, owing to their remoteness, +had no share in it. In 988 the Chinese began negotiations, as a move in +their diplomacy, with the ruler of the later realm of the Hsia; in 990 +the Kitan also negotiated with him, and they soon became a third partner +in the diplomatic game. Delegations were continually going from one to +another of the three realms, and they were joined by trade missions. +Agreement was soon reached on frontier questions, on armament, on +questions of demobilization, on the demilitarization of particular +regions, and so on, for the last thing anyone wanted was to fight. + +Then came the rising of the tribes of the north. They had remained +military tribes; of all the wealth nothing reached them, and they were +given no military employment, so that they had no hope of improving +their position. The leadership was assumed by the tribe of the Juchên +(1114). In a campaign of unprecedented rapidity they captured Peking, +and the Liao dynasty was ended (1125), a year earlier, as we know, than +the end of the Sung. + +2 _The State of the Kara-Kitai_ + +A small troop of Liao, under the command of a member of the ruling +family, fled into the west. They were pursued without cessation, but +they succeeded in fighting their way through. After a few years of +nomad life in the mountains of northern Turkestan, they were able to +gain the collaboration of a few more tribes, and with them they then +invaded western Turkestan. There they founded the "Western Liao" state, +or, as the western sources call it, the "Kara-Kitai" state, with its +capital at Balasagun. This state must not be regarded as a purely Kitan +state. The Kitan formed only a very thin stratum, and the real power was +in the hands of autochthonous Turkish tribes, to whom the Kitan soon +became entirely assimilated in culture. Thus the history of this state +belongs to that of western Asia, especially as the relations of the +Kara-Kitai with the Far East were entirely broken off. In 1211 the state +was finally destroyed. + + +(3) The Hsi-Hsia State in the north (1038-1227) + +1 _Continuation of Turkish traditions_ + +After the end of the Toba state in North China in 550, some tribes of +the Toba, including members of the ruling tribe with the tribal name +Toba, withdrew to the borderland between Tibet and China, where they +ruled over Tibetan and Tangut tribes. At the beginning of the T'ang +dynasty this tribe of Toba joined the T'ang. The tribal leader received +in return, as a distinction, the family name of the T'ang dynasty, Li. +His dependence on China was, however, only nominal and soon came +entirely to an end. In the tenth century the tribe gained in strength. +It is typical of the long continuance of old tribal traditions that a +leader of the tribe in the tenth century married a woman belonging to +the family to which the khans of the Hsiung-nu and all Turkish ruling +houses had belonged since 200 B.C. With the rise of the Kitan in the +north and of the Tibetan state in the south, the tribe decided to seek +the friendship of China. Its first mission, in 982, was well received. +Presents were sent to the chieftain of the tribe, he was helped against +his enemies, and he was given the status of a feudatory of the Sung; in +988 the family name of the Sung, Chao, was conferred on him. Then the +Kitan took a hand. They over-trumped the Sung by proclaiming the tribal +chieftain king of Hsia (990). Now the small state became interesting. It +was pampered by Liao and Sung in the effort to win it over or to keep +its friendship. The state grew; in 1031 its ruler resumed the old family +name of the Toba, thus proclaiming his intention to continue the Toba +empire; in 1034 he definitely parted from the Sung, and in 1038 he +proclaimed himself emperor in the Hsia dynasty, or, as the Chinese +generally called it, the "Hsi-Hsia", which means the Western Hsia. This +name, too, had associations with the old Hun tradition; it recalled the +state of Ho-lien P'o-p'o in the early fifth century. The state soon +covered the present province of Kansu, small parts of the adjoining +Tibetan territory, and parts of the Ordos region. It attacked the +province of Shensi, but the Chinese and the Liao attached the greatest +importance to that territory. Thus that was the scene of most of the +fighting. + +[Illustration: 12 Ancient tiled pagoda at Chengting (Hopei). _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +[Illustration: 13 Horse-training. Painting by Li Lung-mien. Late Sung +period. _Manchu Royal House Collection_.] The Hsia state had a ruling +group of Toba, but these Toba had become entirely tibetanized. The +language of the country was Tibetan; the customs were those of the +Tanguts. A script was devised, in imitation of the Chinese script. Only +in recent years has it begun to be studied. + +In 1125, when the Tungusic Juchên destroyed the Liao, the Hsia also lost +large territories in the east of their country, especially the province +of Shensi, which they had conquered; but they were still able to hold +their own. Their political importance to China, however, vanished, since +they were now divided from southern China and as partners were no longer +of the same value to it. Not until the Mongols became a power did the +Hsia recover some of their importance; but they were among the first +victims of the Mongols: in 1209 they had to submit to them, and in 1227, +the year of the death of Genghiz Khan, they were annihilated. + + +(4) The empire of the Southern Sung dynasty (1127-1279) + +1 _Foundation_ + +In the disaster of 1126, when the Juchên captured the Sung capital and +destroyed the Sung empire, a brother of the captive emperor escaped. He +made himself emperor in Nanking and founded the "Southern Sung" dynasty, +whose capital was soon shifted to the present Hangchow. The foundation +of the new dynasty was a relatively easy matter, and the new state was +much more solid than the southern kingdoms of 800 years earlier, for the +south had already been economically supreme, and the great families that +had ruled the state were virtually all from the south. The loss of the +north, i.e. the area north of the Yellow River and of parts of Kiangsu, +was of no importance to this governing group and meant no loss of +estates to it. Thus the transition from the Northern to the Southern +Sung was not of fundamental importance. Consequently the Juchên had no +chance of success when they arranged for Liu Yü, who came of a northern +Chinese family of small peasants and had become an official, to be +proclaimed emperor in the "Ch'i" dynasty in 1130. They hoped that this +puppet might attract the southern Chinese, but seven years later they +dropped him. + +2 _Internal situation_ + +As the social structure of the Southern Sung empire had not been +changed, the country was not affected by the dynastic development. Only +the policy of diplomacy could not be pursued at once, as the Juchên were +bellicose at first and would not negotiate. There were therefore several +battles at the outset (in 1131 and 1134), in which the Chinese were +actually the more successful, but not decisively. The Sung military +group was faced as early as in 1131 with furious opposition from the +greater gentry, led by Ch'in K'ui, one of the largest landowners of all. +His estates were around Nanking, and so in the deployment region and the +region from which most of the soldiers had to be drawn for the defensive +struggle. Ch'in K'ui secured the assassination of the leader of the +military party, General Yo Fei, in 1141, and was able to conclude peace +with the Juchên. The Sung had to accept the status of vassals and to pay +annual tribute to the Juchên. This was the situation that best pleased +the greater gentry. They paid hardly any taxes (in many districts the +greater gentry directly owned more than 30 per cent of the land, in +addition to which they had indirect interests in the soil), and they +were now free from the war peril that ate into their revenues. The +tribute amounted only to 500,000 strings of cash. Popular literature, +however, to this day represents Ch'in K'ui as a traitor and Yo Fei as a +national hero. + +In 1165 it was agreed between the Sung and the Juchên to regard each +other as states with equal rights. It is interesting to note here that +in the treaties during the Han time with the Hsiung-nu, the two +countries called one another brothers--with the Chinese ruler as the +older and thus privileged brother; but the treaties since the T'ang time +with northern powers and with Tibetans used the terms father-in-law and +son-in-law. The foreign power was the "father-in-law", i.e. the older +and, therefore, in a certain way the more privileged; the Chinese were +the "son-in-law", the representative of the paternal lineage and, +therefore, in another respect also the more privileged! In spite of such +agreements with the Juchên, fighting continued, but it was mainly of the +character of frontier engagements. Not until 1204 did the military +party, led by Han T'o-wei, regain power; it resolved upon an active +policy against the north. In preparation for this a military reform was +carried out. The campaign proved a disastrous failure, as a result of +which large territories in the north were lost. The Sung sued for +peace; Han T'o-wei's head was cut off and sent to the Juchên. In this +way peace was restored in 1208. The old treaty relationship was now +resumed, but the relations between the two states remained tense. +Meanwhile the Sung observed with malicious pleasure how the Mongols were +growing steadily stronger, first destroying the Hsia state and then +aiming the first heavy blows against the Juchên. In the end the Sung +entered into alliance with the Mongols (1233) and joined them in +attacking the Juchên, thus hastening the end of the Juchên state. + +The Sung now faced the Mongols, and were defenceless against them. All +the buffer states had gone. The Sung were quite without adequate +military defence. They hoped to stave off the Mongols in the same way as +they had met the Kitan and the Juchên. This time, however, they +misjudged the situation. In the great operations begun by the Mongols in +1273 the Sung were defeated over and over again. In 1276 their capital +was taken by the Mongols and the emperor was made prisoner. For three +years longer there was a Sung emperor, in flight from the Mongols, until +the last emperor perished near Macao in South China. + +3 _Cultural situation; reasons for the collapse_ + +The Southern Sung period was again one of flourishing culture. The +imperial court was entirely in the power of the greater gentry; several +times the emperors, who personally do not deserve individual mention, +were compelled to abdicate. They then lived on with a court of their +own, devoting themselves to pleasure in much the same way as the +"reigning" emperor. Round them was a countless swarm of poets and +artists. Never was there a time so rich in poets, though hardly one of +them was in any way outstanding. The poets, unlike those of earlier +times, belonged to the lesser gentry who were suffering from the +prevailing inflation. Salaries bore no relation to prices. Food was not +dear, but the things which a man of the upper class ought to have were +far out of reach: a big house cost 2,000 strings of cash, a concubine +800 strings. Thus the lesser gentry and the intelligentsia all lived on +their patrons among the greater gentry--with the result that they were +entirely shut out of politics. This explains why the literature of the +time is so unpolitical, and also why scarcely any philosophical works +appeared. The writers took refuge more and more in romanticism and +flight from realities. + +The greater gentry, on the other hand, led a very elegant life, building +themselves magnificent palaces in the capital. They also speculated in +every direction. They speculated in land, in money, and above all in +the paper money that was coming more and more into use. In 1166 the +paper circulation exceeded the value of 10,000,000 strings! + +It seems that after 1127 a good number of farmers had left Honan and the +Yellow River plains when the Juchên conquered these places and showed +little interest in fostering agriculture; more left the border areas of +Southern Sung because of permanent war threat. Many of these lived +miserably as tenants on the farms of the gentry between Nanking and +Hangchow. Others migrated farther to the south, across Kiangsi into +southern Fukien. These migrants seem to have been the ancestors of the +Hakka which in the following centuries continued their migration towards +the south and who from the nineteenth century on were most strongly +concentrated in Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces as free farmers on hill +slopes or as tenants of local landowners in the plains. + +The influx of migrants and the increase of tenants and their poverty +seriously threatened the state and cut down its defensive strength more +and more. + +At this stage, Chia Ssu-tao drafted a reform law. Chia had come to the +court through his sister becoming the emperor's concubine, but he +himself belonged to the lesser gentry. His proposal was that state funds +should be applied to the purchase of land in the possession of the +greater gentry over and above a fixed maximum. Peasants were to be +settled on this land, and its yield was to belong to the state, which +would be able to use it to meet military expenditure. In this way the +country's military strength was to be restored. Chia's influence lasted +just ten years, until 1275. He began putting the law into effect in the +region south of Nanking, where the principal estates of the greater +gentry were then situated. He brought upon himself, of course, the +mortal hatred of the greater gentry, and paid for his action with his +life. The emperor, in entering upon this policy, no doubt had hoped to +recover some of his power, but the greater gentry brought him down. The +gentry now openly played into the hands of the approaching Mongols, so +hastening the final collapse of the Sung. The peasants and the lesser +gentry would have fought the Mongols if it had been possible; but the +greater gentry enthusiastically went over to the Mongols, hoping to save +their property and so their influence by quickly joining the enemy. On a +long view they had not judged badly. The Mongols removed the members of +the gentry from all political posts, but left them their estates; and +before long the greater gentry reappeared in political life. And when, +later, the Mongol empire in China was brought down by a popular rising, +the greater gentry showed themselves to be the most faithful allies of +the Mongols! + + +(5) The empire of the Juchên in the north (1115-1234) + +1 _Rapid expansion from northern Korea to the Yangtze_ + +The Juchên in the past had been only a small league of Tungus tribes, +whose name is preserved in that of the present Tungus tribe of the +Jurchen, which came under the domination of the Kitan after the collapse +of the state of Po-hai in northern Korea. We have already briefly +mentioned the reasons for their rise. After their first successes +against the Kitan (1114), their chieftain at once proclaimed himself +emperor (1115), giving his dynasty the name "Chin" (The Golden). The +Chin quickly continued their victorious progress. In 1125 the Kitan +empire was destroyed. It will be remembered that the Sung were at once +attacked, although they had recently been allied with the Chin against +the Kitan. In 1126 the Sung capital was taken. The Chin invasions were +pushed farther south, and in 1130 the Yangtze was crossed. But the Chin +did not hold the whole of these conquests. Their empire was not yet +consolidated. Their partial withdrawal closed the first phase of the +Chin empire. + +2 _United front of all Chinese_ + +But a few years after this maximum expansion, a withdrawal began which +went on much more quickly than usual in such cases. The reasons were to +be found both in external and in internal politics. The Juchên had +gained great agrarian regions in a rapid march of conquest. Once more +great cities with a huge urban population and immense wealth had fallen +to alien conquerors. Now the Juchên wanted to enjoy this wealth as the +Kitan had done before them. All the Juchên people counted as citizens of +the highest class; they were free from taxation and only liable to +military service. They were entitled to take possession of as much +cultivable land as they wanted; this they did, and they took not only +the "state domains" actually granted to them but also peasant +properties, so that Chinese free peasants had nothing left but the worst +fields, unless they became tenants on Juchên estates. A united front was +therefore formed between all Chinese, both peasants and landowning +gentry, against the Chin, such as it had not been possible to form +against the Kitan. This made an important contribution later to the +rapid collapse of the Chin empire. + +The Chin who had thus come into possession of the cultivable land and +at the same time of the wealth of the towns, began a sort of competition +with each other for the best winnings, especially after the government +had returned to the old Sung capital, Pien-liang (now K'ai-feng, in +eastern Honan). Serious crises developed in their own ranks. In 1149 the +ruler was assassinated by his chancellor (a member of the imperial +family), who in turn was murdered in 1161. The Chin thus failed to +attain what had been secured by all earlier conquerors, a reconciliation +of the various elements of the population and the collaboration of at +least one group of the defeated Chinese. + +3 _Start of the Mongol empire_ + +The cessation of fighting against the Sung brought no real advantage in +external affairs, though the tribute payments appealed to the greed of +the rulers and were therefore welcomed. There could be no question of +further campaigns against the south, for the Hsia empire in the west had +not been destroyed, though some of its territory had been annexed; and a +new peril soon made its appearance in the rear of the Chin. When in the +tenth century the Sha-t'o Turks had to withdraw from their dominating +position in China, because of their great loss of numbers and +consequently of strength, they went back into Mongolia and there united +with the Ta-tan (Tatars), among whom a new small league of tribes had +formed towards the end of the eleventh century, consisting mainly of +Mongols and Turks. In 1139 one of the chieftains of the Juchên rebelled +and entered into negotiations with the South Chinese. He was killed, but +his sons and his whole tribe then rebelled and went into Mongolia, where +they made common cause with the Mongols. The Chin pursued them, and +fought against them and against the Mongols, but without success. +Accordingly negotiations were begun, and a promise was given to deliver +meat and grain every year and to cede twenty-seven military strongholds. +A high title was conferred on the tribal leader of the Mongols, in the +hope of gaining his favour. He declined it, however, and in 1147 assumed +the title of emperor of the "greater Mongol empire". This was the +beginning of the power of the Mongols, who remained thereafter a +dangerous enemy of the Chin in the north, until in 1189 Genghiz Khan +became their leader and made the Mongols the greatest power of central +Asia. In any case, the Chin had reason to fear the Mongols from 1147 +onward, and therefore were the more inclined to leave the Sung in peace. + +In 1210 the Mongols began the first great assault against the Chin, the +moment they had conquered the Hsia. In the years 1215-17 the Mongols +took the military key-positions from the Chin. After that there could be +no serious defence of the Chin empire. There came a respite only because +the Mongols had turned against the West. But in 1234 the empire finally +fell to the Mongols. + +Many of the Chin entered the service of the Mongols, and with their +permission returned to Manchuria; there they fell back to the cultural +level of a warlike nomad people. Not until the sixteenth century did +these Tunguses recover, reorganize, and appear again in history this +time under the name of Manchus. + +The North Chinese under Chin rule did not regard the Mongols as enemies +of their country, but were ready at once to collaborate with them. The +Mongols were even more friendly to them than to the South Chinese, and +treated them rather better. + + + +Chapter Ten + + +THE PERIOD OF ABSOLUTISM + +(A) The Mongol Epoch (1280-1368) + +1 _Beginning of new foreign rules_ + +During more than half of the third period of "Modern Times" which now +began, China was under alien rule. Of the 631 years from 1280 to 1911, +China was under national rulers for 276 years and under alien rule for +355. The alien rulers were first the Mongols, and later the Tungus +Manchus. It is interesting to note that the alien rulers in the earlier +period came mainly from the north-west, and only in modern times did +peoples from the north-east rule over China. This was due in part to the +fact that only peoples who had attained a certain level of civilization +were capable of dominance. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, eastern +Mongolia and Manchuria were at a relatively low level of civilization, +from which they emerged only gradually through permanent contact with +other nomad peoples, especially Turks. We are dealing here, of course, +only with the Mongol epoch in China and not with the great Mongol +empire, so that we need not enter further into these questions. + +Yet another point is characteristic: the Mongols were the first alien +people to rule the whole of China; the Manchus, who appeared in the +seventeenth century, were the second and last. All alien peoples before +these two ruled only parts of China. Why was it that the Mongols were +able to be so much more successful than their predecessors? In the first +place the Mongol political league was numerically stronger than those of +the earlier alien peoples; secondly, the military organization and +technical equipment of the Mongols were exceptionally advanced for their +day. It must be borne in mind, for instance, that during their many +years of war against the Sung dynasty in South China the Mongols already +made use of small cannon in laying siege to towns. We have no exact +knowledge of the number of Mongols who invaded and occupied China, but +it is estimated that there were more than a million Mongols living in +China. Not all of them, of course, were really Mongols! The name covered +Turks, Tunguses, and others; among the auxiliaries of the Mongols were +Uighurs, men from Central Asia and the Middle East, and even Europeans. +When the Mongols attacked China they had the advantage of all the arts +and crafts and all the new technical advances of western and central +Asia and of Europe. Thus they had attained a high degree of technical +progress, and at the same time their number was very great. + +2 "_Nationality legislation_" + +It was only after the Hsia empire in North China, and then the empire of +the Juchên, had been destroyed by the Mongols, and only after long and +remarkably modern tactical preparation, that the Mongols conquered South +China, the empire of the Sung dynasty. They were now faced with the +problem of ruling their great new empire. The conqueror of that empire, +Kublai, himself recognized that China could not be treated in quite the +same way as the Mongols' previous conquests; he therefore separated the +empire in China from the rest of the Mongol empire. Mongol China became +an independent realm within the Mongol empire, a sort of Dominion. The +Mongol rulers were well aware that in spite of their numerical strength +they were still only a minority in China, and this implied certain +dangers. They therefore elaborated a "nationality legislation", the +first of its kind in the Far East. The purpose of this legislation was, +of course, to be the protection of the Mongols. The population of +conquered China was divided into four groups--(1) Mongols, themselves +falling into four sub-groups (the oldest Mongol tribes, the White +Tatars, the Black Tatars, the Wild Tatars); (2) Central Asian +auxiliaries (Naimans, Uighurs, and various other Turkish people, +Tanguts, and so on); (3) North Chinese; (4) South Chinese. The Mongols +formed the privileged ruling class. They remained militarily organized, +and were distributed in garrisons over all the big towns of China as +soldiers, maintained by the state. All the higher government posts were +reserved for them, so that they also formed the heads of the official +staffs. The auxiliary peoples were also admitted into the government +service; they, too, had privileges, but were not all soldiers but in +many cases merchants, who used their privileged position to promote +business. Not a few of these merchants were Uighurs and Mohammedans; +many Uighurs were also employed as clerks, as the Mongols were very +often unable to read and write Chinese, and the government offices were +bilingual, working in Mongolian and Chinese. The clever Uighurs quickly +learned enough of both languages for official purposes, and made +themselves indispensable assistants to the Mongols. Persian, the main +language of administration in the western parts of the Mongol empire +besides Uighuric, also was a _lingua franca_ among the new rulers of +China. + +In the Mongol legislation the South Chinese had the lowest status, and +virtually no rights. Intermarriage with them was prohibited. The Chinese +were not allowed to carry arms. For a time they were forbidden even to +learn the Mongol or other foreign languages. In this way they were to be +prevented from gaining official positions and playing any political +part. Their ignorance of the languages of northern, central, and western +Asia also prevented them from engaging in commerce like the foreign +merchants, and every possible difficulty was put in the way of their +travelling for commercial purposes. On the other hand, foreigners were, +of course, able to learn Chinese, and so to gain a footing in Chinese +internal trade. + +Through legislation of this type the Mongols tried to build up and to +safeguard their domination over China. Yet their success did not last a +hundred years. + +3 _Military position_ + +In foreign affairs the Mongol epoch was for China something of a +breathing space, for the great wars of the Mongols took place at a +remote distance from China and without any Chinese participation. Only a +few concluding wars were fought under Kublai in the Far East. The first +was his war against Japan (1281): it ended in complete failure, the +fleet being destroyed by a storm. In this campaign the Chinese furnished +ships and also soldiers. The subjection of Japan would have been in the +interest of the Chinese, as it would have opened a market which had been +almost closed against them in the Sung period. Mongol wars followed in +the south. In 1282 began the war against Burma; in 1284 Annam and +Cambodia were conquered; in 1292 a campaign was started against Java. It +proved impossible to hold Java, but almost the whole of Indo-China came +under Mongol rule, to the satisfaction of the Chinese, for Indo-China +had already been one of the principal export markets in the Sung period. +After that, however, there was virtually no more warfare, apart from +small campaigns against rebellious tribes. The Mongol soldiers now lived +on their pay in their garrisons, with nothing to do. The old campaigners +died and were followed by their sons, brought up also as soldiers; but +these young Mongols were born in China, had seen nothing of war, and +learned of the soldiers' trade either nothing or very little; so that +after about 1320 serious things happened. An army nominally 1,000 strong +was sent against a group of barely fifty bandits and failed to defeat +them. Most of the 1,000 soldiers no longer knew how to use their +weapons, and many did not even join the force. Such incidents occurred +again and again. + +4 _Social situation_ + +The results, however, of conditions within the country were of much more +importance than events abroad. The Mongols made Peking their capital as +was entirely natural, for Peking was near their homeland Mongolia. The +emperor and his entourage could return to Mongolia in the summer, when +China became too hot or too humid for them; and from Peking they were +able to maintain contact with the rest of the Mongol empire. But as the +city had become the capital of a vast empire, an enormous staff of +officials had to be housed there, consisting of persons of many +different nationalities. The emperor naturally wanted to have a +magnificent capital, a city really worthy of so vast an empire. As the +many wars had brought in vast booty, there was money for the building of +great palaces, of a size and magnificence never before seen in China. +They were built by Chinese forced labour, and to this end men had to be +brought from all over the empire--poor peasants, whose fields went out +of cultivation while they were held in bondage far away. If they ever +returned home, they were destitute and had lost their land. The rich +gentry, on the other hand, were able to buy immunity from forced labour. +The immense increase in the population of Peking (the huge court with +its enormous expenditure, the mass of officials, the great merchant +community, largely foreigners, and the many servile labourers), +necessitated vast supplies of food. Now, as mentioned in earlier +chapters, since the time of the Later T'ang the region round Nanking had +become the main centre of production in China, and the Chinese +population had gone over more and more to the consumption of rice +instead of pulse or wheat. As rice could not be grown in the north, +practically the whole of the food supplies for the capital had to be +brought from the south. The transport system taken over by the Mongols +had not been created for long-distance traffic of this sort. The capital +of the Sung had lain in the main centre of production. Consequently, a +great fleet had suddenly to be built, canals and rivers had to be +regulated, and some new canals excavated. This again called for a vast +quantity of forced labour, often brought from afar to the points at +which it was needed. The Chinese peasants had suffered in the Sung +period. They had been exploited by the large landowners. The Mongols had +not removed these landowners, as the Chinese gentry had gone over to +their side. The Mongols had deprived them of their political power, but +had left them their estates, the basis of their power. In past changes +of dynasty the gentry had either maintained their position or been +replaced by a new gentry: the total number of their class had remained +virtually unchanged. Now, however, in addition to the original gentry +there were about a million Mongols, for whose maintenance the peasants +had also to provide, and their standard of maintenance was high. This +was an enormous increase in the burdens of the peasantry. + +Two other elements further pressed on the peasants in the Mongol +epoch--organized religion and the traders. The upper classes among the +Chinese had in general little interest in religion, but the Mongols, +owing to their historical development, were very religious. Some of them +and some of their allies were Buddhists, some were still shamanists. The +Chinese Buddhists and the representatives of popular Taoism approached +the Mongols and the foreign Buddhist monks trying to enlist the interest +of the Mongols and their allies. The old shamanism was unable to compete +with the higher religions, and the Mongols in China became Buddhist or +interested themselves in popular Taoism. They showed their interest +especially by the endowment of temples and monasteries. The temples were +given great estates, and the peasants on those estates became temple +servants. The land belonging to the temples was free from taxation. + +We have as yet no exact statistics of the Mongol epoch, only +approximations. These set the total area under cultivation at some six +million _ch'ing_ (a _ch'ing_ is the ideal size of the farm worked by a +peasant family, but it was rarely held in practice); the population +amounted to fourteen or fifteen million families. Of this total tillage +some 170,000 _ch'ing_ were allotted to the temples; that is to say, the +farms for some 400,000 peasant families were taken from the peasants and +no longer paid taxes to the state. The peasants, however, had to make +payments to the temples. Some 200,000 _ch'ing_ with some 450,000 peasant +families were turned into military settlements; that is to say, these +peasants had to work for the needs of the army. Their taxes went not to +the state but to the army. Moreover, in the event of war they had to +render service to the army. In addition to this, all higher officials +received official properties, the yield of which represented part +payment of their salaries. Then, Mongol nobles and dignitaries received +considerable grants of land, which was taken away from the free +peasants; the peasants had then to work their farms as tenants and to +pay dues to their landlords, no longer to the state. Finally, especially +in North China, many peasants were entirely dispossessed, and their land +was turned into pasturage for the Mongols' horses; the peasants +themselves were put to forced labour. On top of this came the +exploitation of the peasants by the great landowners of the past. All +this meant an enormous diminution in the number of free peasants and +thus of taxpayers. As the state was involved in more expenditure than in +the past owing to the large number of Mongols who were its virtual +pensioners, the taxes had to be continually increased. Meanwhile the +many peasants working as tenants of the great landlords, the temples, +and the Mongol nobles were entirely at their mercy. In this period, a +second migration of farmers into the southern provinces, mainly Fukien +and Kwangtung, took place; it had its main source in the lower Yangtze +valley. A few gentry families whose relatives had accompanied the Sung +emperor on their flight to the south, also settled with their followers +in the Canton basin. + +The many merchants from abroad, especially those belonging to the +peoples allied to the Mongols, also had in every respect a privileged +position in China. They were free of taxation, free to travel all over +the country, and received privileged treatment in the use of means of +transport. They were thus able to accumulate great wealth, most of which +went out of China to their own country. This produced a general +impoverishment of China. Chinese merchants fell more and more into +dependence on the foreign merchants; the only field of action really +remaining to them was the local trade within China and the trade with +Indo-China, where the Chinese had the advantage of knowing the language. + +The impoverishment of China began with the flow abroad of her metallic +currency. To make up for this loss, the government was compelled to +issue great quantities of paper money, which very quickly depreciated, +because after a few years the government would no longer accept the +money at its face value, so that the population could place no faith in +it. The depreciation further impoverished the people. + +Thus we have in the Mongol epoch in China the imposing picture of a +commerce made possible with every country from Europe to the Pacific; +this, however, led to the impoverishment of China. We also see the +rising of mighty temples and monumental buildings, but this again only +contributed to the denudation of the country. The Mongol epoch was thus +one of continual and rapid impoverishment in China, simultaneously with +a great display of magnificence. The enthusiastic descriptions of the +Mongol empire in China offered by travellers from the Near East or from +Europe, such as Marco Polo, give an entirely false picture: as +foreigners they had a privileged position, living in the cities and +seeing nothing of the situation of the general population. + +5 _Popular risings: National rising_ + +It took time for the effects of all these factors to become evident. The +first popular rising came in 1325. Statistics of 1329 show that there +were then some 7,600,000 persons in the empire who were starving; as +this was only the figure of the officially admitted sufferers, the +figure may have been higher. In any case, seven-and-a-half millions were +a substantial percentage of the total population, estimated at +45,000,000. The risings that now came incessantly were led by men of the +lower orders--a cloth-seller, a fisherman, a peasant, a salt smuggler, +the son of a soldier serving a sentence, an office messenger, and so on. +They never attacked the Mongols as aliens, but always the rich in +general, whether Chinese or foreign. Wherever they came, they killed all +the rich and distributed their money and possessions. + +As already mentioned, the Mongol garrisons were unable to cope with +these risings. But how was it that the Mongol rule did not collapse +until some forty years later? The Mongols parried the risings by raising +loans from the rich and using the money to recruit volunteers to fight +the rebels. The state revenues would not have sufficed for these +payments, and the item was not one that could be included in the +military budget. What was of much more importance was that the gentry +themselves recruited volunteers and fought the rebels on their own +account, without the authority or the support of the government. Thus it +was the Chinese gentry, in their fear of being killed by the insurgents, +who fought them and so bolstered up the Mongol rule. + +In 1351 the dykes along the Yellow River burst. The dykes had to be +reconstructed and further measures of conservancy undertaken. To this +end the government impressed 170,000 men. Following this action, great +new revolts broke out. Everywhere in Honan, Kiangsu, and Shantung, the +regions from which the labourers were summoned, revolutionary groups +were formed, some of them amounting to 100,000 men. Some groups had a +religious tinge; others declared their intention to restore the emperors +of the Sung dynasty. Before long great parts of central China were +wrested from the hands of the government. The government recognized the +menace to its existence, but resorted to contradictory measures. In 1352 +southern Chinese were permitted to take over certain official positions. +In this way it was hoped to gain the full support of the gentry, who had +a certain interest in combating the rebel movements. On the other hand, +the government tightened up its nationality laws. All the old +segregation laws were brought back into force, with the result that in a +few years the aim of the rebels became no longer merely the expulsion of +the rich but also the expulsion of the Mongols: a social movement thus +became a national one. A second element contributed to the change in the +character of the popular rising. The rebels captured many towns. Some of +these towns refused to fight and negotiated terms of submission. In +these cases the rebels did not murder the whole of the gentry, but took +some of them into their service. The gentry did not agree to this out of +sympathy with the rebels, but simply in order to save their own lives. +Once they had taken the step, however, they could not go back; they had +no alternative but to remain on the side of the rebels. + +In 1352 Kuo Tz[)u]-hsing rose in southern Honan. Kuo was the son of a +wandering soothsayer and a blind beggar-woman. He had success; his group +gained control of a considerable region round his home. There was no +longer any serious resistance from the Mongols, for at this time the +whole of eastern China was in full revolt. In 1353 Kuo was joined by a +man named Chu Yüan-chang, the son of a small peasant, probably a tenant +farmer. Chu's parents and all his relatives had died from a plague, +leaving him destitute. He had first entered a monastery and become a +monk. This was a favourite resource--and has been almost to the present +day--for poor sons of peasants who were threatened with starvation. As a +monk he had gone about begging, until in 1353 he returned to his home +and collected a group, mostly men from his own village, sons of peasants +and young fellows who had already been peasant leaders. Monks were often +peasant leaders. They were trusted because they promised divine aid, and +because they were usually rather better educated than the rest of the +peasants. Chu at first also had contacts with a secret society, a branch +of the White Lotus Society which several times in the course of Chinese +history has been the nucleus of rebellious movements. Chu took his small +group which identified itself by a red turban and a red banner to Kuo, +who received him gladly, entered into alliance with him, and in sign of +friendship gave him his daughter in marriage. In 1355 Kuo died, and Chu +took over his army, now many thousands strong. In his campaigns against +towns in eastern China, Chu succeeded in winning over some capable +members of the gentry. One was the chairman of a committee that yielded +a town to Chu; another was a scholar whose family had always been +opposed to the Mongols, and who had himself suffered injustice several +times in his official career, so that he was glad to join Chu out of +hatred of the Mongols. + +These men gained great influence over Chu, and persuaded him to give up +attacking rich individuals, and instead to establish an assured control +over large parts of the country. He would then, they pointed out, be +permanently enriched, while otherwise he would only be in funds at the +moment of the plundering of a town. They set before him strategic plans +with that aim. Through their counsel Chu changed from the leader of a +popular rising into a fighter against the dynasty. Of all the peasant +leaders he was now the only one pursuing a definite aim. He marched +first against Nanking, the great city of central China, and captured it +with ease. He then crossed the Yangtze, and conquered the rich provinces +of the south-east. He was a rebel who no longer slaughtered the rich or +plundered the towns, and the whole of the gentry with all their +followers came over to him _en masse_. The armies of volunteers went +over to Chu, and the whole edifice of the dynasty collapsed. + +The years 1355-1368 were full of small battles. After his conquest of +the whole of the south, Chu went north. In 1368 his generals captured +Peking almost without a blow. The Mongol ruler fled on horseback with +his immediate entourage into the north of China, and soon after into +Mongolia. The Mongol dynasty had been brought down, almost without +resistance. The Mongols in the isolated garrisons marched northward +wherever they could. A few surrendered to the Chinese and were used in +southern China as professional soldiers, though they were always +regarded with suspicion. The only serious resistance offered came from +the regions in which other Chinese popular leaders had established +themselves, especially the remote provinces in the west and south-west, +which had a different social structure and had been relatively little +affected by the Mongol regime. + +Thus the collapse of the Mongols came for the following reasons: (1) +They had not succeeded in maintaining their armed strength or that of +their allies during the period of peace that followed Kublai's conquest. +The Mongol soldiers had become effeminate through their life of idleness +in the towns. (2) The attempt to rule the empire through Mongols or +other aliens, and to exclude the Chinese gentry entirely from the +administration, failed through insufficient knowledge of the sources of +revenue and through the abuses due to the favoured treatment of aliens. +The whole country, and especially the peasantry, was completely +impoverished and so driven into revolt. (3) There was also a +psychological reason. In the middle of the fourteenth century it was +obvious to the Mongols that their hold over China was growing more and +more precarious, and that there was little to be got out of the +impoverished country: they seem in consequence to have lost interest in +the troublesome task of maintaining their rule, preferring, in so far as +they had not already entirely degenerated, to return to their old home +in the north. It is important to bear in mind these reasons for the +collapse of the Mongols, so that we may compare them later with the +reasons for the collapse of the Manchus. + +No mention need be made here of the names of the Mongol rulers in China +after Kublai. After his death in 1294, grandsons and great-grandsons of +his followed each other in rapid succession on the throne; not one of +them was of any personal significance. They had no influence on the +government of China. Their life was spent in intriguing against one +another. There were seven Mongol emperors after Kublai. + +6 _Cultural_ + +During the Mongol epoch a large number of the Chinese scholars withdrew +from official life. They lived in retirement among their friends, and +devoted themselves mainly to the pursuit of the art of poetry, which had +been elaborated in the Later Sung epoch, without themselves arriving at +any important innovations in form. Their poems were built up +meticulously on the rules laid down by the various schools; they were +routine productions rather than the outcome of any true poetic +inspiration. In the realm of prose the best achievements were the +"miscellaneous notes" already mentioned, collections of learned essays. +The foreigners who wrote in Chinese during this epoch are credited with +no better achievements by the Chinese historians of literature. Chief of +them were a statesman named Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, a Kitan in the service of +the Mongols; and a Mongol named T'o-t'o (Tokto). The former accompanied +Genghiz Khan in his great campaign against Turkestan, and left a very +interesting account of his journeys, together with many poems about +Samarkand and Turkestan. His other works were mainly letters and poems +addressed to friends. They differ in no way in style from the Chinese +literary works of the time, and are neither better nor worse than those +works. He shows strong traces of Taoist influence, as do other +contemporary writers. We know that Genghiz Khan was more or less +inclined to Taoism, and admitted a Taoist monk to his camp (1221-1224). +This man's account of his travels has also been preserved, and with the +numerous European accounts of Central Asia written at this time it forms +an important source. The Mongol Tokto was the head of an historical +commission that issued the annals of the Sung dynasty, the Kitan, and +the Juchên dynasty. The annals of the Sung dynasty became the largest of +all the historical works, but they were fiercely attacked from the first +by Chinese critics on account of their style and their hasty +composition, and, together with the annals of the Mongol dynasty, they +are regarded as the worst of the annals preserved. Tokto himself is less +to blame for this than the circumstance that he was compelled to work in +great haste, and had not time to put into order the overwhelming mass of +his material. + +The greatest literary achievements, however, of the Mongol period belong +beyond question to the theatre (or, rather, opera). The emperors were +great theatre-goers, and the wealthy private families were also +enthusiasts, so that gradually people of education devoted themselves to +writing librettos for the operas, where in the past this work had been +left to others. Most of the authors of these librettos remained unknown: +they used pseudonyms, partly because playwriting was not an occupation +that befitted a scholar, and partly because in these works they +criticized the conditions of their day. These works are divided in +regard to style into two groups, those of the "southern" and the +"northern" drama; these are distinguished from each other in musical +construction and in their intellectual attitude: in general the northern +works are more heroic and the southern more sentimental, though there +are exceptions. The most famous northern works of the Mongol epoch are +_P'i-p'a-chi_ ("The Story of a Lute"), written about 1356, probably by +Kao Ming, and _Chao-shih ku-erh-chi_ ("The Story of the Orphan of Chao +"), a work that enthralled Voltaire, who made a paraphrase of it; its +author was the otherwise unknown Chi Chün-hsiang. One of the most famous +of the southern dramas is _Hsi-hsiang-chi_ ("The Romance of the Western +Chamber"), by Wang Shih-fu and Kuan Han-ch'ing. Kuan lived under the +Juchên dynasty as a physician, and then among the Mongols. He is said to +have written fifty-eight dramas, many of which became famous. + +In the fine arts, foreign influence made itself felt during the Mongol +epoch much more than in literature. This was due in part to the Mongol +rulers' predilection for the Lamaism that was widespread in their +homeland. Lamaism is a special form of Buddhism which developed in +Tibet, where remnants of the old national Tibetan cult (_Bon_) were +fused with Buddhism into a distinctive religion. During the rise of the +Mongols this religion, which closely resembled the shamanism of the +ancient Mongols, spread in Mongolia, and through the Mongols it made +great progress in China, where it had been insignificant until their +time. Religious sculpture especially came entirely under Tibetan +influence (particularly that of the sculptor Aniko, who came from Nepal, +where he was born in 1244). This influence was noticeable in the Chinese +sculptor Liu Yüan; after him it became stronger and stronger, lasting +until the Manchu epoch. + +In architecture, too, Indian and Tibetan influence was felt in this +period. The Tibetan pagodas came into special prominence alongside the +previously known form of pagoda, which has many storeys, growing smaller +as they go upward; these towers originally contained relics of Buddha +and his disciples. The Tibetan pagoda has not this division into +storeys, and its lower part is much larger in circumference, and often +round. To this day Peking is rich in pagodas in the Tibetan style. + +The Mongols also developed in China the art of carpet-knotting, which to +this day is found only in North China in the zone of northern influence. +There were carpets before these, but they were mainly of felt. The +knotted carpets were produced in imperial workshops--only, of course, +for the Mongols, who were used to carpets. A further development +probably also due to West Asian influence was that of cloisonné +technique in China in this period. + +Painting, on the other hand, remained free from alien influence, with +the exception of the craft painting for the temples. The most famous +painters of the Mongol epoch were Chao Mêng-fu (also called Chao +Chung-mu, 1254-1322), a relative of the deposed imperial family of the +Sung dynasty, and Ni Tsan (1301-1374). + + +(B) The Ming Epoch (1368-1644) + +1 _Start. National feeling_ + +It was necessary to give special attention to the reasons for the +downfall of Mongol rule in China, in order to make clear the cause and +the character of the Ming epoch that followed it. It is possible that +the erroneous impression might be gained that the Mongol epoch in China +was entirely without merits, and that the Mongol rule over China +differed entirely from the Mongol rule over other countries of Asia. +Chinese historians have no good word to say of the Mongol epoch and +avoid the subject as far as they can. It is true that the union of the +national Mongol culture with Chinese culture, as envisaged by the Mongol +rulers, was not a sound conception, and consequently did not endure for +long. Nevertheless, the Mongol epoch in China left indelible traces, and +without it China's further development would certainly have taken a +different course. + +The many popular risings during the latter half of the period of Mongol +rule in China were all of a purely economic and social character, and at +first they were not directed at all against the Mongols as +representatives of an alien people. The rising under Chu Yüan-chang, +which steadily gained impetus, was at first a purely social movement; +indeed, it may fairly be called revolutionary. Chu was of the humblest +origin; he became a monk and a peasant leader at one and the same time. +Only three times in Chinese history has a man of the peasantry become +emperor and founder of a dynasty. The first of these three men founded +the Han dynasty; the second founded the first of the so-called "Five +Dynasties" in the tenth century; Chu was the third. + +Not until the Mongols had answered Chu's rising with a tightening of the +nationality laws did the revolutionary movement become a national +movement, directed against the foreigners as such. And only when Chu +came under the influence of the first people of the gentry who joined +him, whether voluntarily or perforce, did what had been a revolutionary +movement become a struggle for the substitution of one dynasty for +another without interfering with the existing social system. Both these +points were of the utmost importance to the whole development of the +Ming epoch. + +The Mongols were driven out fairly quickly and without great difficulty. +The Chinese drew from the ease of their success a sense of superiority +and a clear feeling of nationalism. This feeling should not be +confounded with the very old feeling of Chinese as a culturally superior +group according to which, at least in theory though rarely in practice, +every person who assimilated Chinese cultural values and traits was a +"Chinese". The roots of nationalism seem to lie in the Southern Sung +period, growing up in the course of contacts with the Juchên and +Mongols; but the discriminatory laws of the Mongols greatly fostered +this feeling. From now on, it was regarded a shame to serve a foreigner +as official, even if he was a ruler of China. + +2 _Wars against Mongols and Japanese_ + +It had been easy to drive the Mongols out of China, but they were never +really beaten in their own country. On the contrary, they seem to have +regained strength after their withdrawal from China: they reorganized +themselves and were soon capable of counter-thrusts, while Chinese +offensives had as a rule very little success, and at all events no +decisive success. In the course of time, however, the Chinese gained a +certain influence over Turkestan, but it was never absolute, always +challenged. After the Mongol empire had fallen to pieces, small states +came into existence in Turkestan, for a long time with varying fortunes; +the most important one during the Ming epoch was that of Hami, until in +1473 it was occupied by the city-state of Turfan. At this time China +actively intervened in the policy of Turkestan in a number of combats +with the Mongols. As the situation changed from time to time, these +city-states united more or less closely with China or fell away from her +altogether. In this period, however, Turkestan was of no military or +economic importance to China. + +In the time of the Ming there also began in the east and south the +plague of Japanese piracy. Japanese contacts with the coastal provinces +of China (Kiangsu, Chekiang and Fukien) had a very long history: +pilgrims from Japan often went to these places in order to study +Buddhism in the famous monasteries of Central China; businessmen sold at +high prices Japanese swords and other Japanese products here and bought +Chinese products; they also tried to get Chinese copper coins which had +a higher value in Japan. Chinese merchants co-operated with Japanese +merchants and also with pirates in the guise of merchants. Some Chinese +who were or felt persecuted by the government, became pirates +themselves. This trade-piracy had started already at the end of the Sung +dynasty, when Japanese navigation had become superior to Korean shipping +which had in earlier times dominated the eastern seaboard. These +conditions may even have been one of the reasons why the Mongols tried +to subdue Japan. As early as 1387 the Chinese had to begin the building +of fortifications along the eastern and southern coasts of the country; +The Japanese attacks now often took the character of organized raids: a +small, fast-sailing flotilla would land in a bay, as far as possible +without attracting notice; the soldiers would march against the nearest +town, generally overcoming it, looting, and withdrawing. The defensive +measures adopted from time to time during the Ming epoch were of little +avail, as it was impossible effectively to garrison the whole coast. +Some of the coastal settlements were transferred inland, to prevent the +Chinese from co-operating with the Japanese, and to give the Japanese so +long a march inland as to allow time for defensive measures. The +Japanese pirates prevented the creation of a Chinese navy in this period +by their continual threats to the coastal cities in which the shipyards +lay. Not until much later, at a time of unrest in Japan in 1467, was +there any peace from the Japanese pirates. + +The Japanese attacks were especially embarrassing for the Chinese +government for one other reason. Large armies had to be kept all along +China's northern border, from Manchuria to Central Asia. Food supplies +could not be collected in north China which did not have enough +surplusses. Canal transportation from Central China was not reliable, as +the canals did not always have enough water and were often clogged by +hundreds of ships. And even if canals were used, grain still had to be +transported by land from the end of the canals to the frontier. The Ming +government therefore, had organized an overseas flotilla of grain ships +which brought grain from Central China directly to the front in +Liao-tung and Manchuria. And these ships, vitally important, were so +often attacked by the pirates, that this plan later had to be given up +again. + +These activities along the coast led the Chinese to the belief that +basically all foreigners who came by ships were "barbarians"; when +towards the end of the Ming epoch the Japanese were replaced by +Europeans who did not behave much differently and were also +pirate-merchants, the nations of Western Europe, too, were regarded as +"barbarians" and were looked upon with great suspicion. On the other +side, continental powers, even if they were enemies, had long been +regarded as "states", sometimes even as equals. Therefore, when at a +much later time the Chinese came into contact with Russians, their +attitude towards them was similar to that which they had taken towards +other Asian continental powers. + +3 _Social legislation within the existing order_ + +At the time when Chu Yüan-chang conquered Peking, in 1368, becoming the +recognized emperor of China (Ming dynasty), it seemed as though he would +remain a revolutionary in spite of everything. His first laws were +directed against the rich. Many of the rich were compelled to migrate to +the capital, Nanking, thus losing their land and the power based on it. +Land was redistributed among poor peasants; new land registers were also +compiled, in order to prevent the rich from evading taxation. The number +of monks living in idleness was cut down and precisely determined; the +possessions of the temples were reduced, land exempted from taxation +being thus made taxable--all this, incidentally, although Chu had +himself been a monk! These laws might have paved the way to social +harmony and removed the worst of the poverty of the Mongol epoch. But +all this was frustrated in the very first years of Chu's reign. The laws +were only half carried into effect or not at all, especially in the +hinterland of the present Shanghai. That region had been conquered by +Chu at the very beginning of the Ming epoch; in it lived the wealthy +landowners who had already been paying the bulk of the taxes under the +Mongols. The emperor depended on this wealthy class for the financing of +his great armies, and so could not be too hard on it. + +Chu Yüan-chang and his entourage were also unable to free themselves +from some of the ideas of the Mongol epoch. Neither Chu, nor anybody +else before and long after him discussed the possibility of a form of +government other than that of a monarchy. The first ever to discuss this +question, although very timidly, was Huang Tsung-hsi (1610-1695), at the +end of the Ming dynasty. Chu's conception of an emperor was that of an +absolute monarch, master over life and death of his subjects; it was +formed by the Mongol emperors with their magnificence and the huge +expenditure of their life in Peking; Chu was oblivious of the fact that +Peking had been the capital of a vast empire embracing almost the whole +of Asia, and expenses could well be higher than for a capital only of +China. It did not occur to Chu and his supporters that they could have +done without imperial state and splendour; on the contrary, they felt +compelled to display it. At first Chu personally showed no excessive +signs of this tendency, though they emerged later; but he conferred +great land grants on all his relatives, friends, and supporters; he +would give to a single person land sufficient for 20,000 peasant +families; he ordered the payment of state pensions to members of the +imperial family, just as the Mongols had done, and the total of these +pension payments was often higher than the revenue of the region +involved. For the capital alone over eight million _shih_ of grain had +to be provided in payment of pensions--that is to say, more than 160,000 +tons! These pension payments were in themselves a heavy burden on the +state; not only that, but they formed a difficult transport problem! We +have no close figure of the total population at the beginning of the +Ming epoch; about 1500 it is estimated to have been 53,280,000, and this +population had to provide some 266,000,000 _shih_ in taxes. At the +beginning of the Ming epoch the population and revenue must, however, +have been smaller. + +The laws against the merchants and the restrictions under which the +craftsmen worked, remained essentially as they had been under the Sung, +but now the remaining foreign merchants of Mongol time also fell under +these laws, and their influence quickly diminished. All craftsmen, a +total of some 300,000 men with families, were still registered and had +to serve the government in the capital for three months once every three +years; others had to serve ten days per month, if they lived close by. +They were a hereditary caste as were the professional soldiers, and not +allowed to change their occupation except by special imperial +permission. When a craftsman or soldier died, another family member had +to replace him; therefore, families of craftsmen were not allowed to +separate into small nuclear families, in which there might not always be +a suitable male. Yet, in an empire as large as that of the Ming, this +system did not work too well: craftsmen lost too much time in travelling +and often succeeded in running away while travelling. Therefore, from +1505 on, they had to pay a tax instead of working for the government, +and from then on the craftsmen became relatively free. + +4 _Colonization and agricultural developments_ + +As already mentioned, the Ming had to keep a large army along the +northern frontiers. But they also had to keep armies in south China, +especially in Yünnan. Here, the Mongol invasions of Burma and Thailand +had brought unrest among the tribes, especially the Shan. The Ming did +not hold Burma but kept it in a loose dependency as "tributary nation". +In order to supply armies so far away from all agricultural surplus +centres, the Ming resorted to the old system of "military colonies" +which seems to have been invented in the second century B.C. and is +still used even today (in Sinkiang). Soldiers were settled in camps +called _ying_, and therefore there are so many place names ending with +_ying_ in the outlying areas of China. They worked as state farmers and +accumulated surplusses which were used in case of war in which these +same farmers turned soldiers again. Many criminals were sent to these +state farms, too. This system, especially in south China, transformed +territories formerly inhabited by native tribes or uninhabited, into +solidly Chinese areas. In addition to these military colonies, a steady +stream of settlers from Central China and the coast continued to move +into Kwangtung and Hunan provinces. They felt protected by the army +against attacks by natives. Yet Ming texts are full of reports on major +and minor clashes with the natives, from Kiangsi and Fukien to Kwangtung +and Kwangsi. + +But the production of military colonies was still not enough to feed the +armies, and the government in Chu's time resorted to a new design. It +promised to give merchants who transported grain from Central China to +the borders, government salt certificates. Upon the receipt, the +merchants could acquire a certain amount of salt and sell it with high +profits. Soon, these merchants began to invest some of their capital in +local land which was naturally cheap. They then attracted farmers from +their home countries as tenants. The rent of the tenants, paid in form +of grain, was then sold to the army, and the merchant's gains +increased. Tenants could easily be found: the density of population in +the Yangtze plains had further increased since the Sung time. This +system of merchant colonization did not last long, because soon, in +order to curb the profits of the merchants, money was given instead of +salt certificates, and the merchants lost interest in grain transports. +Thus, grain prices along the frontiers rose and the effectiveness of the +armies was diminished. + +Although the history of Chinese agriculture is as yet only partially +known, a number of changes in this field, which began to show up from +Sung time on, seem to have produced an "agricultural revolution" in Ming +time. We have already mentioned the Sung attempts to increase production +near the big cities by deep-lying fields, cultivation on and in lakes. +At the same time, there was an increase in cultivation of mountain +slopes by terracing and by distributing water over the terraces in +balanced systems. New irrigation machines, especially the so-called +Persian wheel, were introduced in the Ming time. Perhaps the most +important innovation, however, was the introduction of rice from +Indo-China's kingdom Champa in 1012 into Fukien from where it soon +spread. This rice had three advantages over ordinary Chinese rice: it +was drought-resistant and could, therefore, be planted in areas with +poor or even no irrigation. It had a great productivity, and it could be +sown very early in the year. At first it had the disadvantage that it +had a vegetation period of a hundred days. But soon, the Chinese +developed a quick-growing Champa rice, and the speediest varieties took +only sixty days from transplantation into the fields to the harvest. +This made it possible to grow two rice harvests instead of only one and +more than doubled the production. Rice varieties which grew again after +being cut and produced a second, but very much smaller harvest, +disappeared from now on. Furthermore, fish were kept in the ricefields +and produced not only food for the farmers but also fertilized the +fields, so that continuous cultivation of ricefields without any +decrease in fertility became possible. Incidentally, fish control the +malaria mosquitoes; although the Chinese did not know this fact, large +areas in South China which had formerly been avoided by Chinese because +of malaria, gradually became inhabitable. + +The importance of alternating crops was also discovered and from now on, +the old system of fallow cultivation was given up and continuous +cultivation with, in some areas, even more than one harvest per field +per year, was introduced even in wheat-growing areas. Considering that +under the fallow system from one half to one third of all fields +remained uncultivated each year, the increase in production under the +new system must have been tremendous. We believe that the population +revolution which in China started about 1550, was the result of this +earlier agrarian revolution. From the eighteenth century on we get +reports on depletion of fields due to wrong application of the new +system. + +Another plant deeply affected Chinese agriculture: cotton. It is often +forgotten that, from very early times, the Chinese in the south had used +kapok and similar fibres, and that the cocoons of different kinds of +worms had been used for silk. Real cotton probably came from Bengal over +South-East Asia first to the coastal provinces of China and spread +quickly into Fukien and Kwangtung in Sung time. + +On the other side, cotton reached China through Central Asia, and +already in the thirteenth century we find it in Shensi in north-western +China. Farmers in the north could in many places grow cotton in summer +and wheat in winter, and cotton was a high-priced product. They ginned +the cotton with iron rods; a mechanical cotton gin was introduced not +until later. The raw cotton was sold to merchants who transported it +into the industrial centre of the time, the Yangtze valley, and who +re-exported cotton cloth to the north. Raw cotton, loosened by the +string of the bow (a method which was known since Sung), could now in +the north also be used for quilts and padded winter garments. + +5 _Commercial and industrial developments_ + +Intensivation and modernization of agriculture led to strong population +increases especially in the Yangtze valley from Sung time on. Thus, in +this area commerce and industry also developed most quickly. +Urbanization was greatest here. Nanking, the new Ming capital, grew +tremendously because of the presence of the court and administration, +and even when later the capital was moved, Nanking continued to remain +the cultural capital of China. The urban population needed textiles and +food. From Ming time on, fashions changed quickly as soon as government +regulations which determined colour and material of the dress of each +social class were relaxed or as soon as they could be circumvented by +bribery or ingenious devices. Now, only factories could produce the +amounts which the consumers wanted. We hear of many men who started out +with one loom and later ended up with over forty looms, employing many +weavers. Shanghai began to emerge as a centre of cotton cloth +production. A system of middle-men developed who bought raw cotton and +raw silk from the producers and sold it to factories. + +Consumption in the Yangtze cities raised the value of the land around +the cities. The small farmers who were squeezed out, migrated to the +south. Absentee landlords in cities relied partly on migratory, seasonal +labour supplied by small farmers from Chekiang who came to the Yangtze +area after they had finished their own harvest. More and more, +vegetables and mulberries or cotton were planted in the vicinity of the +cities. As rice prices went up quickly a large organization of rice +merchants grew up. They ran large ships up to Hankow where they bought +rice which was brought down from Hunan in river boats by smaller +merchants. The small merchants again made contracts with the local +gentry who bought as much rice from the producers as they could and sold +it to these grain merchants. Thus, local grain prices went up and we +hear of cases where the local population attacked the grain boats in +order to prevent the depletion of local markets. + +Next to these grain merchants, the above-mentioned salt merchants have +to be mentioned again. Their centre soon became the city of Hsin-an, a +city on the border of Chekiang and Anhui, or in more general terms, the +cities in the district of Hui-chou. When the grain transportation to the +frontiers came to an end in early Ming time, the Hsin-an merchants +specialized first in silver trade. Later in Ming time, they spread their +activities all over China and often monopolized the salt, silver, rice, +cotton, silk or tea businesses. In the sixteenth century they had +well-established contacts with smugglers on the Fukien coast and brought +foreign goods into the interior. Their home was also close to the main +centres of porcelain production in Kiangsi which was exported to +overseas and to the urban centres. The demand for porcelain had +increased so much that state factories could not fulfil it. The state +factories seem often to have suffered from a lack of labour: indented +artisans were imported from other provinces and later sent back on state +expenses or were taken away from other state industries. Thus, private +porcelain factories began to develop, and in connection with quickly +changing fashions a great diversification of porcelain occurred. + +One other industry should also be mentioned. With the development of +printing, which will be discussed below, the paper industry was greatly +stimulated. The state also needed special types of paper for the paper +currency. Printing and book selling became a profitable business, and +with the application of block print to textiles (probably first used in +Sung time) another new field of commercial activity was opened. + +As already mentioned, silver in form of bars had been increasingly used +as currency in Sung time. The yearly government production of silver was +_c_. 10,000 kg. Mongol currency was actually based upon silver. The +Ming, however, reverted to copper as basic unit, in addition to the use +of paper money. This encouraged the use of silver for speculative +purposes. + +The development of business changed the face of cities. From Sung time +on, the division of cities into wards with gates which were closed +during the night, began to break down. Ming cities had no more wards. +Business was no more restricted to official markets but grew up in all +parts of the cities. The individual trades were no more necessarily all +in one street. Shops did not have to close at sunset. The guilds +developed and in some cases were able to exercise locally some influence +upon the officials. + +6 _Growth of the small gentry_ + +With the spread of book printing, all kinds of books became easily +accessible, including reprints of examination papers. Even businessmen +and farmers increasingly learned to read and to write, and many people +now could prepare themselves for the examinations. Attendance, however, +at the examinations cost a good deal. The candidate had to travel to the +local or provincial capital, and for the higher examinations to the +capital of the country; he had to live there for several months and, as +a rule, had to bribe the examiners or at least to gain the favour of +influential people. There were many cases of candidates becoming +destitute. Most of them were heavily in debt when at last they gained a +position. They naturally set to work at once to pay their debts out of +their salary, and to accumulate fresh capital to meet future +emergencies. The salaries of officials were, however, so small that it +was impossible to make ends meet; and at the same time every official +was liable with his own capital for the receipt in full of the taxes for +the collection of which he was responsible. Consequently every official +began at once to collect more taxes than were really due, so as to be +able to cover any deficits, and also to cover his own cost of +living--including not only the repayment of his debts but the +acquisition of capital or land so as to rise in the social scale. The +old gentry had been rich landowners, and had no need to exploit the +peasants on such a scale. + +The Chinese empire was greater than it had been before the Mongol epoch, +and the population was also greater, so that more officials were needed. +Thus in the Ming epoch there began a certain democratization, larger +sections of the population having the opportunity of gaining government +positions; but this democratization brought no benefit to the general +population but resulted in further exploitation of the peasants. + +The new "small gentry" did not consist of great families like the +original gentry. When, therefore, people of that class wanted to play a +political part in the central government, or to gain a position there, +they had either to get into close touch with one of the families of the +gentry, or to try to approach the emperor directly. In the immediate +entourage of the emperor, however, were the eunuchs. A good many members +of the new class had themselves castrated after they had passed their +state examination. Originally eunuchs were forbidden to acquire +education. But soon the Ming emperors used the eunuchs as a tool to +counteract the power of gentry cliques and thus to strengthen their +personal power. When, later, eunuchs controlled appointments to +government posts, long established practices of bureaucratic +administration were eliminated and the court, i.e. the emperor and his +tools, the eunuchs, could create a rule by way of arbitrary decisions, a +despotic rule. For such purposes, eunuchs had to have education, and +these new educated eunuchs, when they had once secured a position, were +able to gain great influence in the immediate entourage of the emperor; +later such educated eunuchs were preferred, especially as many offices +were created which were only filled by eunuchs and for which educated +eunuchs were needed. Whole departments of eunuchs came into existence at +court, and these were soon made use of for confidential business of the +emperor's outside the palace. + +These eunuchs worked, of course, in the interest of their families. On +the other hand, they were very ready to accept large bribes from the +gentry for placing the desires of people of the gentry before the +emperor and gaining his consent. Thus the eunuchs generally accumulated +great wealth, which they shared with their small gentry relatives. The +rise of the small gentry class was therefore connected with the +increased influence of the eunuchs at court. + +7 _Literature, art, crafts_ + +The growth of the small gentry which had its stronghold in the +provincial towns and cities, as well as the rise of the merchant class +and the liberation of the artisans, are reflected in the new literature +of Ming time. While the Mongols had developed the theatre, the novel may +be regarded as the typical Ming creation. Its precursors were the +stories of story-tellers centuries ago. They had developed many styles, +one of which, for instance, consisted of prose with intercalated poetic +parts (_pien-wen_). Buddhists monks had used these forms of popular +literature and spread their teachings in similar forms; due to them, +many Indian stories and tales found their way into the Chinese +folklore. Soon, these stories of story-tellers or monks were written +down, and out of them developed the Chinese classical novel. It +preserved many traits of the stories: it was cut into chapters +corresponding with the interruptions which the story-teller made in +order to collect money; it was interspersed with poems. But most of all, +it was written in everyday language, not in the language of the gentry. +To this day every Chinese knows and reads with enthusiasm +_Shui-hu-chuan_ ("The Story of the River Bank"), probably written about +1550 by Wang Tao-k'un, in which the ruling class was first described in +its decay. Against it are held up as ideals representatives of the +middle class in the guise of the gentleman brigand. Every Chinese also +knows the great satirical novel _Hsi-yu-chi_ ("The Westward Journey"), +by Feng Meng-lung (1574-1645), in which ironical treatment is meted out +to all religions and sects against a mythological background, with a +freedom that would not have been possible earlier. The characters are +not presented as individuals but as representatives of human types: the +intellectual, the hedonist, the pious man, and the simpleton, are drawn +with incomparable skill, with their merits and defects. A third famous +novel is _San-kuo yen-i_ ("The Tale of the Three Kingdoms"), by Lo +Kuan-chung. Just as the European middle class read with avidity the +romances of chivalry, so the comfortable class in China was enthusiastic +over romanticized pictures of the struggle of the gentry in the third +century. "The Tale of the Three Kingdoms" became the model for countless +historical novels of its own and subsequent periods. Later, mainly in +the sixteenth century, the sensational and erotic novel developed, most +of all in Nanking. It has deeply influenced Japanese writers, but was +mercilessly suppressed by the Chinese gentry which resented the +frivolity of this wealthy and luxurious urban class of middle or small +gentry families who associated with rich merchants, actors, artists and +musicians. Censorship of printed books had started almost with the +beginning of book printing as a private enterprise: to the famous +historian, anti-Buddhist and conservative Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072), the +enemy of Wang An-shih, belongs the sad glory of having developed the +first censorship rules. Since Ming time, it became a permanent feature +of Chinese governments. + +The best known of the erotic novels is the _Chin-p'ing-mei_ which, for +reasons of our own censors can be published only in expurgated +translations. It was written probably towards the end of the sixteenth +century. This novel, as all others, has been written and re-written by +many authors, so that many different versions exist. It might be pointed +out that many novels were printed in Hui-chou, the commercial centre of +the time. + +The short story which formerly served the entertainment of the educated +only and which was, therefore, written in classical Chinese, now also +became a literary form appreciated by the middle classes. The collection +_Chin-ku ch'i-kuan_ ("Strange Stories of New Times and Old"), compiled +by Feng Meng-lung, is the best-known of these collections in vernacular +Chinese. + +Little original work was done in the Ming epoch in the fields generally +regarded as "literature" by educated Chinese, those of poetry and the +essay. There are some admirable essays, but these are only isolated +examples out of thousands. So also with poetry: the poets of the gentry, +united in "clubs", chose the poets of the Sung epoch as their models to +emulate. + +The Chinese drama made further progress in the Ming epoch. Many of the +finest Chinese dramas were written under the Ming; they are still +produced again and again to this day. The most famous dramatists of the +Ming epoch are Wang Shih-chen (1526-1590) and T'ang Hsien-tsu +(1556-1617). T'ang wrote the well-known drama _Mu-tan-ting_ ("The Peony +Pavilion"), one of the finest love-stories of Chinese literature, full +of romance and remote from all reality. This is true also of the other +dramas by T'ang, especially his "Four Dreams", a series of four plays. +In them a man lives in dream through many years of his future life, with +the result that he realizes the worthlessness of life and decides to +become a monk. + +Together with the development of the drama (or, rather, the opera) in +the Ming epoch went an important endeavour in the modernization of +music, the attempt to create a "well-tempered scale" made in 1584 by Chu +Tsai-yü. This solved in China a problem which was not tackled till later +in Europe. The first Chinese theorists of music who occupied themselves +with this problem were Ching Fang (77-37 B.C.) and Ho Ch'êng-t'ien (A.D. +370-447). + +In the Mongol epoch, most of the Chinese painters had lived in central +China; this remained so in the Ming epoch. Of the many painters of the +Ming epoch, all held in high esteem in China, mention must be made +especially of Ch'in Ying (_c_. 1525), T'ang Yin (1470-1523), and Tung +Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636). Ch'in Ying painted in the Academic Style, +indicating every detail, however small, and showing preference for a +turquoise-green ground. T'ang Yin was the painter of elegant women; Tung +became famous especially as a calligraphist and a theoretician of the +art of painting; a textbook of the art was written by him. + +Just as puppet plays and shadow theatre are the "opera of the common +man" and took a new development in Ming time, the wood-cut and +block-printing developed largely as a cheap substitute of real +paintings. The new urbanites wanted to have paintings of the masters and +found in the wood-cut which soon became a multi-colour print a cheap +mass medium. Block printing in colours, developed in the Yangtze valley, +was adopted by Japan and found its highest refinement there. But the +Ming are also famous for their monumental architecture which largely +followed Mongol patterns. Among the most famous examples is the famous +Great Wall which had been in dilapidation and was rebuilt; the great +city walls of Peking; and large parts of the palaces of Peking, begun in +the Mongol epoch. It was at this time that the official style which we +may observe to this day in North China was developed, the style employed +everywhere, until in the age of concrete it lost its justification. + +In the Ming epoch the porcelain with blue decoration on a white ground +became general; the first examples, from the famous kilns in +Ching-te-chen, in the province of Kiangsi, were relatively coarse, but +in the fifteenth century the production was much finer. In the sixteenth +century the quality deteriorated, owing to the disuse of the cobalt from +the Middle East (perhaps from Persia) in favour of Sumatra cobalt, which +did not yield the same brilliant colour. In the Ming epoch there also +appeared the first brilliant red colour, a product of iron, and a start +was then made with three-colour porcelain (with lead glaze) or +five-colour (enamel). The many porcelains exported to western Asia and +Europe first influenced European ceramics (Delft), and then were +imitated in Europe (Böttger); the early European porcelains long showed +Chinese influence (the so-called onion pattern, blue on a white ground). +In addition to the porcelain of the Ming epoch, of which the finest +specimens are in the palace at Istanbul, especially famous are the +lacquers (carved lacquer, lacquer painting, gold lacquer) of the Ming +epoch and the cloisonné work of the same period. These are closely +associated with the contemporary work in Japan. + +8 _Politics at court_ + +After the founding of the dynasty by Chu Yüan-chang, important questions +had to be dealt with apart from the social legislation. What was to be +done, for instance, with Chu's helpers? Chu, like many revolutionaries +before and after him, recognized that these people had been serviceable +in the years of struggle but could no longer remain useful. He got rid +of them by the simple device of setting one against another so that they +murdered one another. In the first decades of his rule the dangerous +cliques of gentry had formed again, and were engaged in mutual +struggles. The most formidable clique was led by Hu Wei-yung. Hu was a +man of the gentry of Chu's old homeland, and one of his oldest +supporters. Hu and his relations controlled the country after 1370, +until in 1380 Chu succeeded in beheading Hu and exterminating his +clique. New cliques formed before long and were exterminated in turn. + +Chu had founded Nanking in the years of revolution, and he made it his +capital. In so doing he met the wishes of the rich grain producers of +the Yangtze delta. But the north was the most threatened part of his +empire, so that troops had to be permanently stationed there in +considerable strength. Thus Peking, where Chu placed one of his sons as +"king", was a post of exceptional importance. + +In Chu Yüan-chang's last years (he was named T'ai Tsu as emperor) +difficulties arose in regard to the dynasty. The heir to the throne died +in 1391; and when the emperor himself died in 1398, the son of the late +heir-apparent was installed as emperor (Hui Ti, 1399-1402). This choice +had the support of some of the influential Confucian gentry families of +the south. But a protest against his enthronement came from the other +son of Chu Yüan-chang, who as king in Peking had hoped to become +emperor. With his strong army this prince, Ch'eng Tsu, marched south and +captured Nanking, where the palaces were burnt down. There was a great +massacre of supporters of the young emperor, and the victor made himself +emperor (better known under his reign name, Yung-lo). As he had +established himself in Peking, he transferred the capital to Peking, +where it remained throughout the Ming epoch. Nanking became a sort of +subsidiary capital. + +This transfer of the capital to the north, as the result of the victory +of the military party and Buddhists allied to them, produced a new +element of instability: the north was of military importance, but the +Yangtze region remained the economic centre of the country. The +interests of the gentry of the Yangtze region were injured by the +transfer. The first Ming emperor had taken care to make his court +resemble the court of the Mongol rulers, but on the whole had exercised +relative economy. Yung-lo (1403-1424), however, lived in the actual +palaces of the Mongol rulers, and all the luxury of the Mongol epoch was +revived. This made the reign of Yung-lo the most magnificent period of +the Ming epoch, but beneath the surface decay had begun. Typical of the +unmitigated absolutism which developed now, was the word of one of the +emperor's political and military advisors, significantly a Buddhist +monk: "I know the way of heaven. Why discuss the hearts of the people?" + +9 _Navy. Southward expansion_ + +After the collapse of Mongol rule in Indo-China, partly through the +simple withdrawal of the Mongols, and partly through attacks from +various Chinese generals, there were independence movements in +south-west China and Indo-China. In 1393 wars broke out in Annam. +Yung-lo considered that the time had come to annex these regions to +China and so to open a new field for Chinese trade, which was suffering +continual disturbance from the Japanese. He sent armies to Yünnan and +Indo-China; at the same time he had a fleet built by one of his eunuchs, +Cheng Ho. The fleet was successfully protected from attack by the +Japanese. Cheng Ho, who had promoted the plan and also carried it out, +began in 1405 his famous mission to Indo-China, which had been envisaged +as giving at least moral support to the land operations, but was also +intended to renew trade connections with Indo-China, where they had been +interrupted by the collapse of Mongol rule. Cheng Ho sailed past +Indo-China and ultimately reached the coast of Arabia. His account of +his voyage is an important source of information about conditions in +southern Asia early in the fifteenth century. Cheng Ho and his fleet +made some further cruises, but they were discontinued. There may have +been several reasons, (1) As state enterprises, the expeditions were +very costly. Foreign goods could be obtained more cheaply and with less +trouble if foreign merchants came themselves to China or Chinese +merchants travelled at their own risk. (2) The moral success of the +naval enterprises was assured. China was recognized as a power +throughout southern Asia, and Annam had been reconquered. (3) After the +collapse of the Mongol emperor Timur, who died in 1406, there no longer +existed any great power in Central Asia, so that trade missions from the +kingdom of the Shahruk in North Persia were able to make their way to +China, including the famous mission of 1409-1411. (4) Finally, the fleet +would have had to be permanently guarded against the Japanese, as it had +been stationed not in South China but in the Yangtze region. As early as +1411 the canals had been repaired, and from 1415 onward all the traffic +of the country went by the canals, so evading the Japanese peril. This +ended the short chapter of Chinese naval history. + +These travels of Cheng Ho seem to have had one more cultural result: a +large number of fairy-tales from the Middle East were brought to China, +or at all events reached China at that time. The Chinese, being a +realistically-minded people, have produced few fairy-tales of their own. +The bulk of their finest fairy-tales were brought by Buddhist monks, in +the course of the first millennium A.D., from India by way of Central +Asia. The Buddhists made use of them to render their sermons more +interesting and impressive. As time went on, these stories spread all +over China, modified in harmony with the spirit of the people and +adapted to the Chinese environment. Only the fables failed to strike +root in China: the matter-of-fact Chinese was not interested in animals +that talked and behaved to each other like human beings. In addition, +however, to these early fairy-tales, there was another group of stories +that did not spread throughout China, but were found only in the +south-eastern coastal provinces. These came from the Middle East, +especially from Persia. The fairy-tales of Indian origin spread not only +to Central Asia but at the same time to Persia, where they found a very +congenial soil. The Persians made radical changes in the stories and +gave them the form in which they came to Europe by various +routes--through North Africa to Spain and France; through +Constantinople, Venice, or Genoa to France; through Russian Turkestan to +Russia, Finland, and Sweden; through Turkey and the Balkans to Hungary +and Germany. Thus the stories found a European home. And this same +Persian form was carried by sea in Cheng Ho's time to South China. Thus +we have the strange experience of finding some of our own finest +fairy-tales in almost the same form in South China. + +10 _Struggles between cliques_ + +Yung-lo's successor died early. Under the latter's son, the emperor +Hsüan Tsung (1426-1435; reign name Hsüan-tê), fixed numbers of +candidates were assigned for the state examinations. It had been found +that almost the whole of the gentry in the Yangtze region sat at the +examinations; and that at these examinations their representatives made +sure, through their mutual relations, that only their members should +pass, so that the candidates from the north were virtually excluded. The +important military clique in the north protested against this, and a +compromise was arrived at: at every examination one-third of the +candidates must come from the north and two-thirds from the south. This +system lasted for a long time, and led to many disputes. + +At his death Hsüan Tsung left the empire to his eight-year-old son Ying +Tsung (1436-49 and 1459-64), who was entirely in the hands of the Yang +clique, which was associated with his grandmother. Soon, however, +another clique, led by the eunuch Wang Chen, gained the upper hand at +court. The Mongols were very active at this time, and made several raids +on the province of Shansi; Wang Chen proposed a great campaign against +them, and in this campaign he took with him the young emperor, who had +reached his twenty-first birthday in 1449. The emperor had grown up in +the palace and knew nothing of the world outside; he was therefore glad +to go with Wang Chen; but that eunuch had also lived in the palace and +also knew nothing of the world, and in particular of war. Consequently +he failed in the organization of reinforcements for his army, some +100,000 strong; after a few brief engagements the Oirat-Mongol prince +Esen had the imperial army surrounded and the emperor a prisoner. The +eunuch Wang Chen came to his end, and his clique, of course, no longer +counted. The Mongols had no intention of killing the emperor; they +proposed to hold him to ransom, at a high price. The various cliques at +court cared little, however, about their ruler. After the fall of the +Wang clique there were two others, of which one, that of General Yü, +became particularly powerful, as he had been able to repel a Mongol +attack on Peking. Yü proclaimed a new emperor--not the captive emperor's +son, a baby, but his brother, who became the emperor Ching Tsung. The +Yang clique insisted on the rights of the imperial baby. From all this +the Mongols saw that the Chinese were not inclined to spend a lot of +money on their imperial captive. Accordingly they made an enormous +reduction in the ransom demanded, and more or less forced the Chinese to +take back their former emperor. The Mongols hoped that this would at +least produce political disturbances by which they might profit, once +the old emperor was back in Peking. And this did soon happen. At first +the ransomed emperor was pushed out of sight into a palace, and Ching +Tsung continued to reign. But in 1456 Ching Tsung fell ill, and a +successor to him had to be chosen. The Yü clique wanted to have the son +of Ching Tsung; the Yang clique wanted the son of the deposed emperor +Ying Tsung. No agreement was reached, so that in the end a third clique, +led by the soldier Shih Hêng, who had helped to defend Peking against +the Mongols, found its opportunity, and by a _coup d'état_ reinstated +the deposed emperor Ying Tsung. + +This was not done out of love for the emperor, but because Shih Hêng +hoped that under the rule of the completely incompetent Ying Tsung he +could best carry out a plan of his own, to set up his own dynasty. It is +not so easy, however, to carry a conspiracy to success when there are +several rival parties, each of which is ready to betray any of the +others. Shih Hêng's plan became known before long, and he himself was +beheaded (1460). + +The next forty years were filled with struggles between cliques, which +steadily grew in ferocity, particularly since a special office, a sort +of secret police headquarters, was set up in the palace, with functions +which it extended beyond the palace, with the result that many people +were arrested and disappeared. This office was set up by the eunuchs and +the clique at their back, and was the first dictatorial organ created in +the course of a development towards despotism that made steady progress +in these years. + +In 1505 Wu Tsung came to the throne, an inexperienced youth of fifteen +who was entirely controlled by the eunuchs who had brought him up. The +leader of the eunuchs was Liu Chin, who had the support of a group of +people of the gentry and the middle class. Liu Chin succeeded within a +year in getting rid of the eunuchs at court who belonged to other +cliques and were working against him. After that he proceeded to +establish his power. He secured in entirely official form the emperor's +permission for him to issue all commands himself; the emperor devoted +himself only to his pleasures, and care was taken that they should keep +him sufficiently occupied to have no chance to notice what was going on +in the country. The first important decree issued by Liu Chin resulted +in the removal from office or the punishment or murder of over three +hundred prominent persons, the leaders of the cliques opposed to him. He +filled their posts with his own supporters, until all the higher posts +in every department were in the hands of members of his group. He +collected large sums of money which he quite openly extracted from the +provinces as a special tax for his own benefit. When later his house was +searched there were found 240,000 bars and 57,800 pieces of gold (a bar +was equivalent of ten pieces), 791,800 ounces and 5,000,000 bars of +silver (a bar was five ounces), three bushels of precious stones, two +gold cuirasses, 3,000 gold rings, and much else--of a total value +exceeding the annual budget of the state! The treasure was to have been +used to finance a revolt planned by Liu Chin and his supporters. + +Among the people whom Liu Chin had punished were several members of the +former clique of the Yang, and also the philosopher Wang Yang-ming, who +later became so famous, a member of the Wang family which was allied to +the Yang. In 1510 the Yang won over one of the eunuchs in the palace and +so became acquainted with Liu Chin's plans. When a revolt broke out in +western China, this eunuch (whose political allegiance was, of course, +unknown to Liu Chin) secured appointment as army commander. With the +army intended for the crushing of the revolt, Liu Chin's palace was +attacked when he was asleep, and he and all his supporters were +arrested. Thus the other group came into power in the palace, including +the philosopher Wang Yang-ming (1473-1529). Liu Chin's rule had done +great harm to the country, as enormous taxation had been expended for +the private benefit of his clique. On top of this had been the young +emperor's extravagance: his latest pleasures had been the building of +palaces and the carrying out of military games; he constantly assumed +new military titles and was burning to go to war. + +11 _Risings_ + +The emperor might have had a good opportunity for fighting, for his +misrule had resulted in a great popular rising which began in the west, +in Szechwan, and then spread to the east. As always, the rising was +joined by some ruined scholars, and the movement, which had at first +been directed against the gentry as such, was turned into a movement +against the government of the moment. No longer were all the wealthy and +all officials murdered, but only those who did not join the movement. In +1512 the rebels were finally overcome, not so much by any military +capacity of the government armies as through the loss of the rebels' +fleet of boats in a typhoon. + +In 1517 a new favourite of the emperor's induced him to make a great +tour in the north, to which the favourite belonged. The tour and the +hunting greatly pleased the emperor, so that he continued his +journeying. This was the year in which the Portuguese Fernão Pires de +Andrade landed in Canton--the first modern European to enter China. + +In 1518 Wang Yang-ming, the philosopher general, crushed a rising in +Kiangsi. The rising had been the outcome of years of unrest, which had +two causes: native risings of the sort we described above, and loss for +the gentry due to the transfer of the capital. The province of Kiangsi +was a part of the Yangtze region, and the great landowners there had +lived on the profit from their supplies to Nanking. When the capital was +moved to Peking, their takings fell. They placed themselves under a +prince who lived in Nanking. This prince regarded Wang Yang-ming's move +into Kiangsi as a threat to him, and so rose openly against the +government and supported the Kiangsi gentry. Wang Yang-ming defeated +him, and so came into the highest favour with the incompetent emperor. +When peace had been restored in Nanking, the emperor dressed himself up +as an army commander, marched south, and made a triumphal entry into +Nanking. + +One other aspect of Wang Yang-ming's expeditions has not yet been +studied: he crushed also the so-called salt-merchant rebels in the +southernmost part of Kiangsi and adjoining Kwangtung. These +merchants-turned-rebels had dominated a small area, off and on since +the eleventh century. At this moment, they seem to have had connections +with the rich inland merchants of Hsin-an and perhaps also with +foreigners. Information is still too scanty to give more details, but a +local movement as persistent as this one deserves attention. + +Wang Yang-ming became acquainted as early as 1519 with the first +European rifles, imported by the Portuguese who had landed in 1517. (The +Chinese then called them Fu-lan-chi, meaning Franks. Wang was the first +Chinese who spoke of the "Franks".) The Chinese had already had mortars +which hurled stones, as early as the second century A.D. In the seventh +or eighth century their mortars had sent stones of a couple of +hundredweights some four hundred yards. There is mention in the eleventh +century of cannon which apparently shot with a charge of a sort of +gunpowder. The Mongols were already using true cannon in their sieges. +In 1519, the first Portuguese were presented to the Chinese emperor in +Nanking, where they were entertained for about a year in a hostel, a +certain Lin Hsün learned about their rifles and copied them for Wang +Yang-ming. In general, however, the Chinese had no respect for the +Europeans, whom they described as "bandits" who had expelled the lawful +king of Malacca and had now come to China as its representatives. Later +they were regarded as a sort of Japanese, because they, too, practiced +piracy. + +12 _Machiavellism_ + +All main schools of Chinese philosophy were still based on Confucius. +Wang Yang-ming's philosophy also followed Confucius, but he liberated +himself from the Neo-Confucian tendency as represented by Chu Hsi, which +started in the Sung epoch and continued to rule in China in his time and +after him; he introduced into Confucian philosophy the conception of +"intuition". He regarded intuition as the decisive philosophic +experience; only through intuition could man come to true knowledge. +This idea shows an element of meditative Buddhism along lines which the +philosopher Lu Hsiang-shan (1139-1192) had first developed, while +classical Neo-Confucianism was more an integration of monastic Buddhism +into Confucianism. Lu had felt himself close to Wang An-shih +(1021-1086), and this whole school, representing the small gentry of the +Yangtze area, was called the Southern or the Lin-ch'uan school, +Lin-ch'uan in Kiangsi being Wang An-shih's home. During the Mongol +period, a Taoist group, the _Cheng-i-chiao_ (Correct Unity Sect) had +developed in Lin-ch'uan and had accepted some of the Lin-ch'uan +school's ideas. Originally, this group was a continuation of Chang +Ling's church Taoism. Through the _Cheng-i_ adherents, the Southern +school had gained political influence on the despotic Mongol rulers. The +despotic Yung-lo emperor had favoured the monk Tao-yen (_c_. 1338-1418) +who had also Taoist training and proposed a philosophy which also +stressed intuition. He was, incidentally, in charge of the compilation +of the largest encyclopaedia ever written, the _Yung-lo ta-tien_ +commissioned by the Yung-lo emperor. + +Wang Yang-ming followed the Lin-ch'uan tradition. The introduction of +the conception of intuition, a highly subjective conception, into the +system of a practical state philosophy like Confucianism could not but +lead in the practice of the statesman to Machiavellism. The statesman +who followed the teaching of Wang Yang-ming had the opportunity of +justifying whatever he did by his intuition. + +Wang Yang-ming failed to gain acceptance for his philosophy. His +disciples also failed to establish his doctrine in China, because it +served the interests of an individual despot against those of the gentry +as a class, and the middle class, which might have formed a +counterweight against them, was not yet politically ripe for the seizure +of the opportunity here offered to it. In Japan, however, Wang's +doctrine gained many followers, because it admirably served the +dictatorial state system which had developed in that country. +Incidentally, Chiang Kai-shek in those years in which he showed Fascist +tendencies, also got interested in Wang Yang-ming. + +13 _Foreign relations in the sixteenth century_ + +The feeble emperor Wu Tsung died in 1521, after an ineffective reign, +without leaving an heir. The clique then in power at court looked among +the possible pretenders for the one who seemed least likely to do +anything, and their choice fell on the fifteen-year-old Shih Tsung, who +was made emperor. The forty-five years of his reign were filled in home +affairs with intrigues between the cliques at court, with growing +distress in the country, and with revolts on a larger and larger scale. +Abroad there were wars with Annam, increasing raids by the Japanese, +and, above all, long-continued fighting against the famous Mongol ruler +Yen-ta, from 1549 onward. At one time Yen-ta reached Peking and laid +siege to it. The emperor, who had no knowledge of affairs, and to whom +Yen-ta had been represented as a petty bandit, was utterly dismayed and +ready to do whatever Yen-ta asked; in the end he was dissuaded from +this, and an agreement was arrived at with Yen-ta for state-controlled +markets to be set up along the frontier, where the Mongols could +dispose of their goods against Chinese goods on very favourable terms. +After further difficulties lasting many years, a compromise was arrived +at: the Mongols were earning good profits from the markets, and in 1571 +Yen-ta accepted a Chinese title. On the Chinese side, this Mongol trade, +which continued in rather different form in the Manchu epoch, led to the +formation of a local merchant class in the frontier province of Shansi, +with great experience in credit business; later the first Chinese +bankers came almost entirely from this quarter. + +After a brief interregnum there came once more to the throne a +ten-year-old boy, the emperor Shen Tsung (reign name Wan-li; 1573-1619). +He, too, was entirely under the influence of various cliques, at first +that of his tutor, the scholar Chang Chü-chan. About the time of the +death, in 1582, of Yen-ta we hear for the first time of a new people. In +1581 there had been unrest in southern Manchuria. The Mongolian tribal +federation of the Tümet attacked China, and there resulted collisions +not only with the Chinese but between the different tribes living there. +In southern and central Manchuria were remnants of the Tungus Juchên. +The Mongols had subjugated the Juchên, but the latter had virtually +become independent after the collapse of Mongol rule over China. They +had formed several tribal alliances, but in 1581-83 these fought each +other, so that one of the alliances to all intents was destroyed. The +Chinese intervened as mediators in these struggles, and drew a +demarcation line between the territories of the various Tungus tribes. +All this is only worth mention because it was from these tribes that +there developed the tribal league of the Manchus, who were then to rule +China for some three hundred years. + +In 1592 the Japanese invaded Korea. This was their first real effort to +set foot on the continent, a purely imperialistic move. Korea, as a +Chinese vassal, appealed for Chinese aid. At first the Chinese army had +no success, but in 1598 the Japanese were forced to abandon Korea. They +revenged themselves by intensifying their raids on the coast of central +China; they often massacred whole towns, and burned down the looted +houses. The fighting in Korea had its influence on the Tungus tribes: as +they were not directly involved, it contributed to their further +strengthening. + +The East India Company was founded in 1600. At this time, while the +English were trying to establish themselves in India, the Chinese tried +to gain increased influence in the south by wars in Annam, Burma, and +Thailand (1594-1604). These wars were for China colonial wars, similar +to the colonial fighting by the British in India. But there began to be +defined already at that time in the south of Asia the outlines of the +states as they exist at the present time. + +In 1601 the first European, the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, succeeded in +gaining access to the Chinese court, through the agency of a eunuch. He +made some presents, and the Chinese regarded his visit as a mission from +Europe bringing tribute. Ricci was therefore permitted to remain in +Peking. He was an astronomer and was able to demonstrate to his Chinese +colleagues the latest achievements of European astronomy. In 1613, after +Ricci's death, the Jesuits and some Chinese whom they had converted were +commissioned to reform the Chinese calendar. In the time of the Mongols, +Arabs had been at work in Peking as astronomers, and their influence had +continued under the Ming until the Europeans came. By his astronomical +labours Ricci won a place of honour in Chinese literature; he is the +European most often mentioned. + +The missionary work was less effective. The missionaries penetrated by +the old trade routes from Canton and Macao into the province of Kiangsi +and then into Nanking. Kiangsi and Nanking were their chief centres. +They soon realized that missionary activity that began in the lower +strata would have no success; it was necessary to work from above, +beginning with the emperor, and then, they hoped, the whole country +could be converted to Christianity. When later the emperors of the Ming +dynasty were expelled and fugitives in South China, one of the +pretenders to the throne was actually converted--but it was politically +too late. The missionaries had, moreover, mistaken ideas as to the +nature of Chinese religion; we know today that a universal adoption of +Christianity in China would have been impossible even if an emperor had +personally adopted that foreign faith: there were emperors who had been +interested in Buddhism or in Taoism, but that had been their private +affair and had never prevented them, as heads of the state, from +promoting the religious system which politically was the most +expedient--that is to say, usually Confucianism. What we have said here +in regard to the Christian mission at the Ming court is applicable also +to the missionaries at the court of the first Manchu emperors, in the +seventeenth century. Early in the eighteenth century missionary activity +was prohibited--not for religious but for political reasons, and only +under the pressure of the Capitulations in the nineteenth century were +the missionaries enabled to resume their labours. + +14 _External and internal perils_ + +Towards the end of the reign of Wan-li, about 1620, the danger that +threatened the empire became more and more evident. The Manchus +complained, no doubt with justice, of excesses on the part of Chinese +officials; the friction constantly increased, and the Manchus began to +attack the Chinese cities in Manchuria. In 1616, after his first +considerable successes, their leader Nurhachu assumed the imperial +title; the name of the dynasty was Tai Ch'ing (interpreted as "The great +clarity", but probably a transliteration of a Manchurian word meaning +"hero"). In 1618, the year in which the Thirty Years War started in +Europe, the Manchus conquered the greater part of Manchuria, and in 1621 +their capital was Liaoyang, then the largest town in Manchuria. + +But the Manchu menace was far from being the only one. On the south-east +coast a pirate made himself independent; later, with his family, he +dominated Formosa and fought many battles with the Europeans there +(European sources call him Coxinga). In western China there came a great +popular rising, in which some of the natives joined, and which spread +through a large part of the southern provinces. This rising was +particularly sanguinary, and when it was ultimately crushed by the +Manchus the province of Szechwan, formerly so populous, was almost +depopulated, so that it had later to be resettled. And in the province +of Shantung in the east there came another great rising, also very +sanguinary, that of the secret society of the "White Lotus". We have +already pointed out that these risings of secret societies were always a +sign of intolerable conditions among the peasantry. This was now the +case once more. All the elements of danger which we mentioned at the +outset of this chapter began during this period, between 1610 and 1640, +to develop to the full. + +Then there were the conditions in the capital itself. The struggles +between cliques came to a climax. On the death of Shen Tsung (or Wan-li; +1573-1619), he was succeeded by his son, who died scarcely a month +later, and then by his sixteen-year-old grandson. The grandson had been +from his earliest youth under the influence of a eunuch, Wei +Chung-hsien, who had castrated himself. With the emperor's wet-nurse and +other people, mostly of the middle class, this man formed a powerful +group. The moment the new emperor ascended the throne, Wei was +all-powerful. He began by murdering every eunuch who did not belong to +his clique, and then murdered the rest of his opponents. Meanwhile the +gentry had concluded among themselves a defensive alliance that was a +sort of party; this party was called the Tung-lin Academy. It was +confined to literati among the gentry, and included in particular the +literati who had failed to make their way at court, and who lived on +their estates in Central China and were trying to gain power themselves. +This group was opposed to Wei Chung-hsien, who ruthlessly had every +discoverable member murdered. The remainder went into hiding and +organized themselves secretly under another name. As the new emperor had +no son, the attempt was made to foist a son upon him; at his death in +1627, eight women of the harem were suddenly found to be pregnant! He +was succeeded by his brother, who was one of the opponents of Wei +Chung-hsien and, with the aid of the opposing clique, was able to bring +him to his end. The new emperor tried to restore order at court and in +the capital by means of political and economic decrees, but in spite of +his good intentions and his unquestionable capacity he was unable to +cope with the universal confusion. There was insurrection in every part +of the country. The gentry, organized in their "Academies", and secretly +at work in the provinces, no longer supported the government; the +central power no longer had adequate revenues, so that it was unable to +pay the armies that should have marched against all the rebels and also +against external enemies. It was clear that the dynasty was approaching +its end, and the only uncertainty was as to its successor. The various +insurgents negotiated or fought with each other; generals loyal to the +government won occasional successes against the rebels; other generals +went over to the rebels or to the Manchus. The two most successful +leaders of bands were Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng and Chang Hsien-chung. Li came +from the province of Shensi; he had come to the fore during a disastrous +famine in his country. The years around 1640 brought several widespread +droughts in North China, a natural phenomenon that was repeated in the +nineteenth century, when unrest again ensued. Chang Hsien-chung returned +for a time to the support of the government, but later established +himself in western China. It was typical, however, of all these +insurgents that none of them had any great objective in view. They +wanted to get enough to eat for themselves and their followers; they +wanted to enrich themselves by conquest; but they were incapable of +building up an ordered and new administration. Li ultimately made +himself "king" in the province of Shensi and called his dynasty "Shun", +but this made no difference: there was no distribution of land among the +peasants serving in Li's army; no plan was set into operation for the +collection of taxes; not one of the pressing problems was faced. + +Meanwhile the Manchus were gaining support. Almost all the Mongol +princes voluntarily joined them and took part in the raids into North +China. In 1637 the united Manchus and Mongols conquered Korea. Their +power steadily grew. What the insurgents in China failed to achieve, the +Manchus achieved with the aid of their Chinese advisers: they created a +new military organization, the "Banner Organization". The men fit for +service were distributed among eight "banners", and these banners became +the basis of the Manchu state administration. By this device the +Manchus emerged from the stage of tribal union, just as before them +Turks and other northern peoples had several times abandoned the +traditional authority of a hierarchy of tribal leaders, a system of +ruling families, in favour of the authority, based on efficiency, of +military leaders. At the same time the Manchus set up a central +government with special ministries on the Chinese model. In 1638 the +Manchus appeared before Peking, but they retired once more. Manchu +armies even reached the province of Shantung. They were hampered by the +death at the critical moment of the Manchu ruler Abahai (1626-1643). His +son Fu Lin was not entirely normal and was barely six years old; there +was a regency of princes, the most prominent among them being Prince +Dorgon. + +Meanwhile Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng broke through to Peking. The city had a +strong garrison, but owing to the disorganization of the government the +different commanders were working against each other; and the soldiers +had no fighting spirit because they had no pay for a long time. Thus the +city fell, on April 24th, 1644, and the last Ming emperor killed +himself. A prince was proclaimed emperor; he fled through western and +southern China, continually trying to make a stand, but it was too late; +without the support of the gentry he had no resource, and ultimately, in +1659, he was compelled to flee into Burma. + +Thus Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng was now emperor. It should have been his task +rapidly to build up a government, and to take up arms against the other +rebels and against the Manchus. Instead of this he behaved in such a way +that he was unable to gain any support from the existing officials in +the capital; and as there was no one among his former supporters who had +any positive, constructive ideas, just nothing was done. + +This, however, improved the chances of all the other aspirants to the +imperial throne. The first to realize this clearly, and also to possess +enough political sagacity to avoid alienating the gentry, was General Wu +San-kui, who was commanding on the Manchu front. He saw that in the +existing conditions in the capital he could easily secure the imperial +throne for himself if only he had enough soldiers. Accordingly he +negotiated with the Manchu Prince Dorgon, formed an alliance with the +Manchus, and with them entered Peking on June 6th, 1644. Li +Tz[)u]-ch'eng quickly looted the city, burned down whatever he could, +and fled into the west, continually pursued by Wu San-kui. In the end he +was abandoned by all his supporters and killed by peasants. The Manchus, +however, had no intention of leaving Wu San-kui in power: they +established themselves in Peking, and Wu became their general. + + +(C) The Manchu Dynasty (1644-1911) + +1 _Installation of Manchus_ + +The Manchus had gained the mastery over China owing rather to China's +internal situation than to their military superiority. How was it that +the dynasty could endure for so long, although the Manchus were not +numerous, although the first Manchu ruler (Fu Lin, known under the rule +name Shun-chih; 1644-1662) was a psychopathic youth, although there were +princes of the Ming dynasty ruling in South China, and although there +were strong groups of rebels all over the country? The Manchus were +aliens; at that time the national feeling of the Chinese had already +been awakened; aliens were despised. In addition to this, the Manchus +demanded that as a sign of their subjection the Chinese should wear +pigtails and assume Manchurian clothing (law of 1645). Such laws could +not but offend national pride. Moreover, marriages between Manchus and +Chinese were prohibited, and a dual government was set up, with Manchus +always alongside Chinese in every office, the Manchus being of course in +the superior position. The Manchu soldiers were distributed in military +garrisons among the great cities, and were paid state pensions, which +had to be provided by taxation. They were the master race, and had no +need to work. Manchus did not have to attend the difficult state +examinations which the Chinese had to pass in order to gain an +appointment. How was it that in spite of all this the Manchus were able +to establish themselves? + +The conquering Manchu generals first went south from eastern China, and +in 1645 captured Nanking, where a Ming prince had ruled. The region +round Nanking was the economic centre of China. Soon the Manchus were in +the adjoining southern provinces, and thus they conquered the whole of +the territory of the landowning gentry, who after the events of the +beginning of the seventeenth century had no longer trusted the Ming +rulers. The Ming prince in Nanking was just as incapable, and surrounded +by just as evil a clique, as the Ming emperors of the past. The gentry +were not inclined to defend him. A considerable section of the gentry +were reduced to utter despair; they had no desire to support the Ming +any longer; in their own interest they could not support the rebel +leaders; and they regarded the Manchus as just a particular sort of +"rebels". Interpreting the refusal of some Sung ministers to serve the +foreign Mongols as an act of loyalty, it was now regarded as shameful to +desert a dynasty when it came to an end and to serve the new ruler, even +if the new regime promised to be better. Many thousands of officials, +scholars, and great landowners committed suicide. Many books, often +really moving and tragic, are filled with the story of their lives. Some +of them tried to form insurgent bands with their peasants and went into +the mountains, but they were unable to maintain themselves there. The +great bulk of the élite soon brought themselves to collaborate with the +conquerors when they were offered tolerable conditions. In the end the +Manchus did not interfere in the ownership of land in central China. + +At the time when in Europe Louis XIV was reigning, the Thirty Years War +was coming to an end, and Cromwell was carrying out his reforms in +England, the Manchus conquered the whole of China. Chang Hsien-chung and +Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng were the first to fall; the pirate Coxinga lasted a +little longer and was even able to plunder Nanking in 1659, but in 1661 +he had to retire to Formosa. Wu San-kui, who meanwhile had conquered +western China, saw that the situation was becoming difficult for him. +His task was to drive out the last Ming pretenders for the Manchus. As +he had already been opposed to the Ming in 1644, and as the Ming no +longer had any following among the gentry, he could not suddenly work +with them against the Manchus. He therefore handed over to the Manchus +the last Ming prince, whom the Burmese had delivered up to him in 1661. +Wu San-kui's only possible allies against the Manchus were the gentry. +But in the west, where he was in power, the gentry counted for nothing; +they had in any case been weaker in the west, and they had been +decimated by the insurrection of Chang Hsien-chung. Thus Wu San-kui was +compelled to try to push eastwards, in order to unite with the gentry of +the Yangtze region against the Manchus. The Manchus guessed Wu San-kui's +plan, and in 1673, after every effort at accommodation had failed, open +war came. Wu San-kui made himself emperor, and the Manchus marched +against him. Meanwhile, the Chinese gentry of the Yangtze region had +come to terms with the Manchus, and they gave Wu San-kui no help. He +vegetated in the south-west, a region too poor to maintain an army that +could conquer all China, and too small to enable him to last +indefinitely as an independent power. He was able to hold his own until +his death, although, with the loss of the support of the gentry, he had +no prospect of final success. Not until 1681 was his successor, his +grandson Wu Shih-fan, defeated. The end of the rule of Wu San-kui and +his successor marked the end of the national governments of China; the +whole country was now under alien domination, for the simple reason that +all the opponents of the Manchus had failed. Only the Manchus were +accredited with the ability to bring order out of the universal +confusion, so that there was clearly no alternative but to put up with +the many insults and humiliations they inflicted--with the result that +the national feeling that had just been aroused died away, except where +it was kept alive in a few secret societies. There will be more to say +about this, once the works which were suppressed by the Manchus are +published. + +In the first phase of the Manchu conquest the gentry had refused to +support either the Ming princes or Wu San-kui, or any of the rebels, or +the Manchus themselves. A second phase began about twenty years after +the capture of Peking, when the Manchus won over the gentry by desisting +from any interference with the ownership of land, and by the use of +Manchu troops to clear away the "rebels" who were hostile to the gentry. +A reputable government was then set up in Peking, free from eunuchs and +from all the old cliques; in their place the government looked for +Chinese scholars for its administrative posts. Literati and scholars +streamed into Peking, especially members of the "Academies" that still +existed in secret, men who had been the chief sufferers from the +conditions at the end of the Ming epoch. The young emperor Sheng Tsu +(1663-1722; K'ang-hsi is the name by which his rule was known, not his +name) was keenly interested in Chinese culture and gave privileged +treatment to the scholars of the gentry who came forward. A rapid +recovery quite clearly took place. The disturbances of the years that +had passed had got rid of the worst enemies of the people, the +formidable rival cliques and the individuals lusting for power; the +gentry had become more cautious in their behaviour to the peasants; and +bribery had been largely stamped out. Finally, the empire had been +greatly expanded. All these things helped to stabilize the regime of the +Manchus. + +2 _Decline in the eighteenth century_ + +The improvement continued until the middle of the eighteenth century. +About the time of the French Revolution there began a continuous +decline, slow at first and then gathering speed. The European works on +China offer various reasons for this: the many foreign wars (to which we +shall refer later) of the emperor, known by the name of his ruling +period, Ch'ien-lung, his craze for building, and the irruption of the +Europeans into Chinese trade. In the eighteenth century the court +surrounded itself with great splendour, and countless palaces and other +luxurious buildings were erected, but it must be borne in mind that so +great an empire as the China of that day possessed very considerable +financial strength, and could support this luxury. The wars were +certainly not inexpensive, as they took place along the Russian +frontier and entailed expenditure on the transport of reinforcements and +supplies; the wars against Turkestan and Tibet were carried on with +relatively small forces. This expenditure should not have been beyond +the resources of an ordered budget. Interestingly enough, the period +between 1640 and 1840 belongs to those periods for which almost no +significant work in the field of internal social and economic +developments has been made; Western scholars have been too much +interested in the impact of Western economy and culture or in the +military events. Chinese scholars thus far have shown a prejudice +against the Manchu dynasty and were mainly interested in the study of +anti-Manchu movements and the downfall of the dynasty. On the other +hand, the documentary material for this period is extremely extensive, +and many years of work are necessary to reach any general conclusions +even in one single field. The following remarks should, therefore, be +taken as very tentative and preliminary, and they are, naturally, +fragmentary. + +[Illustration: 14 Aborigines of South China, of the 'Black Miao' tribe, +at a festival. China-ink drawing of the eighteenth century. _Collection +of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1D 8756, 68_.] + +[Illustration: 15 Pavilion on the 'Coal Hill' at Peking, in which the +last Ming emperor committed suicide. _Photo Eberhard_.] + +[Illustration: Chart POPULATION GROWTH OF CHINA] + +The decline of the Manchu dynasty began at a time when the European +trade was still insignificant, and not as late as after 1842, when China +had to submit to the foreign Capitulations. These cannot have been the +true cause of the decline. Above all, the decline was not so noticeable +in the state of the Exchequer as in a general impoverishment of China. +The number of really wealthy persons among the gentry diminished, but +the middle class, that is to say the people who had education but little +or no money and property, grew steadily in number. + +One of the deeper reasons for the decline of the Manchu dynasty seems to +lie in the enormous increase in the population. Here are a few Chinese +statistics: + + _Year_ _Population_ + + 1578(before the Manchus) 10,621,463 families or 60,692,856 individuals + 1662 19,203,233 " 100,000,000 " [*] + 1710 23,311,236 " 116,000,000 " [*] + 1729 25,480,498 " 127,000,000 " [*] + 1741 " 143,411,559 " + 1754 184,504,493 " + 1778 242,965,618 " + 1796 275,662,414 " + 1814 374,601,132 " + 1850 414,493,899 " + (1953) (601,938,035 ") + + [*] Approximately + +It may be objected that these figures are incorrect and exaggerated. +Undoubtedly they contain errors. But the first figure (for 1578) of some +sixty millions is in close agreement with all other figures of early +times; the figure for 1850 seems high, but cannot be far wrong, for even +after the great T'ai P'ing Rebellion of 1851, which, together with its +after-effects, costs the lives of countless millions, all statisticians +of today estimate the population of China at more than four hundred +millions. If we enter these data together with the census of 1953 into a +chart (see p. 273), a fairly smooth curve emerges; the special features +are that already under the Ming the population was increasing and, +secondly, that the high rate of increase in the population began with +the long period of internal peace since about 1700. From that time +onwards, all China's wars were fought at so great a distance from China +proper that the population was not directly affected. Moreover, in the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Manchus saw to the maintenance +of the river dykes, so that the worst inundations were prevented. Thus +there were not so many of the floods which had often cost the lives of +many million people in China; and there were no internal wars, with +their heavy cost in lives. + +But while the population increased, the tillage failed to increase in +the needed proportion. I have, unfortunately, no statistics for all +periods; but the general tendency is shown by the following table: + + _Date Cultivated area_ mou _per person_ + _in_ mou + + 1578 701,397,600 11.6 + 1662 531,135,800 + 1719 663,113,200 + 1729 878,176,000 6.1 + (1953) (1,627,930,000) (2.7) + +Six _mou_ are about one acre. In 1578, there were 66 _mou_ land per +family of the total population. This was close to the figures regarded +as ideal by Chinese early economists for the producing family (100 +_mou_) considering the fact that about 80 per cent of all families at +that time were producers. By 1729 it was only 35 _mou_ per family, i.e. +the land had to produce almost twice as much as before. We have shown +that the agricultural developments in the Ming time greatly increased +the productivity of the land. This then, obviously resulted in an +increase of population. But by the middle of the eighteenth century, +assuming that production doubled since the sixteenth century, population +pressure was again as heavy as it had been then. And after _c_. 1750, +population pressure continued to build up to the present time. + +Internal colonization continued during the Manchu time; there was a +continuous, but slow flow of people into Kwangsi, Kweichow, Yünnan. In +spite of laws which prohibited emigration, Chinese also moved into +South-East Asia. Chinese settlement in Manchuria was allowed only in the +last years of the Manchus. But such internal colonization or emigration +could alleviated the pressure only in some areas, while it continued to +build up in others. + +In Europe as well as in Japan, we find a strong population increase; in +Europe at almost the same time as in China. But before population +pressure became too serious in Europe or Japan, industry developed and +absorbed the excess population. Thus, farms did not decrease too much in +size. Too small farms are always and in many ways uneconomical. With the +development of industries, the percentage of farm population decreased. +In China, however, the farm population was still as high as 73.3 per +cent of the total population in 1932 and the percentage rose to 81 per +cent in 1950. + +From the middle of the seventeenth century on, commercial activities, +especially along the coast, continued to increase and we find gentry +families who equip sons who were unwilling or not capable to study and +to enter the ranks of the officials, but who were too unruly to sit in +villages and collect the rent from the tenants of the family, with money +to enter business. The newly settled areas of Kwangtung and Kwangsi were +ideal places for them: here they could sell Chinese products to the +native tribes or to the new settlers at high prices. Some of these men +introduced new techniques from the old provinces of China into the +"colonial" areas and set up dye factories, textile factories, etc., in +the new towns of the south. But the greatest stimulus for these +commercial activities was foreign, European trade. American silver which +had flooded Europe in the sixteenth century, began to flow into China +from the beginning of the seventeenth century on. The influx was stopped +not until between 1661 and 1684 when the government again prohibited +coastal shipping and removed coastal settlements into the interior in +order to stop piracy along the coasts of Fukien and independence +movements on Formosa. But even during these twenty-three years, the +price of silver was so low that home production was given up because it +did not pay off. In the eighteenth century, silver again continued to +enter China, while silk and tea were exported. This demand led to a +strong rise in the prices of silk and tea, and benefited the merchants. +When, from the late eighteenth century on, opium began to be imported, +the silver left China again. The merchants profited this time from the +opium trade, but farmers had to suffer: the price of silver went up, and +taxes had to be paid in silver, while farm products were sold for +copper. By 1835, the ounce of silver had a value of 2,000 copper coins +instead of one thousand before 1800. High gains in commerce prevented +investment in industries, because they would give lower and later +profits than commerce. From the nineteenth century on, more and more +industrial goods were offered by importers which also prevented +industrialization. Finally, the gentry basically remained +anti-industrial and anti-business. They tried to operate necessary +enterprises such as mining, melting, porcelain production as far as +possible as government establishments; but as the operators were +officials, they were not too business-minded and these enterprises did +not develop well. The businessmen certainly had enough capital, but they +invested it in land instead of investing it in industries which could at +any moment be taken away by the government, controlled by the officials +or forced to sell at set prices, and which were always subject to +exploitation by dishonest officials. A businessman felt secure only when +he had invested in land, when he had received an official title upon the +payment of large sums of money, or when he succeeded to push at least +one of his sons into the government bureaucracy. No doubt, in spite of +all this, Chinese business and industry kept on developing in the Manchu +time, but they did not develop at such a speed as to transform the +country from an agrarian into a modern industrial nation. + +3 _Expansion in Central Asia; the first State treaty_ + +The rise of the Manchu dynasty actually began under the K'ang-hsi rule +(1663-1722). The emperor had three tasks. The first was the removal of +the last supporters of the Ming dynasty and of the generals, such as Wu +San-kui, who had tried to make themselves independent. This necessitated +a long series of campaigns, most of them in the south-west or south of +China; these scarcely affected the population of China proper. In 1683 +Formosa was occupied and the last of the insurgent army commanders was +defeated. It was shown above that the situation of all these leaders +became hopeless as soon as the Manchus had occupied the rich Yangtze +region and the intelligentsia and the gentry of that region had gone +over to them. + +A quite different type of insurgent commander was the Mongol prince +Galdan. He, too, planned to make himself independent of Manchu +overlordship. At first the Mongols had readily supported the Manchus, +when the latter were making raids into China and there was plenty of +booty. Now, however, the Manchus, under the influence of the Chinese +gentry whom they brought, and could not but bring, to their court, were +rapidly becoming Chinese in respect to culture. Even in the time of +K'ang-hsi the Manchus began to forget Manchurian; they brought tutors to +court to teach the young Manchus Chinese. Later even the emperors did +not understand Manchurian! As a result of this process, the Mongols +became alienated from the Manchurians, and the situation began once more +to be the same as at the time of the Ming rulers. Thus Galdan tried to +found an independent Mongol realm, free from Chinese influence. + +The Manchus could not permit this, as such a realm would have threatened +the flank of their homeland, Manchuria, and would have attracted those +Manchus who objected to sinification. Between 1690 and 1696 there were +battles, in which the emperor actually took part in person. Galdan was +defeated. In 1715, however, there were new disturbances, this time in +western Mongolia. Tsewang Rabdan, whom the Chinese had made khan of the +Ölöt, rose against the Chinese. The wars that followed, extending far +into Turkestan and also involving its Turkish population together with +the Dzungars, ended with the Chinese conquest of the whole of Mongolia +and of parts of eastern Turkestan. As Tsewang Rabdan had tried to extend +his power as far as Tibet, a campaign was undertaken also into Tibet, +Lhasa was occupied, a new Dalai Lama was installed there as supreme +ruler, and Tibet was made into a protectorate. Since then Tibet has +remained to this day under some form of Chinese colonial rule. + +This penetration of the Chinese into Turkestan took place just at the +time when the Russians were enormously expanding their empire in Asia, +and this formed the third problem for the Manchus. In 1650 the Russians +had established a fort by the river Amur. The Manchus regarded the Amur +(which they called the "River of the Black Dragon") as part of their own +territory, and in 1685 they destroyed the Russian settlement. After this +there were negotiations, which culminated in 1689 in the Treaty of +Nerchinsk. This treaty was the first concluded by the Chinese state with +a European power. Jesuit missionaries played a part in the negotiations +as interpreters. Owing to the difficulties of translation the text of +the treaty, in Chinese, Russian, and Manchurian, contained some +obscurities, particularly in regard to the frontier line. Accordingly, +in 1727 the Russians asked for a revision of the old treaty. The Chinese +emperor, whose rule name was Yung-cheng, arranged for the negotiations +to be carried on at the frontier, in the town of Kyakhta, in Mongolia, +where after long discussions a new treaty was concluded. Under this +treaty the Russians received permission to set up a legation and a +commercial agency in Peking, and also to maintain a church. This was the +beginning of the foreign Capitulations. From the Chinese point of view +there was nothing special in a facility of this sort. For some fifteen +centuries all the "barbarians" who had to bring tribute had been given +houses in the capital, where their envoys could wait until the emperor +would receive them--usually on New Year's Day. The custom had sprung up +at the reception of the Huns. Moreover, permission had always been given +for envoys to be accompanied by a few merchants, who during the envoy's +stay did a certain amount of business. Furthermore the time had been +when the Uighurs were permitted to set up a temple of their own. At the +time of the permission given to the Russians to set up a "legation", a +similar office was set up (in 1729) for "Uighur" peoples (meaning +Mohammedans), again under the control of an office, called the Office +for Regulation of Barbarians. The Mohammedan office was placed under two +Mohammedan leaders who lived in Peking. The Europeans, however, had +quite different ideas about a "legation", and about the significance of +permission to trade. They regarded this as the opening of diplomatic +relations between states on terms of equality, and the carrying on of +trade as a special privilege, a sort of Capitulation. This reciprocal +misunderstanding produced in the nineteenth century a number of serious +political conflicts. The Europeans charged the Chinese with breach of +treaties, failure to meet their obligations, and other such things, +while the Chinese considered that they had acted with perfect +correctness. + +4 _Culture_ + +In this K'ang-hsi period culture began to flourish again. The emperor +had attracted the gentry, and so the intelligentsia, to his court +because his uneducated Manchus could not alone have administered the +enormous empire; and he showed great interest in Chinese culture, +himself delved deeply into it, and had many works compiled, especially +works of an encyclopaedic character. The encyclopaedias enabled +information to be rapidly gained on all sorts of subjects, and thus were +just what an interested ruler needed, especially when, as a foreigner, +he was not in a position to gain really thorough instruction in things +Chinese. The Chinese encyclopaedias of the seventeenth and especially of +the eighteenth century were thus the outcome of the initiative of the +Manchurian emperor, and were compiled for his information; they were not +due, like the French encyclopaedias of the eighteenth century, to a +movement for the spread of knowledge among the people. For this latter +purpose the gigantic encyclopaedias of the Manchus, each of which fills +several bookcases, were much too expensive and were printed in much too +limited editions. The compilations began with the great geographical +encyclopaedia of Ku Yen-wu (1613-1682), and attained their climax in the +gigantic eighteenth-century encyclopaedia _T'u-shu chi-ch'eng_, +scientifically impeccable in the accuracy of its references to sources. +Here were already the beginnings of the "Archaeological School", built +up in the course of the eighteenth century. This school was usually +called "Han school" because the adherents went back to the commentaries +of the classical texts written in Han time and discarded the orthodox +explanations of Chu Hsi's school of Sung time. Later, its most prominent +leader was Tai Chen (1723-1777). Tai was greatly interested in +technology and science; he can be regarded as the first philosopher who +exhibited an empirical, scientific way of thinking. Late nineteenth and +early twentieth century Chinese scholarship is greatly obliged to him. + +The most famous literary works of the Manchu epoch belong once more to +the field which Chinese do not regard as that of true literature--the +novel, the short story, and the drama. Poetry did exist, but it kept to +the old paths and had few fresh ideas. All the various forms of the Sung +period were made use of. The essayists, too, offered nothing new, though +their number was legion. One of the best known is Yüan Mei (1716-1797), +who was also the author of the collection of short stories _Tse-pu-yü_ +("The Master did not tell"), which is regarded very highly by the +Chinese. The volume of short stories entitled _Liao-chai chich-i_, by +P'u Sung-lin (1640-1715?), is world-famous and has been translated into +every civilized language. Both collections are distinguished by their +simple but elegant style. The short story was popular among the greater +gentry; it abandoned the popular style it had in the Ming epoch, and +adopted the polished language of scholars. + +The Manchu epoch has left to us what is by general consent the finest +novel in Chinese literature, _Hung-lou-meng_ ("The Dream of the Red +Chamber"), by Ts'ao Hsüeh-ch'in, who died in 1763. It describes the +downfall of a rich and powerful family from the highest rank of the +gentry, and the decadent son's love of a young and emotional lady of the +highest circles. The story is clothed in a mystical garb that does +something to soften its tragic ending. The interesting novel _Ju-lin +wai-shih_ ("Private Reports from the Life of Scholars"), by Wu +Ching-tz[)u] (1701-1754), is a mordant criticism of Confucianism with +its rigid formalism, of the social system, and of the examination +system. Social criticism is the theme of many novels. The most modern in +spirit of the works of this period is perhaps the treatment of feminism +in the novel _Ching-hua-yüan_, by Li Yu-chên (d. 1830), which demanded +equal rights for men and women. + +The drama developed quickly in the Manchu epoch, particularly in +quantity, especially since the emperors greatly appreciated the theatre. +A catalogue of plays compiled in 1781 contains 1,013 titles! Some of +these dramas were of unprecedented length. One of them was played in 26 +parts containing 240 acts; a performance took two years to complete! +Probably the finest dramas of the Manchu epoch are those of Li Yü (born +1611), who also became the first of the Chinese dramatic critics. What +he had to say about the art of the theatre, and about aesthetics in +general, is still worth reading. + +About the middle of the nineteenth century the influence of Europe +became more and more marked. Translation began with Yen Fu (1853-1921), +who translated the first philosophical and scientific books and books on +social questions and made his compatriots acquainted with Western +thought. At the same time Lin Shu (1852-1924) translated the first +Western short stories and novels. With these two began the new style, +which was soon elaborated by Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, a collaborator of Sun +Yat-sen's, and by others, and which ultimately produced the "literary +revolution" of 1917. Translation has continued to this day; almost every +book of outstanding importance in world literature is translated within +a few months of its appearance, and on the average these translations +are of a fairly high level. + +Particularly fine work was produced in the field of porcelain in the +Manchu epoch. In 1680 the famous kilns in the province of Kiangsi were +reopened, and porcelain that is among the most artistically perfect in +the world was fired in them. Among the new colours were especially green +shades (one group is known as _famille verte_) and also black and yellow +compositions. Monochrome porcelain also developed further, including +very fine dark blue, brilliant red (called "ox-blood"), and white. In +the eighteenth century, however, there began an unmistakable decline, +which has continued to this day, although there are still a few +craftsmen and a few kilns that produce outstanding work (usually +attempts to imitate old models), often in small factories. + +In painting, European influence soon shows itself. The best-known +example of this is Lang Shih-ning, an Italian missionary whose original +name was Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766); he began to work in China in +1715. He learned the Chinese method of painting, but introduced a number +of technical tricks of European painters, which were adopted in general +practice in China, especially by the official court painters: the +painting of the scholars who lived in seclusion remained uninfluenced. +Dutch flower-painting also had some influence in China as early as the +eighteenth century. + +The missionaries played an important part at court. The first Manchu +emperors were as generous in this matter as the Mongols had been, and +allowed the foreigners to work in peace. They showed special interest in +the European science introduced by the missionaries; they had less +sympathy for their religious message. The missionaries, for their part, +sent to Europe enthusiastic accounts of the wonderful conditions in +China, and so helped to popularize the idea that was being formed in +Europe of an "enlightened", a constitutional, monarchy. The leaders of +the Enlightenment read these reports with enthusiasm, with the result +that they had an influence on the French Revolution. Confucius was found +particularly attractive, and was regarded as a forerunner of the +Enlightenment. The "Monadism" of the philosopher Leibniz was influenced +by these reports. + +The missionaries gained a reputation at court as "scientists", and in +this they were of service both to China and to Europe. The behaviour of +the European merchants who followed the missions, spreading gradually in +growing numbers along the coasts of China, was not by any means so +irreproachable. The Chinese were certainly justified when they declared +that European ships often made landings on the coast and simply looted, +just as the Japanese had done before them. Reports of this came to the +court, and as captured foreigners described themselves as "Christians" +and also seemed to have some connection with the missionaries living at +court, and as disputes had broken out among the missionaries themselves +in connection with papal ecclesiastical policy, in the Yung-cheng period +(1723-1736; the name of the emperor was Shih Tsung) Christianity was +placed under a general ban, being regarded as a secret political +organization. + +5 _Relations with the outer world_ + +During the Yung-cheng period there was long-continued guerrilla fighting +with natives in south-west China. The pressure of population in China +sought an outlet in emigration. More and more Chinese moved into the +south-west, and took the land from the natives, and the fighting was the +consequence of this. + +At the beginning of the Ch'ien-lung period (1736-1796), fighting started +again in Turkestan. Mongols, now called Kalmuks, defeated by the +Chinese, had migrated to the Ili region, where after heavy fighting they +gained supremacy over some of the Kazaks and other Turkish peoples +living there and in western Turkestan. Some Kazak tribes went over to +the Russians, and in 1735 the Russian colonialists founded the town of +Orenburg in the western Kazak region. The Kalmuks fought the Chinese +without cessation until, in 1739, they entered into an agreement under +which they ceded half their territory to Manchu China, retaining only +the Ili region. The Kalmuks subsequently reunited with other sections of +the Kazaks against the Chinese. In 1754 peace was again concluded with +China, but it was followed by raids on both sides, so that the Manchus +determined to enter on a great campaign against the Ili region. This +ended with a decisive victory for the Chinese (1755). In the years that +followed, however, the Chinese began to be afraid that the various Kazak +tribes might unite in order to occupy the territory of the Kalmuks, +which was almost unpopulated owing to the mass slaughter of Kalmuks by +the Chinese. Unrest began among the Mohammedans throughout the +neighbouring western Turkestan, and the same Chinese generals who had +fought the Kalmuks marched into Turkestan and captured the Mohammedan +city states of Uch, Kashgar, and Yarkand. + +The reinforcements for these campaigns, and for the garrisons which in +the following decades were stationed in the Ili region and in the west +of eastern Turkestan, marched along the road from Peking that leads +northward through Mongolia to the far distant Uliassutai and Kobdo. The +cost of transport for one _shih_ (about 66 lb.) amounted to 120 pieces +of silver. In 1781 certain economies were introduced, but between 1781 +and 1791 over 30,000 tons, making some 8 tons a day, was transported to +that region. The cost of transport for supplies alone amounted in the +course of time to the not inconsiderable sum of 120,000,000 pieces of +silver. In addition to this there was the cost of the transported goods +and of the pay of soldiers and of the administration. These figures +apply to the period of occupation, of relative peace: during the actual +wars of conquest the expenditure was naturally far higher. Thus these +campaigns, though I do not think they brought actual economic ruin to +China, were nevertheless a costly enterprise, and one which produced +little positive advantage. + +In addition to this, these wars brought China into conflict with the +European colonial powers. In the years during which the Chinese armies +were fighting in the Ili region, the Russians were putting out their +feelers in that direction, and the Chinese annals show plainly how the +Russians intervened in the fighting with the Kalmuks and Kazaks. The Hi +region remained thereafter a bone of contention between China and +Russia, until it finally went to Russia, bit by bit, between 1847 and +1881. The Kalmuks and Kazaks played a special part in Russo-Chinese +relations. The Chinese had sent a mission to the Kalmuks farthest west, +by the lower Volga, and had entered into relations with them, as early +as 1714. As Russian pressure on the Volga region continually grew, these +Kalmuks (mainly the Turgut tribe), who had lived there since 1630, +decided to return into Chinese territory (1771). During this enormously +difficult migration, almost entirely through hostile territory, a large +number of the Turgut perished; 85,000, however, reached the Hi region, +where they were settled by the Chinese on the lands of the eastern +Kalmuks, who had been largely exterminated. + +In the south, too, the Chinese came into direct touch with the European +powers. In 1757 the English occupied Calcutta, and in 1766 the province +of Bengal. In 1767 a Manchu general, Ming Jui, who had been victorious +in the fighting for eastern Turkestan, marched against Burma, which was +made a dependency once more in 1769. And in 1790-1791 the Chinese +conquered Nepal, south of Tibet, because Nepalese had made two attacks +on Tibet. Thus English and Chinese political interests came here into +contact. + +For the Ch'ien-lung period's many wars of conquest there seem to have +been two main reasons. The first was the need for security. The Mongols +had to be overthrown because otherwise the homeland of the Manchus was +menaced; in order to make sure of the suppression of the eastern +Mongols, the western Mongols (Kalmuks) had to be overthrown; to make +them harmless, Turkestan and the Ili region had to be conquered; Tibet +was needed for the security of Turkestan and Mongolia--and so on. Vast +territories, however, were conquered in this process which were of no +economic value, and most of which actually cost a great deal of money +and brought nothing in. They were conquered simply for security. That +advantage had been gained: an aggressor would have to cross great areas +of unproductive territory, with difficult conditions for reinforcements, +before he could actually reach China. In the second place, the Chinese +may actually have noticed the efforts that were being made by the +European powers, especially Russia and England, to divide Asia among +themselves, and accordingly they made sure of their own good share. + +6 _Decline; revolts_ + +The period of Ch'ien-lung is not only that of the greatest expansion of +the Chinese empire, but also that of the greatest prosperity under the +Manchu regime. But there began at the same time to be signs of internal +decline. If we are to fix a particular year for this, perhaps it should +be the year 1774, in which came the first great popular rising, in the +province of Shantung. In 1775 there came another popular rising, in +Honan--that of the "Society of the White Lotus". This society, which had +long existed as a secret organization and had played a part in the Ming +epoch, had been reorganized by a man named Liu Sung. Liu Sung was +captured and was condemned to penal servitude. His followers, however, +regrouped themselves, particularly in the province of Anhui. These +risings had been produced, as always, by excessive oppression of the +people by the government or the governing class. As, however, the anger +of the population was naturally directed also against the idle Manchus +of the cities, who lived on their state pensions, did no work, and +behaved as a ruling class, the government saw in these movements a +nationalist spirit, and took drastic steps against them. The popular +leaders now altered their program, and acclaimed a supposed descendant +from the Ming dynasty as the future emperor. Government troops caught +the leader of the "White Lotus" agitation, but he succeeded in escaping. +In the regions through which the society had spread, there then began a +sort of Inquisition, of exceptional ferocity. Six provinces were +affected, and in and around the single city of Wuch'ang in four months +more than 20,000 people were beheaded. The cost of the rising to the +government ran into millions. In answer to this oppression, the popular +leaders tightened their organization and marched north-west from the +western provinces of which they had gained control. The rising was +suppressed only by a very big military operation, and not until 1802. +There had been very heavy fighting between 1793 and 1802--just when in +Europe, in the French Revolution, another oppressed population won its +freedom. + +The Ch'ien-lung emperor abdicated on New Year's Day, 1795, after ruling +for sixty years. He died in 1799. His successor was Jen Tsung +(1796-1821; reign name: Chia-ch'ing). In the course of his reign the +rising of the "White Lotus" was suppressed, but in 1813 there began a +new rising, this time in North China--again that of a secret +organization, the "Society of Heaven's Law". One of its leaders bribed +some eunuchs, and penetrated with a group of followers into the palace; +he threw himself upon the emperor, who was only saved through the +intervention of his son. At the same time the rising spread in the +provinces. Once more the government succeeded in suppressing it and +capturing the leaders. But the memory of these risings was kept alive +among the Chinese people. For the government failed to realize that the +actual cause of the risings was the general impoverishment, and saw in +them a nationalist movement, thus actually arousing a national +consciousness, stronger than in the Ming epoch, among the middle and +lower classes of the people, together with hatred of the Manchus. They +were held responsible for every evil suffered, regardless of the fact +that similar evils had existed earlier. + +7 _European Imperialism in the Far East_ + +With the Tao-kuang period (1821-1850) began a new period in Chinese +history, which came to an end only in 1911. + +In foreign affairs these ninety years were marked by the steadily +growing influence of the Western powers, aimed at turning China into a +colony. Culturally this period was that of the gradual infiltration of +Western civilization into the Far East; it was recognized in China that +it was necessary to learn from the West. In home affairs we see the +collapse of the dynasty and the destruction of the unity of the empire; +of four great civil wars, one almost brought the dynasty to its end. +North and South China, the coastal area and the interior, developed in +different ways. + +Great Britain had made several attempts to improve her trade relations +with China, but the mission of 1793 had no success, and that of 1816 +also failed. English merchants, like all foreign merchants, were only +permitted to settle in a small area adjoining Canton and at Macao, and +were only permitted to trade with a particular group of monopolists, +known as the "Hong". The Hong had to pay taxes to the state, but they +had a wonderful opportunity of enriching themselves. The Europeans were +entirely at their mercy, for they were not allowed to travel inland, and +they were not allowed to try to negotiate with other merchants, to +secure lower prices by competition. + +The Europeans concentrated especially on the purchase of silk and tea; +but what could they import into China? The higher the price of the goods +and the smaller the cargo space involved, the better were the chances of +profit for the merchants. It proved, however, that European woollens or +luxury goods could not be sold; the Chinese would probably have been +glad to buy food, but transport was too expensive to permit profitable +business. Thus a new article was soon discovered--opium, carried from +India to China: the price was high and the cargo space involved was very +small. The Chinese were familiar with opium, and bought it readily. +Accordingly, from 1800 onwards opium became more and more the chief +article of trade, especially for the English, who were able to bring it +conveniently from India. Opium is harmful to the people; the opium trade +resulted in certain groups of merchants being inordinately enriched; a +great deal of Chinese money went abroad. The government became +apprehensive and sent Lin Tsê-hsü as its commissioner to Canton. In 1839 +he prohibited the opium trade and burned the chests of opium found in +British possession. The British view was that to tolerate the Chinese +action might mean the destruction of British trade in the Far East and +that, on the other hand, it might be possible by active intervention to +compel the Chinese to open other ports to European trade and to shake +off the monopoly of the Canton merchants. In 1840 British ships-of-war +appeared off the south-eastern coast of China and bombarded it. In 1841 +the Chinese opened negotiations and dismissed Lin Tsê-hsü. As the +Chinese concessions were regarded as inadequate, hostilities continued; +the British entered the Yangtze estuary and threatened Nanking. In this +first armed conflict with the West, China found herself defenceless +owing to her lack of a navy, and it was also found that the European +weapons were far superior to those of the Chinese. In 1842 China was +compelled to capitulate: under the Treaty of Nanking Hong Kong was ceded +to Great Britain, a war indemnity was paid, certain ports were thrown +open to European trade, and the monopoly was brought to an end. A great +deal of opium came, however, into China through smuggling--regrettably, +for the state lost the customs revenue! + +This treaty introduced the period of the Capitulations. It contained +the dangerous clause which added most to China's misfortunes--the Most +Favoured Nation clause, providing that if China granted any privilege to +any other state, that privilege should also automatically be granted to +Great Britain. In connection with this treaty it was agreed that the +Chinese customs should be supervised by European consuls; and a trade +treaty was granted. Similar treaties followed in 1844 with France and +the United States. The missionaries returned; until 1860, however, they +were only permitted to work in the treaty ports. Shanghai was thrown +open in 1843, and developed with extraordinary rapidity from a town to a +city of a million and a centre of world-wide importance. + +The terms of the Nanking Treaty were not observed by either side; both +evaded them. In order to facilitate the smuggling, the British had +permitted certain Chinese junks to fly the British flag. This also +enabled these vessels to be protected by British ships-of-war from +pirates, which at that time were very numerous off the southern coast +owing to the economic depression. The Chinese, for their part, placed +every possible obstacle in the way of the British. In 1856 the Chinese +held up a ship sailing under the British flag, pulled down its flag, and +arrested the crew on suspicion of smuggling. In connection with this and +other events, Britain decided to go to war. Thus began the "Lorcha War" +of 1857, in which France joined for the sake of the booty to be +expected. Britain had just ended the Crimean War, and was engaged in +heavy fighting against the Moguls in India. Consequently only a small +force of a few thousand men could be landed in China; Canton, however, +was bombarded, and also the forts of Tientsin. There still seemed no +prospect of gaining the desired objectives by negotiation, and in 1860 a +new expedition was fitted out, this time some 20,000 strong. The troops +landed at Tientsin and marched on Peking; the emperor fled to Jehol and +did not return; he died in 1861. The new Treaty of Tientsin (1860) +provided for (a) the opening of further ports to European traders; (b) +the session of Kowloon, the strip of land lying opposite Hong Kong; (c) +the establishment of a British legation in Peking; (d) freedom of +navigation along the Yangtze; (e) permission for British subjects to +purchase land in China; (f) the British to be subject to their own +consular courts and not to the Chinese courts; (g) missionary activity +to be permitted throughout the country. In addition to this, the +commercial treaty was revised, the opium trade was permitted once more, +and a war indemnity was to be paid by China. In the eyes of Europe, +Britain had now succeeded in turning China not actually into a colony, +but at all events into a semi-colony; China must be expected soon to +share the fate of India. China, however, with her very different +conceptions of intercourse between states, did not realize the full +import of these terms; some of them were regarded as concessions on +unimportant points, which there was no harm in granting to the trading +"barbarians", as had been done in the past; some were regarded as simple +injustices, which at a given moment could be swept away by +administrative action. + +But the result of this European penetration was that China's balance of +trade was adverse, and became more and more so, as under the commercial +treaties she could neither stop the importation of European goods nor +set a duty on them; and on the other hand she could not compel +foreigners to buy Chinese goods. The efflux of silver brought general +impoverishment to China, widespread financial stringency to the state, +and continuous financial crises and inflation. China had never had much +liquid capital, and she was soon compelled to take up foreign loans in +order to pay her debts. At that time internal loans were out of the +question (the first internal loan was floated in 1894): the population +did not even know what a state loan meant; consequently the loans had to +be issued abroad. This, however, entailed the giving of securities, +generally in the form of economic privileges. Under the Most Favoured +Nation clause, however, these privileges had then to be granted to other +states which had made no loans to China. Clearly a vicious spiral, which +in the end could only bring disaster. + +The only exception to the general impoverishment, in which not only the +peasants but the old upper classes were involved, was a certain section +of the trading community and the middle class, which had grown rich +through its dealings with the Europeans. These people now accumulated +capital, became Europeanized with their staffs, acquired land from the +impoverished gentry, and sent their sons abroad to foreign universities. +They founded the first industrial undertakings, and learned European +capitalist methods. This class was, of course, to be found mainly in the +treaty ports in the south and in their environs. The south, as far north +as Shanghai, became more modern and more advanced; the north made no +advance. In the south, European ways of thought were learnt, and Chinese +and European theories were compared. Criticism began. The first +revolutionary societies were formed in this atmosphere in the south. + +8 _Risings in Turkestan and within China: the T'ai P'ing Rebellion_ + +But the emperor Hsüan Tsung (reign name Tao-kuang), a man in poor health +though not without ability, had much graver anxieties than those caused +by the Europeans. He did not yet fully realize the seriousness of the +European peril. + +[Illustration: 16 The imperial summer palace of the Manchu rulers, at +Jehol. _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +[Illustration: 17 Tower on the city wall of Peking. _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +In Turkestan, where Turkish Mohammedans lived under +Chinese rule, conditions were far from being as the Chinese desired. The +Chinese, a fundamentally rationalistic people, regarded religion as a +purely political matter, and accordingly required every citizen to take +part in the official form of worship. Subject to that, he might +privately belong to any other religion. To a Mohammedan, this was +impossible and intolerable. The Mohammedans were only ready to practice +their own religion, and absolutely refused to take part in any other. +The Chinese also tried to apply to Turkestan in other matters the same +legislation that applied to all China, but this proved irreconcilable +with the demands made by Islam on its followers. All this produced +continual unrest. + +Turkestan had a feudal system of government with a number of feudal +lords (_beg_), who tried to maintain their influence and who had the +support of the Mohammedan population. The Chinese had come to Turkestan +as soldiers and officials, to administer the country. They regarded +themselves as the lords of the land and occupied themselves with the +extraction of taxes. Most of the officials were also associated with the +Chinese merchants who travelled throughout Turkestan and as far as +Siberia. The conflicts implicit in this situation produced great +Mohammedan risings in the nineteenth century. The first came in +1825-1827; in 1845 a second rising flamed up, and thirty years later +these revolts led to the temporary loss of the whole of Turkestan. + +In 1848, native unrest began in the province of Hunan, as a result of +the constantly growing pressure of the Chinese settlers on the native +population; in the same year there was unrest farther south, in the +province of Kwangsi, this time in connection with the influence of the +Europeans. The leader was a quite simple man of Hakka blood, Hung +Hsiu-ch'üan (born 1814), who gathered impoverished Hakka peasants round +him as every peasant leader had done in the past. Very often the nucleus +of these peasant movements had been a secret society with a particular +religious tinge; this time the peasant revolutionaries came forward as +at the same time the preachers of a new religion of their own. Hung had +heard of Christianity from missionaries (1837), and he mixed up +Christian ideas with those of ancient China and proclaimed to his +followers a doctrine that promised the Kingdom of God on earth. He +called himself "Christ's younger brother", and his kingdom was to be +called _T'ai P'ing_ ("Supreme Peace"). He made his first comrades, +charcoal makers, local doctors, peddlers and farmers, into kings, and +made himself emperor. At bottom the movement, like all similar ones +before it, was not religious but social; and it produced a great +response from the peasants. The program of the T'ai P'ing, in some +points influenced by Christian ideas but more so by traditional Chinese +thought, was in many points revolutionary: (a) all property was communal +property; (b) land was classified into categories according to its +fertility and equally distributed among men and women. Every producer +kept of the produce as much as he and his family needed and delivered +the rest into the communal granary; (c) administration and tax systems +were revised; (d) women were given equal rights: they fought together +with men in the army and had access to official position. They had to +marry, but monogamy was requested; (e) the use of opium, tobacco and +alcohol was prohibited, prostitution was illegal; (f) foreigners were +regarded as equals, capitulations as the Manchus had accepted were not +recognized. A large part of the officials, and particularly of the +soldiers sent against the revolutionaries, were Manchus, and +consequently the movement very soon became a nationalist movement, much +as the popular movement at the end of the Mongol epoch had done. Hung +made rapid progress; in 1852 he captured Hankow, and in 1853 Nanking, +the important centre in the east. With clear political insight he made +Nanking his capital. In this he returned to the old traditions of the +beginning of the Ming epoch, no doubt expecting in this way to attract +support from the eastern Chinese gentry, who had no liking for a capital +far away in the north. He made a parade of adhesion to the ancient +Chinese tradition: his followers cut off their pigtails and allowed +their hair to grow as in the past. + +He did not succeed, however, in carrying his reforms from the stage of +sporadic action to a systematic reorganization of the country, and he +also failed to enlist the elements needed for this as for all other +administrative work, so that the good start soon degenerated into a +terrorist regime. + +Hung's followers pressed on from Nanking, and in 1853-1855 they advanced +nearly to Tientsin; but they failed to capture Peking itself. + +The new T'ai P'ing state faced the Europeans with big problems. Should +they work with it or against it? The T'ai P'ing always insisted that +they were Christians; the missionaries hoped now to have the opportunity +of converting all China to Christianity. The T'ai P'ing treated the +missionaries well but did not let them operate. After long hesitation +and much vacillation, however, the Europeans placed themselves on the +side of the Manchus. Not out of any belief that the T'ai P'ing movement +was without justification, but because they had concluded treaties with +the Manchu government and given loans to it, of which nothing would +have remained if the Manchus had fallen; because they preferred the weak +Manchu government to a strong T'ai P'ing government; and because they +disliked the socialistic element in many of the measured adopted by the +T'ai P'ing. + +At first it seemed as if the Manchus would be able to cope unaided with +the T'ai P'ing, but the same thing happened as at the end of the Mongol +rule: the imperial armies, consisting of the "banners" of the Manchus, +the Mongols, and some Chinese, had lost their military skill in the long +years of peace; they had lost their old fighting spirit and were glad to +be able to live in peace on their state pensions. Now three men came to +the fore--a Mongol named Seng-ko-lin-ch'in, a man of great personal +bravery, who defended the interests of the Manchu rulers; and two +Chinese, Tsêng Kuo-fan (1811-1892) and Li Hung-chang (1823-1901), who +were in the service of the Manchus but used their position simply to +further the interests of the gentry. The Mongol saved Peking from +capture by the T'ai P'ing. The two Chinese were living in central China, +and there they recruited, Li at his own expense and Tsêng out of the +resources at his disposal as a provincial governor, a sort of militia, +consisting of peasants out to protect their homes from destruction by +the peasants of the T'ai P'ing. Thus the peasants of central China, all +suffering from impoverishment, were divided into two groups, one +following the T'ai P'ing, the other following Tsêng Kuo-fan. Tsêng's +army, too, might be described as a "national" army, because Tsêng was +not fighting for the interests of the Manchus. Thus the peasants, all +anti-Manchu, could choose between two sides, between the T'ai P'ing and +Tsêng Kuo-fan. Although Tsêng represented the gentry and was thus +against the simple common people, peasants fought in masses on his side, +for he paid better, and especially more regularly. Tsêng, being a good +strategist, won successes and gained adherents. Thus by 1856 the T'ai +P'ing were pressed back on Nanking and some of the towns round it; in +1864 Nanking was captured. + +While in the central provinces the T'ai P'ing rebellion was raging, +China was suffering grave setbacks owing to the Lorcha War of 1856; and +there were also great and serious risings in other parts of the country. +In 1855 the Yellow River had changed its course, entering the sea once +more at Tientsin, to the great loss of the regions of Honan and Anhui. +In these two central provinces the peasant rising of the so-called "Nien +Fei" had begun, but it only became formidable after 1855, owing to the +increasing misery of the peasants. This purely peasant revolt was not +suppressed by the Manchu government until 1868, after many collisions. +Then, however, there began the so-called "Mohammedan risings". Here +there are, in all, five movements to distinguish: (1) the Mohammedan +rising in Kansu (1864-5); (2) the Salar movement in Shensi; (3) the +Mohammedan revolt in Yünnan (1855-1873); (4) the rising in Kansu (1895); +(5) the rebellion of Yakub Beg in Turkestan (from 1866 onward). + +While we are fairly well informed about the other popular risings of +this period, the Mohammedan revolts have not yet been well studied. We +know from unofficial accounts that these risings were suppressed with +great brutality. To this day there are many Mohammedans in, for +instance, Yünnan, but the revolt there is said to have cost a million +lives. The figures all rest on very rough estimates: in Kansu the +population is said to have fallen from fifteen millions to one million; +the Turkestan revolt is said to have cost ten million lives. There are +no reliable statistics; but it is understandable that at that time the +population of China must have fallen considerably, especially if we bear +in mind the equally ferocious suppression of the risings of the T'ai +P'ing and the Nien Fei within China, and smaller risings of which we +have made no mention. + +The Mohammedan risings were not elements of a general Mohammedan revolt, +but separate events only incidentally connected with each other. The +risings had different causes. An important factor was the general +distress in China. This was partly due to the fact that the officials +were exploiting the peasant population more ruthlessly than ever. In +addition to this, owing to the national feeling which had been aroused +in so unfortunate a way, the Chinese felt a revulsion against +non-Chinese, such as the Salars, who were of Turkish race. Here there +were always possibilities of friction, which might have been removed +with a little consideration but which swelled to importance through the +tactless behaviour of Chinese officials. Finally there came divisions +among the Mohammedans of China which led to fighting between themselves. + +All these risings were marked by two characteristics. They had no +general political aim such as the founding of a great and universal +Islamic state. Separate states were founded, but they were too small to +endure; they would have needed the protection of great states. But they +were not moved by any pan-Islamic idea. Secondly, they all took place on +Chinese soil, and all the Mohammedans involved, except in the rising of +the Salars, were Chinese. These Chinese who became Mohammedans are +called Dungans. The Dungans are, of course, no longer pure Chinese, +because Chinese who have gone over to Islam readily form mixed +marriages with Islamic non-Chinese, that is to say with Turks and +Mongols. + +The revolt, however, of Yakub Beg in Turkestan had a quite different +character. Yakub Beg (his Chinese name was An Chi-yeh) had risen to the +Chinese governorship when he made himself ruler of Kashgar. In 1866 he +began to try to make himself independent of Chinese control. He +conquered Ili, and then in a rapid campaign made himself master of all +Turkestan. + +His state had a much better prospect of endurance than the other +Mohammedan states. He had full control of it from 1874. Turkestan was +connected with China only by the few routes that led between the desert +and the Tibetan mountains. The state was supported against China by +Russia, which was continually pressing eastward, and in the south by +Great Britain, which was pressing towards Tibet. Farther west was the +great Ottoman empire; the attempt to gain direct contact with it was not +hopeless in itself, and this was recognized at Istanbul. Missions went +to and fro, and Turkish officers came to Yakub Beg and organized his +army; Yakub Beg recognized the Turkish sultan as Khalif. He also +concluded treaties with Russia and Great Britain. But in spite of all +this he was unable to maintain his hold of Turkestan. In 1877 the famous +Chinese general Tso Tsung-t'ang (1812-1885), who had fought against the +T'ai P'ing and also against the Mohammedans in Kansu, marched into +Turkestan and ended Yakub Beg's rule. + +Yakub was defeated, however, not so much by Chinese superiority as by a +combination of circumstances. In order to build up his kingdom he was +compelled to impose heavy taxation, and this made him unpopular with his +own followers: they had to pay taxes under the Chinese, but the Chinese +collection had been much less rigorous than that of Yakub Beg. It was +technically impossible for the Ottoman empire to give him any aid, even +had its internal situation permitted it. Britain and Russia would +probably have been glad to see a weakening of the Chinese hold over +Turkestan, but they did not want a strong new state there, once they had +found that neither of them could control the country while it was in +Yakub Beg's hands. In 1881 Russia occupied the Ili region, Yakub's first +conquest. In the end the two great powers considered it better for +Turkestan to return officially into the hands of the weakened China, +hoping that in practice they would be able to bring Turkestan more and +more under their control. Consequently, when in 1880, three years after +the removal of Yakub Beg, China sent a mission to Russia with the +request for the return of the Ili region to her, Russia gave way, and +the Treaty of Ili was concluded, ending for the time the Russian +penetration of Turkestan. In 1882 the Manchu government raised +Turkestan to a "new frontier" (Sinkiang) with a special administration. + +This process of colonial penetration of Turkestan continued. Until the +end of the first world war there was no fundamental change in the +situation in the country, owing to the rivalry between Great Britain and +Russia. But after 1920 a period began in which Turkestan became almost +independent, under a number of rulers of parts of the country. Then, +from 1928 onward, a more and more thorough penetration by Russia began, +so that by 1940 Turkestan could almost be called a Soviet Republic. The +second world war diverted Russian attention to the West, and at the same +time compelled the Chinese to retreat into the interior from the +Japanese, so that by 1943 the country was more firmly held by the +Chinese government than it had been for seventy years. After the +creation of the People's Democracy mass immigration into Sinkiang began, +in connection with the development of oil fields and of many new +industries in the border area between Sinkiang and China proper. Roads +and air communications opened Sinkiang. Yet, the differences between +immigrant Chinese and local, Muslim Turks, continue to play a role. + +9 _Collision with Japan; further Capitulations_ + +The reign of Wen Tsung (reign name Hsien-feng 1851-1861) was marked +throughout by the T'ai P'ing and other rebellions and by wars with the +Europeans, and that of Mu Tsung (reign name T'ung-chih: 1862-1874) by +the great Mohammedan disturbances. There began also a conflict with +Japan which lasted until 1945. Mu Tsung came to the throne as a child of +five, and never played a part of his own. It had been the general rule +for princes to serve as regents for minors on the imperial throne, but +this time the princes concerned won such notoriety through their +intrigues that the Peking court circles decided to entrust the regency +to two concubines of the late emperor. One of these, called Tz[)u] Hsi +(born 1835), of the Manchu tribe of the Yehe-Nara, quickly gained the +upper hand. The empress Tz[)u] Hsi was one of the strongest +personalities of the later nineteenth century who played an active part +in Chinese political life. She played a more active part than any +emperor had played for many decades. + +Meanwhile great changes had taken place in Japan. The restoration of the +Meiji had ended the age of feudalism, at least on the surface. Japan +rapidly became Westernized, and at the same time entered on an +imperialist policy. Her aims from 1868 onward were clear, and remained +unaltered until the end of the second World War: she was to be +surrounded by a wide girdle of territories under Japanese domination, in +order to prevent the approach of any enemy to the Japanese homeland. +This girdle was divided into several zones--(1) the inner zone with the +Kurile Islands, Sakhalin, Korea, the Ryukyu archipelago, and Formosa; +(2) the outer zone with the Marianne, Philippine, and Caroline Islands, +eastern China, Manchuria, and eastern Siberia; (3) the third zone, not +clearly defined, including especially the Netherlands Indies, +Indo-China, and the whole of China, a zone of undefined extent. The +outward form of this subjugated region was to be that of the Greater +Japanese Empire, described as the Imperium of the Yellow Race (the main +ideas were contained in the Tanaka Memorandum 1927 and in the Tada +Interview of 1936). Round Japan, moreover, a girdle was to be created of +producers of raw materials and purchasers of manufactures, to provide +Japanese industry with a market. Japan had sent a delegation of amity to +China as early as 1869, and a first Sino-Japanese treaty was signed in +1871; from then on, Japan began to carry out her imperialistic plans. In +1874 she attacked the Ryukyu islands and Formosa on the pretext that +some Japanese had been murdered there. Under the treaty of 1874 Japan +withdrew once more, only demanding a substantial indemnity; but in 1876, +in violation of the treaty and without a declaration of war, she annexed +the Ryukyu Islands. In 1876 began the Japanese penetration into Korea; +by 1885 she had reached the stage of a declaration that Korea was a +joint sphere of interest of China and Japan; until then China's +protectorate over Korea had been unchallenged. At the same time (1876) +Great Britain had secured further Capitulations in the Chefoo +Convention; in 1862 France had acquired Cochin China, in 1864 Cambodia, +in 1874 Tongking, and in 1883 Annam. This led in 1884 to war between +France and China, in which the French did not by any means gain an +indubitable victory; but the Treaty of Tientsin left them with their +acquisitions. + +Meanwhile, at the beginning of 1875, the young Chinese emperor died of +smallpox, without issue. Under the influence of the two empresses, who +still remained regents, a cousin of the dead emperor, the three-year-old +prince Tsai T'ien was chosen as emperor Tê Tsung (reign name Kuang-hsü: +1875-1909). He came of age in 1889 and took over the government of the +country. The empress Tz[)u] Hsi retired, but did not really relinquish +the reins. + +In 1894 the Sino-Japanese War broke out over Korea, as an outcome of the +undefined position that had existed since 1885 owing to the +imperialistic policy of the Japanese. China had created a North China +squadron, but this was all that can be regarded as Chinese preparation +for the long-expected war. The Governor General of Chihli (now +Hopei--the province in which Peking is situated), Li Hung-chang, was a +general who had done good service, but he lost the war, and at +Shimonoseki (1895) he had to sign a treaty on very harsh terms, in which +China relinquished her protectorate over Korea and lost Formosa. The +intervention of France, Germany, and Russia compelled Japan to content +herself with these acquisitions, abandoning her demand for South +Manchuria. + +10 _Russia in Manchuria_ + +After the Crimean War, Russia had turned her attention once more to the +East. There had been hostilities with China over eastern Siberia, which +were brought to an end in 1858 by the Treaty of Aigun, under which China +ceded certain territories in northern Manchuria. This made possible the +founding of Vladivostok in 1860. Russia received Sakhalin from Japan in +1875 in exchange for the Kurile Islands. She received from China the +important Port Arthur as a leased territory, and then tried to secure +the whole of South Manchuria. This brought Japan's policy of expansion +into conflict with Russia's plans in the Far East. Russia wanted +Manchuria in order to be able to pursue a policy in the Pacific; but +Japan herself planned to march into Manchuria from Korea, of which she +already had possession. This imperialist rivalry made war inevitable: +Russia lost the war; under the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 Russia gave +Japan the main railway through Manchuria, with adjoining territory. Thus +Manchuria became Japan's sphere of influence and was lost to the Manchus +without their being consulted in any way. The Japanese penetration of +Manchuria then proceeded stage by stage, not without occasional +setbacks, until she had occupied the whole of Manchuria from 1932 to +1945. After the end of the second world war, Manchuria was returned to +China, with certain reservations in favour of the Soviet Union, which +were later revoked. + +11 _Reform and reaction: the Boxer Rising_ + +China had lost the war with Japan because she was entirely without +modern armament. While Japan went to work at once with all her energy to +emulate Western industrialization, the ruling class in China had shown a +marked repugnance to any modernization; and the centre of this +conservatism was the dowager empress Tz[)u] Hsi. She was a woman of +strong personality, but too uneducated--in the modern sense--to be able +to realize that modernization was an absolute necessity for China if it +was to remain an independent state. The empress failed to realize that +the Europeans were fundamentally different from the neighbouring tribes +or the pirates of the past; she had not the capacity to acquire a +general grasp of the realities of world politics. She felt instinctively +that Europeanization would wreck the foundations of the power of the +Manchus and the gentry, and would bring another class, the middle class +and the merchants, into power. + +There were reasonable men, however, who had seen the necessity of +reform--especially Li Hung-chang, who has already been mentioned. In +1896 he went on a mission to Moscow, and then toured Europe. The +reformers were, however, divided into two groups. One group advocated +the acquisition of a certain amount of technical knowledge from abroad +and its introduction by slow reforms, without altering the social +structure of the state or the composition of the government. The others +held that the state needed fundamental changes, and that superficial +loans from Europe were not enough. The failure in the war with Japan +made the general desire for reform more and more insistent not only in +the country but in Peking. Until now Japan had been despised as a +barbarian state; now Japan had won! The Europeans had been despised; now +they were all cutting bits out of China for themselves, extracting from +the government one privilege after another, and quite openly dividing +China into "spheres of interest", obviously as the prelude to annexation +of the whole country. + +In Europe at that time the question was being discussed over and over +again, why Japan had so quickly succeeded in making herself a modern +power, and why China was not succeeding in doing so; the Japanese were +praised for their capacity and the Chinese blamed for their lassitude. +Both in Europe and in Chinese circles it was overlooked that there were +fundamental differences in the social structures of the two countries. +The basis of the modern capitalist states of the West is the middle +class. Japan had for centuries had a middle class (the merchants) that +had entered into a symbiosis with the feudal lords. For the middle class +the transition to modern capitalism, and for the feudal lords the way to +Western imperialism, was easy. In China there was only a weak middle +class, vegetating under the dominance of the gentry; the middle class +had still to gain the strength to liberate itself before it could become +the support for a capitalistic state. And the gentry were still strong +enough to maintain their dominance and so to prevent a radical +reconstruction; all they would agree to were a few reforms from which +they might hope to secure an increase of power for their own ends. + +In 1895 and in 1698 a scholar, K'ang Yo-wei, who was admitted into the +presence of the emperor, submitted to him memoranda in which he called +for radical reform. K'ang was a scholar who belonged to the empiricist +school of philosophy of the early Manchu period, the so-called Han +school. He was a man of strong and persuasive personality, and had such +an influence on the emperor that in 1898 the emperor issued several +edicts ordering the fundamental reorganization of education, law, trade, +communications, and the army. These laws were not at all bad in +themselves; they would have paved the way for a liberalization of +Chinese society. But they aroused the utmost hatred in the conservative +gentry and also in the moderate reformers among the gentry. K'ang Yo-wei +and his followers, to whom a number of well-known modern scholars +belonged, had strong support in South China. We have already mentioned +that owing to the increased penetration of European goods and ideas, +South China had become more progressive than the north; this had added +to the tension already existing for other reasons between north and +south. In foreign policy the north was more favourable to Russia and +radically opposed to Japan and Great Britain; the south was in favour of +co-operation with Britain and Japan, in order to learn from those two +states how reform could be carried through. In the north the men of the +south were suspected of being anti-Manchu and revolutionary in feeling. +This was to some extent true, though K'ang Yo-wei and his friends were +as yet largely unconscious of it. + +When the empress Tz[)u] Hsi saw that the emperor was actually thinking +about reforms, she went to work with lightning speed. Very soon the +reformers had to flee; those who failed to make good their escape were +arrested and executed. The emperor was made a prisoner in a palace near +Peking, and remained a captive until his death; the empress resumed her +regency on his behalf. The period of reforms lasted only for a few +months of 1898. A leading part in the extermination of the reformers was +played by troops from Kansu under the command of a Mohammedan, Tung +Fu-hsiang. General Yüan Shih-k'ai, who was then stationed at Tientsin in +command of 7,000 troops with modern equipment, the only ones in China, +could have removed the empress and protected the reformers; but he was +already pursuing a personal policy, and thought it safer to give the +reformers no help. + +There now began, from 1898, a thoroughly reactionary rule of the dowager +empress. But China's general situation permitted no breathing-space. In +1900 came the so-called Boxer Rising, a new popular movement against the +gentry and the Manchus similar to the many that had preceded it. The +Peking government succeeded, however, in negotiations that brought the +movement into the service of the government and directed it against the +foreigners. This removed the danger to the government and at the same +time helped it against the hated foreigners. But incidents resulted +which the Peking government had not anticipated. An international army +was sent to China, and marched from Tientsin against Peking, to liberate +the besieged European legations and to punish the government. The +Europeans captured Peking (1900); the dowager empress and her prisoner, +the emperor, had to flee; some of the palaces were looted. The peace +treaty that followed exacted further concessions from China to the +Europeans and enormous war indemnities, the payment of which continued +into the 1940's, though most of the states placed the money at China's +disposal for educational purposes. When in 1902 the dowager empress +returned to Peking and put the emperor back into his palace-prison, she +was forced by what had happened to realize that at all events a certain +measure of reform was necessary. The reforms, however, which she +decreed, mainly in 1904, were very modest and were never fully carried +out. They were only intended to make an impression on the outer world +and to appease the continually growing body of supporters of the reform +party, especially numerous in South China. The south remained, +nevertheless, a focus of hostility to the Manchus. After his failure in +1898, K'ang Yo-wei went to Europe, and no longer played any important +political part. His place was soon taken by a young Chinese physician +who had been living abroad, Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), who turned the +reform party into a middle-class revolutionary party. + +12 _End of the dynasty_ + +Meanwhile the dowager empress held her own. General Yüan Shih-k'ai, who +had played so dubious a part in 1898, was not impeccably loyal to her, +and remained unreliable. He was beyond challenge the strongest man in +the country, for he possessed the only modern army; but he was still +biding his time. + +In 1908 the dowager empress fell ill; she was seventy-four years old. +When she felt that her end was near, she seems to have had the captive +emperor Tê Tsung assassinated (at 5 p.m. on November 14th); she herself +died next day (November 15th, 2 p.m.): she was evidently determined that +this man, whom she had ill-treated and oppressed all his life, should +not regain independence. As Tê Tsung had no children, she nominated on +the day of her death the two-year-old prince P'u Yi as emperor (reign +name Hsüan-t'ung, 1909-1911). + +The fact that another child was to reign and a new regency to act for +him, together with all the failures in home and foreign policy, brought +further strength to the revolutionary party. The government believed +that it could only maintain itself if it allowed Yüan Shih-k'ai, the +commander of the modern troops, to come to power. The chief regent, +however, worked against Yüan Shih-k'ai and dismissed him at the +beginning of 1909; Yüan's supporters remained at their posts. Yüan +himself now entered into relations with the revolutionaries, whose +centre was Canton, and whose undisputed leader was now Sun Yat-sen. At +this time Sun and his supporters had already made attempts at +revolution, but without success, as his following was as yet too small. +It consisted mainly of young intellectuals who had been educated in +Europe and America; the great mass of the Chinese people remained +unconvinced: the common people could not understand the new ideals, and +the middle class did not entirely trust the young intellectuals. + +The state of China in 1911 was as lamentable as could be: the European +states, Russia, America, and Japan regarded China as a field for their +own plans, and in their calculations paid scarcely any attention to the +Chinese government. Foreign capital was penetrating everywhere in the +form of loans or railway and other enterprises. If it had not been for +the mutual rivalries of the powers, China would long ago have been +annexed by one of them. The government needed a great deal of money for +the payment of the war indemnities, and for carrying out the few reforms +at last decided on. In order to get money from the provinces, it had to +permit the viceroys even more freedom than they already possessed. The +result was a spectacle altogether resembling that of the end of the +T'ang dynasty, about A.D. 900: the various governors were trying to make +themselves independent. In addition to this there was the revolutionary +movement in the south. + +The government made some concession to the progressives, by providing +the first beginnings of parliamentary rule. In 1910 a national assembly +was convoked. It had a Lower House with representatives of the provinces +(provincial diets were also set up), and an Upper House, in which sat +representatives of the imperial house, the nobility, the gentry, and +also the protectorates. The members of the Upper House were all +nominated by the regent. It very soon proved that the members of the +Lower House, mainly representatives of the provincial gentry, had a much +more practical outlook than the routineers of Peking. Thus the Lower +House grew in importance, a fact which, of course, brought grist to the +mills of the revolutionary movement. + +In 1910 the first risings directed actually against the regency took +place, in the province of Hunan. In 1911 the "railway disturbances" +broke out in western China as a reply of the railway shareholders in the +province of Szechwan to the government decree of nationalization of all +the railways. The modernist students, most of whom were sons of +merchants who owned railway shares, supported the movement, and the +government was unable to control them. At the same time a great +anti-Manchu revolution began in Wuch'ang, one of the cities of which +Wuhan, on the Yangtze, now consists. The revolution was the result of +government action against a group of terrorists. Its leader was an +officer named Li Yüan-hung. The Manchus soon had some success in this +quarter, but the other provincial governors now rose in rapid +succession, repudiated the Manchus, and declared themselves independent. +Most of the Manchu garrisons in the provinces were murdered. The +governors remained at the head of their troops in their provinces, and +for the moment made common cause with the revolutionaries, from whom +they meant to break free at the first opportunity. The Manchus +themselves failed at first to realize the gravity of the revolutionary +movement; they then fell into panic-stricken desperation. As a last +resource, Yüan Shih-k'ai was recalled (November 10th, 1911) and made +prime minister. + +Yüan's excellent troops were loyal to his person, and he could have made +use of them in fighting on behalf of the dynasty. But a victory would +have brought no personal gain to him; for his personal plans he +considered that the anti-Manchu side provided the springboard he needed. +The revolutionaries, for their part, had no choice but to win over Yüan +Shih-k'ai for the sake of his troops, since they were not themselves +strong enough to get rid of the Manchus, or even to wrest concessions +from them, so long as the Manchus were defended by Yüan's army. Thus +Yüan and the revolutionaries were forced into each other's arms. He then +began negotiations with them, explaining to the imperial house that the +dynasty could only be saved by concessions. The revolutionaries--apart +from their desire to neutralize the prime minister and general, if not +to bring him over to their side--were also readier than ever to +negotiate, because they were short of money and unable to obtain loans +from abroad, and because they could not themselves gain control of the +individual governors. The negotiations, which had been carried on at +Shanghai, were broken off on December 18th, 1911, because the +revolutionaries demanded a republic, but the imperial house was only +ready to grant a constitutional monarchy. + +Meanwhile the revolutionaries set up a provisional government at +Nanking (December 29th, 1911), with Sun Yat-sen as president and Li +Yüan-hung as vice-president. Yüan Shih-k'ai now declared to the imperial +house that the monarchy could no longer be defended, as his troops were +too unreliable, and he induced the Manchu government to issue an edict +on February 12th, 1912, in which they renounced the throne of China and +declared the Republic to be the constitutional form of state. The young +emperor of the Hsüan-t'ung period, after the Japanese conquest of +Manchuria in 1931, was installed there. He was, however, entirely +without power during the melancholy years of his nominal rule, which +lasted until 1945. + +In 1912 the Manchu dynasty came in reality to its end. On the news of +the abdication of the imperial house, Sun Yat-sen resigned in Nanking, +and recommended Yüan Shih-k'ai as president. + + + +Chapter Eleven + + +THE REPUBLIC (1912-1948) + +1 _Social and intellectual position_ + +In order to understand the period that now followed, let us first +consider the social and intellectual position in China in the period +between 1911 and 1927. The Manchu dynasty was no longer there, nor were +there any remaining real supporters of the old dynasty. The gentry, +however, still existed. Alongside it was a still numerically small +middle class, with little political education or enlightenment. + +The political interests of these two groups were obviously in conflict. +But after 1912 there had been big changes. The gentry were largely in a +process of decomposition. They still possessed the basis of their +existence, their land, but the land was falling in value, as there were +now other opportunities of capital investment, such as export-import, +shareholding in foreign enterprises, or industrial undertakings. It is +important to note, however, that there was not much fluid capital at +their disposal. In addition to this, cheaper rice and other foodstuffs +were streaming from abroad into China, bringing the prices for Chinese +foodstuffs down to the world market prices, another painful business +blow to the gentry. Silk had to meet the competition of Japanese silk +and especially of rayon; the Chinese silk was of very unequal quality +and sold with difficulty. On the other hand, through the influence of +the Western capitalistic system, which was penetrating more and more +into China, land itself became "capital", an object of speculation for +people with capital; its value no longer depended entirely on the rents +it could yield but, under certain circumstances, on quite other +things--the construction of railways or public buildings, and so on. +These changes impoverished and demoralized the gentry, who in the course +of the past century had grown fewer in number. The gentry were not in a +position to take part fully in the capitalist manipulations, because +they had never possessed much capital; their wealth had lain entirely +in their land, and the income from their rents was consumed quite +unproductively in luxurious living. + +Moreover, the class solidarity of the gentry was dissolving. In the +past, politics had been carried on by cliques of gentry families, with +the emperor at their head as an unchangeable institution. This edifice +had now lost its summit; the struggles between cliques still went on, +but entirely without the control which the emperor's power had after all +exercised, as a sort of regulative element in the play of forces among +the gentry. The arena for this competition had been the court. After the +destruction of the arena, the field of play lost its boundaries: the +struggles between cliques no longer had a definite objective; the only +objective left was the maintenance or securing of any and every hold on +power. Under the new conditions cliques or individuals among the gentry +could only ally themselves with the possessors of military power, the +generals or governors. In this last stage the struggle between rival +groups turned into a rivalry between individuals. Family ties began to +weaken and other ties, such as between school mates, or origin from the +same village or town, became more important than they had been before. +For the securing of the aim in view any means were considered +justifiable. Never was there such bribery and corruption among the +officials as in the years after 1912. This period, until 1927, may +therefore be described as a period of dissolution and destruction of the +social system of the gentry. + +Over against this dying class of the gentry stood, broadly speaking, a +tripartite opposition. To begin with, there was the new middle class, +divided and without clear political ideas; anti-dynastic of course, but +undecided especially as to the attitude it should adopt towards the +peasants who, to this day, form over 80 per cent of the Chinese +population. The middle class consisted mainly of traders and bankers, +whose aim was the introduction of Western capitalism in association with +foreign powers. There were also young students who were often the sons +of old gentry families and had been sent abroad for study with grants +given them by their friends and relatives in the government; or sons of +businessmen sent away by their fathers. These students not always +accepted the ideas of their fathers; they were influenced by the +ideologies of the West, Marxist or non-Marxist, and often created clubs +or groups in the University cities of Europe or the United States. Such +groups of people who had studied together or passed the exams together, +had already begun to play a role in politics in the nineteenth century. +Now, the influence of such organizations of usually informal character +increased. Against the returned students who often had difficulties in +adjustment, stood the students at Chinese Universities, especially the +National University in Peking (Peita). They represented people of the +same origin, but of the lower strata of the gentry or of business; they +were more nationalistic and politically active and often less influenced +by Western ideologies. + +In the second place, there was a relatively very small genuine +proletariat, the product of the first activities of big capitalists in +China, found mainly in Shanghai. Thirdly and finally, there was a +gigantic peasantry, uninterested in politics and uneducated, but ready +to give unthinking allegiance to anyone who promised to make an end of +the intolerable conditions in the matter of rents and taxes, conditions +that were growing steadily worse with the decay of the gentry. These +peasants were thinking of popular risings on the pattern of all the +risings in the history of China--attacks on the towns and the killing of +the hated landowners, officials, and moneylenders, that is to say of the +gentry. + +Such was the picture of the middle class and those who were ready to +support it, a group with widely divergent interests, held together only +by its opposition to the gentry system and the monarchy. It could not +but be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve political +success with such a group. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the "Father of the +Republic", accordingly laid down three stages of progress in his many +works, of which the best-known are _San-min chu-i_, ("The Three +Principles of the People"), and _Chien-kuo fang-lüeh_ ("Plans for the +Building up of the Realm"). The three phases of development through +which republican China was to pass were: the phase of struggle against +the old system, the phase of educative rule, and the phase of truly +democratic government. The phase of educative rule was to be a sort of +authoritarian system with a democratic content, under which the people +should be familiarized with democracy and enabled to grow politically +ripe for true democracy. + +Difficult as was the internal situation from the social point of view, +it was no less difficult in economic respects. China had recognized that +she must at least adopt Western technical and industrial progress in +order to continue to exist as an independent state. But the building up +of industry demanded large sums of money. The existing Chinese banks +were quite incapable of providing the capital needed; but the acceptance +of capital from abroad led at once, every time, to further political +capitulations. The gentry, who had no cash worth mention, were violently +opposed to the capitalization of their properties, and were in favour of +continuing as far as possible to work the soil in the old style. Quite +apart from all this, all over the country there were generals who had +come from the ranks of the gentry, and who collected the whole of the +financial resources of their region for the support of their private +armies. Investors had little confidence in the republican government so +long as they could not tell whether the government would decide in +favour of its right or of its left wing. + +No less complicated was the intellectual situation at this time. +Confucianism, and the whole of the old culture and morality bound up +with it, was unacceptable to the middle-class element. In the first +place, Confucianism rejected the principle, required at least in theory +by the middle class, of the equality of all people; secondly, the +Confucian great-family system was irreconcilable with middle-class +individualism, quite apart from the fact that the Confucian form of +state could only be a monarchy. Every attempt to bolster up Confucianism +in practice or theory was bound to fail and did fail. Even the gentry +could scarcely offer any real defence of the Confucian system any +longer. With Confucianism went the moral standards especially of the +upper classes of society. Taoism was out of the question as a +substitute, because of its anarchistic and egocentric character. +Consequently, in these years, part of the gentry turned to Buddhism and +part to Christianity. Some of the middle class who had come under +European influence also turned to Christianity, regarding it as a part +of the European civilization they had to adopt. Others adhered to modern +philosophic systems such as pragmatism and positivism. Marxist doctrines +spread rapidly. + +Education was secularized. Great efforts were made to develop modern +schools, though the work of development was continually hindered by the +incessant political unrest. Only at the universities, which became foci +of republican and progressive opinion, was any positive achievement +possible. Many students and professors were active in politics, +organizing demonstrations and strikes. They pursued a strong national +policy, often also socialistic. At the same time real scientific work +was done; many young scholars of outstanding ability were trained at the +Chinese universities, often better than the students who went abroad. +There is a permanent disagreement between these two groups of young men +with a modern education: the students who return from abroad claim to be +better educated, but in reality they often have only a very superficial +knowledge of things modern and none at all of China, her history, and +her special circumstances. The students of the Chinese universities have +been much better instructed in all the things that concern China, and +most of them are in no way behind the returned students in the modern +sciences. They are therefore a much more serviceable element. + +The intellectual modernization of China goes under the name of the +"Movement of May Fourth", because on May 4th, 1919, students of the +National University in Peking demonstrated against the government and +their pro-Japanese adherents. When the police attacked the students and +jailed some, more demonstrations and student strikes and finally a +general boycott of Japanese imports were the consequence. In these +protest actions, professors such as Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei, later president of +the Academia Sinica (died 1940), took an active part. The forces which +had now been mobilized, rallied around the journal "New Youth" (_Hsin +Ch'ing-nien_), created in 1915 by Ch'en Tu-hsiu. The journal was +progressive, against the monarchy, Confucius, and the old traditions. +Ch'en Tu-hsiu who put himself strongly behind the students, was more +radical than other contributors but at first favoured Western democracy +and Western science; he was influenced mainly by John Dewey who was +guest professor in Peking in 1919-20. Similarly tending towards +liberalism in politics and Dewey's ideas in the field of philosophy were +others, mainly Hu Shih. Finally, some reformers criticized +conservatism purely on the basis of Chinese thought. Hu Shih (born +1892) gained greatest acclaim by his proposal for a "literary +revolution", published in the "New Youth" in 1917. This revolution was +the logically necessary application of the political revolution to the +field of education. The new "vernacular" took place of the old +"classical" literary language. The language of the classical works is so +remote from the language of daily life that no uneducated person can +understand it. A command of it requires a full knowledge of all the +ancient literature, entailing decades of study. The gentry had +elaborated this style of speech for themselves and their dependants; it +was their monopoly; nobody who did not belong to the gentry and had not +attended its schools could take part in literary or in administrative +life. The literary revolution introduced the language of daily life, the +language of the people, into literature: newspapers, novels, scientific +treatises, translations, appeared in the vernacular, and could thus be +understood by anyone who could read and write, even if he had no +Confucianist education. + +It may be said that the literary revolution has achieved its main +objects. As a consequence of it, a great quantity of new literature has +been published. Not only is every important new book that appears in the +West published in translation within a few months, but modern novels and +short stories and poems have been written, some of them of high literary +value. + +At the same time as this revolution there took place another fundamental +change in the language. It was necessary to take over a vast number of +new scientific and technical terms. As Chinese, owing to the character +of its script, is unable to write foreign words accurately and can do no +more than provide a rather rough paraphrase, the practice was started of +expressing new ideas by newly formed native words. Thus modern Chinese +has very few foreign words, and yet it has all the new ideas. For +example, a telegram is a "lightning-letter"; a wireless telegram is a +"not-have-wire-lightning-communication"; a fountain-pen is a +"self-flow-ink-water-brush"; a typewriter is a "strike-letter-machine". +Most of these neologisms are similar in the modern languages of China +and Japan. + +There had been several proposals in recent decades to do away with the +Chinese characters and to introduce an alphabet in their place. They +have all proved to be unsatisfactory so far, because the character of +the Chinese language, as it is at this moment, is unsuited to an +alphabetical script. They would also destroy China's cultural unity: +there are many dialects in China that differ so greatly from each other +that, for instance, a man from Canton cannot understand a man from +Shanghai. If Chinese were written with letters, the result would be a +Canton literature and another literature confined to Shanghai, and China +would break up into a number of areas with different languages. The old +Chinese writing is independent of pronunciation. A Cantonese and a +Pekinger can read each other's newspapers without difficulty. They +pronounce the words quite differently, but the meaning is unaltered. +Even a Japanese can understand a Chinese newspaper without special study +of Chinese, and a Chinese with a little preparation can read a Japanese +newspaper without understanding a single word of Japanese. + +The aim of modern education in China is to work towards the +establishment of "High Chinese", the former official (Mandarin) +language, throughout the country, and to set limits to the use of the +various dialects. Once this has been done, it will be possible to +proceed to a radical reform of the script without running the risk of +political separatist movements, which are always liable to spring up, +and also without leading, through the adoption of various dialects as +the basis of separate literatures, to the break-up of China's cultural +unity. In the last years, the unification of the spoken language has +made great progress. Yet, alphabetic script is used only in cases in +which illiterate adults have to be enabled in a short time to read very +simple informations. More attention is given to a simplification of the +script as it is; Japanese had started this some forty years earlier. +Unfortunately, the new Chinese abbreviated forms of characters are not +always identical with long-established Japanese forms, and are not +developed in such a systematic form as would make learning of Chinese +characters easier. + +2 _First period of the Republic: The warlords_ + +The situation of the Republic after its foundation was far from hopeful. +Republican feeling existed only among the very small groups of students +who had modern education, and a few traders, in other words, among the +"middle class". And even in the revolutionary party to which these +groups belonged there were the most various conceptions of the form of +republican state to be aimed at. The left wing of the party, mainly +intellectuals and manual workers, had in view more or less vague +socialistic institutions; the liberals, for instance the traders, +thought of a liberal democracy, more or less on the American pattern; +and the nationalists merely wanted the removal of the alien Manchu rule. +The three groups had come together for the practical reason that only so +could they get rid of the dynasty. They gave unreserved allegiance to +Sun Yat-sen as their leader. He succeeded in mobilizing the enthusiasm +of continually widening circles for action, not only by the integrity of +his aims but also because he was able to present the new socialistic +ideology in an alluring form. The anti-republican gentry, however, whose +power was not yet entirely broken, took a stand against the party. The +generals who had gone over to the republicans had not the slightest +intention of founding a republic, but only wanted to get rid of the rule +of the Manchus and to step into their place. This was true also of Yüan +Shih-k'ai, who in his heart was entirely on the side of the gentry, +although the European press especially had always energetically defended +him. In character and capacity he stood far above the other generals, +but he was no republican. + +Thus the first period of the Republic, until 1927, was marked by +incessant attempts by individual generals to make themselves +independent. The Government could not depend on its soldiers, and so was +impotent. The first risings of military units began at the outset of +1912. The governors and generals who wanted to make themselves +independent sabotaged every decree of the central government; especially +they sent it no money from the provinces and also refused to give their +assent to foreign loans. The province of Canton, the actual birthplace +of the republican movement and the focus of radicalism, declared itself +in 1912 an independent republic. + +Within the Peking government matters soon came to a climax. Yüan +Shih-k'ai and his supporters represented the conservative view, with the +unexpressed but obvious aim of setting up a new imperial house and +continuing the old gentry system. Most of the members of the parliament +came, however, from the middle class and were opposed to any reaction of +this sort. One of their leaders was murdered, and the blame was thrown +upon Yüan Shih-k'ai; there then came, in the middle of 1912, a new +revolution, in which the radicals made themselves independent and tried +to gain control of South China. But Yüan Shih-k'ai commanded better +troops and won the day. At the end of October 1912 he was elected, +against the opposition, as president of China, and the new state was +recognized by foreign countries. + +China's internal difficulties reacted on the border states, in which the +European powers were keenly interested. The powers considered that the +time had come to begin the definitive partition of China. Thus there +were long negotiations and also hostilities between China and Tibet, +which was supported by Great Britain. The British demanded the complete +separation of Tibet from China, but the Chinese rejected this (1912); +the rejection was supported by a boycott of British goods. In the end +the Tibet question was left undecided. Tibet remained until recent years +a Chinese dependency with a good deal of internal freedom. The Second +World War and the Chinese retreat into the interior brought many Chinese +settlers into Eastern Tibet which was then separated from Tibet proper +and made a Chinese province (Hsi-k'ang) in which the native Khamba will +soon be a minority. The communist regime soon after its establishment +conquered Tibet (1950) and has tried to change the character of its +society and its system of government which lead to the unsuccessful +attempt of the Tibetans to throw off Chinese rule (1959) and the flight +of the Dalai Lama to India. The construction of highways, air and +missile bases and military occupation have thus tied Tibet closer to +China than ever since early Manchu times. + +In Outer Mongolia Russian interests predominated. In 1911 there were +diplomatic incidents in connection with the Mongolian question. At the +end of 1911 the Hutuktu of Urga declared himself independent, and the +Chinese were expelled from the country. A secret treaty was concluded in +1912 with Russia, under which Russia recognized the independence of +Outer Mongolia, but was accorded an important part as adviser and helper +in the development of the country. In 1913 a Russo-Chinese treaty was +concluded, under which the autonomy of Outer Mongolia was recognized, +but Mongolia became a part of the Chinese realm. After the Russian +revolution had begun, revolution was carried also into Mongolia. The +country suffered all the horrors of the struggles between White Russians +(General Ungern-Sternberg) and the Reds; there were also Chinese +attempts at intervention, though without success, until in the end +Mongolia became a Soviet Republic. As such she is closely associated +with Soviet Russia. China, however, did not quickly recognize Mongolia's +independence, and in his work _China's Destiny_ (1944) Chiang Kai-shek +insisted that China's aim remained the recovery of the frontiers of +1840, which means among other things the recovery of Outer Mongolia. In +spite of this, after the Second World War Chiang Kai-shek had to +renounce _de jure_ all rights in Outer Mongolia. Inner Mongolia was +always united to China much more closely; only for a time during the war +with Japan did the Japanese maintain there a puppet government. The +disappearance of this government went almost unnoticed. + +At the time when Russian penetration into Mongolia began, Japan had +entered upon a similar course in Manchuria, which she regarded as her +"sphere of influence". On the outbreak of the first world war Japan +occupied the former German-leased territory of Tsingtao, at the +extremity of the province of Shantung, and from that point she occupied +the railways of the province. Her plan was to make the whole province a +protectorate; Shantung is rich in coal and especially in metals. Japan's +plans were revealed in the notorious "Twenty-one Demands" (1915). +Against the furious opposition especially of the students of Peking, +Yüan Shih-k'ai's government accepted the greater part of these demands. +In negotiations with Great Britain, in which Japan took advantage of the +British commitments in Europe, Japan had to be conceded the predominant +position in the Far East. + +Meanwhile Yüan Shih-k'ai had made all preparations for turning the +Republic once more into an empire, in which he would be emperor; the +empire was to be based once more on the gentry group. In 1914 he secured +an amendment of the Constitution under which the governing power was to +be entirely in the hands of the president; at the end of 1914 he secured +his appointment as president for life, and at the end of 1915 he induced +the parliament to resolve that he should become emperor. + +This naturally aroused the resentment of the republicans, but it also +annoyed the generals belonging to the gentry, who had the same ambition. +Thus there were disturbances, especially in the south, where Sun Yat-sen +with his followers agitated for a democratic republic. The foreign +powers recognized that a divided China would be much easier to penetrate +and annex than a united China, and accordingly opposed Yüan Shih-k'ai. +Before he could ascend the throne, he died suddenly--and this +terminated the first attempt to re-establish monarchy. + +Yüan was succeeded as president by Li Yüan-hung. Meanwhile five +provinces had declared themselves independent. Foreign pressure on China +steadily grew. She was forced to declare war on Germany, and though this +made no practical difference to the war, it enabled the European powers +to penetrate further into China. Difficulties grew to such an extent in +1917 that a dictatorship was set up and soon after came an interlude, +the recall of the Manchus and the reinstatement of the deposed emperor +(July 1st-8th, 1917). + +This led to various risings of generals, each aiming simply at the +satisfaction of his thirst for personal power. Ultimately the victorious +group of generals, headed by Tuan Ch'i-jui, secured the election of Fêng +Kuo-chang in place of the retiring president. Fêng was succeeded at the +end of 1918 by Hsü Shih-ch'ang, who held office until 1922. Hsü, as a +former ward of the emperor, was a typical representative of the gentry, +and was opposed to all republican reforms. + +The south held aloof from these northern governments. In Canton an +opposition government was set up, formed mainly of followers of Sun +Yat-sen; the Peking government was unable to remove the Canton +government. But the Peking government and its president scarcely counted +any longer even in the north. All that counted were the generals, the +most prominent of whom were: (1) Chang Tso-lin, who had control of +Manchuria and had made certain terms with Japan, but who was ultimately +murdered by the Japanese (1928); (2) Wu P'ei-fu, who held North China; +(3) the so-called "Christian general", Fêng Yü-hsiang, and (4) Ts'ao +K'un, who became president in 1923. + +At the end of the first world war Japan had a hold over China amounting +almost to military control of the country. China did not sign the Treaty +of Versailles, because she considered that she had been duped by Japan, +since Japan had driven the Germans out of China but had not returned the +liberated territory to the Chinese. In 1921 peace was concluded with +Germany, the German privileges being abolished. The same applied to +Austria. Russia, immediately after the setting up of the Soviet +government, had renounced all her rights under the Capitulations. This +was the first step in the gradual rescinding of the Capitulations; the +last of them went only in 1943, as a consequence of the difficult +situation of the Europeans and Americans in the Pacific produced by the +Second World War. + +At the end of the first world war the foreign powers revised their +attitude towards China. The idea of territorial partitioning of the +country was replaced by an attempt at financial exploitation; military +friction between the Western powers and Japan was in this way to be +minimized. Financial control was to be exercised by an international +banking consortium (1920). It was necessary for political reasons that +this committee should be joined by Japan. After her Twenty-one Demands, +however, Japan was hated throughout China. During the world war she had +given loans to the various governments and rebels, and in this way had +secured one privilege after another. Consequently China declined the +banking consortium. She tried to secure capital from her own resources; +but in the existing political situation and the acute economic +depression internal loans had no success. + +In an agreement between the United States and Japan in 1917, the United +States, in consequence of the war, had to give their assent to special +rights for Japan in China. After the war the international conference at +Washington (November 1921-February 1922) tried to set narrower limits to +Japan's influence over China, and also to re-determine the relative +strength in the Pacific of the four great powers (America, Britain, +France, Japan). After the failure of the banking plan this was the last +means of preventing military conflicts between the powers in the Far +East. This brought some relief to China, as Japan had to yield for the +time to the pressure of the western powers. + +The years that followed until 1927 were those of the complete collapse +of the political power of the Peking government--years of entire +dissolution. In the south Sun Yat-sen had been elected generalissimo in +1921. In 1924 he was re-elected with a mandate for a campaign against +the north. In 1924 there also met in Canton the first general congress +of the Kuomintang ("People's Party"). The Kuomintang (in 1929 it had +653,000 members, or roughly 0.15 per cent of the population) is the +continuation of the Komingtang ("Revolutionary Party") founded by Sun +Yat-sen, which as a middle-class party had worked for the removal of the +dynasty. The new Kuomintang was more socialistic, as is shown by its +admission of Communists and the stress laid upon land reform. + +At the end of 1924 Sun Yat-sen with some of his followers went to +Peking, to discuss the possibility of a reunion between north and south +on the basis of the program of the People's Party. There, however, he +died at the beginning of 1925, before any definite results had been +attained; there was no prospect of achieving anything by the +negotiations, and the south broke them off. But the death of Sun Yat-sen +had been followed after a time by tension within the party between its +right and left wings. The southern government had invited a number of +Russian advisers in 1923 to assist in building up the administration, +civil and military, and on their advice the system of government had +been reorganized on lines similar to those of the soviet and commissar +system. This change had been advocated by an old friend of Sun Yat-sen, +Chiang Kai-shek, who later married Sun's sister-in-law. Chiang Kai-shek, +who was born in 1886, was the head of the military academy at Whampoa, +near Canton, where Russian instructors were at work. The new system was +approved by Sun Yat-sen's successor, Hu Han-min (who died in 1936), in +his capacity of party leader. It was opposed by the elements of the +right, who at first had little influence. Chiang Kai-shek soon became +one of the principal leaders of the south, as he had command of the +efficient troops of Canton, who had been organized by the Russians. + +The People's Party of the south and its governments, at that time fairly +radical in politics, were disliked by the foreign powers; only Japan +supported them for a time, owing to the anti-British feeling of the +South Chinese and in order to further her purpose of maintaining +disunion in China. The first serious collision with the outer world came +on May 30th, 1925, when British soldiers shot at a crowd demonstrating +in Shanghai. This produced a widespread boycott of British goods in +Canton and in British Hong Kong, inflicting a great loss on British +trade with China and bringing considerable advantages in consequence to +Japanese trade and shipping: from the time of this boycott began the +Japanese grip on Chinese coastwise shipping. + +The second party congress was held in Canton in 1926. Chiang Kai-shek +already played a prominent part. The People's Party, under Chiang +Kai-shek and with the support of the communists, began the great +campaign against the north. At first it had good success: the various +provincial governors and generals and the Peking government were played +off against each other, and in a short time one leader after another was +defeated. The Yangtze was reached, and in 1926 the southern government +moved to Hankow. All over the southern provinces there now came a +genuine rising of the masses of the people, mainly the result of +communist propaganda and of the government's promise to give land to the +peasants, to set limits to the big estates, and to bring order into the +taxation. In spite of its communist element, at the beginning of 1927 +the southern government was essentially one of the middle class and the +peasantry, with a socialistic tendency. + +3 _Second period of the Republic: Nationalist China_ + +With the continued success of the northern campaign, and with Chiang +Kai-shek's southern army at the gates of Shanghai (March 21st, 1927), a +decision had to be taken. Should the left wing be allowed to gain the +upper hand, and the great capitalists of Shanghai be expropriated as it +was proposed to expropriate the gentry? Or should the right wing +prevail, an alliance be concluded with the capitalists, and limits be +set to the expropriation of landed estates? Chiang Kai-shek, through his +marriage with Sun Yat-sen's wife's sister, had become allied with one of +the greatest banking families. In the days of the siege of Shanghai +Chiang, together with his closest colleagues (with the exception of Hu +Han-min and Wang Chying-wei, a leader who will be mentioned later), +decided on the second alternative. Shanghai came into his hands without +a struggle, and the capital of the Shanghai financiers, and soon foreign +capital as well, was placed at his disposal, so that he was able to pay +his troops and finance his administration. At the same time the Russian +advisers were dismissed or executed. + +The decision arrived at by Chiang Kai-shek and his friends did not +remain unopposed, and he parted from the "left group" (1927) which +formed a rival government in Hankow, while Chiang Kai-shek made Nanking +the seat of his government (April 1927). In that year Chiang not only +concluded peace with the financiers and industrialists, but also a sort +of "armistice" with the landowning gentry. "Land reform" still stood on +the party program, but nothing was done, and in this way the confidence +and co-operation of large sections of the gentry was secured. The choice +of Nanking as the new capital pleased both the industrialists and the +agrarians: the great bulk of China's young industries lay in the Yangtze +region, and that region was still the principal one for agricultural +produce; the landowners of the region were also in a better position +with the great market of the capital in their neighbourhood. + +Meanwhile the Nanking government had succeeded in carrying its dealings +with the northern generals to a point at which they were largely +out-manoeuvred and became ready for some sort of collaboration (1928). +There were now four supreme commanders--Chiang Kai-shek, Fêng Yü-hsiang +(the "Christian general"), Yen Hsi-shan, the governor of Shansi, and the +Muslim Li Chung-yen. Naturally this was not a permanent solution; not +only did Chiang Kai-shek's three rivals try to free themselves from his +ever-growing influence and to gain full power themselves, but various +groups under military leadership rose again and again, even in the home +of the Republic, Canton itself. These struggles, which were carried on +more by means of diplomacy and bribery than at arms, lasted until 1936. +Chiang Kai-shek, as by far the most skilful player in this game, and at +the same time the man who had the support of the foreign governments +and of the financiers of Shanghai, gained the victory. China became +unified under his dictatorship. + +As early as 1928, when there seemed a possibility of uniting China, with +the exception of Manchuria, which was dominated by Japan, and when the +European powers began more and more to support Chiang Kai-shek, Japan +felt that her interests in North China were threatened, and landed +troops in Shantung. There was hard fighting on May 3rd, 1928. General +Chang Tso-lin, in Manchuria, who was allied to Japan, endeavoured to +secure a cessation of hostilities, but he fell victim to a Japanese +assassin; his place was taken by his son, Chang Hsüeh-liang, who pursued +an anti-Japanese policy. The Japanese recognized, however, that in view +of the international situation the time had not yet come for +intervention in North China. In 1929 they withdrew their troops and +concentrated instead on their plans for Manchuria. + +Until the time of the "Manchurian incident" (1931), the Nanking +government steadily grew in strength. It gained the confidence of the +western powers, who proposed to make use of it in opposition to Japan's +policy of expansion in the Pacific sphere. On the strength of this +favourable situation in its foreign relations, the Nanking government +succeeded in getting rid of one after another of the Capitulations. +Above all, the administration of the "Maritime Customs", that is to say +of the collection of duties on imports and exports, was brought under +the control of the Chinese government: until then it had been under +foreign control. Now that China could act with more freedom in the +matter of tariffs, the government had greater financial resources, and +through this and other measures it became financially more independent +of the provinces. It succeeded in building up a small but modern army, +loyal to the government and superior to the still existing provincial +armies. This army gained its military experience in skirmishes with the +Communists and the remaining generals. + +It is true that when in 1931 the Japanese occupied Manchuria, Nanking +was helpless, since Manchuria was only loosely associated with Nanking, +and its governor, Chang Hsüeh-liang, had tried to remain independent of +it. Thus Manchuria was lost almost without a blow. On the other hand, +the fighting with Japan that broke out soon afterwards in Shanghai +brought credit to the young Nanking army, though owing to its numerical +inferiority it was unsuccessful. China protested to the League of +Nations against its loss of Manchuria. The League sent a commission (the +Lytton Commission), which condemned Japan's action, but nothing further +happened, and China indignantly broke away from her association with the +Western powers (1932-1933). In view of the tense European situation +(the beginning of the Hitler era in Germany, and the Italian plans of +expansion), the Western powers did not want to fight Japan on China's +behalf, and without that nothing more could be done. They pursued, +indeed, a policy of playing off Japan against China, in order to keep +those two powers occupied with each other, and so to divert Japan from +Indo-China and the Pacific. + +China had thus to be prepared for being involved one day in a great war +with Japan. Chiang Kai-shek wanted to postpone war as long as possible. +He wanted time to establish his power more thoroughly within the +country, and to strengthen his army. In regard to external relations, +the great powers would have to decide their attitude sooner or later. +America could not be expected to take up a clear attitude: she was for +peace and commerce, and she made greater profits out of her relations +with Japan than with China; she sent supplies to both (until 1941). On +the other hand, Britain and France were more and more turning away from +Japan, and Russo-Japanese relations were at all times tense. Japan tried +to emerge from her isolation by joining the "axis powers", Germany and +Italy (1936); but it was still doubtful whether the Western powers would +proceed with Russia, and therefore against Japan, or with the Axis, and +therefore in alliance with Japan. + +Japan for her part considered that if she was to raise the standard of +living of her large population and to remain a world power, she must +bring into being her "Greater East Asia", so as to have the needed raw +material sources and export markets in the event of a collision with the +Western powers; in addition to this, she needed a security girdle as +extensive as possible in case of a conflict with Russia. In any case, +"Greater East Asia" must be secured before the European conflict should +break out. + +4 _The Sino-Japanese war_ (1937-1945) + +Accordingly, from 1933 onward Japan followed up her conquest of +Manchuria by bringing her influence to bear in Inner Mongolia and in +North China. She succeeded first, by means of an immense system of +smuggling, currency manipulation, and propaganda, in bringing a number +of Mongol princes over to her side, and then (at the end of 1935) in +establishing a semi-dependent government in North China. Chiang Kai-shek +took no action. + +The signal for the outbreak of war was an "incident" by the Marco Polo +Bridge, south of Peking (July 7th, 1937). The Japanese government +profited by a quite unimportant incident, undoubtedly provoked by the +Japanese, in order to extend its dominion a little further. China still +hesitated; there were negotiations. Japan brought up reinforcements and +put forward demands which China could not be expected to be ready to +fulfil. Japan then occupied Peking and Tientsin and wide regions between +them and south of them. The Chinese soldiers stationed there withdrew +almost without striking a blow, but formed up again and began to offer +resistance. In order to facilitate the planned occupation of North +China, including the province of Shantung, Japan decided on a +diversionary campaign against Shanghai. The Nanking government sent its +best troops to the new front, and held it for nearly three months +against superior forces; but meanwhile the Japanese steadily advanced in +North China. On November 9th Nanking fell into their hands. By the +beginning of January 1938, the province of Shantung had also been +conquered. + +Chiang Kai-shek and his government fled to Ch'ung-k'ing (Chungking), the +most important commercial and financial centre of the interior after +Hankow, which was soon threatened by the Japanese fleet. By means of a +number of landings the Japanese soon conquered the whole coast of China, +so cutting off all supplies to the country; against hard fighting in +some places they pushed inland along the railways and conquered the +whole eastern half of China, the richest and most highly developed part +of the country. Chiang Kai-shek had the support only of the +agriculturally rich province of Szechwan, and of the scarcely developed +provinces surrounding it. Here there was as yet no industry. Everything +in the way of machinery and supplies that could be transported from the +hastily dismantled factories was carried westward. Students and +professors went west with all the contents of their universities, and +worked on in small villages under very difficult conditions--one of the +most memorable achievements of this war for China. But all this was by +no means enough for waging a defensive war against Japan. Even the +famous Burma Road could not save China. + +By 1940-1941 Japan had attained her war aim: China was no longer a +dangerous adversary. She was still able to engage in small-scale +fighting, but could no longer secure any decisive result. Puppet +governments were set up in Peking, Canton, and Nanking, and the Japanese +waited for these governments gradually to induce supporters of Chiang +Kai-shek to come over to their side. Most was expected of Wang +Ching-wei, who headed the new Nanking government. He was one of the +oldest followers of Sun Yat-sen, and was regarded as a democrat. In +1925, after Sun Yat-sen's death, he had been for a time the head of the +Nanking government, and for a short time in 1930 he had led a government +in Peking that was opposed to Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship. Beyond any +question Wang still had many followers, including some in the highest +circles at Chungking, men of eastern China who considered that +collaboration with Japan, especially in the economic field, offered good +prospects. Japan paid lip service to this policy: there was talk of +sister peoples, which could help each other and supply each other's +needs. There was propaganda for a new "Greater East Asian" philosophy, +_Wang-tao_, in accordance with which all the peoples of the East could +live together in peace under a thinly disguised dictatorship. What +actually happened was that everywhere Japanese capitalists established +themselves in the former Chinese industrial plants, bought up land and +securities, and exploited the country for the conduct of their war. + +After the great initial successes of Hitlerite Germany in 1939-1941, +Japan became convinced that the time had come for a decisive blow +against the positions of the Western European powers and the United +States in the Far East. Lightning blows were struck at Hong Kong and +Singapore, at French Indo-China, and at the Netherlands East Indies. The +American navy seemed to have been eliminated by the attack on Pearl +Harbour, and one group of islands after another fell into the hands of +the Japanese. Japan was at the gates of India and Australia. Russia was +carrying on a desperate defensive struggle against the Axis, and there +was no reason to expect any intervention from her in the Far East. +Greater East Asia seemed assured against every danger. + +The situation of Chiang Kai-shek's Chungking government seemed hopeless. +Even the Burma Road was cut, and supplies could only be sent by air; +there was shortage of everything. With immense energy small industries +were begun all over western China, often organized as co-operatives; +roads and railways were built--but with such resources would it ever be +possible to throw the Japanese into the sea? Everything depended on +holding out until a new page was turned in Europe. Infinitely slow +seemed the progress of the first gleams of hope--the steady front in +Burma, the reconquest of the first groups of inlands; the first bomb +attacks on Japan itself. Even in May, 1945, with the war ended in +Europe, there seemed no sign of its ending in the Far East. Then came +the atom bomb, bringing the collapse of Japan; the Japanese armies +receded from China, and suddenly China was free, mistress once more in +her own country as she had not been for decades. + + + +Chapter Twelve + + +PRESENT-DAY CHINA + +1 _The growth of communism_ + +In order to understand today's China, we have to go back in time to +report events which were cut short or left out of our earlier discussion +in order to present them in the context of this chapter. + +Although socialism and communism had been known in China long ago, this +line of development of Western philosophy had interested Chinese +intellectuals much less than liberalistic, democratic Western ideas. It +was widely believed that communism had no real prospects for China, as a +dictatorship of the proletariat seemed to be relevant only in a highly +industrialized and not in an agrarian society. Thus, in its beginning +the "Movement of May Fourth" of 1919 had Western ideological traits but +was not communistic. This changed with the success of communism in +Russia and with the theoretical writings of Lenin. Here it was shown +that communist theories could be applied to a country similar to China +in its level of development. Already from 1919 on, some of the leaders +of the Movement turned towards communism: the National University of +Peking became the first centre of this movement, and Ch'en Tu-hsiu, then +dean of the College of Letters, from 1920 on became one of its leaders. +Hu Shih did not move to the left with this group; he remained a liberal. +But another well-known writer, Lu Hsün (1881-1936), while following Hu +Shih in the "Literary Revolution," identified politically with Ch'en. +There was still another man, the Director of the University Library, Li +Ta-chao, who turned towards communism. With him we find one of his +employees in the Library, Mao Tse-tung. In fact, the nucleus of the +Communist Party, which was officially created as late as 1921, was a +student organization including some professors in Peking. On the other +hand, a student group in Paris had also learned about communism and had +organized; the leaders of this group were Chou En-lai and Li Li-san. A +little later, a third group organized in Germany; Chu Tê belonged to +this group. The leadership of Communist China since 1949 has been in the +hands of men of these three former student groups. + +After 1920, Sun Yat-sen, too, became interested in the developments in +Soviet Russia. Yet, he never actually became a communist; his belief +that the soil should belong to the tiller cannot really be combined with +communism, which advocates the abolition of individual land-holdings. +Yet, Soviet Russia found it useful to help Sun Yat-sen and advised the +Chinese Communist Party to collaborate with the KMT (Kuomintang). This +collaboration, not always easy, continued until the fall of Shanghai in +1927. + +In the meantime, Mao Tse-tung had given up his studies in Peking and had +returned to his home in Hunan. Here, he organized his countrymen, the +farmers of Hunan. It is said that at the verge of the northern +expedition of Chiang Kai-shek, Mao's adherents in Hunan already numbered +in the millions; this made the quick and smooth advance of the +communist-advised armies of Chiang Kai-shek possible. Mao developed his +ideas in written form in 1927; he showed that communism in China could +be successful only if it was based upon farmers. Because of this +unorthodox attitude, he was for years severely attacked as a +deviationist. + +When Chiang Kai-shek separated from the KMT in 1927, the main body of +the KMT remained in Hankow as the legal government. But now, while +Chiang Kai-shek executed all leftists, union leaders, and communists who +fell into his hands, tensions in Hankow increased between the Chinese +Communist Party and the rest of the KMT. Finally, the KMT turned against +the communists and reunited with Chiang Kai-shek. The remaining +communists retreated to the Hunan-Kiangsi border area, the centre of +Mao's activities; even the orthodox communist wing, which had condemned +Mao, now had to come to him for protection from the KMT. A small +communist state began to develop in Kiangsi, in spite of pressure and, +later, attacks of the KMT against them. By 1934, this pressure became so +strong that Kiangsi had to be abandoned, and in the epic "Long March" +the rest of the communists and their army fought their way through all +of western and north-western China into the sparsely inhabited, +underdeveloped northern part of Shensi, where a new socialistic state +was created with Yen-an as its capital. + +After the fall of the communist enclave in Kiangsi, the prospects for +the Nationalist regime were bright; indeed, the unification of China was +almost achieved. At this moment a new Japanese invasion threatened and +demanded the full attention of the regime. Thus, in spite of talk about +land reform and other reforms which might have led to a liberalization +of the government, no attention was given to internal and social +problems except to the suppression of communist thought. Although all +leftist publications were prohibited, most historians and sociologists +succeeded in writing Marxist books without using Marxist terminology, so +that they escaped Chiang's censors. These publications contributed +greatly to preparing China's intellectuals and youth for communism. + +When the Japanese War began, the communists in Yen-an and the +Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek agreed to co-operate against the +invaders. Yet, each side remembered its experiences in 1927 and +distrusted the other. Chiang's resistance against the invaders became +less effective after the Japanese occupied all of China's ports; +supplies could reach China only in small quantities by airlift or via +the Burma Road. There was also the belief that Japan could be defeated +only by an attack on Japan itself and that this would have to be +undertaken by the Western powers, not by China. The communists, on their +side, set up a guerrilla organization behind the Japanese lines, so +that, although the Japanese controlled the cities and the lines of +communication, they had little control over the countryside. The +communists also attempted to infiltrate the area held by the +Nationalists, who in turn were interested in preventing the communists +from becoming too strong; so, Nationalist troops guarded also the +borders of communist territory. + +American politicians and military advisers were divided in their +opinions. Although they recognized the internal weakness of the +Nationalist government, the fighting between cliques within the +government, and the ever-increasing corruption, some advocated more help +to the Nationalists and a firm attitude against the communists. Others, +influenced by impressions gained during visits to Yen-an, and believing +in the possibility of honest co-operation between a communist regime and +any other, as Roosevelt did, attempted to effect a coalition of the +Nationalists with the communists. + +At the end of the war, when the Nationalist government took over the +administration, it lacked popular support in the areas liberated from +the Japanese. Farmers who had been given land by the communists, or who +had been promised it, were afraid that their former landlords, whether +they had remained to collaborate with the Japanese or had fled to West +China, would regain control of the land. Workers hoped for new social +legislation and rights. Businessmen and industrialists were faced with +destroyed factories, worn-out or antiquated equipment, and an unchecked +inflation which induced them to shift their accounts into foreign banks +or to favour short-term gains rather than long-term investments. As in +all countries which have suffered from a long war and an occupation, +the youth believed that the old regime had been to blame, and saw +promise and hope on the political left. And, finally, the Nationalist +soldiers, most of whom had been separated for years from their homes and +families, were not willing to fight other Chinese in the civil war now +well under way; they wanted to go home and start a new life. The +communists, however, were now well organized militarily and well +equipped with arms surrendered by the Japanese to the Soviet armies as +well as with arms and ammunition sold to them by KMT soldiers; moreover, +they were constantly strengthened by deserters from the KMT. The civil +war witnessed a steady retreat by the KMT armies, which resisted only +sporadically. By the end of 1948, most of mainland China was in the +hands of the communists, who established their new capital in Peking. + +2 _Nationalist China in Taiwan_ + +The Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan with those soldiers who +remained loyal. This island was returned to China after the defeat of +Japan, though final disposition of its status had not yet been +determined. + +Taiwan's original population had been made up of more than a dozen +tribes who are probably distant relatives of tribes in the Philippines. +These are Taiwan's "aborigines," altogether about 200,000 people in +1948. + +At about the time of the Sung dynasty, Chinese began to establish +outposts on the island; these developed into regular agricultural +settlements toward the end of the Ming dynasty. Immigration increased in +the eighteenth and especially the nineteenth centuries. These Chinese +immigrants and their descendants are the "Taiwanese," Taiwan's main +population of about eight million people as of 1948. + +Taiwan was at first a part of the province of Fukien, whence most of its +Chinese settlers came; there was also a minority of Hakka, Chinese from +Kuangtung province. When Taiwan was ceded to Japan, it was still a +colonial area with much lawlessness and disorder, but with a number of +flourishing towns and a growing population. The Japanese, who sent +administrators but no settlers, established law and order, protected the +aborigines from land-hungry Chinese settlers, and attempted to abolish +headhunting by the aborigines and to raise the cultural level in +general. They built a road and railway system and strongly stressed the +production of sugar cane and rice. During the Second World War, the +island suffered from air attacks and from the inability of the Japanese +to protect its industries. + +After Chiang Kai-shek and the remainder of his army and of his +government officials arrived in Taiwan, they were followed by others +fleeing from the communist regime, mainly from Chekiang, Kiangsu, and +the northern provinces of the mainland. Eventually, there were on Taiwan +about two million of these "mainlanders," as they have sometimes been +called. + +When the Chinese Nationalists took over from the Japanese, they assumed +all the leading positions in the government. The Taiwanese nationals who +had opposed the Japanese were disappointed; for their part, the +Nationalists felt threatened because of their minority position. The +next years, especially up to 1952, were characterized by terror and +bloodshed. Tensions persisted for many years, but have lessened since +about 1960. + +The new government of Taiwan resembled China's pre-war government under +Chiang Kai-shek. First, to maintain his claim to the legitimate rule of +all of China, Chiang retained--and controlled through his party, the +KMT--his former government organization, complete with cabinet +ministers, administrators, and elected parliament, under the name +"Central Government of China." Secondly, the actual government of +Taiwan, which he considered one of China's provinces, was organized as +the "Provincial Government of Taiwan," whose leading positions were at +first in the hands of KMT mainlanders. There have since been elections +for the provincial assembly, for local government councils and boards, +and for various provincial and local positions. Thirdly, the military +forces were organized under the leadership and command of mainlanders. +And finally, the education system was set up in accordance with former +mainland practices by mainland specialists. However, evolutionary +changes soon occurred. + +The government's aim was to make Mandarin Chinese the language of all +Chinese in Taiwan, as it had been in mainland China long before the War, +and to weaken the Taiwanese dialects. Soon almost every child had a +minimum of six years of education (increased in 1968 to nine years), +with Mandarin Chinese as the medium of instruction. In the beginning few +Taiwanese qualified as teachers because, under Japanese rule, Japanese +had been the medium of instruction. As the children of Taiwanese and +mainland families went to school together, the Taiwanese children +quickly learned Mandarin, while most mainland children became familiar +with the Taiwan dialect. For the generation in school today, the +difference between mainlander and Taiwanese has lost its importance. At +the same time, more teachers of Taiwanese origin, but with modern +training, have begun to fill first the ranks of elementary, later of +high-school, and now even of university instructors, so that the end of +mainland predominance in the educational system is foreseeable. + +The country is still ruled by the KMT, but although at first hardly any +Taiwanese belonged to the Party, many of the elective jobs and almost +all positions in the provincial government are at present (1969) in the +hands of Taiwanese independents, or KMT members, more of whom are +entering the central government as well. Because military service is +compulsory, the majority of common soldiers are Taiwanese: as career +officers grow older and their sons show little interest in an army +career, more Taiwan-Chinese are occupying higher army positions. Foreign +policy and major political decisions still lie in the hands of mainland +Chinese, but economic power, once monopolized by them, is now held by +Taiwan-Chinese. + +This shift gained impetus with the end of American economic aid, which +had tied local businessmen to American industry and thus worked to the +advantage of mainland Chinese, for these had contacts in the United +States, whereas the Taiwan-Chinese had contacts only in Japan. After the +termination of American economic aid, Taiwanese trade with Japan, the +Philippines, and Korea grew in importance and with it the economic +strength of Taiwan-Chinese businessmen. After 1964, Taiwan became a +strong competitor of Hong Kong and Japan in some export industries, such +as electronics and textiles. We can regard Taiwan from 1964 on as +occupying the "takeoff" stage, to use Rostow's terminology--a stage of +rapid development of new, principally light and consumer, industries. +There has been a rapid rise of industrial towns around the major cities, +and there are already many factories in the countryside, even in some +villages. Electrification is essentially completed, and heavy +industries, such as fertilizer and assembly plants and oil refineries, +now exist. + +This rapid industrialization was accompanied by an unusually fast +development of agriculture. A land-reform program limited land +ownership, reduced rents, and redistributed formerly Japanese-owned +land. This was the program that the Nationalist government had attempted +unsuccessfully to enforce in liberated China after the Pacific War. It +is well known that the abolition of landlordism and the distribution of +land to small farmers do not in themselves improve or enlarge +production. The Joint Council on Rural Reconstruction, on which American +advisers worked with Chinese specialists to devise a system comparable +to American agricultural extension services but possessing added +elements of community development, introduced better seeds, more and +better fertilizers, and numerous other innovations which the farmers +quickly adopted, with the result that the island became +self-supporting, in spite of a steadily growing population (thirteen +million in 1968). + +At the same time, the government succeeded in stabilizing the currency +and in eliminating corruption, thus re-establishing public confidence +and security. Good incomes from farming as well as from industries were +invested on the island instead of flowing into foreign banks. In +addition, the population had enough surplus money to buy the products of +the new domestic industries as these appeared. Thus, the +industrialization of Taiwan may be called "industrialization without +tears," without the suffering, that is, of proletarian masses who +produce objects which they cannot afford for themselves. Today, even +lower middle-class families have television consoles which cost the +equivalent of US $200; they own electric fans and radios; they are +buying Taiwan-produced refrigerators and air conditioners; and more and +more think of buying Taiwan-assembled cars. They encourage their +children to finish high school and to attend college if at all possible; +competition for admission is very strong in spite of the continuous +building of new schools and universities. Education to the level of the +B.A. is of good quality, but for most graduate study students are still +sent abroad. Taiwan complains about the "brain drain," as about 93 per +cent of its students who go overseas do not return, but in many fields +it has sufficient trained manpower to continue its development, and in +any case there would not be enough jobs available if all the students +returned. Most of these expatriates would be available to develop +mainland China, if conditions there were to change in a way that would +make them compatible with the values with which these expatriates grew +up on Taiwan, or with the Western democratic values which they absorbed +abroad. + +Chiang Kai-shek's government still hopes that one day its people will +return to the mainland. This hope has changed from hope of victory in a +civil war to hope of revolutionary developments within Communist China +which might lead to the creation of a more liberal government in which +men with KMT loyalties could find a place. Because they are Chinese, the +present government and, it is believed, the majority of the people, +consider themselves a part of China from which they are temporarily +separated. Therefore they reject the idea, proposed by some American +politicians, that Taiwan should become an independent state. There are, +mainly in the United States and Japan, groups of Taiwan-Chinese who +favour an independent Taiwan, which naturally would be close to Japan +politically and economically. One may agree with their belief that +Taiwan, now larger than many European countries, could exist and +flourish as an independent country; yet few Chinese will wish to divorce +themselves from the world's largest society. + +3 _Communist China_ + +Both Taiwan and mainland China have developed extremely quickly. The +reasons do not seem to lie solely in the form of government, for the +pre-conditions for a "takeoff" existed in China as early as the 1920's, +if not earlier. That is, the quick development of China could have +started forty years ago but was prevented, primarily for political +reasons. One of the main pre-conditions for quick development is that a +large part of the population is inured to hard and repetitive work. The +Chinese farmer was accustomed to such work; he put more time and energy +into his land than any other farmer. He and his fellows were the +industrial workers of the future: reliable, hard-working, tractable, +intelligent. To train them was easy, and absenteeism was never a serious +problem, as it is in other developing nations. Another pre-condition is +the existence of sufficient trained people to manage industry. Forty +years ago China had enough such men to start modernization; foreign +assistance would have been necessary in some fields, but only briefly. + +Another requirement (at least in the period before radio and television) +is general literacy. Meaningful statistical data on literacy in China +before 1937 are lacking. Some authors remark that before 1800 probably +all upper-class sons and most daughters were educated, and that men in +the middle and even in the lower classes often had some degree of +literacy. In this context "educated" means that these persons could read +classical poetry and essays written in literary Chinese, which was not +the language of daily conversation. "Literacy," however, might mean only +that a person could read and write some 600 characters, enough to +conduct a business and to read simple stories. Although newspapers today +have a stock of about 6,000 characters, only some 600 characters are +commonly used, and a farmer or worker can manage well with a knowledge +of about 100 characters. Statements to the effect that in 1935 some 70 +per cent of all men and 95 per cent of all women were illiterate must +include the last category in these figures. In any case, the literacy +program of the Nationalist government had penetrated the countryside and +had reached even outlying villages before the Pacific War. + +The transportation system in China before the war was not highly +developed, but numerous railroads connecting the main industrial centers +did exist, and bus and truck services connected small towns with the +larger centers. What were missing in the pre-war years were laws to +protect the investor, efficient credit facilities, an insurance system +supported by law, and a modern tax structure. In addition, the monetary +system was inflation-prone. Although sufficient capital probably could +have been mobilized within the country, the available resources either +went into foreign banks or were invested in enterprises providing a +quick return. + +The failure to capitalize on existing means of development before the +War resulted from the chronic unrest caused by warlordism, +revolutionaries and foreign invaders, which occupied the energies of the +Nationalist government from its establishment to its fall. Once a stable +government free from internal troubles arose, national development, +whether private or socialist, could proceed at a rapid pace. + +Thus, the development of Communist China is not a miracle, possible only +because of its form of government. What is unusual about Communist China +is the fact that it is the only nation possessing a highly developed +culture of its own to have jettisoned it in favour of a foreign one. What +missionaries had dreamed of for centuries and knew they would never +accomplish, Mao Tse-tung achieved; he imposed an ideology created by +Europeans and understandable only in the context of Central Europe in +the nineteenth century. How long his success will last is uncertain. One +school of analysts believes that the friction between Soviet Russia and +Communist China indicates that China's communism has become Chinese. +These men point out that Communist Chinese practices are often direct +continuations of earlier Chinese practices, customs, and attitudes. And +they predict that this trend will continue, resulting in a form of +socialism or communism distinctly different from that found in any other +country. Another school, however, believes that communism precedes +"Sinism," and that the regime will slowly eliminate traits which once +were typical of China and replace them with institutions developed out +of Marxist thinking. In any case, for the present, although the +Communist government's aim is to impose communist thought and +institutions in the country, typically Chinese traits are still +omnipresent. + +Soon after the establishment of the Peking regime, a pact of friendship +and alliance with the Soviet Union was concluded (February 1950), and +Soviet specialists and civil and military products poured into China to +speed its development. China had to pay for this assistance as well as +for the loans it received from Russia, but the application of Russian +experience, often involving the duplication of whole factories, was +successful. In a few years, China developed its heavy industry, just as +Russia had done. It should not be forgotten that Manchuria, as well as +other parts of China, had modern heavy industries long before 1949. The +Manchurian factories ceased production because, when the Russians +invaded Manchuria at the end of the war, they removed the machinery to +Russia. + +Russian aid to Communist China continued to 1960. Its termination slowed +development briefly but was not disastrous. Russian assistance was a +"shot in the arm," as stimulating and about as lasting as American aid +to Taiwan or to European countries. The stress laid upon heavy industry, +in imitation of Russia, increased China's military strength quickly, but +the consumer had to wait for goods which would make his life more +enjoyable. One cause of friction in China today concerns the relative +desirability of heavy industry versus consumer industry, a problem which +arose in Russia after the death of Stalin. + +China's military strength was first demonstrated in the Korean War when +Chinese armies entered Korea (October 1950). Their successes contributed +to the prestige of the Peking regime at home and abroad, but they also +foreshadowed a conflict with Soviet Russia, which regarded North Korea +as lying within its own sphere of influence. + +In the same year, China invaded and conquered Tibet. Tibet, under Manchu +rule until 1911, had achieved a certain degree of independence +thereafter: no republican Chinese regime ever ruled Lhasa. The military +conquest of Tibet is regarded by many as an act of Chinese imperialism, +or colonialism, as the Tibetans certainly did not want to belong to +China or be forced to change their traditional form of government. +Having regarded themselves as subjects of the Manchu but not of the +Chinese, they rose against the communist rulers in March 1959, but +without success. + +Chinese control of Tibet, involving the construction of numerous roads, +airstrips, and military installations, as well as differences concerning +the international border, led in 1959 to conflicts with India, a country +which had previously sided with the new China in international affairs. +Indeed, the borders were uncertain and looked different depending on +whether one used Manchu or Indian maps. China's other border problem was +with Burma. Early in 1960 the two countries concluded a border agreement +which ended disputes dating from British colonial times. + +Very early in its existence Communist China assumed control of Sinkiang, +Chinese Central Asia, a large area originally inhabited by Turkish and +Mongolian tribes and states, later conquered by the Manchu, and then +integrated into China in the early nineteenth century. The communist +action was to be expected, although after the Revolution of 1911 Chinese +rule over this area had been spotty, and during the Pacific War some +Soviet-inspired hope had existed that Sinkiang might gain independence, +following the example of Outer Mongolia, another country which had been +attached to the Manchu until 1911 and which, with Russian assistance, +had gained its independence from China. Sinkiang is of great importance +to Communist China as the site of large sources of oil and of atomic +industries and testing grounds. The government has stimulated and often +forced Chinese immigration into Sinkiang, so that the erstwhile Turkish +and Mongolian majorities have become minorities, envious of their ethnic +brothers in Soviet Central Asia who enjoy a much higher standard of +living and more freedom. + +Inner Mongolia had a brief dream of independence under Japanese +protection during the war. But the majority of the population were +Chinese, and already before the Pacific War, the country had been +divided into three Chinese provinces, of which the Chinese Communists +gained control without delay. + +In general, when the Chinese Communists discuss territorial claims, they +appear to seek the restoration of borders that China claimed in the +eighteenth century. Thus, they make occasional remarks about the Hi area +and parts of Eastern Siberia, which the Manchu either lost to the +Russians or claimed as their territory. North Vietnam is probably aware +that Imperial China exercised political rights over Tongking and Annam +(the present-day North and part of South Vietnam). And, treaty or no, +the Sino-Burmese question may be reopened one day, for Burma was +semi-dependent on China under the Manchu. + +The build-up of heavy industry enabled China to conduct an aggressive +policy towards the countries surrounding her, but industrialization had +to be paid for, and, as in other countries, it was basically agriculture +that had to create the necessary capital. Therefore, in June 1950 a +land-reform law was promulgated. By October 1952 it had been implemented +at an estimated cost of two million human lives: the landlords. The next +step, socialization of the land, began in 1953. + +The co-operative farms were supposed to achieve higher production than +small individual farms. It may be that any farmer, but particularly the +Chinese, is emotionally involved in his crop, in contrast to the +industrial worker, who often is alienated from the product he makes. +Thus the farmer is unwilling to put unlimited energy and time into +working on a farm that does not belong to him. But it may also be that +the application of principles of industrial operation to agriculture +fails because emergencies often occur in farming and are followed by +periods of leisure, whereas in industry steady work is possible. + +In any case, in 1956 strains began to appear in China's economy. In +early 1958 the "Great Leap Forward" was promoted in an attempt to speed +production in all sectors. Soon after, the first communes were created, +against the advise of Russian specialists. The objective of the communes +seems to have been not only the creation of a new organizational form +which would allow the government to exercise more pressure upon farmers +to increase production, but also the correlation of labor and other +needs of industry with agriculture. The communes may have represented an +attempt to set up an organization which could function independently, +even in the event of a governmental breakdown in wartime. At the same +time, the decentralization of industries began and a people's militia +was created. The "back-yard furnaces," which produced high-cost iron of +low quality, seem to have had a similar purpose: to teach citizens how +to produce iron for armaments in case of war and enemy occupation, when +only guerrilla resistance would be possible. In the same year, +aggressive actions against offshore, Nationalist-held islands increased. +China may have believed that war with the United States was imminent. +Perhaps as a result of Russian talks with China, a detente followed in +1959, but so too did increased tension between Russia and China, while +the results of the Great Leap and its policies proved catastrophic. The +years 1961-64 provided a needed respite from the failures of the Great +Leap. Farmers regained limited rights to income from private efforts, +and improved farm techniques such as better seed and the use of +fertilizer began to produce results. China can now feed her population +in normal years. + +Chinese leaders realize that an improved level of living is difficult to +attain while the birth rate remains high. They have hesitated to adopt a +family-planning policy, which would fly in the face of Marxist doctrine, +although for a short period family planning was openly recommended. +Their most efficient method of limiting the birth rate has been to +recommend postponement of marriage. + +First the limitation of private enterprise and business and then the +nationalization of all important businesses following the completion of +land reform deprived many employers as well as small shopkeepers of an +occupation. But the new industries could not absorb all of the labor +that suddenly became available. When rural youth inundated the cities in +search of employment, the government returned the excess urban +population to die countryside and recruited students and other urban +youth to work on farms. Reeducation camps in outlying areas also +provided cheap farm labor. + +The problem facing China or any nation that modernizes and +industrializes in the twentieth century can be simply stated. +Nineteenth-century industry needed large masses of workers which only +the rural areas could supply; and, with the development of farming +methods, the countryside could afford to send its youth to the cities. +Twentieth-century industry, on the other hand, needs technicians and +highly qualified personnel, often with college degrees, but few +unskilled workers. China has traditionally employed human labor where +machines would have been cheaper and more efficient, simply because +labor was available and capital was not. But since, with the growth of +modern industry and modern farming, the problem will arise again, the +policy of employing urban youth on farms is shortsighted. + +The labor force also increased as a result of the "liberation" of women, +in which the marriage law of April 1950 was the first step. Nationalist +China had earlier created a modern and liberal marriage law; moreover, +women were never the slaves that they have sometimes been painted. In +many parts of China, long before the Pacific War, women worked in the +fields with their husbands. Elsewhere they worked in secondary +agricultural industries (weaving, preparation of food conserves, home +industries, and even textile factories) and provided supplementary +income for their families. All that "liberation" in 1950 really meant +was that women had to work a full day as their husbands did, and had, in +addition, to do house work and care for their children much as before. +The new marriage law did, indeed, make both partners equal; it also made +it easier for men to divorce their wives, political incompatibility +becoming a ground for divorce. + +The ideological justification for a new marriage law was the +desirability of destroying the traditional Chinese family and its +economic basis because a close family, and all the more an extended +family or a clan, could obviously serve as a center of resistance. Land +collectivization and the nationalization of business destroyed the +economic basis of families. The "liberation" of women brought them out +of the house and made it possible for the government to exploit +dissension between husband and wife, thereby increasing its control over +the family. Finally, the new education system, which indoctrinated all +children from nursery to the end of college, separated children from +parents, thus undermining parental control and enabling the state to +intimidate parents by encouraging their children to denounce their +"deviations." Sporadic efforts to dissolve the family completely by +separating women from men in communes--recalling an attempt made almost +a century earlier by the T'ai-p'ing--were unsuccessful. + +The best formula for a revolution seems to involve turning youth against +its elders, rather than turning one class against another. Not all +societies have a class system so clear-cut that class antagonism is +effective. On the other hand, Chinese youth, in its opposition to the +"establishment," to conservatism, to traditional religion, to blind +emulation of Western customs and institutions, to the traditional family +structure and the position of women, had hopes that communism would +eradicate the specific "evil" which each individual wanted abolished. +Mao and his followers had once been such rebellious youths, but by the +1960's they were mostly old men and a new youth had appeared, a +generation of revolutionaries for whom the "old regime" was dim history, +not reality. In the struggle between Mao and Liu Shao-ch'i, which became +increasingly apparent in 1966, Mao tried to retain his power by +mobilizing young people as "Red Guards" and by inciting them to make the +"Great Proletarian Revolution." The motives behind the struggle are +diverse. It is on the one hand a conflict of persons contending for +power, but there are also disagreements over theory: for example, should +China's present generation toil to make possible a better life only for +the next generation, or should it enjoy the fruits of its labor, after +its many years of suffering? Mao opposes such "weakening" and favours a +new generation willing to endure hardships, as he did in his youth. +There is also a question whether the Chinese Communist Party under the +banner of Maoism should replace the Russian party, establish Mao as the +fourth founder after Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, and become the leader of +world communism, or whether it should collaborate with the Russian +party, at least temporarily, and thus ensure China Russian support. +When, however, Chinese youth was summoned to take up the fight for Mao +and his group, forces were loosed which could not be controlled. +Following independent action by youth groups similar in nature to youth +revolts in Western countries, the power and prestige of older leaders +suffered. Even now (1969) it is impossible to re-establish unity and +order; the Mao and Liu groups still oppose each other, and local +factions have arisen. Violent confrontations, often resulting in +hundreds of deaths, occur in many provinces. The regime is no longer so +strong and unified as it was before 1966, although its end is not in +sight. Quite possibly far-reaching changes may occur in the future. + +Three factors will probably influence the future of China. First, the +emergence of neo-communism, as in Czechoslovakia in 1968, in an attempt +to soften traditional communist practice. Second, the outcome of the war +in Vietnam. Will China be able to continue its eighteenth-century dream +of direct or indirect domination of South-east Asia? Will North Vietnam +detach itself from China and attach itself more closely to Russia? Will +Russia and China continue to create separate spheres of influence in +Asia, Africa, and South America? The first factor depends on +developments inside China, the second on events outside, and at least in +part on decisions in the United States, Japan, and Europe. + +The third factor has to do with human nature. One may justifiably ask +whether the change in human personality which Chinese communism has +attempted to achieve is possible, let alone desirable. Studies of +animals and of human beings have demonstrated a tendency to identify +with a territory, with property, and with kin. Can the Chinese eradicate +this tendency? The Chinese have been family-centered and accustomed to +subordinating their individual inclinations to the requirements of +family and neighborhood. But beyond these established frameworks they +have been individualistic and highly idiosyncratic at all times. Under +the communist regime, however, the government is omnipresent, and people +must toe the official line. One senses the tragedy that affects +well-known scholars, writers and poets, who must degrade themselves, +their work, their past and their families in order to survive. They may +hope for comprehension of their actions, but nonetheless they must +suffer shame. Will the present government change the minds of these men +and eradicate their feelings? + +Communist China has made great progress, no doubt. Soon it may equal +other developed nations. But its progress has been achieved at an +unnecessary cost in human lives and happiness. + +That the regime is no longer so strong and unified as it was before 1966 +does not mean that its end is in sight. Far-reaching changes may occur +in the near future. Public opinion is impressed with mainland China's +progress, as the world usually is with strong nations. And public +opinion is still unimpressed by the achievements of Taiwan and has +hardly begun to change its attitude toward the government of the +"Republic of China." To the historian and the sociologist, the +experience of Taiwan indicates that China, if left alone and freed from +ideological pressures, could industrialize more quickly than any other +presently underdeveloped nation. Taiwan offers a model with which to +compare mainland China. + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +The following notes and references are intended to help the interested +reader. They draw his attention to some more specialized literature in +English, and occasionally in French and German. They also indicate for +the more advanced reader the sources for some of the interpretations of +historical events. As such sources are most often written in Chinese or +Japanese and, therefore, inaccessible to most readers, only brief hints +and not full bibliographical data are given. The specialists know the +names and can easily find details in the standard bibliographies. The +general reader will profit most from the bibliography on Chinese history +published each year in the _Journal of Asian Studies_. These Notes do +not mention the original Chinese sources which are the factual basis of +this book. + +_Chapter One_ + +p. 7: Reference is made here to the _T'ung-chien kang-mu_ and its +translation by de Mailla (1777-85). Criticism by O. Franke, Ku +Chieh-kang and his school, also by G. Haloun. + +p. 8: For the chronology, I rely here upon Ijima Tadao and my own +research. Excavations at Chou-k'ou-tien still continue and my account +should be taken as very preliminary. An earlier analysis is given by E. +von Eickstedt (_Rassendynamik von Ostasien_, Berlin 1944). For the +following periods, the best general study is still J.G. Andersson, +_Researches into the Prehistory of the Chinese_, Stockholm 1943. A great +number of new findings has been made recently, but no comprehensive +analysis in a Western language is available. + +p. 9: Comparison with Ainu has been made by Weidenreich. The theory of +desiccation of Asia is not the Huntington theory, but I rely here upon +arguments by J.G. Andersson and Sven Hedin. + +p. 10. The earlier theories of R. Heine-Geldern have been used here. + +p. 11: This is a summary of my own theories. Concerning the Tungus +tribes, K. Jettmar (_Wiener Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte_, vol. 9, +1952, p. 484f and later studies) has proposed a more refined theory; +other parts of the theory, as far as it is concerned with conditions in +Central Asia, have been modified by F. Kussmaul (in: _Tribus_, vol. +1952-3, pp. 305-60). Archaeological data from Central Asia have been +analysed again by K. Jettmar (in: _The Museum of Far Eastern +Antiquities, Bulletin_ No. 23, 1951). The discussion on domestication of +large animals relies on the studies by C.O. Sauer, H. von Wissmann, +Menghin, Amschler, Flohr and, most recently, F. Han[vc]ar (in: +_Saeculum_, vol. 10, 1959, pp. 21-37 with further literature), and also +on my own research. + +p. 12: An analysis of the situation in the South according to Western +and Chinese studies is found in H.J. Wiens, _China's March toward the +Tropics_, Hamden 1954. Much further work is now published by Ling +Shun-sheng, Rui Yi-fu and other anthropologists in Taipei. The best +analysis of denshiring in the Far East is still the book by K.J. Pelzer, +_Population and Land Utilization_, New York 1941. The anthropological +theories on this page are my own, influenced by ideas of R. +Heine-Geldern and Gordon Luce. + +p. 14: Sociological theory, as developed by R. Thurnwald and others, has +been used as a theoretical tool here, together with observations by A. +Credner and H. Bernatzik. Concerning rice in Yang-shao see R. +Heine-Geldern in _Anthropos_, vol. 27, p. 595. + +p. 15: Wu Chin-ting defended the local origin of Yang-shao; T.J. Arne, +J.G. Andersson and many others suggested Western influences. Most +recently R. Heine-Geldern elaborated this theory. The allusion to +Indo-Europeans refers to the studies by G. Haloun and others concerning +the Ta-Hsia, the later Yüeh-chih, and the Tocharian problem. + +p. 16: R. Heine-Geldern proposed a "Pontic migration". Yin Huan-chang +discussed most recently Lung-shan culture and the mound-dwellers. + +p. 17: The original _Chu-shu chi-nien_ version of the stories about Yao +has been accepted here, together with my own research and the studies by +B. Karlgren, M. Loehr, G. Haloun, E.H. Minns and others concerning the +origin and early distribution of bronze and the animal style. Smith +families or tribes are well known from Central Asia, but also from India +and Africa (see W. Ruben, _Eisenschmiede und Dämonen in Indien_, Leiden +1939, for general discussion).--For a discussion of the Hsia see E. +Erkes. + +_Chapter Two_ + +p. 19: The discussion in this chapter relies mainly upon the Anyang +excavation reports and the studies by Tung Tso-pin and, most strongly, +Ch'en Meng-chia. In English, the best work is still H.G. Creel, _The +Birth of China_, London 1936 and his more specialized _Studies in Early +Chinese Culture_, Baltimore 1937. + +p. 20: The possibility of a "megalithic" culture in the Far East has +often been discussed, by O. Menghin, R. Heine-Geldern, Cheng Tê-k'un, +Ling Shun-sheng and others. Megaliths occur mainly in South-East Asia, +southern China, Korea and Japan.--Teng Ch'u-min and others believe that +silk existed already in the time of Yang-shao. + +p. 21: Kuo Mo-jo believes, that the Shang already used a real plough +drawn by animals. The main discussion on ploughs in China is by Hsü +Chung-shu; for general anthropological discussion see E. Werth and H. +Kothe. + +p. 22: For the discussion of the T'ao-t'ieh see the research by B. +Karlgren and C. Hentze. + +p. 23: I follow here mainly Ch'en Meng-chia, but work by B. Schindler, +C. Hentze, H. Maspero and also my own research has been considered. + +p. 24: I am accepting here a narrow definition of feudalism (see my +_Conquerors and Rulers_, Leiden 1952).--The division of armies into +"right" and "left" is interesting in the light of the theories +concerning the importance of systems of orientation (Fr. Rock and +others). + +p. 25: Here, the work by W. Koppers, O. Spengler, F. Han[vc]ar, V.G. +Childe and many others, concerning the domestication of the horse and +the introduction of the war-chariot in general, and work by Shih +Chang-ju, Ch'en Meng-chia, O. Maenchen, Uchida Gimpu and others +concerning horses, riding and chariots in China has been used, in +addition to my own research. + +p. 26: Concerning the wild animals, I have relied upon Ch'en Meng-chia, +Hsü Chung-shu and Tung Tso-pin.--The discussion as to whether there was +a period of "slave society" (as postulated by Marxist theory) in China, +and when it flourished, is still going on under the leadership of Kuo +Mo-jo and his group. I prefer to differentiate between slaves and serfs, +and relied for factual data upon texts from oracle bones, not upon +historical texts.--The problem of Shang chronology is still not solved, +in spite of extensive work by Liu Ch'ao-yang, Tung Tso-pin and many +Japanese and Western scholars. The old chronology, however, seems to be +rejected by most scholars now. + +_Chapter Three_ + +p. 29: Discussing the early script and language, I refer to the great +number of unidentified Shang characters and, especially, to the +composite characters which have been mentioned often by C. Hentze in his +research; on the other hand, the original language of the Chou may have +been different from classical Chinese, if we can judge from the form of +the names of the earliest Chou ancestors. Problems of substrata +languages enter at this stage. Our first understanding of Chou language +and dialects seems to come through the method applied by P. Serruys, +rather than through the more generally accepted theories and methods of +B. Karlgren and his school. + +p. 30: I reject here the statement of classical texts that the last +Shang ruler was unworthy, and accept the new interpretation of Ch'en +Meng-chia which is based upon oracle bone texts,--The most recent +general study on feudalism, and on feudalism in China, is in R. +Coulborn, _Feudalism in History_, Princeton 1956. Stimulating, but in +parts antiquated, is M. Granet, _La Féodalité Chinoise_, Oslo 1952. I +rely here on my own research. The instalment procedure has been +described by H. Maspero and Ch'i Sz[)u]-ho. + +p. 31: The interpretation of land-holding and clans follows my own +research which is influenced by Niida Noboru, Kat[=o] Shigeru and other +Japanese scholars, as well as by G. Haloun.--Concerning the origin of +family names see preliminarily Yang Hsi-mei; much further research is +still necessary. The general development of Chinese names is now studied +by Wolfgang Bauer.--The spread of cities in this period has been studied +by Li Chi, _The Formation of the Chinese People_, Cambridge 1928. My +interpretation relies mainly upon a study of the distribution of +non-Chinese tribes and data on early cities coming from excavation +reports (see my "Data on the Structure of the Chinese City" in _Economic +Development and Cultural Change_, 1956, pp. 253-68, and "The Formation +of Chinese Civilization" in _Sociologus_ 7, 1959, pp. 97-112). + +p. 32: The work on slaves by T. Pippon, E. Erkes, M. Wilbur, Wan +Kuo-ting, Kuo Mo-jo, Niida Noboru, Kao Nien-chih and others has been +consulted; the interpretation by E.G. Pulleyblank, however, was not +accepted. + +p. 33: This interpretation of the "well-field" system relies in part +upon the work done by Hsü Ti-shan, in part upon M. Granet and H. +Maspero, and attempts to utilize insight from general anthropological +theory and field-work mainly in South-East Asia. Other interpretations +have been proposed by Yang Lien-sheng, Wan Kuo-ting, Ch'i Sz[)u]-ho P. +Demiéville, Hu Shih, Chi Ch'ao-ting, K.A. Wittfogel, and others Some +authors, such as Kuo Mo-jo, regard the whole system as an utopia, but +believe in an original "village community".--The characterization of the +_Chou-li_ relies in part upon the work done by Hsü Chung-shu and Ku +Chieh-kang on the titles of nobility, research by Yang K'uan and textual +criticism by B. Karlgren, O. Franke, and again Ku Chieh-kang and his +school.--The discussion on twin cities is intended to draw attention to +its West Asian parallels, the "acropolis" or "ark" city, as well as to +the theories on the difference between Western and Asian cities (M. +Weber) and the specific type of cities in "dual societies" (H. Boeke). + +p. 34: This is a modified form of the Hu Shih theory.--The problem of +nomadic agrarian inter-action and conflict has been studied for a later +period mainly by O. Lattimore. Here, general anthropological research as +well as my own have been applied. + +p. 36: The supra-stratification theory as developed by R. Thurnwald has +been used as analytic tool here. + +p. 38: For this period, a novel interpretation is presented by R.L. +Walker, _The Multi-State System of China_, Hamden 1953. For the concepts +of sovereignty, I have used here the _Chou-li_ text and interpretations +based upon this text. + +p. 40: For the introduction of iron and the importance of Ch'i, see Chu +Hsi-tsu, Kuo Mo-jo, Yang K'uan, Sekino, Takeshi.--Some scholars (G. +Haloun) tend to interpret attacks such as the one of 660 B.C. as attacks +from outside the borders of China. + +p. 41: For Confucius see H.G. Creel, _Confucius_, New York 1949. I do +not, however, follow his interpretation, but rather the ideas of Hu +Shih, O. Franke and others. + +p. 42: For "chün-tz[)u]" and its counterpart "hsiao-jen" see D. Bodde +and Ch'en Meng-chia. + +p 43: I rely strongly here upon O. Franke and Ku Chieh-kang and upon my +own work on eclipses. + +p. 44: I regard the Confucian traditions concerning the model emperors +of early time as such a falsification. The whole concept of "abdication" +has been analysed by M. Granet. The later ceremony of abdication was +developed upon the basis of the interpretations of Confucius and has +been studied by Ku Chieh-kang and Miyakawa Hisayuki. Already Confucius' +disciple Meng Tz[)u], and later Chuang Tz[)u] and Han Fei Tz[)u] were +against this theory.--As a general introduction to the philosophy of +this period, Y.L. Feng's _History of Chinese Philosophy_, London 1937 +has still to be recommended, although further research has made many +advances.--My analysis of the role of Confucianism in society is +influenced by theories in the field of Sociology of religion. + +p. 45: The temple in Turkestan was in Khotan and is already mentioned in +the _Wei-shu_ chapter 102. The analysis of the famous "Book on the +transfiguration of Lao Tz[)u] into a Western Barbarian" by Wang +Wei-cheng is penetrating and has been used here. The evaluation of Lao +Tz[)u] and his pupils as against Confucius by J. Needham, in his +_Science and Civilization in China_, Cambridge 1954 _et seq_. (in volume +2) is very stimulating, though necessarily limited to some aspects only. + +p. 47: The concept of _wu-wei_ has often been discussed; some, such as +Masaaki Matsumoto, interpreted the concept purely in social terms as +"refusal of actions carrying worldly estimation". + +p. 49 Further literature concerning alchemy and breathing exercises is +found in J. Needham's book. + +_Chapter Four_ + +p. 51: I have used here the general framework of R.L. Walker, but more +upon Yang K'uan's studies. + +p. 52: The interpretation of the change of myths in this period is based +in part upon the work done by H. Maspero, G. Haloun, and Ku Chieh-kang. +The analysis of legends made by B. Karlgren from a philological point of +view ("Legends and Cults in Ancient China", _The Museum of Far Eastern +Antiquities, Bulletin_ No. 18, 1946, pp. 199-365) follows another +direction. + +p. 53: The discussion on riding involves the theories concerning +horse-nomadic tribes and the period of this way of life. It also +involves the problem of the invention of stirrup and saddle. The saddle +seems to have been used in China already at the beginning of our period; +the stirrup seems to be as late as the fifth century A.D. The article by +A. Kroeber, _The Ancient Oikumene as an Historic Culture Aggregate_, +Huxley Memorial Lecture for 1945, is very instructive for our problems +and also for its theoretical approach.--The custom of attracting +settlers from other areas in order to have more production as well as +more manpower seems to have been known in India at the same time. + +p. 54: The work done by Kat[=o] Shigeru and Niida Noboru on property and +family has been used here. For the later period, work done by Makino +Tatsumi has also been incorporated.--Literature on the plough and on +iron for implements has been mentioned above. Concerning the fallow +system, I have incorporated the ideas of Kat[=o] Shigeru, [=O]shima +Toshikaza, Hsü Ti-shan and Wan Kuo-ting. Hsü Ti-shan believes that a +kind of 3-field system had developed by this time. Traces of such a +system have been observed in modern China (H.D. Scholz). For these +questions, the translation by N. Lee Swann, _Food and Money in Ancient +China_, 1959 is very important. + +p. 55: For all questions of money and credit from this period down to +modern times, the best brief introduction is by Lien-sheng Yang, _Money +and Credit in China_, Cambridge 1952. The _Introduction to the Economic +History of China_, London 1954, by E. Stuart Kirby is certainly still +the best brief introduction into all problems of Chinese Economic +history and contains a bibliography in Western and Chinese-Japanese +languages. Articles by Chinese authors on economic problems have been +translated in E-tu Zen Sun and J. de Francis, _Chinese Social History_, +Washington 1956.--Data on the size of early cities have been collected +by T. Sekino and Kat[=o] Shigeru. + +p. 56: T. Sekino studied the forms of cities. C. Hentze believes that +the city even in the Shang period normally had a square plan.--T. Sekino +has also made the first research on city coins. Such a privilege and +such independence of cities disappear later, but occasionally the +privilege of minting was given to persons of high rank.--K.A. Wittfogel, +_Oriental Despotism_, New Haven 1957 regards irrigation as a key +economic and social factor and has built up his theory around this +concept. I do not accept his theory here or later. Evidence seems to +point towards the importance of transportation systems rather than of +government-sponsored or operated irrigation systems.--Concerning steel, +we follow Yang K'uan; a special study by J. Needham is under +preparation. Centre of steel production at this time was Wan (later +Nanyang in Honan).--For early Chinese law, the study by A.F.P. Hulsewé, +_Remnants of Han Law_, Leiden 1955 is the best work in English. He does +not, however, regard Li K'ui as the main creator of Chinese law, though +Kuo Mo-jo and others do. It is obvious, however, that Han law was not a +creation of the Han Chinese alone and that some type of code must have +existed before Han, even if such a code was not written by the man Li +K'ui. A special study on Li was made by O. Franke. + +p. 57: In the description of border conditions, research by O. Lattimore +has been taken into consideration. + +p. 59: For Shang Yang and this whole period, the classical work in +English is still J.J.L. Duyvendak, _The Book of Lord Shang_, London +1928; the translation by Ma Perleberg of _The Works of Kung-sun +Lung-tzu_, Hongkong 1952 as well as the translation of the _Economic +Dialogues in Ancient China: The Kuan-tzu_, edited by L. Maverick, New +Haven 1954 have not found general approval, but may serve as +introductions to the way philosophers of our period worked. Han Fei +Tz[)u]; has been translated by W.K. Liao, _The Complete Works of Han Fei +Tz[)u]_, London 1939 (only part 1). + +p. 60: Needham does not have such a positive attitude towards Tsou Yen, +and regards Western influences upon Tsou Yen as not too likely. The +discussion on pp. 60-1 follows mainly my own researches. + +p. 61: The interpretation of secret societies is influenced by general +sociological theory and detailed reports on later secret societies. S. +Murayama and most modern Chinese scholars stress almost solely the +social element in the so-called "peasant rebellions". + +_Chapter Five_ + +p. 63: The analysis of the emergence of Ch'in bureaucracy has profited +from general sociological theory, especially M. Weber (see the new +analysis by R. Bendix, _Max Weber, an Intellectual Portrait_, Garden +City 1960, p. 117-157). Early administration systems of this type in +China have been studied in several articles in the journal _Yü-kung_ +(vol. 6 and 7). + +p. 65: In the discussion of language, I use arguments which have been +brought forth by P. Serruys against the previously generally accepted +theories of B. Karlgren.--For weights and measures I have referred to T. +Sekino, Liu Fu and Wu Ch'eng-lo. + +p. 66: For this period, D. Bodde's _China's First Unifier_, Leiden 1938 +and his _Statesman, Patriot, and General in Ancient China_, New Haven +1940 remain valuable studies. + +_Chapter Six_ + +p. 71: The basic historical text for this whole period, the _Dynastic +History of the Han Dynasty_, is now in part available in English +translation (H.H. Dubs, _The History of the Former Han Dynasty_, +Baltimore 1938, 3 volumes). + +p. 72: The description of the gentry is based upon my own research. +Other scholars define the word "gentry", if applied to China, +differently (some of the relevant studies are discussed in my note in +the _Bull. School of Orient. & African Studies_, 1955, p. 373 f.). + +p. 73: The theory of the cycle of mobility has been brought forth by Fr. +L.K. Hsu and others. I have based my criticism upon a forthcoming study +of _Social Mobility in Traditional Chinese Society_. The basic point is +not the momentary economic or political power of such a family, but the +social status of the family (_Li-shih yen-chiu_, Peking 1955, No. 4, p. +122). The social status was, increasingly, defined and fixed by law +(Ch'ü T'ung-tsu).--The difference in the size of gentry and other +families has been pointed out by a number of scholars such as Fr. L.K. +Hsu, H.T. Fei, O. Lang. My own research seems to indicate that gentry +families, on the average, married earlier than other families. + +p. 74: The Han system of examinations or rather of selection has been +studied by Yang Lien-sheng; and analysis of the social origin of +candidates has been made in the _Bull. Chinese Studies_, vol. 2, 1941, +and 3, 1942.--The meaning of the term "Hundred Families" has been +discussed by W. Eichhorn, Kuo Mo-jo, Ch'en Meng-chia and especially by +Hsü T'ung-hsin. It was later also a fiscal term. + +p. 75: The analysis of Hsiung-nu society is based mainly upon my own +research. There is no satisfactory history of these northern federations +available in English. The compilation of W.M. MacGovern, _The Early +Empires of Central Asia_, Chapel Hill 1939, is now quite antiquated.--An +attempt to construct a model of Central Asian nomadic social structure +has been made by E.E. Bacon, _Obok, a Study of Social Structure in +Eurasia_, New York 1958, but the model constructed by B. Vladimirtsov +and modified by O. Lattimore remains valuable.--For origin and +early-development of Hsiung-nu society see O. Maenchen, K. Jettmar, B. +Bernstam, Uchida Gimpu and many others. + +p. 79: Material on the "classes" (_sz[)u] min_) will be found in a +forthcoming book. Studies by Ch'ü T'ung-tsu and Tamai Korehiro are +important here. An up-to-date history of Chinese education is still a +desideratum. + +p. 80: For Tung Chung-shu, I rely mainly upon O. Franke.--Some scholars +do not accept this "double standard", although we have clear texts which +show that cases were evaluated on the basis of Confucian texts and not +on the basis of laws. In fact, local judges probably only in exceptional +cases knew the text of the law or had the code. They judged on the basis +of "customary law". + +p. 81: Based mainly upon my own research. K.A. Wittfogel, _Oriental +Despotism_, New Haven 1957, has a different interpretation. + +p. 82: Cases in which the Han emperors disregarded the law code were +studied by Y. Hisamura.--I have used here studies published in the +_Bull, of Chinese Studies_, vol. 2 and 3 and in _Tôyô gakuho_, +vol. 8 and 9, in addition to my own research. + +p. 85: On local administration see Kat[=o] Shigeru and Yen Keng-wang's +studies. + +p. 86: The problem of the Chinese gold, which will be touched upon later +again, has gained theoretical interest, because it could be used as a +test of M. Lombard's theories concerning the importance of gold in the +West (_Annales, Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations_, vol. 12, Paris +1957, No. 1, p. 7-28). It was used in China from c. 600 B.C. on in form +of coins or bars, but disappeared almost completely from A.D. 200 on, +i.e. the period of economic decline (see L.S. Yang, Kat[=o] +Shigeru).--The payment to border tribes occurs many times again in +Chinese history down to recent times; it has its parallel in British +payments to tribes in the North-West Frontier Province in India which +continued even after the Independence. + +p. 88: According to later sources, one third of the tributary gifts was +used in the Imperial ancestor temples, one third in the Imperial +mausolea, but one third was used as gifts to guests of the Emperor.--The +trade aspect of the tributes was first pointed but by E. Parker, later +by O. Lattimore, recently by J.K. Fairbank.--The importance of Chang +Ch'ien for East-West contacts was systematically studied by B. Laufer; +his _Sino-Iranica_, Chicago 1919 is still a classic. + +p. 89: The most important trait which points to foreign trade, is the +occurrence of glass in Chinese tombs in Indo-China and of glass in China +proper from the fifth century B.C. on; it is assumed that this glass was +imported from the Near East, possibly from Egypt (O. Janse, N. Egami, +Seligman). + +p. 91: Large parts of the "Discussions" have been translated by Esson M. +Gale, _Discourses on Salt and Iron_, Leiden 1931; the continuation of +this translation is in _Jour. Royal As. Society, North-China Branch_ +1934.--The history of eunuchs in China remains to be written. They were +known since at least the seventh century B.C. The hypothesis has been +made that this custom had its origin in Asia Minor and spread from there +(R.F. Spencer in _Ciba Symposia_, vol. 8, No. 7, 1946 with references). + +p. 92: The main source on Wang Mang is translated by C.B. Sargent, _Wang +Mang, a translation_, Shanghai 1950 and H.H. Dubs, _History of the +Former Han Dynasty_, vol, 3, Baltimore 1955. + +p. 93: This evaluation of the "Old character school" is not generally +accepted. A quite different view is represented by Tjan Tjoe Som and +R.P. Kramers and others who regard the differences between the schools +as of a philological and not a political kind. I follow here most +strongly the Chinese school as represented by Ku Chieh-kang and his +friends, and my own studies. + +p. 93: Falsification of texts refers to changes in the Tso-chuan. My +interpretation relies again upon Ku Chieh-kang, and Japanese +astronomical studies (Ijima Tadao), but others, too, admit +falsifications (H.H. Dubs); B. Karlgren and others regard the book as in +its main body genuine. The other text mentioned here is the _Chou-li_ +which is certainly not written by Wang Mang (_Jung-chai Hsü-pi_ 16), but +heavily mis-used by him (in general see S. Uno). + +p. 94: I am influenced here by some of H.H. Dubs's studies. For this and +the following period, the work by H. Bielenstein, _The Restoration of +the Han Dynasty_, Stockholm 1953 and 1959 is the best monograph.--The +"equalization offices" and their influence upon modern United States has +been studied by B. Bodde in the _Far Eastern Quarterly_, vol. 5, 1946. + +p. 95: H. Bielenstein regards a great flood as one of the main reasons +for the breakdown of Wang Mang's rule. + +p. 98: For the understanding of Chinese military colonies in Central +Asia as well as for the understanding of military organization, civil +administration and business, the studies of Lao Kan on texts excavated +in Central Asia and Kansu are of greatest importance. + +p. 101: Mazdaistic elements in this rebellion have been mentioned mainly +by H.H. Dubs. Zoroastrism (Zoroaster born 569 B.C.) and Mazdaism were +eminently "political" religions from their very beginning on. Most +scholars admit the presence of Mazdaism in China only from 519 on +(Ishida Mikinosuke, O. Franke). Dubs's theory can be strengthened by +astronomical material.--The basic religious text of this group, the +"Book of the Great Peace" has been studied by W. Eichhorn Maspero +and Ho Ch'ang-ch'ün. + +p. 102: For the "church" I rely mainly upon H. Maspero and W. Eichhorn. + +p. 103: I use here concepts developed by Cheng Chen-to and especially by +Jung Chao-tsu. + +p. 104: Wang Ch'ung's importance has recently been mentioned again by J. +Needham. + +p. 105: These "court poets" have their direct parallel in Western Asia. +This trend, however, did not become typical in China.--On the general +history of paper read A. Kroeber, _Anthropology_, New York 1948, p. +490f., and Dard Hunter, _Paper Making_, New York 1947 (2nd ed.). + +_Chapter Seven_ + +p. 109: The main historical sources for this period have been translated +by Achilles Fang, _The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms_, Cambridge, +Mass. 1952; the epic which describes this time is C.H. Brewitt-Taylor, +_San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Shanghai 1925. + +p. 112: For problems of migration and settlement in the South, we relied +in part upon research by Ch'en Yüan and Wang Yi-t'ung. + +p. 114: For the history of the Hsiung-nu I am relying mainly upon my own +studies. + +p. 117: This analysis of tribal structure is based mainly upon my own +research; it differs in detail from the studies by E. Bacon, _Obok, a +Study of Social Structure in Eurasia_, New York 1958, B. Vladimirtsov, +O. Lattimore's _Inner Asian Frontiers of China_, New York 1951 (2nd +edit.) and the studies by L.M.J. Schram, _The Monguors of the +Kansu-Tibetan Frontier_, Philadelphia 1954 and 1957. + +p. 118: The use of the word "Huns" does not imply that we identify the +early or the late Hsiung-nu with the European Huns. This question is +still very much under discussion (O. Maenchen, W. Haussig, W. Henning, +and others). + +p. 119: For the history of the early Hsien-pi states see the monograph +by G. Schreiber, "The History of the Former Yen Dynasty", in _Monomenta +Serica_, vol. 14 and 15 (1949-56). For all translations from Chinese +Dynastic Histories of the period between 220 and 960 the _Catalogue of +Translations from the Chinese Dynastic Histories for the Period +220-960_, by Hans H. Frankel, Berkeley 1957, is a reliable guide. + +p. 125: For the description of conditions in Turkestan, especially in +Tunhuang, I rely upon my own studies, but studies by A. von Gabein, L. +Ligeti, J.R. Ware, O. Franke and Tsukamoto Zenryû have been used, too. + +p. 133: These songs have first been studied by Hu Shih, later by Chinese +folklorists. + +p. 134: For problems of Chinese Buddhism see Arthur F. Wright, _Buddhism +in Chinese History_, Stanford 1959, with further bibliography. I have +used for this and later periods, in addition to my own sociological +studies, R. Michihata, J. Gernet, and Tamai Korehiro.--It is interesting +that the rise of landowning temples in India occurred at exactly the +same time (R.S. Sharma in _Journ. Econ. and Soc. Hist. Orient_, vol. 1, +1958, p. 316). Perhaps even more interesting, but still unstudied, is +the existence of Buddhist temples in India which owned land and villages +which were donated by contributions from China.--For the use of foreign +monks in Chinese bureaucracies, I have used M. Weber's theory as an +interpretative tool. + +p. 135: The important deities of Khotan Buddhism are Vai['s]ramana and +Kubera, (research by P. Demiéville, R. Stein and others).--Where, how, +and why Hinayana and Mahayana developed as separate sects, is not yet +studied. Also, a sociological analysis of the different Buddhist sects +in China has not even been attempted yet. + +p. 136: Such public religious disputations were known also in India. + +p. 137: Analysis of the tribal names has been made by L. Bazin. + +pp. 138-9: The personality type which was the ideal of the Toba +corresponded closely to the type described by G. Geesemann, _Heroische +Lebensform_, Berlin 1943. + +p. 142: The Toba occur in contemporary Western sources as Tabar, Tabgaç, +Tafkaç and similar names. The ethnic name also occurs as a title (O. +Pritsak, P. Pelliot, W. Haussig and others).--On the _chün-t'ien_ system +cf. the article by Wan Kuo-ting in E-tu Zen Sun, _Chinese Social +History_, Washington 1956, p. 157-184. I also used Yoshimi Matsumoto and +T'ang Ch'ang-ju.--Census fragments from Tunhuang have been published by +L. Giles, Niida Noboru and other Japanese scholars. + +p. 143: On slaves for the earlier time see M. Wilbur, _Slavery in China +during the Former Han Dynasty_, Chicago 1943. For our period Wang +Yi-t'ung and especially Niida Noboru and Ch'ü T'ung-tsu. I used for this +discussion Niida, Ch'ü and Tamai Korehiro.--For the _pu-ch'ü_ I used in +addition Yang Chung-i, H. Maspero, E. Balazs, W. Eichhorn. Yang's +article is translated in E-tu Zen Sun's book, _Chinese Social History_, +pp. 142-56.--The question of slaves and their importance in Chinese +society has always been given much attention by Chinese Communist +authors. I believe that a clear distinction between slaves and serfs is +very important. + +p. 145: The political use of Buddhism has been asserted for Japan as +well as for Korea and Tibet (H. Hoffmann, _Quellen zur Geschichte der +tibetischen Bon-Religion_, Mainz 1950, p. 220 f.). A case could be made +for Burma. In China, Buddhism was later again used as a tool by rulers +(see below). + +p. 146: The first text in which such problems of state versus church are +mentioned is Mou Tz[)u] (P. Pelliot transl.). More recently, some of the +problems have been studied by R. Michihata and E. Zürcher. Michihata +also studied the temple slaves. Temple families were slightly different. +They have been studied mainly by R. Michihata, J. Gernet and Wang +Yi-t'ung. The information on T'an-yao is mainly in _Wei-shu_ 114 +(transl. J. Ware).--The best work on Yün-kang is now Seiichi Mizuno and +Toshio Nagahiro, _Yün-kang. The Buddhist Cave-Temples of the Fifth +Century A.D. in North China_, Kyoto 1951-6, thus far 16 volumes. For +Chinese Buddhist art, the work by Tokiwa Daijô and Sekino Tadashi, +_Chinese Buddhist Monuments_, Tokyo 1926-38, 5 volumes, is most +profusely illustrated.--As a general reader for the whole of Chinese +art, Alexander Soper and L. Sickman's _The Art and Architecture of +China_, Baltimore 1956 may be consulted. + +p, 147: Zenryû Tsukamoto has analysed one such popular, revolutionary +Buddhist text from the fifth century A.D. I rely here for the whole +chapter mainly upon my own research. + +p. 150: On the Ephtalites (or Hephtalites) see R. Ghirshman and +Enoki.--The carpet ceremony has been studied by P. Boodberg, and in a +comparative way by L. Olschki, _The Myth of Felt_, Berkeley 1949. + +p. 151: For Yang Chien and his time see now A.F. Wright, "The Formation +of Sui Ideology" in John K. Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and +Institutions_, Chicago 1957, pp. 71-104. + +p. 153: The processes described here, have not yet been thoroughly +analysed. A preliminary review of literature is given by H. Wiens, +_China's March towards the Tropics_, Hamden 1954. I used Ch'en Yüan, +Wang Yi-t'ung and my own research. + +p. 154: It is interesting to compare such hunting parks with the +"_paradeisos"_ (Paradise) of the Near East and with the "Garden of +Eden".--Most of the data on gardens and manors have been brought +together and studied by Japanese scholars, especially by Kat[=o] +Shigeru, some also by Ho Tzû-ch'üan.--The disappearance of "village +commons" in China should be compared with the same process in Europe; +both processes, however, developed quite differently. The origin of +manors and their importance for the social structure of the Far East +(China as well as Japan) is the subject of many studies in Japan and in +modern China. This problem is connected with the general problem of +feudalism East and West. The manor (_chuang_: Japanese _shô_) in later +periods has been studied by Y. Sudô. H. Maspero also devotes attention +to this problem. Much more research remains to be done. + +p. 158: This popular rebellion by Sun En has been studied by W. +Eichhorn. + +p. 163: On foreign music in China see L.C. Goodrich and Ch'ü T'ung-tsu, +H.G. Farmer, S. Kishibe and others.--Niida Noboru pointed out that +musicians belonged to one of the lower social classes, but had special +privileges because of their close relations to the rulers. + +p. 164: Meditative or _Ch'an_ (Japanese: _Zen_) Buddhism in this period +has been studied by Hu Shih, but further analysis is necessary.--The +philosophical trends of this period have been analysed by E. +Balazs.--Mention should also be made of the aesthetic-philosophical +conversation which was fashionable in the third century, but in other +form still occurred in our period, the so-called "pure talk" +(_ch'ing-t'an_) (E. Balazs, H. Wilhelm and others). + +_Chapter Eight_ + +p. 167: For genealogies and rules of giving names, I use my own research +and the study by W. Bauer. + +p. 168: For Emperor Wen Ti, I rely mainly upon A.F. Wright's +above-mentioned article, but also upon O. Franke. + +p. 169: The relevant texts concerning the T'u-chüeh are available in +French (E. Chavannes) and recently also in German translation (Liu +Mau-tsai, _Die chinesischen Nachrichten zur Geschichte der Ost-T[vu]rken_, +Wiesbaden 1958, 2 vol.).--The Tölös are called T'e-lo in Chinese +sources; the T'u-yü-hun are called Aza in Central Asian sources (P. +Pelliot, A. Minorsky, F.W. Thomas, L. Hambis, _et al_.). The most +important text concerning the T'u-yü-hun had been translated by Th. D. +Caroll, _Account of the T'u-yü-hun in the History of the Chin Dynasty_, +Berkeley 1953. + +p. 171: The transcription of names on this and on the other maps could +not be adjusted to the transcription of the text for technical reasons. + +p. 172: It is possible that I have underestimated the role of Li Yüan. I +relied here mainly upon O. Franke and upon W. Bingham's _The Founding of +the T'ang Dynasty_, Baltimore 1941. + +p. 173: The best comprehensive study of T'ang economy in a Western +language is still E. Balazs's work. I relied, however, strongly upon Wan +Kuo-ting, Yang Chung-i, Kat[=o] Shigeru, J. Gernet, T. Naba, Niida +Noboru, Yoshimi Matsumoto. + +pp. 173-4: For the description of the administration I used my own +studies and the work of R. des Rotours; for the military organization I +used Kikuchi Hideo. A real study of Chinese army organization and +strategy does not yet exist. The best detailed study, but for the Han +period, is written by H. Maspero. + +p. 174: For the first occurrence of the title _tu-tu_ we used W. +Eichhorn; in the form _tutuq_ the title occurs since 646 in Central Asia +(J. Hamilton). + +p. 177: The name T'u-fan seems to be a transcription of Tüpöt which, +in turn, became our Tibet. (J. Hamilton).--The Uighurs are the Hui-ho or +Hui-hu of Chinese sources. + +p. 179: On relations with Central Asia and the West see Ho Chien-min and +Hsiang Ta, whose classical studies on Ch'ang-an city life have recently +been strongly criticized by Chinese scholars.--Some authors (J.K. +Rideout) point to the growing influence of eunuchs in this period.--The +sources paint the pictures of the Empress Wu in very dark colours. A +more detailed study of this period seems to be necessary. + +p. 180: The best study of "family privileges" (_yin_) in general is by +E.A. Kracke, _Civil Service in Early Sung China_, Cambridge, Mass. 1953. + +p. 180-1: The economic importance of organized Buddhism has been studied +by many authors, especially J. Gernet, Yang Lien-sheng, Ch'üan +Han-sheng, K. Tamai and R. Michihata. + +p. 182: The best comprehensive study on T'ang prose in English is still +E.D. Edwards, _Chinese Prose Literature of the T'ang Period_, London +1937-8, 2 vol. On Li T'ai-po and Po Chü-i we have well-written books by +A. Waley, _The Poetry and Career of Li Po_, London 1951 and _The Life +and Times of Po Chü-i_, London 1950.--On the "free poem" (_tz[)u]_), +which technically is not a free poem, see A. Hoffmann and Hu Shih. For +the early Chinese theatre, the classical study is still Wang Kuo-wei's +analysis, but there is an almost unbelievable number of studies +constantly written in China and Japan, especially on the later theatre +and drama. + +p. 184: Conditions at the court of Hsüan Tsung and the life of Yang +Kui-fei have been studied by Howard Levy and others, An Lu-shan's +importance mainly by E.G. Pulleyblank, _The Background of the Rebellion +of An Lu-shan_, London 1955. + +p. 187: The tax reform of Yang Yen has been studied by K. Hino; the most +important figures in T'ang economic history are Liu Yen (studied by Chü +Ch'ing-yüan) and Lu Chih (754-805; studied by E. Balazs and others). + +pp. 187-8: The conditions at the time of this persecution are well +described by E.O. Reischauer, _Ennin's Travels in T'ang China_, New York +1955, on the basis of his _Ennin's Diary. The Record of a Pilgrimage to +China_, New York 1955. The persecution of Buddhism has been analysed in +its economic character by Niida Noboru and other Japanese +scholars.--Metal statues had to be delivered to the Salt and Iron Office +in order to be converted into cash; iron statues were collected by local +offices for the production of agricultural implements; figures in gold, +silver or other rare materials were to be handed over to the Finance +Office. Figures made of stone, clay or wood were not affected +(Michihata). + +p. 189: It seems important to note that popular movements are often not +led by simple farmers of members of the lower classes. There are other +salt merchants and persons of similar status known as leaders. + +p. 190: For the Sha-t'o, I am relying upon my own research. Tatars are +the Ta-tan of the Chinese sources. The term is here used in a narrow +sense. + +_Chapter Nine_ + +p. 195: Many Chinese and Japanese authors have a new period begin with +the early (Ch'ien Mu) or the late tenth century (T'ao Hsi-sheng, Li +Chien-nung), while others prefer a cut already in the Middle of the +T'ang Dynasty (Teng Ch'u-min, Naito Torajiro). For many Marxists, the +period which we called "Modern Times" is at best a sub-period within a +larger period which really started with what we called "Medieval China". + +p. 196: For the change in the composition of the gentry, I am using my +own research.--For clan rules, clan foundations, etc., I used D.C. +Twitchett, J. Fischer, Hu Hsien-chin, Ch'ü T'ung-tsu, Niida Noboru and +T. Makino. The best analysis of the clan rules is by Wang Hui-chen in +D.S. Nivison, _Confucianism in Action_, Stanford 1959, p. 63-96.--I do +not regard such marriage systems as "survivals" of ancient systems which +have been studied by M. Granet and systematically analysed by C. +Lévy-Strauss in his _Les structures élémentaires de la parenté_, Paris +1949, pp. 381-443. In some cases, the reasons for the establishment of +such rules can still be recognized.--A detailed study of despotism in +China still has to be written. K.A. Wittfogel's _Oriental Despotism_, +New Haven 1957 does not go into the necessary detailed work. + +p. 197: The problem of social mobility is now under study, after +preliminary research by K.A. Wittfogel, E. Kracke, myself and others. E. +Kracke, Ho Ping-ti, R.M. Marsh and I are now working on this topic.--For +the craftsmen and artisans, much material has recently been collected by +Chinese scholars. I have used mainly Li Chien-nung and articles in +_Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3 and in _Mem. Inst. Orient. Cult_. +1956.--On the origin of guilds see Kat[=o] Shigeru; a general study of +guilds and their function has not yet been made (preliminary work by P. +Maybon, H.B. Morse, J. St. Burgess, K.A. Wittfogel and others). +Comparisons with Near-Eastern guilds on the one hand and with Japanese +guilds on the other, are quite interesting but parallels should not be +over-estimated. The _tong_ of U.S. Chinatowns (_tang_ in Mandarin) are +late and organizations of businessmen only (S. Yokoyama and Laai +Yi-faai). They are not the same as the _hui-kuan_. + +p. 198: For the merchants I used Ch'ü T'ung-tsu, Sung Hsi and Wada +Kiyoshi.--For trade, I used extensively Ch'üan Han-sheng and J. +Kuwabara.--On labour legislation in early modern times I used Ko +Ch'ang-chi and especially Li Chien-nung, also my own studies.--On +strikes I used Kat[=o] Shigeru and modern Chinese authors.--The problem +of "vagrants" has been taken up by Li Chien-nung who always refers to +the original sources and to modern Chinese research.--The growth of +cities, perhaps the most striking event in this period, has been studied +for the earlier part of our period by Kat[=o] Shigeru. Li Chien-nung +also deals extensively with investments in industry and agriculture. The +problem as to whether China would have developed into an industrial +society without outside stimulus is much discussed by Marxist authors in +China. + +p. 199: On money policy see Yang Lien-sheng, Kat[=o] Shigeru and others. + +p. 200: The history of one of the Southern Dynasties has been translated +by Ed. H. Schafer, _The Empire of Min_, Tokyo 1954; Schafer's +annotations provide much detail for the cultural and economic conditions +of the coastal area.--For tea and its history, I use my own research; +for tea trade a study by K. Kawakami and an article in the _Frontier +Studies_, vol. 3, 1943.--Salt consumption according to H.T. Fei, +_Earthbound China, 1945, p_. 163. + +p. 201: For salt I used largely my own research. For porcelain +production Li Chien-nung and other modern articles.--On paper, the +classical study is Th. F. Carter, _The Invention of Printing in China_, +New York 1925 (a revised edition now published by L.C. Goodrich). + +p. 202: For paper money in the early period, see Yang Lien-sheng, _Money +and Credit in China_, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. Although the origin of +paper money seems to be well established, it is interesting to note that +already in the third century A.D. money made of paper was produced and +was burned during funeral ceremonies to serve as financial help for the +dead. This money was, however, in the form of coins.--On iron money see +Yang Lien-sheng; I also used an article in _Tung-fang tsa-chih_, vol. +35, No. 10. + +p. 203: For the Kitan (Chines: Ch'i-tan) and their history see K.A. +Wittfogel and Feng Chia-sheng, _History of Chinese Society. Liao_, +Philadelphia 1949. + +p. 204: For these dynasties, I rely upon my own research.--Niida Noboru +and Kat[=o] Shigeru have studied adoption laws; our specific case has in +addition been studied by M. Kurihara. This system of adoptions is +non-Chinese and has its parallels among Turkish tribes (A. Kollantz, +Abdulkadir Inan, Osman Turan). + +p. 207: For the persecution I used K. Tamai and my own research. + +p. 211: This is based mainly upon my own research.--The remark on tax +income is from Ch'üan Han-sheng. + +p. 212: Fan Chung-yen has been studied recently by J. Fischer and D. +Twitchett, but these notes on price policies are based upon my own +work.--I regard the statement, that it was the gentry which prevented +the growth of an industrial society--a statement which has often been +made before--as preliminary, and believe that further research, +especially in the growth of cities and urban institutions may lead to +quite different explanations.--On estate management I relied on Y. +Sudô's work. + +p. 213: Research on place names such as mentioned here, has not yet been +systematically done.--On _i-chuang_ I relied upon the work by T. Makino +and D. Twitchett.--This process of tax-evasion has been used by K.A. +Wittfogel (1938) to construct a theory of a crisis cycle in China. I do +not think that such far-reaching conclusions are warranted. + +p. 214: This "law" was developed on the basis of Chinese materials from +different periods as well as on materials from other parts of Asia.--In +the study of tenancy, cases should be studied in which wealthier farmers +rent additional land which gets cultivated by farm labourers. Such cases +are well known from recent periods, but have not yet been studied in +earlier periods. At the same time, the problem of farm labourers should +be investigated. Such people were common in the Sung time. Research +along these lines could further clarify the importance of the so-called +"guest families" (_k'o-hu_) which were alluded to in these pages. They +constituted often one third of the total population in the Sung period. +The problem of migration and mobility might also be clarified by +studying the _k'o-hu_. + +p. 215: For Wang An-shih, the most comprehensive work is still H. +Williamson's _Wang An-shih_, London 1935, 3 vol., but this work in no +way exhausts the problems. We have so much personal data on Wang that a +psychological study could be attempted; and we have since Williamson's +time much deeper insight into the reforms and theories of Wang. I used, +in addition to Williamson, O. Franke, and my own research. + +p. 216: Based mainly upon Ch'ü T'ung-tsu.--For the social legislation +see Hsü I-t'ang; for economic problems I used Ch'üan Han-sheng, Ts'en +Chung-mien and Liu Ming-shu.--Most of these relief measures had their +precursors in the T'ang period. + +p. 217: It is interesting to note that later Buddhism gave up its +"social gospel" in China. Buddhist circles in Asian countries at the +present time attempt to revive this attitude. + +p. 218: For slaughtering I used A. Hulsewé; for greeting R. Michihata; +on law Ch'ü T'ung-tsu; on philosophy I adapted ideas from Chan Wing-sit. + +p. 219: A comprehensive study of Chu Hsi is a great desideratum. Thus +far, we have in English mainly the essays by Feng Yu-lan (transl. and +annotated by D. Bodde) in the _Harvard Journal of Asiat. Stud_., vol. 7, +1942. T. Makino emphasized Chu's influence upon the Far East, J. Needham +his interest in science. + +p. 220: For Su Tung-p'o as general introduction see Lin Yutang, _The Gay +Genius. The Life and Times of Su Tung-p'o_, New York 1947.--For +painting, I am using concepts of A. Soper here. + +p. 222: For this period the standard work is K.A. Wittfogel and Feng +Chia-sheng, _History of Chinese Society, Liao_, Philadelphia +1949.--Po-hai had been in tributary relations with the dynasties of +North China before its defeat, and resumed these from 932 on; there were +even relations with one of the South Chinese states; in the same way, +Kao-li continuously played one state against the other (M. Rogers _et +al_.). + +p. 223: On the Kara-Kitai see Appendix to Wittfogel-Feng. + +p. 228: For the Hakka, I relied mainly upon Lo Hsiang-lin; for Chia +Ssu-tao upon H. Franke. + +p. 229: The Juchên (Jurchen) are also called Nü-chih and Nü-chen, but +Juchên seems to be correct (_Studia Serica_, vol. 3, No. 2). + +_Chapter Ten_ + +p. 233: I use here mainly Meng Ssu-liang, but also others, such as Chü +Ch'ing-yüan and Li Chien-nung.--The early political developments are +described by H.D. Martin, _The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of +North China_, Baltimore 1950. + +p. 236: I am alluding here to such Taoist sects as the Cheng-i-chiao +(Sun K'o-k'uan and especially the study in _Kita Aziya gakuh[=o]_, vol. 2). + +pp. 236-7: For taxation and all other economic questions I have relied +upon Wan Kuo-ting and especially upon H. Franke. The first part of the +main economic text is translated and annotated by H.F. Schurmann, +_Economic Structure of the Yüan Dynasty_, Cambridge, Mass., 1956. + +p. 237: On migrations see T. Makino and others.--For the system of +communications during the Mongol time and the privileges of merchants, I +used P. Olbricht. + +p. 238: For the popular rebellions of this time, I used a study in the +_Bull. Acad. Sinica_, vol. 10, 1948, but also Meng Ssu-liang and others. + +p. 239: On the White Lotus Society (Pai-lien-hui) see note to previous +page and an article by Hagiwara Jumpei. + +p. 240: H. Serruys, _The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu Period_, +Bruges 1959, has studied in this book and in an article the fate of +isolated Mongol groups in China after the breakdown of the dynasty. + +pp. 241-2: The travel report of Ch'ang-ch'un has been translated by A. +Waley, _The Travels of an Alchemist_, London 1931. + +p. 242: _Hsi-hsiang-chi_ has been translated by S.I. Hsiung. _The +Romance of the Western Chamber_, London 1935. All important analytic +literature on drama and theatre is written by Chinese and Japanese +authors, especially by Yoshikawa Kôjirô.--For Bon and early Lamaism, I +used H. Hoffmann. + +p. 243: Lamaism in Mongolia disappeared later, however, and was +reintroduced in the reformed form (Tsong-kha-pa, 1358-1419) in the +sixteenth century. See R.J. Miller, _Monasteries and Culture Change in +Inner Mongolia_, Wiesbaden 1959. + +p. 245: Much more research is necessary to clarify Japanese-Chinese +relations in this period, especially to determine the size of trade. +Good material is in the article by S. Iwao. Important is also S. Sakuma +and an article in _Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3. For the loss of coins, +I relied upon D. Brown. + +p. 246: The necessity of transports of grain and salt was one of the +reasons for the emergence of the Hsin-an and Hui-chou merchants. The +importance of these developments is only partially known (studies mainly +by H. Fujii and in _Li-shih-yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3). Data are also in an +unpublished thesis by Ch. Mac Sherry, _The Impairment of the Ming +Tributary System_, and in an article by Wang Ch'ung-wu. + +p. 247: The tax system of the Ming has been studied among others by +Liang Fang-chung. Yoshiyuki Suto analysed the methods of tax evasion in +the periods before the reform. For the land grants, I used Wan +Kuo-ting's data. + +p. 248: Based mainly upon my own research. On the progress of +agriculture wrote Li Chien-nung and also Kat[=o] Shigeru and others. + +p. 250: I believe that further research would discover that the +"agrarian revolution" was a key factor in the economic and social +development of China. It probably led to another change in dietary +habits; it certainly led to a greater labour input per person, i.e. a +higher number of full working days per year than before. It may be--but +only further research can try to show this--that the "agrarian +revolution" turned China away from technology and industry.--On cotton +and its importance see the studies by M. Amano, and some preliminary +remarks by P. Pelliot. + +pp. 250-1: Detailed study of Central Chinese urban centres in this time +is a great desideratum. My remarks here have to be taken as very +preliminary. Notice the special character of the industries +mentioned!--The porcelain centre of Ching-tê-chen was inhabited by +workers and merchants (70-80 per cent of population); there were more +than 200 private kilns.--On indented labour see Li Chien-nung, H. Iwami +and Y. Yamane. + +p. 253: On _pien-wen_ I used R. Michihata, and for this general +discussion R. Irvin, _The Evolution of a Chinese Novel_, Cambridge, +Mass., 1953, and studies by J. Jaworski and J. Pru[vs]ek. Many texts of +_pien-wen_ and related styles have been found in Tunhuang and have been +recently republished by Chinese scholars. + +p. 254: _Shui-hu-chuan_ has been translated by Pearl Buck, _All Men are +Brothers_. Parts of _Hsi-yu-chi_ have been translated by A. Waley, +_Monkey_, London 1946. _San-kuo yen-i_ is translated by C.H. +Brewitt-Taylor, _San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Shanghai +1925 (a new edition just published). A purged translation of +Chin-p'ing-mei is published by Fr. Kuhn _Chin P'ing Mei_, New York 1940. + +p. 255: Even the "murder story" was already known in Ming time. An +example is R.H. van Gulik, _Dee Gong An. Three Murder Cases solved by +Judge Dee_, Tokyo 1949. + +p. 256: For a special group of block-prints see R.H. van Gulik, _Erotic +Colour Prints of the Ming Dynasty_, Tokyo 1951. This book is also an +excellent introduction into Chinese psychology. + +p. 257: Here I use work done by David Chan. + +p. 258: I use here the research of J.J.L. Duyvendak; the reasons for the +end of such enterprises, as given here, may not exhaust the problem. It +may not be without relevance that Cheng came from a Muslim family. His +father was a pilgrim (_Bull. Chin. Studies_, vol. 3, pp. 131-70). +Further research is desirable.--Concerning folk-tales, I use my own +research. The main Buddhist tales are the _Jataka_ stories. They are +still used by Burmese Buddhists in the same context. + +p. 260: The Oirat (Uyrat, Ojrot, Ölöt) were a confederation of four +tribal groups: Khosud, Dzungar, Dörbet and Turgut. + +p. 261: I regard this analysis of Ming political history as +unsatisfactory, but to my knowledge no large-scale analysis has been +made.--For Wang Yang-ming I use mainly my own research. + +p. 262: For the coastal salt-merchants I used Lo Hsiang-lin's work. + +p. 263: On the rifles I used P. Pelliot. There is a large literature on +the use of explosives and the invention of cannons, especially L.C. +Goodrich and Feng Chia-sheng in _Isis_, vol. 36, 1946 and 39, 1948; also +G. Sarton, Li Ch'iao-p'ing, J. Pru[vs]ek, J. Needham, and M. Ishida; a +comparative, general study is by K. Huuri, _Studia Orientalia_ vol. 9, +1941.--For the earliest contacts of Wang with Portuguese, I used Chang +Wei-hua's monograph.--While there is no satisfactory, comprehensive +study in English on Wang, for Lu Hsiang-shan the book by Huang Siu-ch'i, +_Lu Hsiang-shan, a Twelfth-century Chinese Idealist Philosopher_, New +Haven 1944, can be used. + +p. 264: For Tao-yen, I used work done by David Chan.--Large parts of the +_Yung-lo ta-tien_ are now lost (Kuo Po-kung, Yüan T'ung-li studied this +problem). + +p. 265: Yen-ta's Mongol name is Altan Qan (died 1582), leader of the +Tümet. He is also responsible for the re-introduction of Lamaism into +Mongolia (1574).--For the border trade I used Hou Jen-chih; for the +Shansi bankers Ch'en Ch'i-t'ien and P. Maybon. For the beginnings of the +Manchu see Fr. Michael, _The Origins of Manchu Rule in China_, Baltimore +1942. + +p. 266: M. Ricci's diary (Matthew Ricci, _China in the Sixteenth +Century_. The Journals of M. Ricci, transl. by L.J. Gallagher, New York +1953) gives much insight into the life of Chinese officials in this +period. Recently, J. Needham has tried to show that Ricci and his +followers did not bring much which was not already known in China, but +that they actually attempted to prevent the Chinese from learning about +the Copernican theory. + +p. 267: For Coxinga I used M. Eder's study.--The Szechwan rebellion was +led by Chang Hsien-chung (1606-1647); I used work done by James B. +Parsons. Cheng T'ien-t'ing, Sun Yueh and others have recently published +the important documents concerning all late Ming peasant +rebellions.--For the Tung-lin academy see Ch. O. Hucker in J.K. +Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and Institutions_, Chicago 1957. A different +interpretation is indicated by Shang Yüeh in _Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, +No. 3. + +p. 268: Work on the "academies" (shu-yüan) in the earlier time is done +by Ho Yu-shen. + +pp. 273-4: Based upon my own, as yet unfinished research. + +p. 274: The population of 1953 as given here, includes Chinese outside +of mainland China. The population of mainland China was 582.6 millions. +If the rate of increase of about 2 per cent per year has remained the +same, the population of mainland China in 1960 may be close to 680 +million. In general see P.T. Ho. _Studies on the Population of China, +1368-1953_, Cambridge, Mass., 1960. + +p. 276: Based upon my own research.--A different view of the development +of Chinese industry is found in Norman Jacobs, _Modern Capitalism and +Eastern Asia_, Hong Kong 1958. Jacobs attempted a comparison of China +with Japan and with Europe. Different again is Marion Levy and Shih +Kuo-heng, _The Rise of the Modern Chinese Business Class_, New York +1949. Both books are influenced by the sociological theories of T. +Parsons. + +p. 277: The Dzungars (Dsunghar; Chun-ko-erh) are one of the four Ölöt +(Oirat) groups. I am here using studies by E. Haenisch and W. Fuchs. + +p. 278: Tibetan-Chinese relations have been studied by L. Petech, _China +and Tibet in the Early 18th Century_, Leiden 1950. A collection of data +is found in M.W. Fisher and L.E. Rose, _England, India, Nepal, Tibet, +China, 1765-1958_, Berkeley 1959. For diplomatic relations and tributary +systems of this period, I referred to J.K. Fairbank and Teng Ssu-yü. + +p. 279: For Ku Yen-wu, I used the work by H. Wilhelm.--A man who +deserves special mention in this period is the scholar Huang Tsung-hsi +(1610-1695) as the first Chinese who discussed the possibility of a +non-monarchic form of government in his treatise of 1662. For him see +Lin Mou-sheng, _Men and Ideas_, New York 1942, and especially W.T. de +Bary in J.K. Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and Institutions_, Chicago 1957. + +pp. 280-1: On Liang see now J.R. Levenson, _Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and the Mind +of Modern China_, London 1959. + +p. 282: It should also be pointed out that the Yung-cheng emperor was +personally more inclined towards Lamaism.--The Kalmuks are largely +identical with the above-mentioned Ölöt. + +p. 286: The existence of _hong_ is known since 1686, see P'eng Tse-i and +Wang Chu-an's recent studies. For details on foreign trade see H.B. +Morse, _The Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China +1635-1834_, Oxford 1926, 4 vols., and J.K. Fairbank, _Trade and +Diplomacy on the China Coast. The Opening of the Treaty Ports, +1842-1854_, Cambridge, Mass., 1953, 2 vols.--For Lin I used G.W. +Overdijkink's study. + +p. 287: On customs read St. F. Wright, _Hart and the Chinese Customs_, +Belfast 1950. + +p. 288: For early industry see A. Feuerwerker, _China's Early +Industrialization: Sheng Hsuan-huai (1844-1916_), Cambridge, Mass., +1958. + +p. 289: The Chinese source materials for the Mohammedan revolts have +recently been published, but an analysis of the importance of the +revolts still remains to be done.--On T'ai-p'ing much has been +published, especially in the last years in China, so that all documents +are now available. I used among other studies, details brought out by Lo +Hsiang-lin and Jen Yu-wen. + +p. 291: For Tsêng Kuo-fan see W.J. Hail, _Tsêng Kuo-fan and the +T'ai-p'ing Rebellion_, New Haven 1927, but new research on him is about +to be published.--The Nien-fei had some connection with the White Lotus, +and were known since 1814, see Chiang Siang-tseh, _The Nien Rebellion_, +Seattle 1954. + +p. 292: Little is known about Salars, Dungans and Yakub Beg's rebellion, +mainly because relevant Turkish sources have not yet been studied. On +Salars see L. Schram, _The Monguors of Kansu_, Philadelphia 1954, p. 23 +and P. Pelliot; on Dungans see I. Grebe. + +p. 293: On Tso Tsung-t'ang see G. Ch'en, _Tso Tung T'ang, Pioneer +Promotor of the Modern Dockyard and Woollen Mill in China_, Peking 1938, +and _Yenching Journal of Soc. Studies_, vol. I. + +p. 294: For the T'ung-chih period, see now Mary C. Wright, _The Last +Stand of Chinese Conservativism. The T'ung-chih Restoration, 1862-1874_, +Stanford 1957. + +p. 295: Ryukyu is Chinese: Liu-ch'iu; Okinawa is one of the islands of +this group.--Formosa is Chinese: T'ai-wan (Taiwan). Korea is Chinese: +Chao-hsien, Japanese: Chôsen. + +p. 297: M.C. Wright has shown the advisers around the ruler before the +Empress Dowager realized the severity of the situation.--Much research +is under way to study the beginning of industrialization of Japan, and +my opinions have changed greatly, due to the research done by Japanese +scholars and such Western scholars as H. Rosovsky and Th. Smith. The +eminent role of the lower aristocracy has been established. Similar +research for China has not even seriously started. My remarks are +entirely preliminary. + +p. 298: For K'ang Yo-wei, I use work done by O. Franke and others. See +M.E. Cameron, _The Reform Movement in China, 1898-1921_, Stanford 1921. +The best bibliography for this period is J.K. Fairbank and Liu +Kwang-ching, _Modern China: A Bibliographical Guide to Chinese Works, +1898-1937_, Cambridge, Mass., 1950. The political history of the time, +as seen by a Chinese scholar, is found in Li Chien-nung, _The Political +History of China 1840-1928_, Princeton 1956.--For the social history of +this period see Chang Chung-li, _The Chinese Gentry_, Seattle 1955.--For +the history of Tz[)u] Hsi Bland-Backhouse, _China under the Empress +Dowager_, Peking 1939 (Third ed.) is antiquated, but still used. For +some of K'ang Yo-wei's ideas, see now K'ang Yo-wei: _Ta T'ung Shu. The +One World Philosophy of K'ang Yu Wei_, London 1957. + +_Chapter Eleven_ + +p. 305: I rely here partly upon W. Franke's recent studies. For Sun +Yat-sen (Sun I-hsien; also called Sun Chung-shan) see P. Linebarger, +_Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese Republic_, Cambridge, Mass., 1925 and his +later _The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat-sen_, Baltimore +1937.--Independently, Atatürk in Turkey developed a similar theory of +the growth of democracy. + +p. 306: On student activities see Kiang Wen-han, _The Ideological +Background of the Chinese Student Movement_, New York 1948. + +p. 307: On Hu Shih see his own _The Chinese Renaissance_, Chicago 1934 +and J. de Francis, _Nationalism and Language Reform in China_, Princeton +1950. + +p. 310: The declaration of Independence of Mongolia had its basis in the +early treaty of the Mongols with the Manchus (1636): "In case the Tai +Ch'ing Dynasty falls, you will exist according to previous basic laws" +(R.J. Miller, _Monasteries and Culture Change in Inner Mongolia_, +Wiesbaden 1959, p. 4). + +p. 315: For the military activities see F.F. Liu, _A Military History of +Modern China, 1924-1949_, Princeton 1956. A Marxist analysis of the 1927 +events is Manabendra Nath Roy, _Revolution and Counter-Revolution in +China_, Calcutta 1946; the relevant documents are translated in C. +Brandt, B. Schwartz, J.K. Fairbank, _A Documentary History of Chinese +Communism_, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. + +_Chapter Twelve_ + +For Mao Tse-tung, see B. Schwartz, _Chinese Communism and the Rise of +Mao_, second ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1958. For Mao's early years; see +J.E. Rue, _Mao Tse-tung in Opposition_, 1927-1935, Stanford 1966. For +the civil war, see L.M. Chassin, _The Communist Conquest of China: A +History of the Civil War, 1945-1949_, Cambridge, Mass., 1965. For brief +information on communist society, see Franz Schurmann and Orville +Schell, _The China Reader_, vol. 3, _Communist China_, New York 1967. +For problems of organization, see Franz Schurmann, _Ideology and +Organization in Communist China_, Berkeley 1966. For cultural and +political problems, see Ho Ping-ti, _China in Crisis_, vol. 1, _China's +Heritage and the Communist Political System_, Chicago 1968. For a +sympathetic view of rural life in communist China, see J. Myrdal, +_Report from a Chinese Village_, New York 1966; for Taiwanese village +life, see Bernard Gallin, _Hsin Hsing, Taiwan: A Chinese Village in +Change_, Berkeley 1966. + +INDEX + + Abahai, ruler + Abdication + Aborigines + Absolutism (_see_ Despotism, Dictator, Emperor, Monarchy) + Academia Sinica + Academies + Administration; + provincial + (_see_ Army, Feudalism, Bureaucracy) + Adobe (Mud bricks) + Adoptions + Afghanistan + Africa + Agriculture; + development; + Origin of; + of Shang; + shifting (denshiring) + (_see_ Wheat, Millet, Rice, Plough, Irrigation, Manure, Canals, + Fallow) + An Ti, ruler of Han + Ainu, tribes + Ala-shan mountain range + Alchemy (_see_ Elixir) + Alexander the Great + America (_see_ United States) + Amithabha, god + Amur, river + An Chi-yeh, rebel + An Lu-shan, rebel + Analphabetism + Anarchists + Ancestor, cult + Aniko, sculptor + Animal style + Annam (Vietnam) + Anyang (Yin-ch'ü) + Arabia; + Arabs + Architecture + Aristocracy (_see_ Nobility, Feudalism) + Army, cost of; + organization of; + size of; + Tibetan + (_see_ War, Militia, tu-tu, pu-ch'ü) + Art, Buddhist (_see_ Animal style, Architecture, Pottery, Painting, + Sculpture, Wood-cut) + Arthashastra, book, attributed to Kautilya + Artisans; + Organizations of + (_see_ Guilds, Craftsmen) + Assimilation (_see_ Colonization) + Astronomy + Austroasiatics + Austronesians + Avars, tribe (_see_ Juan-juan) + Axes, prehistoric + Axis, policy + + Babylon + Baghdad, city + Balasagun, city + Ballads + Banks + Banner organization + Barbarians (Foreigners) + Bastards + Bath + Beg, title + Beggar + Bengal + Boat festival + Bokhara (Bukhara), city + Bon, religion + Bondsmen (_see pu-ch'ü_, Serfs, Feudalism) + Book, printing; + B burning + Böttger, inventor + Boxer rebellion + Boycott + Brahmans, Indian caste + Brain drain + Bronze (_see_ Metal, Copper) + Brothel (Tea-house) + Buddha; + Buddhism + (_see_ Ch'an, Vinaya, Sects, Amithabha, Maitreya, Hinayana, + Mahayana, Monasteries, Church, Pagoda, Monks, Lamaism) + Budget (_see_ Treasury, Inflation, Deflation) + Bullfights + Bureaucracy; + religious B + (_see_ Administration; Army) + Burgher (_liang-min_) + Burma + Businessmen (_see_ Merchants, Trade) + Byzantium + + Calcutta, city + Caliph (Khaliph) + Cambodia + Canals; + Imperial C + (_see_ Irrigation) + Cannons + Canton (Kuang-chou), city + Capital of Empire (_see_ Ch'ang-an, Sian, Loyang, etc.) + Capitalism (_see_ Investments, Banks, Money, Economy, etc.) + Capitulations (privileges of foreign nations) + Caravans (_see_ Silk road, Trade) + Carpet + Castes, (_see_ Brahmans) + Castiglione, G., painter + Cattle, breeding + Cavalry, (_see_ Horse) + Cave temples (_see_ Lung-men, Yün-kang, Tunhuang) + Censorate + Censorship + Census (_see_ Population) + Central Asia (_see_ Turkestan, Sinkiang, Tarim, City States) + Champa, State + Ch'an (Zen), meditative Buddhism + Chan-kuo Period (Contending States) + Chancellor + Ch'ang-an, capital of China (_see_ Sian) + Chang Ch'ien, ambassador + Chang Chü-chan, teacher + Chang Hsien-chung, rebel + Chang Hsüeh-hang, war lord + Chang Ling, popular leader + Chang Ti, ruler + Chang Tsai, philosopher + Chang Tso-lin, war lord + Chao, state; + Earlier Chao; + Later Chao + Chao K'uang-yin (T'ai Tsu), ruler + Chao Mêng-fu, painter + Charters + Chefoo Convention + Ch'en, dynasty + Ch'en Pa-hsien, ruler + Ch'en Tu-hsiu, intellectual + Ch'eng Hao, philosopher + Cheng Ho, navy commander + Ch'eng I, philosopher + Cheng-i-chiao, religion + Ch'eng Ti, ruler of Han; + ruler of Chin + Ch'eng Tsu, ruler of Manchu + Ch'engtu, city + Ch'i, state; + short dynasty; + Northern Ch'i + Ch'i-fu, clan + Chi-nan, city + Ch'i-tan (_see_ Kitan) + Ch'i Wan-nien, leader + Chia, clan + Chia-ch'ing, period + Chia Ss[)u]-tao, politician + Ch'iang, tribes, (_see_ Tanguts) + Chiang Kai-shek, president + Ch'ien-lung, period + _ch'ien-min_ (commoners), + Chin, dynasty, (_see_ Juchên); + dynasty; + Eastern Chin dynasty; + Later Chin dynasty, + Ch'in, state; + Ch'in, dynasty; + Earlier Ch'in dynasty; + Later Ch'in dynasty; + Western Ch'in dynasty + Ch'in K'ui, politician + Chinese, origin of + Ching Fang, scholar + Ching-tê (-chen), city + _ching-t'ien_ system + Ching Tsung, Manchu ruler + Ch'iu Ying, painter + Chou, dynasty; + short Chou dynasty; + Later Chou dynasty; + Northern Chou dynasty + Chou En-lai, politician + Chou-k'ou-tien, archaeological site + Chou-kung (Duke of Chou) + Chou-li, book + Chou Tun-i, philosopher + Christianity (_see_ Nestorians, Jesuits, Missionaries) + Chronology + Ch'u, state + Chu Ch'üan-chung, general and ruler + Chu Hsi, philosopher + Chu-ko Liang, general + Chu Tê, general + Chu Tsai-yü, scholar + Chu Yüan-chang (T'ai Tsu), ruler + _chuang_ (_see_ Manors, Estates) + Chuang Tz[)u], philosopher + Chün-ch'en, ruler + Ch'un-ch'iu, book + _chün-t'ien_ system (land equalization system) + _chün-tz[)u]_ (gentleman) + Chung-ch'ang T'ung, philosopher + Chungking (Ch'ung-ch'ing), city + Church, Buddhistic + Taoistic + (_see_ Chang Ling) + Cities + spread and growth of cities + origin of cities + twin cities + (_see_ City states, Ch'ang-an, Sian, Loyang, Hankow, etc.) + City States (of Central Asia) + Clans + Classes, social classes + (_see_ Castes, _ch'ien-min, liang-min_, Gentry, etc.) + Climate, changes + Cliques + Cloisonné + Cobalt + Coins (_see_ Money) + Colonialism (_see_ Imperialism) + Colonization (_see_ Migration, Assimilation) + Colour prints + Communes + Communism (_see_ Marxism, Socialism, Soviets) + Concubines + Confessions + Confucian ritual + Confucianism + Confucian literature + false Confucian literature + Confucians + (_see_ Neo-Confucianism) + Conquests (_see_ War, Colonialism) + Conservatism + Constitution + Contending States + Co-operatives + Copper (_see_ Bronze, Metal) + Corruption + Corvée (forced labour) (_see_ Labour) + Cotton + Courtesans (_see_ Brothel) + Coxinga, rebel + Craftsmen (_see_ Artisans) + Credits + Criminals + Crop rotation + + Dalai Lama, religious ruler of Tibet + Dance + Deflation + Deities (_see_ T'ien, Shang Ti, Maitreya, Amithabha, etc.) + Delft, city + Demands, the twenty-one + Democracy + Denshiring + Despotism (_see_ Absolutism) + Dewey, J., educator + Dialects (_see_ Language) + Dialecticians + Dictators (_see_ Despotism) + Dictionaries + Diploma, for monks + Diplomacy + Disarmament + Discriminatory laws (_see_ Double Standard) + Dog + Dorgon, prince + Double standard, legal + Drama + Dress, changes + Dungan, tribes + Dynastic histories (_see_ History) + Dzungars, people + + Eclipses + Economy + Money economy + Natural economy + (_see_ Agriculture, Nomadism, Industry, Denshiring, Money, Trade, etc.) + Education (_see_ Schools, Universities, Academies, Script, + Examination system, etc.) + Elements, the five + Elephants + Élite (_see_ Intellectuals, Students, Gentry) + Elixir (_see_ Alchemy) + Emperor, position of + Emperor and church + (_see_ Despotism, King, Absolutism, Monarchy, etc.) + Empress (_see_ Lü, Wu, Wei, Tz[)u] Hsi) + Encyclopaedias + England (_see_ Great Britain) + Ephtalites, tribe + Epics + Equalization Office (_see chün-t'ien_) + Erotic literature + Estates (_chuang_) + Ethics (_see_ Confucianism) + Eunuchs + Europe + Europeans + Examination system + Examinations for Buddhists + + Fables + Factories + Fallow system + Falsifications (_see_ Confucianism) + Family structure + Family ethics + Family planning + Fan Chung-yen, politician + Fascism + Federations, tribal + Felt + Fêng Kuo-chang, politician + Fêng Meng-lung, writer + Fêng Tao, politician + Fêng Yü-hsiang, war lord + Ferghana, city + Fertility cults + differential fertility + Fertilizer + Feudalism + end of feudalism + late feudalism + new feudalism + nomadic feudalism + (_see_ Serfs, Aristocracy, Fiefs, Bondsmen, etc.) + Fiefs + Finances (_see_ Budget, Inflation, Money, Coins) + Fire-arms (_see_ Rifles, Cannons) + Fishing + Folk-tales + Food habits + Foreign relations (_see_ Diplomacy, Treaty, Tribute, War) + Forests + Formosa (T'aiwan) + France + Frontier, concept of + Frugality + Fu Chien, ruler + Fu-lan-chi (Franks) + Fu-lin, Manchu ruler + Fu-yü, country + Fukien, province + + Galdan, leader + Gandhara, country + Gardens + Geisha (_see_ Courtesans) + Genealogy + Genghiz Khan, ruler + Gentry (Upper class) + colonial gentry + definition of gentry + gentry state + southern gentry + Germany + Gök Turks + Governors, role of + Grain (_see_ Millet, Rice, Wheat) + Granaries + Great Britain (_see_ England) + Great Leap Forward + Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution + Great Wall + Greeks + Guilds + + Hakka, ethnic group + Hami, city state + Han, dynasty + Later Han dynasty + Han Fei Tz[)u], philosopher + Han T'o-wei, politician + Han Yü, philosopher + Hankow (Han-k'ou), city + Hangchow (Hang-chou), city + Heaven (_see_ Shang Ti, T'ien) + Hermits (_see_ Monks, Sages) + Hinayana, religion + Historians + Histories, dynastic + falsification of histories + Historiography + Hitler, Adolf, dictator + Hittites, ethnic group + Ho Ch'êng-t'ien, scholar + Ho-lien P'o-p'o, ruler + Ho Ti, Han ruler + _hong_, association + Hong Kong, colony + Hopei, province + Horse + horse chariot + horse riding + horse trade + Hospitals + Hou Ching, ruler + Houses (_see_ Adobe) + Hsi-hsia, kingdom + Hsi-k'ang, Tibet + Hsia, dynasty + Hunnic Hsia dynasty + (_see_ Hsi-hsia) + Hsia-hou, clan + Hsia Kui, painter + Hsiao Tao-ch'eng, general + Hsiao Wu Ti, Chin ruler + Hsieh, clan + Hsieh Hsüan, general + Hsien-feng, period + Hsien-pi, tribal federation + Hsien Ti, Han ruler + Hsien-yün, tribes + Hsin, dynasty + Hsin-an merchants + _Hsin Ch'ing-nien_, journal + Hsiung-nu, tribal federation (_see_ Huns) + Hsü Shih-ch'ang, president + Hsüan-tê, period + Hsüan-tsang, Buddhist + Hsüan Tsung, T'ang ruler + Manchu ruler + Hsüan-t'ung, period + Hsün Tz[)u], philosopher + Hu, name of tribes (_see_ Huns) + Hu Han-min, politician + Hu Shih, scholar and politician + Hu Wei-yung, politician + Huai-nan Tz[)u], philosopher + Huai, Ti, Chin ruler + Huan Hsüan, general + Huan Wen, general + Huang Ch'ao, leader of rebellion + Huang Ti, ruler + Huang Tsung-hsi, philosopher + Hui-chou merchants + _hui-kuan_, association + Hui Ti, Chin ruler + Manchu ruler + Hui Tsung, Sung ruler + Hui Tz[)u], philosopher + Human sacrifice + Hung Hsiu-ch'üan, leader of rebellion + Huns (_see_ Hu, Hsiung-nu) + Hunting + Hutuktu, religious ruler + Hydraulic society + + _i-chuang_, clan manors + Ili, river + Imperialism (_see_ Colonialism) + India (_see_ Brahmans, Bengal, Gandhara, Calcutta, Buddhism) + Indo-China (_see_ Cambodia, Annam, Laos). + Indo-Europeans, language group (_see_ Yüeh-chih, Tocharians, + Hittites) + Indonesia, (_see_ Java) + Industries + Industrialization + Industrial society + (_see_ Factories) + Inflation + Inheritance, laws of + Intellectuals (_see_ Élite, Students) + Investments + Iran (Persia) + Iron + Cast iron + Iron money + (_see_ Steel) + Irrigation + Islam (_see_ Muslims) + Istanbul (Constantinople) + Italy + Japan (_see_ Meiji, Tada, Tanaka) + Java + Jedzgerd, ruler, + Jehol, province, + Jen Tsung, Manchu ruler + Jesuits + Jews + _Ju_ (scribes) + Juchên (Chin Dynasty, Jurchen) + Juan-juan, tribal federation + Jurchen (_see_ Juchên) + + K'ai-feng, city (_see_ Yeh, Pien-liang) + Kalmuk, Mongol tribes (_see_ Ölöt) + K'ang-hsi, period + K'ang Yo-wei, politician and scholar + Kansu, province (_see_ Tunhuang) + Kao-ch'ang, city state + Kao, clan + Kao-li, state (_see_ Korea) + Kao Ming, writer + Kao Tsu, Han ruler + Kao Tsung, T'ang ruler + Kao Yang, ruler + Kapok, textile fibre + Kara Kitai, tribal federation + Kashgar, city + Kazak, tribal federation + Khalif (_see_ Caliph) + Khamba, Tibetans + Khan, Central Asian title + Khocho, city + Khotan, city + King, position of + first kings + religious character of kingship + (_see_ Yao, Shun, Hsia dynasty, Emperor, Wang, Prince) + Kitan (Ch'i-tan), tribal federation (_see_ Liao dynasty) + Ko-shu Han, general + Korea (_see_ Kao-li, Pai-chi, Sin-lo) + K'ou Ch'ien-chih, Taoist + Kowloon, city + Ku Yen-wu, geographer + Kuan Han-ch'ing, writer + Kuang-hsü, period + Kuang-wu Ti, Han ruler + Kub(i)lai Khan, Mongol ruler + Kung-sun Lung, philosopher + K'ung Tz[)u] (Confucius) + Kuomintang (KMT), party + Kuo Wei, ruler + Kuo Tz[)u]-hsing, rebel leader + Kuo Tz[)u]-i, loyal general + Kyakhta (Kiachta), city + + Labour, forced (_see_ Corvée) + Labour laws + Labour shortage + Lacquer + Lamaism, religion + Land ownership (_see_ Property) + Land reform (_see chün-t'ien, ching-t'ien_) + Landlords + temples as landlords + Language + dialects + Language reform + Lang Shih-ning, painter + La Tz[)u], philosopher + Laos, country + Law codes (_see_ Li K'ui, Property law, Inheritance, Legalists) + Leadership + League of Nations + Leibniz, philosopher + Legalists (_fa-chia_) + Legitimacy of rule (_see_ Abdication) + Lenin, V. + Lhasa, city + Li An-shih, economist + Li Chung-yen, governor + Li Hung-chang, politician + Li K'o-yung, ruler + Li Kuang-li, general + Li K'ui, law-maker + Li Li-san, politician + Li Lin-fu, politician + Li Lung-mien, painter + Li Shih-min (_see_ T'ai Tsung), T'ang ruler + Li Ss[)u], politician + Li Ta-chao, librarian + Li T'ai-po, poet + Li Tz[)u]-ch'eng, rebel + Li Yu, writer + Li Yu-chên, writer + Li Yüan, ruler + Li Yüan-hung, politician + Liang dynasty, Earlier + Later Liang + Northern Liang + Southern Liang + Western Liang + Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, journalist + _liang-min_ (burghers) + Liao, tribes, + Liao dynasty (_see_ Kitan) + Western Liao dynasty + _Liao-chai chih-i_, short-story collection + Libraries + Lin-chin, city + Lin-ch'uan, city + Lin Shu, translator + Lin Tsê-hsü, politician + Literati, (_see_ Scholars, Confucianists) + Literature (_see pien-wen, pi-chi_, Poetry, Drama, Novels, Epics, + Theatre, ballads, Folk-tales, Fables, History, Confucians, Writers, + Scholars, Scribes) + Literary revolution + Liu Chi, Han ruler + Liu Chin-yüan, ruler + Liu Chin, eunuch + Liu Hsiu (_see_ Kuang wu Ti), Han ruler + Liu Lao-chih, general + _liu-min_ (vagrants) + Liu Pang (_see_ Liu Chi) + Liu Pei, general and ruler + Liu Shao-ch'i, political leader + Liu Sung, rebel + Liu Tsung-yüan, writer + Liu Ts'ung, ruler + Liu Yao, ruler + Liu Yü, general + emperor + Liu Yüan, sculptor + emperor + Lo Kuan-chung, writer + Loans, to farmers + foreign + Loess, soil formation + Logic + Long March + Lorcha War + Loyang (Lo-yang), capital of China + Lu, state + Lü, empress + Lu Hsiang-shan, philosopher + Lu Hsün, writer + Lü Kuang, ruler + Lü Pu, general + Lü Pu-wei, politician + Lun, prince + _Lun-heng_, book + Lung-men, place + Lung-shan, excavation site + Lytton Commission + Ma Yin, ruler + Ma Yüan, general + painter + Machiavellism + Macao, Portuguese colony + Mahayana, Buddhist sect + Maitreya, Buddhist deity (_see_ Messianic movements) + Malacca, state + Malaria + Managers + Manchu, tribal federation and dynasty + Manchuria + Manichaeism, Iranian religion + Manors (_chuang, see_ Estates) + Mao Tun, Hsiung-nu ruler + Mao Tse-tung, party leader + Marco Polo, businessman + Market + Market control + Marriage systems + Marxism + Marxist theory of history + (_see_ Materialism, Communism, Lenin, Mao Tse-tung) + Materialism + Mathematics + Matrilinear societies + Mazdaism, Iranian religion + May Fourth Movement + Medicine + Medical doctors + Meditation (_see_ Ch'an) + Megalithic culture + Meiji, Japanese ruler + Melanesia + Mencius (Meng Tz[)u]), philosopher + Merchants + foreign merchants + (_see_ Trade, Salt, Caravans, Businessmen) + Messianic movements + Metal (_see_ Bronze, Copper, Iron) + Mi Fei, painter + Middle Class (_see_ Burgher, Merchant, Craftsmen, Artisans) + Middle East (_see_ Near East) + Migrations + forced migrations + (_see_ Colonization, Assimilation, Settlement) + Militarism + Militia + Millet + Mills + Min, state in Fukien + Ming dynasty + Ming Jui, general + Min Ti, Chin ruler + Ming Ti, Han ruler + Wei ruler + Later T'ang ruler + Minorate + Missionaries, Christian (_see_ Jesuits) + Mo Ti, philosopher + Modernization + Mohammedan rebellions (_see_ Muslim) + Mon-Khmer tribes + Monarchy (_see_ King, Emperor, Absolutism, Despotism) + Monasteries, Buddhist + economic importance + Money + Money economy + Origin of money + paper money + (_see_ Coins, Paper, Silver) + Mongolia + Mongols, tribes, tribal federation, dynasty (_see_ Yüan dynasty, + Kalmuk, Tümet, Oirat, Ölöt, Naiman, Turgut, Timur, Genghiz, Kublai) + Monks, Buddhist + Monopolies + Mound-dwellers + Mu-jung, tribes + Mu Ti, East Chin ruler + Mu Tsung, Manchu ruler + Mulberries + Munda tribes + Music (_see_ Theatre, Dance, Geisha) + Muslims + Muslim rebellions + (_see_ Islam, Mohammedans) + Mysticism + + Naiman, Mongol tribe + Nan-chao, state + Nanyang, city + Nanking (Nan-ching), capital of China + Nanking regime + Nationalism (_see_ Kuomintang) + Nature + Nature philosophers + Navy + Near East (_see_ Arabs, Iran, etc.) + Neo-Confucianism + Neolithicum + Nepal + Nerchinsk, place + Nestorian Christianity + Ni Tsan, painter + Nien Fei, rebels + Niu Seng-yu, politician + Nobility + Nomadic nobility + (_see_ Aristocracy) + Nomadism + Economy of nomads + Nomadic society structure + Novels + + Oil + Oirat, Mongol tribes + Okinawa (_see_ Ryukyu) + Ölöt, Mongol tribes + Opera + Opium + Opium War + Oracle bones + Ordos, area + Orenburg, city + Organizations (_see hui-kuan_ Guilds, _hong_, Secret Societies) + Orphanages + Ottoman (Turkish) Empire + Ou-yang Hsiu, writer + Outer Mongolia + + Pagoda + Pai-chi (Paikche), state in Korea + Pai-lien-hui (_see_ White Lotus) + Painting + Palaeolithicum + Pan Ch'ao, general + _pao-chia_, security system + Paper + Paper money + (_see_ Money) + Parliament + Party (_see_ Kuomintang, Communists) + Pearl Harbour + Peasant rebellions (_see_ Rebellions) + Peking, city + Peking Man + Pensions + People's Democracy + Persecution, religious + Persia (Iran) + Persian language + Peruz, ruler + Philippines, state + Philosophy, (_see_ Confucius, Lao Tz[)u], Chuang Tz[)u], + Huai-nan Tz[)u], Hsün Tz[)u], Mencius, Hui Tz[)u], Mo Ti, + Kung-sun Lung, Shang Tz[)u], Han Fei Tz[)u], Tsou Yen, Legalists, + Chung-ch'ang, T'ung, Yüan Chi, Liu Ling, Chu Hsi, Ch'eng Hao, + Lu Hsiang-shan, Wang Yang-ming, etc.) + _pi-chi_, literary form + _pieh-yeh_ (_see_ Manor) + Pien-liang, city (_see_ K'ai-feng) + _pien-wen_, literary form + Pig + Pilgrims + P'ing-ch'êng, city + Pirates + Plantation economy + Plough + Po Chü-i, poet + Po-hai, state + Poetry + Court Poetry + Northern Poetry + Poets (_see_ T'ao Ch'ien, Po Chü-i, Li T'ai-po, Tu Fu, etc.) + Politicians, migratory + Pontic migration + Population changes + Population decrease + (_see_ Census, Fertility) + Porcelain + Port Arthur, city + Portsmouth, treaty + Portuguese (_see_ Fu-lan-chi, Macao) + Potter + Pottery + black pottery + (_see_ Porcelain) + Price controls + Priests (_see_ Shamans, Ju, Monks) + Primogeniture + Princes + Printing (_see_ Colour, Book) + Privileges of gentry + Proletariat (_see_ Labour) + Propaganda + Property relations (_see_ Laws, Inheritance, Primogeniture) + Protectorate + Provinces, administration + _pu-ch'ü_, bondsmen + P'u-ku Huai-en, general + P'u Sung-lin, writer + P'u Yi, Manchu ruler + Puppet plays + + Railways + Manchurian Railway + Rebellions (_see_ Peasants, Secret Societies, Revolutions) + Red Eyebrows, peasant movement + Red Guards + Reforms; Reform of language (_see_ Land reform) + Regents + Religion + popular religion + (_see_ Bon, Shintoism, Persecution, Sacrifice, Ancestor cult, + Fertility cults, Deities, Temples, Monasteries, Christianity, Islam, + Buddhism, Mazdaism, Manichaeism, Messianic religions, Secret + societies, Soul, Shamanism, State religion) + Republic + Revolutions; legitimization of revolution (_see_ Rebellions) + Ricci, Matteo, missionary + Rice + Rifles + Ritualism + Roads + Roman Empire + Roosevelt, F.D., president + Russia (_see_ Soviet Republics) + Ryukyu (Liu-ch'iu), islands + + Sacrifices + Sages + Sakhalin (Karafuto), island + Salar, ethnic group + Salary + Salt + Salt merchants + Salt trade + Samarkand, city + _San-min chu-i_, book + Sang Hung-yang, economist + Sassanids, Iranian dynasty + Scholars (_Ju_) (_see_ Literati, Scribes, Intellectuals, + Confucianists) + Schools, (_see_ Education) + Science, (_see_ Mathematics, Astronomy, Nature) + Scribes + Script, Chinese + Sculpture + Buddhist sculptures + _sê-mu_ (auxiliary troops) + Seal, imperial + Secret societies (_see_ Red Eyebrows; Yellow Turbans; White Lotus; + Boxer; Rebellions) + Sects + Buddhist sects + Seng-ko-lin-ch'in, general + Serfs (_see_ Slaves, Servants, Bondsmen) + Servants + Settlement, of foreigners + military + (_see_ Colonization) + Sha-t'o, tribal federation + Shadow theatre + Shahruk, ruler + Shamans + Shamanism + Shan tribes of South East Asia + _Shan-hai-ching_, book + Shan-yü, title of nomadic ruler + Shang dynasty + Shang Ti, deity + Shang Tz[)u], philosopher (Shang Yang) + Shanghai, city + Shao Yung, philosopher + Sheep + Shen Nung, mythical figure + Shen Tsung, Sung ruler + Manchu ruler + Sheng Tsu, Manchu ruler + _Shih-chi_, book + Shih Ching-t'ang, ruler + Shih Ch'ung, writer + Shih Hêng, soldier + Shih Hu, ruler + Shih Huang-ti, ruler + Shih Lo, ruler + Shih-pi, ruler + Shih Ss[)u]-ming + Shih Tsung, Manchu ruler + Shih-wei, Mongol tribes + Shintoism, Japanese religion + Ships (_see_ Navy) + Short stories + Shoulder axes + Shu (Szechwan), area and/or state + Shu-Han dynasty + Shun, dynasty + mythical ruler + Shun-chih, reign period + Sian (Hsi-an, Ch'ang-an), city + Siao Ho (Hsiao Ho), jurist + Silk + Silk road + Silver + Sin-lo (Hsin-lo, Silla), state of Korea + Sinanthropos + Sinkiang (Hsin-Chiang, Turkestan) + Slash and burn agriculture (denshiring) + Slaves + Slave society + Temple slaves + Social mobility + Social structure of tribes + Socialism (_see_ Marxism, Communism) + Sogdiana, country in Central Asia + Soul, concept of soul + South-East Asia (_see_ Burma, Champa, Cambodia, Annam, Laos, + Vietnam, Tonking, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Mon-Khmer) + Soviet Republics (_see_ Russia) + Speculations, financial + Ss[)u]-ma, clan + Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien, historian + Ss[)u]-ma Kuang, historian + Ss[)u]-ma Yen, ruler + Standardization + States, territorial and national + State religion + Statistics (_see_ Population) + Steel + Steppe + Stone age + Stratification, social (_see_ Classes, Social mobility) + Strikes + Students + Su Chün, rebel + Su Tsung, T'ang ruler + Su Tung-p'o, poet + _su-wang_ (uncrowned king) + Sui, dynasty + Sun Ts'ê, ruler + Sun Yat-sen (Sun I-hsien), revolutionary leader, president + Sung, dynasty + Liu-Sung dynasty + Szechwan (Ss[)u]-ch'uan), province (_see_ Shu) + + Ta-tan (Tatars), tribal federation + Tada, Japanese militarist + Tai, tribes (_see_ Thailand) + Tai Chen, philosopher + Tai Ch'ing dynasty (Manchu) + T'ai P'ing, state + T'ai Tsu, Sung ruler + Manchu ruler + T'ai Tsung, T'ang ruler (_see_ Li Shih-min) + Taiwan (T'ai-wan, _see_ Formosa) + T'an-yao, priest + Tanaka, Japanese militarist + T'ang, dynasty + Later T'ang dynasty + T'ang Hsien-tsu, writer + T'ang Yin, painter + Tanguts, Tibetan tribal federation and/or state (_see_ Ch'iang) + Tao, philosophical term + Tao-kuang, reign period + _Tao-tê-ching_, book + T'ao-t'ieh, mythical emblem + Tao-yen, monk + Taoism, religion + Taoists + (_see_ Lao Tz[)u], Chuang Tz[)u], Chang Ling, etc.) + Tarim basin + Tatars (Ta-tan) Mongolian tribal federation + Taxation + Tax collectors + Tax evasion + Tax exemptions + Taxes for monks + Tax reform + Tê Tsung, Manchu ruler + Tea + Tea trade + Tea house (_see_ Brothel) + Teachers (_see_ Schools) + Technology + Tell, archaeological term + Temples (_see_ Monasteries) + Tengri khan, ruler + Textile industry (_see_ Silk, Cotton) + Thailand, state (_see_ Tai tribes) + Theatre (_see_ Shadow, Puppet, Opera) + Throne, accession to (_see_ Abdication, Legitimacy) + Ti, Tibetan tribes + Tibet (_see_ Ch'iang, Ti, T'u-fan, T'u-yü-hun, Lhasa Tanguts) + T'ien, deity + Tientsin (T'ien-chin), city + Timur, ruler + Tin + Ting-ling, tribal federation + T'o-pa (_see_ Toba) + T'o-t'o, writer + Toba, Turkish tribal federation + Tocharians, Central Asian ethnic group + Tokto (_see_ T'o-t'o) + Tölös, Turkish tribal group + Tombs + Tonking, state + Tortoise + Totalitarianism (_see_ Dictatorship, Fascism, Communism) + Tou Ku, general + T'ou-man, ruler + Towns (_see_ City) + Trade + barter trade + international trade + (_see_ Merchants, Commerce, Caravans, Silk road) + Translations + Transportation (_see_ Roads, Canals, Ships, Post, Caravans, Horses) + Travels of emperors + Treasury + Treaty, international + Tribal organization (_see_ Banner, Army, Nomads) + Tribes, disappearance of + social organization + military organization + Tribute (_kung_) + _tsa-hu_, social class + Tsai T'ien, prince + Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei, scholar + Ts'ao Chih, poet + Ts'ao Hsüeh-ch'in, writer + Ts'ao K'un, politician + Ts'ao P'ei, ruler + Ts'ao Ts'ao, general + Tsewang Rabdan, general + Tsêng Kuo-fan, general + Tso Tsung-t'ang, general + Tsou Yen, philosopher + Ts'ui, clan + T'u-chüeh, Gök Turk tribes (_see_ Turks) + Tu Fu, poet + T'u-fan, Tibetan tribal group + Tu-ku, Turkish tribe + _T'u-shu chi-ch'eng_, encyclopaedia + _tu-tu_, title + T'u-yü-hun, Tibetan tribal federation + Tuan Ch'i-jui, president + Tümet, Mongol tribal group + Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, painter + T'ung-chien kang-mu, historical encyclopaedia + T'ung-chih, reign period + Tung Chung-shu, thinker + Tung Fu-hsiang, politician + Tung-lin academy + Tungus tribes (_see_ Juchên, Po-hai, Manchu) + Tunhuang (Tun-huang), city + Turfan, city state + Turgut, Mongol tribal federation + Turkestan (_see_ Central Asia, Tarim, Turfan, Sinkiang, Ferghana, + Samarkand, Khotcho, Tocharians, Yüeh-chih, Sogdians, etc.) + Turkey + Turks (_see_ Gök Turks, T'u-chüeh, Toba, Tölös, Ting-ling, Uighur, + Sha-t'o, etc.) + Tz[)u] Hsi, empress + + Uighurs, Turkish federation + United States (_see_ America) + Ungern-Sternberg, general + Urbanization (_see_ City) + Urga, city + University + Usury + + Vagrants (_liu-min_) + Vietnam (_see_ Annam) + Village + Village commons + Vinaya Buddhism + Voltaire, writer + + Walls + Great Wall + Wan-li, reign period + _Wang_ (king) + Wang An-shih, statesman + Wang Chen, eunuch + Wang Ching-wei, collaborator + Wang Ch'ung, philosopher + Wang Hsien-chih, peasant leader + Wang Kung, general + Wang Mang, ruler + Wang Shih-chen, writer + Wang Shih-fu, writer + Wang Tao-k'un, writer + Wang Tun, rebel + Wang Yang-ming, general and philosopher + War + size of wars + War-chariot + cost of wars + War lords + Warrior-nomads + (_see_ Army, World War, Opium War, Lorcha War, Fire-arms) + Washington, conference + Wei, dynasty + small state + empress + Wei Chung-hsien, eunuch + Wei T'o, ruler in South China + Welfare state + Well-field system (_ching-t'ien_), + Wen Ti, Han ruler + Wei ruler + Toba ruler + Sui ruler + Wen Tsung, Manchu ruler + Whampoa, military academy + Wheat + White Lotus sect (Pai-lien) + Wholesalers + Wine + Wood-cut (_see_ Colour print) + Wool (_see_ Felt) + World Wars + Women rights + Writing, invention (_see_ Script) + Wu, empress + state + Wuch'ang, city (_see_ Hankow) + Wu Ching-tz[)u], writer + Wu-huan, tribal federation + Wu P'ei-fu, war lord + Wu San-kui, general + Wu Shih-fan, ruler + Wu-sun, tribal group + Wu Tai (Five Dynasties period) + Wu Tao-tz[)u], painter + Wu (Ti), Han ruler + Chin ruler + Liang ruler + Wu Tsung, Manchu ruler + Wu Wang, Chou ruler + _wu-wei_, philosophical term + + Yakub beg, ruler + Yamato, part of Japan + Yang, clan + Yang Chien, ruler (_see_ Wen Ti) + Yang (Kui-fei), concubine + Yang-shao, archaeological site + Yang Ti, Sui ruler + Yao, mythical ruler + tribes in South China + Yarkand, city in Turkestan + Yeh (K'ai-feng), city + Yeh-ta (_see_ Ephtalites) + Yehe-Nara, tribe + Yellow Turbans, secret society + Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, politician + Yen, state + dynasty + Earlier Yen dynasty + Later Yen dynasty + Western Yen dynasty + Yen-an, city + Yen Fu, translator + Yen Hsi-shan, war lord + Yen-ta (Altan), ruler + _Yen-t'ieh-lun_ (Discourses on Salt and Iron), book + Yin Chung-k'an, general + Yin-ch'ü, city + Yin and Yang, philosophical terms + Ying Tsung, Manchu ruler + Yo Fei, general + Yü Liang, general + Yü-wen, tribal group + Yüan Chen + Yüan Chi, philosopher + Yüan Mei, writer + Yüan Shao, general + Yüan Shih-k'ai, general and president + Yüan Ti, Han ruler + Chin ruler + Yüeh, tribal group and area + Yüeh-chih, Indo-European-speaking ethnic group + Yün-kang, caves + Yünnan (Yün-nan), province + Yung-cheng, reign period + Yung-lo, reign period + + Zen Buddhism (_see_ Ch'an) + Zoroaster, founder of religion + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of China, by Wolfram Eberhard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 11367-8.txt or 11367-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/6/11367/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Gene Smethers and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/11367-8.zip b/old/11367-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a28fcd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11367-8.zip diff --git a/old/11367.txt b/old/11367.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d17e644 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11367.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16755 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of China, by Wolfram Eberhard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A History of China + +Author: Wolfram Eberhard + +Release Date: February 28, 2004 [EBook #11367] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Gene Smethers and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following text contains numerous non-English +words containing diacritical marks not contained in the ASCII character +set. Characters accented by those marks, and the corresponding text +representations are as follows (where x represents the character being +accented). All such symbols in this text above the character being +accented: + + breve (u-shaped symbol): [)x] + caron (v-shaped symbol): [vx] + macron (straight line): [=x] + acute (egu) accent: ['x] + +Additionally, the author has spelled certain words inconsistently. Those +have been adjusted to be consistent where possible. Examples of such +adjustments are as follows: + + From To +Northwestern North-western +Southwards Southward +Programme Program +re-introduced reintroduced +practise practice +Lotos Lotus +Ju-Chen Juchen +cooperate co-operate +life-time lifetime +man-power manpower +favor favour +etc. + +In general such changes are made to be consistent with the predominate +usage in the text, or if there was not a predominate spelling, to the +more modern.] + + + + + + +A HISTORY OF CHINA + +by + +WOLFRAM EBERHARD + + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + + + _THE EARLIEST TIMES_ + +Chapter I: PREHISTORY + + 1 Sources for the earliest history + 2 The Peking Man + 3 The Palaeolithic Age + 4 The Neolithic Age + 5 The eight principal prehistoric cultures + 6 The Yang-shao culture + 7 The Lung-shan culture + 8 The first petty States in Shansi + +Chapter II: THE SHANG DYNASTY (_c_. 1600-1028 B.C.) + + 1 Period, origin, material culture + 2 Writing and Religion + 3 Transition to feudalism + + + _ANTIQUITY_ + +Chapter III: THE CHOU DYNASTY (_c_. 1028-257 B.C.) + + 1 Cultural origin of the Chou and end of the Shang dynasty + 2 Feudalism in the new empire + 3 Fusion of Chou and Shang + 4 Limitation of the imperial power + 5 Changes in the relative strength of the feudal states + 6 Confucius + 7 Lao Tz[)u] + +Chapter IV: THE CONTENDING STATES (481-256 B.C.): +DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + + 1 Social and military changes + 2 Economic changes + 3 Cultural changes + +Chapter V: THE CH'IN DYNASTY (256-207 B.C.) + + 1 Towards the unitary State + 2 Centralization in every field + 3 Frontier Defence. Internal collapse + + + _THE MIDDLE AGES_ + +Chapter VI: THE HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) + + 1 Development of the gentry-state + 2 Situation of the Hsiung-nu empire; its relation to the + Han empire. Incorporation of South China + 3 Brief feudal reaction. Consolidation of the gentry + 4 Turkestan policy. End of the Hsiung-nu empire + 5 Impoverishment. Cliques. End of the Dynasty + 6 The pseudo-socialistic dictatorship. Revolt of the "Red Eyebrows" + 7 Reaction and Restoration: the Later Han dynasty + 8 Hsiung-nu policy + 9 Economic situation. Rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans". + Collapse of the Han dynasty + 10 Literature and Art + +Chapter VII: THE EPOCH OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF CHINA (A.D. 220-580) + + (A) _The three kingdoms_ (A.D. 220-265) + 1 Social, intellectual, and economic problems during the + period of the first division + 2 Status of the two southern Kingdoms + 3 The northern State of Wei + + (B) _The Western Chin dynasty_ (265-317) + 1 Internal situation in the Chin empire + 2 Effect on the frontier peoples + 3 Struggles for the throne + 4 Migration of Chinese + 5 Victory of the Huns. The Hun Han dynasty + (later renamed the Earlier Chao dynasty) + + (C) _The alien empires in North China, down to the Toba_ + (A.D. 317-385) + 1 The Later Chao dynasty in eastern North China (Hun; 329-352) + 2 Earlier Yen dynasty in the north-east (proto-Mongol; 352-370), + and the Earlier Ch'in dynasty in all north China (Tibetan; 351-394) + 3 The fragmentation of north China + 4 Sociological analysis of the two great alien empires + 5 Sociological analysis of the petty States + 6 Spread of Buddhism + + (D) _The Toba empire in North China_ (A.D. 385-550) + 1 The rise of the Toba State + 2 The Hun kingdom of the Hsia (407-431) + 3 Rise of the Toba to a great power + 4 Economic and social conditions + 5 Victory and retreat of Buddhism + + (E) _Succession States of the Toba_ (A.D. 550-580): + _Northern Ch'i dynasty, Northern Chou dynasty_ + 1 Reasons for the splitting of the Toba empire + 2 Appearance of the (Goek) Turks + 3 The Northern Ch'i dynasty; the Northern Chou dynasty + + (F) _The southern empires_ + 1 Economic and social situation in the south + 2 Struggles between cliques under the Eastern Chin dynasty + (A.D. 317-419) + 3 The Liu-Sung dynasty (A.D. 420-478) and the Southern Ch'i dynasty + (A.D. 479-501) + 4 The Liang dynasty (A.D. 502-556) + 5 The Ch'en dynasty (A.D. 557-588) and its ending by the Sui + 6 Cultural achievements of the south + +Chapter VIII: THE EMPIRES OF THE SUI AND THE T'ANG + + (A) _The Sui dynasty_ (A.D. 580-618) + 1 Internal situation in the newly unified empire + 2 Relations with Turks and with Korea + 3 Reasons for collapse + + (B) _The T'ang dynasty_ (A.D. 618-906) + 1 Reforms and decentralization + 2 Turkish policy + 3 Conquest of Turkestan and Korea. Summit of power + 4 The reign of the empress Wu: Buddhism and capitalism + 5 Second blossoming of T'ang culture + 6 Revolt of a military governor + 7 The role of the Uighurs. Confiscation of the capital of the + monasteries + 8 First successful peasant revolt. Collapse of the empire + + + _MODERN TIMES_ + +Chapter IX: THE EPOCH OF THE SECOND DIVISION OF CHINA + + (A) _The period of the Five Dynasties_ (906-960) + 1 Beginning of a new epoch + 2 Political situation in the tenth century + 3 Monopolistic trade in South China. Printing and paper money in the + north + 4 Political history of the Five Dynasties + + (B) _Period of Moderate Absolutism_ + (1) _The Northern Sung dynasty_ + 1 Southward expansion + 2 Administration and army. Inflation + 3 Reforms and Welfare schemes + 4 Cultural situation (philosophy, religion, literature, painting) + 5 Military collapse + + (2) _The Liao (Kitan) dynasty in the north_ (937-1125) + 1 Sociological structure. Claim to the Chinese imperial throne + 2 The State of the Kara-Kitai + + (3) _The Hsi-Hsia State in the north_ (1038-1227) + 1 Continuation of Turkish traditions + + (4) _The empire of the Southern Sung dynasty_ (1127-1279) + 1 Foundation + 2 Internal situation + 3 Cultural situation; reasons for the collapse + + (5) _The empire of the Juchen in the north (i_ 115-1234) + 1 Rapid expansion from northern Korea to the Yangtze + 2 United front of all Chinese + 3 Start of the Mongol empire + +Chapter X: THE PERIOD OF ABSOLUTISM + + (A) _The Mongol Epoch_ (1280-1368) + 1 Beginning of new foreign rules + 2 "Nationality legislation" + 3 Military position + 4 Social situation + 5 Popular risings: National rising + 6 Cultural + + (B) _The Ming Epoch_ (1368-1644) + 1 Start. National feeling + 2 Wars against Mongols and Japanese + 3 Social legislation within the existing order + 4 Colonization and agricultural developments + 5 Commercial and industrial developments + 6 Growth of the small gentry + 7 Literature, art, crafts + 8 Politics at court + 9 Navy. Southward expansion + 10 Struggles between cliques + 11 Risings + 12 Machiavellism + 13 Foreign relations in the sixteenth century + 14 External and internal perils + + (C) _The Manchu Dynasty_ (1644-1911) + 1 Installation of the Manchus + 2 Decline in the eighteenth century + 3 Expansion in Central Asia; the first State treaty + 4 Culture + 5 Relations with the outer world + 6 Decline; revolts + 7 European Imperialism in the Far East + 8 Risings in Turkestan and within China: the T'ai P'ing Rebellion + 9 Collision with Japan; further Capitulations + 10 Russia in Manchuria + 11 Reform and reaction: The Boxer Rising + 12 End of the dynasty + +Chapter XI: THE REPUBLIC (1912-1948) + + 1 Social and intellectual position + 2 First period of the Republic: The warlords + 3 Second period of the Republic: Nationalist China + 4 The Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945) + +Chapter XII: PRESENT-DAY CHINA + + 1 The growth of communism + 2 Nationalist China in Taiwan + 3 Communist China + +Notes and References + +Index + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +1 Painted pottery from Kansu: Neolithic. + _In the collection of the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin_. + +2 Ancient bronze tripod found at Anyang. + _From G. Ecke: Fruehe chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Oskar + Trautmann, Peking_ 1939, _plate_ 3. + +3 Bronze plaque representing two horses fighting each other. Ordos + region, animal style. + _From V. Griessmaier: Sammlung Baron Eduard von der Heydt, + Vienna 1936, illustration No. 6_. + +4 Hunting scene: detail from the reliefs in the tombs at Wu-liang-tz'u. + _From a print in the author's possession_. + +5 Part of the "Great Wall". + _Photo Eberhard_. + +6 Sun Ch'uean, ruler of Wu. + _From a painting by Yen Li-pen (c. 640-680_). + +7 General view of the Buddhist cave-temples of Yuen-kang. + In the foreground, the present village; in the background the rampart. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +8 Detail from the Buddhist cave-reliefs of Lung-men. + _From a print in the author's possession_. + +9 Statue of Mi-lo (Maitreya, the next future Buddha), in the "Great + Buddha Temple" at Chengting (Hopei). + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +10 Ladies of the Court: Clay models which accompanied the dead person to + the grave. T'ang period. + _In the collection of the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde. Berlin_. + +11 Distinguished founder: a temple banner found at Khotcho, Turkestan. + _Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1B 4524, illustration B 408_. + +12 Ancient tiled pagoda at Chengting (Hopei). + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +13 Horse-training. Painting by Li Lung-mien. Late Sung period. + _Manchu Royal House Collection_. + +14 Aborigines of South China, of the "Black Miao" tribe, at a festival. + China-ink drawing of the eighteenth century. + _Collection of the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1D 8756, 68_. + +15 Pavilion on the "Coal Hill" at Peking, in which the last Ming emperor + committed suicide. + _Photo Eberhard_. + +16 The imperial summer palace of the Manchu rulers, at Jehol. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + +17 Tower on the city wall of Peking. + _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_. + + + +MAPS + +1 Regions of the principal local cultures in prehistoric times + +2 The principal feudal States in the feudal epoch (roughly 722-481 B.C.) + +3 China in the struggle with the Huns or Hsiung-nu (roughly 128-100 +B.C.) + +4 The Toba empire (about A.D. 500) + +5 The T'ang realm (about A.D. 750) + +6 The State of the Later T'ang dynasty (923-935) + + +INTRODUCTION + +There are indeed enough Histories of China already: why yet another one? +Because the time has come for new departures; because we need to clear +away the false notions with which the general public is constantly being +fed by one author after another; because from time to time syntheses +become necessary for the presentation of the stage reached by research. + +Histories of China fall, with few exceptions, into one or the other of +two groups, pro-Chinese and anti-Chinese: the latter used to +predominate, but today the former type is much more frequently found. We +have no desire to show that China's history is the most glorious or her +civilization the oldest in the world. A claim to the longest history +does not establish the greatness of a civilization; the importance of a +civilization becomes apparent in its achievements. A thousand years ago +China's civilization towered over those of the peoples of Europe. Today +the West is leading; tomorrow China may lead again. We need to realize +how China became what she is, and to note the paths pursued by the +Chinese in human thought and action. The lives of emperors, the great +battles, this or the other famous deed, matter less to us than the +discovery of the great forces that underlie these features and govern +the human element. Only when we have knowledge of those forces and +counter-forces can we realize the significance of the great +personalities who have emerged in China; and only then will the history +of China become intelligible even to those who have little knowledge of +the Far East and can make nothing of a mere enumeration of dynasties and +campaigns. + +Views on China's history have radically changed in recent years. Until +about thirty years ago our knowledge of the earliest times in China +depended entirely on Chinese documents of much later date; now we are +able to rely on many excavations which enable us to check the written +sources. Ethnological, anthropological, and sociological research has +begun for China and her neighbours; thus we are in a position to write +with some confidence about the making of China, and about her ethnical +development, where formerly we could only grope in the dark. The claim +that "the Chinese race" produced the high Chinese civilization entirely +by its own efforts, thanks to its special gifts, has become just as +untenable as the other theory that immigrants from the West, some +conceivably from Europe, carried civilization to the Far East. We know +now that in early times there was no "Chinese race", there were not even +"Chinese", just as there were no "French" and no "Swiss" two thousand +years ago. The "Chinese" resulted from the amalgamation of many separate +peoples of different races in an enormously complicated and +long-drawn-out process, as with all the other high civilizations of the +world. + +The picture of ancient and medieval China has also been entirely changed +since it has been realized that the sources on which reliance has always +been placed were not objective, but deliberately and emphatically +represented a particular philosophy. The reports on the emperors and +ministers of the earliest period are not historical at all, but served +as examples of ideas of social policy or as glorifications of particular +noble families. Myths such as we find to this day among China's +neighbours were made into history; gods were made men and linked +together by long family trees. We have been able to touch on all these +things only briefly, and have had to dispense with any account of the +complicated processes that have taken place here. + +The official dynastic histories apply to the course of Chinese history +the criterion of Confucian ethics; for them history is a textbook of +ethics, designed to show by means of examples how the man of high +character should behave or not behave. We have to go deeper, and try to +extract the historic truth from these records. Many specialized studies +by Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars on problems of Chinese +history are now available and of assistance in this task. However, some +Chinese writers still imagine that they are serving their country by yet +again dishing up the old fables for the foreigner as history; and some +Europeans, knowing no better or aiming at setting alongside the +unedifying history of Europe the shining example of the conventional +story of China, continue in the old groove. To this day, of course, we +are far from having really worked through every period of Chinese +history; there are long periods on which scarcely any work has yet been +done. Thus the picture we are able to give today has no finality about +it and will need many modifications. But the time has come for a new +synthesis, so that criticism may proceed along the broadest possible +front and push our knowledge further forward. + +The present work is intended for the general reader and not for the +specialist, who will devote his attention to particular studies and to +the original texts. In view of the wide scope of the work, I have had to +confine myself to placing certain lines of thought in the foreground and +paying less attention to others. I have devoted myself mainly to showing +the main lines of China's social and cultural development down to the +present day. But I have also been concerned not to leave out of account +China's relations with her neighbours. Now that we have a better +knowledge of China's neighbours, the Turks, Mongols, Tibetans, Tunguses, +Tai, not confined to the narratives of Chinese, who always speak only of +"barbarians", we are better able to realize how closely China has been +associated with her neighbours from the first day of her history to the +present time; how greatly she is indebted to them, and how much she has +given them. We no longer see China as a great civilization surrounded by +barbarians, but we study the Chinese coming to terms with their +neighbours, who had civilizations of quite different types but +nevertheless developed ones. + +It is usual to split up Chinese history under the various dynasties that +have ruled China or parts thereof. The beginning or end of a dynasty +does not always indicate the beginning or the end of a definite period +of China's social or cultural development. We have tried to break +China's history down into the three large periods--"Antiquity", "The +Middle Ages", and "Modern Times". This does not mean that we compare +these periods with periods of the same name in Western history although, +naturally, we find some similarities with the development of society and +culture in the West. Every attempt towards periodization is to some +degree arbitrary: the beginning and end of the Middle Ages, for +instance, cannot be fixed to a year, because development is a continuous +process. To some degree any periodization is a matter of convenience, +and it should be accepted as such. + +The account of Chinese history here given is based on a study of the +original documents and excavations, and on a study of recent research +done by Chinese, Japanese and Western scholars, including my own +research. In many cases, these recent studies produced new data or +arranged new data in a new way without an attempt to draw general +conclusions. By putting such studies together, by fitting them into the +pattern that already existed, new insights into social and cultural +processes have been gained. The specialist in the field will, I hope, +easily recognize the sources, primary or secondary, on which such new +insights represented in this book are based. Brief notes are appended +for each chapter; they indicate the most important works in English and +provide the general reader with an opportunity of finding further +information on the problems touched on. For the specialist brief hints +to international research are given, mainly in cases in which different +interpretations have been proposed. + +Chinese words are transcribed according to the Wade-Giles system with +the exception of names for which already a popular way of transcription +exists (such as Peking). Place names are written without hyphen, if they +remain readable. + + + + +THE EARLIEST TIMES + + + +Chapter One + + +PREHISTORY + +1 _Sources for the earliest history_ + +Until recently we were dependent for the beginnings of Chinese history +on the written Chinese tradition. According to these sources China's +history began either about 4000 B.C. or about 2700 B.C. with a +succession of wise emperors who "invented" the elements of a +civilization, such as clothing, the preparation of food, marriage, and a +state system; they instructed their people in these things, and so +brought China, as early as in the third millennium B.C., to an +astonishingly high cultural level. However, all we know of the origin of +civilizations makes this of itself entirely improbable; no other +civilization in the world originated in any such way. As time went on, +Chinese historians found more and more to say about primeval times. All +these narratives were collected in the great imperial history that +appeared at the beginning of the Manchu epoch. That book was translated +into French, and all the works written in Western languages until recent +years on Chinese history and civilization have been based in the last +resort on that translation. + +Modern research has not only demonstrated that all these accounts are +inventions of a much later period, but has also shown _why_ such +narratives were composed. The older historical sources make no mention +of any rulers before 2200 B.C., no mention even of their names. The +names of earlier rulers first appear in documents of about 400 B.C.; the +deeds attributed to them and the dates assigned to them often do not +appear until much later. Secondly, it was shown that the traditional +chronology is wrong and another must be adopted, reducing all the dates +for the more ancient history, before 900 B.C. Finally, all narratives +and reports from China's earliest period have been dealt a mortal blow +by modern archaeology, with the excavations of recent years. There was +no trace of any high civilization in the third millennium B.C., and, +indeed, we can only speak of a real "Chinese civilization" from 1300 +B.C. onward. The peoples of the China of that time had come from the +most varied sources; from 1300 B.C. they underwent a common process of +development that welded them into a new unity. In this sense and +emphasizing the cultural aspects, we are justified in using from then on +a new name, "Chinese", for the peoples of China. Those sections, +however, of their ancestral populations who played no part in the +subsequent cultural and racial fusion, we may fairly call "non-Chinese". +This distinction answers the question that continually crops up, whether +the Chinese are "autochthonons". They are autochthonons in the sense +that they formed a unit in the Far East, in the geographical region of +the present China, and were not immigrants from the Middle East. + +2 _The Peking Man_ + +Man makes his appearance in the Far East at a time when remains in other +parts of the world are very rare and are disputed. He appears as the +so-called "Peking Man", whose bones were found in caves of +Chou-k'ou-tien south of Peking. The Peking Man is vastly different from +the men of today, and forms a special branch of the human race, closely +allied to the Pithecanthropus of Java. The formation of later races of +mankind from these types has not yet been traced, if it occurred at all. +Some anthropologists consider, however, that the Peking Man possessed +already certain characteristics peculiar to the yellow race. + +The Peking Man lived in caves; no doubt he was a hunter, already in +possession of very simple stone implements and also of the art of making +fire. As none of the skeletons so far found are complete, it is assumed +that he buried certain bones of the dead in different places from the +rest. This burial custom, which is found among primitive peoples in +other parts of the world, suggests the conclusion that the Peking Man +already had religious notions. We have no knowledge yet of the length of +time the Peking Man may have inhabited the Far East. His first traces +are attributed to a million years ago, and he may have flourished in +500,000 B.C. + +3 _The Palaeolithic Age_ + +After the period of the Peking Man there comes a great gap in our +knowledge. All that we know indicates that at the time of the Peking Man +there must have been a warmer and especially a damper climate in North +China and Inner Mongolia than today. Great areas of the Ordos region, +now dry steppe, were traversed in that epoch by small rivers and lakes +beside which men could live. There were elephants, rhinoceroses, extinct +species of stag and bull, even tapirs and other wild animals. About +50,000 B.C. there lived by these lakes a hunting people whose stone +implements (and a few of bone) have been found in many places. The +implements are comparable in type with the palaeolithic implements of +Europe (Mousterian type, and more rarely Aurignacian or even +Magdalenian). They are not, however, exactly like the European +implements, but have a character of their own. We do not yet know what +the men of these communities looked like, because as yet no indisputable +human remains have been found. All the stone implements have been found +on the surface, where they have been brought to light by the wind as it +swept away the loess. These stone-age communities seem to have lasted a +considerable time and to have been spread not only over North China but +over Mongolia and Manchuria. It must not be assumed that the stone age +came to an end at the same time everywhere. Historical accounts have +recorded, for instance, that stone implements were still in use in +Manchuria and eastern Mongolia at a time when metal was known and used +in western Mongolia and northern China. Our knowledge about the +palaeolithic period of Central and South China is still extremely +limited; we have to wait for more excavations before anything can be +said. Certainly, many implements in this area were made of wood or more +probably bamboo, such as we still find among the non-Chinese tribes of +the south-west and of South-East Asia. Such implements, naturally, could +not last until today. + +About 25,000 B.C. there appears in North China a new human type, found +in upper layers in the same caves that sheltered Peking Man. This type +is beyond doubt not Mongoloid, and may have been allied to the Ainu, a +non-Mongol race still living in northern Japan. These, too, were a +palaeolithic people, though some of their implements show technical +advance. Later they disappear, probably because they were absorbed into +various populations of central and northern Asia. Remains of them have +been found in badly explored graves in northern Korea. + +4 _The Neolithic age_ + +In the period that now followed, northern China must have gradually +become arid, and the formation of loess seems to have steadily advanced. +There is once more a great gap in our knowledge until, about 4000 B.C., +we can trace in North China a purely Mongoloid people with a neolithic +culture. In place of hunters we find cattle breeders, who are even to +some extent agriculturists as well. This may seem an astonishing +statement for so early an age. It is a fact, however, that pure pastoral +nomadism is exceptional, that normal pastoral nomads have always added a +little farming to their cattle-breeding, in order to secure the needed +additional food and above all fodder, for the winter. + +At this time, about 4000 B.C., the other parts of China come into view. +The neolithic implements of the various regions of the Far East are far +from being uniform; there are various separate cultures. In the +north-west of China there is a system of cattle-breeding combined with +agriculture, a distinguishing feature being the possession of finely +polished axes of rectangular section, with a cutting edge. Farther east, +in the north and reaching far to the south, is found a culture with axes +of round or oval section. In the south and in the coastal region from +Nanking to Tonking, Yuennan to Fukien, and reaching as far as the coasts +of Korea and Japan, is a culture with so-called shoulder-axes. Szechwan +and Yuennan represented a further independent culture. + +All these cultures were at first independent. Later the shoulder-axe +culture penetrated as far as eastern India. Its people are known to +philological research as Austroasiatics, who formed the original stock +of the Australian aborigines; they survived in India as the Munda +tribes, in Indo-China as the Mon-Khmer, and also remained in pockets on +the islands of Indonesia and especially Melanesia. All these peoples had +migrated from southern China. The peoples with the oval-axe culture are +the so-called Papuan peoples in Melanesia; they, too, migrated from +southern China, probably before the others. Both groups influenced the +ancient Japanese culture. The rectangular-axe culture of north-west +China spread widely, and moved southward, where the Austronesian peoples +(from whom the Malays are descended) were its principal constituents, +spreading that culture also to Japan. + +Thus we see here, in this period around 4000 B.C., an extensive mutual +penetration of the various cultures all over the Far East, including +Japan, which in the palaeolithic age was apparently without or almost +without settlers. + +5 _The eight principal prehistoric cultures_ + +In the period roughly around 2500 B.C. the general historical view +becomes much clearer. Thanks to a special method of working, making use +of the ethnological sources available from later times together with the +archaeological sources, much new knowledge has been gained in recent +years. At this time there is still no trace of a Chinese realm; we find +instead on Chinese soil a considerable number of separate local +cultures, each developing on its own lines. The chief of these cultures, +acquaintance with which is essential to a knowledge of the whole later +development of the Far East, are as follows: + +(a) _The north-east culture_, centred in the present provinces of Hopei +(in which Peking lies), Shantung, and southern Manchuria. The people of +this culture were ancestors of the Tunguses, probably mixed with an +element that is contained in the present-day Paleo-Siberian tribes. +These men were mainly hunters, but probably soon developed a little +primitive agriculture and made coarse, thick pottery with certain basic +forms which were long preserved in subsequent Chinese pottery (for +instance, a type of the so-called tripods). Later, pig-breeding became +typical of this culture. + +(b) _The northern culture_ existed to the west of that culture, in the +region of the present Chinese province of Shansi and in the province of +Jehol in Inner Mongolia. These people had been hunters, but then became +pastoral nomads, depending mainly on cattle. The people of this culture +were the tribes later known as Mongols, the so-called proto-Mongols. +Anthropologically they belonged, like the Tunguses, to the Mongol race. + +(c) The people of the culture farther west, the _north-west culture_, +were not Mongols. They, too, were originally hunters, and later became a +pastoral people, with a not inconsiderable agriculture (especially +growing wheat and millet). The typical animal of this group soon became +the horse. The horse seems to be the last of the great animals to be +domesticated, and the date of its first occurrence in domesticated form +in the Far East is not yet determined, but we can assume that by 2500 +B.C. this group was already in the possession of horses. The horse has +always been a "luxury", a valuable animal which needed special care. For +their economic needs, these tribes depended on other animals, probably +sheep, goats, and cattle. The centre of this culture, so far as can be +ascertained from Chinese sources, were the present provinces of Shensi +and Kansu, but mainly only the plains. The people of this culture were +most probably ancestors of the later Turkish peoples. It is not +suggested, of course, that the original home of the Turks lay in the +region of the Chinese provinces of Shensi and Kansu; one gains the +impression, however, that this was a border region of the Turkish +expansion; the Chinese documents concerning that period do not suffice +to establish the centre of the Turkish territory. + +(d) In the _west_, in the present provinces of Szechwan and in all the +mountain regions of the provinces of Kansu and Shensi, lived the +ancestors of the Tibetan peoples as another separate culture. They were +shepherds, generally wandering with their flocks of sheep and goats on +the mountain heights. + +(e) In the _south_ we meet with four further cultures. One is very +primitive, the Liao culture, the peoples of which are the Austroasiatics +already mentioned. These are peoples who never developed beyond the +stage of primitive hunters, some of whom were not even acquainted with +the bow and arrow. Farther east is the Yao culture, an early +Austronesian culture, the people of which also lived in the mountains, +some as collectors and hunters, some going over to a simple type of +agriculture (denshiring). They mingled later with the last great culture +of the south, the Tai culture, distinguished by agriculture. The people +lived in the valleys and mainly cultivated rice. + +The origin of rice is not yet known; according to some scholars, rice +was first cultivated in the area of present Burma and was perhaps at +first a perennial plant. Apart from the typical rice which needs much +water, there were also some strains of dry rice which, however, did not +gain much importance. The centre of this Tai culture may have been in +the present provinces of Kuangtung and Kuanghsi. Today, their +descendants form the principal components of the Tai in Thailand, the +Shan in Burma and the Lao in Laos. Their immigration into the areas of +the Shan States of Burma and into Thailand took place only in quite +recent historical periods, probably not much earlier than A.D. 1000. + +Finally there arose from the mixture of the Yao with the Tai culture, at +a rather later time, the Yueeh culture, another early Austronesian +culture, which then spread over wide regions of Indonesia, and of which +the axe of rectangular section, mentioned above, became typical. + +Thus, to sum up, we may say that, quite roughly, in the middle of the +third millennium we meet in the _north_ and west of present-day China +with a number of herdsmen cultures. In the _south_ there were a number +of agrarian cultures, of which the Tai was the most powerful, becoming +of most importance to the later China. We must assume that these +cultures were as yet undifferentiated in their social composition, that +is to say that as yet there was no distinct social stratification, but +at most beginnings of class-formation, especially among the nomad +herdsmen. + +[Illustration: Map 1. Regions of the principal local cultures in +prehistoric times. _Local cultures of minor importance have not been +shown_.] + +6 _The Yang-shao culture_ + +The various cultures here described gradually penetrated one another, +especially at points where they met. Such a process does not yield a +simple total of the cultural elements involved; any new combination +produces entirely different conditions with corresponding new results +which, in turn, represent the characteristics of the culture that +supervenes. We can no longer follow this process of penetration in +detail; it need not by any means have been always warlike. Conquest of +one group by another was only one way of mutual cultural penetration. In +other cases, a group which occupied the higher altitudes and practiced +hunting or slash-and-burn agriculture came into closer contacts with +another group in the valleys which practiced some form of higher +agriculture; frequently, such contacts resulted in particular forms of +division of labour in a unified and often stratified new form of +society. Recent and present developments in South-East Asia present a +number of examples for such changes. Increase of population is certainly +one of the most important elements which lead to these developments. The +result, as a rule, was a stratified society being made up of at least +one privileged and one ruled stratum. Thus there came into existence +around 2000 B.C. some new cultures, which are well known +archaeologically. The most important of these are the Yang-shao culture +in the west and the Lung-shan culture in the east. Our knowledge of both +these cultures is of quite recent date and there are many enigmas still +to be cleared up. + +The _Yang-shao culture_ takes its name from a prehistoric settlement in +the west of the present province of Honan, where Swedish investigators +discovered it. Typical of this culture is its wonderfully fine pottery, +apparently used as gifts to the dead. It is painted in three colours, +white, red, and black. The patterns are all stylized, designs copied +from nature being rare. We are now able to divide this painted pottery +into several sub-types of specific distribution, and we know that this +style existed from _c_. 2200 B.C. on. In general, it tends to disappear +as does painted pottery in other parts of the world with the beginning +of urban civilization and the invention of writing. The typical +Yang-shao culture seems to have come to an end around 1600 or 1500 B.C. +It continued in some more remote areas, especially of Kansu, perhaps to +about 700 B.C. Remnants of this painted pottery have been found over a +wide area from Southern Manchuria, Hopei, Shansi, Honan, Shensi to +Kansu; some pieces have also been discovered in Sinkiang. Thus far, it +seems that it occurred mainly in the mountainous parts of North and +North-West China. The people of this culture lived in villages near to +the rivers and creeks. They had various forms of houses, including +underground dwellings and animal enclosures. They practiced some +agriculture; some authors believe that rice was already known to them. +They also had domesticated animals. Their implements were of stone with +rare specimens of bone. The axes were of the rectangular type. Metal was +as yet unknown, but seems to have been introduced towards the end of the +period. They buried their dead on the higher elevations, and here the +painted pottery was found. For their daily life, they used predominantly +a coarse grey pottery. + +After the discovery of this culture, its pottery was compared with the +painted pottery of the West, and a number of resemblances were found, +especially with the pottery of the Lower Danube basin and that of Anau, +in Turkestan. Some authors claim that such resemblances are fortuitous +and believe that the older layers of this culture are to be found in the +eastern part of its distribution and only the later layers in the west. +It is, they say, these later stages which show the strongest +resemblances with the West. Other authors believe that the painted +pottery came from the West where it occurs definitely earlier than in +the Far East; some investigators went so far as to regard the +Indo-Europeans as the parents of that civilization. As we find people +who spoke an Indo-European language in the Far East in a later period, +they tend to connect the spread of painted pottery with the spread of +Indo-European-speaking groups. As most findings of painted pottery in +the Far East do not stem from scientific excavations it is difficult to +make any decision at this moment. We will have to wait for more and +modern excavations. + +From our knowledge of primeval settlement in West and North-West China +we know, however, that Tibetan groups, probably mixed with Turkish +elements, must have been the main inhabitants of the whole region in +which this painted pottery existed. Whatever the origin of the painted +pottery may be, it seems that people of these two groups were the main +users of it. Most of the shapes of their pottery are not found in later +Chinese pottery. + +7 _The Lung-shan culture_ + +While the Yang-shao culture flourished in the mountain regions of +northern and western China around 2000 B.C., there came into existence +in the plains of eastern China another culture, which is called the +Lung-shan culture, from the scene of the principal discoveries. +Lung-shan is in the province of Shantung, near Chinan-fu. This culture, +discovered only about twenty-five years ago, is distinguished by a black +pottery of exceptionally fine quality and by a similar absence of metal. +The pottery has a polished appearance on the exterior; it is never +painted, and mostly without decoration; at most it may have incised +geometrical patterns. The forms of the vessels are the same as have +remained typical of Chinese pottery, and of Far Eastern pottery in +general. To that extent the Lung-shan culture may be described as one of +the direct predecessors of the later Chinese civilization. + +As in the West, we find in Lung-shan much grey pottery out of which +vessels for everyday use were produced. This simple corded or matted +ware seems to be in connection with Tunguse people who lived in the +north-east. The people of the Lung-shan culture lived on mounds produced +by repeated building on the ruins of earlier settlements, as did the +inhabitants of the "Tells" in the Near East. They were therefore a +long-settled population of agriculturists. Their houses were of mud, and +their villages were surrounded with mud walls. There are signs that +their society was stratified. So far as is known at present, this +culture was spread over the present provinces of Shantung, Kiangsu, +Chekiang, and Anhui, and some specimens of its pottery went as far as +Honan and Shansi, into the region of the painted pottery. This culture +lasted in the east until about 1600 B.C., with clear evidence of rather +longer duration only in the south. As black pottery of a similar +character occurs also in the Near East, some authors believe that it has +been introduced into the Far East by another migration (Pontic +migration) following that migration which supposedly brought the painted +pottery. This theory has not been generally accepted because of the fact +that typical black pottery is limited to the plains of East China; if it +had been brought in from the West, we should expect to find it in +considerable amounts also in West China. Ordinary black pottery can be +simply the result of a special temperature in the pottery kiln; such +pottery can be found almost everywhere. The typical thin, fine black +pottery of Lung-shan, however, is in the Far East an eastern element, +and migrants would have had to pass through the area of the painted +pottery people without leaving many traces and without pushing their +predecessors to the East. On the basis of our present knowledge we +assume that the peoples of the Lung-shan culture were probably of Tai +and Yao stocks together with some Tunguses. + +Recently, a culture of mound-dwellers in Eastern China has been +discovered, and a southern Chinese culture of people with impressed or +stamped pottery. This latter seems to be connected with the Yueeh tribes. +As yet, no further details are known. + +8 _The first petty States in Shansi_ + +At the time in which, according to archaeological research, the painted +pottery flourished in West China, Chinese historical tradition has it +that the semi-historical rulers, Yao and Shun, and the first official +dynasty, the Hsia dynasty ruled over parts of China with a centre in +southern Shansi. While we dismiss as political myths the Confucianist +stories representing Yao and Shun as models of virtuous rulers, it may +be that a small state existed in south-western Shansi under a chieftain +Yao, and farther to the east another small state under a chieftain Shun, +and that these states warred against each other until Yao's state was +destroyed. These first small states may have existed around 2000 B.C. + +On the cultural scene we first find an important element of progress: +bronze, in traces in the middle layers of the Yang-shao culture, about +1800 B.C.; that element had become very widespread by 1400 B.C. The +forms of the oldest weapons and their ornamentation show similarities +with weapons from Siberia; and both mythology and other indications +suggest that the bronze came into China from the north and was not +produced in China proper. Thus, from the present state of our knowledge, +it seems most correct to say that the bronze was brought to the Far East +through the agency of peoples living north of China, such as the Turkish +tribes who in historical times were China's northern neighbours (or +perhaps only individual families or clans, the so-called smith families +with whom we meet later in Turkish tradition), reaching the Chinese +either through these people themselves or through the further agency of +Mongols. At first the forms of the weapons were left unaltered. The +bronze vessels, however, which made their appearance about 1450 B.C. are +entirely different from anything produced in other parts of Asia; their +ornamentation shows, on the one hand, elements of the so-called "animal +style" which is typical of the steppe people of the Ordos area and of +Central Asia. But most of the other elements, especially the "filling" +between stylized designs, is recognizably southern (probably of the Tai +culture), no doubt first applied to wooden vessels and vessels made from +gourds, and then transferred to bronze. This implies that the art of +casting bronze very soon spread from North China, where it was first +practiced by Turkish peoples, to the east and south, which quickly +developed bronze industries of their own. There are few deposits of +copper and tin in North China, while in South China both metals are +plentiful and easily extracted, so that a trade in bronze from south to +north soon set in. + +The origin of the Hsia state may have been a consequence of the progress +due to bronze. The Chinese tradition speaks of the Hsia _dynasty_, but +can say scarcely anything about it. The excavations, too, yield no +clear conclusions, so that we can only say that it flourished at the +time and in the area in which the painted pottery occurred, with a +centre in south-west Shansi. We date this dynasty now somewhere between +2000 and 1600 B.C. and believe that it was an agrarian culture with +bronze weapons and pottery vessels but without the knowledge of the art +of writing. + + + +Chapter Two + + +THE SHANG DYNASTY (_c_. 1600-1028 B.C.) + +1 _Period, origin, material culture_ + +About 1600 B.C. we come at last into the realm of history. Of the Shang +dynasty, which now followed, we have knowledge both from later texts and +from excavations and the documents they have brought to light. The Shang +civilization, an evident off-shoot of the Lung-shan culture (Tai, Yao, +and Tunguses), but also with elements of the Hsia culture (with Tibetan +and Mongol and/or Turkish elements), was beyond doubt a high +civilization. Of the origin of the Shang _State_ we have no details, nor +do we know how the Hsia culture passed into the Shang culture. + +The central territory of the Shang realm lay in north-western Honan, +alongside the Shansi mountains and extending into the plains. It was a +peasant civilization with towns. One of these towns has been excavated. +It adjoined the site of the present town of Anyang, in the province of +Honan. The town, the Shang capital from _c_. 1300 to 1028 B.C., was +probably surrounded by a mud wall, as were the settlements of the +Lung-shan people. In the centre was what evidently was the ruler's +palace. Round this were houses probably inhabited by artisans; for the +artisans formed a sort of intermediate class, as dependents of the +ruling class. From inscriptions we know that the Shang had, in addition +to their capital, at least two other large cities and many smaller +town-like settlements and villages. The rectangular houses were built in +a style still found in Chinese houses, except that their front did not +always face south as is now the general rule. The Shang buried their +kings in large, subterranean, cross-shaped tombs outside the city, and +many implements, animals and human sacrifices were buried together with +them. The custom of large burial mounds, which later became typical of +the Chou dynasty, did not yet exist. + +The Shang had sculptures in stone, an art which later more or less +completely disappeared and which was resuscitated only in post-Christian +times under the influence of Indian Buddhism. Yet, Shang culture cannot +well be called a "megalithic" culture. Bronze implements and especially +bronze vessels were cast in the town. We even know the trade marks of +some famous bronze founders. The bronze weapons are still similar to +those from Siberia, and are often ornamented in the so-called "animal +style", which was used among all the nomad peoples between the Ordos +region and Siberia until the beginning of the Christian era. On the +other hand, the famous bronze vessels are more of southern type, and +reveal an advanced technique that has scarcely been excelled since. +There can be no doubt that the bronze vessels were used for religious +service and not for everyday life. For everyday use there were +earthenware vessels. Even in the middle of the first millennium B.C., +bronze was exceedingly dear, as we know from the records of prices. +China has always suffered from scarcity of metal. For that reason metal +was accumulated as capital, entailing a further rise in prices; when +prices had reached a sufficient height, the stocks were thrown on the +market and prices fell again. Later, when there was a metal coinage, +this cycle of inflation and deflation became still clearer. The metal +coinage was of its full nominal value, so that it was possible to coin +money by melting down bronze implements. As the money in circulation was +increased in this way, the value of the currency fell. Then it paid to +turn coin into metal implements. This once more reduced the money in +circulation and increased the value of the remaining coinage. Thus +through the whole course of Chinese history the scarcity of metal and +insufficiency of production of metal continually produced extensive +fluctuations of the stocks and the value of metal, amounting virtually +to an economic law in China. Consequently metal implements were never +universally in use, and vessels were always of earthenware, with the +further result of the early invention of porcelain. Porcelain vessels +have many of the qualities of metal ones, but are cheaper. + +The earthenware vessels used in this period are in many cases already +very near to porcelain: there was a pottery of a brilliant white, +lacking only the glaze which would have made it into porcelain. Patterns +were stamped on the surface, often resembling the patterns on bronze +articles. This ware was used only for formal, ceremonial purposes. For +daily use there was also a perfectly simple grey pottery. + +Silk was already in use at this time. The invention of sericulture must +therefore have dated from very ancient times in China. It undoubtedly +originated in the south of China, and at first not only the threads +spun by the silkworm but those made by other caterpillars were also +used. The remains of silk fabrics that have been found show already an +advanced weaving technique. In addition to silk, various plant fibres, +such as hemp, were in use. Woollen fabrics do not seem to have been yet +used. + +The Shang were agriculturists, but their implements were still rather +primitive. There was no real plough yet; hoes and hoe-like implements +were used, and the grain, mainly different kinds of millet and some +wheat, was harvested with sickles. The materials, from which these +implements were made, were mainly wood and stone; bronze was still too +expensive to be utilized by the ordinary farmer. As a great number of +vessels for wine in many different forms have been excavated, we can +assume that wine, made from special kinds of millet, was a popular +drink. + +The Shang state had its centre in northern Honan, north of the Yellow +river. At various times, different towns were made into the capital +city; Yin-ch'ue, their last capital and the only one which has been +excavated, was their sixth capital. We do not know why the capitals were +removed to new locations; it is possible that floods were one of the +main reasons. The area under more or less organized Shang control +comprised towards the end of the dynasty the present provinces of Honan, +western Shantung, southern Hopei, central and south Shansi, east Shensi, +parts of Kiangsu and Anhui. We can only roughly estimate the size of the +population of the Shang state. Late texts say that at the time of the +annihilation of the dynasty, some 3.1 million free men and 1.1 million +serfs were captured by the conquerors; this would indicate a population +of at least some 4-5 millions. This seems a possible number, if we +consider that an inscription of the tenth century B.C. which reports +about an ordinary war against a small and unimportant western neighbour, +speaks of 13,081 free men and 4,812 serfs taken as prisoners. + +Inscriptions mention many neighbours of the Shang with whom they were in +more or less continuous state of war. Many of these neighbours can now +be identified. We know that Shansi at that time was inhabited by Ch'iang +tribes, belonging to the Tibetan culture, as well as by Ti tribes, +belonging to the northern culture, and by Hsien-yuen and other tribes, +belonging to the north-western culture; the centre of the Ch'iang tribes +was more in the south-west of Shansi and in Shensi. Some of these tribes +definitely once formed a part of the earlier Hsia state. The +identification of the eastern neighbours of the Shang presents more +difficulties. We might regard them as representatives of the Tai and Yao +cultures. + +2 _Writing and Religion_ + +Not only the material but also the intellectual level attained in the +Shang period was very high. We meet for the first time with +writing--much later than in the Middle East and in India. Chinese +scholars have succeeded in deciphering some of the documents discovered, +so that we are able to learn a great deal from them. The writing is a +rudimentary form of the present-day Chinese script, and like it a +pictorial writing, but also makes use, as today, of many phonetic signs. +There were, however, a good many characters that no longer exist, and +many now used are absent. There were already more than 3,000 characters +in use of which some 1,000 can now be read. (Today newspapers use some +3,000 characters; scholars have command of up to 8,000; the whole of +Chinese literature, ancient and modern, comprises some 50,000 +characters.) With these 3,000 characters the Chinese of the Shang period +were able to express themselves well. + +The still existing fragments of writing of this period are found almost +exclusively on tortoiseshells or on other bony surfaces, and they +represent oracles. As early as in the Lung-shan culture there was +divination by means of "oracle bones", at first without written +characters. In the earliest period any bones of animals (especially +shoulder-bones) were used; later only tortoiseshell. For the purpose of +the oracle a depression was burnt in the shell so that cracks were +formed on the other side, and the future was foretold from their +direction. Subsequently particular questions were scratched on the +shells, and the answers to them; these are the documents that have come +down to us. In Anyang tens of thousands of these oracle bones with +inscriptions have been found. The custom of asking the oracle and of +writing the answers on the bones spread over the borders of the Shang +state and continued in some areas after the end of the dynasty. + +The bronze vessels of later times often bear long inscriptions, but +those of the Shang period have only very brief texts. On the other hand, +they are ornamented with pictures, as yet largely unintelligible, of +countless deities, especially in the shape of animals or birds--pictures +that demand interpretation. The principal form on these bronzes is that +of the so-called T'ao-t'ieh, a hybrid with the head of a water-buffalo +and tiger's teeth. + +The Shang period had a religion with many nature deities, especially +deities of fertility. There was no systematized pantheon, different +deities being revered in each locality, often under the most varied +names. These various deities were, however, similar in character, and +later it occurred often that many of them were combined by the priests +into a single god. The composite deities thus formed were officially +worshipped. Their primeval forms lived on, however, especially in the +villages, many centuries longer than the Shang dynasty. The sacrifices +associated with them became popular festivals, and so these gods or +their successors were saved from oblivion; some of them have lived on in +popular religion to the present day. The supreme god of the official +worship was called Shang Ti; he was a god of vegetation who guided all +growth and birth and was later conceived as a forefather of the races of +mankind. The earth was represented as a mother goddess, who bore the +plants and animals procreated by Shang Ti. In some parts of the Shang +realm the two were conceived as a married couple who later were parted +by one of their children. The husband went to heaven, and the rain is +the male seed that creates life on earth. In other regions it was +supposed that in the beginning of the world there was a world-egg, out +of which a primeval god came, whose body was represented by the earth: +his hair formed the plants, and his limbs the mountains and valleys. +Every considerable mountain was also itself a god and, similarly, the +river god, the thunder god, cloud, lightning, and wind gods, and many +others were worshipped. + +In order to promote the fertility of the earth, it was believed that +sacrifices must be offered to the gods. Consequently, in the Shang realm +and the regions surrounding it there were many sorts of human +sacrifices; often the victims were prisoners of war. One gains the +impression that many wars were conducted not as wars of conquest but +only for the purpose of capturing prisoners, although the area under +Shang control gradually increased towards the west and the south-east, a +fact demonstrating the interest in conquest. In some regions men lurked +in the spring for people from other villages; they slew them, sacrificed +them to the earth, and distributed portions of the flesh of the +sacrifice to the various owners of fields, who buried them. At a later +time all human sacrifices were prohibited, but we have reports down to +the eleventh century A.D., and even later, that such sacrifices were +offered secretly in certain regions of central China. In other regions a +great boat festival was held in the spring, to which many crews came +crowded in long narrow boats. At least one of the boats had to capsize; +the people who were thus drowned were a sacrifice to the deities of +fertility. This festival has maintained its fundamental character to +this day, in spite of various changes. The same is true of other +festivals, customs, and conceptions, vestiges of which are contained at +least in folklore. + +In addition to the nature deities which were implored to give fertility, +to send rain, or to prevent floods and storms, the Shang also +worshipped deceased rulers and even dead ministers as a kind of +intermediaries between man and the highest deity, Shang Ti. This +practice may be regarded as the forerunner of "ancestral worship" which +became so typical of later China. + + +3 _Transition to feudalism_ + +At the head of the Shang state was a king, posthumously called a "Ti", +the same word as in the name of the supreme god. We have found on bones +the names of all the rulers of this dynasty and even some of their +pre-dynastic ancestors. These names can be brought into agreement with +lists of rulers found in the ancient Chinese literature. The ruler seems +to have been a high priest, too; and around him were many other priests. +We know some of them now so well from the inscriptions that their +biographies could be written. The king seems to have had some kind of +bureaucracy. There were "ch'en", officials who served the ruler +personally, as well as scribes and military officials. The basic army +organization was in units of one hundred men which were combined as +"right", "left" and "central" units into an army of 300 men. But it +seems that the central power did not extend very far. In the more +distant parts of the realm were more or less independent lords, who +recognized the ruler only as their supreme lord and religious leader. We +may describe this as an early, loose form of the feudal system, although +the main element of real feudalism was still absent. The main +obligations of these lords were to send tributes of grain, to +participate with their soldiers in the wars, to send tortoise shells to +the capital to be used there for oracles, and to send occasionally +cattle and horses. There were some thirty such dependent states. +Although we do not know much about the general population, we know that +the rulers had a patrilinear system of inheritance. After the death of +the ruler his brothers followed him on the throne, the older brothers +first. After the death of all brothers, the sons of older or younger +brothers became rulers. No preference was shown to the son of the oldest +brother, and no preference between sons of main or of secondary wives is +recognizable. Thus, the Shang patrilinear system was much less extreme +than the later system. Moreover, the deceased wives of the rulers played +a great role in the cult, another element which later disappeared. From +these facts and from the general structure of Shang religion it has been +concluded that there was a strong matrilinear strain in Shang culture. +Although this cannot be proved, it seems quite plausible because we know +of matrilinear societies in the South of China at later times. + +About the middle of the Shang period there occurred interesting +changes, probably under the influence of nomad peoples from the +north-west. + +In religion there appears some evidence of star-worship. The deities +seem to have been conceived as a kind of celestial court of Shang Ti, +as his "officials". In the field of material culture, horse-breeding +becomes more and more evident. Some authors believe that the art of +riding was already known in late Shang times, although it was certainly +not yet so highly developed that cavalry units could be used in war. +With horse-breeding the two-wheeled light war chariot makes its +appearance. The wheel was already known in earlier times in the form of +the potter's wheel. Recent excavations have brought to light burials in +which up to eighteen chariots with two or four horses were found +together with the owners of the chariots. The cart is not a Chinese +invention but came from the north, possibly from Turkish peoples. It has +been contended that it was connected with the war chariot of the Near +East: shortly before the Shang period there had been vast upheavals in +western Asia, mainly in connection with the expansion of peoples who +spoke Indo-European languages (Hittites, etc.) and who became successful +through the use of quick, light, two-wheeled war-chariots. It is +possible, but cannot be proved, that the war-chariot spread +through Central Asia in connection with the spread of such +Indo-European-speaking groups or by the intermediary of Turkish tribes. +We have some reasons to believe that the first Indo-European-speaking +groups arrived in the Far East in the middle of the second millennium +B.C. Some authors even connect the Hsia with these groups. In any case, +the maximal distribution of these people seems to have been to the +western borders of the Shang state. As in Western Asia, a Shang-time +chariot was manned by three men: the warrior who was a nobleman, his +driver, and his servant who handed him arrows or other weapons when +needed. There developed a quite close relationship between the nobleman +and his chariot-driver. The chariot was a valuable object, manufactured +by specialists; horses were always expensive and rare in China, and in +many periods of Chinese history horses were directly imported from +nomadic tribes in the North or West. Thus, the possessors of vehicles +formed a privileged class in the Shang realm; they became a sort of +nobility, and the social organization began to move in the direction of +feudalism. One of the main sports of the noblemen in this period, in +addition to warfare, was hunting. The Shang had their special hunting +grounds south of the mountains which surround Shansi province, along the +slopes of the T'ai-hang mountain range, and south to the shores of the +Yellow river. Here, there were still forests and swamps in Shang time, +and boars, deer, buffaloes and other animals, as well as occasional +rhinoceros and elephants, were hunted. None of these wild animals was +used as a sacrifice; all sacrificial animals, such as cattle, pigs, +etc., were domesticated animals. + +Below the nobility we find large numbers of dependent people; modern +Chinese scholars call them frequently "slaves" and speak of a "slave +society". There is no doubt that at least some farmers were "free +farmers"; others were what we might call "serfs": families in hereditary +group dependence upon some noble families and working on land which the +noble families regarded as theirs. Families of artisans and craftsmen +also were hereditary servants of noble families--a type of social +organization which has its parallels in ancient Japan and in later India +and other parts of the world. There were also real slaves: persons who +were the personal property of noblemen. The independent states around +the Shang state also had serfs. When the Shang captured neighbouring +states, they resettled the captured foreign aristocracy by attaching +them as a group to their own noblemen. The captured serfs remained under +their masters and shared their fate. The same system was later practiced +by the Chou after their conquest of the Shang state. + +The conquests of late Shang added more territory to the realm than could +be coped with by the primitive communications of the time. When the last +ruler of Shang made his big war which lasted 260 days against the tribes +in the south-east, rebellions broke out which lead to the end of the +dynasty, about 1028 B.C. according to the new chronology (1122 B.C. old +chronology). + + + + +ANTIQUITY + + + +Chapter Three + + +THE CHOU DYNASTY (_c_. 1028-257 B.C.) + +1 _Cultural origin of the Chou and end of the Shang dynasty_ + +The Shang culture still lacked certain things that were to become +typical of "Chinese" civilization. The family system was not yet the +strong patriarchal system of the later Chinese. The religion, too, in +spite of certain other influences, was still a religion of agrarian +fertility. And although Shang society was strongly stratified and showed +some tendencies to develop a feudal system, feudalism was still very +primitive. Although the Shang script was the precursor of later Chinese +script, it seemed to have contained many words which later disappeared, +and we are not sure whether Shang language was the same as the language +of Chou time. With the Chou period, however, we enter a period in which +everything which was later regarded as typically "Chinese" began to +emerge. + +During the time of the Shang dynasty the Chou formed a small realm in +the west, at first in central Shensi, an area which even in much later +times was the home of many "non-Chinese" tribes. Before the beginning of +the eleventh century B.C. they must have pushed into eastern Shensi, due +to pressures of other tribes which may have belonged to the Turkish +ethnic group. However, it is also possible that their movement was +connected with pressures from Indo-European groups. An analysis of their +tribal composition at the time of the conquest seems to indicate that +the ruling house of the Chou was related to the Turkish group, and that +the population consisted mainly of Turks and Tibetans. Their culture was +closely related to that of Yang-shao, the previously described +painted-pottery culture, with, of course, the progress brought by time. +They had bronze weapons and, especially, the war-chariot. Their eastward +migration, however, brought them within the zone of the Shang culture, +by which they were strongly influenced, so that the Chou culture lost +more and more of its original character and increasingly resembled the +Shang culture. The Chou were also brought into the political sphere of +the Shang, as shown by the fact that marriages took place between the +ruling houses of Shang and Chou, until the Chou state became nominally +dependent on the Shang state in the form of a dependency with special +prerogatives. Meanwhile the power of the Chou state steadily grew, while +that of the Shang state diminished more and more through the disloyalty +of its feudatories and through wars in the East. Finally, about 1028 +B.C., the Chou ruler, named Wu Wang ("the martial king"), crossed his +eastern frontier and pushed into central Honan. His army was formed by +an alliance between various tribes, in the same way as happened again +and again in the building up of the armies of the rulers of the steppes. +Wu Wang forced a passage across the Yellow River and annihilated the +Shang army. He pursued its vestiges as far as the capital, captured the +last emperor of the Shang, and killed him. Thus was the Chou dynasty +founded, and with it we begin the actual history of China. The Chou +brought to the Shang culture strong elements of Turkish and also Tibetan +culture, which were needed for the release of such forces as could +create a new empire and maintain it through thousands of years as a +cultural and, generally, also a political unit. + +2 _Feudalism in the new empire_ + +A natural result of the situation thus produced was the turning of the +country into a feudal state. The conquerors were an alien minority, so +that they had to march out and spread over the whole country. Moreover, +the allied tribal chieftains expected to be rewarded. The territory to +be governed was enormous, but the communications in northern China at +that time were similar to those still existing not long ago in southern +China--narrow footpaths from one settlement to another. It is very +difficult to build roads in the loess of northern China; and the +war-chariots that required roads had only just been introduced. Under +such conditions, the simplest way of administering the empire was to +establish garrisons of the invading tribes in the various parts of the +country under the command of their chieftains. Thus separate regions of +the country were distributed as fiefs. If a former subject of the Shang +surrendered betimes with the territory under his rule, or if there was +one who could not be overcome by force, the Chou recognized him as a +feudal lord. + +We find in the early Chou time the typical signs of true feudalism: +fiefs were given in a ceremony in which symbolically a piece of earth +was handed over to the new fiefholder, and his instalment, his rights +and obligations were inscribed in a "charter". Most of the fiefholders +were members of the Chou ruling family or members of the clan to which +this family belonged; other fiefs were given to heads of the allied +tribes. The fiefholder (feudal lord) regarded the land of his fief, as +far as he and his clan actually used it, as "clan" land; parts of this +land he gave to members of his own branch-clan for their use without +transferring rights of property, thus creating new sub-fiefs and +sub-lords. In much later times the concept of landed property of a +_family_ developed, and the whole concept of "clan" disappeared. By 500 +B.C., most feudal lords had retained only a dim memory that they +originally belonged to the Chi clan of the Chou or to one of the few +other original clans, and their so-called sub-lords felt themselves as +members of independent noble families. Slowly, then, the family names of +later China began to develop, but it took many centuries until, at the +time of the Han Dynasty, all citizens (slaves excluded) had accepted +family names. Then, reversely, families grew again into new clans. + +Thus we have this picture of the early Chou state: the imperial central +power established in Shensi, near the present Sian; over a thousand +feudal states, great and small, often consisting only of a small +garrison, or sometimes a more considerable one, with the former +chieftain as feudal lord over it. Around these garrisons the old +population lived on, in the north the Shang population, farther east and +south various other peoples and cultures. The conquerors' garrisons were +like islands in a sea. Most of them formed new towns, walled, with a +rectangular plan and central crossroads, similar to the European towns +subsequently formed out of Roman encampments. This town plan has been +preserved to the present day. + +This upper class in the garrisons formed the nobility; it was sharply +divided from the indigenous population around the towns The conquerors +called the population "the black-haired people", and themselves "the +hundred families". The rest of the town populations consisted often of +urban Shang people: Shang noble families together with their bondsmen +and serfs had been given to Chou fiefholders. Such forced resettlements +of whole populations have remained typical even for much later periods. +By this method new cities were provided with urban, refined people and, +most important, with skilled craftsmen and businessmen who assisted in +building the cities and in keeping them alive. Some scholars believe +that many resettled Shang urbanites either were or became businessmen; +incidentally, the same word "Shang" means "merchant", up to the present +time. The people of the Shang capital lived on and even attempted a +revolt in collaboration with some Chou people. The Chou rulers +suppressed this revolt, and then transferred a large part of this +population to Loyang. They were settled there in a separate community, +and vestiges of the Shang population were still to be found there in the +fifth century A.D.: they were entirely impoverished potters, still +making vessels in the old style. + +3 _Fusion of Chou and Shang_ + +The conquerors brought with them, for their own purposes to begin with, +their rigid patriarchate in the family system and their cult of Heaven +(t'ien), in which the worship of sun and stars took the principal place; +a religion most closely related to that of the Turkish peoples and +derived from them. Some of the Shang popular deities, however, were +admitted into the official Heaven-worship. Popular deities became +"feudal lords" under the Heaven-god. The Shang conceptions of the soul +were also admitted into the Chou religion: the human body housed two +souls, the personality-soul and the life-soul. Death meant the +separation of the souls from the body, the life-soul also slowly dying. +The personality-soul, however, could move about freely and lived as long +as there were people who remembered it and kept it from hunger by means +of sacrifices. The Chou systematized this idea and made it into the +ancestor-worship that has endured down to the present time. + +The Chou officially abolished human sacrifices, especially since, as +former pastoralists, they knew of better means of employing prisoners of +war than did the more agrarian Shang. The Chou used Shang and other +slaves as domestic servants for their numerous nobility, and Shang serfs +as farm labourers on their estates. They seem to have regarded the land +under their control as "state land" and all farmers as "serfs". A slave, +here, must be defined as an individual, a piece of property, who was +excluded from membership in human society but, in later legal texts, was +included under domestic animals and immobile property, while serfs as a +class depended upon another class and had certain rights, at least the +right to work on the land. They could change their masters if the land +changed its master, but they could not legally be sold individually. +Thus, the following, still rather hypothetical, picture of the land +system of the early Chou time emerges: around the walled towns of the +feudal lords and sub-lords, always in the plains, was "state land" which +produced millet and more and more wheat. Cultivation was still largely +"shifting", so that the serfs in groups cultivated more or less +standardized plots for a year or more and then shifted to other plots. +During the growing season they lived in huts on the fields; during the +winter in the towns in adobe houses. In this manner the yearly life +cycle was divided into two different periods. The produce of the serfs +supplied the lords, their dependants and the farmers themselves. +Whenever the lord found it necessary, the serfs had to perform also +other services for the lord. Farther away from the towns were the +villages of the "natives", nominally also subjects of the lord. In most +parts of eastern China, these, too, were agriculturists. They +acknowledged their dependence by sending "gifts" to the lord in the +town. Later these gifts became institutionalized and turned into a form +of tax. The lord's serfs, on the other hand, tended to settle near the +fields in villages of their own because, with growing urban population, +the distances from the town to many of the fields became too great. It +was also at this time of new settlements that a more intensive +cultivation with a fallow system began. At latest from the sixth century +B.C. on, the distinctions between both land systems became unclear; and +the pure serf-cultivation, called by the old texts the "well-field +system" because eight cultivating families used one common well, +disappeared in practice. + +The actual structure of early Chou administration is difficult to +ascertain. The "Duke of Chou", brother of the first ruler, Wu Wang, +later regent during the minority of Wu Wang's son, and certainly one of +the most influential persons of this time, was the alleged creator of +the book _Chou-li_ which contains a detailed table of the bureaucracy of +the country. However, we know now from inscriptions that the bureaucracy +at the beginning of the Chou period was not much more developed than in +late Shang time. The _Chou-li_ gave an ideal picture of a bureaucratic +state, probably abstracted from actual conditions in feudal states +several centuries later. + +The Chou capital, at Sian, was a twin city. In one part lived the +master-race of the Chou with the imperial court, in the other the +subjugated population. At the same time, as previously mentioned, the +Chou built a second capital, Loyang, in the present province of Honan. +Loyang was just in the middle of the new state, and for the purposes of +Heaven-worship it was regarded as the centre of the universe, where it +was essential that the emperor should reside. Loyang was another twin +city: in one part were the rulers' administrative buildings, in the +other the transferred population of the Shang capital, probably artisans +for the most part. The valuable artisans seem all to have been taken +over from the Shang, for the bronze vessels of the early Chou age are +virtually identical with those of the Shang age. The shapes of the +houses also remained unaltered, and probably also the clothing, though +the Chou brought with them the novelties of felt and woollen fabrics, +old possessions of their earlier period. The only fundamental material +change was in the form of the graves: in the Shang age house-like tombs +were built underground; now great tumuli were constructed in the fashion +preferred by all steppe peoples. + +One professional class was severely hit by the changed +circumstances--the Shang priesthood. The Chou had no priests. As with +all the races of the steppes, the head of the family himself performed +the religious rites. Beyond this there were only shamans for certain +purposes of magic. And very soon Heaven-worship was combined with the +family system, the ruler being declared to be the Son of Heaven; the +mutual relations within the family were thus extended to the religious +relations with the deity. If, however, the god of Heaven is the father +of the ruler, the ruler as his son himself offers sacrifice, and so the +priest becomes superfluous. Thus the priests became "unemployed". Some +of them changed their profession. They were the only people who could +read and write, and as an administrative system was necessary they +obtained employment as scribes. Others withdrew to their villages and +became village priests. They organized the religious festivals in the +village, carried out the ceremonies connected with family events, and +even conducted the exorcism of evil spirits with shamanistic dances; +they took charge, in short, of everything connected with customary +observances and morality. The Chou lords were great respecters of +propriety. The Shang culture had, indeed, been a high one with an +ancient and highly developed moral system, and the Chou as rough +conquerors must have been impressed by the ancient forms and tried to +imitate them. In addition, they had in their religion of Heaven a +conception of the existence of mutual relations between Heaven and +Earth: all that went on in the skies had an influence on earth, and vice +versa. Thus, if any ceremony was "wrongly" performed, it had an evil +effect on Heaven--there would be no rain, or the cold weather would +arrive too soon, or some such misfortune would come. It was therefore of +great importance that everything should be done "correctly". Hence the +Chou rulers were glad to call in the old priests as performers of +ceremonies and teachers of morality similar to the ancient Indian rulers +who needed the Brahmans for the correct performance of all rites. There +thus came into existence in the early Chou empire a new social group, +later called "scholars", men who were not regarded as belonging to the +lower class represented by the subjugated population but were not +included in the nobility; men who were not productively employed but +belonged to a sort of independent profession. They became of very great +importance in later centuries. + +In the first centuries of the Chou dynasty the ruling house steadily +lost power. Some of the emperors proved weak, or were killed at war; +above all, the empire was too big and its administration too +slow-moving. The feudal lords and nobles were occupied with their own +problems in securing the submission of the surrounding villages to their +garrisons and in governing them; they soon paid little attention to the +distant central authority. In addition to this, the situation at the +centre of the empire was more difficult than that of its feudal states +farther east. The settlements around the garrisons in the east were +inhabited by agrarian tribes, but the subjugated population around the +centre at Sian was made up of nomadic tribes of Turks and Mongols +together with semi-nomadic Tibetans. Sian lies in the valley of the +river Wei; the riverside country certainly belonged, though perhaps only +insecurely, to the Shang empire and was specially well adapted to +agriculture; but its periphery--mountains in the south, steppes in the +north--was inhabited (until a late period, to some extent to the present +day) by nomads, who had also been subjugated by the Chou. The Chou +themselves were by no means strong, as they had been only a small tribe +and their strength had depended on auxiliary tribes, which had now +spread over the country as the new nobility and lived far from the Chou. +The Chou emperors had thus to hold in check the subjugated but warlike +tribes of Turks and Mongols who lived quite close to their capital. In +the first centuries of the dynasty they were more or less successful, +for the feudal lords still sent auxiliary forces. In time, however, +these became fewer and fewer, because the feudal lords pursued their own +policy; and the Chou were compelled to fight their own battles against +tribes that continually rose against them, raiding and pillaging their +towns. Campaigns abroad also fell mainly on the shoulders of the Chou, +as their capital lay near the frontier. + +It must not be simply assumed, as is often done by the Chinese and some +of the European historians, that the Turkish and Mongolian tribes were +so savage or so pugnacious that they continually waged war just for the +love of it. The problem is much deeper, and to fail to recognize this is +to fail to understand Chinese history down to the Middle Ages. The +conquering Chou established their garrisons everywhere, and these +garrisons were surrounded by the quarters of artisans and by the +villages of peasants, a process that ate into the pasturage of the +Turkish and Mongolian nomads. These nomads, as already mentioned, +pursued agriculture themselves on a small scale, but it occurred to them +that they could get farm produce much more easily by barter or by +raiding. Accordingly they gradually gave up cultivation and became pure +nomads, procuring the needed farm produce from their neighbours. This +abandonment of agriculture brought them into a precarious situation: if +for any reason the Chinese stopped supplying or demanded excessive +barter payment, the nomads had to go hungry. They were then virtually +driven to get what they needed by raiding. Thus there developed a mutual +reaction that lasted for centuries. Some of the nomadic tribes living +between garrisons withdrew, to escape from the growing pressure, mainly +into the province of Shansi, where the influence of the Chou was weak +and they were not numerous; some of the nomad chiefs lost their lives in +battle, and some learned from the Chou lords and turned themselves into +petty rulers. A number of "marginal" states began to develop; some of +them even built their own cities. This process of transformation of +agro-nomadic tribes into "warrior-nomadic" tribes continued over many +centuries and came to an end in the third or second century B.C. + +The result of the three centuries that had passed was a symbiosis +between the urban aristocrats and the country-people. The rulers of the +towns took over from the general population almost the whole vocabulary +of the language which from now on we may call "Chinese". They naturally +took over elements of the material civilization. The subjugated +population had, meanwhile, to adjust itself to its lords. In the +organism that thus developed, with its unified economic system, the +conquerors became an aristocratic ruling class, and the subjugated +population became a lower class, with varied elements but mainly a +peasantry. From now on we may call this society "Chinese"; it has +endured to the middle of the twentieth century. Most later essential +societal changes are the result of internal development and not of +aggression from without. + +4 _Limitation of the imperial power_ + +In 771 B.C. an alliance of northern feudal states had attacked the ruler +in his western capital; in a battle close to the city they had overcome +and killed him. This campaign appears to have set in motion considerable +groups from various tribes, so that almost the whole province of Shensi +was lost. With the aid of some feudal lords who had remained loyal, a +Chou prince was rescued and conducted eastward to the second capital, +Loyang, which until then had never been the ruler's actual place of +residence. In this rescue a lesser feudal prince, ruler of the feudal +state of Ch'in, specially distinguished himself. Soon afterwards this +prince, whose domain had lain close to that of the ruler, reconquered a +great part of the lost territory, and thereafter regarded it as his own +fief. The Ch'in family resided in the same capital in which the Chou +had lived in the past, and five hundred years later we shall meet with +them again as the dynasty that succeeded the Chou. + +The new ruler, resident now in Loyang, was foredoomed to impotence. He +was now in the centre of the country, and less exposed to large-scale +enemy attacks; but his actual rule extended little beyond the town +itself and its immediate environment. Moreover, attacks did not entirely +cease; several times parts of the indigenous population living between +the Chou towns rose against the towns, even in the centre of the +country. + +Now that the emperor had no territory that could be the basis of a +strong rule and, moreover, because he owed his position to the feudal +lords and was thus under an obligation to them, he ruled no longer as +the chief of the feudal lords but as a sort of sanctified overlord; and +this was the position of all his successors. A situation was formed at +first that may be compared with that of Japan down to the middle of the +nineteenth century. The ruler was a symbol rather than an exerciser of +power. There had to be a supreme ruler because, in the worship of Heaven +which was recognized by all the feudal lords, the supreme sacrifices +could only be offered by the Son of Heaven in person. There could not be +a number of sons of heaven because there were not a number of heavens. +The imperial sacrifices secured that all should be in order in the +country, and that the necessary equilibrium between Heaven and Earth +should be maintained. For in the religion of Heaven there was a close +parallelism between Heaven and Earth, and every omission of a sacrifice, +or failure to offer it in due form, brought down a reaction from Heaven. +For these religious reasons a central ruler was a necessity for the +feudal lords. They needed him also for practical reasons. In the course +of centuries the personal relationship between the various feudal lords +had ceased. Their original kinship and united struggles had long been +forgotten. When the various feudal lords proceeded to subjugate the +territories at a distance from their towns, in order to turn their city +states into genuine territorial states, they came into conflict with +each other. In the course of these struggles for power many of the small +fiefs were simply destroyed. It may fairly be said that not until the +eighth and seventh centuries B.C. did the old garrison towns became real +states. In these circumstances the struggles between the feudal states +called urgently for an arbiter, to settle simple cases, and in more +difficult cases either to try to induce other feudal lords to intervene +or to give sanction to the new situation. These were the only governing +functions of the ruler from the time of the transfer to the second +capital. + +5 _Changes in the relative strength of the feudal states_ + +In these disturbed times China also made changes in her outer frontiers. +When we speak of frontiers in this connection, we must take little +account of the European conception of a frontier. No frontier in that +sense existed in China until her conflict with the European powers. In +the dogma of the Chinese religion of Heaven, all the countries of the +world were subject to the Chinese emperor, the Son of Heaven. Thus there +could be no such thing as other independent states. In practice the +dependence of various regions on the ruler naturally varied: near the +centre, that is to say near the ruler's place of residence, it was most +pronounced; then it gradually diminished in the direction of the +periphery. The feudal lords of the inner territories were already rather +less subordinated than at the centre, and those at a greater distance +scarcely at all; at a still greater distance were territories whose +chieftains regarded themselves as independent, subject only in certain +respects to Chinese overlordship. In such a system it is difficult to +speak of frontiers. In practice there was, of course, a sort of +frontier, where the influence of the outer feudal lords ceased to exist. +The development of the original feudal towns into feudal states with +actual dominion over their territories proceeded, of course, not only in +the interior of China but also on its borders, where the feudal +territories had the advantage of more unrestricted opportunities of +expansion; thus they became more and more powerful. In the south (that +is to say, in the south of the Chou empire, in the present central +China) the garrisons that founded feudal states were relatively small +and widely separated; consequently their cultural system was largely +absorbed into that of the aboriginal population, so that they developed +into feudal states with a character of their own. Three of these +attained special importance--(1) Ch'u, in the neighbourhood of the +present Chungking and Hankow; (2) Wu, near the present Nanking; and (3) +Yueeh, near the present Hangchow. In 704 B.C. the feudal prince of Wu +proclaimed himself "Wang". "Wang", however was the title of the ruler of +the Chou dynasty. This meant that Wu broke away from the old Chou +religion of Heaven, according to which there could be only one ruler +(_wang_) in the world. + +At the beginning of the seventh century it became customary for the +ruler to unite with the feudal lord who was most powerful at the time. +This feudal lord became a dictator, and had the military power in his +hands, like the shoguns in nineteenth-century Japan. If there was a +disturbance of the peace, he settled the matter by military means. The +first of these dictators was the feudal lord of the state of Ch'i, in +the present province of Shantung. This feudal state had grown +considerably through the conquest of the outer end of the peninsula of +Shantung, which until then had been independent. Moreover, and this was +of the utmost importance, the state of Ch'i was a trade centre. Much of +the bronze, and later all the iron, for use in northern China came from +the south by road and in ships that went up the rivers to Ch'i, where it +was distributed among the various regions of the north, north-east, and +north-west. In addition to this, through its command of portions of the +coast, Ch'i had the means of producing salt, with which it met the needs +of great areas of eastern China. It was also in Ch'i that money was +first used. Thus Ch'i soon became a place of great luxury, far +surpassing the court of the Chou, and Ch'i also became the centre of the +most developed civilization. + +[Illustration: Map 2: The principal feudal States in the feudal epoch. +(_roughly 722-481 B.C._)] + +After the feudal lord of Ch'i, supported by the wealth and power of his +feudal state, became dictator, he had to struggle not only against other +feudal lords, but also many times against risings among the most various +parts of the population, and especially against the nomad tribes in the +southern part of the present province of Shansi. In the seventh century +not only Ch'i but the other feudal states had expanded. The regions in +which the nomad tribes were able to move had grown steadily smaller, and +the feudal lords now set to work to bring the nomads of their country +under their direct rule. The greatest conflict of this period was the +attack in 660 B.C. against the feudal state of Wei, in northern Honan. +The nomad tribes seem this time to have been proto-Mongols; they made a +direct attack on the garrison town and actually conquered it. The +remnant of the urban population, no more than 730 in number, had to flee +southward. It is clear from this incident that nomads were still living +in the middle of China, within the territory of the feudal states, and +that they were still decidedly strong, though no longer in a position to +get rid entirely of the feudal lords of the Chou. + +The period of the dictators came to an end after about a century, +because it was found that none of the feudal states was any longer +strong enough to exercise control over all the others. These others +formed alliances against which the dictator was powerless. Thus this +period passed into the next, which the Chinese call the period of the +Contending States. + +6 _Confucius_ + +After this survey of the political history we must consider the +intellectual history of this period, for between 550 and 280 B.C. the +enduring fundamental influences in the Chinese social order and in the +whole intellectual life of China had their original. We saw how the +priests of the earlier dynasty of the Shang developed into the group of +so-called "scholars". When the Chou ruler, after the move to the second +capital, had lost virtually all but his religious authority, these +"scholars" gained increased influence. They were the specialists in +traditional morals, in sacrifices, and in the organization of festivals. +The continually increasing ritualism at the court of the Chou called for +more and more of these men. The various feudal lords also attracted +these scholars to their side, employed them as tutors for their +children, and entrusted them with the conduct of sacrifices and +festivals. + +China's best-known philosopher, Confucius (Chinese: K'ung Tz[)u], was +one of these scholars. He was born in 551 B.C. in the feudal state Lu in +the present province of Shantung. In Lu and its neighbouring state Sung, +institutions of the Shang had remained strong; both states regarded +themselves as legitimate heirs of Shang culture, and many traces of +Shang culture can be seen in Confucius's political and ethical ideas. He +acquired the knowledge which a scholar had to possess, and then taught +in the families of nobles, also helping in the administration of their +properties. He made several attempts to obtain advancement, either in +vain or with only a short term of employment ending in dismissal. Thus +his career was a continuing pilgrimage from one noble to another, from +one feudal lord to another, accompanied by a few young men, sons of +scholars, who were partly his pupils and partly his servants. Many of +these disciples seem to have been "illegitimate" sons of noblemen, i.e. +sons of concubines, and Confucius's own family seems to have been of the +same origin. In the strongly patriarchal and patrilinear system of the +Chou and the developing primogeniture, children of secondary wives had a +lower social status. Ultimately Confucius gave up his wanderings, +settled in his home town of Lu, and there taught his disciples until his +death in 479 B.C. + +Such was briefly the life of Confucius. His enemies claim that he was a +political intriguer, inciting the feudal lords against each other in the +course of his wanderings from one state to another, with the intention +of somewhere coming into power himself. There may, indeed, be some truth +in that. + +Confucius's importance lies in the fact that he systematized a body of +ideas, not of his own creation, and communicated it to a circle of +disciples. His teachings were later set down in writing and formed, +right down to the twentieth century, the moral code of the upper classes +of China. Confucius was fully conscious of his membership of a social +class whose existence was tied to that of the feudal lords. With their +disappearance, his type of scholar would become superfluous. The common +people, the lower class, was in his view in an entirely subordinate +position. Thus his moral teaching is a code for the ruling class. +Accordingly it retains almost unaltered the elements of the old cult of +Heaven, following the old tradition inherited from the northern peoples. +For him Heaven is not an arbitrarily governing divine tyrant, but the +embodiment of a system of legality. Heaven does not act independently, +but follows a universal law, the so-called "Tao". Just as sun, moon, and +stars move in the heavens in accordance with law, so man should conduct +himself on earth in accord with the universal law, not against it. The +ruler should not actively intervene in day-to-day policy, but should +only act by setting an example, like Heaven; he should observe the +established ceremonies, and offer all sacrifices in accordance with the +rites, and then all else will go well in the world. The individual, too, +should be guided exactly in his life by the prescriptions of the rites, +so that harmony with the law of the universe may be established. + +A second idea of the Confucian system came also from the old conceptions +of the Chou conquerors, and thus originally from the northern peoples. +This is the patriarchal idea, according to which the family is the cell +of society, and at the head of the family stands the eldest male adult +as a sort of patriarch. The state is simply an extension of the family, +"state", of course, meaning simply the class of the feudal lords (the +"chuen-tz[)u]"). And the organization of the family is also that of the +world of the gods. Within the family there are a number of ties, all of +them, however, one-sided: that of father to son (the son having to obey +the father unconditionally and having no rights of his own;) that of +husband to wife (the wife had no rights); that of elder to younger +brother. An extension of these is the association of friend with friend, +which is conceived as an association between an elder and a younger +brother. The final link, and the only one extending beyond the family +and uniting it with the state, is the association of the ruler with the +subject, a replica of that between father and son. The ruler in turn is +in the position of son to Heaven. Thus in Confucianism the cult of +Heaven, the family system, and the state are welded into unity. The +frictionless functioning of this whole system is effected by everyone +adhering to the rites, which prescribe every important action. It is +necessary, of course, that in a large family, in which there may be up +to a hundred persons living together, there shall be a precisely +established ordering of relationships between individuals if there is +not to be continual friction. Since the scholars of Confucius's type +specialized in the knowledge and conduct of ceremonies, Confucius gave +ritualism a correspondingly important place both in spiritual and in +practical life. + +So far as we have described it above, the teaching of Confucius was a +further development of the old cult of Heaven. Through bitter +experience, however, Confucius had come to realize that nothing could be +done with the ruling house as it existed in his day. So shadowy a figure +as the Chou ruler of that time could not fulfil what Confucius required +of the "Son of Heaven". But the opinions of students of Confucius's +actual ideas differ. Some say that in the only book in which he +personally had a hand, the so-called _Annals of Spring and Autumn_, he +intended to set out his conception of the character of a true emperor; +others say that in that book he showed how he would himself have acted +as emperor, and that he was only awaiting an opportunity to make himself +emperor. He was called indeed, at a later time, the "uncrowned ruler". +In any case, the _Annals of Spring and Autumn_ seem to be simply a dry +work of annals, giving the history of his native state of Lu on the +basis of the older documents available to him. In his text, however, +Confucius made small changes by means of which he expressed criticism or +recognition; in this way he indirectly made known how in his view a +ruler should act or should not act. He did not shrink from falsifying +history, as can today be demonstrated. Thus on one occasion a ruler had +to flee from a feudal prince, which in Confucius's view was impossible +behaviour for the ruler; accordingly he wrote instead that the ruler +went on a hunting expedition. Elsewhere he tells of an eclipse of the +sun on a certain day, on which in fact there was no eclipse. By writing +of an eclipse he meant to criticize the way a ruler had acted, for the +sun symbolized the ruler, and the eclipse meant that the ruler had not +been guided by divine illumination. The demonstration that the _Annals +of Spring and Autumn_ can only be explained in this way was the +achievement some thirty-five years ago of Otto Franke, and through this +discovery Confucius's work, which the old sinologists used to describe +as a dry and inadequate book, has become of special value to us. The +book ends with the year 481 B.C., and in spite of its distortions it is +the principal source for the two-and-a-half centuries with which it +deals. + +Rendered alert by this experience, we are able to see and to show that +most of the other later official works of history follow the example of +the _Annals of Spring and Autumn_ in containing things that have been +deliberately falsified. This is especially so in the work called +_T'ung-chien kang-mu_, which was the source of the history of the +Chinese empire translated into French by de Mailla. + +Apart from Confucius's criticism of the inadequate capacity of the +emperor of his day, there is discernible, though only in the form of +cryptic hints, a fundamentally important progressive idea. It is that a +nobleman (chuen-tz[)u] should not be a member of the ruling _elite_ by +right of birth alone, but should be a man of superior moral qualities. +From Confucius on, "chuen-tz[)u]" became to mean "a gentleman". +Consequently, a country should not be ruled by a dynasty based on +inheritance through birth, but by members of the nobility who show +outstanding moral qualification for rulership. That is to say, the rule +should pass from the worthiest to the worthiest, the successor first +passing through a period of probation as a minister of state. In an +unscrupulous falsification of the tradition, Confucius declared that +this principle was followed in early times. It is probably safe to +assume that Confucius had in view here an eventual justification of +claims to rulership of his own. + +Thus Confucius undoubtedly had ideas of reform, but he did not interfere +with the foundations of feudalism. For the rest, his system consists +only of a social order and a moral teaching. Metaphysics, logic, +epistemology, i.e. branches of philosophy which played so great a part +in the West, are of no interest to him. Nor can he be described as the +founder of a religion; for the cult of Heaven of which he speaks and +which he takes over existed in exactly the same form before his day. He +is merely the man who first systematized those notions. He had no +successes in his lifetime and gained no recognition; nor did his +disciples or their disciples gain any general recognition; his work did +not become of importance until some three hundred years after his death, +when in the second century B.C. his teaching was adjusted to the new +social conditions: out of a moral system for the decaying feudal society +of the past centuries developed the ethic of the rising social order of +the gentry. The gentry (in much the same way as the European +bourgeoisie) continually claimed that there should be access for every +civilized citizen to the highest places in the social pyramid, and the +rules of Confucianism became binding on every member of society if he +was to be considered a gentleman. Only then did Confucianism begin to +develop into the imposing system that dominated China almost down to the +present day. Confucianism did not become a religion. It was comparable +to the later Japanese Shintoism, or to a group of customs among us which +we all observe, if we do not want to find ourselves excluded from our +community, but which we should never describe as religion. We stand up +when the national anthem is played, we give precedency to older people, +we erect war memorials and decorate them with flowers, and by these and +many other things show our sense of belonging. A similar but much more +conscious and much more powerful part was played by Confucianism in the +life of the average Chinese, though he was not necessarily interested in +philosophical ideas. + +While the West has set up the ideal of individualism and is suffering +now because it no longer has any ethical system to which individuals +voluntarily submit; while for the Indians the social problem consisted +in the solving of the question how every man could be enabled to live +his life with as little disturbance as possible from his fellow-men, +Confucianism solved the problem of how families with groups of hundreds +of members could live together in peace and co-operation in a densely +populated country. Everyone knew his position in the family and so, in a +broader sense, in the state; and this prescribed his rights and duties. +We may feel that the rules to which he was subjected were pedantic; but +there was no limit to their effectiveness: they reduced to a minimum the +friction that always occurs when great masses of people live close +together; they gave Chinese society the strength through which it has +endured; they gave security to its individuals. China's first real +social crisis after the collapse of feudalism, that is to say, after the +fourth or third century B.C., began only in the present century with the +collapse of the social order of the gentry and the breakdown of the +family system. + +7 _Lao Tz[)u]_ + +In eighteenth-century Europe Confucius was the only Chinese philosopher +held in regard; in the last hundred years, the years of Europe's +internal crisis, the philosopher Lao Tz[)u] steadily advanced in repute, +so that his book was translated almost a hundred times into various +European languages. According to the general view among the Chinese, Lao +Tz[)u] was an older contemporary of Confucius; recent Chinese and +Western research (A. Waley; H.H. Dubs) has contested this view and +places Lao Tz[)u] in the latter part of the fourth century B.C., or even +later. Virtually nothing at all is known about his life; the oldest +biography of Lao Tz[)u], written about 100 B.C., says that he lived as +an official at the ruler's court and, one day, became tired of the life +of an official and withdrew from the capital to his estate, where he +died in old age. This, too, may be legendary, but it fits well into the +picture given to us by Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching and by the life of his +later followers. From the second century A.D., that is to say at least +four hundred years after his death, there are legends of his migrating +to the far west. Still later narratives tell of his going to Turkestan +(where a temple was actually built in his honour in the Medieval +period); according to other sources he travelled as far as India or +Sogdiana (Samarkand and Bokhara), where according to some accounts he +was the teacher or forerunner of Buddha, and according to others of +Mani, the founder of Manichaeism. For all this there is not a vestige of +documentary evidence. + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching is contained in a small book, the _Tao Te Ching_, +the "Book of the World Law and its Power". The book is written in quite +simple language, at times in rhyme, but the sense is so vague that +countless versions, differing radically from each other, can be based on +it, and just as many translations are possible, all philologically +defensible. This vagueness is deliberate. + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching is essentially an effort to bring man's life on +earth into harmony with the life and law of the universe (Tao). This was +also Confucius's purpose. But while Confucius set out to attain that +purpose in a sort of primitive scientific way, by laying down a number +of rules of human conduct, Lao Tz[)u] tries to attain his ideal by an +intuitive, emotional method. Lao Tz[)u] is always described as a mystic, +but perhaps this is not entirely appropriate; it must be borne in mind +that in his time the Chinese language, spoken and written, still had +great difficulties in the expression of ideas. In reading Lao Tz[)u]'s +book we feel that he is trying to express something for which the +language of his day was inadequate; and what he wanted to express +belonged to the emotional, not the intellectual, side of the human +character, so that any perfectly clear expression of it in words was +entirely impossible. It must be borne in mind that the Chinese language +lacks definite word categories like substantive, adjective, adverb, or +verb; any word can be used now in one category and now in another, with +a few exceptions; thus the understanding of a combination like "white +horse" formed a difficult logical problem for the thinker of the fourth +century B.C.: did it mean "white" plus "horse"? Or was "white horse" no +longer a horse at all but something quite different? + +Confucius's way of bringing human life into harmony with the life of the +universe was to be a process of assimilating Man as a social being, Man +in his social environment, to Nature, and of so maintaining his activity +within the bounds of the community. Lao Tz[)u] pursues another path, the +path for those who feel disappointed with life in the community. A +Taoist, as a follower of Lao Tz[)u] is called, withdraws from all social +life, and carries out none of the rites and ceremonies which a man of +the upper class should observe throughout the day. He lives in +self-imposed seclusion, in an elaborate primitivity which is often +described in moving terms that are almost convincing of actual +"primitivity". Far from the city, surrounded by Nature, the Taoist lives +his own life, together with a few friends and his servants, entirely +according to his nature. His own nature, like everything else, +represents for him a part of the Tao, and the task of the individual +consists in the most complete adherence to the Tao that is conceivable, +as far as possible performing no act that runs counter to the Tao. This +is the main element of Lao Tz[)u]'s doctrine, the doctrine of _wu-wei_, +"passive achievement". + +Lao Tz[)u] seems to have thought that this doctrine could be applied to +the life of the state. He assumed that an ideal life in society was +possible if everyone followed his own nature entirely and no artificial +restrictions were imposed. Thus he writes: "The more the people are +forbidden to do this and that, the poorer will they be. The more sharp +weapons the people possess, the more will darkness and bewilderment +spread through the land. The more craft and cunning men have, the more +useless and pernicious contraptions will they invent. The more laws and +edicts are imposed, the more thieves and bandits there will be. 'If I +work through Non-action,' says the Sage, 'the people will transform +themselves.'"[1] Thus according to Lao Tz[)u], who takes the existence +of a monarchy for granted, the ruler must treat his subjects as follows: +"By emptying their hearts of desire and their minds of envy, and by +filling their stomachs with what they need; by reducing their ambitions +and by strengthening their bones and sinews; by striving to keep them +without the knowledge of what is evil and without cravings. Thus are the +crafty ones given no scope for tempting interference. For it is by +Non-action that the Sage governs, and nothing is really left +uncontrolled."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _The Way of Acceptance_: a new version of Lao Tz[)u]'s _Tao +Te Ching_, by Hermon Ould (Dakers, 1946), Ch. 57.] + +[Footnote 2: _The Way of Acceptance_, Ch. 3.] + +Lao Tz[)u] did not live to learn that such rule of good government would +be followed by only one sort of rulers--dictators; and as a matter of +fact the "Legalist theory" which provided the philosophic basis for +dictatorship in the third century B.C. was attributable to Lao Tz[)u]. +He was not thinking, however, of dictatorship; he was an individualistic +anarchist, believing that if there were no active government all men +would be happy. Then everyone could attain unity with Nature for +himself. Thus we find in Lao Tz[)u], and later in all other Taoists, a +scornful repudiation of all social and official obligations. An answer +that became famous was given by the Taoist Chuang Tz[)u] (see below) +when it was proposed to confer high office in the state on him (the +story may or may not be true, but it is typical of Taoist thought): "I +have heard," he replied, "that in Ch'u there is a tortoise sacred to the +gods. It has now been dead for 3,000 years, and the king keeps it in a +shrine with silken cloths, and gives it shelter in the halls of a +temple. Which do you think that tortoise would prefer--to be dead and +have its vestigial bones so honoured, or to be still alive and dragging +its tail after it in the mud?" the officials replied: "No doubt it would +prefer to be alive and dragging its tail after it in the mud." Then +spoke Chuang Tz[)u]: "Begone! I, too, would rather drag my tail after me +in the mud!" (Chuang Tz[)u] 17, 10.) + +The true Taoist withdraws also from his family. Typical of this is +another story, surely apocryphal, from Chuang Tz[)u] (Ch. 3, 3). At the +death of Lao Tz[)u] a disciple went to the family and expressed his +sympathy quite briefly and formally. The other disciples were +astonished, and asked his reason. He said: "Yes, at first I thought that +he was our man, but he is not. When I went to grieve, the old men were +bewailing him as though they were bewailing a son, and the young wept as +though they were mourning a mother. To bind them so closely to himself, +he must have spoken words which he should not have spoken, and wept +tears which he should not have wept. That, however, is a falling away +from the heavenly nature." + +Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching, like that of Confucius, cannot be described as +religion; like Confucius's, it is a sort of social philosophy, but of +irrationalistic character. Thus it was quite possible, and later it +became the rule, for one and the same person to be both Confucian and +Taoist. As an official and as the head of his family, a man would think +and act as a Confucian; as a private individual, when he had retired far +from the city to live in his country mansion (often modestly described +as a cave or a thatched hut), or when he had been dismissed from his +post or suffered some other trouble, he would feel and think as a +Taoist. In order to live as a Taoist it was necessary, of course, to +possess such an estate, to which a man could retire with his servants, +and where he could live without himself doing manual work. This +difference between the Confucian and the Taoist found a place in the +works of many Chinese poets. I take the following quotation from an +essay by the statesman and poet Ts'ao Chih, of the end of the second +century A.D.: + +"Master Mysticus lived in deep seclusion on a mountain in the +wilderness; he had withdrawn as in flight from the world, desiring to +purify his spirit and give rest to his heart. He despised official +activity, and no longer maintained any relations with the world; he +sought quiet and freedom from care, in order in this way to attain +everlasting life. He did nothing but send his thoughts wandering between +sky and clouds, and consequently there was nothing worldly that could +attract and tempt him. + +[Illustration: 1 Painted pottery from Kansu: Neolithic. _In the +collection of the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin_.] + +[Illustration: 2 Ancient bronze tripod found at Anyang. _From G. Ecke: +Fruehe chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Oskar Trautmann, Peking_ +1939, _plate_ 3.] + +"When Mr. Rationalist heard of this man, he desired to visit him, in +order to persuade him to alter his views. He harnessed four horses, who +could quickly traverse the plain, and entered his light fast carriage. +He drove through the plain, leaving behind him the ruins of abandoned +settlements; he entered the boundless wilderness, and finally reached +the dwelling of Master Mysticus. Here there was a waterfall on one side, +and on the other were high crags; at the back a stream flowed deep down +in its bed, and in front was an odorous wood. The master wore a white +doeskin cap and a striped fox-pelt. He came forward from a cave buried +in the mountain, leaned against the tall crag, and enjoyed the prospect +of wild nature. His ideas floated on the breezes, and he looked as if +the wide spaces of the heavens and the countries of the earth were too +narrow for him; as if he was going to fly but had not yet left the +ground; as if he had already spread his wings but wanted to wait a +moment. Mr. Rationalist climbed up with the aid of vine shoots, reached +the top of the crag, and stepped up to him, saying very respectfully: + +"'I have heard that a man of nobility does not flee from society, but +seeks to gain fame; a man of wisdom does not swim against the current, +but seeks to earn repute. You, however, despise the achievements of +civilization and culture; you have no regard for the splendour of +philanthropy and justice; you squander your powers here in the +wilderness and neglect ordered relations between man....'" + +Frequently Master Mysticus and Mr. Rationalist were united in a single +person. Thus, Shih Ch'ung wrote in an essay on himself: + +"In my youth I had great ambition and wanted to stand out above the +multitude. Thus it happened that at a little over twenty years of age I +was already a court official; I remained in the service for twenty-five +years. When I was fifty I had to give up my post because of an +unfortunate occurrence.... The older I became, the more I appreciated +the freedom I had acquired; and as I loved forest and plain, I retired +to my villa. When I built this villa, a long embankment formed the +boundary behind it; in front the prospect extended over a clear canal; +all around grew countless cypresses, and flowing water meandered round +the house. There were pools there, and outlook towers; I bred birds and +fishes. In my harem there were always good musicians who played dance +tunes. When I went out I enjoyed nature or hunted birds and fished. When +I came home, I enjoyed playing the lute or reading; I also liked to +concoct an elixir of life and to take breathing exercises,[3] because I +did not want to die, but wanted one day to lift myself to the skies, +like an immortal genius. Suddenly I was drawn back into the official +career, and became once more one of the dignitaries of the Emperor." + +[Footnote 3: Both Taoist practices.] + +Thus Lao Tz[)u]'s individualist and anarchist doctrine was not suited to +form the basis of a general Chinese social order, and its employment in +support of dictatorship was certainly not in the spirit of Lao Tz[)u]. +Throughout history, however, Taoism remained the philosophic attitude of +individuals of the highest circle of society; its real doctrine never +became popularly accepted; for the strong feeling for nature that +distinguishes the Chinese, and their reluctance to interfere in the +sanctified order of nature by technical and other deliberate acts, was +not actually a result of Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching, but one of the +fundamentals from which his ideas started. + +If the date assigned to Lao Tz[)u] by present-day research (the fourth +instead of the sixth century B.C.) is correct, he was more or less +contemporary with Chuang Tz[)u], who was probably the most gifted poet +among the Chinese philosophers and Taoists. A thin thread extends from +them as far as the fourth century A.D.: Huai-nan Tz[)u], Chung-ch'ang +T'ung, Yuean Chi (210-263), Liu Ling (221-300), and T'ao Ch'ien +(365-427), are some of the most eminent names of Taoist philosophers. +After that the stream of original thought dried up, and we rarely find a +new idea among the late Taoists. These gentlemen living on their estates +had acquired a new means of expressing their inmost feelings: they wrote +poetry and, above all, painted. Their poems and paintings contain in a +different outward form what Lao Tz[)u] had tried to express with the +inadequate means of the language of his day. Thus Lao Tz[)u]'s teaching +has had the strongest influence to this day in this field, and has +inspired creative work which is among the finest achievements of +mankind. + + + +Chapter Four + + +THE CONTENDING STATES (481-256 B.C.): DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + + +1 _Social and military changes_ + +The period following that of the Chou dictatorships is known as that of +the Contending States. Out of over a thousand states, fourteen remained, +of which, in the period that now followed, one after another +disappeared, until only one remained. This period is the fullest, or one +of the fullest, of strife in all Chinese history. The various feudal +states had lost all sense of allegiance to the ruler, and acted in +entire independence. It is a pure fiction to speak of a Chinese State in +this period; the emperor had no more power than the ruler of the Holy +Roman Empire in the late medieval period of Europe, and the so-called +"feudal states" of China can be directly compared with the developing +national states of Europe. A comparison of this period with late +medieval Europe is, indeed, of highest interest. If we adopt a political +system of periodization, we might say that around 500 B.C. the unified +feudal state of the first period of Antiquity came to an end and the +second, a period of the national states began, although formally, the +feudal system continued and the national states still retained many +feudal traits. + +As none of these states was strong enough to control and subjugate the +rest, alliances were formed. The most favoured union was the north-south +axis; it struggled against an east-west league. The alliances were not +stable but broke up again and again through bribery or intrigue, which +produced new combinations. We must confine ourselves to mentioning the +most important of the events that took place behind this military +facade. + +Through the continual struggles more and more feudal lords lost their +lands; and not only they, but the families of the nobles dependent on +them, who had received so-called sub-fiefs. Some of the landless nobles +perished; some offered their services to the remaining feudal lords as +soldiers or advisers. Thus in this period we meet with a large number of +migratory politicians who became competitors of the wandering scholars. +Both these groups recommended to their lord ways and means of gaining +victory over the other feudal lords, so as to become sole ruler. In +order to carry out their plans the advisers claimed the rank of a +Minister or Chancellor. + +Realistic though these advisers and their lords were in their thinking, +they did not dare to trample openly on the old tradition. The emperor +might in practice be a completely powerless figurehead, but he belonged +nevertheless, according to tradition, to a family of divine origin, +which had obtained its office not merely by the exercise of force but +through a "divine mandate". Accordingly, if one of the feudal lords +thought of putting forward a claim to the imperial throne, he felt +compelled to demonstrate that his family was just as much of divine +origin as the emperor's, and perhaps of remoter origin. In this matter +the travelling "scholars" rendered valuable service as manufacturers of +genealogical trees. Each of the old noble families already had its +family tree, as an indispensable requisite for the sacrifices to +ancestors. But in some cases this tree began as a branch of that of the +imperial family: this was the case of the feudal lords who were of +imperial descent and whose ancestors had been granted fiefs after the +conquest of the country. Others, however, had for their first ancestor a +local deity long worshipped in the family's home country, such as the +ancient agrarian god Huang Ti, or the bovine god Shen Nung. Here the +"scholars" stepped in, turning the local deities into human beings and +"emperors". This suddenly gave the noble family concerned an imperial +origin. Finally, order was brought into this collection of ancient +emperors. They were arranged and connected with each other in +"dynasties" or in some other "historical" form. Thus at a stroke Huang +Ti, who about 450 B.C. had been a local god in the region of southern +Shansi, became the forefather of almost all the noble families, +including that of the imperial house of the Chou. Needless to say, there +would be discrepancies between the family trees constructed by the +various scholars for their lords, and later, when this problem had lost +its political importance, the commentators laboured for centuries on the +elaboration of an impeccable system of "ancient emperors"--and to this +day there are sinologists who continue to present these humanized gods +as historical personalities. + +In the earlier wars fought between the nobles they were themselves the +actual combatants, accompanied only by their retinue. As the struggles +for power grew in severity, each noble hired such mercenaries as he +could, for instance the landless nobles just mentioned. Very soon it +became the custom to arm peasants and send them to the wars. This +substantially increased the armies. The numbers of soldiers who were +killed in particular battles may have been greatly exaggerated (in a +single battle in 260 B.C., for instance, the number who lost their lives +was put at 450,000, a quite impossible figure); but there must have been +armies of several thousand men, perhaps as many as 10,000. The +population had grown considerably by that time. + +The armies of the earlier period consisted mainly of the nobles in their +war chariots; each chariot surrounded by the retinue of the nobleman. +Now came large troops of commoners as infantry as well, drawn from the +peasant population. To these, cavalry were first added in the fifth +century B.C., by the northern state of Chao (in the present Shansi), +following the example of its Turkish and Mongol neighbours. The general +theory among ethnologists is that the horse was first harnessed to a +chariot, and that riding came much later; but it is my opinion that +riders were known earlier, but could not be efficiently employed in war +because the practice had not begun of fighting in disciplined troops of +horsemen, and the art had not been learnt of shooting accurately with +the bow from the back of a galloping horse, especially shooting to the +rear. In any case, its cavalry gave the feudal state of Chao a military +advantage for a short time. Soon the other northern states copied it one +after another--especially Ch'in, in north-west China. The introduction +of cavalry brought a change in clothing all over China, for the former +long skirt-like garb could not be worn on horseback. Trousers and the +riding-cap were introduced from the north. + +The new technique of war made it important for every state to possess as +many soldiers as possible, and where it could to reduce the enemy's +numbers. One result of this was that wars became much more sanguinary; +another was that men in other countries were induced to immigrate and +settle as peasants, so that the taxes they paid should provide the means +for further recruitment of soldiers. In the state of Ch'in, especially, +the practice soon started of using the whole of the peasantry +simultaneously as a rough soldiery. Hence that state was particularly +anxious to attract peasants in large numbers. + +2 _Economic changes_ + +In the course of the wars much land of former noblemen had become free. +Often the former serfs had then silently become landowners. Others had +started to cultivate empty land in the area inhabited by the indigenous +population and regarded this land, which they themselves had made +fertile, as their private family property. There was, in spite of the +growth of the population, still much cultivable land available. +Victorious feudal lords induced farmers to come to their territory and +to cultivate the wasteland. This is a period of great migrations, +internal and external. It seems that from this period on not only +merchants but also farmers began to migrate southward into the area of +the present provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi and as far as Tonking. + +As long as the idea that all land belonged to the great clans of the +Chou prevailed, sale of land was inconceivable; but when individual +family heads acquired land or cultivated new land, they regarded it as +their natural right to dispose of the land as they wished. From now on +until the end of the medieval period, the family head as representative +of the family could sell or buy land. However, the land belonged to the +family and not to him as a person. This development was favoured by the +spread of money. In time land in general became an asset with a market +value and could be bought and sold. + +Another important change can be seen from this time on. Under the feudal +system of the Chou strict primogeniture among the nobility existed: the +fief went to the oldest son by the main wife. The younger sons were +given independent pieces of land with its inhabitants as new, secondary +fiefs. With the increase in population there was no more such land that +could be set up as a new fief. From now on, primogeniture was retained +in the field of ritual and religion down to the present time: only the +oldest son of the main wife represents the family in the ancestor +worship ceremonies; only the oldest son of the emperor could become his +successor. But the landed property from now on was equally divided among +all sons. Occasionally the oldest son was given some extra land to +enable him to pay the expenses for the family ancestral worship. Mobile +property, on the other side, was not so strictly regulated and often the +oldest son was given preferential treatment in the inheritance. + +The technique of cultivation underwent some significant changes. The +animal-drawn plough seems to have been invented during this period, and +from now on, some metal agricultural implements like iron sickles and +iron plough-shares became more common. A fallow system was introduced so +that cultivation became more intensive. Manuring of fields was already +known in Shang time. It seems that the consumption of meat decreased +from this period on: less mutton and beef were eaten. Pig and dog +became the main sources of meat, and higher consumption of beans made +up for the loss of proteins. All this indicates a strong population +increase. We have no statistics for this period, but by 400 B.C. it is +conceivable that the population under the control of the various +individual states comprised something around twenty-five millions. The +eastern plains emerge more and more as centres of production. + +The increased use of metal and the invention of coins greatly stimulated +trade. Iron which now became quite common, was produced mainly in +Shansi, other metals in South China. But what were the traders to do +with their profits? Even later in China, and almost down to recent +times, it was never possible to hoard large quantities of money. +Normally the money was of copper, and a considerable capital in the form +of copper coin took up a good deal of room and was not easy to conceal. +If anyone had much money, everyone in his village knew it. No one dared +to hoard to any extent for fear of attracting bandits and creating +lasting insecurity. On the other hand the merchants wanted to attain the +standard of living which the nobles, the landowners, used to have. Thus +they began to invest their money in land. This was all the easier for +them since it often happened that one of the lesser nobles or a peasant +fell deeply into debt to a merchant and found himself compelled to give +up his land in payment of the debt. + +Soon the merchants took over another function. So long as there had been +many small feudal states, and the feudal lords had created lesser lords +with small fiefs, it had been a simple matter for the taxes to be +collected, in the form of grain, from the peasants through the agents of +the lesser lords. Now that there were only a few great states in +existence, the old system was no longer effectual. This gave the +merchants their opportunity. The rulers of the various states entrusted +the merchants with the collection of taxes, and this had great +advantages for the ruler: he could obtain part of the taxes at once, as +the merchant usually had grain in stock, or was himself a landowner and +could make advances at any time. Through having to pay the taxes to the +merchant, the village population became dependent on him. Thus the +merchants developed into the first administrative officials in the +provinces. + +In connection with the growth of business, the cities kept on growing. +It is estimated that at the beginning of the third century, the city of +Lin-chin, near the present Chi-nan in Shantung, had a population of +210,000 persons. Each of its walls had a length of 4,000 metres; thus, +it was even somewhat larger than the famous city of Loyang, capital of +China during the Later Han dynasty, in the second century A.D. Several +other cities of this period have been recently excavated and must have +had populations far above 10,000 persons. There were two types of +cities: the rectangular, planned city of the Chou conquerors, a seat of +administration; and the irregularly shaped city which grew out of a +market place and became only later an administrative centre. We do not +know much about the organization and administration of these cities, but +they seem to have had considerable independence because some of them +issued their own city coins. + +When these cities grew, the food produced in the neighbourhood of the +towns no longer sufficed for their inhabitants. This led to the building +of roads, which also facilitated the transport of supplies for great +armies. These roads mainly radiated from the centre of consumption into +the surrounding country, and they were less in use for communication +between one administrative centre and another. For long journeys the +rivers were of more importance, since transport by wagon was always +expensive owing to the shortage of draught animals. Thus we see in this +period the first important construction of canals and a development of +communications. With the canal construction was connected the +construction of irrigation and drainage systems, which further promoted +agricultural production. The cities were places in which often great +luxury developed; music, dance, and other refinements were cultivated; +but the cities also seem to have harboured considerable industries. +Expensive and technically superior silks were woven; painters decorated +the walls of temples and palaces; blacksmiths and bronze-smiths produced +beautiful vessels and implements. It seems certain that the art of +casting iron and the beginnings of the production of steel were already +known at this time. The life of the commoners in these cities was +regulated by laws; the first codes are mentioned in 536 B.C. By the end +of the fourth century B.C. a large body of criminal law existed, +supposedly collected by Li K'uei, which became the foundation of all +later Chinese law. It seems that in this period the states of China +moved quickly towards a money economy, and an observer to whom the later +Chinese history was not known could have predicted the eventual +development of a capitalistic society out of the apparent tendencies. + +So far nothing has been said in these chapters about China's foreign +policy. Since the central ruling house was completely powerless, and the +feudal lords were virtually independent rulers, little can be said, of +course, about any "Chinese" foreign policy. There is less than ever to +be said about it for this period of the "Contending States". Chinese +merchants penetrated southward, and soon settlers moved in increasing +numbers into the plains of the south-east. In the north, there were +continual struggles with Turkish and Mongol tribes, and about 300 B.C. +the name of the Hsiung-nu (who are often described as "The Huns of the +Far East") makes its first appearance. It is known that these northern +peoples had mastered the technique of horseback warfare and were far +ahead of the Chinese, although the Chinese imitated their methods. The +peasants of China, as they penetrated farther and farther north, had to +be protected by their rulers against the northern peoples, and since the +rulers needed their armed forces for their struggles within China, a +beginning was made with the building of frontier walls, to prevent +sudden raids of the northern peoples against the peasant settlements. +Thus came into existence the early forms of the "Great Wall of China". +This provided for the first time a visible frontier between Chinese and +non-Chinese. Along this frontier, just as by the walls of towns, great +markets were held at which Chinese peasants bartered their produce to +non-Chinese nomads. Both partners in this trade became accustomed to it +and drew very substantial profits from it. We even know the names of +several great horse-dealers who bought horses from the nomads and sold +them within China. + +3 _Cultural changes_ + +Together with the economic and social changes in this period, there came +cultural changes. New ideas sprang up in exuberance, as would seem +entirely natural, because in times of change and crisis men always come +forward to offer solutions for pressing problems. We shall refer here +only briefly to the principal philosophers of the period. + +Mencius (_c_. 372-289 B.C.) and Hsuen Tz[)u] (_c_. 298-238 B.C.) were +both followers of Confucianism. Both belonged to the so-called +"scholars", and both lived in the present Shantung, that is to say, in +eastern China. Both elaborated the ideas of Confucius, but neither of +them achieved personal success. Mencius (Meng Tz[)u]) recognized that +the removal of the ruling house of the Chou no longer presented any +difficulty. The difficult question for him was when a change of ruler +would be justified. And how could it be ascertained whom Heaven had +destined as successor if the existing dynasty was brought down? Mencius +replied that the voice of the "people", that is to say of the upper +class and its following, would declare the right man, and that this man +would then be Heaven's nominee. This theory persisted throughout the +history of China. Hsuen Tz[)u]'s chief importance lies in the fact that +he recognized that the "laws" of nature are unchanging but that man's +fate is determined not by nature alone but, in addition, by his own +activities. Man's nature is basically bad, but by working on himself +within the framework of society, he can change his nature and can +develop. Thus, Hsuen Tz[)u]'s philosophy contains a dynamic element, fit +for a dynamic period of history. + +In the strongest contrast to these thinkers was the school of Mo Ti (at +some time between 479 and 381 B.C.). The Confucian school held fast to +the old feudal order of society, and was only ready to agree to a few +superficial changes. The school of Mo Ti proposed to alter the +fundamental principles of society. Family ethics must no longer be +retained; the principles of family love must be extended to the whole +upper class, which Mo Ti called the "people". One must love another +member of the upper class just as much as one's own father. Then the +friction between individuals and between states would cease. Instead of +families, large groups of people friendly to one another must be +created. Further one should live frugally and not expend endless money +on effete rites, as the Confucianists demanded. The expenditure on +weddings and funerals under the Confucianist ritual consumed so much +money that many families fell into debt and, if they were unable to pay +off the debt, sank from the upper into the lower class. In order to +maintain the upper class, therefore, there must be more frugality. Mo +Ti's teaching won great influence. He and his successors surrounded +themselves with a private army of supporters which was rigidly organized +and which could be brought into action at any time as its leader wished. +Thus the Mohists came forward everywhere with an approach entirely +different from that of the isolated Confucians. When the Mohists offered +their assistance to a ruler, they brought with them a group of technical +and military experts who had been trained on the same principles. In +consequence of its great influence this teaching was naturally hotly +opposed by the Confucianists. + +We see clearly in Mo Ti's and his followers' ideas the influence of the +changed times. His principle of "universal love" reflects the breakdown +of the clans and the general weakening of family bonds which had taken +place. His ideal of social organization resembles organizations of +merchants and craftsmen which we know only of later periods. His stress +upon frugality, too, reflects a line of thought which is typical of +businessmen. The rationality which can also be seen in his metaphysical +ideas and which has induced modern Chinese scholars to call him an early +materialist is fitting to an age in which a developing money economy and +expanding trade required a cool, logical approach to the affairs of this +world. + +A similar mentality can be seen in another school which appeared from +the fifth century B.C. on, the "dialecticians". Here are a number of +names to mention: the most important are Kung-sun Lung and Hui Tz[)u], +who are comparable with the ancient Greek dialecticians and Sophists. +They saw their main task in the development of logic. Since, as we have +mentioned, many "scholars" journeyed from one princely court to another, +and other people came forward, each recommending his own method to the +prince for the increase of his power, it was of great importance to be +able to talk convincingly, so as to defeat a rival in a duel of words on +logical grounds. + +Unquestionably, however, the most important school of this period was +that of the so-called Legalists, whose most famous representative was +Shang Yang (or Shang Tz[)u], died 338 B.C.). The supporters of this +school came principally from old princely families that had lost their +feudal possessions, and not from among the so-called scholars. They were +people belonging to the upper class who possessed political experience +and now offered their knowledge to other princes who still reigned. +These men had entirely given up the old conservative traditions of +Confucianism; they were the first to make their peace with the new +social order. They recognized that little or nothing remained of the old +upper class of feudal lords and their following. The last of the feudal +lords collected around the heads of the last remaining princely courts, +or lived quietly on the estates that still remained to them. Such a +class, with its moral and economic strength broken, could no longer +lead. The Legalists recognized, therefore, only the ruler and next to +him, as the really active and responsible man, the chancellor; under +these there were to be only the common people, consisting of the richer +and poorer peasants; the people's duty was to live and work for the +ruler, and to carry out without question whatever orders they received. +They were not to discuss or think, but to obey. The chancellor was to +draft laws which came automatically into operation. The ruler himself +was to have nothing to do with the government or with the application of +the laws. He was only a symbol, a representative of the equally inactive +Heaven. Clearly these theories were much the best suited to the +conditions of the break-up of feudalism about 300 B.C. Thus they were +first adopted by the state in which the old idea of the feudal state had +been least developed, the state of Ch'in, in which alien peoples were +most strongly represented. Shang Yang became the actual organizer of the +state of Ch'in. His ideas were further developed by Han Fei Tz[)u] (died +233 B.C.). The mentality which speaks out of his writings has closest +similarity to the famous Indian Arthashastra which originated slightly +earlier; both books exhibit a "Machiavellian" spirit. It must be +observed that these theories had little or nothing to do with the ideas +of the old cult of Heaven or with family allegiance; on the other hand, +the soldierly element, with the notion of obedience, was well suited to +the militarized peoples of the west. The population of Ch'in, organized +throughout on these principles, was then in a position to remove one +opponent after another. In the middle of the third century B.C. the +greater part of the China of that time was already in the hands of +Ch'in, and in 256 B.C. the last emperor of the Chou dynasty was +compelled, in his complete impotence, to abdicate in favour of the ruler +of Ch'in. + +Apart from these more or less political speculations, there came into +existence in this period, by no mere chance, a school of thought which +never succeeded in fully developing in China, concerned with natural +science and comparable with the Greek natural philosophy. We have +already several times pointed to parallels between Chinese and Indian +thoughts. Such similarities may be the result of mere coincidence. But +recent findings in Central Asia indicate that direct connections between +India, Persia, and China may have started at a time much earlier than we +had formerly thought. Sogdian merchants who later played a great role in +commercial contacts might have been active already from 350 or 400 B.C. +on and might have been the transmitters of new ideas. The most important +philosopher of this school was Tsou Yen (flourished between 320 and 295 +B.C.); he, as so many other Chinese philosophers of this time, was a +native of Shantung, and the ports of the Shantung coast may well have +been ports of entrance of new ideas from Western Asia as were the roads +through the Turkestan basin into Western China. Tsou Yen's basic ideas +had their root in earlier Chinese speculations: the doctrine that all +that exists is to be explained by the positive, creative, or the +negative, passive action (Yang and Yin) of the five elements, wood, +fire, earth, metal, and water (Wu hsing). But Tsou Yen also considered +the form of the world, and was the first to put forward the theory that +the world consists not of a single continent with China in the middle of +it, but of nine continents. The names of these continents sound like +Indian names, and his idea of a central world-mountain may well have +come from India. The "scholars" of his time were quite unable to +appreciate this beginning of science, which actually led to the +contention of this school, in the first century B.C., that the earth was +of spherical shape. Tsou Yen himself was ridiculed as a dreamer; but +very soon, when the idea of the reciprocal destruction of the elements +was applied, perhaps by Tsou Yen himself, to politics, namely when, in +connection with the astronomical calculations much cultivated by this +school and through the identification of dynasties with the five +elements, the attempt was made to explain and to calculate the duration +and the supersession of dynasties, strong pressure began to be brought +to bear against this school. For hundreds of years its books were +distributed and read only in secret, and many of its members were +executed as revolutionaries. Thus, this school, instead of becoming the +nucleus of a school of natural science, was driven underground. The +secret societies which started to arise clearly from the first century +B.C. on, but which may have been in existence earlier, adopted the +politico-scientific ideas of Tsou Yen's school. Such secret societies +have existed in China down to the present time. They all contained a +strong religious, but heterodox element which can often be traced back +to influences from a foreign religion. In times of peace they were +centres of a true, emotional religiosity. In times of stress, a +"messianic" element tended to become prominent: the world is bad and +degenerating; morality and a just social order have decayed, but the +coming of a savior is close; the saviour will bring a new, fair order +and destroy those who are wicked. Tsou Yen's philosophy seemed to allow +them to calculate when this new order would start; later secret +societies contained ideas from Iranian Mazdaism, Manichaeism and +Buddhism, mixed with traits from the popular religions and often couched +in terms taken from the Taoists. The members of such societies were, +typically, ordinary farmers who here found an emotional outlet for their +frustrations in daily life. In times of stress, members of the leading +_elite_ often but not always established contacts with these societies, +took over their leadership and led them to open rebellion. The fate of +Tsou Yen's school did not mean that the Chinese did not develop in the +field of sciences. At about Tsou Yen's lifetime, the first mathematical +handbook was written. From these books it is obvious that the interest +of the government in calculating the exact size of fields, the content +of measures for grain, and other fiscal problems stimulated work in this +field, just as astronomy developed from the interest of the government +in the fixation of the calendar. Science kept on developing in other +fields, too, but mainly as a hobby of scholars and in the shops of +craftsmen, if it did not have importance for the administration and +especially taxation and budget calculations. + + + +Chapter Five + + +THE CH'IN DYNASTY (256-207 B.C.) + +1 _Towards the unitary State_ + +In 256 B.C. the last ruler of the Chou dynasty abdicated in favour of +the feudal lord of the state of Ch'in. Some people place the beginning +of the Ch'in dynasty in that year, 256 B.C.; others prefer the date 221 +B.C., because it was only in that year that the remaining feudal states +came to their end and Ch'in really ruled all China. + +The territories of the state of Ch'in, the present Shensi and eastern +Kansu, were from a geographical point of view transit regions, closed +off in the north by steppes and deserts and in the south by almost +impassable mountains. Only between these barriers, along the rivers Wei +(in Shensi) and T'ao (in Kansu), is there a rich cultivable zone which +is also the only means of transit from east to west. All traffic from +and to Turkestan had to take this route. It is believed that strong +relations with eastern Turkestan began in this period, and the state of +Ch'in must have drawn big profits from its "foreign trade". The merchant +class quickly gained more and more importance. The population was +growing through immigration from the east which the government +encouraged. This growing population with its increasing means of +production, especially the great new irrigation systems, provided a +welcome field for trade which was also furthered by the roads, though +these were actually built for military purposes. + +The state of Ch'in had never been so closely associated with the feudal +communities of the rest of China as the other feudal states. A great +part of its population, including the ruling class, was not purely +Chinese but contained an admixture of Turks and Tibetans. The other +Chinese even called Ch'in a "barbarian state", and the foreign influence +was, indeed, unceasing. This was a favourable soil for the overcoming of +feudalism, and the process was furthered by the factors mentioned in the +preceding chapter, which were leading to a change in the social +structure of China. Especially the recruitment of the whole population, +including the peasantry, for war was entirely in the interest of the +influential nomad fighting peoples within the state. About 250 B.C., +Ch'in was not only one of the economically strongest among the feudal +states, but had already made an end of its own feudal system. + +Every feudal system harbours some seeds of a bureaucratic system of +administration: feudal lords have their personal servants who are not +recruited from the nobility, but who by their easy access to the lord +can easily gain importance. They may, for instance, be put in charge of +estates, workshops, and other properties of the lord and thus acquire +experience in administration and an efficiency which are obviously of +advantage to the lord. When Chinese lords of the preceding period, with +the help of their sub-lords of the nobility, made wars, they tended to +put the newly-conquered areas not into the hands of newly-enfeoffed +noblemen, but to keep them as their property and to put their +administration into the hands of efficient servants; these were the +first bureaucratic officials. Thus, in the course of the later Chou +period, a bureaucratic system of administration had begun to develop, +and terms like "district" or "prefecture" began to appear, indicating +that areas under a bureaucratic administration existed beside and inside +areas under feudal rule. This process had gone furthest in Ch'in and was +sponsored by the representatives of the Legalist School, which was best +adapted to the new economic and social situation. + +A son of one of the concubines of the penultimate feudal ruler of Ch'in +was living as a hostage in the neighbouring state of Chao, in what is +now northern Shansi. There he made the acquaintance of an unusual man, +the merchant Lue Pu-wei, a man of education and of great political +influence. Lue Pu-wei persuaded the feudal ruler of Ch'in to declare this +son his successor. He also sold a girl to the prince to be his wife, and +the son of this marriage was to be the famous and notorious Shih +Huang-ti. Lue Pu-wei came with his protege to Ch'in, where he became his +Prime Minister, and after the prince's death in 247 B.C. Lue Pu-wei +became the regent for his young son Shih Huang-ti (then called Cheng). +For the first time in Chinese history a merchant, a commoner, had +reached one of the highest positions in the state. It is not known what +sort of trade Lue Pu-wei had carried on, but probably he dealt in horses, +the principal export of the state of Chao. As horses were an absolute +necessity for the armies of that time, it is easy to imagine that a +horse-dealer might gain great political influence. + +Soon after Shih Huang-ti's accession Lue Pu-wei was dismissed, and a new +group of advisers, strong supporters of the Legalist school, came into +power. These new men began an active policy of conquest instead of the +peaceful course which Lue Pu-wei had pursued. One campaign followed +another in the years from 230 to 222, until all the feudal states had +been conquered, annexed, and brought under Shih Huang-ti's rule. + +2 _Centralization in every field_ + +The main task of the now gigantic realm was the organization of +administration. One of the first acts after the conquest of the other +feudal states was to deport all the ruling families and other important +nobles to the capital of Ch'in; they were thus deprived of the basis of +their power, and their land could be sold. These upper-class families +supplied to the capital a class of consumers of luxury goods which +attracted craftsmen and businessmen and changed the character of the +capital from that of a provincial town to a centre of arts and crafts. +It was decided to set up the uniform system of administration throughout +the realm, which had already been successfully introduced in Ch'in: the +realm was split up into provinces and the provinces into prefectures; +and an official was placed in charge of each province or prefecture. +Originally the prefectures in Ch'in had been placed directly under the +central administration, with an official, often a merchant, being +responsible for the collection of taxes; the provinces, on the other +hand, formed a sort of military command area, especially in the +newly-conquered frontier territories. With the growing militarization of +Ch'in, greater importance was assigned to the provinces, and the +prefectures were made subordinate to them. Thus the officials of the +provinces were originally army officers but now, in the reorganization +of the whole realm, the distinction between civil and military +administration was abolished. At the head of the province were a civil +and also a military governor, and both were supervised by a controller +directly responsible to the emperor. Since there was naturally a +continual struggle for power between these three officials, none of them +was supreme and none could develop into a sort of feudal lord. In this +system we can see the essence of the later Chinese administration. + +[Illustration: 3 Bronze plaque representing two horses fighting each +other. Ordos region, animal style. _From V. Griessmaier: Sammlung Baron +Eduard von der Heydt, Vienna_ 1936, _illustration No_. 6.] + +[Illustration: 4 Hunting scene: detail from the reliefs in the tombs at +Wu-liang-tz'u. _From a print in the author's possession_.] + +[Illustration: 5 Part of the 'Great Wall'. _Photo Eberhard_.] + +Owing to the centuries of division into independent feudal states, the +various parts of the country had developed differently. Each province +spoke a different dialect which also contained many words borrowed from +the language of the indigenous population; and as these earlier +populations sometimes belonged to different races with different +languages, in each state different words had found their way into the +Chinese dialects. This caused divergences not only in the spoken but in +the written language, and even in the characters in use for writing. +There exist to this day dictionaries in which the borrowed words of that +time are indicated, and keys to the various old forms of writing also +exist. Thus difficulties arose if, for instance, a man from the old +territory of Ch'in was to be transferred as an official to the east: he +could not properly understand the language and could not read the +borrowed words, if he could read at all! For a large number of the +officials of that time, especially the officers who became military +governors, were certainly unable to read. The government therefore +ordered that the language of the whole country should be unified, and +that a definite style of writing should be generally adopted. The words +to be used were set out in lists, so that the first lexicography came +into existence simply through the needs of practical administration, as +had happened much earlier in Babylon. Thus, the few recently found +manuscripts from pre-Ch'in times still contain a high percentage of +Chinese characters which we cannot read because they were local +characters; but all words in texts after the Ch'in time can be read +because they belong to the standardized script. We know now that all +classical texts of pre-Ch'in time as we have them today, have been +re-written in this standardized script in the second century B.C.: we do +not know which words they actually contained at the time when they were +composed, nor how these words were actually pronounced, a fact which +makes the reconstruction of Chinese language before Ch'in very +difficult. + +The next requirement for the carrying on of the administration was the +unification of weights and measures and, a surprising thing to us, of +the gauge of the tracks for wagons. In the various feudal states there +had been different weights and measures in use, and this had led to +great difficulties in the centralization of the collection of taxes. The +centre of administration, that is to say the new capital of Ch'in, had +grown through the transfer of nobles and through the enormous size of +the administrative staff into a thickly populated city with very large +requirements of food. The fields of the former state of Ch'in alone +could not feed the city; and the grain supplied in payment of taxation +had to be brought in from far around, partly by cart. The only roads +then existing consisted of deep cart-tracks. If the axles were not of +the same length for all carts, the roads were simply unusable for many +of them. Accordingly a fixed length was laid down for axles. The +advocates of all these reforms were also their beneficiaries, the +merchants. + +The first principle of the Legalist school, a principle which had been +applied in Ch'in and which was to be extended to the whole realm, was +that of the training of the population in discipline and obedience, so +that it should become a convenient tool in the hands of the officials. +This requirement was best met by a people composed as far as possible +only of industrious, uneducated, and tax-paying peasants. Scholars and +philosophers were not wanted, in so far as they were not directly +engaged in work commissioned by the state. The Confucianist writings +came under special attack because they kept alive the memory of the old +feudal conditions, preaching the ethic of the old feudal class which had +just been destroyed and must not be allowed to rise again if the state +was not to suffer fresh dissolution or if the central administration was +not to be weakened. In 213 B.C. there took place the great holocaust of +books which destroyed the Confucianist writings with the exception of +one copy of each work for the State Library. Books on practical subjects +were not affected. In the fighting at the end of the Ch'in dynasty the +State Library was burnt down, so that many of the old works have only +come down to us in an imperfect state and with doubtful accuracy. The +real loss arose, however, from the fact that the new generation was +little interested in the Confucianist literature, so that when, fifty +years later, the effort was made to restore some texts from the oral +tradition, there no longer existed any scholars who really knew them by +heart, as had been customary in the past. + +In 221 B.C. Shih Huang-ti had become emperor of all China. The judgments +passed on him vary greatly: the official Chinese historiography rejects +him entirely--naturally, for he tried to exterminate Confucianism, while +every later historian was himself a Confucian. Western scholars often +treat him as one of the greatest men in world history. Closer research +has shown that Shih Huang-ti was evidently an average man without any +great gifts, that he was superstitious, and shared the tendency of his +time to mystical and shamanistic notions. His own opinion was that he +was the first of a series of ten thousand emperors of his dynasty (Shih +Huang-ti means "First Emperor"), and this merely suggests megalomania. +The basic principles of his administration had been laid down long +before his time by the philosophers of the Legalist school, and were +given effect by his Chancellor Li Ss[)u]. Li Ss[)u] was the really great +personality of that period. The Legalists taught that the ruler must do +as little as possible himself. His Ministers were there to act for him. +He himself was to be regarded as a symbol of Heaven. In that capacity +Shih Huang-ti undertook periodical journeys into the various parts of +the empire, less for any practical purpose of inspection than for +purposes of public worship. They corresponded to the course of the sun, +and this indicates that Shih Huang-ti had adopted a notion derived from +the older northern culture of the nomad peoples. + +He planned the capital in an ambitious style but, although there was +real need for extension of the city, his plans can scarcely be regarded +as of great service. His enormous palace, and also his mausoleum which +was built for him before his death, were constructed in accordance with +astral notions. Within the palace the emperor continually changed his +residential quarters, probably not only from fear of assassination but +also for astral reasons. His mausoleum formed a hemispherical dome, and +all the stars of the sky were painted on its interior. + +3 _Frontier defence. Internal collapse_ + +When the empire had been unified by the destruction of the feudal +states, the central government became responsible for the protection of +the frontiers from attack from without. In the south there were only +peoples in a very low state of civilization, who could offer no serious +menace to the Chinese. The trading colonies that gradually extended to +Canton and still farther south served as Chinese administrative centres +for provinces and prefectures, with small but adequate armies of their +own, so that in case of need they could defend themselves. In the north +the position was much more difficult. In addition to their conquest +within China, the rulers of Ch'in had pushed their frontier far to the +north. The nomad tribes had been pressed back and deprived of their best +pasturage, namely the Ordos region. When the livelihood of nomad peoples +is affected, when they are threatened with starvation, their tribes +often collect round a tribal leader who promises new pasturage and +better conditions of life for all who take part in the common campaigns. +In this way the first great union of tribes in the north of China came +into existence in this period, forming the realm of the Hsiung-nu under +their first leader, T'ou-man. This first realm of the Hsiung-nu was not +yet extensive, but its ambitious and warlike attitude made it a danger +to Ch'in. It was therefore decided to maintain a large permanent army in +the north. In addition to this, the frontier walls already existing in +the mountains were rebuilt and made into a single great system. Thus +came into existence in 214 B.C., out of the blood and sweat of countless +pressed labourers, the famous Great Wall. + +On one of his periodical journeys the emperor fell ill and died. His +death was the signal for the rising of many rebellious elements. Nobles +rose in order to regain power and influence; generals rose because they +objected to the permanent pressure from the central administration and +their supervision by controllers; men of the people rose as popular +leaders because the people were more tormented than ever by forced +labour, generally at a distance from their homes. Within a few months +there were six different rebellions and six different "rulers". +Assassinations became the order of the day; the young heir to the throne +was removed in this way and replaced by another young prince. But as +early as 206 B.C. one of the rebels, Liu Chi (also called Liu Pang), +entered the capital and dethroned the nominal emperor. Liu Chi at first +had to retreat and was involved in hard fighting with a rival, but +gradually he succeeded in gaining the upper hand and defeated not only +his rival but also the other eighteen states that had been set up anew +in China in those years. + + + + + +THE MIDDLE AGES + + + +Chapter Six + + +THE HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) + +I _Development of the gentry-state_ + +In 206 B.C. Liu Chi assumed the title of Emperor and gave his dynasty +the name of the Han Dynasty. After his death he was given as emperor the +name of Kao Tsu.[4] The period of the Han dynasty may be described as +the beginning of the Chinese Middle Ages, while that of the Ch'in +dynasty represents the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages; for +under the Han dynasty we meet in China with a new form of state, the +"gentry state". The feudalism of ancient times has come definitely to +its end. + +[Footnote 4: From then on, every emperor was given after his death an +official name as emperor, under which he appears in the Chinese sources. +We have adopted the original or the official name according to which of +the two has come into the more general use in Western books.] + +Emperor Kao Tsu came from eastern China, and his family seems to have +been a peasant family; in any case it did not belong to the old +nobility. After his destruction of his strongest rival, the removal of +the kings who had made themselves independent in the last years of the +Ch'in dynasty was a relatively easy task for the new autocrat, although +these struggles occupied the greater part of his reign. A much more +difficult question, however, faced him: How was the empire to be +governed? Kao Tsu's old friends and fellow-countrymen, who had helped +him into power, had been rewarded by appointment as generals or high +officials. Gradually he got rid of those who had been his best comrades, +as so many upstart rulers have done before and after him in every +country in the world. An emperor does not like to be reminded of a very +humble past, and he is liable also to fear the rivalry of men who +formerly were his equals. It is evident that little attention was paid +to theories of administration; policy was determined mainly by practical +considerations. Kao Tsu allowed many laws and regulations to remain in +force, including the prohibition of Confucianist writings. On the other +hand, he reverted to the allocation of fiefs, though not to old noble +families but to his relatives and some of his closest adherents, +generally men of inferior social standing. Thus a mixed administration +came into being: part of the empire was governed by new feudal princes, +and another part split up into provinces and prefectures and placed +directly under the central power through its officials. + +But whence came the officials? Kao Tsu and his supporters, as farmers +from eastern China, looked down upon the trading population to which +farmers always regard themselves as superior. The merchants were ignored +as potential officials although they had often enough held official +appointments under the former dynasty. The second group from which +officials had been drawn under the Ch'in was that of the army officers, +but their military functions had now, of course, fallen to Kao Tsu's +soldiers. The emperor had little faith, however, in the loyalty of +officers, even of his own, and apart from that he would have had first +to create a new administrative organization for them. Accordingly he +turned to another class which had come into existence, the class later +called the _gentry_, which in practice had the power already in its +hands. + +The term "gentry" has no direct parallel in Chinese texts; the later +terms "shen-shih" and "chin-shen" do not quite cover this concept. The +basic unit of the gentry class are families, not individuals. Such +families often derive their origin from branches of the Chou nobility. +But other gentry families were of different and more recent origin in +respect to land ownership. Some late Chou and Ch'in officials of +non-noble origin had become wealthy and had acquired land; the same was +true for wealthy merchants and finally, some non-noble farmers who were +successful in one or another way, bought additional land reaching the +size of large holdings. All "gentry" families owned substantial estates +in the provinces which they leased to tenants on a kind of contract +basis. The tenants, therefore, cannot be called "serfs" although their +factual position often was not different from the position of serfs. The +rents of these tenants, usually about half the gross produce, are the +basis of the livelihood of the gentry. One part of a gentry family +normally lives in the country on a small home farm in order to be able +to collect the rents. If the family can acquire more land and if this +new land is too far away from the home farm to make collection of rents +easy, a new home farm is set up under the control of another branch of +the family. But the original home remains to be regarded as the real +family centre. + +In a typical gentry family, another branch of the family is in the +capital or in a provincial administrative centre in official positions. +These officials at the same time are the most highly educated members +of the family and are often called the "literati". There are also always +individual family members who are not interested in official careers or +who failed in their careers and live as free "literati" either in the +big cities or on the home farms. It seems, to judge from much later +sources, that the families assisted their most able members to enter the +official careers, while those individuals who were less able were used +in the administration of the farms. This system in combination with the +strong familism of the Chinese, gave a double security to the gentry +families. If difficulties arose in the estates either by attacks of +bandits or by war or other catastrophes, the family members in official +positions could use their influence and power to restore the property in +the provinces. If, on the other hand, the family members in official +positions lost their positions or even their lives by displeasing the +court, the home branch could always find ways to remain untouched and +could, in a generation or two, recruit new members and regain power and +influence in the government. Thus, as families, the gentry was secure, +although failures could occur to individuals. There are many gentry +families who remained in the ruling _elite_ for many centuries, some +over more than a thousand years, weathering all vicissitudes of life. +Some authors believe that Chinese leading families generally pass +through a three- or four-generation cycle: a family member by his +official position is able to acquire much land, and his family moves +upward. He is able to give the best education and other facilities to +his sons who lead a good life. But either these sons or the grandsons +are spoiled and lazy; they begin to lose their property and status. The +family moves downward, until in the fourth or fifth generation a new +rise begins. Actual study of families seems to indicate that this is not +true. The main branch of the family retains its position over centuries. +But some of the branch families, created often by the less able family +members, show a tendency towards downward social mobility. + +It is clear from the above that a gentry family should be interested in +having a fair number of children. The more sons they have, the more +positions of power the family can occupy and thus, the more secure it +will be; the more daughters they have, the more "political" marriages +they can conclude, i.e. marriages with sons of other gentry families in +positions of influence. Therefore, gentry families in China tend to be, +on the average, larger than ordinary families, while in our Western +countries the leading families usually were smaller than the lower class +families. This means that gentry families produced more children than +was necessary to replenish the available leading positions; thus, some +family members had to get into lower positions and had to lose status. +In view of this situation it was very difficult for lower class families +to achieve access into this gentry group. In European countries the +leading _elite_ did not quite replenish their ranks in the next +generation, so that there was always some chance for the lower classes +to move up into leading ranks. The gentry society was, therefore, a +comparably stable society with little upward social mobility but with +some downward mobility. As a whole and for reasons of gentry +self-interest, the gentry stood for stability and against change. + +The gentry members in the bureaucracy collaborated closely with one +another because they were tied together by bonds of blood or marriage. +It was easy for them to find good tutors for their children, because a +pupil owed a debt of gratitude to his teacher and a child from a gentry +family could later on nicely repay this debt; often, these teachers +themselves were members of other gentry families. It was easy for sons +of the gentry to get into official positions, because the people who had +to recommend them for office were often related to them or knew the +position of their family. In Han time, local officials had the duty to +recommend young able men; if these men turned out to be good, the +officials were rewarded, if not they were blamed or even punished. An +official took less of a chance, if he recommended a son of an +influential family, and he obliged such a candidate so that he could +later count on his help if he himself should come into difficulties. +When, towards the end of the second century B.C., a kind of examination +system was introduced, this attitude was not basically changed. + +The country branch of the family by the fact that it controlled large +tracts of land, supplied also the logical tax collectors: they had the +standing and power required for this job. Even if they were appointed in +areas other than their home country (a rule which later was usually +applied), they knew the gentry families of the other district or were +related to them and got their support by appointing their members as +their assistants. + +Gentry society continued from Kao Tsu's time to 1948, but it went +through a number of phases of development and changed considerably in +time. We will later outline some of the most important changes. In +general the number of politically leading gentry families was around one +hundred (texts often speak of "the hundred families" in this time) and +they were concentrated in the capital; the most important home seats of +these families in Han time were close to the capital and east of it or +in the plains of eastern China, at that time the main centre of grain +production. + +We regard roughly the first one thousand years of "Gentry Society" as +the period of the Chinese "Middle Ages", beginning with the Han dynasty; +the preceding time of the Ch'in was considered as a period of +transition, a time in which the feudal period of "Antiquity" came to a +formal end and a new organization of society began to become visible. +Even those authors who do not accept a sociological classification of +periods and many authors who use Marxist categories, believe that with +Ch'in and Han a new era in Chinese history began. + + + + +2 _Situation of the Hsiung-nu empire; its relation to the Han empire. +Incorporation of South China_ + + +In the time of the Ch'in dynasty there had already come into unpleasant +prominence north of the Chinese frontier the tribal union, then +relatively small, of the Hsiung-nu. Since then, the Hsiung-nu empire had +destroyed the federation of the Yueeh-chih tribes (some of which seem to +have been of Indo-European language stock) and incorporated their people +into their own federation; they had conquered also the less well +organized eastern pastoral tribes, the Tung-hu and thus had become a +formidable power. Everything goes to show that it had close relations +with the territories of northern China. Many Chinese seem to have +migrated to the Hsiung-nu empire, where they were welcome as artisans +and probably also as farmers; but above all they were needed for the +staffing of a new state administration. The scriveners in the newly +introduced state secretariat were Chinese and wrote Chinese, for at that +time the Hsiung-nu apparently had no written language. There were +Chinese serving as administrators and court officials, and even as +instructors in the army administration, teaching the art of warfare +against non-nomads. But what was the purpose of all this? Mao Tun, the +second ruler of the Hsiung-nu, and his first successors undoubtedly +intended ultimately to conquer China, exactly as many other northern +peoples after them planned to do, and a few of them did. The main +purpose of this was always to bring large numbers of peasants under the +rule of the nomad rulers and so to solve, once for all, the problem of +the provision of additional winter food. Everything that was needed, and +everything that seemed to be worth trying to get as they grew more +civilized, would thus be obtained better and more regularly than by +raids or by tedious commercial negotiations. But if China was to be +conquered and ruled there must exist a state organization of equal +authority to hers; the Hsiung-nu ruler must himself come forward as Son +of Heaven and develop a court ceremonial similar to that of a Chinese +emperor. Thus the basis of the organization of the Hsiung-nu state lay +in its rivalry with the neighbouring China; but the details naturally +corresponded to the special nature of the Hsiung-nu social system. The +young Hsiung-nu feudal state differed from the ancient Chinese feudal +state not only in depending on a nomad economy with only supplementary +agriculture, but also in possessing, in addition to a whole class of +nobility and another of commoners, a stratum of slavery to be analysed +further below. Similar to the Chou state, the Hsiung-nu state contained, +especially around the ruler, an element of court bureaucracy which, +however, never developed far enough to replace the basically feudal +character of administration. + +Thus Kao Tsu was faced in Mao Tun not with a mere nomad chieftain but +with the most dangerous of enemies, and Kao Tsu's policy had to be +directed to preventing any interference of the Hsiung-nu in North +Chinese affairs, and above all to preventing alliances between Hsiung-nu +and Chinese. Hsiung-nu alone, with their technique of horsemen's +warfare, would scarcely have been equal to the permanent conquest of the +fortified towns of the north and the Great Wall, although they +controlled a population which may have been in excess of 2,000,000 +people. But they might have succeeded with Chinese aid. Actually a +Chinese opponent of Kao Tsu had already come to terms with Mao Tun, and +in 200 B.C. Kao Tsu was very near suffering disaster in northern Shansi, +as a result of which China would have come under the rule of the +Hsiung-nu. But it did not come to that, and Mao Tun made no further +attempt, although the opportunity came several times. Apparently the +policy adopted by his court was not imperialistic but national, in the +uncorrupted sense of the word. It was realized that a country so thickly +populated as China could only be administered from a centre within +China. The Hsiung-nu would thus have had to abandon their home territory +and rule in China itself. That would have meant abandoning the flocks, +abandoning nomad life, and turning into Chinese. The main supporters of +the national policy, the first principle of which was loyalty to the old +ways of life, seem to have been the tribal chieftains. Mao Tun fell in +with their view, and the Hsiung-nu maintained their state as long as +they adhered to that principle--for some seven hundred years. Other +nomad peoples, Toba, Mongols, and Manchus, followed the opposite policy, +and before long they were caught in the mechanism of the much more +highly developed Chinese economy and culture, and each of them +disappeared from the political scene in the course of a century or so. + +The national line of policy of the Hsiung-nu did not at all mean an end +of hostilities and raids on Chinese territory, so that Kao Tsu declared +himself ready to give the Hsiung-nu the foodstuffs and clothing +materials they needed if they would make an end of their raids. A treaty +to this effect was concluded, and sealed by the marriage of a Chinese +princess with Mao Tun. This was the first international treaty in the +Far East between two independent powers mutually recognized as equals, +and the forms of international diplomacy developed in this time remained +the standard forms for the next thousand years. The agreement was +renewed at the accession of each new ruler, but was never adhered to +entirely by either side. The needs of the Hsiung-nu increased with the +expansion of their empire and the growing luxury of their court; the +Chinese, on the other hand, wanted to give as little as possible, and no +doubt they did all they could to cheat the Hsiung-nu. Thus, in spite of +the treaties the Hsiung-nu raids went on. With China's progressive +consolidation, the voluntary immigration of Chinese into the Hsiung-nu +empire came to an end, and the Hsiung-nu actually began to kidnap +Chinese subjects. These were the main features of the relations between +Chinese and Hsiung-nu almost until 100 B.C. + +In the extreme south, around the present-day Canton, another independent +empire had been formed in the years of transition, under the leadership +of a Chinese. The narrow basis of this realm was no doubt provided by +the trading colonies, but the indigenous population of Yueeh tribes was +insufficiently civilized for the building up of a state that could have +maintained itself against China. Kao Tsu sent a diplomatic mission to +the ruler of this state, and invited him to place himself under Chinese +suzerainty (196 B.C.). The ruler realized that he could offer no serious +resistance, while the existing circumstances guaranteed him virtual +independence and he yielded to Kao Tsu without a struggle. + +3 _Brief feudal reaction. Consolidation of the gentry_ + +Kao Tsu died in 195 B.C. From then to 179 the actual ruler was his +widow, the empress Lue, while children were officially styled emperors. +The empress tried to remove all the representatives of the emperor's +family and to replace them with members of her own family. To secure her +position she revived the feudal system, but she met with strong +resistance from the dynasty and its supporters who already belonged in +many cases to the new gentry, and who did not want to find their +position jeopardized by the creation of new feudal lords. + +On the death of the empress her opponents rose, under the leadership of +Kao Tsu's family. Every member of the empress's family was exterminated, +and a son of Kao Tsu, known later under the name of Wen Ti (Emperor +Wen), came to the throne. He reigned from 179 to 157 B.C. Under him +there were still many fiefs, but with the limitation which the emperor +Kao Tsu had laid down shortly before his death: only members of the +imperial family should receive fiefs, to which the title of King was +attached. Thus all the more important fiefs were in the hands of the +imperial family, though this did not mean that rivalries came to an end. + +On the whole Wen Ti's period of rule passed in comparative peace. For +the first time since the beginning of Chinese history, great areas of +continuous territory were under unified rule, without unending internal +warfare such as had existed under Shih Huang-ti and Kao Tsu. The +creation of so extensive a region of peace produced great economic +advance. The burdens that had lain on the peasant population were +reduced, especially since under Wen Ti the court was very frugal. The +population grew and cultivated fresh land, so that production increased +and with it the exchange of goods. The most outstanding sign of this was +the abandonment of restrictions on the minting of copper coin, in order +to prevent deflation through insufficiency of payment media. As a +consequence more taxes were brought in, partly in kind, partly in coin, +and this increased the power of the central government. The new gentry +streamed into the towns, their standard of living rose, and they made +themselves more and more into a class apart from the general population. +As people free from material cares, they were able to devote themselves +to scholarship. They went back to the old writings and studied them once +more. They even began to identify themselves with the nobles of feudal +times, to adopt the rules of good behaviour and the ceremonial described +in the Confucianist books, and very gradually, as time went on, to make +these their textbooks of good form. From this point the Confucianist +ideals first began to penetrate the official class recruited from the +gentry, and then the state organization itself. It was expected that an +official should be versed in Confucianism, and schools were set up for +Confucianist education. Around 100 B.C. this led to the introduction of +the examination system, which gradually became the one method of +selection of new officials. The system underwent many changes, but +remained in operation in principle until 1904. The object of the +examinations was not to test job efficiency but command of the ideals of +the gentry and knowledge of the literature inculcating them: this was +regarded as sufficient qualification for any position in the service of +the state. + +In theory this path to training of character and to admission to the +state service was open to every "respectable" citizen. Of the +traditional four "classes" of Chinese society, only the first two, +officials (_shih_) and farmers (_nung_) were always regarded as fully +"respectable" (_liang-min_). Members of the other two classes, artisans +(_kung_) and merchants (_shang_), were under numerous restrictions. +Below these were classes of "lowly people" (_ch'ien-min_) and below +these the slaves which were not part of society proper. The privileges +and obligations of these categories were soon legally fixed. In +practice, during the first thousand years of the existence of the +examination system no peasant had a chance to become an official by +means of the examinations. In the Han period the provincial officials +had to propose suitable young persons for examination, and so for +admission to the state service, as was already mentioned. In addition, +schools had been instituted for the sons of officials; it is interesting +to note that there were, again and again, complaints about the low level +of instruction in these schools. Nevertheless, through these schools all +sons of officials, whatever their capacity or lack of capacity, could +become officials in their turn. In spite of its weaknesses, the system +had its good side. It inoculated a class of people with ideals that were +unquestionably of high ethical value. The Confucian moral system gave a +Chinese official or any member of the gentry a spiritual attitude and an +outward bearing which in their best representatives has always commanded +respect, an integrity that has always preserved its possessors, and in +consequence Chinese society as a whole, from moral collapse, from +spiritual nihilism, and has thus contributed to the preservation of +Chinese cultural values in spite of all foreign conquerors. + +In the time of Wen Ti and especially of his successors, the revival at +court of the Confucianist ritual and of the earlier Heaven-worship +proceeded steadily. The sacrifices supposed to have been performed in +ancient times, the ritual supposed to have been prescribed for the +emperor in the past, all this was reintroduced. Obviously much of it was +spurious: much of the old texts had been lost, and when fragments were +found they were arbitrarily completed. Moreover, the old writing was +difficult to read and difficult to understand; thus various things were +read into the texts without justification. The new Confucians who came +forward as experts in the moral code were very different men from their +predecessors; above all, like all their contemporaries, they were +strongly influenced by the shamanistic magic that had developed in the +Ch'in period. + +Wen Ti's reign had brought economic advance and prosperity; +intellectually it had been a period of renaissance, but like every such +period it did not simply resuscitate what was old, but filled the +ancient moulds with an entirely new content. Socially the period had +witnessed the consolidation of the new upper class, the gentry, who +copied the mode of life of the old nobility. This is seen most clearly +in the field of law. In the time of the Legalists the first steps had +been taken in the codification of the criminal law. They clearly +intended these laws to serve equally for all classes of the people. The +Ch'in code which was supposedly Li K'uei's code, was used in the Han +period, and was extensively elaborated by Siao Ho (died 193 B.C.) and +others. This code consisted of two volumes of the chief laws for grave +cases, one of mixed laws for the less serious cases, and six volumes on +the imposition of penalties. In the Han period "decisions" were added, +so that about A.D. 200 the code had grown to 26,272 paragraphs with over +17,000,000 words. The collection then consisted of 960 volumes. This +colossal code has been continually revised, abbreviated, or expanded, +and under its last name of "Collected Statues of the Manchu Dynasty" it +retained its validity down to the present century. + +Alongside this collection there was another book that came to be +regarded and used as a book of precedences. The great Confucianist +philosopher Tung Chung-shu (179-104 B.C.), a firm supporter of the +ideology of the new gentry class, declared that the classic Confucianist +writings, and especially the book _Ch'un-ch'iu_, "Annals of Spring and +Autumn", attributed to Confucius himself, were essentially books of +legal decisions. They contained "cases" and Confucius's decisions of +them. Consequently any case at law that might arise could be decided by +analogy with the cases contained in "Annals of Spring and Autumn". Only +an educated person, of course, a member of the gentry, could claim that +his action should be judged by the decisions of Confucius and not by the +code compiled for the common people, for Confucius had expressly stated +that his rules were intended only for the upper class. Thus, right down +to modern times an educated person could be judged under regulations +different from those applicable to the common people, or if judged on +the basis of the laws, he had to expect a special treatment. The +principle of the "equality before the law" which the Legalists had +advocated and which fitted well into the absolutistic, totalitarian +system of the Ch'in, had been attacked by the feudal nobility at that +time and was attacked by the new gentry of the Han time. Legalist +thinking remained an important undercurrent for many centuries to come, +but application of the equalitarian principle was from now on never +seriously considered. + +Against the growing influence of the officials belonging to the gentry +there came a last reaction. It came as a reply to the attempt of a +representative of the gentry to deprive the feudal princes of the whole +of their power. In the time of Wen Ti's successor a number of feudal +kings formed an alliance against the emperor, and even invited the +Hsiung-nu to join them. The Hsiung-nu did not do so, because they saw +that the rising had no prospect of success, and it was quelled. After +that the feudal princes were steadily deprived of rights. They were +divided into two classes, and only privileged ones were permitted to +live in the capital, the others being required to remain in their +domains. At first, the area was controlled by a "minister" of the +prince, an official of the state; later the area remained under normal +administration and the feudal prince kept only an empty title; the tax +income of a certain number of families of an area was assigned to him +and transmitted to him by normal administrative channels. Often, the +number of assigned families was fictional in that the actual income was +from far fewer families. This system differs from the Near Eastern +system in which also no actual enforcement took place, but where +deserving men were granted the right to collect themselves the taxes of +a certain area with certain numbers of families. + +Soon after this the whole government was given the shape which it +continued to have until A.D. 220, and which formed the point of +departure for all later forms of government. At the head of the state +was the emperor, in theory the holder of absolute power in the state +restricted only by his responsibility towards "Heaven", i.e. he had to +follow and to enforce the basic rules of morality, otherwise "Heaven" +would withdraw its "mandate", the legitimation of the emperor's rule, +and would indicate this withdrawal by sending natural catastrophes. Time +and again we find emperors publicly accusing themselves for their faults +when such catastrophes occurred; and to draw the emperor's attention to +actual or made-up calamities or celestial irregularities was one way to +criticize an emperor and to force him to change his behaviour. There are +two other indications which show that Chinese emperors--excepting a few +individual cases--at least in the first ten centuries of gentry society +were not despots: it can be proved that in some fields the +responsibility for governmental action did not lie with the emperor but +with some of his ministers. Secondly, the emperor was bound by the law +code: he could not change it nor abolish it. We know of cases in which +the ruler disregarded the code, but then tried to "defend" his arbitrary +action. Each new dynasty developed a new law code, usually changing only +details of the punishment, not the basic regulations. Rulers could issue +additional "regulations", but these, too, had to be in the spirit of +the general code and the existing moral norms. This situation has some +similarity to the situation in Muslim countries. At the ruler's side +were three counsellors who had, however, no active functions. The real +conduct of policy lay in the hands of the "chancellor", or of one of the +"nine ministers". Unlike the practice with which we are familiar in the +West, the activities of the ministries (one of them being the court +secretariat) were concerned primarily with the imperial palace. As, +however, the court secretariat, one of the nine ministries, was at the +same time a sort of imperial statistical office, in which all economic, +financial, and military statistical material was assembled, decisions on +issues of critical importance for the whole country could and did come +from it. The court, through the Ministry of Supplies, operated mines and +workshops in the provinces and organized the labour service for public +constructions. The court also controlled centrally the conscription for +the general military service. Beside the ministries there was an +extensive administration of the capital with its military guards. The +various parts of the country, including the lands given as fiefs to +princes, had a local administration, entirely independent of the central +government and more or less elaborated according to their size. The +regional administration was loosely associated with the central +government through a sort of primitive ministry of the interior, and +similarly the Chinese representatives in the protectorates, that is to +say the foreign states which had submitted to Chinese protective +overlordship, were loosely united with a sort of foreign ministry in the +central government. When a rising or a local war broke out, that was the +affair of the officer of the region concerned. If the regional troops +were insufficient, those of the adjoining regions were drawn upon; if +even these were insufficient, a real "state of war" came into being; +that is to say, the emperor appointed eight generals-in-chief, mobilized +the imperial troops, and intervened. This imperial army then had +authority over the regional and feudal troops, the troops of the +protectorates, the guards of the capital, and those of the imperial +palace. At the end of the war the imperial army was demobilized and the +generals-in-chief were transferred to other posts. + +In all this there gradually developed a division into civil and military +administration. A number of regions would make up a province with a +military governor, who was in a sense the representative of the imperial +army, and who was supposed to come into activity only in the event of +war. + +This administration of the Han period lacked the tight organization that +would make precise functioning possible. On the other hand, an +extremely important institution had already come into existence in a +primitive form. As central statistical authority, the court secretariat +had a special position within the ministries and supervised the +administration of the other offices. Thus there existed alongside the +executive a means of independent supervision of it, and the resulting +rivalry enabled the emperor or the chancellor to detect and eliminate +irregularities. Later, in the system of the T'ang period (A.D. 618-906), +this institution developed into an independent censorship, and the +system was given a new form as a "State and Court Secretariat", in which +the whole executive was comprised and unified. Towards the end of the +T'ang period the permanent state of war necessitated the permanent +commissioning of the imperial generals-in-chief and of the military +governors, and as a result there came into existence a "Privy Council of +State", which gradually took over functions of the executive. The system +of administration in the Han and in the T'ang period is shown in the +following table: + + _Han epoch_ _T'ang epoch_ + + 1. Emperor 1. Emperor + + 2. Three counsellors to the emperor 2. Three counsellors and three + (with no active functions) assistants (with no active + functions) + + 3. Eight supreme generals (only 3. Generals and Governors-General + appointed in time of war) (only appointed in time of + war; but in practice + continuously in office) + + 4. --------------------------- 4. (a) State secretariat + (1) Central secretariat + (2) Secretariat of the Crown + (3) Secretariat of the Palace + and imperial historical + commission + (b) Emperor's Secretariat + (1) Private Archives + (2) Court Adjutants' Office + (3) Harem administration + + 5. Court administration 5. Court administration + (Ministries) (Ministries) + (1) Ministry for state (1) Ministry for state + sacrifices sacrifices + (2) Ministry for imperial (2) Ministry for imperial + coaches and horses coaches and horses + (3) Ministry for justice at (3) Ministry for justice at + court court + (4) Ministry for receptions (4) Ministry for receptions + (i.e. foreign affairs) + (5) Ministry for ancestors' (5) Ministry for ancestors' + temples temples + (6) Ministry for supplies to (6) Ministry for supplies to + the court the court + (7) Ministry for the harem (7) Economic and financial + Ministry + (8) Ministry for the palace (8) Ministry for the payment + guards of salaries + (9) Ministry for the court (9) Ministry for armament + (state secretariat) and magazines + + 6. Administration of the 6. Administration of the + capital: capital: + (1) Crown prince's palace (1) Crown prince's palace + (2) Security service for the (2) Palace guards and guards' + capital office + (3) Capital administration: (3) Arms production department + (a) Guards of the capital + (b) Guards of the city gates + (c) Building department + (4) Labour service department + (5) Building department + (6) Transport department + (7) Department for education + (of sons of officials!) + + 7. Ministry of the Interior 7. Ministry of the Interior + (Provincial administration) (Provincial administration) + + 8. Foreign Ministry 8. --------------------------- + + 9. Censorship (Audit council) + +There is no denying that according to our standard this whole system was +still elementary and "personal", that is to say, attached to the +emperor's person--though it should not be overlooked that we ourselves +are not yet far from a similar phase of development. To this day the +titles of not a few of the highest officers of state--the Lord Privy +Seal, for instance--recall that in the past their offices were conceived +as concerned purely with the personal service of the monarch. In one +point, however, the Han administrative set-up was quite modern: it +already had a clear separation between the emperor's private treasury +and the state treasury; laws determined which of the two received +certain taxes and which had to make certain payments. This separation, +which in Europe occurred not until the late Middle Ages, in China was +abolished at the end of the Han Dynasty. + +The picture changes considerably to the advantage of the Chinese as +soon as we consider the provincial administration. The governor of a +province, and each of his district officers or prefects, had a staff +often of more than a hundred officials. These officials were drawn from +the province or prefecture and from the personal friends of the +administrator, and they were appointed by the governor or the prefect. +The staff was made up of officials responsible for communications with +the central or provincial administration (private secretary, controller, +finance officer), and a group of officials who carried on the actual +local administration. There were departments for transport, finance, +education, justice, medicine (hygiene), economic and military affairs, +market control, and presents (which had to be made to the higher +officials at the New Year and on other occasions). In addition to these +offices, organized in a quite modern style, there was an office for +advising the governor and another for drafting official documents and +letters. + +The interesting feature of this system is that the provincial +administration was _de facto_ independent of the central administration, +and that the governor and even his prefects could rule like kings in +their regions, appointing and discharging as they chose. This was a +vestige of feudalism, but on the other hand it was a healthy check +against excessive centralization. It is thanks to this system that even +the collapse of the central power or the cutting off of a part of the +empire did not bring the collapse of the country. In a remote frontier +town like Tunhuang, on the border of Turkestan, the life of the local +Chinese went on undisturbed whether communication with the capital was +maintained or was broken through invasions by foreigners. The official +sent from the centre would be liable at any time to be transferred +elsewhere; and he had to depend on the practical knowledge of his +subordinates, the members of the local families of the gentry. These +officials had the local government in their hands, and carried on the +administration of places like Tunhuang through a thousand years and +more. The Hsin family, for instance, was living there in 50 B.C. and was +still there in A.D. 950; and so were the Yin, Ling-hu, Li, and K'ang +families. + +All the officials of the various offices or Ministries were appointed +under the state examination system, but they had no special professional +training; only for the more important subordinate posts were there +specialists, such as jurists, physicians, and so on. A change came +towards the end of the T'ang period, when a Department of Commerce and +Monopolies was set up; only specialists were appointed to it, and it was +placed directly under the emperor. Except for this, any official could +be transferred from any ministry to any other without regard to his +experience. + +4 _Turkestan policy. End of the Hsiung-nu empire_ + +In the two decades between 160 and 140 B.C. there had been further +trouble with the Hsiung-nu, though there was no large-scale fighting. +There was a fundamental change of policy under the next emperor, Wu (or +Wu Ti, 141-86 B.C.). The Chinese entered for the first time upon an +active policy against the Hsiung-nu. There seem to have been several +reasons for this policy, and several objectives. The raids of the +Hsiung-nu from the Ordos region and from northern Shansi had shown +themselves to be a direct menace to the capital and to its extremely +important hinterland. Northern Shansi is mountainous, with deep ravines. +A considerable army on horseback could penetrate some distance to the +south before attracting attention. Northern Shensi and the Ordos region +are steppe country, in which there were very few Chinese settlements and +through which an army of horsemen could advance very quickly. It was +therefore determined to push back the Hsiung-nu far enough to remove +this threat. It was also of importance to break the power of the +Hsiung-nu in the province of Kansu, and to separate them as far as +possible from the Tibetans living in that region, to prevent any union +between those two dangerous adversaries. A third point of importance was +the safeguarding of caravan routes. The state, and especially the +capital, had grown rich through Wen Ti's policy. Goods streamed into the +capital from all quarters. Commerce with central Asia had particularly +increased, bringing the products of the Middle East to China. The +caravan routes passed through western Shensi and Kansu to eastern +Turkestan, but at that time the Hsiung-nu dominated the approaches to +Turkestan and were in a position to divert the trade to themselves or +cut it off. The commerce brought profit not only to the caravan traders, +most of whom were probably foreigners, but to the officials in the +provinces and prefectures through which the routes passed. Thus the +officials in western China were interested in the trade routes being +brought under direct control, so that the caravans could arrive +regularly and be immune from robbery. Finally, the Chinese government +may well have regarded it as little to its honour to be still paying +dues to the Hsiung-nu and sending princesses to their rulers, now that +China was incomparably wealthier and stronger than at the time when that +policy of appeasement had begun. + +[Illustration: Map 3. China in the struggle with the Huns or Hsiung Nu +(_roughly 128-100 B.C._)] + +The first active step taken was to try, in 133 B.C., to capture the +head of the Hsiung-nu state, who was called a _shan-yue_ but the +_shan-yue_ saw through the plan and escaped. There followed a period of +continuous fighting until 119 B.C. The Chinese made countless attacks, +without lasting success. But the Hsiung-nu were weakened, one sign of +this being that there were dissensions after the death of the _shan-yue_ +Chuen-ch'en, and in 127 B.C. his son went over to the Chinese. Finally +the Chinese altered their tactics, advancing in 119 B.C. with a strong +army of cavalry, which suffered enormous losses but inflicted serious +loss on the Hsiung-nu. After that the Hsiung-nu withdrew farther to the +north, and the Chinese settled peasants in the important region of +Kansu. + +Meanwhile, in 125 B.C., the famous Chang Ch'ien had returned. He had +been sent in 138 to conclude an alliance with the Yueeh-chih against the +Hsiung-nu. The Yueeh-chih had formerly been neighbours of the Hsiung-nu +as far as the Ala Shan region, but owing to defeat by the Hsiung-nu +their remnants had migrated to western Turkestan. Chang Ch'ien had +followed them. Politically he had no success, but he brought back +accurate information about the countries in the far west, concerning +which nothing had been known beyond the vague reports of merchants. Now +it was learnt whence the foreign goods came and whither the Chinese +goods went. Chang Ch'ien's reports (which are one of the principal +sources for the history of central Asia at that remote time) +strengthened the desire to enter into direct and assured commercial +relations with those distant countries. The government evidently thought +of getting this commerce into its own hands. The way to do this was to +impose "tribute" on the countries concerned. The idea was that the +missions bringing the annual "tribute" would be a sort of state +bartering commissions. The state laid under tribute must supply +specified goods at its own cost, and received in return Chinese produce, +the value of which was to be roughly equal to the "tribute". Thus Chang +Ch'ien's reports had the result that, after the first successes against +the Hsiung-nu, there was increased interest in a central Asian policy. +The greatest military success were the campaigns of General Li Kuang-li +to Ferghana in 104 and 102 B.C. The result of the campaigns was to bring +under tribute all the small states in the Tarim basin and some of the +states of western Turkestan. From now on not only foreign consumer goods +came freely into China, but with them a great number of other things, +notably plants such as grape, peach, pomegranate. + +In 108 B.C. the western part of Korea was also conquered. Korea was +already an important transit region for the trade with Japan. Thus this +trade also came under the direct influence of the Chinese government. +Although this conquest represented a peril to the eastern flank of the +Hsiung-nu, it did not by any means mean that they were conquered. The +Hsiung-nu while weakened evaded the Chinese pressure, but in 104 B.C. +and again in 91 they inflicted defeats on the Chinese. The Hsiung-nu +were indirectly threatened by Chinese foreign policy, for the Chinese +concluded an alliance with old enemies of the Hsiung-nu, the Wu-sun, in +the north of the Tarim basin. This made the Tarim basin secure for the +Chinese, and threatened the Hsiung-nu with a new danger in their rear. +Finally the Chinese did all they could through intrigue, espionage, and +sabotage to promote disunity and disorder within the Hsiung-nu, though +it cannot be seen from the Chinese accounts how far the Chinese were +responsible for the actual conflicts and the continual changes of +_shan-yue_. Hostilities against the Hsiung-nu continued incessantly, +after the death of Wu Ti, under his successor, so that the Hsiung-nu +were further weakened. In consequence of this it was possible to rouse +against them other tribes who until then had been dependent on them--the +Ting-ling in the north and the Wu-huan in the east. The internal +difficulties of the Hsiung-nu increased further. + +Wu Ti's active policy had not been directed only against the Hsiung-nu. +After heavy fighting he brought southern China, with the region round +Canton, and the south-eastern coast, firmly under Chinese dominion--in +this case again on account of trade interests. No doubt there were +already considerable colonies of foreign merchants in Canton and other +coastal towns, trading in Indian and Middle East goods. The traders seem +often to have been Sogdians. The southern wars gave Wu Ti the control of +the revenues from this commerce. He tried several times to advance +through Yuennan in order to secure a better land route to India, but +these attempts failed. Nevertheless, Chinese influence became stronger +in the south-west. + +In spite of his long rule, Wu Ti did not leave an adult heir, as the +crown prince was executed, with many other persons, shortly before Wu +Ti's death. The crown prince had been implicated in an alleged attempt +by a large group of people to remove the emperor by various sorts of +magic. It is difficult to determine today what lay behind this affair; +probably it was a struggle between two cliques of the gentry. Thus a +regency council had to be set up for the young heir to the throne; it +included a member of a Hsiung-nu tribe. The actual government was in the +hands of a general and his clique until the death of the heir to the +throne, and at the beginning of his successor's reign. + +At this time came the end of the Hsiung-nu empire--a foreign event of +the utmost importance. As a result of the continual disastrous wars +against the Chinese, in which not only many men but, especially, large +quantities of cattle fell into Chinese hands, the livelihood of the +Hsiung-nu was seriously threatened; their troubles were increased by +plagues and by unusually severe winters. To these troubles were added +political difficulties, including unsettled questions in regard to the +succession to the throne. The result of all this was that the Hsiung-nu +could no longer offer effective military resistance to the Chinese. +There were a number of _shan-yue_ ruling contemporaneously as rivals, and +one of them had to yield to the Chinese in 58 B.C.; in 51 he came as a +vassal to the Chinese court. The collapse of the Hsiung-nu empire was +complete. After 58 B.C. the Chinese were freed from all danger from that +quarter and were able, for a time, to impose their authority in Central +Asia. + +5 _Impoverishment. Cliques. End of the Dynasty_ + +In other respects the Chinese were not doing as well as might have been +assumed. The wars carried on by Wu Ti and his successors had been +ruinous. The maintenance of large armies of occupation in the new +regions, especially in Turkestan, also meant a permanent drain on the +national funds. There was a special need for horses, for the people of +the steppes could only be fought by means of cavalry. As the Hsiung-nu +were supplying no horses, and the campaigns were not producing horses +enough as booty, the peasants had to rear horses for the government. +Additional horses were bought at very high prices, and apart from this +the general financing of the wars necessitated increased taxation of the +peasants, a burden on agriculture no less serious than was the enrolment +of many peasants for military service. Finally, the new external trade +did not by any means bring the advantages that had been hoped for. The +tribute missions brought tribute but, to begin with, this meant an +obligation to give presents in return; moreover, these missions had to +be fed and housed in the capital, often for months, as the official +receptions took place only on New Year's Day. Their maintenance entailed +much expense, and meanwhile the members of the missions traded privately +with the inhabitants and the merchants of the capital, buying things +they needed and selling things they had brought in addition to the +tribute. The tribute itself consisted mainly of "precious articles", +which meant strange or rare things of no practical value. The emperor +made use of them as elements of personal luxury, or made presents of +some of them to deserving officials. The gifts offered by the Chinese in +return consisted mainly of silk. Silk was received by the government as +a part of the tax payments and formed an important element of the +revenue of the state. It now went abroad without bringing in any +corresponding return. The private trade carried on by the members of the +missions was equally unserviceable to the Chinese. It, too, took from +them goods of economic value, silk and gold, which went abroad in +exchange for luxury articles of little or no economic importance, such +as glass, precious stones, or stud horses, which in no way benefited the +general population. Thus in this last century B.C. China's economic +situation grew steadily and fairly rapidly worse. The peasants, more +heavily taxed than ever, were impoverished, and yet the exchequer became +not fuller but emptier, so that gold began even to be no longer +available for payments. Wu Ti was aware of the situation and called +different groups together to discuss the problems of economics. Under +the name "Discussions on Salt and Iron" the gist of these talks is +preserved and shows that one group under the leadership of Sang +Hung-yang (143-80 B.C.) was business-oriented and thinking in economic +terms, while their opponents, mainly Confucianists, regarded the +situation mainly as a moral crisis. Sang proposed an "equable +transportation" and a "standardization" system and favoured other state +monopolies and controls; these ideas were taken up later and continued +to be discussed, again and again. + +Already under Wu Ti there had been signs of a development which now +appeared constantly in Chinese history. Among the new gentry, families +entered into alliances with each other, sealed their mutual allegiance +by matrimonial unions, and so formed large cliques. Each clique made it +its concern to get the most important government positions into its +hands, so that it should itself control the government. Under Wu Ti, for +example, almost all the important generals had belonged to a certain +clique, which remained dominant under his two successors. Two of the +chief means of attaining power were for such a clique to give the +emperor a girl from its ranks as wife, and to see to it that all the +eunuchs around the emperor should be persons dependent on the clique. +Eunuchs came generally from the poorer classes; they were launched at +court by members of the great cliques, or quite openly presented to the +emperor. + +The chief influence of the cliques lay, however, in the selection of +officials. It is not surprising that the officials recommended only sons +of people in their own clique--their family or its closest associates. +On top of all this, the examiners were in most cases themselves members +of the same families to which the provincial officials belonged. Thus it +was made doubly certain that only those candidates who were to the +liking of the dominant group among the gentry should pass. + +Surrounded by these cliques, the emperors became in most cases powerless +figureheads. At times energetic rulers were able to play off various +cliques against each other, and so to acquire personal power; but the +weaker emperors found themselves entirely in the hands of cliques. Not a +few emperors in China were removed by cliques which they had attempted +to resist; and various dynasties were brought to their end by the +cliques; this was the fate of the Han dynasty. + +The beginning of its fall came with the activities of the widow of the +emperor Yuean Ti. She virtually ruled in the name of her +eighteen-year-old son, the emperor Ch'eng Ti (32-7 B.C.), and placed all +her brothers, and also her nephew, Wang Mang, in the principal +government posts. They succeeded at first in either removing the +strongest of the other cliques or bringing them into dependence. Within +the Wang family the nephew Wang Mang steadily advanced, securing direct +supporters even in some branches of the imperial family; these +personages declared their readiness to join him in removing the existing +line of the imperial house. When Ch'eng Ti died without issue, a young +nephew of his (Ai Ti, 6-1 B.C.) was placed on the throne by Wang Mang, +and during this period the power of the Wangs and their allies grew +further, until all their opponents had been removed and the influence of +the imperial family very greatly reduced. When Ai Ti died, Wang Mang +placed an eight-year-old boy on the throne, himself acting as regent; +four years later the boy fell ill and died, probably with Wang Mang's +aid. Wang Mang now chose a one-year-old baby, but soon after he felt +that the time had come for officially assuming the rulership. In A.D. 8 +he dethroned the baby, ostensibly at Heaven's command, and declared +himself emperor and first of the Hsin ("new") dynasty. All the members +of the old imperial family in the capital were removed from office and +degraded to commoners, with the exception of those who had already been +supporting Wang Mang. Only those members who held unimportant posts at a +distance remained untouched. + +Wang Mang's "usurpation" is unusual from two points of view. First, he +paid great attention to public opinion and induced large masses of the +population to write petitions to the court asking the Han ruler to +abdicate; he even fabricated "heavenly omina" in his own favour and +against the Han dynasty in order to get wide support even from +intellectuals. Secondly, he inaugurated a formal abdication ceremony, +culminating in the transfer of the imperial seal to himself. This +ceremony became standard for the next centuries. The seal was made of a +precious stone, once presented to the Ch'in dynasty ruler before he +ascended the throne. From now on, the possessor of this seal was the +legitimate ruler. + +6 _The pseudo-socialistic dictatorship. Revolt of the "Red Eyebrows"_ + +Wang Mang's dynasty lasted only from A.D. 9 to 23; but it was one of the +most stirring periods of Chinese history. It is difficult to evaluate +Wang Mang, because all we know about him stems from sources hostile +towards him. Yet we gain the impression that some of his innovations, +such as the legalization of enthronement through the transfer of the +seal; the changes in the administration of provinces and in the +bureaucratic set-up in the capital; and even some of his economic +measures were so highly regarded that they were retained or +reintroduced, although this happened in some instances centuries later +and without mentioning Wang Mang's name. But most of his policies and +actions were certainly neither accepted nor acceptable. He made use of +every conceivable resource in order to secure power to his clique. As +far as possible he avoided using open force, and resorted to a +high-level propaganda. Confucianism, the philosophic basis of the power +of the gentry, served him as a bait; he made use of the so-called "old +character school" for his purposes. When, after the holocaust of books, +it was desired to collect the ancient classics again, texts were found +under strange circumstances in the walls of Confucius's house; they were +written in an archaic script. The people who occupied themselves with +these books were called the old character school. The texts came under +suspicion; most scholars had little belief in their genuineness. Wang +Mang, however, and his creatures energetically supported the cult of +these ancient writings. The texts were edited and issued, and in the +process, as can now be seen, certain things were smuggled into them that +fitted in well with Wang Mang's intentions. He even had other texts +reissued with falsifications. He now represented himself in all his +actions as a man who did with the utmost precision the things which the +books reported of rulers or ministers of ancient times. As regent he had +declared that his model was the brother of the first emperor of the Chou +dynasty; as emperor he took for his exemplar one of the mythical +emperors of ancient China; of his new laws he claimed that they were +simply revivals of decrees of the golden age. In all this he appealed to +the authority of literature that had been tampered with to suit his +aims. Actually, such laws had never before been customary; either Wang +Mang completely misinterpreted passages in an ancient text to suit his +purpose, or he had dicta that suited him smuggled into the text. There +can be no question that Wang Mang and his accomplices began by +deliberately falsifying and deceiving. However, as time went on, he +probably began to believe in his own frauds. + +Wang Mang's great series of certain laws has brought him the name of +"the first Socialist on the throne of China". But closer consideration +reveals that these measures, ostensibly and especially aimed at the good +of the poor, were in reality devised simply in order to fill the +imperial exchequer and to consolidate the imperial power. When we read +of the turning over of great landed estates to the state, do we not +imagine that we are faced with a modern land reform? But this applied +only to the wealthiest of all the landowners, who were to be deprived in +this way of their power. The prohibition of private slave-owning had a +similar purpose, the state reserving to itself the right to keep slaves. +Moreover, landless peasants were to receive land to till, at the expense +of those who possessed too much. This admirable law, however, was not +intended seriously to be carried into effect. Instead, the setting up of +a system of state credits for peasants held out the promise, in spite of +rather reduced interest rates, of important revenue. The peasants had +never been in a position to pay back their private debts together with +the usurious interest, but there were at least opportunities of coming +to terms with a private usurer, whereas the state proved a merciless +creditor. It could dispossess the peasant, and either turn his property +into a state farm, convey it to another owner, or make the peasant a +state slave. Thus this measure worked against the interest of the +peasants, as did the state monopoly of the exploitation of mountains and +lakes. "Mountains and lakes" meant the uncultivated land around +settlements, the "village commons", where people collected firewood or +went fishing. They now had to pay money for fishing rights and for the +right to collect wood, money for the emperor's exchequer. The same +purpose lay behind the wine, salt, and iron tool monopolies. Enormous +revenues came to the state from the monopoly of minting coin, when old +metal coin of full value was called in and exchanged for debased coin. +Another modern-sounding institution, that of the "equalization offices", +was supposed to buy cheap goods in times of plenty in order to sell them +to the people in times of scarcity at similarly low prices, so +preventing want and also preventing excessive price fluctuations. In +actual fact these state offices formed a new source of profit, buying +cheaply and selling as dearly as possible. + +Thus the character of these laws was in no way socialistic; nor, +however, did they provide an El Dorado for the state finances, for Wang +Mang's officials turned all the laws to their private advantage. The +revenues rarely reached the capital; they vanished into the pockets of +subordinate officials. The result was a further serious lowering of the +level of existence of the peasant population, with no addition to the +financial resources of the state. Yet Wang Mang had great need of money, +because he attached importance to display and because he was planning a +new war. He aimed at the final destruction of the Hsiung-nu, so that +access to central Asia should no longer be precarious and it should thus +be possible to reduce the expense of the military administration of +Turkestan. The war would also distract popular attention from the +troubles at home. By way of preparation for war, Wang Mang sent a +mission to the Hsiung-nu with dishonouring proposals, including changes +in the name of the Hsiung-nu and in the title of the _shan-yue_. The name +Hsiung-nu was to be given the insulting change of Hsiang-nu, meaning +"subjugated slaves". The result was that risings of the Hsiung-nu took +place, whereupon Wang Mang commanded that the whole of their country +should be partitioned among fifteen _shan-yue_ and declared the country +to be a Chinese province. Since this declaration had no practical +result, it robbed Wang Mang of the increased prestige he had sought and +only further infuriated the Hsiung-nu. Wang Mang concentrated a vast +army on the frontier. Meanwhile he lost the whole of the possessions in +Turkestan. + +But before Wang Mang's campaign against the Hsiung-nu could begin, the +difficulties at home grew steadily worse. In A.D. 12 Wang Mang felt +obliged to abrogate all his reform legislation because it could not be +carried into effect; and the economic situation proved more lamentable +than ever. There were continual risings, which culminated in A.D. 18 in +a great popular insurrection, a genuine revolutionary rising of the +peasants, whose distress had grown beyond bearing through Wang Mang's +ill-judged measures. The rebels called themselves "Red Eyebrows"; they +had painted their eyebrows red by way of badge and in order to bind +their members indissolubly to their movement. The nucleus of this rising +was a secret society. Such secret societies, usually are harmless, but +may, in emergency situations, become an immensely effective instrument +in the hands of the rural population. The secret societies then organize +the peasants, in order to achieve a forcible settlement of the matter in +dispute. Occasionally, however, the movement grows far beyond its +leaders' original objective and becomes a popular revolutionary +movement, directed against the whole ruling class. That is what happened +on this occasion. Vast swarms of peasants marched to the capital, +killing all officials and people of position on their way. The troops +sent against them by Wang Mang either went over to the Red Eyebrows or +copied them, plundering wherever they could and killing officials. Owing +to the appalling mass murders and the fighting, the forces placed by +Wang Mang along the frontier against the Hsiung-nu received no +reinforcements and, instead of attacking the Hsiung-nu, themselves went +over to plundering, so that ultimately the army simply disintegrated. +Fortunately for China, the _shan-yue_ of the time did not take advantage +of his opportunity, perhaps because his position within the Hsiung-nu +empire was too insecure. + +Scarcely had the popular rising begun when descendants of the deposed +Han dynasty appeared and tried to secure the support of the upper class. +They came forward as fighters against the usurper Wang Mang and as +defenders of the old social order against the revolutionary masses. But +the armies which these Han princes were able to collect were no better +than those of the other sides. They, too, consisted of poor and hungry +peasants, whose aim was to get money or goods by robbery; they too, +plundered and murdered more than they fought. + +However, one prince by the name of Liu Hsiu gradually gained the upper +hand. The basis of his power was the district of Nanyang in Honan, one +of the wealthiest agricultural centres of China at that time and also +the centre of iron and steel production. The big landowners, the gentry +of Nanyang, joined him, and the prince's party conquered the capital. +Wang Mang, placing entire faith in his sanctity, did not flee; he sat in +his robes in the throne-room and recited the ancient writings, convinced +that he would overcome his adversaries by the power of his words. But a +soldier cut off his head (A.D. 22). The skull was kept for two hundred +years in the imperial treasury. The fighting, nevertheless, went on. +Various branches of the prince's party fought one another, and all of +them fought the Red Eyebrows. In those years millions of men came to +their end. Finally, in A.D. 24, Liu Hsiu prevailed, becoming the first +emperor of the second Han dynasty, also called the Later Han dynasty; +his name as emperor was Kuang-wu Ti (A.D. 25-57). + +7 _Reaction and Restoration: the Later Han dynasty_ + +Within the country the period that followed was one of reaction and +restoration. The massacres of the preceding years had so reduced the +population that there was land enough for the peasants who remained +alive. Moreover, their lords and the moneylenders of the towns were +generally no longer alive, so that many peasants had become free of +debt. The government was transferred from Sian to Loyang, in the present +province of Honan. This brought the capital nearer to the great +wheat-producing regions, so that the transport of grain and other taxes +in kind to the capital was cheapened. Soon this cleared foundation was +covered by a new stratum, a very sparse one, of great landowners who +were supporters and members of the new imperial house, largely +descendants of the landowners of the earlier Han period. At first they +were not much in evidence, but they gained power more and more rapidly. +In spite of this, the first half-century of the Later Han period was one +of good conditions on the land and economic recovery. + +8 _Hsiung-nu policy_ + +In foreign policy the first period of the Later Han dynasty was one of +extraordinary success, both in the extreme south and in the question of +the Hsiung-nu. During the period of Wang Mang's rule and the fighting +connected with it, there had been extensive migration to the south and +south-west. Considerable regions of Chinese settlement had come into +existence in Yuennan and even in Annam and Tongking, and a series of +campaigns under General Ma Yuan (14 B.C.-A.D. 49) now added these +regions to the territory of the empire. These wars were carried on with +relatively small forces, as previously in the Canton region, the natives +being unable to offer serious resistance owing to their inferiority in +equipment and civilization. The hot climate, however, to which the +Chinese soldiers were unused, was hard for them to endure. + +The Hsiung-nu, in spite of internal difficulties, had regained +considerable influence in Turkestan during the reign of Wang Mang. But +the king of the city state of Yarkand had increased his power by +shrewdly playing off Chinese and Hsiung-nu against each other, so that +before long he was able to attack the Hsiung-nu. The small states in +Turkestan, however, regarded the overlordship of the distant China as +preferable to that of Yarkand or the Hsiung-nu both of whom, being +nearer, were able to bring their power more effectively into play. +Accordingly many of the small states appealed for Chinese aid. Kuang-wu +Ti met this appeal with a blank refusal, implying that order had only +just been restored in China and that he now simply had not the resources +for a campaign in Turkestan. Thus, the king of Yarkand was able to +extend his power over the remainder of the small states of Turkestan, +since the Hsiung-nu had been obliged to withdraw. Kuang-wu Ti had +several frontier wars with the Hsiung-nu without any decisive result. +But in the years around A.D. 45 the Hsiung-nu had suffered several +severe droughts and also great plagues of locusts, so that they had lost +a large part of their cattle. They were no longer able to assert +themselves in Turkestan and at the same time to fight the Chinese in the +south and the Hsien-pi and the Wu-huan in the east. These two peoples, +apparently largely of Mongol origin, had been subject in the past to +Hsiung-nu overlordship. They had spread steadily in the territories +bordering Manchuria and Mongolia, beyond the eastern frontier of the +Hsiung-nu empire. Living there in relative peace and at the same time in +possession of very fertile pasturage, these two peoples had grown in +strength. And since the great political collapse of 58 B.C. the +Hsiung-nu had not only lost their best pasturage in the north of the +provinces of Shensi and Shansi, but had largely grown used to living in +co-operation with the Chinese. They had become much more accustomed to +trade with China, exchanging animals for textiles and grain, than to +warfare, so that in the end they were defeated by the Hsien-pi and +Wu-huan, who had held to the older form of purely warlike nomad life. +Weakened by famine and by the wars against Wu-huan and Hsien-pi, the +Hsiung-nu split into two, one section withdrawing to the north. + +The southern Hsiung-nu were compelled to submit to the Chinese in order +to gain security from their other enemies. Thus the Chinese were able to +gain a great success without moving a finger: the Hsiung-nu, who for +centuries had shown themselves again and again to be the most dangerous +enemies of China, were reduced to political insignificance. About a +hundred years earlier the Hsiung-nu empire had suffered defeat; now half +of what remained of it became part of the Chinese state. Its place was +taken by the Hsien-pi and Wu-huan, but at first they were of much less +importance. + +In spite of the partition, the northern Hsiung-nu attempted in the years +between A.D. 60 and 70 to regain a sphere of influence in Turkestan; +this seemed the easier for them since the king of Yarkand had been +captured and murdered, and Turkestan was more or less in a state of +confusion. The Chinese did their utmost to play off the northern against +the southern Hsiung-nu and to maintain a political balance of power in +the west and north. So long as there were a number of small states in +Turkestan, of which at least some were friendly to China, Chinese trade +caravans suffered relatively little disturbance on their journeys. +Independent states in Turkestan had proved more profitable for trade +than when a large army of occupation had to be maintained there. When, +however, there appeared to be the danger of a new union of the two +parts of the Hsiung-nu as a restoration of a large empire also +comprising all Turkestan, the Chinese trading monopoly was endangered. +Any great power would secure the best goods for itself, and there would +be no good business remaining for China. For these reasons a great +Chinese campaign was undertaken against Turkestan in A.D. 73 under Tou +Ku. Mainly owing to the ability of the Chinese deputy commander Pan +Ch'ao, the whole of Turkestan was quickly conquered. Meanwhile the +emperor Ming Ti (A.D. 58-75) had died, and under the new emperor Chang +Ti (76-88) the "isolationist" party gained the upper hand against the +clique of Tou Ku and Pan Ch'ao: the danger of the restoration of a +Hsiung-nu empire, the isolationists contended, no longer existed; +Turkestan should be left to itself; the small states would favour trade +with China of their own accord. Meanwhile, a considerable part of +Turkestan had fallen away from China, for Chang Ti sent neither money +nor troops to hold the conquered territories. Pan Ch'ao nevertheless +remained in Turkestan (at Kashgar and Khotan) where he held on amid +countless difficulties. Although he reported (A.D. 78) that the troops +could feed themselves in Turkestan and needed neither supplies nor money +from home, no reinforcements of any importance were sent; only a few +hundred or perhaps a thousand men, mostly released criminals, reached +him. Not until A.D. 89 did the Pan Ch'ao clique return to power when the +mother of the young emperor Ho Ti (89-105) took over the government +during his minority: she was a member of the family of Tou Ku. She was +interested in bringing to a successful conclusion the enterprise which +had been started by members of her family and its followers. In +addition, it can be shown that a number of other members of the "war +party" had direct interests in the west, mainly in form of landed +estates. Accordingly, a campaign was started in 89 under her brother +against the northern Hsiung-nu, and it decided the fate of Turkestan in +China's favour. Turkestan remained firmly in Chinese possession until +the death of Pan Ch'ao in 102. Shortly afterwards heavy fighting broke +out again: the Tanguts advanced from the south in an attempt to cut off +Chinese access to Turkestan. The Chinese drove back the Tanguts and +maintained their hold on Turkestan, though no longer absolutely. + +9 _Economic situation. Rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans". Collapse of +the Han dynasty_ + +The economic results of the Turkestan trade in this period were not so +unfavourable as in the earlier Han period. The army of occupation was +incomparably smaller, and under Pan Ch'ao's policy the soldiers were fed +and paid in Turkestan itself, so that the cost to China remained small. +Moreover, the drain on the national income was no longer serious +because, in the intervening period, regular Chinese settlements had been +planted in Turkestan including Chinese merchants, so that the trade no +longer remained entirely in the hands of foreigners. + +In spite of the economic consolidation at the beginning of the Later Han +dynasty, and in spite of the more balanced trade, the political +situation within China steadily worsened from A.D. 80 onwards. Although +the class of great landowners was small, a number of cliques formed +within it, and their mutual struggle for power soon went beyond the +limits of court intrigue. New actors now came upon the stage, namely the +eunuchs. With the economic improvement there had been a general increase +in the luxury at the court of the Han emperors, and the court steadily +increased in size. The many hundred wives and concubines in the palace +made necessary a great army of eunuchs. As they had the ear of the +emperor and so could influence him, the eunuchs formed an important +political factor. For a time the main struggle was between the group of +eunuchs and the group of scholars. The eunuchs served a particular +clique to which some of the emperor's wives belonged. The scholars, that +is to say the ministers, together with members of the ministries and the +administrative staff, served the interests of another clique. The +struggles grew more and more sanguinary in the middle of the second +century A.D. It soon proved that the group with the firmest hold in the +provinces had the advantage, because it was not easy to control the +provinces from a distance. The result was that, from about A.D. 150, +events at court steadily lost importance, the lead being taken by the +generals commanding the provincial troops. It would carry us too far to +give the details of all these struggles. The provincial generals were at +first Ts'ao Ts'ao, Lue Pu, Yuean Shao, and Sun Ts'e; later came Liu Pei. +All were striving to gain control of the government, and all were +engaged in mutual hostilities from about 180 onwards. Each general was +also trying to get the emperor into his hands. Several times the last +emperor of the Later Han dynasty, Hsien Ti (190-220), was captured by +one or another of the generals. As the successful general was usually +unable to maintain his hold on the capital, he dragged the poor emperor +with him from place to place until he finally had to give him up to +another general. The point of this chase after the emperor was that +according to the idea introduced earlier by Wang Mang the first ruler of +a new dynasty had to receive the imperial seals from the last emperor +of the previous dynasty. The last emperor must abdicate in proper form. +Accordingly, each general had to get possession of the emperor to begin +with, in order at the proper time to take over the seals. + +By about A.D. 200 the new conditions had more or less crystallized. +There remained only three great parties. The most powerful was that of +Ts'ao Ts'ao, who controlled the north and was able to keep permanent +hold of the emperor. In the west, in the province of Szechwan, Liu Pei +had established himself, and in the south-east Sun Ts'e's brother. + +But we must not limit our view to these generals' struggles. At this +time there were two other series of events of equal importance with +those. The incessant struggles of the cliques against each other +continued at the expense of the people, who had to fight them and pay +for them. Thus, after A.D. 150 the distress of the country population +grew beyond all limits. Conditions were as disastrous as in the time of +Wang Mang. And once more, as then, a popular movement broke out, that of +the so-called "Yellow Turbans". This was the first of the two important +events. This popular movement had a characteristic which from now on +became typical of all these risings of the people. The intellectual +leaders of the movement, Chang Ling and others, were members of a +particular religious sect. This sect was influenced by Iranian Mazdaism +on the one side and by certain ideas from Lao Tz[)u] on the other side; +and these influences were superimposed on popular rural as well as, +perhaps, local tribal religious beliefs and superstitions. The sect had +roots along the coastal settlements of Eastern China, where it seems to +have gained the support of the peasantry and their local priests. These +priests of the people were opposed to the representatives of the +official religion, that is to say the officials drawn from the gentry. +In small towns and villages the temples of the gods of the fruits of the +field, of the soil, and so on, were administered by authorized local +officials, and these officials also carried out the prescribed +sacrifices. The old temples of the people were either done away with (we +have many edicts of the Han period concerning the abolition of popular +forms of religious worship), or their worship was converted into an +official cult: the all-powerful gentry extended their domination over +religion as well as all else. But the peasants regarded their local +unauthorized priests as their natural leaders against the gentry and +against gentry forms of religion. One branch, probably the main branch +of this movement, developed a stronghold in Eastern Szechwan province, +where its members succeeded to create a state of their own which +retained its independence for a while. It is the only group which +developed real religious communities in which men and women +participated, extensive welfare schemes existed and class differences +were discouraged. It had a real church organization with dioceses, +communal friendship meals and a confession ritual; in short, real piety +developed as it could not develop in the official religions. After the +annihilation of this state, remnants of the organization can be traced +through several centuries, mainly in central and south China. It may +well be that the many "Taoistic" traits which can be found in the +religions of late and present-day Mongolian and Tibetan tribes, can be +derived from this movement of the Yellow Turbans. + +The rising of the Yellow Turbans began in 184; all parties, cliques and +generals alike, were equally afraid of the revolutionaries, since these +were a threat to the gentry as such, and so to all parties. Consequently +a combined army of considerable size was got together and sent against +the rebels. The Yellow Turbans were beaten. + +During these struggles it became evident that Ts'ao Ts'ao with his +troops had become the strongest of all the generals. His troops seem to +have consisted not of Chinese soldiers alone, but also of Hsiung-nu. It +is understandable that the annals say nothing about this, and it can +only be inferred from the facts. It appears that in order to reinforce +their armies the generals recruited not only Chinese but foreigners. The +generals operating in the region of the present-day Peking had soldiers +of the Wu-huan and Hsien-pi, and even of the Ting-ling; Liu Pei, in the +west, made use of Tanguts, and Ts'ao Ts'ao clearly went farthest of all +in this direction; he seems to have been responsible for settling +nineteen tribes of Hsiung-nu in the Chinese province of Shansi between +180 and 200, in return for their armed aid. In this way Ts'ao Ts'ao +gained permanent power in the empire by means of these troops, so that +immediately after his death his son Ts'ao P'ei, with the support of +powerful allied families, was able to force the emperor to abdicate and +to found a new dynasty, the Wei dynasty (A.D. 220). + +This meant, however, that a part of China which for several centuries +had been Chinese was given up to the Hsiung-nu. This was not, of course, +what Ts'ao Ts'ao had intended; he had given the Hsiung-nu some area of +pasturage in Shansi with the idea that they should be controlled and +administered by the officials of the surrounding district. His plan had +been similar to what the Chinese had often done with success: aliens +were admitted into the territory of the empire in a body, but then the +influence of the surrounding administrative centres was steadily +extended over them, until the immigrants completely lost their own +nationality and became Chinese. The nineteen tribes of Hsiung-nu, +however, were much too numerous, and after the prolonged struggles in +China the provincial administration proved much too weak to be able to +carry out the plan. Thus there came into existence here, within China, a +small Hsiung-nu realm ruled by several _shan-yue_. This was the second +major development, and it became of the utmost importance to the history +of the next four centuries. + +10 _Literature and Art_ + +With the development of the new class of the gentry in the Han period, +there was an increase in the number of those who were anxious to +participate in what had been in the past an exclusively aristocratic +possession--education. Thus it is by no mere chance that in this period +many encyclopaedias were compiled. Encyclopaedias convey knowledge in an +easily grasped and easily found form. The first compilation of this sort +dates from the third century B.C. It was the work of Lue Pu wei, the +merchant who was prime minister and regent during the minority of Shih +Huang-ti. It contains general information concerning ceremonies, +customs, historic events, and other things the knowledge of which was +part of a general education. Soon afterwards other encyclopaedias +appeared, of which the best known is the Book of the Mountains and Seas +(_Shan Hai Ching_). This book, arranged according to regions of the +world, contains everything known at the time about geography, natural +philosophy, and the animal and plant world, and also about popular +myths. This tendency to systemization is shown also in the historical +works. The famous _Shih Chi_, one of our main sources for Chinese +history, is the first historical work of the modern type, that is to +say, built up on a definite plan, and it was also the model for all +later official historiography. Its author, Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien (born 135 +B.C.), and his father, made use of the material in the state archives +and of private documents, old historical and philosophical books, +inscriptions, and the results of their own travels. The philosophical +and historical books of earlier times (with the exception of those of +the nature of chronicles) consisted merely of a few dicta or reports of +particular events, but the _Shih Chi_ is a compendium of a mass of +source-material. The documents were abbreviated, but the text of the +extracts was altered as little as possible, so that the general result +retains in a sense the value of an original source. In its arrangement +the _Shih Chi_ became a model for all later historians: the first part +is in the form of annals, and there follow tables concerning the +occupants of official posts and fiefs, and then biographies of various +important personalities, though the type of the comprehensive biography +did not appear till later. The _Shih Chi_ also, like later historical +works, contains many monographs dealing with particular fields of +knowledge, such as astronomy, the calendar, music, economics, official +dress at court, and much else. The whole type of construction differs +fundamentally from such works as those of Thucydides or Herodotus. The +Chinese historical works have the advantage that the section of annals +gives at once the events of a particular year, the monographs describe +the development of a particular field of knowledge, and the biographical +section offers information concerning particular personalities. The +mental attitude is that of the gentry: shortly after the time of +Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien an historical department was founded, in which members +of the gentry worked as historians upon the documents prepared by +representatives of the gentry in the various government offices. + +In addition to encyclopaedias and historical works, many books of +philosophy were written in the Han period, but most of them offer no +fundamentally new ideas. They were the product of the leisure of rich +members of the gentry, and only three of them are of importance. One is +the work of Tung Chung-shu, already mentioned. The second is a book by +Liu An called _Huai-nan Tz[)u]_. Prince Liu An occupied himself with +Taoism and allied problems, gathered around him scholars of different +schools, and carried on discussions with them. Many of his writings are +lost, but enough is extant to show that he was one of the earliest +Chinese alchemists. The question has not yet been settled, but it is +probable that alchemy first appeared in China, together with the cult of +the "art" of prolonging life, and was later carried to the West, where +it flourished among the Arabs and in medieval Europe. + +The third important book of the Han period was the _Lun Heng_ (Critique +of Opinions) of Wang Ch'ung, which appeared in the first century of the +Christian era. Wang Ch'ung advocated rational thinking and tried to pave +the way for a free natural science, in continuation of the beginnings +which the natural philosophers of the later Chou period had made. The +book analyses reports in ancient literature and customs of daily life, +and shows how much they were influenced by superstition and by ignorance +of the facts of nature. From this attitude a modern science might have +developed, as in Europe towards the end of the Middle Ages; but the +gentry had every reason to play down this tendency which, with its +criticism of all that was traditional, might have proceeded to an attack +on the dominance of the gentry and their oppression especially of the +merchants and artisans. It is fascinating to observe how it was the +needs of the merchants and seafarers of Asia Minor and Greece that +provided the stimulus for the growth of the classic sciences, and how on +the contrary the growth of Chinese science was stifled because the +gentry were so strongly hostile to commerce and navigation, though both +had always existed. + +There were great literary innovations in the field of poetry. The +splendour and elegance at the new imperial court of the Han dynasty +attracted many poets who sang the praises of the emperor and his court +and were given official posts and dignities. These praises were in the +form of grandiloquent, overloaded poetry, full of strange similes and +allusions, but with little real feeling. In contrast, the many women +singers and dancers at the court, mostly slaves from southern China, +introduced at the court southern Chinese forms of song and poem, which +were soon adopted and elaborated by poets. Poems and dance songs were +composed which belonged to the finest that Chinese poetry can show--full +of natural feeling, simple in language, moving in content. + +Our knowledge of the arts is drawn from two sources--literature, and the +actual discoveries in the excavations. Thus we know that most of the +painting was done on silk, of which plenty came into the market through +the control of silk-producing southern China. Paper had meanwhile been +invented in the second century B.C., by perfecting the techniques of +making bark-cloth and felt. Unfortunately nothing remains of the actual +works that were the first examples of what the Chinese everywhere were +beginning to call "art". "People", that is to say the gentry, painted as +a social pastime, just as they assembled together for poetry, +discussion, or performances of song and dance; they painted as an +aesthetic pleasure and rarely as a means of earning. We find philosophic +ideas or greetings, emotions, and experiences represented by +paintings--paintings with fanciful or ideal landscapes; paintings +representing life and environment of the cultured class in idealized +form, never naturalistic either in fact or in intention. Until recently +it was an indispensable condition in the Chinese view that an artist +must be "cultured" and be a member of the gentry--distinguished, +unoccupied, wealthy. A man who was paid for his work, for instance for a +portrait for the ancestral cult, was until late time regarded as a +craftsman, not as an artist. Yet, these "craftsmen" have produced in Han +time and even earlier, many works which, in our view, undoubtedly belong +to the realm of art. In the tombs have been found reliefs whose +technique is generally intermediate between simple outline engraving and +intaglio. The lining-in is most frequently executed in scratched lines. +The representations, mostly in strips placed one above another, are of +lively historical scenes, scenes from the life of the dead, great ritual +ceremonies, or adventurous scenes from mythology. Bronze vessels have +representations in inlaid gold and silver, mostly of animals. The most +important documents of the painting of the Han period have also been +found in tombs. We see especially ladies and gentlemen of society, with +richly ornamented, elegant, expensive clothing that is very reminiscent +of the clothing customary to this day in Japan. There are also artistic +representations of human figures on lacquer caskets. While sculpture was +not strongly developed, the architecture of the Han must have been +magnificent and technically highly complex. Sculpture and temple +architecture received a great stimulus with the spread of Buddhism in +China. According to our present knowledge, Buddhism entered China from +the south coast and through Central Asia at latest in the first century +B.C.; it came with foreign merchants from India or Central Asia. +According to Indian customs, Brahmans, the Hindu caste providing all +Hindu priests, could not leave their homes. As merchants on their trips +which lasted often several years, did not want to go without religious +services, they turned to Buddhist priests as well as to priests of Near +Eastern religions. These priests were not prevented from travelling and +used this opportunity for missionary purposes. Thus, for a long time +after the first arrival of Buddhists, the Buddhist priests in China were +foreigners who served foreign merchant colonies. The depressed +conditions of the people in the second century A.D. drove members of the +lower classes into their arms, while the parts of Indian science which +these priests brought with them from India aroused some interest in +certain educated circles. Buddhism, therefore, undeniably exercised an +influence at the end of the Han dynasty, although no Chinese were +priests and few, if any, gentry members were adherents of the religious +teachings. + +With the end of the Han period a further epoch of Chinese history comes +to its close. The Han period was that of the final completion and +consolidation of the social order of the gentry. The period that +followed was that of the conflicts of the Chinese with the populations +on their northern borders. + + + +Chapter Seven + + +THE EPOCH OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF CHINA (A.D. 220-580) + + +(A) The three kingdoms (220-265) + +1 _Social, intellectual, and economic problems during the first +division_ + +The end of the Han period was followed by the three and a half centuries +of the first division of China into several kingdoms, each with its own +dynasty. In fact, once before during the period of the Contending +States, China had been divided into a number of states, but at least in +theory they had been subject to the Chou dynasty, and none of the +contending states had made the claim to be the legitimate ruler of all +China. In this period of the "first division" several states claimed to +be legitimate rulers, and later Chinese historians tried to decide which +of these had "more right" to this claim. At the outset (220-280) there +were three kingdoms (Wei, Wu, Shu Han); then came an unstable reunion +during twenty-seven years (280-307) under the rule of the Western Chin. +This was followed by a still sharper division between north and south: +while a wave of non-Chinese nomad dynasties poured over the north, in +the south one Chinese clique after another seized power, so that dynasty +followed dynasty until finally, in 580, a united China came again into +existence, adopting the culture of the north and the traditions of the +gentry. + +In some ways, the period from 220 to 580 can be compared with the period +of the coincidentally synchronous breakdown of the Roman Empire: in both +cases there was no great increase in population, although in China +perhaps no over-all decrease in population as in the Roman Empire; +decrease occurred, however, in the population of the great Chinese +cities, especially of the capital; furthermore we witness, in both +empires, a disorganization of the monetary system, i.e. in China the +reversal to a predominance of natural economy after some 400 years of +money economy. Yet, this period cannot be simply dismissed as a +transition period, as was usually done by the older European works on +China. The social order of the gentry, whose birth and development +inside China we followed, had for the first time to defend itself +against views and systems entirely opposed to it; for the Turkish and +Mongol peoples who ruled northern China brought with them their +traditions of a feudal nobility with privileges of birth and all that +they implied. Thus this period, socially regarded, is especially that of +the struggle between the Chinese gentry and the northern nobility, the +gentry being excluded at first as a direct political factor in the +northern and more important part of China. In the south the gentry +continued in the old style with a constant struggle between cliques, the +only difference being that the class assumed a sort of "colonial" +character through the formation of gigantic estates and through +association with the merchant class. + +To throw light on the scale of events, we need to have figures of +population. There are no figures for the years around A.D. 220, and we +must make do with those of 140; but in order to show the relative +strength of the three states it is the ratio between the figures that +matters. In 140 the regions which later belonged to Wei had roughly +29,000,000 inhabitants; those later belonging to Wu had 11,700,000; +those which belonged later to Shu Han had a bare 7,500,000. (The figures +take no account of the primitive native population, which was not yet +included in the taxation lists.) The Hsiung-nu formed only a small part +of the population, as there were only the nineteen tribes which had +abandoned one of the parts, already reduced, of the Hsiung-nu empire. +The whole Hsiung-nu empire may never have counted more than some +3,000,000. At the time when the population of what became the Wei +territory totalled 29,000,000 the capital with its immediate environment +had over a million inhabitants. The figure is exclusive of most of the +officials and soldiers, as these were taxable in their homes and so were +counted there. It is clear that this was a disproportionate +concentration round the capital. + +It was at this time that both South and North China felt the influence +of Buddhism, which until A.D. 220 had no more real effect on China than +had, for instance, the penetration of European civilization between 1580 +and 1842. Buddhism offered new notions, new ideals, foreign science, and +many other elements of culture, with which the old Chinese philosophy +and science had to contend. At the same time there came with Buddhism +the first direct knowledge of the great civilized countries west of +China. Until then China had regarded herself as the only existing +civilized country, and all other countries had been regarded as +barbaric, for a civilized country was then taken to mean a country with +urban industrial crafts and agriculture. In our present period, however, +China's relations with the Middle East and with southern Asia were so +close that the existence of civilized countries outside China had to be +admitted. Consequently, when alien dynasties ruled in northern China and +a new high civilization came into existence there, it was impossible to +speak of its rulers as barbarians any longer. Even the theory that the +Chinese emperor was the Son of Heaven and enthroned at the centre of the +world was no longer tenable. Thus a vast widening of China's +intellectual horizon took place. + +Economically, our present period witnessed an adjustment in South China +between the Chinese way of life, which had penetrated from the north, +and that of the natives of the south. Large groups of Chinese had to +turn over from wheat culture in dry fields to rice culture in wet +fields, and from field culture to market gardening. In North China the +conflict went on between Chinese agriculture and the cattle breeding of +Central Asia. Was the will of the ruler to prevail and North China to +become a country of pasturage, or was the country to keep to the +agrarian tradition of the people under this rule? The Turkish and Mongol +conquerors had recently given up their old supplementary agriculture and +had turned into pure nomads, obtaining the agricultural produce they +needed by raiding or trade. The conquerors of North China were now faced +with a different question: if they were to remain nomads, they must +either drive the peasants into the south, or make them into slave +herdsmen, or exterminate them. There was one more possibility: they +might install themselves as a ruling upper class, as nobles over the +subjugated native peasants. The same question was faced much later by +the Mongols, and at first they answered it differently from the peoples +of our present period. Only by attention to this problem shall we be in +a position to explain why the rule of the Turkish peoples did not last, +why these peoples were gradually absorbed and disappeared. + +2 _Status of the two southern Kingdoms_ + +When the last emperor of the Han period had to abdicate in favour of +Ts'ao P'ei and the Wei dynasty began, China was in no way a unified +realm. Almost immediately, in 221, two other army commanders, who had +long been independent, declared themselves emperors. In the south-west +of China, in the present province of Szechwan, the Shu Han dynasty was +founded in this way, and in the south-east, in the region of the present +Nanking, the Wu dynasty. + +The situation of the southern kingdom of Shu Han (221-263) corresponded +more or less to that of the Chungking regime in the Second World War. +West of it the high Tibetan mountains towered up; there was very little +reason to fear any major attack from that direction. In the north and +east the realm was also protected by difficult mountain country. The +south lay relatively open, but at that time there were few Chinese +living there, but only natives with a relatively low civilization. The +kingdom could only be seriously attacked from two corners--through the +north-west, where there was a negotiable plateau, between the Ch'in-ling +mountains in the north and the Tibetan mountains in the west, a plateau +inhabited by fairly highly developed Tibetan tribes; and secondly +through the south-east corner, where it would be possible to penetrate +up the Yangtze. There was in fact incessant fighting at both these +dangerous corners. + +Economically, Shu Han was not in a bad position. The country had long +been part of the Chinese wheat lands, and had a fairly large Chinese +peasant population in the well irrigated plain of Ch'engtu. There was +also a wealthy merchant class, supplying grain to the surrounding +mountain peoples and buying medicaments and other profitable Tibetan +products. And there were trade routes from here through the present +province of Yuennan to India. + +Shu Han's difficulty was that its population was not large enough to be +able to stand against the northern State of Wei; moreover, it was +difficult to carry out an offensive from Shu Han, though the country +could defend itself well. The first attempt to find a remedy was a +campaign against the native tribes of the present Yuennan. The purpose of +this was to secure manpower for the army and also slaves for sale; for +the south-west had for centuries been a main source for traffic in +slaves. Finally it was hoped to gain control over the trade to India. +All these things were intended to strengthen Shu Han internally, but in +spite of certain military successes they produced no practical result, +as the Chinese were unable in the long run to endure the climate or to +hold out against the guerrilla tactics of the natives. Shu Han tried to +buy the assistance of the Tibetans and with their aid to carry out a +decisive attack on Wei, whose dynastic legitimacy was not recognized by +Shu Han. The ruler of Shu Han claimed to be a member of the imperial +family of the deposed Han dynasty, and therefore to be the rightful, +legitimate ruler over China. His descent, however, was a little +doubtful, and in any case it depended on a link far back in the past. +Against this the Wei of the north declared that the last ruler of the +Han dynasty had handed over to them with all due form the seals of the +state and therewith the imperial prerogative. The controversy was of no +great practical importance, but it played a big part in the Chinese +Confucianist school until the twelfth century, and contributed largely +to a revision of the old conceptions of legitimacy. + +The political plans of Shu Han were well considered and far-seeing. They +were evolved by the premier, a man from Shantung named Chu-ko Liang; for +the ruler died in 226 and his successor was still a child. But Chu-ko +Liang lived only for a further eight years, and after his death in 234 +the decline of Shu Han began. Its political leaders no longer had a +sense of what was possible. Thus Wei inflicted several defeats on Shu +Han, and finally subjugated it in 263. + +The situation of the state of Wu was much less favourable than that of +Shu Han, though this second southern kingdom lasted from 221 to 280. Its +country consisted of marshy, water-logged plains, or mountains with +narrow valleys. Here Tai peoples had long cultivated their rice, while +in the mountains Yao tribes lived by hunting and by simple agriculture. +Peasants immigrating from the north found that their wheat and pulse did +not thrive here, and slowly they had to gain familiarity with rice +cultivation. They were also compelled to give up their sheep and cattle +and in their place to breed pigs and water buffaloes, as was done by the +former inhabitants of the country. The lower class of the population was +mainly non-Chinese; above it was an upper class of Chinese, at first +relatively small, consisting of officials, soldiers, and merchants in a +few towns and administrative centres. The country was poor, and its only +important economic asset was the trade in metals, timber, and other +southern products; soon there came also a growing overseas trade with +India and the Middle East, bringing revenues to the state in so far as +the goods were re-exported from Wu to the north. + +Wu never attempted to conquer the whole of China, but endeavoured to +consolidate its own difficult territory with a view to building up a +state on a firm foundation. In general, Wu played mainly a passive part +in the incessant struggles between the three kingdoms, though it was +active in diplomacy. The Wu kingdom entered into relations with a man +who in 232 had gained control of the present South Manchuria and shortly +afterwards assumed the title of king. This new ruler of "Yen", as he +called his kingdom, had determined to attack the Wei dynasty, and hoped, +by putting pressure on it in association with Wu, to overrun Wei from +north and south. Wei answered this plan very effectively by recourse to +diplomacy and it began by making Wu believe that Wu had reason to fear +an attack from its western neighbour Shu Han. A mission was also +dispatched from Wei to negotiate with Japan. Japan was then emerging +from its stone age and introducing metals; there were countless small +principalities and states, of which the state of Yamato, then ruled by a +queen, was the most powerful. Yamato had certain interests in Korea, +where it already ruled a small coastal strip in the east. Wei offered +Yamato the prospect of gaining the whole of Korea if it would turn +against the state of Yen in South Manchuria. Wu, too, had turned to +Japan, but the negotiations came to nothing, since Wu, as an ally of +Yen, had nothing to offer. The queen of Yamato accordingly sent a +mission to Wei; she had already decided in favour of that state. Thus +Wei was able to embark on war against Yen, which it annihilated in 237. +This wrecked Wu's diplomatic projects, and no more was heard of any +ambitious plans of the kingdom of Wu. + +The two southern states had a common characteristic: both were +condottiere states, not built up from their own population but conquered +by generals from the north and ruled for a time by those generals and +their northern troops. Natives gradually entered these northern armies +and reduced their percentage of northerners, but a gulf remained between +the native population, including its gentry, and the alien military +rulers. This reduced the striking power of the southern states. + +On the other hand, this period had its positive element. For the first +time there was an emperor in south China, with all the organization that +implied. A capital full of officials, eunuchs, and all the satellites of +an imperial court provided incentives to economic advance, because it +represented a huge market. The peasants around it were able to increase +their sales and grew prosperous. The increased demand resulted in an +increase of tillage and a thriving trade. Soon the transport problem had +to be faced, as had happened long ago in the north, and new means of +transport, especially ships, were provided, and new trade routes opened +which were to last far longer than the three kingdoms; on the other +hand, the costs of transport involved fresh taxation burdens for the +population. The skilled staff needed for the business of administration +came into the new capital from the surrounding districts, for the +conquerors and new rulers of the territory of the two southern dynasties +had brought with them from the north only uneducated soldiers and +almost equally uneducated officers. The influx of scholars and +administrators into the chief cities produced cultural and economic +centres in the south, a circumstance of great importance to China's +later development. + +3 _The northern State of Wei_ + +The situation in the north, in the state of Wei (220-265) was anything +but rosy. Wei ruled what at that time were the most important and +richest regions of China, the plain of Shensi in the west and the great +plain east of Loyang, the two most thickly populated areas of China. But +the events at the end of the Han period had inflicted great economic +injury on the country. The southern and south-western parts of the Han +empire had been lost, and though parts of Central Asia still gave +allegiance to Wei, these, as in the past, were economically more of a +burden than an asset, because they called for incessant expenditure. At +least the trade caravans were able to travel undisturbed from and to +China through Turkestan. Moreover, the Wei kingdom, although much +smaller than the empire of the Han, maintained a completely staffed +court at great expense, because the rulers, claiming to rule the whole +of China, felt bound to display more magnificence than the rulers of the +southern dynasties. They had also to reward the nineteen tribes of the +Hsiung-nu in the north for their military aid, not only with cessions of +land but with payments of money. Finally, they would not disarm but +maintained great armies for the continual fighting against the southern +states. The Wei dynasty did not succeed, however, in closely +subordinating the various army commanders to the central government. +Thus the commanders, in collusion with groups of the gentry, were able +to enrich themselves and to secure regional power. The inadequate +strength of the central government of Wei was further undermined by the +rivalries among the dominant gentry. The imperial family (Ts'ao Pei, who +reigned from 220 to 226, had taken as emperor the name of Wen Ti) was +descended from one of the groups of great landowners that had formed in +the later Han period. The nucleus of that group was a family named +Ts'ui, of which there is mention from the Han period onward and which +maintained its power down to the tenth century; but it remained in the +background and at first held entirely aloof from direct intervention in +high policy. Another family belonging to this group was the Hsia-hou +family which was closely united to the family of Wen Ti by adoption; and +very soon there was also the Ss[)u]-ma family. Quite naturally Wen Ti, +as soon as he came into power, made provision for the members of these +powerful families, for only thanks to their support had he been able to +ascend the throne and to maintain his hold on the throne. Thus we find +many members of the Hsia-hou and Ss[)u]-ma families in government +positions. The Ss[)u]-ma family especially showed great activity, and at +the end of Wen Ti's reign their power had so grown that a certain +Ss[)u]-ma I was in control of the government, while the new emperor Ming +Ti (227-233) was completely powerless. This virtually sealed the fate of +the Wei dynasty, so far as the dynastic family was concerned. The next +emperor was installed and deposed by the Ss[)u]-ma family; dissensions +arose within the ruling family, leading to members of the family +assassinating one another. In 264 a member of the Ss[)u]-ma family +declared himself king; when he died and was succeeded by his son +Ss[)u]-ma Yen, the latter, in 265, staged a formal act of renunciation +of the throne of the Wei dynasty and made himself the first ruler of the +new Chin dynasty. There is nothing to gain by detailing all the +intrigues that led up to this event: they all took place in the +immediate environment of the court and in no way affected the people, +except that every item of expenditure, including all the bribery, had to +come out of the taxes paid by the people. + +With such a situation at court, with the bad economic situation in the +country, and with the continual fighting against the two southern +states, there could be no question of any far-reaching foreign policy. +Parts of eastern Turkestan still showed some measure of allegiance to +Wei, but only because at the time it had no stronger opponent. The +Hsiung-nu beyond the frontier were suffering from a period of depression +which was at the same time a period of reconstruction. They were +beginning slowly to form together with Mongol elements a new unit, the +Juan-juan, but at this time were still politically inactive. The +nineteen tribes within north China held more and more closely together +as militarily organized nomads, but did not yet represent a military +power and remained loyal to the Wei. The only important element of +trouble seems to have been furnished by the Hsien-pi tribes, who had +joined with Wu-huan tribes and apparently also with vestiges of the +Hsiung-nu in eastern Mongolia, and who made numerous raids over the +frontier into the Wei empire. The state of Yen, in southern Manchuria, +had already been destroyed by Wei in 238 thanks to Wei's good relations +with Japan. Loose diplomatic relations were maintained with Japan in the +period that followed; in that period many elements of Chinese +civilization found their way into Japan and there, together with +settlers from many parts of China, helped to transform the culture of +ancient Japan. + + +(B) The Western Chin dynasty (A.D. 265-317) + +1 _Internal situation in the Chin empire_ + +The change of dynasty in the state of Wei did not bring any turn in +China's internal history. Ss[)u]-ma Yen, who as emperor was called Wu Ti +(265-289), had come to the throne with the aid of his clique and his +extraordinarily large and widely ramified family. To these he had to +give offices as reward. There began at court once more the same +spectacle as in the past, except that princes of the new imperial family +now played a greater part than under the Wei dynasty, whose ruling house +had consisted of a small family. It was now customary, in spite of the +abolition of the feudal system, for the imperial princes to receive +large regions to administer, the fiscal revenues of which represented +their income. The princes were not, however, to exercise full authority +in the style of the former feudal lords: their courts were full of +imperial control officials. In the event of war it was their duty to +come forward, like other governors, with an army in support of the +central government. The various Chin princes succeeded, however, in +making other governors, beyond the frontiers of their regions, dependent +on them. Also, they collected armies of their own independently of the +central government and used those armies to pursue personal policies. +The members of the families allied with the ruling house, for their +part, did all they could to extend their own power. Thus the first ruler +of the dynasty was tossed to and fro between the conflicting interests +and was himself powerless. But though intrigue was piled on intrigue, +the ruler who, of course, himself had come to the head of the state by +means of intrigues, was more watchful than the rulers of the Wei dynasty +had been, and by shrewd counter-measures he repeatedly succeeded in +playing off one party against another, so that the dynasty remained in +power. Numerous widespread and furious risings nevertheless took place, +usually led by princes. Thus during this period the history of the +dynasty was of an extraordinarily dismal character. + +In spite of this, the Chin troops succeeded in overthrowing the second +southern state, that of Wu (A.D. 280), and in so restoring the unity of +the empire, the Shu Han realm having been already conquered by the Wei. +After the destruction of Wu there remained no external enemy that +represented a potential danger, so that a general disarmament was +decreed (280) in order to restore a healthy economic and financial +situation. This disarmament applied, of course, to the troops directly +under the orders of the dynasty, namely the troops of the court and the +capital and the imperial troops in the provinces. Disarmament could +not, however, be carried out in the princes' regions, as the princes +declared that they needed personal guards. The dismissal of the troops +was accompanied by a decree ordering the surrender of arms. It may be +assumed that the government proposed to mint money with the metal of the +weapons surrendered, for coin (the old coin of the Wei dynasty) had +become very scarce; as we indicated previously, money had largely been +replaced by goods so that, for instance, grain and silks were used for +the payment of salaries. China, from _c_. 200 A.D. on until the eighth +century, remained in a period of such partial "natural economy". + +Naturally the decree for the surrender of weapons remained a +dead-letter. The discharged soldiers kept their weapons at first and +then preferred to sell them. A large part of them was acquired by the +Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi in the north of China; apparently they +usually gave up land in return. In this way many Chinese soldiers, +though not all by any means, went as peasants to the regions in the +north of China and beyond the frontier. They were glad to do so, for the +Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi had not the efficient administration and +rigid tax collection of the Chinese; and above all, they had no great +landowners who could have organized the collection of taxes. For their +part, the Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi had no reason to regret this +immigration of peasants, who could provide them with the farm produce +they needed. And at the same time they were receiving from them large +quantities of the most modern weapons. + +This ineffective disarmament was undoubtedly the most pregnant event of +the period of the western Chin dynasty. The measure was intended to save +the cost of maintaining the soldiers and to bring them back to the land +as peasants (and taxpayers); but the discharged men were not given land +by the government. The disarmament achieved nothing, not even the +desired increase in the money in circulation; what did happen was that +the central government lost all practical power, while the military +strength both of the dangerous princes within the country and also of +the frontier people was increased. The results of these mistaken +measures became evident at once and compelled the government to arm +anew. + +2 _Effect on the frontier peoples_ + +Four groups of frontier peoples drew more or less advantage from the +demobilization law--the people of the Toba, the Tibetans, and the +Hsien-pi in the north, and the nineteen tribes of the Hsiung-nu within +the frontiers of the empire. In the course of time all sorts of +complicated relations developed among those ascending peoples as well +as between them and the Chinese. + +The Toba (T'o-pa) formed a small group in the north of the present +province of Shansi, north of the city of Tat'ungfu, and they were about +to develop their small state. They were primarily of Turkish origin, but +had absorbed many tribes of the older Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi. In +considering the ethnical relationships of all these northern peoples we +must rid ourselves of our present-day notions of national unity. Among +the Toba there were many Turkish tribes, but also Mongols, and probably +a Tungus tribe, as well as perhaps others whom we cannot yet analyse. +These tribes may even have spoken different languages, much as later not +only Mongol but also Turkish was spoken in the Mongol empire. The +political units they formed were tribal unions, not national states. + +Such a union or federation can be conceived of, structurally, as a cone. +At the top point of the cone there was the person of the ruler of the +federation. He was a member of the leading family or clan of the leading +tribe (the two top layers of the cone). If we speak of the Toba as of +Turkish stock, we mean that according to our present knowledge, this +leading tribe (_a_) spoke a language belonging to the Turkish language +family and (_b_) exhibited a pattern of culture which belonged to the +type called above in Chapter One as "North-western Culture". The next +layer of the cone represented the "inner circle of tribes", i.e. such +tribes as had joined with the leading tribe at an early moment. The +leading family of the leading tribe often took their wives from the +leading families of the "inner tribes", and these leaders served as +advisors and councillors to the leader of the federation. The next lower +layer consisted of the "outer tribes", i.e. tribes which had joined the +federation only later, often under strong pressure; their number was +always much larger than the number of the "inner tribes", but their +political influence was much weaker. Every layer below that of the +"outer tribes" was regarded as inferior and more or less "unfree". There +was many a tribe which, as a tribe, had to serve a free tribe; and there +were others who, as tribes, had to serve the whole federation. In +addition, there were individuals who had quit or had been forced to quit +their tribe or their home and had joined the federation leader as his +personal "bondsmen"; further, there were individual slaves and, finally, +there were the large masses of agriculturists who had been conquered by +the federation. When such a federation was dissolved, by defeat or inner +dissent, individual tribes or groups of tribes could join a new +federation or could resume independent life. + +Typically, such federations exhibited two tendencies. In the case of +the Hsiung-nu we indicated already previously that the leader of the +federation repeatedly attempted to build up a kind of bureaucratic +system, using his bondsmen as a nucleus. A second tendency was to +replace the original tribal leaders by members of the family of the +federation leader. If this initial step, usually first taken when "outer +tribes" were incorporated, was successful, a reorganization was +attempted: instead of using tribal units in war, military units on the +basis of "Groups of Hundred", "Groups of Thousand", etc., were created +and the original tribes were dissolved into military regiments. In the +course of time, and especially at the time of the dissolution of a +federation, these military units had gained social coherence and +appeared to be tribes again; we are probably correct in assuming that +all "tribes" which we find from this time on were already "secondary" +tribes of this type. A secondary tribe often took its name from its +leader, but it could also revive an earlier "primary tribe" name. + +The Toba represented a good example for this "cone" structure of +pastoral society. Also the Hsiung-nu of this time seem to have had a +similar structure. Incidentally, we will from now on call the Hsiung-nu +"Huns" because Chinese sources begin to call them "Hu", a term which +also had a more general meaning (all non-Chinese in the north and west +of China) as well as a more special meaning (non-Chinese in Central Asia +and India). + +The Tibetans fell apart into two sub-groups, the Ch'iang and the Ti. +Both names appeared repeatedly as political conceptions, but the +Tibetans, like all other state-forming groups of peoples, sheltered in +their realms countless alien elements. In the course of the third and +second centuries B.C. the group of the Ti, mainly living in the +territory of the present Szechwan, had mixed extensively with remains of +the Yueeh-chih; the others, the Ch'iang, were northern Tibetans or +so-called Tanguts; that is to say, they contained Turkish and Mongol +elements. In A.D. 296 there began a great rising of the Ti, whose leader +Ch'i Wan-nien took on the title emperor. The Ch'iang rose with them, but +it was not until later, from 312, that they pursued an independent +policy. The Ti State, however, though it had a second emperor, very soon +lost importance, so that we shall be occupied solely with the Ch'iang. + +As the tribal structure of Tibetan groups was always weak and as +leadership developed among them only in times of war, their states +always show a military rather than a tribal structure, and the +continuation of these states depended strongly upon the personal +qualities of their leaders. Incidentally, Tibetans fundamentally were +sheep-breeders and not horse-breeders and, therefore, they always +showed inclination to incorporate infantry into their armies. Thus, +Tibetan states differed strongly from the aristocratically organized +"Turkish" states as well as from the tribal, non-aristocratic "Mongol" +states of that period. + +The Hsien-pi, according to our present knowledge, were under "Mongol" +leadership, i.e. we believe that the language of the leading group +belonged to the family of Mongolian languages and that their culture +belonged to the type described above as "Northern culture". They had, in +addition, a strong admixture of Hunnic tribes. Throughout the period +during which they played a part in history, they never succeeded in +forming any great political unit, in strong contrast to the Huns, who +excelled in state formation. The separate groups of the Hsien-pi pursued +a policy of their own; very frequently Hsien-pi fought each other, and +they never submitted to a common leadership. Thus their history is +entirely that of small groups. As early as the Wei period there had been +small-scale conflicts with the Hsien-pi tribes, and at times the tribes +had some success. The campaigns of the Hsien-pi against North China now +increased, and in the course of them the various tribes formed firmer +groupings, among which the Mu-jung tribes played a leading part. In 281, +the year after the demobilization law, this group marched south into +China, and occupied the region round Peking. After fierce fighting, in +which the Mu-jung section suffered heavy losses, a treaty was signed in +289, under which the Mu-jung tribe of the Hsien-pi recognized Chinese +overlordship. The Mu-jung were driven to this step mainly because they +had been continually attacked from southern Manchuria by another +Hsien-pi tribe, the Yue-wen, the tribe most closely related to them. The +Mu-jung made use of the period of their so-called subjection to organize +their community in North China. + +South of the Toba were the nineteen tribes of the Hsiung-nu or Huns, as +we are now calling them. Their leader in A.D. 287, Liu Yuean, was one of +the principal personages of this period. His name is purely Chinese, but +he was descended from the Hun _shan-yue_, from the family and line of Mao +Tun. His membership of that long-famous noble line and old ruling family +of Huns gave him a prestige which he increased by his great organizing +ability. + +3 _Struggles for the throne_ + +We shall return to Liu Yuean later; we must now cast another glance at +the official court of the Chin. In that court a family named Yang had +become very powerful, a daughter of this family having become empress. +When, however, the emperor died, the wife of the new emperor Hui Ti +(290-306) secured the assassination of the old empress Yang and of her +whole family. Thus began the rule at court of the Chia family. In 299 +the Chia family got rid of the heir to the throne, to whom they +objected, assassinating this prince and another one. This event became +the signal for large-scale activity on the part of the princes, each of +whom was supported by particular groups of families. The princes had not +complied with the disarmament law of 280 and so had become militarily +supreme. The generals newly appointed in the course of the imperial +rearmament at once entered into alliance with the princes, and thus were +quite unreliable as officers of the government. Both the generals and +the princes entered into agreements with the frontier peoples to assure +their aid in the struggle for power. The most popular of these +auxiliaries were the Hsien-pi, who were fighting for one of the princes +whose territory lay in the east. Since the Toba were the natural enemies +of the Hsien-pi, who were continually contesting their hold on their +territory, the Toba were always on the opposite side to that supported +by the Hsien-pi, so that they now supported generals who were ostensibly +loyal to the government. The Huns, too, negotiated with several generals +and princes and received tempting offers. Above all, all the frontier +peoples were now militarily well equipped, continually receiving new war +material from the Chinese who from time to time were co-operating with +them. + +In A.D. 300 Prince Lun assassinated the empress Chia and removed her +group. In 301 he made himself emperor, but in the same year he was +killed by the prince of Ch'i. This prince was killed in 302 by the +prince of Ch'ang-sha, who in turned was killed in 303 by the prince of +Tung-hai. The prince of Ho-chien rose in 302 and was killed in 306; the +prince of Ch'engtu rose in 303, conquered the capital in 305, and then, +in 306, was himself removed. I mention all these names and dates only to +show the disunion within the ruling groups. + +4 _Migration of Chinese_ + +All these struggles raged round the capital, for each of the princes +wanted to secure full power and to become emperor. Thus the border +regions remained relatively undisturbed. Their population suffered much +less from the warfare than the unfortunate people in the neighbourhood +of the central government. For this reason there took place a mass +migration of Chinese from the centre of the empire to its periphery. +This process, together with the shifting of the frontier peoples, is one +of the most important events of that epoch. A great number of Chinese +migrated especially into the present province of Kansu, where a governor +who had originally been sent there to fight the Hsien-pi had created a +sort of paradise by his good administration and maintenance of peace. +The territory ruled by this Chinese, first as governor and then in +increasing independence, was surrounded by Hsien-pi, Tibetans, and other +peoples, but thanks to the great immigration of Chinese and to its +situation on the main caravan route to Turkestan, it was able to hold +its own, to expand, and to become prosperous. + +Other groups of Chinese peasants migrated southward into the +territories of the former state of Wu. A Chinese prince of the house of +the Chin was ruling there, in the present Nanking. His purpose was to +organize that territory, and then to intervene in the struggles of the +other princes. We shall meet him again at the beginning of the Hun rule +over North China in 317, as founder and emperor of the first south +Chinese dynasty, which was at once involved in the usual internal and +external struggles. For the moment, however, the southern region was +relatively at peace, and was accordingly attracting settlers. + +Finally, many Chinese migrated northward, into the territories of the +frontier peoples, not only of the Hsien-pi but especially of the Huns. +These alien peoples, although in the official Chinese view they were +still barbarians, at least maintained peace in the territories they +ruled, and they left in peace the peasants and craftsmen who came to +them, even while their own armies were involved in fighting inside +China. Not only peasants and craftsmen came to the north but more and +more educated persons. Members of families of the gentry that had +suffered from the fighting, people who had lost their influence in +China, were welcomed by the Huns and appointed teachers and political +advisers of the Hun nobility. + +5 _Victory of the Huns. The Hun Han dynasty (later renamed the Earlier +Chao dynasty_) + +With its self-confidence thus increased, the Hun council of nobles +declared that in future the Huns should no longer fight now for one and +now for another Chinese general or prince. They had promised loyalty to +the Chinese emperor, but not to any prince. No one doubted that the +Chinese emperor was a complete nonentity and no longer played any part +in the struggle for power. It was evident that the murders would +continue until one of the generals or princes overcame the rest and made +himself emperor. Why should not the Huns have the same right? Why should +not they join in this struggle for the Chinese imperial throne? + +There were two arguments against this course, one of which was already +out of date. The Chinese had for many centuries set down the Huns as +uncultured barbarians; but the inferiority complex thus engendered in +the Huns had virtually been overcome, because in the course of time +their upper class had deliberately acquired a Chinese education and so +ranked culturally with the Chinese. Thus the ruler Liu Yuean, for +example, had enjoyed a good Chinese education and was able to read all +the classical texts. The second argument was provided by the rigid +conceptions of legitimacy to which the Turkish-Hunnic aristocratic +society adhered. The Huns asked themselves: "Have we, as aliens, any +right to become emperors and rulers in China, when we are not descended +from an old Chinese family?" On this point Liu Yuean and his advisers +found a good answer. They called Liu Yuean's dynasty the "Han dynasty", +and so linked it with the most famous of all the Chinese dynasties, +pointing to the pact which their ancestor Mao Tun had concluded five +hundred years earlier with the first emperor of the Han dynasty and +which had described the two states as "brethren". They further recalled +the fact that the rulers of the Huns were closely related to the Chinese +ruling family, because Mao Tun and his successors had married Chinese +princesses. Finally, Liu Yuean's Chinese family name, Liu, had also been +the family name of the rulers of the Han dynasty. Accordingly the Hun +Lius came forward not as aliens but as the rightful successors in +continuation of the Han dynasty, as legitimate heirs to the Chinese +imperial throne on the strength of relationship and of treaties. + +Thus the Hun Liu Yuean had no intention of restoring the old empire of +Mao Tun, the empire of the nomads; he intended to become emperor of +China, emperor of a country of farmers. In this lay the fundamental +difference between the earlier Hun empire and this new one. The question +whether the Huns should join in the struggle for the Chinese imperial +throne was therefore decided among the Huns themselves in 304 in the +affirmative, by the founding of the "Hun Han dynasty". All that remained +was the practical question of how to hold out with their small army of +50,000 men if serious opposition should be offered to the "barbarians". + +Meanwhile Liu Yuean provided himself with court ceremonial on the Chinese +model, in a capital which, after several changes, was established at +P'ing-ch'eng in southern Shansi. He attracted more and more of the +Chinese gentry, who were glad to come to this still rather barbaric but +well-organized court. In 309 the first attack was made on the Chinese +capital, Loyang. Liu Yuean died in the following year, and in 311, under +his successor Liu Ts'ung (310-318), the attack was renewed and Loyang +fell. The Chin emperor, Huai Ti, was captured and kept a prisoner in +P'ing-ch'eng until in 313 a conspiracy in his favour was brought to +light in the Hun empire, and he and all his supporters were killed. +Meanwhile the Chinese clique of the Chin dynasty had hastened to make a +prince emperor in the second capital, Ch'ang-an (Min Ti, 313-316) while +the princes' struggles for the throne continued. Nobody troubled about +the fate of the unfortunate emperor in his capital. He received no +reinforcements, so that he was helpless in face of the next attack of +the Huns, and in 316 he was compelled to surrender like his predecessor. +Now the Hun Han dynasty held both capitals, which meant virtually the +whole of the western part of North China, and the so-called "Western +Chin dynasty" thus came to its end. Its princes and generals and many of +its gentry became landless and homeless and had to flee into the south. + + +(C) The alien empires in North China, down to the Toba (A.D. 317-385) + +1 _The Later Chao dynasty in eastern North China (Hun_; 329-352) + +At this time the eastern part of North China was entirely in the hands +of Shih Lo, a former follower of Liu Yuean. Shih Lo had escaped from +slavery in China and had risen to be a military leader among +detribalized Huns. In 310 he had not only undertaken a great campaign +right across China to the south, but had slaughtered more than 100,000 +Chinese, including forty-eight princes of the Chin dynasty, who had +formed a vast burial procession for a prince. This achievement added +considerably to Shih Lo's power, and his relations with Liu Ts'ung, +already tense, became still more so. Liu Yuean had tried to organize the +Hun state on the Chinese model, intending in this way to gain efficient +control of China; Shih Lo rejected Chinese methods, and held to the old +warrior-nomad tradition, making raids with the aid of nomad fighters. He +did not contemplate holding the territories of central and southern +China which he had conquered; he withdrew, and in the two years 314-315 +he contented himself with bringing considerable expanses in +north-eastern China, especially territories of the Hsien-pi, under his +direct rule, as a base for further raids. Many Huns in Liu Ts'ung's +dominion found Shih Lo's method of rule more to their taste than living +in a state ruled by officials, and they went over to Shih Lo and joined +him in breaking entirely with Liu Ts'ung. There was a further motive for +this: in states founded by nomads, with a federation of tribes as their +basis, the personal qualities of the ruler played an important part. The +chiefs of the various tribes would not give unqualified allegiance to +the son of a dead ruler unless the son was a strong personality or gave +promise of becoming one. Failing that, there would be independence +movements. Liu Ts'ung did not possess the indisputable charisma of his +predecessor Liu Yuean; and the Huns looked with contempt on his court +splendour, which could only have been justified if he had conquered all +China. Liu Ts'ung had no such ambition; nor had his successor Liu Yao +(319-329), who gave the Hun Han dynasty retroactively, from its start +with Liu Yuean, the new name of "Earlier Chao dynasty" (304-329). Many +tribes then went over to Shih Lo, and the remainder of Liu Yao's empire +was reduced to a precarious existence. In 329 the whole of it was +annexed by Shih Lo. + +Although Shih Lo had long been much more powerful than the emperors of +the "Earlier Chao dynasty", until their removal he had not ventured to +assume the title of emperor. The reason for this seems to have lain in +the conceptions of nobility held by the Turkish peoples in general and +the Huns in particular, according to which only those could become +_shan-yue_ (or, later, emperor) who could show descent from the Tu-ku +tribe the rightful _shan-yue_ stock. In accordance with this conception, +all later Hun dynasties deliberately disowned Shih Lo. For Shih Lo, +after his destruction of Liu Yao, no longer hesitated: ex-slave as he +was, and descended from one of the non-noble stocks of the Huns, he made +himself emperor of the "Later Chao dynasty" (329-352). + +Shih Lo was a forceful army commander, but he was a man without +statesmanship, and without the culture of his day. He had no Chinese +education; he hated the Chinese and would have been glad to make north +China a grazing ground for his nomad tribes of Huns. Accordingly he had +no desire to rule all China. The part already subjugated, embracing the +whole of north China with the exception of the present province of +Kansu, sufficed for his purpose. + +The governor of that province was a loyal subject of the Chinese Chin +dynasty, a man famous for his good administration, and himself a +Chinese. After the execution of the Chin emperor Huai Ti by the Huns in +313, he regarded himself as no longer bound to the central government; +he made himself independent and founded the "Earlier Liang dynasty", +which was to last until 376. This mainly Chinese realm was not very +large, although it had admitted a broad stream of Chinese emigrants from +the dissolving Chin empire; but economically the Liang realm was very +prosperous, so that it was able to extend its influence as far as +Turkestan. During the earlier struggles Turkestan had been virtually in +isolation, but now new contacts began to be established. Many traders +from Turkestan set up branches in Liang. In the capital there were whole +quarters inhabited only by aliens from western and eastern Turkestan and +from India. With the traders came Buddhist monks; trade and Buddhism +seemed to be closely associated everywhere. In the trading centres +monasteries were installed in the form of blocks of houses within strong +walls that successfully resisted many an attack. Consequently the +Buddhists were able to serve as bankers for the merchants, who deposited +their money in the monasteries, which made a charge for its custody; the +merchants also warehoused their goods in the monasteries. Sometimes the +process was reversed, a trade centre being formed around an existing +monastery. In this case the monastery also served as a hostel for the +merchants. Economically this Chinese state in Kansu was much more like a +Turkestan city state that lived by commerce than the agrarian states of +the Far East, although agriculture was also pursued under the Earlier +Liang. + +From this trip to the remote west we will return first to the Hun +capital. From 329 onward Shih Lo possessed a wide empire, but an +unstable one. He himself felt at all times insecure, because the Huns +regarded him, on account of his humble origin, as a "revolutionary". He +exterminated every member of the Liu family, that is to say the old +_shan-yue_ family, of whom he could get hold, in order to remove any +possible pretender to the throne; but he could not count on the loyalty +of the Hun and other Turkish tribes under his rule. During this period +not a few Huns went over to the small realm of the Toba; other Hun +tribes withdrew entirely from the political scene and lived with their +herds as nomad tribes in Shansi and in the Ordos region. The general +insecurity undermined the strength of Shih Lo's empire. He died in 333, +and there came to the throne, after a short interregnum, another +personality of a certain greatness, Shih Hu (334-349). He transferred +the capital to the city of Yeh, in northern Honan, where the rulers of +the Wei dynasty had reigned. There are many accounts of the magnificence +of the court of Yeh. Foreigners, especially Buddhist monks, played a +greater part there than Chinese. On the one hand, it was not easy for +Shih Hu to gain the active support of the educated Chinese gentry after +the murders of Shih Lo and, on the other hand, Shih Hu seems to have +understood that foreigners without family and without other relations to +the native population, but with special skills, are the most reliable +and loyal servants of a ruler. Indeed, his administration seems to have +been good, but the regime remained completely parasitic, with no +support of the masses or the gentry. After Shih Hu's death there were +fearful combats between his sons; ultimately a member of an entirely +different family of Hun origin seized power, but was destroyed in 352 by +the Hsien-pi, bringing to an end the Later Chao dynasty. + +2 _Earlier Yen dynasty in the north-east (proto-Mongol; 352-370), and +the Earlier Ch'in dynasty in all north China (Tibetan; 351-394_) + +In the north, proto-Mongol Hsien-pi tribes had again made themselves +independent; in the past they had been subjects of Liu Yuean and then of +Shih Lo. A man belonging to one of these tribes, the tribe of the +Mu-jung, became the leader of a league of tribes, and in 337 founded the +state of Yen. This proto-Mongol state of the Mu-jung, which the +historians call the "Earlier Yen" state, conquered parts of southern +Manchuria and also the state of Kao-li in Korea, and there began then an +immigration of Hsien-pi into Korea, which became noticeable at a later +date. The conquest of Korea, which was still, as in the past, a Japanese +market and was very wealthy, enormously strengthened the state of Yen. +Not until a little later, when Japan's trade relations were diverted to +central China, did Korea's importance begin to diminish. Although this +"Earlier Yen dynasty" of the Mu-jung officially entered on the heritage +of the Huns, and its regime was therefore dated only from 352 (until +370), it failed either to subjugate the whole realm of the "Later Chao" +or effectively to strengthen the state it had acquired. This old Hun +territory had suffered economically from the anti-agrarian nomad +tendency of the last of the Hun emperors; and unremunerative wars +against the Chinese in the south had done nothing to improve its +position. In addition to this, the realm of the Toba was dangerously +gaining strength on the flank of the new empire. But the most dangerous +enemy was in the west, on former Hun soil, in the province of +Shensi--Tibetans, who finally came forward once more with claims to +dominance. These were Tibetans of the P'u family, which later changed +its name to Fu. The head of the family had worked his way up as a leader +of Tibetan auxiliaries under the "Later Chao", gaining more and more +power and following. When under that dynasty the death of Shih Hu marked +the beginning of general dissolution, he gathered his Tibetans around +him in the west, declared himself independent of the Huns, and made +himself emperor of the "Earlier Ch'in dynasty" (351-394). He died in +355, and was followed after a short interregnum by Fu Chien (357-385), +who was unquestionably one of the most important figures of the fourth +century. This Tibetan empire ultimately defeated the "Earlier Yen +dynasty" and annexed the realm of the Mu-jung. Thus the Mu-jung Hsien-pi +came under the dominion of the Tibetans; they were distributed among a +number of places as garrisons of mounted troops. + +The empire of the Tibetans was organized quite differently from the +empires of the Huns and the Hsien-pi tribes. The Tibetan organization +was purely military and had nothing to do with tribal structure. This +had its advantages, for the leader of such a formation had no need to +take account of tribal chieftains; he was answerable to no one and +possessed considerable personal power. Nor was there any need for him to +be of noble rank or descended from an old family. The Tibetan ruler Fu +Chien organized all his troops, including the non-Tibetans, on this +system, without regard to tribal membership. + +Fu Chien's state showed another innovation: the armies of the Huns and +the Hsien-pi had consisted entirely of cavalry, for the nomads of the +north were, of course, horsemen; to fight on foot was in their eyes not +only contrary to custom but contemptible. So long as a state consisted +only of a league of tribes, it was simply out of the question to +transform part of the army into infantry. Fu Chien, however, with his +military organization that paid no attention to the tribal element, +created an infantry in addition to the great cavalry units, recruiting +for it large numbers of Chinese. The infantry proved extremely valuable, +especially in the fighting in the plains of north China and in laying +siege to fortified towns. Fu Chien thus very quickly achieved military +predominance over the neighbouring states. As we have seen already, he +annexed the "Earlier Yen" realm of the proto-Mongols (370), but he also +annihilated the Chinese "Earlier Liang" realm (376) and in the same year +the small Turkish Toba realm. This made him supreme over all north China +and stronger than any alien ruler before him. He had in his possession +both the ancient capitals, Ch'ang-an and Loyang; the whole of the rich +agricultural regions of north China belonged to him; he also controlled +the routes to Turkestan. He himself had a Chinese education, and he +attracted Chinese to his court; he protected the Buddhists; and he tried +in every way to make the whole country culturally Chinese. As soon as Fu +Chien had all north China in his power, as Liu Yuean and his Huns had +done before him, he resolved, like Liu Yuean, to make every effort to +gain the mastery over all China, to become emperor of China. Liu Yuean's +successors had not had the capacity for which such a venture called; Fu +Chien was to fail in it for other reasons. Yet, from a military point +of view, his chances were not bad. He had far more soldiers under his +command than the Chinese "Eastern Chin dynasty" which ruled the south, +and his troops were undoubtedly better. In the time of the founder of +the Tibetan dynasty the southern empire had been utterly defeated by his +troops (354), and the south Chinese were no stronger now. + +Against them the north had these assets: the possession of the best +northern tillage, the control of the trade routes, and "Chinese" culture +and administration. At the time, however, these represented only +potentialities and not tangible realities. It would have taken ten to +twenty years to restore the capacities of the north after its +devastation in many wars, to reorganize commerce, and to set up a really +reliable administration, and thus to interlock the various elements and +consolidate the various tribes. But as early as 383 Fu Chien started his +great campaign against the south, with an army of something like a +million men. At first the advance went well. The horsemen from the +north, however, were men of the mountain country, and in the soggy +plains of the Yangtze region, cut up by hundreds of water-courses and +canals, they suffered from climatic and natural conditions to which they +were unaccustomed. Their main strength was still in cavalry; and they +came to grief. The supplies and reinforcements for the vast army failed +to arrive in time; units did not reach the appointed places at the +appointed dates. The southern troops under the supreme command of Hsieh +Hsuean, far inferior in numbers and militarily of no great efficiency, +made surprise attacks on isolated units before these were in regular +formation. Some they defeated, others they bribed; they spread false +reports. Fu Chien's army was seized with widespread panic, so that he +was compelled to retreat in haste. As he did so it became evident that +his empire had no inner stability: in a very short time it fell into +fragments. The south Chinese had played no direct part in this, for in +spite of their victory they were not strong enough to advance far to the +north. + +3 _The fragmentation of north China_ + +The first to fall away from the Tibetan ruler was a noble of the +Mu-jung, a member of the ruling family of the "Earlier Yen dynasty", who +withdrew during the actual fighting to pursue a policy of his own. With +the vestiges of the Hsien-pi who followed him, mostly cavalry, he fought +his way northward into the old homeland of the Hsien-pi and there, in +central Hopei, founded the "Later Yen dynasty" (384-409), himself +reigning for twelve years. In the remaining thirteen years of the +existence of that dynasty there were no fewer than five rulers, the +last of them a member of another family. The history of this Hsien-pi +dynasty, as of its predecessor, is an unedifying succession of +intrigues; no serious effort was made to build up a true state. + +In the same year 384 there was founded, under several other Mu-jung +princes of the ruling family of the "Earlier Yen dynasty", the "Western +Yen dynasty" (384-394). Its nucleus was nothing more than a detachment +of troops of the Hsien-pi which had been thrown by Fu Chien into the +west of his empire, in Shensi, in the neighbourhood of the old capital +Ch'ang-an. There its commanders, on learning the news of Fu Chien's +collapse, declared their independence. In western China, however, far +removed from all liaison with the main body of the Hsien-pi, they were +unable to establish themselves, and when they tried to fight their way +to the north-east they were dispersed, so that they failed entirely to +form an actual state. + +There was a third attempt in 384 to form a state in north China. A +Tibetan who had joined Fu Chien with his followers declared himself +independent when Fu Chien came back, a beaten man, to Shensi. He caused +Fu Chien and almost the whole of his family to be assassinated, occupied +the capital, Ch'ang-an, and actually entered into the heritage of Fu +Chien. This Tibetan dynasty is known as the "Later Ch'in dynasty" +(384-417). It was certainly the strongest of those founded in 384, but +it still failed to dominate any considerable part of China and remained +of local importance, mainly confined to the present province of Shensi. +Fu Chien's empire nominally had three further rulers, but they did not +exert the slightest influence on events. + +With the collapse of the state founded by Fu Chien, the tribes of +Hsien-pi who had left their homeland in the third century and migrated +to the Ordos region proceeded to form their own state: a man of the +Hsien-pi tribe of the Ch'i-fu founded the so-called "Western Ch'in +dynasty" (385-431). Like the other Hsien-pi states, this one was of weak +construction, resting on the military strength of a few tribes and +failing to attain a really secure basis. Its territory lay in the east +of the present province of Kansu, and so controlled the eastern end of +the western Asian caravan route, which might have been a source of +wealth if the Ch'i-fu had succeeded in attracting commerce by discreet +treatment and in imposing taxation on it. Instead of this, the bulk of +the long-distance traffic passed through the Ordos region, a little +farther north, avoiding the Ch'i-fu state, which seemed to the merchants +to be too insecure. The Ch'i-fu depended mainly on cattle-breeding in +the remote mountain country in the south of their territory, a region +that gave them relative security from attack; on the other hand, this +made them unable to exercise any influence on the course of political +events in western China. + +Mention must be made of one more state that rose from the ruins of Fu +Chien's empire. It lay in the far west of China, in the western part of +the present province of Kansu, and was really a continuation of the +Chinese "Earlier Liang" realm, which had been annexed ten years earlier +(376) by Fu Chien. A year before his great march to the south, Fu Chien +had sent the Tibetan Lue Kuang into the "Earlier Liang" region in order +to gain influence over Turkestan. As mentioned previously, after the +great Hun rulers Fu Chien was the first to make a deliberate attempt to +secure cultural and political overlordship over the whole of China. +Although himself a Tibetan, he never succumbed to the temptation of +pursuing a "Tibetan" policy; like an entirely legitimate ruler of China, +he was concerned to prevent the northern peoples along the frontier from +uniting with the Tibetan peoples of the west for political ends. The +possession of Turkestan would avert that danger, which had shown signs +of becoming imminent of late: some tribes of the Hsien-pi had migrated +as far as the high mountains of Tibet and had imposed themselves as a +ruling class on the still very primitive Tibetans living there. From +this symbiosis there began to be formed a new people, the so-called +T'u-yue-hun, a hybridization of Mongol and Tibetan stock with a slight +Turkish admixture. Lue Kuang had considerable success in Turkestan; he +had brought considerable portions of eastern Turkestan under Fu Chien's +sovereignty and administered those regions almost independently. When +the news came of Fu Chien's end, he declared himself an independent +ruler, of the "Later Liang" dynasty (386-403). Strictly speaking, this +was simply a trading State, like the city-states of Turkestan: its basis +was the transit traffic that brought it prosperity. For commerce brought +good profit to the small states that lay right across the caravan route, +whereas it was of doubtful benefit, as we know, to agrarian China as a +whole, because the luxury goods which it supplied to the court were paid +for out of the production of the general population. + +This "Later Liang" realm was inhabited not only by a few Tibetans and +many Chinese, but also by Hsien-pi and Huns. These heterogeneous +elements with their divergent cultures failed in the long run to hold +together in this long but extremely narrow strip of territory, which was +almost incapable of military defence. As early as 397 a group of Huns in +the central section of the country made themselves independent, assuming +the name of the "Northern Liang" (397-439). These Huns quickly conquered +other parts of the "Later Liang" realm, which then fell entirely to +pieces. Chinese again founded a state, "West Liang" (400-421) in western +Kansu, and the Hsien-pi founded "South Liang" (379-414) in eastern +Kansu. Thus the "Later Liang" fell into three parts, more or less +differing ethnically, though they could not be described as ethnically +unadulterated states. + +4 _Sociological analysis of the two great alien empires_ + +The two great empires of north China at the time of its division had +been founded by non-Chinese--the first by the Hun Liu Yuean, the second +by the Tibetan Fu Chien. Both rulers went to work on the same principle +of trying to build up truly "Chinese" empires, but the traditions of +Huns and Tibetans differed, and the two experiments turned out +differently. Both failed, but not for the same reasons and not with the +same results. The Hun Liu Yuean was the ruler of a league of feudal +tribes, which was expected to take its place as an upper class above the +unchanged Chinese agricultural population with its system of officials +and gentry. But Liu Yuean's successors were national reactionaries who +stood for the maintenance of the nomad life against that new plan of +transition to a feudal class of urban nobles ruling an agrarian +population. Liu Yuean's more far-seeing policy was abandoned, with the +result that the Huns were no longer in a position to rule an immense +agrarian territory, and the empire soon disintegrated. For the various +Hun tribes this failure meant falling back into political +insignificance, but they were able to maintain their national character +and existence. + +Fu Chien, as a Tibetan, was a militarist and soldier, in accordance with +the past of the Tibetans. Under him were grouped Tibetans without tribal +chieftains; the great mass of Chinese; and dispersed remnants of tribes +of Huns, Hsien-pi, and others. His organization was militaristic and, +outside the military sphere, a militaristic bureaucracy. The Chinese +gentry, so far as they still existed, preferred to work with him rather +than with the feudalist Huns. These gentry probably supported Fu Chien's +southern campaign, for, in consequence of the wide ramifications of +their families, it was to their interest that China should form a single +economic unit. They were, of course, equally ready to work with another +group, one of southern Chinese, to attain the same end by other means, +if those means should prove more advantageous: thus the gentry were not +a reliable asset, but were always ready to break faith. Among other +things, Fu Chien's southern campaign was wrecked by that faithlessness. +When an essentially military state suffers military defeat, it can only +go to pieces. This explains the disintegration of that great empire +within a single year into so many diminutive states, as already +described. + +5 _Sociological analysis of the petty States_ + +The states that took the place of Fu Chien's empire, those many +diminutive states (the Chinese speak of the period of the Sixteen +Kingdoms), may be divided from the economic point of view into two +groups--trading states and warrior states; sociologically they also fall +into two groups, tribal states and military states. + +The small states in the west, in Kansu (the Later Liang and the Western, +Northern, and Southern Liang), were trading states: they lived on the +earnings of transit trade with Turkestan. The eastern states were +warrior states, in which an army commander ruled by means of an armed +group of non-Chinese and exploited an agricultural population. It is +only logical that such states should be short-lived, as in fact they all +were. + +Sociologically regarded, during this period only the Southern and +Northern Liang were still tribal states. In addition to these came the +young Toba realm, which began in 385 but of which mention has not yet +been made. The basis of that state was the tribe, not the family or the +individual; after its political disintegration the separate tribes +remained in existence. The other states of the east, however, were +military states, made up of individuals with no tribal allegiance but +subject to a military commandant. But where there is no tribal +association, after the political downfall of a state founded by ethnical +groups, those groups sooner or later disappear as such. We see this in +the years immediately following Fu Chien's collapse: the Tibetan +ethnical group to which he himself belonged disappeared entirely from +the historical scene. The two Tibetan groups that outlasted him, also +forming military states and not tribal states, similarly came to an end +shortly afterwards for all time. The Hsien-pi groups in the various +fragments of the empire, with the exception of the petty states in +Kansu, also continued, only as tribal fragments led by a few old ruling +families. They, too, after brief and undistinguished military rule, came +to an end; they disappeared so completely that thereafter we no longer +find the term Hsien-pi in history. Not that they had been exterminated. +When the social structure and its corresponding economic form fall to +pieces, there remain only two alternatives for its individuals. Either +they must go over to a new form, which in China could only mean that +they became Chinese; many Hsien-pi in this way became Chinese in the +decades following 384. Or, they could retain their old way of living in +association with another stock of similar formation; this, too, happened +in many cases. Both these courses, however, meant the end of the +Hsien-pi as an independent ethnical unit. We must keep this process and +its reasons in view if we are to understand how a great people can +disappear once and for all. + +The Huns, too, so powerful in the past, were suddenly scarcely to be +found any longer. Among the many petty states there were many Hsien-pi +kingdoms, but only a single, quite small Hun state, that of the Northern +Liang. The disappearance of the Huns was, however, only apparent; at +this time they remained in the Ordos region and in Shansi as separate +nomad tribes with no integrating political organization; their time had +still to come. + +6 _Spread of Buddhism_ + +According to the prevalent Chinese view, nothing of importance was +achieved during this period in north China in the intellectual sphere; +there was no culture in the north, only in the south. This is natural: +for a Confucian this period, the fourth century, was one of degeneracy +in north China, for no one came into prominence as a celebrated +Confucian. Nothing else could be expected, for in the north the gentry, +which had been the class that maintained Confucianism since the Han +period, had largely been destroyed; from political leadership especially +it had been shut out during the periods of alien rule. Nor could we +expect to find Taoists in the true sense, that is to say followers of +the teaching of Lao Tz[)u], for these, too, had been dependent since the +Han period on the gentry. Until the fourth century, these two had +remained the dominant philosophies. + +What could take their place? The alien rulers had left little behind +them. Most of them had been unable to write Chinese, and in so far as +they were warriors they had no interest in literature or in political +philosophy, for they were men of action. Few songs and poems of theirs +remain extant in translations from their language into Chinese, but +these preserve a strong alien flavour in their mental attitude and in +their diction. They are the songs of fighting men, songs that were sung +on horseback, songs of war and its sufferings. These songs have nothing +of the excessive formalism and aestheticism of the Chinese, but give +expression to simple emotions in unpolished language with a direct +appeal. The epic of the Turkish peoples had clearly been developed +already, and in north China it produced a rudimentary ballad literature, +to which four hundred years later no less attention was paid than to the +emotional world of contemporary songs. The actual literature, however, +and the philosophy of this period are Buddhist. How can we explain that +Buddhism had gained such influence? + +It will be remembered that Buddhism came to China overland and by sea in +the Han epoch. The missionary monks who came from abroad with the +foreign merchants found little approval among the Chinese gentry. They +were regarded as second-rate persons belonging, according to Chinese +notions, to an inferior social class. Thus the monks had to turn to the +middle and lower classes in China. Among these they found widespread +acceptance, not of their profound philosophic ideas, but of their +doctrine of the after life. This doctrine was in a certain sense +revolutionary: it declared that all the high officials and superiors who +treated the people so unjustly and who so exploited them, would in their +next reincarnation be born in poor circumstances or into inferior rank +and would have to suffer punishment for all their ill deeds. The poor +who had to suffer undeserved evils would be born in their next life into +high rank and would have a good time. This doctrine brought a ray of +light, a promise, to the country people who had suffered so much since +the later Han period of the second century A.D. Their situation remained +unaltered down to the fourth century; and under their alien rulers the +Chinese country population became Buddhist. + +The merchants made use of the Buddhist monasteries as banks and +warehouses. Thus they, too, were well inclined towards Buddhism and gave +money and land for its temples. The temples were able to settle peasants +on this land as their tenants. In those times a temple was a more +reliable landlord than an individual alien, and the poorer peasants +readily became temple tenants; this increased their inclination towards +Buddhism. + +The Indian, Sogdian, and Turkestani monks were readily allowed to settle +by the alien rulers of China, who had no national prejudice against +other aliens. The monks were educated men and brought some useful +knowledge from abroad. Educated Chinese were scarcely to be found, for +the gentry retired to their estates, which they protected as well as +they could from their alien ruler. So long as the gentry had no prospect +of regaining control of the threads of political life that extended +throughout China, they were not prepared to provide a class of officials +and scholars for the anti-Confucian foreigners, who showed interest only +in fighting and trading. Thus educated persons were needed at the courts +of the alien rulers, and Buddhists were therefore engaged. These foreign +Buddhists had all the important Buddhist writings translated into +Chinese, and so made use of their influence at court for religious +propaganda. This does not mean that every text was translated from +Indian languages; especially in the later period many works appeared +which came not from India but from Sogdia or Turkestan, or had even been +written in China by Sogdians or other natives of Turkestan, and were +then translated into Chinese. In Turkestan, Khotan in particular became +a centre of Buddhist culture. Buddhism was influenced by vestiges of +indigenous cults, so that Khotan developed a special religious +atmosphere of its own; deities were honoured there (for instance, the +king of Heaven of the northerners) to whom little regard was paid +elsewhere. This "Khotan Buddhism" had special influence on the Buddhist +Turkish peoples. + +Big translation bureaux were set up for the preparation of these +translations into Chinese, in which many copyists simultaneously took +down from dictation a translation made by a "master" with the aid of a +few native helpers. The translations were not literal, but were +paraphrases, most of them greatly reduced in length, glosses were +introduced when the translator thought fit for political or doctrinal +reasons, or when he thought that in this way he could better adapt the +texts to Chinese feeling. + +Buddhism, quite apart from the special case of "Khotan Buddhism", +underwent extensive modification on its way across Central Asia. Its +main Indian form (Hinayana) was a purely individualistic religion of +salvation without a God--related in this respect to genuine Taoism--and +based on a concept of two classes of people: the monks who could achieve +salvation and, secondly, the masses who fed the monks but could not +achieve salvation. This religion did not gain a footing in China; only +traces of it can be found in some Buddhistic sects in China. Mahayana +Buddhism, on the other hand, developed into a true popular religion of +salvation. It did not interfere with the indigenous deities and did not +discountenance life in human society; it did not recommend Nirvana at +once, but placed before it a here-after with all the joys worth striving +for. In this form Buddhism was certain of success in Asia. On its way +from India to China it divided into countless separate streams, each +characterized by a particular book. Every nuance, from profound +philosophical treatises to the most superficial little tracts written +for the simplest of souls, and even a good deal of Turkestan shamanism +and Tibetan belief in magic, found their way into Buddhist writings, so +that some Buddhist monks practiced Central Asian Shamanism. + +In spite of Buddhism, the old religion of the peasants retained its +vitality. Local diviners, Chinese shamans (_wu_), sorcerers, continued +their practices, although from now on they sometimes used Buddhist +phraseology. Often, this popular religion is called "Taoism ", because a +systematization of the popular pantheon was attempted, and Lao Tz[)u] +and other Taoists played a role in this pantheon. Philosophic Taoism +continued in this time, aside from the church-Taoism of Chang Ling and, +naturally, all kinds of contacts between these three currents occurred. +The Chinese state cult, the cult of Heaven saturated with Confucianism, +was another living form of religion. The alien rulers, in turn, had +brought their own mixture of worship of Heaven and shamanism. Their +worship of Heaven was their official "representative" religion; their +shamanism the private religion of the individual in his daily life. The +alien rulers, accordingly, showed interest in the Chinese shamans as +well as in the shamanistic aspects of Mahayana Buddhism. Not +infrequently competitions were arranged by the rulers between priests of +the different religious systems, and the rulers often competed for the +possession of monks who were particularly skilled in magic or +soothsaying. + +But what was the position of the "official" religion? Were the aliens to +hold to their own worship of heaven, or were they to take over the +official Chinese cult, or what else? This problem posed itself already +in the fourth century, but it was left unsolved. + + +(D) The Toba empire in North China (A.D. 385-550) + +1 _The rise of the Toba State_ + +On the collapse of Fu Chien's empire one more state made its appearance; +it has not yet been dealt with, although it was the most important one. +This was the empire of the Toba, in the north of the present province of +Shansi. Fu Chien had brought down the small old Toba state in 376, but +had not entirely destroyed it. Its territory was partitioned, and part +was placed under the administration of a Hun: in view of the old rivalry +between Toba and Huns, this seemed to Fu Chien to be the best way of +preventing any revival of the Toba. However, a descendant of the old +ruling family of the Toba succeeded, with the aid of related families, +in regaining power and forming a small new kingdom. Very soon many +tribes which still lived in north China and which had not been broken up +into military units, joined him. Of these there were ultimately 119, +including many Hun tribes from Shansi and also many Hsien-pi tribes. +Thus the question who the Toba were is not easy to answer. The leading +tribe itself had migrated southward in the third century from the +frontier territory between northern Mongolia and northern Manchuria. +After this migration the first Toba state, the so-called Tai state, was +formed (338-376); not much is known about it. The tribes that, from 385 +after the break-up of the Tibetan empire, grouped themselves round this +ruling tribe, were both Turkish and Mongol; but from the culture and +language of the Toba we think it must be inferred that the ruling tribe +itself as well as the majority of the other tribes were Turkish; in any +case, the Turkish element seems to have been stronger than the +Mongolian. + +Thus the new Toba kingdom was a tribal state, not a military state. But +the tribes were no longer the same as in the time of Liu Yuean a hundred +years earlier. Their total population must have been quite small; we +must assume that they were but the remains of 119 tribes rather than 119 +full-sized tribes. Only part of them were still living the old nomad +life; others had become used to living alongside Chinese peasants and +had assumed leadership among the peasants. These Toba now faced a +difficult situation. The country was arid and mountainous and did not +yield much agricultural produce. For the many people who had come into +the Toba state from all parts of the former empire of Fu Chien, to say +nothing of the needs of a capital and a court which since the time of +Liu Yuean had been regarded as the indispensable entourage of a ruler who +claimed imperial rank, the local production of the Chinese peasants was +not enough. All the government officials, who were Chinese, and all the +slaves and eunuchs needed grain to eat. Attempts were made to settle +more Chinese peasants round the new capital, but without success; +something had to be done. It appeared necessary to embark on a campaign +to conquer the fertile plain of eastern China. In the course of a number +of battles the Hsien-pi of the "Later Yen" were annihilated and eastern +China conquered (409). + +Now a new question arose: what should be done with all those people? +Nomads used to enslave their prisoners and use them for watching their +flocks. Some tribal chieftains had adopted the practice of establishing +captives on their tribal territory as peasants. There was an opportunity +now to subject the millions of Chinese captives to servitude to the +various tribal chieftains in the usual way. But those captives who were +peasants could not be taken away from their fields without robbing the +country of its food; therefore it would have been necessary to spread +the tribes over the whole of eastern China, and this would have added +immensely to the strength of the various tribes and would have greatly +weakened the central power. Furthermore almost all Chinese officials at +the court had come originally from the territories just conquered. They +had come from there about a hundred years earlier and still had all +their relatives in the east. If the eastern territories had been placed +under the rule of separate tribes, and the tribes had been distributed +in this way, the gentry in those territories would have been destroyed +and reduced to the position of enslaved peasants. The Chinese officials +accordingly persuaded the Toba emperor not to place the new territories +under the tribes, but to leave them to be administered by officials of +the central administration. These officials must have a firm footing in +their territory, for only they could extract from the peasants the grain +required for the support of the capital. Consequently the Toba +government did not enslave the Chinese in the eastern territory, but +made the local gentry into government officials, instructing them to +collect as much grain as possible for the capital. This Chinese local +gentry worked in close collaboration with the Chinese officials at +court, a fact which determined the whole fate of the Toba empire. + +The Hsien-pi of the newly conquered east no longer belonged to any +tribe, but only to military units. They were transferred as soldiers to +the Toba court and placed directly under the government, which was thus +notably strengthened, especially as the millions of peasants under their +Chinese officials were also directly responsible to the central +administration. The government now proceeded to convert also its own +Toba tribes into military formations. The tribal men of noble rank were +brought to the court as military officers, and so were separated from +the common tribesmen and the slaves who had to remain with the herds. +This change, which robbed the tribes of all means of independent action, +was not carried out without bloodshed. There were revolts of tribal +chieftains which were ruthlessly suppressed. The central government had +triumphed, but it realized that more reliance could be placed on Chinese +than on its own people, who were used to independence. Thus the Toba +were glad to employ more and more Chinese, and the Chinese pressed more +and more into the administration. In this process the differing social +organizations of Toba and Chinese played an important part. The Chinese +have patriarchal families with often hundreds of members. When a member +of a family obtains a good position, he is obliged to make provision for +the other members of his family and to secure good positions for them +too; and not only the members of his own family but those of allied +families and of families related to it by marriage. In contrast the Toba +had a patriarchal nuclear family system; as nomad warriors with no fixed +abode, they were unable to form extended family groups. Among them the +individual was much more independent; each one tried to do his best for +himself. No Toba thought of collecting a large clique around himself; +everybody should be the artificer of his own fortune. Thus, when a +Chinese obtained an official post, he was followed by countless others; +but when a Toba had a position he remained alone, and so the +sinification of the Toba empire went on incessantly. + +2 _The Hun kingdom of the Hsia (407-431_) + +At the rebuilding of the Toba empire, however, a good many Hun tribes +withdrew westward into the Ordos region beyond the reach of the Toba, +and there they formed the Hun "Hsia" kingdom. Its ruler, Ho-lien +P'o-p'o, belonged to the family of Mao Tun and originally, like Liu +Yuean, bore the sinified family name Liu; but he altered this to a Hun +name, taking the family name of Ho-lien. This one fact alone +demonstrates that the Hsia rejected Chinese culture and were +nationalistic Hun. Thus there were now two realms in North China, one +undergoing progressive sinification, the other falling back to the old +traditions of the Huns. + +3 _Rise of the Toba to a great Power_ + +The present province of Szechwan, in the west, had belonged to Fu +Chien's empire. At the break-up of the Tibetan state that province +passed to the southern Chinese empire and gave the southern Chinese +access, though it was very difficult access, to the caravan route +leading to Turkestan. The small states in Kansu, which dominated the +route, now passed on the traffic along two routes, one northward to the +Toba and the other alien states in north China, the other through +north-west Szechwan to south China. In this way the Kansu states were +strengthened both economically and politically, for they were able to +direct the commerce either to the northern states or to south China as +suited them. When the South Chinese saw the break-up of Fu Chien's +empire into numberless fragments, Liu Yue, who was then all-powerful at +the South Chinese court, made an attempt to conquer the whole of western +China. A great army was sent from South China into the province of +Shensi, where the Tibetan empire of the "Later Ch'in" was situated. The +Ch'in appealed to the Toba for help, but the Toba were themselves too +hotly engaged to be able to spare troops. They also considered that +South China would be unable to maintain these conquests, and that they +themselves would find them later an easy prey. Thus in 417 the state of +"Later Ch'in" received a mortal blow from the South Chinese army. Large +numbers of the upper class fled to the Toba. As had been foreseen, the +South Chinese were unable to maintain their hold over the conquered +territory, and it was annexed with ease by the Hun Ho-lien P'o-p'o. But +why not by the Toba? + +Towards the end of the fourth century, vestiges of Hun, Hsien-pi, and +other tribes had united in Mongolia to form the new people of the +Juan-juan (also called Ju-juan or Jou-jan). Scholars disagree as to +whether the Juan-juan were Turks or Mongols; European investigators +believe them to have been identical with the Avars who appeared in the +Near East in 558 and later in Europe, and are inclined, on the strength +of a few vestiges of their language, to regard them as Mongols. +Investigations concerning the various tribes, however, show that among +the Juan-juan there were both Mongol and Turkish tribes, and that the +question cannot be decided in favour of either group. Some of the tribes +belonging to the Juan-juan had formerly lived in China. Others had lived +farther north or west and came into the history of the Far East now for +the first time. + +This Juan-juan people threatened the Toba in the rear, from the north. +It made raids into the Toba empire for the same reasons for which the +Huns in the past had raided agrarian China; for agriculture had made +considerable progress in the Toba empire. Consequently, before the Toba +could attempt to expand southward, the Juan-juan peril must be removed. +This was done in the end, after a long series of hard and not always +successful struggles. That was why the Toba had played no part in the +fighting against South China, and had been unable to take immediate +advantage of that fighting. + +After 429 the Juan-juan peril no longer existed, and in the years that +followed the whole of the small states of the west were destroyed, one +after another, by the Toba--the "Hsia kingdom" in 431, bringing down +with it the "Western Ch'in", and the "Northern Liang" in 439. The +non-Chinese elements of the population of those countries were moved +northward and served the Toba as soldiers; the Chinese also, especially +the remains of the Kansu "Western Liang" state (conquered in 420), were +enslaved, and some of them transferred to the north. Here again, +however, the influence of the Chinese gentry made itself felt after a +short time. As we know, the Chinese of "Western Liang" in Kansu had +originally migrated there from eastern China. Their eastern relatives +who had come under Toba rule through the conquest of eastern China and +who through their family connections with Chinese officials of the Toba +empire had found safety, brought their influence to bear on behalf of +the Chinese of Kansu, so that several families regained office and +social standing. + +[Illustration: Map 4: The Toba empire (_about A.D. 500_)] + +Their expansion into Kansu gave the Toba control of the commerce with +Turkestan, and there are many mentions of tribute missions to the Toba +court in the years that followed, some even from India. The Toba also +spread in the east. And finally there was fighting with South China +(430-431), which brought to the Toba empire a large part of the province +of Honan with the old capital, Loyang. Thus about 440 the Toba must be +described as the most powerful state in the Far East, ruling the whole +of North China. + +4 _Economic and social conditions_ + +The internal changes of which there had only been indications in the +first period of the Toba empire now proceeded at an accelerated pace. +There were many different factors at work. The whole of the civil +administration had gradually passed into Chinese hands, the Toba +retaining only the military administration. But the wars in the south +called for the services of specialists in fortification and in infantry +warfare, who were only to be found among the Chinese. The growing +influence of the Chinese was further promoted by the fact that many Toba +families were exterminated in the revolts of the tribal chieftains, and +others were wiped out in the many battles. Thus the Toba lost ground +also in the military administration. + +The wars down to A.D. 440 had been large-scale wars of conquest, +lightning campaigns that had brought in a great deal of booty. With +their loot the Toba developed great magnificence and luxury. The +campaigns that followed were hard and long-drawn-out struggles, +especially against South China, where there was no booty, because the +enemy retired so slowly that they could take everything with them. The +Toba therefore began to be impoverished, because plunder was the main +source of their wealth. In addition to this, their herds gradually +deteriorated, for less and less use was made of them; for instance, +horses were little required for the campaign against South China, and +there was next to no fighting in the north. In contrast with the +impoverishment of the Toba, the Chinese gentry grew not only more +powerful but more wealthy. + +The Toba seem to have tried to prevent this development by introducing +the famous "land equalization system" (_chuen-t'ien_), one of their most +important innovations. The direct purposes of this measure were to +resettle uprooted farm population; to prevent further migrations of +farmers; and to raise production and taxes. The founder of this system +was Li An-shih, member of a Toba family and later husband of an imperial +princess. The plan was basically accepted in 477, put into action in +485, and remained the land law until _c_. 750. Every man and every +woman had a right to receive a certain amount of land for lifetime. +After their death, the land was redistributed. In addition to this +"personal land" there was so-called "mulberry land" on which farmers +could plant mulberries for silk production; but they also could plant +other crops under the trees. This land could be inherited from father to +son and was not redistributed. Incidentally we know many similar +regulations for trees in the Near East and Central Asia. As the tax was +levied upon the personal land in form of grain, and on the tree land in +form of silk, this regulation stimulated the cultivation of diversified +crops on the tree land which then was not taxable. The basic idea behind +this law was, that all land belonged to the state, a concept for which +the Toba could point to the ancient Chou but which also fitted well for +a dynasty of conquest. The new "_chuen-t'ien_" system required a complete +land and population survey which was done in the next years. We know +from much later census fragments that the government tried to enforce +this equalization law, but did not always succeed; we read statements +such as "X has so and so much land; he has a claim on so and so much +land and, therefore, has to get so and so much"; but there are no +records that X ever received the land due to him. + +One consequence of the new land law was a legal fixation of the social +classes. Already during Han time (and perhaps even earlier) a +distinction had been made between "free burghers" (_liang-min_) and +"commoners" (_ch'ien-min_). This distinction had continued as informal +tradition until, now, it became a legal concept. Only "burghers", i.e. +gentry and free farmers, were real citizens with all rights of a free +man. The "commoners" were completely or partly unfree and fell under +several heads. Ranking as the lowest class were the real slaves (_nu_), +divided into state and private slaves. By law, slaves were regarded as +pieces of property, not as members of human society. They were, however, +forced to marry and thus, as a class, were probably reproducing at a +rate similar to that of the normal population, while slaves in Europe +reproduced at a lower rate than the population. The next higher class +were serfs (_fan-hu_), hereditary state servants, usually descendants of +state slaves. They were obliged to work three months during the year for +the state and were paid for this service. They were not registered in +their place of residence but under the control of the Ministry of +Agriculture which distributed them to other offices, but did not use +them for farm work. Similar in status to them were the private bondsmen +(_pu-ch'ue_), hereditarily attached to gentry families. These serfs +received only 50 per cent of the land which a free burgher received +under the land law. Higher than these were the service families +(_tsa-hu_), who were registered in their place of residence, but had to +perform certain services; here we find "tomb families" who cared for the +imperial tombs, "shepherd families", postal families, kiln families, +soothsayer families, medical families, and musician families. Each of +these categories of commoners had its own laws; each had to marry within +the category. No intermarriage or adoption was allowed. It is +interesting to observe that a similar fixation of the social status of +citizens occurred in the Roman Empire from _c_. A.D. 300 on. + +Thus in the years between 440 and 490 there were great changes not only +in the economic but in the social sphere. The Toba declined in number +and influence. Many of them married into rich families of the Chinese +gentry and regarded themselves as no longer belonging to the Toba. In +the course of time the court was completely sinified. + +The Chinese at the court now formed the leading element, and they tried +to persuade the emperor to claim dominion over all China, at least in +theory, by installing his capital in Loyang, the old centre of China. +This transfer had the advantage for them personally that the territories +in which their properties were situated were close to that capital, so +that the grain they produced found a ready market. And it was indeed no +longer possible to rule the great Toba empire, now covering the whole of +North China from North Shansi. The administrative staff was so great +that the transport system was no longer able to bring in sufficient +food. For the present capital did not lie on a navigable river, and all +the grain had to be carted, an expensive and unsafe mode of transport. +Ultimately, in 493-4, the Chinese gentry officials secured the transfer +of the capital to Loyang. In the years 490 to 499 the Toba emperor Wen +Ti (471-499) took further decisive steps required by the stage reached +in internal development. All aliens were prohibited from using their own +language in public life. Chinese became the official language. Chinese +clothing and customs also became general. The system of administration +which had largely followed a pattern developed by the Wei dynasty in the +early third century, was changed and took a form which became the model +for the T'ang dynasty in the seventh century. It is important to note +that in this period, for the first time, an office for religious affairs +was created which dealt mainly with Buddhistic monasteries. While after +the Toba period such an office for religious affairs disappeared again, +this idea was taken up later by Japan when Japan accepted a Chinese-type +of administration. + +[Illustration: 6 Sun Ch'uean, ruler of Wu. _From a painting by Yen +Li-pen (c_. 640-680).] + +[Illustration: 7 General view of the Buddhist cave-temples of Yuen-kang. +In the foreground, the present village; in the background, the rampart. +_Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +Owing to his bringing up, the emperor no longer regarded himself as Toba +but as Chinese; he adopted the Chinese culture, acting as he was bound +to do if he meant to be no longer an alien ruler in North China. Already +he regarded himself as emperor of all China, so that the South Chinese +empire was looked upon as a rebel state that had to be conquered. While, +however, he succeeded in everything else, the campaign against the south +failed except for some local successes. + +The transfer of the capital to Loyang was a blow to the Toba nobles. +Their herds became valueless, for animal products could not be carried +over the long distance to the new capital. In Loyang the Toba nobles +found themselves parted from their tribes, living in an unaccustomed +climate and with nothing to do, for all important posts were occupied by +Chinese. The government refused to allow them to return to the north. +Those who did not become Chinese by finding their way into Chinese +families grew visibly poorer and poorer. + +5 _Victory and retreat of Buddhism_ + +What we said in regard to the religious position of the other alien +peoples applied also to the Toba. As soon, however, as their empire +grew, they, too, needed an "official" religion of their own. For a few +years they had continued their old sacrifices to Heaven; then another +course opened to them. The Toba, together with many Chinese living in +the Toba empire, were all captured by Buddhism, and especially by its +shamanist element. One element in their preference of Buddhism was +certainly the fact that Buddhism accepted all foreigners alike--both the +Toba and the Chinese were "foreign" converts to an essentially Indian +religion; whereas the Confucianist Chinese always made the non-Chinese +feel that in spite of all their attempts they were still "barbarians" +and that only real Chinese could be real Confucianists. + +Secondly, it can be assumed that the Toba rulers by fostering Buddhism +intended to break the power of the Chinese gentry. A few centuries +later, Buddhism was accepted by the Tibetan kings to break the power of +the native nobility, by the Japanese to break the power of a federation +of noble clans, and still later by the Burmese kings for the same +reason. The acceptance of Buddhism by rulers in the Far East always +meant also an attempt to create a more autocratic, absolutistic regime. +Mahayana Buddhism, as an ideal, desired a society without clear-cut +classes under one enlightened ruler; in such a society all believers +could strive to attain the ultimate goal of salvation. + +Throughout the early period of Buddhism in the Far East, the question +had been discussed what should be the relations between the Buddhist +monks and the emperor, whether they were subject to him or not. This was +connected, of course, with the fact that to the early fourth century the +Buddhist monks were foreigners who, in the view prevalent in the Far +East, owed only a limited allegiance to the ruler of the land. The +Buddhist monks at the Toba court now submitted to the emperor, regarding +him as a reincarnation of Buddha. Thus the emperor became protector of +Buddhism and a sort of god. This combination was a good substitute for +the old Chinese theory that the emperor was the Son of Heaven; it +increased the prestige and the splendour of the dynasty. At the same +time the old shamanism was legitimized under a Buddhist +reinterpretation. Thus Buddhism became a sort of official religion. The +emperor appointed a Buddhist monk as head of the Buddhist state church, +and through this "Pope" he conveyed endowments on a large scale to the +church. T'an-yao, head of the state church since 460, induced the state +to attach state slaves, i.e. enslaved family members of criminals, and +their families to state temples. They were supposed to work on temple +land and to produce for the upkeep of the temples and monasteries. Thus, +the institution of "temple slaves" was created, an institution which +existed in South Asia and Burma for a long time, and which greatly +strengthened the economic position of Buddhism. + +Like all Turkish peoples, the Toba possessed a myth according to which +their ancestors came into the world from a sacred grotto. The Buddhists +took advantage of this conception to construct, with money from the +emperor, the vast and famous cave-temple of Yuen-kang, in northern +Shansi. If we come from the bare plains into the green river valley, we +may see to this day hundreds of caves cut out of the steep cliffs of the +river bank. Here monks lived in their cells, worshipping the deities of +whom they had thousands of busts and reliefs sculptured in stone, some +of more than life-size, some diminutive. The majestic impression made +today by the figures does not correspond to their original effect, for +they were covered with a layer of coloured stucco. + +We know only few names of the artists and craftsmen who made these +objects. Probably some at least were foreigners from Turkestan, for in +spite of the predominantly Chinese character of these sculptures, some +of them are reminiscent of works in Turkestan and even in the Near East. +In the past the influences of the Near East on the Far East--influences +traced back in the last resort to Greece--were greatly exaggerated; it +was believed that Greek art, carried through Alexander's campaign as far +as the present Afghanistan, degenerated there in the hands of Indian +imitators (the so-called Gandhara art) and ultimately passed on in more +and more distorted forms through Turkestan to China. Actually, however, +some eight hundred years lay between Alexander's campaign and the Toba +period sculptures at Yuen-kang and, owing to the different cultural +development, the contents of the Greek and the Toba-period art were +entirely different. We may say, therefore, that suggestions came from +the centre of the Greco-Bactrian culture (in the present Afghanistan) +and were worked out by the Toba artists; old forms were filled with a +new content, and the elements in the reliefs of Yuen-kang that seem to us +to be non-Chinese were the result of this synthesis of Western +inspiration and Turkish initiative. It is interesting to observe that +all steppe rulers showed special interest in sculpture and, as a rule, +in architecture; after the Toba period, sculpture flourished in China in +the T'ang period, the period of strong cultural influence from Turkish +peoples, and there was a further advance of sculpture and of the +cave-dwellers' worship in the period of the "Five Dynasties" (906-960; +three of these dynasties were Turkish) and in the Mongol period. + +But not all Buddhists joined the "Church", just as not all Taoists had +joined the Church of Chang Ling's Taoism. Some Buddhists remained in the +small towns and villages and suffered oppression from the central +Church. These village Buddhist monks soon became instigators of a +considerable series of attempts at revolution. Their Buddhism was of the +so-called "Maitreya school", which promised the appearance on earth of a +new Buddha who would do away with all suffering and introduce a Golden +Age. The Chinese peasantry, exploited by the gentry, came to the support +of these monks whose Messianism gave the poor a hope in this world. The +nomad tribes also, abandoned by their nobles in the capital and +wandering in poverty with their now worthless herds, joined these monks. +We know of many revolts of Hun and Toba tribes in this period, revolts +that had a religious appearance but in reality were simply the result of +the extreme impoverishment of these remaining tribes. + +In addition to these conflicts between state and popular Buddhism, +clashes between Buddhists and representatives of organized Taoism +occurred. Such fights, however, reflected more the power struggle +between cliques than between religious groups. The most famous incident +was the action against the Buddhists in 446 which brought destruction to +many temples and monasteries and death to many monks. Here, a mighty +Chinese gentry faction under the leadership of the Ts'ui family had +united with the Taoist leader K'ou Ch'ien-chih against another faction +under the leadership of the crown prince. + +With the growing influence of the Chinese gentry, however, Confucianism +gained ground again, until with the transfer of the capital to Loyang it +gained a complete victory, taking the place of Buddhism and becoming +once more as in the past the official religion of the state. This +process shows us once more how closely the social order of the gentry +was associated with Confucianism. + + +(E) Succession States of the Toba (A.D. 550-580): Northern Ch'i dynasty, +Northern Chou dynasty + +1 _Reasons for the splitting of the Toba empire_ + +Events now pursued their logical course. The contrast between the +central power, now become entirely Chinese, and the remains of the +tribes who were with their herds mainly in Shansi and the Ordos region +and were hopelessly impoverished, grew more and more acute. From 530 +onward the risings became more and more formidable. A few Toba who still +remained with their old tribes placed themselves at the head of the +rebels and conquered not only the whole of Shansi but also the capital, +where there was a great massacre of Chinese and pro-Chinese Toba. The +rebels were driven back; in this a man of the Kao family distinguished +himself, and all the Chinese and pro-Chinese gathered round him. The Kao +family, which may have been originally a Hsien-pi family, had its +estates in eastern China and so was closely associated with the eastern +Chinese gentry, who were the actual rulers of the Toba State. In 534 +this group took the impotent emperor of their own creation to the city +of Yeh in the east, where he reigned _de jure_ for a further sixteen +years. Then he was deposed, and Kao Yang made himself the first emperor +of the Northern Ch'i dynasty (550-577). + +The national Toba group, on the other hand, found another man of the +imperial family and established him in the west. After a short time this +puppet was removed from the throne and a man of the Yue-wen family made +himself emperor, founding the "Northern Chou dynasty" (557-580). The +Hsien-pi family of Yue-wen was a branch of the Hsien-pi, but was closely +connected with the Huns and probably of Turkish origin. All the still +existing remains of Toba tribes who had eluded sinification moved into +this western empire. + +The splitting of the Toba empire into these two separate realms was the +result of the policy embarked on at the foundation of the empire. Once +the tribal chieftains and nobles had been separated from their tribes +and organized militarily, it was inevitable that the two elements should +have different social destinies. The nobles could not hold their own +against the Chinese; if they were not actually eliminated in one way or +another, they disappeared into Chinese families. The rest, the people of +the tribe, became destitute and were driven to revolt. The northern +peoples had been unable to perpetuate either their tribal or their +military organization, and the Toba had been equally unsuccessful in +their attempt to perpetuate the two forms of organization alongside each +other. + +These social processes are of particular importance because the ethnical +disappearance of the northern peoples in China had nothing to do with +any racial inferiority or with any particular power of assimilation; it +was a natural process resulting from the different economic, social, and +cultural organizations of the northern peoples and the Chinese. + +2 _Appearance of the (Goek) Turks_ + +The Toba had liberated themselves early in the fifth century from the +Juan-juan peril. None of the fighting that followed was of any great +importance. The Toba resorted to the old means of defence against +nomads--they built great walls. Apart from that, after their move +southward to Loyang, their new capital, they were no longer greatly +interested in their northern territories. When the Toba empire split +into the Ch'i and the Northern Chou, the remaining Juan-juan entered +into treaties first with one realm and then with the other: each realm +wanted to secure the help of the Juan-juan against the other. + +Meanwhile there came unexpectedly to the fore in the north a people +grouped round a nucleus tribe of Huns, the tribal union of the +"T'u-chueeh", that is to say the Goek Turks, who began to pursue a policy +of their own under their khan. In 546 they sent a mission to the western +empire, then in the making, of the Northern Chou, and created the first +bonds with it, following which the Northern Chou became allies of the +Turks. The eastern empire, Ch'i, accordingly made terms with the +Juan-juan, but in 552 the latter suffered a crushing defeat at the hands +of the Turks, their former vassals. The remains of the Juan-juan either +fled to the Ch'i state or went reluctantly into the land of the Chou. +Soon there was friction between the Juan-juan and the Ch'i, and in 555 +the Juan-juan in that state were annihilated. In response to pressure +from the Turks, the Juan-juan in the western empire of the Northern Chou +were delivered up to them and killed in the same year. The Juan-juan +then disappeared from the history of the Far East. They broke up into +their several tribes, some of which were admitted into the Turks' tribal +league. A few years later the Turks also annihilated the Ephtalites, +who had been allied with the Juan-juan; this made the Turks the dominant +power in Central Asia. The Ephtalites (Yeh-ta, Haytal) were a mixed +group which contained elements of the old Yueeh-chih and spoke an +Indo-European language. Some scholars regard them as a branch of the +Tocharians of Central Asia. One menace to the northern states of China +had disappeared--that of the Juan-juan. Their place was taken by a much +more dangerous power, the Turks. + +3 _The Northern Ch'i dynasty; the Northern Chou dynasty_ + +In consequence of this development the main task of the Northern Chou +state consisted in the attempt to come to some settlement with its +powerful Turkish neighbours, and meanwhile to gain what it could from +shrewd negotiations with its other neighbours. By means of intrigues and +diplomacy it intervened with some success in the struggles in South +China. One of the pretenders to the throne was given protection; he was +installed in the present Hankow as a quasi-feudal lord depending on +Chou, and there he founded the "Later Liang dynasty" (555-587). In this +way Chou had brought the bulk of South China under its control without +itself making any real contribution to that result. + +Unlike the Chinese state of Ch'i, Chou followed the old Toba tradition. +Old customs were revived, such as the old sacrifice to Heaven and the +lifting of the emperor on to a carpet at his accession to the throne; +family names that had been sinified were turned into Toba names again, +and even Chinese were given Toba names; but in spite of this the inner +cohesion had been destroyed. After two centuries it was no longer +possible to go back to the old nomad, tribal life. There were also too +many Chinese in the country, with whom close bonds had been forged +which, in spite of all attempts, could not be broken. Consequently there +was no choice but to organize a state essentially similar to that of the +great Toba empire. + +There is just as little of importance that can be said of the internal +politics of the Ch'i dynasty. The rulers of that dynasty were thoroughly +repulsive figures, with no positive achievements of any sort to their +credit. Confucianism had been restored in accordance with the Chinese +character of the state. It was a bad time for Buddhists, and especially +for the followers of the popularized Taoism. In spite of this, about +A.D. 555 great new Buddhist cave-temples were created in Lung-men, near +Loyang, in imitation of the famous temples of Yuen-kang. + +The fighting with the western empire, the Northern Chou state, still +continued, and Ch'i was seldom successful. In 563 Chou made preparations +for a decisive blow against Ch'i, but suffered defeat because the Turks, +who had promised aid, gave none and shortly afterwards began campaigns +of their own against Ch'i. In 571 Ch'i had some success in the west +against Chou, but then it lost parts of its territory to the South +Chinese empire, and finally in 576-7 it was defeated by Chou in a great +counter-offensive. Thus for some three years all North China was once +more under a single rule, though of nothing approaching the strength of +the Toba at the height of their power. For in all these campaigns the +Turks had played an important part, and at the end they annexed further +territory in the north of Ch'i, so that their power extended far into +the east. + +Meanwhile intrigue followed intrigue at the court of Chou; the mutual +assassinations within the ruling group were as incessant as in the last +years of the great Toba empire, until the real power passed from the +emperor and his Toba entourage to a Chinese family, the Yang. Yang +Chien's daughter was the wife of a Chou emperor; his son was married to +a girl of the Hun family Tu-ku; her sister was the wife of the father of +the Chou emperor. Amid this tangled relationship in the imperial house +it is not surprising that Yang Chien should attain great power. The +Tu-ku were a very old family of the Hun nobility; originally the name +belonged to the Hun house from which the _shan-yue_ had to be descended. +This family still observed the traditions of the Hun rulers, and +relationship with it was regarded as an honour even by the Chinese. +Through their centuries of association with aristocratically organized +foreign peoples, some of the notions of nobility had taken root among +the Chinese gentry; to be related with old ruling houses was a welcome +means of evidencing or securing a position of special distinction among +the gentry. Yang Chien gained useful prestige from his family +connections. After the leading Chinese cliques had regained predominance +in the Chou empire, much as had happened before in the Toba empire, Yang +Chien's position was strong enough to enable him to massacre the members +of the imperial family and then, in 581, to declare himself emperor. +Thus began the Sui dynasty, the first dynasty that was once more to rule +all China. + +But what had happened to the Toba? With the ending of the Chou empire +they disappeared for all time, just as the Juan-juan had done a little +earlier. So far as the tribes did not entirely disintegrate, the people +of the tribes seem during the last years of Toba and Chou to have joined +Turkish and other tribes. In any case, nothing more is heard of them as +a people, and they themselves lived on under the name of the tribe that +led the new tribal league. + +Most of the Toba nobility, on the other hand, became Chinese. This +process can be closely followed in the Chinese annals. The tribes that +had disintegrated in the time of the Toba empire broke up into families +of which some adopted the name of the tribe as their family name, while +others chose Chinese family names. During the centuries that followed, +in some cases indeed down to modern times, these families continue to +appear, often playing an important part in Chinese history. + + +(F) The Southern Empires + +1 _Economic and social situation in the south_ + +During the 260 years of alien rule in North China, the picture of South +China also was full of change. When in 317 the Huns had destroyed the +Chinese Chin dynasty in the north, a Chin prince who normally would not +have become heir to the throne declared himself, under the name Yuean Ti, +the first emperor of the "Eastern Chin dynasty" (317-419). The capital +of this new southern empire adjoined the present Nanking. Countless +members of the Chinese gentry had fled from the Huns at that time and +had come into the southern empire. They had not done so out of loyalty +to the Chinese dynasty or out of national feeling, but because they saw +little prospect of attaining rank and influence at the courts of the +alien rulers, and because it was to be feared that the aliens would turn +the fields into pasturage, and also that they would make an end of the +economic and monetary system which the gentry had evolved for their own +benefit. + +But the south was, of course, not uninhabited. There were already two +groups living there--the old autochthonous population, consisting of +Yao, Tai and Yueeh, and the earlier Chinese immigrants from the north, +who had mainly arrived in the time of the Three Kingdoms, at the +beginning of the third century A.D. The countless new immigrants now +came into sharp conflict with the old-established earlier immigrants. +Each group looked down on the other and abused it. The two immigrant +groups in particular not only spoke different dialects but had developed +differently in respect to manners and customs. A look for example at +Formosa in the years after 1948 will certainly help in an understanding +of this situation: analogous tensions developed between the new +refugees, the old Chinese immigrants, and the native Formosan +population. But let us return to the southern empires. + +The two immigrant groups also differed economically and socially: the +old immigrants were firmly established on the large properties they had +acquired, and dominated their tenants, who were largely autochthones; or +they had engaged in large-scale commerce. In any case, they possessed +capital, and more capital than was usually possessed by the gentry of +the north. Some of the new immigrants, on the other hand, were military +people. They came with empty hands, and they had no land. They hoped +that the government would give them positions in the military +administration and so provide them with means; they tried to gain +possession of the government and to exclude the old settlers as far as +possible. The tension was increased by the effect of the influx of +Chinese in bringing more land into cultivation, thus producing a boom +period such as is produced by the opening up of colonial land. Everyone +was in a hurry to grab as much land as possible. There was yet a further +difference between the two groups of Chinese: the old settlers had long +lost touch with the remainder of their families in the north. They had +become South Chinese, and all their interests lay in the south. The new +immigrants had left part of their families in the north under alien +rule. Their interests still lay to some extent in the north. They were +working for the reconquest of the north by military means; at times +individuals or groups returned to the north, while others persuaded the +rest of their relatives to come south. It would be wrong to suppose that +there was no inter-communication between the two parts into which China +had fallen. As soon as the Chinese gentry were able to regain any +footing in the territories under alien rule, the official relations, +often those of belligerency, proceeded alongside unofficial intercourse +between individual families and family groupings, and these latter were, +as a rule, in no way belligerent. + +The lower stratum in the south consisted mainly of the remains of the +original non-Chinese population, particularly in border and southern +territories which had been newly annexed from time to time. In the +centre of the southern state the way of life of the non-Chinese was very +quickly assimilated to that of the Chinese, so that the aborigines were +soon indistinguishable from Chinese. The remaining part of the lower +class consisted of impoverished Chinese peasants. This whole lower +section of the population rarely took any active and visible part in +politics, except at times in the form of great popular risings. + +Until the third century, the south had been of no great economic +importance, in spite of the good climate and the extraordinary fertility +of the Yangtze valley. The country had been too thinly settled, and the +indigenous population had not become adapted to organized trade. After +the move southward of the Chin dynasty the many immigrants had made the +country of the lower Yangtze more thickly populated, but not +over-populated. The top-heavy court with more than the necessary number +of officials (because there was still hope for a reconquest of the north +which would mean many new jobs for administrators) was a great consumer; +prices went up and stimulated local rice production. The estates of the +southern gentry yielded more than before, and naturally much more than +the small properties of the gentry in the north where, moreover, the +climate is far less favourable. Thus the southern landowners were able +to acquire great wealth, which ultimately made itself felt in the +capital. + +One very important development was characteristic in this period in the +south, although it also occurred in the north. Already in pre-Han times, +some rulers had gardens with fruit trees. The Han emperors had large +hunting parks which were systematically stocked with rare animals; they +also had gardens and hot-houses for the production of vegetables for the +court. These "gardens" (_yuean_) were often called "manors" (_pieh-yeh_) +and consisted of fruit plantations with luxurious buildings. We hear +soon of water-cooled houses for the gentry, of artificial ponds for +pleasure and fish breeding, artificial water-courses, artificial +mountains, bamboo groves, and parks with parrots, ducks, and large +animals. Here, the wealthy gentry of both north and south, relaxed from +government work, surrounded by their friends and by women. These manors +grew up in the hills, on the "village commons" where formerly the +villagers had collected their firewood and had grazed their animals. +Thus, the village commons begin to disappear. The original farm land was +taxed, because it produced one of the two products subject to taxation, +namely grain or mulberry leaves for silk production. But the village +common had been and remained tax-free because it did not produce taxable +things. While land-holdings on the farmland were legally restricted in +their size, the "gardens" were unrestricted. Around A.D. 500 the ruler +allowed high officials to have manors of three hundred mou size, while +in the north a family consisting of husband and wife and children below +fifteen years of age were allowed a farm of sixty mou only; but we hear +of manors which were many times larger than the allowed size of three +hundred. These manors began to play an important economic role, too: +they were cultivated by tenants and produced fishes, vegetables, fruit +and bamboo for the market, thus they gave more income than ordinary rice +or wheat land. + +With the creation of manors the total amount of land under cultivation +increased, though not the amount of grain-producing land. We gain the +impression that from _c_. the third century A.D. on to the eleventh +century the intensity of cultivation was generally lower than in the +period before. + +The period from _c_. A.D. 300 on also seems to be the time of the second +change in Chinese dietary habits. The first change occurred probably +between 400 and 100 B.C. when the meat-eating Chinese reduced their meat +intake greatly, gave up eating beef and mutton and changed over to some +pork and dog meat. This first change was the result of increase of +population and decrease of available land for pasturage. Cattle breeding +in China was then reduced to the minimum of one cow or water-buffalo per +farm for ploughing. Wheat was the main staple for the masses of the +people. Between A.D. 300 and 600 rice became the main staple in the +southern states although, theoretically, wheat could have been grown and +some wheat probably was grown in the south. The vitamin and protein +deficiencies which this change from wheat to rice brought forth, were +made up by higher consumption of vegetables, especially beans, and +partially also by eating of fish and sea food. In the north, rice became +the staple food of the upper class, while wheat remained the main food +of the lower classes. However, new forms of preparation of wheat, such +as dumplings of different types, were introduced. The foreign rulers +consumed more meat and milk products. Chinese had given up the use of +milk products at the time of the first change, and took to them to some +extent only in periods of foreign rule. + +2 _Struggles between cliques under the Eastern Chin dynasty_ (A.D. +317-419) + +The officials immigrating from the north regarded the south as colonial +country, and so as more or less uncivilized. They went into its +provinces in order to get rich as quickly as possible, and they had no +desire to live there for long: they had the same dislike of a provincial +existence as had the families of the big landowners. Thus as a rule the +bulk of the families remained in the capital, close to the court. +Thither the products accumulated in the provinces were sent, and they +found a ready sale, as the capital was also a great and long-established +trading centre with a rich merchant class. Thus in the capital there was +every conceivable luxury and every refinement of civilization. The +people of the gentry class, who were maintained in the capital by +relatives serving in the provinces as governors or senior officers, +themselves held offices at court, though these gave them little to do. +They had time at their disposal, and made use of it--in much worse +intrigues than ever before, but also in music and poetry and in the +social life of the harems. There is no question at all that the highest +refinement of the civilization of the Far East between the fourth and +the sixth century was to be found in South China, but the accompaniments +of this over-refinement were terrible. + +We cannot enter into all the intrigues recorded at this time. The +details are, indeed, historically unimportant. They were concerned only +with the affairs of the court and its entourage. Not a single ruler of +the Eastern Chin dynasty possessed personal or political qualities of +any importance. The rulers' power was extremely limited because, with +the exception of the founder of the state, Yuean Ti, who had come rather +earlier, they belonged to the group of the new immigrants, and so had no +firm footing and were therefore caught at once in the net of the newly +re-grouping gentry class. + +The emperor Yuean Ti lived to see the first great rising. This rising +(under Wang Tun) started in the region of the present Hankow, a region +that today is one of the most important in China; it was already a +centre of special activity. To it lead all the trade routes from the +western provinces of Szechwan and Kweichow and from the central +provinces of Hupei, Hunan, and Kiangsi. Normally the traffic from those +provinces comes down the Yangtze, and thus in practice this region is +united with that of the lower Yangtze, the environment of Nanking, so +that Hankow might just as well have been the capital as Nanking. For +this reason, in the period with which we are now concerned the region of +the present Hankow was several times the place of origin of great +risings whose aim was to gain control of the whole of the southern +empire. + +Wang Tun had grown rich and powerful in this region; he also had near +relatives at the imperial court; so he was able to march against the +capital. The emperor in his weakness was ready to abdicate but died +before that stage was reached. His son, however, defeated Wang Tun with +the aid of General Yue Liang (A.D. 323). Yue Liang was the empress's +brother; he, too, came from a northern family. Yuean Ti's successor also +died early, and the young son of Yue Liang's sister came to the throne as +Emperor Ch'eng (326-342); his mother ruled as regent, but Yue Liang +carried on the actual business of government. Against this clique rose +Su Chuen, another member of the northern gentry, who had made himself +leader of a bandit gang in A.D. 300 but had then been given a military +command by the dynasty. In 328 he captured the capital and kidnapped the +emperor, but then fell before the counterthrust of the Yue Liang party. +The domination of Yue Liang's clique continued after the death of the +twenty-one-years-old emperor. His twenty-year-old brother was set in +his place; he, too, died two years later, and his two-year-old son +became emperor (Mu Ti, 345-361). + +Meanwhile this clique was reinforced by the very important Huan family. +This family came from the same city as the imperial house and was a very +old gentry family of that city. One of the family attained a high post +through personal friendship with Yue Liang: on his death his son Huan Wen +came into special prominence as military commander. + +Huan Wen, like Wang Tun and others before him, tried to secure a firm +foundation for his power, once more in the west. In 347 he reconquered +Szechwan and deposed the local dynasty. Following this, Huan Wen and the +Yue family undertook several joint campaigns against northern states--the +first reaction of the south against the north, which in the past had +always been the aggressor. The first fighting took place directly to the +north, where the collapse of the "Later Chao" seemed to make +intervention easy. The main objective was the regaining of the regions +of eastern Honan, northern Anhui and Kiangsu, in which were the family +seats of Huan's and the emperor's families, as well as that of the Hsieh +family which also formed an important group in the court clique. The +purpose of the northern campaigns was not, of course, merely to defend +private interests of court cliques: the northern frontier was the weak +spot of the southern empire, for its plains could easily be overrun. It +was then observed that the new "Earlier Ch'in" state was trying to +spread from the north-west eastwards into this plain, and Ch'in was +attacked in an attempt to gain a more favourable frontier territory. +These expeditions brought no important practical benefit to the south; +and they were not embarked on with full force, because there was only +the one court clique at the back of them, and that not whole-heartedly, +since it was too much taken up with the politics of the court. + +Huan Wen's power steadily grew in the period that followed. He sent his +brothers and relatives to administer the regions along the upper +Yangtze; those fertile regions were the basis of his power. In 371 he +deposed the reigning emperor and appointed in his place a frail old +prince who died a year later, as required, and was replaced by a child. +The time had now come when Huan Wen might have ascended the throne +himself, but he died. None of his family could assemble as much power as +Huan Wen had done. The equality of strength of the Huan and the Hsieh +saved the dynasty for a time. + +In 383 came the great assault of the Tibetan Fu Chien against the +south. As we know, the defence was carried out more by the methods of +diplomacy and intrigue than by military means, and it led to the +disaster in the north already described. The successes of the southern +state especially strengthened the Hsieh family, whose generals had come +to the fore. The emperor (Hsiao Wu Ti, 373-396), who had come to the +throne as a child, played no part in events at any time during his +reign. He occupied himself occasionally with Buddhism, and otherwise +only with women and wine. He was followed by his five-year-old son. At +this time there were some changes in the court clique. In the Huan +family Huan Hsuean, a son of Huan Wen, came especially into prominence. +He parted from the Hsieh family, which had been closest to the emperor, +and united with the Wang (the empress's) and Yin families. The Wang, an +old Shansi family, had already provided two empresses, and was therefore +strongly represented at court. The Yin had worked at first with the +Hsieh, especially as the two families came from the same region, but +afterwards the Yin went over to Huan Hsuean. At first this new clique had +success, but later one of its generals, Liu Lao-chih, went over to the +Hsieh clique, and its power declined. Wang Kung was killed, and Yin +Chung-k'an fell away from Huan Hsuean and was killed by him in 399. Huan +Hsuean himself, however, held his own in the regions loyal to him. Liu +Lao-chih had originally belonged to the Hsieh clique, and his family +came from a region not far from that of the Hsieh. He was very +ambitious, however, and always took the side which seemed most to his +own interest. For a time he joined Huan Hsuean; then he went over to the +Hsieh, and finally returned to Huan Hsuean in 402 when the latter reached +the height of his power. At that moment Liu Lao-chih was responsible for +the defence of the capital from Huan Hsuean, but instead he passed over +to him. Thus Huan Hsuean conquered the capital, deposed the emperor, and +began a dynasty of his own. Then came the reaction, led by an earlier +subordinate of Liu Lao-chih, Liu Yue. It may be assumed that these two +army commanders were in some way related, though the two branches of +their family must have been long separated. Liu Yue had distinguished +himself especially in the suppression of a great popular rising which, +around the year 400, had brought wide stretches of Chinese territory +under the rebels' power, beginning with the southern coast. This rising +was the first in the south. It was led by members of a secret society +which was a direct continuation of the "Yellow Turbans" of the latter +part of the second century A.D. and of organized church-Taoism. The +whole course of this rising of the exploited and ill-treated lower +classes was very similar to that of the popular rising of the "Yellow +Turbans". The movement spread as far as the neighbourhood of Canton, +but in the end it was suppressed, mainly by Liu Yue. + +Through these achievements Liu Yue's military power and political +influence steadily increased; he became the exponent of all the cliques +working against the Huan clique. He arranged for his supporters to +dispose of Huan Hsuean's chief collaborators; and then, in 404, he +himself marched on the capital. Huan Hsuean had to flee, and in his +flight he was killed in the upper Yangtze region. The emperor was +restored to his throne, but he had as little to say as ever, for the +real power was Liu Yue's. + +Before making himself emperor, Liu Yue began his great northern campaign, +aimed at the conquest of the whole of western China. The Toba had +promised to remain neutral, and in 415 he was able to conquer the "Later +Ch'in" in Shensi. The first aim of this campaign was to make more +accessible the trade routes to Central Asia, which up to now had led +through the difficult mountain passes of Szechwan; to this end treaties +of alliance had been concluded with the states in Kansu against the +"Later Ch'in". In the second place, this war was intended to increase Liu +Yue's military strength to such an extent that the imperial crown would +be assured to him; and finally he hoped to cut the claws of pro-Huan +Hsuean elements in the "Later Ch'in" kingdom who, for the sake of the +link with Turkestan, had designs on Szechwan. + +3 _The Liu-Sung dynasty_ (A.D. 420-478) _and the Southern Ch'i dynasty_ +(479-501) + +After his successes in 416-17 in Shensi, Liu Yue returned to the capital, +and shortly after he lost the chief fruits of his victory to Ho-lien +P'o-p'o, the Hun ruler in the north, while Liu Yue himself was occupied +with the killing of the emperor (419) and the installation of a puppet. +In 420 the puppet had to abdicate and Liu Yue became emperor. He called +his dynasty the Sung dynasty, but to distinguish it from another and +more famous Sung dynasty of later time his dynasty is also called the +Liu-Sung dynasty. + +The struggles and intrigues of cliques against each other continued as +before. We shall pass quickly over this period after a glance at the +nature of these internal struggles. + +Part of the old imperial family and its following fled northward from +Liu Yue and surrendered to the Toba. There they agitated for a campaign +of vengeance against South China, and they were supported at the court +of the Toba by many families of the gentry with landed interests in the +south. Thus long-continued fighting started between Sung and Toba, +concerned mainly with the domains of the deposed imperial family and +its following. This fighting brought little success to south China, and +about 450 it produced among the Toba an economic and social crisis that +brought the wars to a temporary close. In this pause the Sung turned to +the extreme south, and tried to gain influence there and in Annam. The +merchant class and the gentry families of the capital who were allied +with it were those chiefly interested in this expansion. + +About 450 began the Toba policy of shifting the central government to +the region of the Yellow River, to Loyang; for this purpose the frontier +had to be pushed farther south. Their great campaign brought the Toba in +450 down to the Yangtze. The Sung suffered a heavy defeat; they had to +pay tribute, and the Toba annexed parts of their northern territory. + +The Sung emperors who followed were as impotent as their predecessors +and personally much more repulsive. Nothing happened at court but +drinking, licentiousness, and continual murders. + +From 460 onward there were a number of important risings of princes; in +some of them the Toba had a hand. They hoped by supporting one or +another of the pretenders to gain overlordship over the whole of the +southern empire. In these struggles in the south the Hsiao family, +thanks mainly to General Hsiao Tao-ch'eng, steadily gained in power, +especially as the family was united by marriage with the imperial house. +In 477 Hsiao Tao-ch'eng finally had the emperor killed by an accomplice, +the son of a shamaness; he set a boy on the throne and made himself +regent. Very soon after this the boy emperor and all the members of the +imperial family were murdered, and Hsiao Tao-ch'eng created the +"Southern Ch'i" dynasty (479-501). Once more the remaining followers of +the deposed dynasty fled northward to the Toba, and at once fighting +between Toba and the south began again. + +This fighting ended with a victory for the Toba and with the final +establishment of the Toba in the new capital of Loyang. South China was +heavily defeated again and again, but never finally conquered. There +were intervals of peace. In the years between 480 and 490 there was less +disorder in the south, at all events in internal affairs. Princes were +more often appointed to governorships, and the influence of the cliques +was thus weakened. In spite of this, a stable regime was not built up, +and in 494 a prince rose against the youthful emperor. This prince, with +the help of his clique including the Ch'en family, which later attained +importance, won the day, murdered the emperor, and became emperor +himself. All that is recorded about him is that he fought unsuccessfully +against the Toba, and that he had the whole of his own family killed out +of fear that one of its members might act exactly as he had done. After +his death there were conflicts between the emperor's few remaining +relatives; in these the Toba again had a hand. The victor was a person +named Hsiao Yen; he removed the reigning emperor in the usual way and +made himself emperor. Although he belonged to the imperial family, he +altered the name of the dynasty, and reigned from 502 as the first +emperor of the "Liang dynasty". + +[Illustration: 8 Detail from the Buddhist cave-reliefs of Lung-men. +_From a print in the author's possession_.] + +[Illustration: 9 Statue of Mi-lo (Maitreya, the next future Buddha), in +the 'Great Buddha Temple' at Chengting (Hopei). _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +4 _The Liang dynasty_ (A.D. 502-556) + +The fighting with the Toba continued until 515. As a rule the Toba were +the more successful, not at least through the aid of princes of the +deposed "Southern Ch'i dynasty" and their followers. Wars began also in +the west, where the Toba tried to cut off the access of the Liang to the +caravan routes to Turkestan. In 507, however, the Toba suffered an +important defeat. The southern states had tried at all times to work +with the Kansu states against the northern states; the Toba now followed +suit and allied themselves with a large group of native chieftains of +the south, whom they incited to move against the Liang. This produced +great native unrest, especially in the provinces by the upper Yangtze. +The natives, who were steadily pushed back by the Chinese peasants, were +reduced to migrating into the mountain country or to working for the +Chinese in semi-servile conditions; and they were ready for revolt and +very glad to work with the Toba. The result of this unrest was not +decisive, but it greatly reduced the strength of the regions along the +upper Yangtze. Thus the main strength of the southern state was more +than ever confined to the Nanking region. + +The first emperor of the Liang dynasty, who assumed the name Wu Ti +(502-549), became well known in the Western world owing to his love of +literature and of Buddhism. After he had come to the throne with the aid +of his followers, he took no further interest in politics; he left that +to his court clique. From now on, however, the political initiative +really belonged to the north. At this time there began in the Toba +empire the risings of tribal leaders against the government which we +have fully described above. One of these leaders, Hou Ching, who had +become powerful as a military leader in the north, tried in 547 to +conclude a private alliance with the Liang to strengthen his own +position. At the same time the ruler of the northern state of the +"Northern Ch'i", then in process of formation, himself wanted to +negotiate an alliance with the Liang, in order to be able to get rid of +Hou Ching. There was indecision in Liang. Hou Ching, who had been +getting into difficulties, now negotiated with a dissatisfied prince in +Liang, invaded the country in 548 with the prince's aid, captured the +capital in 549, and killed Emperor Wu. Hou Ching now staged the usual +spectacle: he put a puppet on the imperial throne, deposed him eighteen +months later and made himself emperor. + +This man of the Toba on the throne of South China was unable, however, +to maintain his position; he had not sufficient backing. He was at war +with the new rulers in the northern empire, and his own army, which was +not very large, melted away; above all, he proceeded with excessive +harshness against the helpers who had gained access for him to the +Liang, and thereafter he failed to secure a following from among the +leading cliques at court. In 552 he was driven out by a Chinese army led +by one of the princes and was killed. + +The new emperor had been a prince in the upper Yangtze region, and his +closest associates were engaged there. They did not want to move to the +distant capital, Nanking, because their private financial interests +would have suffered. The emperor therefore remained in the city now +called Hankow. He left the eastern territory in the hands of two +powerful generals, one of whom belonged to the Ch'en family, which he no +longer had the strength to remove. In this situation the generals in the +east made themselves independent, and this naturally produced tension at +once between the east and the west of the Liang empire; this tension was +now exploited by the leaders of the Chou state then in the making in the +north. On the invitation of a clique in the south and with its support, +the Chou invaded the present province of Hupei and in 555 captured the +Liang emperor's capital. They were now able to achieve their old +ambition: a prince of the Chou dynasty was installed as a feudatory of +the north, reigning until 587 in the present Hankow. He was permitted to +call his quasi-feudal territory a kingdom and his dynasty, as we know +already, the "Later Liang dynasty". + +5 _The Ch'en dynasty (A.D. 557-588) and its ending by the Sui_ + +The more important of the independent generals in the east, Ch'en +Pa-hsien, installed a shadow emperor, forced him to abdicate, and made +himself emperor. The Ch'en dynasty which thus began was even feebler +than the preceding dynasties. Its territory was confined to the lower +Yangtze valley. Once more cliques and rival pretenders were at work and +prevented any sort of constructive home policy. Abroad, certain +advantages were gained in north China over the Northern Ch'i dynasty, +but none of any great importance. + +Meanwhile in the north Yang Chien had brought into power the Chinese +Sui dynasty. It began by liquidating the quasi-feudal state of the +"Later Liang". Then followed, in 588-9, the conquest of the Ch'en +empire, almost without any serious resistance. This brought all China +once more under united rule, and a period of 360 years of division was +ended. + +6 _Cultural achievements of the south_ + +For nearly three hundred years the southern empire had witnessed +unceasing struggles between important cliques, making impossible any +peaceful development within the country. Culturally, however, the period +was rich in achievement. The court and the palaces of wealthy members of +the gentry attracted scholars and poets, and the gentry themselves had +time for artistic occupations. A large number of the best-known Chinese +poets appeared in this period, and their works plainly reflect the +conditions of that time: they are poems for the small circle of scholars +among the gentry and for cultured patrons, spiced with quotations and +allusions, elaborate in metre and construction, masterpieces of +aesthetic sensitivity--but unintelligible except to highly educated +members of the aristocracy. The works were of the most artificial type, +far removed from all natural feeling. + +Music, too, was never so assiduously cultivated as at this time. But the +old Chinese music disappeared in the south as in the north, where +dancing troupes and women musicians in the Sogdian commercial colonies +of the province of Kansu established the music of western Turkestan. +Here in the south, native courtesans brought the aboriginal, non-Chinese +music to the court; Chinese poets wrote songs in Chinese for this music, +and so the old Chinese music became unfashionable and was forgotten. The +upper class, the gentry, bought these girls, often in large numbers, and +organized them in troupes of singers and dancers, who had to appear on +festal occasions and even at the court. For merchants and other people +who lacked full social recognition there were brothels, a quite natural +feature wherever there were considerable commercial colonies or +collections of merchants, including the capital of the southern empire. + +In their ideology, as will be remembered, the Chinese gentry were always +in favour of Confucianism. Here in the south, however, the association +with Confucianism was less serious, the southern gentry, with their +relations with the merchant class, having acquired the character of +"colonial" gentry. They were brought up as Confucians, but were +interested in all sorts of different religious movements, and +especially in Buddhism. A different type of Buddhism from that in the +north had spread over most of the south, a meditative Buddhism that was +very close ideologically to the original Taoism, and so fulfilled the +same social functions as Taoism. Those who found the official life with +its intrigues repulsive, occupied themselves with meditative Buddhism. +The monks told of the sad fate of the wicked in the life to come, and +industriously filled the gentry with apprehension, so that they tried to +make up for their evil deeds by rich gifts to the monasteries. Many +emperors in this period, especially Wu Ti of the Liang dynasty, inclined +to Buddhism. Wu Ti turned to it especially in his old age, when he was +shut out entirely from the tasks of a ruler and was no longer satisfied +with the usual pleasures of the court. Several times he instituted +Buddhist ceremonies of purification on a large scale in the hope of so +securing forgiveness for the many murders he had committed. + +Genuine Taoism also came to the fore again, and with it the popular +religion with its magic, now amplified with the many local deities that +had been taken over from the indigenous population of the south. For a +time it became the fashion at court to pass the time in learned +discussions between Confucians, Buddhists, and Taoists, which were quite +similar to the debates between learned men centuries earlier at the +wealthy little Indian courts. For the court clique this was more a +matter of pastime than of religious controversy. It seems thoroughly in +harmony with the political events that here, for the first time in the +history of Chinese philosophy, materialist currents made their +appearance, running parallel with Machiavellian theories of power for +the benefit of the wealthiest of the gentry. + + Principal dynasties of North and South China + + _North and South_ + + Western Chin dynasty (A.D. 265-317) + + _North_ _South_ + + 1. Earlier Chao (Hsiung-nu) 304-329 1. Eastern Chin (Chinese) 317-419 + 2. Later Chao (Hsiung-nu) 328-352 + 3. Earlier Ch'in (Tibetans) 351-394 + 4. Later Ch'in (Tibetans) 384-417 + 5. Western Ch'in (Hsiung-nu)385-431 + 6. Earlier Yen (Hsien-pi) 352-370 + 7. Later Yen (Hsien-pi) 384-409 + 8. Western Yen (Hsien-pi) 384-395 + 9. Southern Yen (Hsien-pi) 398-410 + 10. Northern Yen (Hsien-pi) 409-436 + 11. Tai (Toba) 338-376 + 12. Earlier Liang (Chinese) 313-376 + 13. Northern Liang (Hsiung-nu) + 397-439 + 14. Western Liang (Chinese?) 400-421 + 15. Later Liang (Tibetans) 386-403 + 16. Southern Liang (Hsien-pi) + 379-414 + 17. Hsia (Hsiung-nu) 407-431 + 18. Toba (Turks) 385-550 + 2. Liu-Sung 420-478 + 3. Southern Ch'i 479-501 + 19. Northern Ch'i (Chinese?)550-576 4. Liang 502-556 + 20. Northern Chou (Toba) 557-579 5. Ch'en 557-588 + 21. Sui (Chinese) 580-618 6. Sui 580-618 + + + +Chapter Eight + + +THE EMPIRES OF THE SUI AND THE T'ANG + + +(A) The Sui dynasty (A.D. 580-618) + +1 _Internal situation in the newly unified empire_ + +The last of the northern dynasties, the Northern Chou, had been brought +to an end by Yang Chien: rapid campaigns had made an end of the +remaining petty states, and thus the Sui dynasty had come into power. +China, reunited after 360 years, was again under Chinese rule. This +event brought about a new epoch in the history of the Far East. But the +happenings of 360 years could not be wiped out by a change of dynasty. +The short Sui period can only be described as a period of transition to +unified forms. + +In the last resort the union of the various parts of China proceeded +from the north. The north had always, beyond question, been militarily +superior, because its ruling class had consisted of warlike peoples. Yet +it was not a northerner who had united China but a Chinese though, owing +to mixed marriages, he was certainly not entirely unrelated to the +northern peoples. The rule, however, of the actual northern peoples was +at an end. The start of the Sui dynasty, while the Chou still held the +north, was evidence, just like the emergence in the north-east some +thirty years earlier of the Northern Ch'i dynasty, that the Chinese +gentry with their landowning basis had gained the upper hand over the +warrior nomads. + +The Chinese gentry had not come unchanged out of that struggle. +Culturally they had taken over many things from the foreigners, +beginning with music and the style of their clothing, in which they had +entirely adopted the northern pattern, and including other elements of +daily life. Among the gentry were now many formerly alien families who +had gradually become entirely Chinese. On the other hand, the +foreigners' feudal outlook had influenced the gentry, so that a sense +of distinctions of rank had developed among them. There were Chinese +families who regarded themselves as superior to the rest, just as had +been the case among the northern peoples, and who married only among +themselves or with the ruling house and not with ordinary families of +the gentry. They paid great attention to their genealogies, had the +state keep records of them and insisted that the dynastic histories +mentioned their families and their main family members. Lists of +prominent gentry families were set up which mentioned the home of each +clan, so that pretenders could easily be detected. The rules of giving +personal names were changed so that it became possible to identify a +person's genealogical position within the family. At the same time the +contempt of the military underwent modification; the gentry were even +ready to take over high military posts, and also to profit by them. + +The new Sui empire found itself faced with many difficulties. During the +three and a half centuries of division, north and south had developed in +different ways. They no longer spoke the same language in everyday life +(we distinguish to this day between a Nanking and Peking "High Chinese", +to say nothing of dialects). The social and economic structures were +very different in the two parts of the country. How could unity be +restored in these things? + +Then there was the problem of population. The north-eastern plain had +always been thickly populated; it had early come under Toba rule and had +been able to develop further. The region round the old northern capital +Ch'ang-an, on the other hand, had suffered greatly from the struggles +before the Toba period and had never entirely recovered. Meanwhile, in +the south the population had greatly increased in the region north of +Nanking, while the regions south of the Yangtze and the upper Yangtze +valley were more thinly peopled. The real South, i.e. the modern +provinces of Fukien, Kwangtung and Kwangsi, was still underdeveloped, +mainly because of the malaria there. In the matter of population the +north unquestionably remained prominent. + +The founder of the Sui dynasty, known by his reign name of Wen Ti +(589-604), came from the west, close to Ch'ang-an. There he and his +following had their extensive domains. Owing to the scanty population +there and the resulting shortage of agricultural labourers, these +properties were very much less productive than the small properties in +the north-east. This state of things was well known in the south, and it +was expected, with good reason, that the government would try to +transfer parts of the population to the north-west, in order to settle a +peasantry round the capital for the support of its greatly increasing +staff of officials, and to satisfy the gentry of the region. This +produced several revolts in the south. + +As an old soldier who had long been a subject of the Toba, Wen Ti had no +great understanding of theory: he was a practical man. He was +anti-intellectual and emotionally attached to Buddhism; he opposed +Confucianism for emotional reasons and believed that it could give him +no serviceable officials of the sort he wanted. He demanded from his +officials the same obedience and sense of duty as from his soldiers; and +he was above all thrifty, almost miserly, because he realized that the +finances of his state could only be brought into order by the greatest +exertions. The budget had to be drawn up for the vast territory of the +empire without any possibility of saying in advance whether the revenues +would come in and whether the transport of dues to the capital would +function. + +This cautious calculation was entirely justified, but it aroused great +opposition. Both east and south were used to a much better style of +living; yet the gentry of both regions were now required to cut down +their consumption. On top of this they were excluded from the conduct of +political affairs. In the past, under the Northern Ch'i empire in the +north-east and under the Ch'en empire in the south, there had been +thousands of positions at court in which the whole of the gentry could +find accommodation of some kind. Now the central government was far in +the west, and other people were its administrators. In the past the +gentry had a profitable and easily accessible market for their produce +in the neighbouring capital; now the capital was far away, entailing +long-distance transport at heavy risk with little profit. + +The dissatisfied circles of the gentry in the north-east and in the +south incited Prince Kuang to rebellion. The prince and his followers +murdered the emperor and set aside the heir-apparent; and Kuang came to +the throne, assuming the name of Yang Ti. His first act was to transfer +the capital back to the east, to Loyang, close to the grain-producing +regions. His second achievement was to order the construction of great +canals, to facilitate the transport of grain to the capital and to +provide a valuable new market for the producers in the north-east and +the south. It was at this time that the first forerunner of the famous +"Imperial Canal" was constructed, the canal that connects the Yangtze +with the Yellow River. Small canals, connecting various streams, had +long been in existence, so that it was possible to travel from north to +south by water, but these canals were not deep enough or broad enough to +take large freight barges. There are records of lighters of 500 and even +800 tons capacity! These are dimensions unheard of in the West in those +times. In addition to a serviceable canal to the south, Yang Ti made +another that went north almost to the present Peking. + +Hand in hand with these successes of the north-eastern and southern +gentry went strong support for Confucianism, and a reorganization of the +Confucian examination system. As a rule, however, the examinations were +circumvented as an unimportant formality; the various governors were +ordered each to send annually to the capital three men with the required +education, for whose quality they were held personally responsible; +merchants and artisans were expressly excluded. + +2 _Relations with Turks and with Korea_ + +In foreign affairs an extraordinarily fortunate situation for the Sui +dynasty had come into existence. The T'u-chueeh, the Turks, much the +strongest people of the north, had given support now to one and now to +another of the northern kingdoms, and this, together with their many +armed incursions, had made them the dominant political factor in the +north. But in the first year of the Sui period (581) they split into two +sections, so that the Sui had hopes of gaining influence over them. At +first both sections of the Turks had entered into alliance with China, +but this was not a sufficient safeguard for the Sui, for one of the +Turkish khans was surrounded by Toba who had fled from the vanished +state of the Northern Chou, and who now tried to induce the Turks to +undertake a campaign for the reconquest of North China. The leader of +this agitation was a princess of the Yue-wen family, the ruling family of +the Northern Chou. The Chinese fought the Turks several times; but much +more effective results were gained by their diplomatic missions, which +incited the eastern against the western Turks and vice versa, and also +incited the Turks against the Toba clique. In the end one of the +sections of Turks accepted Chinese overlordship, and some tribes of the +other section were brought over to the Chinese side; also, fresh +disunion was sown among the Turks. + +Under the emperor Yang Ti, P'ei Chue carried this policy further. He +induced the Toeloes tribes to attack the T'u-yue-hun, and then himself +attacked the latter, so destroying their power. The T'u-yue-hun were a +people living in the extreme north of Tibet, under a ruling class +apparently of Hsien-pi origin; the people were largely Tibetan. The +purpose of the conquest of the T'u-yue-hun was to safeguard access to +Central Asia. An effective Turkestan policy was, however, impossible so +long as the Turks were still a formidable power. Accordingly, the +intrigues that aimed at keeping the two sections of Turks apart were +continued. In 615 came a decisive counter-attack from the Turks. Their +khan, Shih-pi, made a surprise assault on the emperor himself, with all +his following, in the Ordos region, and succeeded in surrounding them. +They were in just the same desperate situation as when, eight centuries +earlier, the Chinese emperor had been beleaguered by Mao Tun. But the +Chinese again saved themselves by a trick. The young Chinese commander, +Li Shih-min, succeeded in giving the Turks the impression that large +reinforcements were on the way; a Chinese princess who was with the +Turks spread the rumour that the Turks were to be attacked by another +tribe--and Shih-pi raised the siege, although the Chinese had been +entirely defeated. + +In the Sui period the Chinese were faced with a further problem. Korea +or, rather, the most important of the three states in Korea, had +generally been on friendly terms with the southern state during the +period of China's division, and for this reason had been more or less +protected from its North Chinese neighbours. After the unification of +China, Korea had reason for seeking an alliance with the Turks, in order +to secure a new counterweight against China. + +A Turco-Korean alliance would have meant for China a sort of +encirclement that might have grave consequences. The alliance might be +extended to Japan, who had certain interests in Korea. Accordingly the +Chinese determined to attack Korea, though at the same time negotiations +were set on foot. The fighting, which lasted throughout the Sui period, +involved technical difficulties, as it called for combined land and sea +attacks; in general it brought little success. + +3 _Reasons for collapse_ + +The continual warfare entailed great expense, and so did the intrigues, +because they depended for their success on bribery. Still more expensive +were the great canal works. In addition to this, the emperor Yang Ti, +unlike his father, was very extravagant. He built enormous palaces and +undertook long journeys throughout the empire with an immense following. +All this wrecked the prosperity which his father had built up and had +tried to safeguard. The only productive expenditure was that on the +canals, and they could not begin to pay in so short a period. The +emperor's continual journeys were due, no doubt, in part simply to the +pursuit of pleasure, though they were probably intended at the same time +to hinder risings and to give the emperor direct control over every part +of the country. But the empire was too large and too complex for its +administration to be possible in the midst of journeying. + +[Illustration: Map 5: The T'ang realm (_about A.D. 750_)] + +The whole of the chancellery had to accompany the emperor, and all the +transport necessary for the feeding of the emperor and his government +had continually to be diverted to wherever he happened to be staying. +All this produced disorder and unrest. The gentry, who at first had so +strongly supported the emperor and had been able to obtain anything they +wanted from him, now began to desert him and set up pretenders. From 615 +onward, after the defeat at the hands of the Turks, risings broke out +everywhere. The emperor had to establish his government in the south, +where he felt safer. There, however, in 618, he was assassinated by +conspirators led by Toba of the Yue-wen family. Everywhere now +independent governments sprang up, and for five years China was split up +into countless petty states. + + +(B) The T'ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) + +1 _Reforms and decentralization_ + +The hero of the Turkish siege, Li Shih-min, had allied himself with the +Turks in 615-16. There were special reasons for his ability to do this. +In his family it had been a regular custom to marry women belonging to +Toba families, so that he naturally enjoyed the confidence of the Toba +party among the Turks. There are various theories as to the origin of +his family, the Li. The family itself claimed to be descended from the +ruling family of the Western Liang. It is doubtful whether that family +was purely Chinese, and in any case Li Shih-min's descent from it is a +matter of doubt. It is possible that his family was a sinified Toba +family, or at least came from a Toba region. However this may be, Li +Shih-min continued the policy which had been pursued since the beginning +of the Sui dynasty by the members of the deposed Toba ruling family of +the Northern Chou--the policy of collaboration with the Turks in the +effort to remove the Sui. + +The nominal leadership in the rising that now began lay in the hands of +Li Shih-min's father, Li Yuean; in practice Li Shih-min saw to +everything. At the end of 617 he was outside the first capital of the +Sui, Ch'ang-an, with a Turkish army that had come to his aid on the +strength of the treaty of alliance. After capturing Ch'ang-an he +installed a puppet emperor there, a grandson of Yang Ti. In 618 the +puppet was dethroned and Li Yuean, the father, was made emperor, in the +T'ang dynasty. Internal fighting went on until 623, and only then was +the whole empire brought under the rule of the T'ang. + +Great reforms then began. A new land law aimed at equalizing ownership, +so that as far as possible all peasants should own the same amount of +land and the formation of large estates be prevented. The law aimed also +at protecting the peasants from the loss of their land. The law was, +however, nothing but a modification of the Toba land law (_chuen-t'ien_), +and it was hoped that now it would provide a sound and solid economic +foundation for the empire. From the first, however, members of the +gentry who were connected with the imperial house were given a +privileged position; then officials were excluded from the prohibition +of leasing, so that there continued to be tenant farmers in addition to +the independent peasants. Moreover, the temples enjoyed special +treatment, and were also exempted from taxation. All these exceptions +brought grist to the mills of the gentry, and so did the failure to +carry into effect many of the provisions of the law. Before long a new +gentry had been formed, consisting of the old gentry together with those +who had directly aided the emperor's ascent to the throne. From the +beginning of the eighth century there were repeated complaints that +peasants were "disappearing". They were entering the service of the +gentry as tenant farmers or farm workers, and owing to the privileged +position of the gentry in regard to taxation, the revenue sank in +proportion as the number of independent peasants decreased. One of the +reasons for the flight of farmers may have been the corvee laws +connected with the "equal land" system: small families were much less +affected by the corvee obligation than larger families with many sons. +It may be, therefore, that large families or at least sons of the sons +in large families moved away in order to escape these obligations. In +order to prevent irregularities, the T'ang renewed the old "_pao-chia_" +system, as a part of a general reform of the administration in 624. In +this system groups of five families were collectively responsible for +the payment of taxes, the corvee, for crimes committed by individuals +within one group, and for loans from state agencies. Such a system is +attested for pre-Christian times already; it was re-activated in the +eleventh century and again from time to time, down to the present. + +Yet the system of land equalization soon broke down and was abolished +officially around A.D. 780. But the classification of citizens into +different classes, first legalized under the Toba, was retained and even +more refined. + +As early as in the Han period there had been a dual administration--the +civil and, independent of it, the military administration. One and the +same area would belong to a particular administrative prefecture +(_chuen_) and at the same time to a particular military prefecture +(_chou_). This dual organization had persisted during the Toba period +and, at first, remained unchanged in the beginning of the T'ang. + +The backbone of the military power in the seventh century was the +militia, some six hundred units of an average of a thousand men, +recruited from the general farming population for short-term service: +one month in five in the areas close to the capital. These men formed a +part of the emperor's guards and were under the command of members of +the Shensi gentry. This system which had its direct parallels in the Han +time and evolved out of a Toba system, broke down when short offensive +wars were no longer fought. Other imperial guards were staffed with +young sons of the gentry who were stationed in the most delicate parts +of the palaces. The emperor T'ai-tsung had his personal bodyguard, a +part of his own army of conquest, consisting of his former bondsmen +(_pu-ch'ue_). The ranks of the Army of conquest were later filled by +descendants of the original soldiers and by orphans. + +In the provinces, the armies of the military prefectures gradually lost +their importance when wars became longer and militiamen proved +insufficient. Many of the soldiers here were convicts and exiles. It is +interesting to note that the title of the commander of these armies, +_tu-tu_, in the fourth century meant a commander in the church-Taoist +organization; it was used by the Toba and from the seventh century on +became widely accepted as title among the Uighurs, Tibetans, Sogdians, +Turks and Khotanese. + +When the prefectural armies and the militia forces weakened, special +regional armies were created (from 678 on); this institution had existed +among the Toba, but they had greatly reduced these armies after 500. The +commanders of these new T'ang armies soon became more important than the +civil administrators, because they commanded a number of districts +making up a whole province. This assured a better functioning of the +military machine, but put the governors-general in a position to pursue +a policy of their own, even against the central government. In addition +to this, the financial administration of their commands was put under +them, whereas in the past it had been in the hands of the civil +administration of the various provinces. The civil administration was +also reorganized (see the table on pages 83-84). + +Towards the end of the T'ang period the state secretariat was set up in +two parts: it was in possession of all information about the economic +and political affairs of the empire, and it made the actual decisions. +Moreover, a number of technical departments had been created--in all, a +system that might compare favourably with European systems of the +eighteenth century. At the end of the T'ang period there was added to +this system a section for economic affairs, working quite independently +of it and directly under the emperor; it was staffed entirely with +economic or financial experts, while for the staffing of the other +departments no special qualification was demanded besides the passing of +the state examinations. In addition to these, at the end of the T'ang +period a new department was in preparation, a sort of Privy Council, a +mainly military organization, probably intended to control the generals +(section 3 of the table on page 83), just as the state secretariat +controlled the civil officials. The Privy Council became more and more +important in the tenth century and especially in the Mongol epoch. Its +absence in the early T'ang period gave the military governors much too +great freedom, ultimately with baneful results. + +At first, however, the reforms of A.D. 624 worked well. The +administration showed energy, and taxes flowed in. In the middle of the +eighth century the annual budget of the state included the following +items: over a million tons of grain for the consumption of the capital +and the palace and for salaries of civil and military officials; +twenty-seven million pieces of textiles, also for the consumption of +capital and palace and army, and for supplementary purchases of grain; +two million strings of money (a string nominally held a thousand copper +coins) for salaries and for the army. This was much more than the state +budget of the Han period. The population of the empire had also +increased; it seems to have amounted to some fifty millions. In the +capital a large staff of officials had been created to meet all +administrative needs. The capital grew enormously, at times containing +two million people. Great numbers of young members of the gentry +streamed into the capital for the examinations held under the Confucian +system. + +The crowding of people into the capital and the accumulation of +resources there promoted a rich cultural life. We know of many poets of +that period whose poems were real masterpieces; and artists whose works +were admired centuries later. These poets and artists were the pioneers +of the flourishing culture of the later T'ang period. Hand in hand with +this went luxury and refinement of manners. For those who retired from +the bustle of the capital to work on their estates and to enjoy the +society of their friends, there was time to occupy themselves with +Taoism and Buddhism, especially meditative Buddhism. Everyone, of +course, was Confucian, as was fitting for a member of the gentry, but +Confucianism was so taken for granted that it was not discussed. It was +the basis of morality for the gentry, but held no problems. It no longer +contained anything of interest. + +Conditions had been much the same once before, at the court of the Han +emperors, but with one great difference: at that time everything of +importance took place in the capital; now, in addition to the actual +capital, Ch'ang-an, there was the second capital, Loyang, in no way +inferior to the other in importance; and the great towns in the south +also played their part as commercial and cultural centres that had +developed in the 360 years of division between north and south. There +the local gentry gathered to lead a cultivated life, though not quite in +the grand style of the capital. If an official was transferred to the +Yangtze, it no longer amounted to a punishment as in the past; he would +not meet only uneducated people, but a society resembling that of the +capital. The institution of governors-general further promoted this +decentralization: the governor-general surrounded himself with a little +court of his own, drawn from the local gentry and the local +intelligentsia. This placed the whole edifice of the empire on a much +broader foundation, with lasting results. + +2 _Turkish policy_ + +The foreign policy of this first period of the T'ang, lasting until +about 690, was mainly concerned with the Turks and Turkestan. There were +still two Turkish realms in the Far East, both of considerable strength +but in keen rivalry with each other. The T'ang had come into power with +the aid of the eastern Turks, but they admitted the leader of the +western Turks to their court; he had been at Ch'ang-an in the time of +the Sui. He was murdered, however, by Chinese at the instigation of the +eastern Turks. The next khan of the eastern Turks nevertheless turned +against the T'ang, and gave his support to a still surviving pretender +to the throne representing the Sui dynasty; the khan contended that the +old alliance of the eastern Turks had been with the Sui and not with the +T'ang. The T'ang therefore tried to come to terms once more with the +western Turks, who had been affronted by the assassination; but the +negotiations came to nothing in face of an approach made by the eastern +Turks to the western, and of the distrust of the Chinese with which all +the Turks were filled. About 624 there were strong Turkish invasions, +carried right up to the capital. Suddenly, however, for reasons not +disclosed by the Chinese sources, the Turks withdrew, and the T'ang were +able to conclude a fairly honourable peace. This was the time of the +maximum power of the eastern Turks. Shortly afterwards disturbances +broke out (627), under the leadership of Turkish Uighurs and their +allies. The Chinese took advantage of these disturbances, and in a great +campaign in 629-30 succeeded in overthrowing the eastern Turks; the khan +was taken to the imperial court in Ch'ang-an, and the Chinese emperor +made himself "Heavenly Khan" of the Turks. In spite of the protest of +many of the ministers, who pointed to the result of the settlement +policy of the Later Han dynasty, the eastern Turks were settled in the +bend of the upper Hwang-ho and placed more or less under the +protectorate of two governors-general. Their leaders were admitted into +the Chinese army, and the sons of their nobles lived at the imperial +court. No doubt it was hoped in this way to turn the Turks into Chinese, +as had been done with the Toba, though for entirely different reasons. +More than a million Turks were settled in this way, and some of them +actually became Chinese later and gained important posts. + +In general, however, this in no way broke the power of the Turks. The +great Turkish empire, which extended as far as Byzantium, continued to +exist. The Chinese success had done no more than safeguard the frontier +from a direct menace and frustrate the efforts of the supporters of the +Sui dynasty and the Toba dynasty, who had been living among the eastern +Turks and had built on them. The power of the western Turks remained a +lasting menace to China, especially if they should succeed in +co-operating with the Tibetans. After the annihilation of the T'u-yue-hun +by the Sui at the very beginning of the seventh century, a new political +unit had formed in northern Tibet, the T'u-fan, who also seem to have +had an upper class of Turks and Mongols and a Tibetan lower class. Just +as in the Han period, Chinese policy was bound to be directed to +preventing a union between Turks and Tibetans. This, together with +commercial interests, seems to have been the political motive of the +Chinese Turkestan policy under the T'ang. + +3 _Conquest of Turkestan and Korea. Summit of power_ + +The Turkestan wars began in 639 with an attack on the city-state of +Kao-ch'ang (Khocho). This state had been on more or less friendly terms +with North China since the Toba period, and it had succeeded again and +again in preserving a certain independence from the Turks. Now, however, +Kao-ch'ang had to submit to the western Turks, whose power was +constantly increasing. China made that submission a pretext for war. By +640 the whole basin of Turkestan was brought under Chinese dominance. +The whole campaign was really directed against the western Turks, to +whom Turkestan had become subject. The western Turks had been crippled +by two internal events, to the advantage of the Chinese: there had been +a tribal rising, and then came the rebellion and the rise of the Uighurs +(640-650). These events belong to Turkish history, and we shall confine +ourselves here to their effects on Chinese history. The Chinese were +able to rely on the Uighurs; above all, they were furnished by the Toeloes +Turks with a large army, with which they turned once more against +Turkestan in 647-48, and now definitely established their rule there. + +The active spirit at the beginning of the T'ang rule had not been the +emperor but his son Li Shih-min, who was not, however, named as heir to +the throne because he was not the eldest son. The result of this was +tension between Li Shih-min and his father and brothers, especially the +heir to the throne. When the brothers learned that Li Shih-min was +claiming the succession, they conspired against him, and in 626, at the +very moment when the western Turks had made a rapid incursion and were +once more threatening the Chinese capital, there came an armed collision +between the brothers, in which Li Shih-min was the victor. The brothers +and their families were exterminated, the father compelled to abdicate, +and Li Shih-min became emperor, assuming the name T'ai Tsung (627-649). +His reign marked the zenith of the power of China and of the T'ang +dynasty. Their inner struggles and the Chinese penetration of Turkestan +had weakened the position of the Turks; the reorganization of the +administration and of the system of taxation, the improved transport +resulting from the canals constructed under the Sui, and the useful +results of the creation of great administrative areas under strong +military control, had brought China inner stability and in consequence +external power and prestige. The reputation which she then obtained as +the most powerful state of the Far East endured when her inner stability +had begun to deteriorate. Thus in 638 the Sassanid ruler Jedzgerd sent a +mission to China asking for her help against the Arabs. Three further +missions came at intervals of a good many years. The Chinese declined, +however, to send a military expedition to such a distance; they merely +conferred on the ruler the title of a Chinese governor; this was of +little help against the Arabs, and in 675 the last ruler, Peruz, fled to +the Chinese court. + +The last years of T'ai Tsung's reign were filled with a great war +against Korea, which represented a continuation of the plans of the Sui +emperor Yang Ti. This time Korea came firmly into Chinese possession. In +661, under T'ai Tsung's son, the Korean fighting was resumed, this time +against Japanese who were defending their interests in Korea. This was +the period of great Japanese enthusiasm for China. The Chinese system of +administration was copied, and Buddhism was adopted, together with every +possible element of Chinese culture. This meant increased trade with +Japan, bringing in large profits to China, and so the Korean middleman +was to be eliminated. + +T'ai Tsung's son, Kao Tsung (650-683), merely carried to a conclusion +what had been begun. Externally China's prestige continued at its +zenith. The caravans streamed into China from western and central Asia, +bringing great quantities of luxury goods. At this time, however, the +foreign colonies were not confined to the capital but were installed in +all the important trading ports and inland trade centres. The whole +country was covered by a commercial network; foreign merchants who had +come overland to China met others who had come by sea. The foreigners +set up their own counting-houses and warehouses; whole quarters of the +capital were inhabited entirely by foreigners who lived as if they were +in their own country. They brought with them their own religions: +Manichaeism, Mazdaism, and Nestorian Christianity. The first Jews came +into China, apparently as dealers in fabrics, and the first Arabian +Mohammedans made their appearance. In China the foreigners bought +silkstuffs and collected everything of value that they could find, +especially precious metals. Culturally this influx of foreigners +enriched China; economically, as in earlier periods, it did not; its +disadvantages were only compensated for a time by the very beneficial +results of the trade with Japan, and this benefit did not last long. + +4 _The reign of the empress Wu: Buddhism and capitalism_ + +The pressure of the western Turks had been greatly weakened in this +period, especially as their attention had been diverted to the west, +where the advance of Islam and of the Arabs was a new menace for them. +On the other hand, from 650 onward the Tibetans gained immensely in +power, and pushed from the south into the Tarim basin. In 678 they +inflicted a heavy defeat on the Chinese, and it cost the T'ang decades +of diplomatic effort before they attained, in 699, their aim of breaking +up the Tibetans' realm and destroying their power. In the last year of +Kao Tsung's reign, 683, came the first of the wars of liberation of the +northern Turks, known until then as the western Turks, against the +Chinese. And with the end of Kao Tsung's reign began the decline of the +T'ang regime. Most of the historians attribute it to a woman, the later +empress Wu. She had been a concubine of T'ai Tsung, and after his death +had become a Buddhist nun--a frequent custom of the time--until Kao +Tsung fell in love with her and made her a concubine of his own. In the +end he actually divorced the empress and made the concubine empress +(655). She gained more and more influence, being placed on a par with +the emperor and soon entirely eliminating him in practice; in 680 she +removed the rightful heir to the throne and put her own son in his +place; after Kao Tsung's death in 683 she became regent for her son. +Soon afterward she dethroned him in favour of his twenty-two-year-old +brother; in 690 she deposed him too and made herself empress in the +"Chou dynasty" (690-701). This officially ended the T'ang dynasty. + +Matters, however, were not so simple as this might suggest. For +otherwise on the empress's deposition there would not have been a mass +of supporters moving heaven and earth to treat the new empress Wei +(705-712) in the same fashion. There is every reason to suppose that +behind the empress Wu there was a group opposing the ruling clique. In +spite of everything, the T'ang government clique was very pro-Turkish, +and many Turks and members of Toba families had government posts and, +above all, important military commands. No campaign of that period was +undertaken without Turkish auxiliaries. The fear seems to have been felt +in some quarters that this T'ang group might pursue a military policy +hostile to the gentry. The T'ang group had its roots mainly in western +China; thus the eastern Chinese gentry were inclined to be hostile to +it. The first act of the empress Wu had been to transfer the capital to +Loyang in the east. Thus, she tried to rely upon the co-operation of the +eastern gentry which since the Northern Chou and Sui dynasties had been +out of power. While the western gentry brought their children into +government positions by claiming family privileges (a son of a high +official had the right to a certain position without having passed the +regular examinations), the sons of the eastern gentry had to pass +through the examinations. Thus, there were differences in education and +outlook between both groups which continued long after the death of the +empress. In addition, the eastern gentry, who supported the empress Wu +and later the empress Wei, were closely associated with the foreign +merchants of western Asia and the Buddhist Church to which they adhered. +In gratitude for help from the Buddhists, the empress Wu endowed them +with enormous sums of money, and tried to make Buddhism a sort of state +religion. A similar development had taken place in the Toba and also in +the Sui period. Like these earlier rulers, the empress Wu seems to have +aimed at combining spiritual leadership with her position as ruler of +the empire. + +In this epoch Buddhism helped to create the first beginnings of +large-scale capitalism. In connection with the growing foreign trade, +the monasteries grew in importance as repositories of capital; the +temples bought more and more land, became more and more wealthy, and so +gained increasing influence over economic affairs. They accumulated +large quantities of metal, which they stored in the form of bronze +figures of Buddha, and with these stocks they exercised controlling +influence over the money market. There is a constant succession of +records of the total weight of the bronze figures, as an indication of +the money value they represented. It is interesting to observe that +temples and monasteries acquired also shops and had rental income from +them. They further operated many mills, as did the owners of private +estates (now called "_chuang_") and thus controlled the price of flour, +and polished rice. + +The cultural influence of Buddhism found expression in new and improved +translations of countless texts, and in the passage of pilgrims along +the caravan routes, helped by the merchants, as far as western Asia and +India, like the famous Hsuean-tsang. Translations were made not only from +Indian or other languages into Chinese, but also, for instance, from +Chinese into the Uighur and other Turkish tongues, and into Tibetan, +Korean, and Japanese. + +The attitude of the Turks can only be understood when we realize that +the background of events during the time of empress Wu was formed by the +activities of groups of the eastern Chinese gentry. The northern Turks, +who since 630 had been under Chinese overlordship, had fought many wars +of liberation against the Chinese; and through the conquest of +neighbouring Turks they had gradually become once more, in the +decade-and-a-half after the death of Kao Tsung, a great Turkish realm. +In 698 the Turkish khan, at the height of his power, demanded a Chinese +prince for his daughter--not, as had been usual in the past, a princess +for his son. His intention, no doubt, was to conquer China with the +prince's aid, to remove the empress Wu, and to restore the T'ang +dynasty--but under Turkish overlordship! Thus, when the empress Wu sent +a member of her own family, the khan rejected him and demanded the +restoration of the deposed T'ang emperor. To enforce this demand, he +embarked on a great campaign against China. In this the Turks must have +been able to rely on the support of a strong group inside China, for +before the Turkish attack became dangerous the empress Wu recalled the +deposed emperor, at first as "heir to the throne"; thus she yielded to +the khan's principal demand. + +In spite of this, the Turkish attacks did not cease. After a series of +imbroglios within the country in which a group under the leadership of +the powerful Ts'ui gentry family had liquidated the supporters of the +empress Wu shortly before her death, a T'ang prince finally succeeded in +killing empress Wei and her clique. At first, his father ascended the +throne, but was soon persuaded to abdicate in favour of his son, now +called emperor Hsueang Tsung (713-755), just as the first ruler of the +T'ang dynasty had done. The practice of abdicating--in contradiction +with the Chinese concept of the ruler as son of Heaven and the duties of +a son towards his father--seems to have impressed Japan where similar +steps later became quite common. With Hsuean Tsung there began now a +period of forty-five years, which the Chinese describe as the second +blossoming of T'ang culture, a period that became famous especially for +its painting and literature. + +5 _Second blossoming of T'ang culture_ + +The T'ang literature shows the co-operation of many favourable factors. +The ancient Chinese classical style of official reports and decrees +which the Toba had already revived, now led to the clear prose style of +the essayists, of whom Han Yue (768-825) and Liu Tsung-yuean (747-796) +call for special mention. But entirely new forms of sentences make their +appearance in prose writing, with new pictures and similes brought from +India through the medium of the Buddhist translations. Poetry was also +enriched by the simple songs that spread in the north under Turkish +influence, and by southern influences. The great poets of the T'ang +period adopted the rules of form laid down by the poetic art of the +south in the fifth century; but while at that time the writing of poetry +was a learned pastime, precious and formalistic, the T'ang poets brought +to it genuine feeling. Widespread fame came to Li T'ai-po (701-762) and +Tu Fu (712-770); in China two poets almost equal to these two in +popularity were Po Chue-i (772-846) and Yuean Chen (779-831), who in their +works kept as close as possible to the vernacular. + +New forms of poetry rarely made their appearance in the T'ang period, +but the existing forms were brought to the highest perfection. Not until +the very end of the T'ang period did there appear the form of a "free" +versification, with lines of no fixed length. This form came from the +indigenous folk-songs of south-western China, and was spread through the +agency of the _filles de joie_ in the tea-houses. Before long it became +the custom to string such songs together in a continuous series--the +first step towards opera. For these song sequences were sung by way of +accompaniment to the theatrical productions. The Chinese theatre had +developed from two sources--from religious games, bullfights and +wrestling, among Turkish and Mongol peoples, which developed into +dancing displays; and from sacrificial games of South Chinese origin. +Thus the Chinese theatre, with its union with music, should rather be +called opera, although it offers a sort of pantomimic show. What +amounted to a court conservatoire trained actors and musicians as early +as in the T'ang period for this court opera. These actors and musicians +were selected from the best-looking "commoners", but they soon tended to +become a special caste with a legal status just below that of +"burghers". + +In plastic art there are fine sculptures in stone and bronze, and we +have also technically excellent fabrics, the finest of lacquer, and +remains of artistic buildings; but the principal achievement of the +T'ang period lies undoubtedly in the field of painting. As in poetry, in +painting there are strong traces of alien influences; even before the +T'ang period, the painter Hsieh Ho laid down the six fundamental laws of +painting, in all probability drawn from Indian practice. Foreigners were +continually brought into China as decorators of Buddhist temples, since +the Chinese could not know at first how the new gods had to be +presented. The Chinese regarded these painters as craftsmen, but admired +their skill and their technique and learned from them. + +The most famous Chinese painter of the T'ang period is Wu Tao-tz[)u], +who was also the painter most strongly influenced by Central Asian +works. As a pious Buddhist he painted pictures for temples among others. +Among the landscape painters, Wang Wei (721-759) ranks first; he was +also a famous poet and aimed at uniting poem and painting into an +integral whole. With him begins the great tradition of Chinese landscape +painting, which attained its zenith later, in the Sung epoch. + +Porcelain had been invented in China long ago. There was as yet none of +the white porcelain that is preferred today; the inside was a +brownish-yellow; but on the whole it was already technically and +artistically of a very high quality. Since porcelain was at first +produced only for the requirements of the court and of high +dignitaries--mostly in state factories--a few centuries later the T'ang +porcelain had become a great rarity. But in the centuries that followed, +porcelain became an important new article of Chinese export. The Chinese +prisoners taken by the Arabs in the great battle of Samarkand (751), the +first clash between the world of Islam and China, brought to the West +the knowledge of Chinese culture, of several Chinese crafts, of the art +of papermaking, and also of porcelain. + +The emperor Hsuean Tsung gave active encouragement to all things +artistic. Poets and painters contributed to the elegance of his +magnificent court ceremonial. As time went on he showed less and less +interest in public affairs, and grew increasingly inclined to Taoism and +mysticism in general--an outcome of the fact that the conduct of matters +of state was gradually taken out of his hands. On the whole, however, +Buddhism was pushed into the background in favour of Confucianism, as a +reaction from the unusual privileges that had been accorded to the +Buddhists in the past fifteen years under the empress Wu. + +6 _Revolt of a military governor_ + +At the beginning of Hsuean Tsung's reign the capital had been in the east +at Loyang; then it was transferred once more to Ch'ang-an in the west +due to pressure of the western gentry. The emperor soon came under the +influence of the unscrupulous but capable and energetic Li Lin-fu, a +distant relative of the ruler. Li was a virtual dictator at the court +from 736 to 752, who had first advanced in power by helping the +concubine Wu, a relative of the famous empress Wu, and by continually +playing the eastern against the western gentry. After the death of the +concubine Wu, he procured for the emperor a new concubine named Yang, of +a western family. This woman, usually called "Concubine Yang" (Yang +Kui-fei), became the heroine of countless stage-plays and stories and +even films; all the misfortunes that marked the end of Hsuean Tsung's +reign were attributed solely to her. This is incorrect, as she was but a +link in the chain of influences that played upon the emperor. Naturally +she found important official posts for her brothers and all her +relatives; but more important than these was a military governor named +An Lu-shan (703-757). His mother was a Turkish shamaness, his father, a +foreigner probably of Sogdian origin. An Lu-shan succeeded in gaining +favour with the Li clique, which hoped to make use of him for its own +ends. Chinese sources describe him as a prodigy of evil, and it will be +very difficult today to gain a true picture of his personality. In any +case, he was certainly a very capable officer. His rise started from a +victory over the Kitan in 744. He spent some time establishing relations +with the court and then went back to resume operations against the +Kitan. He made so much of the Kitan peril that he was permitted a larger +army than usual, and he had command of 150,000 troops in the +neighbourhood of Peking. Meanwhile Li Lin-fu died. He had sponsored An +as a counterbalance against the western gentry. When now, within the +clique of Li Lin-fu, the Yang family tried to seize power, they turned +against An Lu-shan. But he marched against the capital, Ch'ang-an, with +200,000 men; on his way he conquered Loyang and made himself emperor +(756: Yen dynasty). T'ang troops were sent against him under the +leadership of the Chinese Kuo Tz[)u]-i, a Kitan commander, and a Turk, +Ko-shu Han. + +The first two generals had considerable success, but Ko-shu Han, whose +task was to prevent access to the western capital, was quickly defeated +and taken prisoner. The emperor fled betimes, and An Lu-shan captured +Ch'ang-an. The emperor now abdicated; his son, emperor Su Tsung +(756-762), also fled, though not with him into Szechwan, but into +north-western Shensi. There he defended himself against An Lu-shan and +his capable general Shih Ss[)u]-ming (himself a Turk), and sought aid in +Central Asia. A small Arab troop came from the caliph Abu-Jafar, and +also small bands from Turkestan; of more importance was the arrival of +Uighur cavalry in substantial strength. At the end of 757 there was a +great battle in the neighbourhood of the capital, in which An Lu-shan +was defeated by the Uighurs; shortly afterwards he was murdered by one +of his eunuchs. His followers fled; Loyang was captured and looted by +the Uighurs. The victors further received in payment from the T'ang +government 10,000 rolls of silk with a promise of 20,000 rolls a year; +the Uighur khan was given a daughter of the emperor as his wife. An +Lu-shan's general, the Turk Shih Ss[)u]-ming, entered into An Lu-shan's +heritage, and dominated so large a part of eastern China that the +Chinese once more made use of the Uighurs to bring him down. The +commanders in the fighting against Shih Ss[)u]-ming this time were once +more Kuo Tz[)u]-i and the Kitan general, together with P'u-ku Huai-en, a +member of a Toeloes family that had long been living in China. At first +Shih Ss[)u]-ming was victorious, and he won back Loyang, but then he was +murdered by his own son, and only by taking advantage of the +disturbances that now arose were the government troops able to quell the +dangerous rising. + +In all this, two things seem interesting and important. To begin with, +An Lu-shan had been a military governor. His rising showed that while +this new office, with its great command of power, was of value in +attacking external enemies, it became dangerous, especially if the +central power was weak, the moment there were no external enemies of any +importance. An Lu-shan's rising was the first of many similar ones in +the later T'ang period. The gentry of eastern China had shown themselves +entirely ready to support An Lu-shan against the government, because +they had hoped to gain advantage as in the past from a realm with its +centre once more in the east. In the second place, the important part +played by aliens in events within China calls for notice: not only were +the rebels An Lu-shan and Shih Ss[)u]-ming non-Chinese, but so also were +most of the generals opposed to them. But they regarded themselves as +Chinese, not as members of another national group. The Turkish Uighurs +brought in to help against them were fighting actually against Turks, +though they regarded those Turks as Chinese. We must not bring to the +circumstances of those times the present-day notions with regard to +national feeling. + +7 _The role of the Uighurs. Confiscation of the capital of the +monasteries_ + +This rising and its sequels broke the power of the dynasty, and also of +the empire. The extremely sanguinary wars had brought fearful suffering +upon the population. During the years of the rising, no taxes came in +from the greater part of the empire, but great sums had to be paid to +the peoples who had lent aid to the empire. And the looting by +government troops and by the auxiliaries injured the population as much +as the war itself did. + +When the emperor Su Tsung died, in 762, Tengri, the khan of the Uighurs, +decided to make himself ruler over China. The events of the preceding +years had shown him that China alone was entirely defenceless. Part of +the court clique supported him, and only by the intervention of P'u-ku +Huai-en, who was related to Tengri by marriage, was his plan frustrated. +Naturally there were countless intrigues against P'u-ku Huai-en. He +entered into alliance with the Tibetan T'u-fan, and in this way the +union of Turks and Tibetans, always feared by the Chinese, had come into +existence. In 763 the Tibetans captured and burned down the western +capital, while P'u-ku Huai-en with the Uighurs advanced from the north. +Undoubtedly this campaign would have been successful, giving an entirely +different turn to China's destiny, if P'u-ku Huai-en had not died in 765 +and the Chinese under Kuo Tz[)u]-i had not succeeded in breaking up the +alliance. The Uighurs now came over into an alliance with the Chinese, +and the two allies fell upon the Tibetans and robbed them of their +booty. China was saved once more. + +Friendship with the Uighurs had to be paid for this time even more +dearly. They crowded into the capital and compelled the Chinese to buy +horses, in payment for which they demanded enormous quantities of +silkstuffs. They behaved in the capital like lords, and expected to be +maintained at the expense of the government. The system of military +governors was adhered to in spite of the country's experience of them, +while the difficult situation throughout the empire, and especially +along the western and northern frontiers, facing the Tibetans and the +more and more powerful Kitan, made it necessary to keep considerable +numbers of soldiers permanently with the colours. This made the military +governors stronger and stronger; ultimately they no longer remitted any +taxes to the central government, but spent them mainly on their armies. +Thus from 750 onward the empire consisted of an impotent central +government and powerful military governors, who handed on their +positions to their sons as a further proof of their independence. When +in 781 the government proposed to interfere with the inheriting of the +posts, there was a great new rising, which in 783 again extended as far +as the capital; in 784 the T'ang government at last succeeded in +overcoming it. A compromise was arrived at between the government and +the governors, but it in no way improved the situation. Life became more +and more difficult for the central government. In 780, the "equal land" +system was finally officially given up and with it a tax system which +was based upon the idea that every citizen had the same amount of land +and, therefore, paid the same amount of taxes. The new system tried to +equalize the tax burden and the corvee obligation, but not the land. +This change may indicate a step towards greater freedom for private +enterprise. Yet it did not benefit the government, as most of the tax +income was retained by the governors and was used for their armies and +their own court. + +In the capital, eunuchs ruled in the interests of various cliques. +Several emperors fell victim to them or to the drinking of "elixirs of +long life". + +Abroad, the Chinese lost their dominion over Turkestan, for which +Uighurs and Tibetans competed. There is nothing to gain from any full +description of events at court. The struggle between cliques soon became +a struggle between eunuchs and literati, in much the same way as at the +end of the second Han dynasty. Trade steadily diminished, and the state +became impoverished because no taxes were coming in and great armies had +to be maintained, though they did not even obey the government. + +Events that exerted on the internal situation an influence not to be +belittled were the break-up of the Uighurs (from 832 onward) the +appearance of the Turkish Sha-t'o, and almost at the same time, the +dissolution of the Tibetan empire (from 842). Many other foreigners had +placed themselves under the Uighurs living in China, in order to be able +to do business under the political protection of the Uighur embassy, but +the Uighurs no longer counted, and the T'ang government decided to seize +the capital sums which these foreigners had accumulated. It was hoped in +this way especially to remedy the financial troubles of the moment, +which were partly due to a shortage of metal for minting. As the trading +capital was still placed with the temples as banks, the government +attacked the religion of the Uighurs, Manichaeism, and also the +religions of the other foreigners, Mazdaism, Nestorianism, and +apparently also Islam. In 843 alien religions were prohibited; aliens +were also ordered to dress like Chinese. This gave them the status of +Chinese citizens and no longer of foreigners, so that Chinese justice +had a hold over them. That this law abolishing foreign religions was +aimed solely at the foreigners' capital is shown by the proceedings at +the same time against Buddhism which had long become a completely +Chinese Church. Four thousand, six hundred Buddhist temples, 40,000 +shrines and monasteries were secularized, and all statues were required +to be melted down and delivered to the government, even those in private +possession. Two hundred and sixty thousand, five hundred monks were to +become ordinary citizens once more. Until then monks had been free of +taxation, as had millions of acres of land belonging to the temples and +leased to tenants or some 150,000 temple slaves. + +Thus the edict of 843 must not be described as concerned with religion: +it was a measure of compulsion aimed at filling the government coffers. +All the property of foreigners and a large part of the property of the +Buddhist Church came into the hands of the government. The law was not +applied to Taoism, because the ruling gentry of the time were, as so +often before, Confucianist and at the same time Taoist. As early as 846 +there came a reaction: with the new emperor, Confucians came into power +who were at the same time Buddhists and who now evicted some of the +Taoists. From this time one may observe closer co-operation between +Confucianism and Buddhism; not only with meditative Buddhism (Dhyana) as +at the beginning of the T'ang epoch and earlier, but with the main +branch of Buddhism, monastery Buddhism (Vinaya). From now onward the +Buddhist doctrines of transmigration and retribution, which had been +really directed against the gentry and in favour of the common people, +were turned into an instrument serving the gentry: everyone who was +unfortunate in this life must show such amenability to the government +and the gentry that he would have a chance of a better existence at +least in the next life. Thus the revolutionary Buddhist doctrine of +retribution became a reactionary doctrine that was of great service to +the gentry. One of the Buddhist Confucians in whose works this revised +version makes its appearance most clearly was Niu Seng-yu, who was at +once summoned back to court in 846 by the new emperor. Three new large +Buddhist sects came into existence in the T'ang period. One of them, the +school of the Pure Land (_Ching-t'u tsung_, since 641) required of its +mainly lower class adherents only the permanent invocation of the Buddha +Amithabha who would secure them a place in the "Western Paradise"--a +place without social classes and economic troubles. The cult of +Maitreya, which was always more revolutionary, receded for a while. + +8 _First successful peasant revolt. Collapse of the empire_ + +The chief sufferers from the continual warfare of the military +governors, the sanguinary struggles between the cliques, and the +universal impoverishment which all this fighting produced, were, of +course, the common people. The Chinese annals are filled with records of +popular risings, but not one of these had attained any wide extent, for +want of organization. In 860 began the first great popular rising, a +revolt caused by famine in the province of Chekiang. Government troops +suppressed it with bloodshed. Further popular risings followed. In 874 +began a great rising in the south of the present province of Hopei, the +chief agrarian region. + +The rising was led by a peasant, Wang Hsien-chih, together with Huang +Ch'ao, a salt merchant, who had fallen into poverty and had joined the +hungry peasants, forming a fighting group of his own. It is important to +note that Huang was well educated. It is said that he failed in the +state examination. Huang is not the first merchant who became rebel. An +Lu-shan, too, had been a businessman for a while. It was pointed out +that trade had greatly developed in the T'ang period; of the lower +Yangtze region people it was said that "they were so much interested in +business that they paid no attention to agriculture". Yet merchants were +subject to many humiliating conditions. They could not enter the +examinations, except by illegal means. In various periods, from the Han +time on, they had to wear special dress. Thus, a law from _c_. A.D. 300 +required them to wear a white turban on which name and type of business +was written, and to wear one white and one black shoe. They were subject +to various taxes, but were either not allowed to own land, or were +allotted less land than ordinary citizens. Thus they could not easily +invest in land, the safest investment at that time. Finally, the +government occasionally resorted to the method which was often used in +the Near East: when in 782 the emperor ran out of money, he requested +the merchants of the capital to "loan" him a large sum--a request which +in fact was a special tax. + +Wang and Huang both proved good organizers of the peasant masses, and in +a short time they had captured the whole of eastern China, without the +military governors being able to do anything against them, for the +provincial troops were more inclined to show sympathy to the peasant +armies than to fight them. The terrified government issued an order to +arm the people of the other parts of the country against the rebels; +naturally this helped the rebels more than the government, since the +peasants thus armed went over to the rebels. Finally Wang was offered a +high office. But Huang urged him not to betray his own people, and Wang +declined the offer. In the end the government, with the aid of the +troops of the Turkish Sha-t'o, defeated Wang and beheaded him (878). +Huang Ch'ao now moved into the south-east and the south, where in 879 he +captured and burned down Canton; according to an Arab source, over +120,000 foreign merchants lost their lives in addition to the Chinese. +From Canton Huang Ch'ao returned to the north, laden with loot from that +wealthy commercial city. His advance was held up again by the Sha-t'o +troops; he turned away to the lower Yangtze, and from there marched +north again. At the end of 880 he captured the eastern capital. The +emperor fled from the western capital, Ch'ang-an, into Szechwan, and +Huang Ch'ao now captured with ease the western capital as well, and +removed every member of the ruling family on whom he could lay hands. He +then made himself emperor, in a Ch'i dynasty. It was the first time that +a peasant rising had succeeded against the gentry. + +There was still, however, the greatest disorder in the empire. There +were other peasant armies on the move, armies that had deserted their +governors and were fighting for themselves; finally, there were still a +few supporters of the imperial house and, above all, the Turkish +Sha-t'o, who had a competent commander with the sinified name of Li +K'o-yung. The Sha-t'o, who had remained loyal to the government, +revolted the moment the government had been overthrown. They ran the +risk, however, of defeat at the hands of an alien army of the Chinese +government's, commanded by an Uighur, and they therefore fled to the +Tatars. In spite of this, the Chinese entered again into relations with +the Sha-t'o, as without them there could be no possibility of getting +rid of Huang Ch'ao. At the end of 881 Li K'o-yung fell upon the capital; +there was a fearful battle. Huang Ch'ao was able to hold out, but a +further attack was made in 883 and he was defeated and forced to flee; +in 884 he was killed by the Sha-t'o. + +This popular rising, which had only been overcome with the aid of +foreign troops, brought the end of the T'ang dynasty. In 885 the T'ang +emperor was able to return to the capital, but the only question now was +whether China should be ruled by the Sha-t'o under Li K'o-yung or by +some other military commander. In a short time Chu Ch'uean-chung, a +former follower of Huang Ch'ao, proved to be the strongest of the +commanders. In 890 open war began between the two leaders. Li K'o-yung +was based on Shansi; Chu Ch'uean-chung had control of the plains in the +east. Meanwhile the governors of Szechwan in the west and Chekiang in +the south-east made themselves independent. Both declared themselves +kings or emperors and set up dynasties of their own (from 895). + +Within the capital, the emperor was threatened several times by revolts, +so that he had to flee and place himself in the hands of Li K'o-yung as +the only leader on whose loyalty he could count. Soon after this, +however, the emperor fell into the hands of Chu Ch'uean-chung, who killed +the whole entourage of the emperor, particularly the eunuchs; after a +time he had the emperor himself killed, set a puppet--as had become +customary--on the throne, and at the beginning of 907 took over the rule +from him, becoming emperor in the "Later Liang dynasty". + +That was the end of the T'ang dynasty, at the beginning of which China +had risen to unprecedented power. Its downfall had been brought about by +the military governors, who had built up their power and had become +independent hereditary satraps, exploiting the people for their own +purposes, and by their continual mutual struggles undermining the +economic structure of the empire. In addition to this, the empire had +been weakened first by its foreign trade and then by the dependence on +foreigners, especially Turks, into which it had fallen owing to internal +conditions. A large part of the national income had gone abroad. Such is +the explanation of the great popular risings which ultimately brought +the dynasty to its end. + + + + + MODERN TIMES + + + + Chapter Nine + + +THE EPOCH OF THE SECOND DIVISION OF CHINA + +(A) The period of transition: the Five Dynasties (A.D. 906-960) + +1 _Beginning of a new epoch_ + +The rebellion of Huang Ch'ao in fact meant the end of the T'ang dynasty +and the division of China into a number of independent states. Only for +reasons of convenience we keep the traditional division into dynasties +and have our new period begin with the official end of the T'ang dynasty +in 906. We decided to call the new thousand years of Chinese history +"Modern Times" in order to indicate that from _c_. 860 on changes in +China's social structure came about which set this epoch off from the +earlier thousand years which we called "The Middle Ages". Any division +into periods is arbitrary as changes do not happen from one year to the +next. The first beginnings of the changes which lead to the "Modern +Times" actually can be seen from the end of An Lu-shan's rebellion on, +from _c_. A.D. 780 on, and the transformation was more or less completed +only in the middle of the eleventh century. + +If we want to characterize the "Modern Times" by one concept, we would +have to call this epoch the time of the emergence of a middle class, and +it will be remembered that the growth of the middle class in Europe was +also the decisive change between the Middle Ages and Modern Times in +Europe. The parallelism should, however, not be overdone. The gentry +continued to play a role in China during the Modern Times, much more +than the aristocracy did in Europe. The middle class did not ever really +get into power during the whole period. + +While we will discuss the individual developments later in some detail, +a few words about the changes in general might be given already here. +The wars which followed Huang Ch'ao's rebellion greatly affected the +ruling gentry. A number of families were so strongly affected that they +lost their importance and disappeared. Commoners from the followers of +Huang Ch'ao or other armies succeeded to get into power, to acquire +property and to enter the ranks of the gentry. At about A.D. 1000 almost +half of the gentry families were new families of low origin. The state, +often ruled by men who had just moved up, was no more interested in the +aristocratic manners of the old gentry families, especially no more +interested in their genealogies. When conditions began to improve after +A.D. 1000, and when the new families felt themselves as real gentry +families, they tried to set up a mechanism to protect the status of +their families. In the eleventh century private genealogies began to be +kept, so that any claim against the clan could be checked. Clans set up +rules of behaviour and procedure to regulate all affairs of the clan +without the necessity of asking the state to interfere in case of +conflict. Many such "clan rules" exist in China and also in Japan which +took over this innovation. Clans set apart special pieces of land as +clan land; the income of this land was to be used to secure a minimum of +support for every clan member and his own family, so that no member ever +could fall into utter poverty. Clan schools which were run by income +from special pieces of clan land were established to guarantee an +education for the members of the clan, again in order to make sure that +the clan would remain a part of the _elite_. Many clans set up special +marriage rules for clan members, and after some time cross-cousin +marriages between two or three families were legally allowed; such +marriages tended to fasten bonds between clans and to prevent the loss +of property by marriage. While on the one hand, a new "clan +consciousness" grew up among the gentry families in order to secure +their power, tax and corvee legislation especially in the eleventh +century induced many families to split up into small families. + +It can be shown that over the next centuries, the power of the family +head increased. He was now regarded as owner of the property, not only +mere administrator of family property. He got power over life and death +of his children. This increase of power went together with a change of +the position of the ruler. The period transition (until _c_. A.D. 1000) +was followed by a period of "moderate absolutism" (until 1278) in which +emperors as persons played a greater role than before, and some +emperors, such as Shen Tsung (in 1071), even declared that they regarded +the welfare of the masses as more important than the profit of the +gentry. After 1278, however, the personal influence of the emperors grew +further towards absolutism and in times became pure despotism. + +Individuals, especially family heads, gained more freedom in "Modern +Times". Not only the period of transition, but also the following period +was a time of much greater social mobility than existed in the Middle +Ages. By various legal and/or illegal means people could move up into +positions of power and wealth: we know of many merchants who succeeded +in being allowed to enter the state examinations and thus got access to +jobs in the administration. Large, influential gentry families in the +capital protected sons from less important families and thus gave them a +chance to move into the gentry. Thus, these families built up a +clientele of lesser gentry families which assisted them and upon the +loyalty of which they could count. The gentry can from now on be divided +into two parts. First, there was a "big gentry" which consisted of much +fewer families than in earlier times and which directed the policy in +the capital; and secondly, there was a "small gentry" which was +operating mainly in the provincial cities, directing local affairs and +bound by ties of loyalty to big gentry families. Gentry cliques now +extended into the provinces and it often became possible to identify a +clique with a geographical area, which, however, usually did not +indicate particularistic tendencies. + +Individual freedom did not show itself only in greater social mobility. +The restrictions which, for instance, had made the craftsmen and +artisans almost into serfs, were gradually lifted. From the early +sixteenth century on, craftsmen were free and no more subject to forced +labour services for the state. Most craftsmen in this epoch still had +their shops in one lane or street and lived above their shops, as they +had done in the earlier period. But from now on, they began to organize +in guilds of an essentially religious character, as similar guilds in +other parts of Asia at the same time also did. They provided welfare +services for their members, made some attempts towards standardization +of products and prices, imposed taxes upon their members, kept their +streets clean and tried to regulate salaries. Apprentices were initiated +in a kind of semi-religious ceremony, and often meetings took place in +temples. No guild, however, connected people of the same craft living in +different cities. Thus, they did not achieve political power. +Furthermore, each trade had its own guild; in Peking in the nineteenth +century there existed over 420 different guilds. Thus, guilds failed to +achieve political influence even within individual cities. + +Probably at the same time, regional associations, the so-called +"_hui-kuan"_ originated. Such associations united people from one city +or one area who lived in another city. People of different trades, but +mainly businessmen, came together under elected chiefs and councillors. +Sometimes, such regional associations could function as pressure groups, +especially as they were usually financially stronger than the guilds. +They often owned city property or farm land. Not all merchants, however, +were so organized. Although merchants remained under humiliating +restrictions as to the colour and material of their dress and the +prohibition to ride a horse, they could more often circumvent such +restrictions and in general had much more freedom in this epoch. + +Trade, including overseas trade, developed greatly from now on. Soon we +find in the coastal ports a special office which handled custom and +registration affairs, supplied interpreters for foreigners, received +them officially and gave good-bye dinners when they left. Down to the +thirteenth century, most of this overseas trade was still in the hands +of foreigners, mainly Indians. Entrepreneurs hired ships, if they were +not ship-owners, hired trained merchants who in turn hired sailors +mainly from the South-East Asian countries, and sold their own +merchandise as well as took goods on commission. Wealthy Chinese gentry +families invested money in such foreign enterprises and in some cases +even gave their daughters in marriage to foreigners in order to profit +from this business. + +We also see an emergence of industry from the eleventh century on. We +find men who were running almost monopolistic enterprises, such as +preparing charcoal for iron production and producing iron and steel at +the same time; some of these men had several factories, operating under +hired and qualified managers with more than 500 labourers. We find +beginnings of a labour legislation and the first strikes (A.D. 782 the +first strike of merchants in the capital; 1601 first strike of textile +workers). + +Some of these labourers were so-called "vagrants", farmers who had +secretly left their land or their landlord's land for various reasons, +and had shifted to other regions where they did not register and thus +did not pay taxes. Entrepreneurs liked to hire them for industries +outside the towns where supervision by the government was not so strong; +naturally, these "vagrants" were completely at the mercy of their +employers. + +Since _c_. 780 the economy can again be called a money economy; more and +more taxes were imposed in form of money instead of in kind. This +pressure forced farmers out of the land and into the cities in order to +earn there the cash they needed for their tax payments. These men +provided the labour force for industries, and this in turn led to the +strong growth of the cities, especially in Central China where trade and +industries developed most. + +Wealthy people not only invested in industrial enterprises, but also +began to make heavy investments in agriculture in the vicinity of +cities in order to increase production and thus income. We find men who +drained lakes in order to create fields below the water level for easy +irrigation; others made floating fields on lakes and avoided land tax +payments; still others combined pig and fish breeding in one operation. + +The introduction of money economy and money taxes led to a need for more +coinage. As metal was scarce and minting very expensive, iron coins were +introduced, silver became more and more common as means of exchange, and +paper money was issued. As the relative value of these moneys changed +with supply and demand, speculation became a flourishing business which +led to further enrichment of people in business. Even the government +became more money-minded: costs of operations and even of wars were +carefully calculated in order to achieve savings; financial specialists +were appointed by the government, just as clans appointed such men for +the efficient administration of their clan properties. + +Yet no real capitalism or industrialism developed until towards the end +of this epoch, although at the end of the twelfth century almost all +conditions for such a development seemed to be given. + +2 _Political situation in the tenth century_ + +The Chinese call the period from 906 to 960 the "period of the Five +Dynasties" (_Wu Tai_). This is not quite accurate. It is true that there +were five dynasties in rapid succession in North China; but at the same +time there were ten other dynasties in South China. The ten southern +dynasties, however, are regarded as not legitimate. The south was much +better off with its illegitimate dynasties than the north with the +legitimate ones. The dynasties in the south (we may dispense with giving +their names) were the realms of some of the military governors so often +mentioned above. These governors had already become independent at the +end of the T'ang epoch; they declared themselves kings or emperors and +ruled particular provinces in the south, the chief of which covered the +territory of the present provinces of Szechwan, Kwangtung and Chekiang. +In these territories there was comparative peace and economic +prosperity, since they were able to control their own affairs and were +no longer dependent on a corrupt central government. They also made +great cultural progress, and they did not lose their importance later +when they were annexed in the period of the Sung dynasty. + +As an example of these states one may mention the small state of Ch'u in +the present province of Hunan. Here, Ma Yin, a former carpenter (died +931), had made himself a king. He controlled some of the main trade +routes, set up a clean administration, bought up all merchandise which +the merchants brought, but allowed them to export only local products, +mainly tea, iron and lead. This regulation gave him a personal income of +several millions every year, and in addition fostered the exploitation +of the natural resources of this hitherto retarded area. + +3 _Monopolistic trade in South China. Printing and paper money in the +north_ + +The prosperity of the small states of South China was largely due to the +growth of trade, especially the tea trade. The habit of drinking tea +seems to have been an ancient Tibetan custom, which spread to +south-eastern China in the third century A.D. Since then there had been +two main centres of production, Szechwan and south-eastern China. Until +the eleventh century Szechwan had remained the leading producer, and tea +had been drunk in the Tibetan fashion, mixed with flour, salt, and +ginger. It then began to be drunk without admixture. In the T'ang epoch +tea drinking spread all over China, and there sprang up a class of +wholesalers who bought the tea from the peasants, accumulated stocks, +and distributed them. From 783 date the first attempts of the state to +monopolize the tea trade and to make it a source of revenue; but it +failed in an attempt to make the cultivation a state monopoly. A tea +commissariat was accordingly set up to buy the tea from the producers +and supply it to traders in possession of a state licence. There +naturally developed then a pernicious collaboration between state +officials and the wholesalers. The latter soon eliminated the small +traders, so that they themselves secured all the profit; official +support was secured by bribery. The state and the wholesalers alike were +keenly interested in the prevention of tea smuggling, which was strictly +prohibited. + +The position was much the same with regard to salt. We have here for the +first time the association of officials with wholesalers or even with a +monopoly trade. This was of the utmost importance in all later times. +Monopoly progressed most rapidly in Szechwan, where there had always +been a numerous commercial community. In the period of political +fragmentation Szechwan, as the principal tea-producing region and at the +same time an important producer of salt, was much better off than any +other part of China. Salt in Szechwan was largely produced by, +technically, very interesting salt wells which existed there since _c_. +the first century B.C. The importance of salt will be understood if we +remember that a grown-up person in China uses an average of twelve +pounds of salt per year. The salt tax was the top budget item around +A.D. 900. + +South-eastern China was also the chief centre of porcelain production, +although china clay is found also in North China. The use of porcelain +spread more and more widely. The first translucent porcelain made its +appearance, and porcelain became an important article of commerce both +within the country and for export. Already the Muslim rulers of Baghdad +around 800 used imported Chinese porcelain, and by the end of the +fourteenth century porcelain was known in Eastern Africa. Exports to +South-East Asia and Indonesia, and also to Japan gained more and more +importance in later centuries. Manufacture of high quality porcelain +calls for considerable amounts of capital investment and working +capital; small manufacturers produce too many second-rate pieces; thus +we have here the first beginnings of an industry that developed +industrial towns such as Ching-te, in which the majority of the +population were workers and merchants, with some 10,000 families alone +producing porcelain. Yet, for many centuries to come, the state +controlled the production and even the design of porcelain and +appropriated most of the production for use at court or as gifts. + +The third important new development to be mentioned was that of +printing, which since _c_. 770 was known in the form of wood-block +printing. The first reference to a printed book dated from 835, and the +most important event in this field was the first printing of the +Classics by the orders of Feng Tao (882-954) around 940. The first +attempts to use movable type in China occurred around 1045, although +this invention did not get general acceptance in China. It was more +commonly used in Korea from the thirteenth century on and revolutionized +Europe from 1538 on. It seems to me that from the middle of the +twentieth century on, the West, too, shows a tendency to come back to +the printing of whole pages, but replacing the wood blocks by +photographic plates or other means. In the Far East, just as in Europe, +the invention of printing had far-reaching consequences. Books, which +until then had been very dear, because they had to be produced by +copyists, could now be produced cheaply and in quantity. It became +possible for a scholar to accumulate a library of his own and to work in +a wide field, where earlier he had been confined to a few books or even +a single text. The results were the spread of education, beginning with +reading and writing, among wider groups, and the broadening of +education: a large number of texts were read and compared, and no longer +only a few. Private libraries came into existence, so that the imperial +libraries were no longer the only ones. Publishing soon grew in extent, +and in private enterprise works were printed that were not so serious +and politically important as the classic books of the past. Thus a new +type of literature, the literature of entertainment, could come into +existence. Not all these consequences showed themselves at once; some +made their first appearance later, in the Sung period. + +A fourth important innovation, this time in North China, was the +introduction of prototypes of paper money. The Chinese copper "cash" was +difficult or expensive to transport, simply because of its weight. It +thus presented great obstacles to trade. Occasionally a region with an +adverse balance of trade would lose all its copper money, with the +result of a local deflation. From time to time, iron money was +introduced in such deficit areas; it had for the first time been used in +Szechwan in the first century B.C., and was there extensively used in +the tenth century when after the conquest of the local state all copper +was taken to the east by the conquerors. So long as there was an orderly +administration, the government could send it money, though at +considerable cost; but if the administration was not functioning well, +the deflation continued. For this reason some provinces prohibited the +export of copper money from their territory at the end of the eighth +century. As the provinces were in the hands of military governors, the +central government could do next to nothing to prevent this. On the +other hand, the prohibition automatically made an end of all external +trade. The merchants accordingly began to prepare deposit certificates, +and in this way to set up a sort of transfer system. Soon these deposit +certificates entered into circulation as a sort of medium of payment at +first again in Szechwan, and gradually this led to a banking system and +the linking of wholesale trade with it. This made possible a much +greater volume of trade. Towards the end of the T'ang period the +government began to issue deposit certificates of its own: the merchant +deposited his copper money with a government agency, receiving in +exchange a certificate which he could put into circulation like money. +Meanwhile the government could put out the deposited money at interest, +or throw it into general circulation. The government's deposit +certificates were now printed. They were the predecessors of the paper +money used from the time of the Sung. + +4 _Political history of the Five Dynasties_ + +The southern states were a factor not to be ignored in the calculations +of the northern dynasties. Although the southern kingdoms were involved +in a confusion of mutual hostilities, any one of them might come to the +fore as the ally of Turks or other northern powers. The capital of the +first of the five northern dynasties (once more a Liang dynasty, but not +to be confused with the Liang dynasty of the south in the sixth century) +was, moreover, quite close to the territories of the southern dynasties, +close to the site of the present K'ai-feng, in the fertile plain of +eastern China with its good means of transport. Militarily the town +could not be held, for its one and only defence was the Yellow River. +The founder of this Later Liang dynasty, Chu Ch'uean-chung (906), was +himself an eastern Chinese and, as will be remembered, a past supporter +of the revolutionary Huang Ch'ao, but he had then gone over to the T'ang +and had gained high military rank. + +His northern frontier remained still more insecure than the southern, +for Chu Ch'uean-chung did not succeed in destroying the Turkish general +Li K'o-yung; on the contrary, the latter continually widened the range +of his power. Fortunately he, too, had an enemy at his back--the Kitan +(or Khitan), whose ruler had made himself emperor in 916, and so staked +a claim to reign over all China. The first Kitan emperor held a middle +course between Chu and Li, and so was able to establish and expand his +empire in peace. The striking power of his empire, which from 937 onward +was officially called the Liao empire, grew steadily, because the old +tribal league of the Kitan was transformed into a centrally commanded +military organization. + +To these dangers from abroad threatening the Later Liang state internal +troubles were added. Chu Ch'uean-chung's dynasty was one of the three +Chinese dynasties that have ever come to power through a popular rising. +He himself was of peasant origin, and so were a large part of his +subordinates and helpers. Many of them had originally been independent +peasant leaders; others had been under Huang Ch'ao. All of them were +opposed to the gentry, and the great slaughter of the gentry of the +capital, shortly before the beginning of Chu's rule, had been welcomed +by Chu and his followers. The gentry therefore would not co-operate with +Chu and preferred to join the Turk Li K'o-yung. But Chu could not +confidently rely on his old comrades. They were jealous of his success +in gaining the place they all coveted, and were ready to join in any +independent enterprise as opportunity offered. All of them, moreover, as +soon as they were given any administrative post, busied themselves with +the acquisition of money and wealth as quickly as possible. These abuses +not only ate into the revenues of the state but actually produced a +common front between the peasantry and the remnants of the gentry +against the upstarts. + +In 917, after Li K'o-yung's death, the Sha-t'o Turks beat off an attack +from the Kitan, and so were safe for a time from the northern menace. +They then marched against the Liang state, where a crisis had been +produced in 912 after the murder of Chu Ch'uean-chung by one of his sons. +The Liang generals saw no reason why they should fight for the dynasty, +and all of them went over to the enemy. Thus the "Later T'ang dynasty" +(923-936) came into power in North China, under the son of Li K'o-yung. + +The dominant element at this time was quite clearly the Chinese gentry, +especially in western and central China. The Sha-t'o themselves must +have been extraordinarily few in number, probably little more than +100,000 men. Most of them, moreover, were politically passive, being +simple soldiers. Only the ruling family and its following played any +active part, together with a few families related to it by marriage. The +whole state was regarded by the Sha-t'o rulers as a sort of family +enterprise, members of the family being placed in the most important +positions. As there were not enough of them, they adopted into the +family large numbers of aliens of all nationalities. Military posts were +given to faithful members of Li K'o-yung's or his successor's bodyguard, +and also to domestic servants and other clients of the family. Thus, +while in the Later Liang state elements from the peasantry had risen in +the world, some of these neo-gentry reaching the top of the social +pyramid in the centuries that followed, in the Sha-t'o state some of its +warriors, drawn from the most various peoples, entered the gentry class +through their personal relations with the ruler. But in spite of all +this the bulk of the officials came once more from the Chinese. These +educated Chinese not only succeeded in winning over the rulers +themselves to the Chinese cultural ideal, but persuaded them to adopt +laws that substantially restricted the privileges of the Sha-t'o and +brought advantages only to the Chinese gentry. Consequently all the +Chinese historians are enthusiastic about the "Later T'ang", and +especially about the emperor Ming Ti, who reigned from 927 onward, after +the assassination of his predecessor. They also abused the Liang because +they were against the gentry. + +In 936 the Later T'ang dynasty gave place to the Later Chin dynasty +(936-946), but this involved no change in the structure of the empire. +The change of dynasty meant no more than that instead of the son +following the father the son-in-law had ascended the throne. It was of +more importance that the son-in-law, the Sha-t'o Turk Shih Ching-t'ang, +succeeded in doing this by allying himself with the Kitan and ceding to +them some of the northern provinces. The youthful successor, however, of +the first ruler of this dynasty was soon made to realize that the Kitan +regarded the founding of his dynasty as no more than a transition stage +on the way to their annexation of the whole of North China. The old +Sha-t'o nobles, who had not been sinified in the slightest, suggested a +preventive war; the actual court group, strongly sinified, hesitated, +but ultimately were unable to avoid war. The war was very quickly +decided by several governors in eastern China going over to the Kitan, +who had promised them the imperial title. In the course of 946-7 the +Kitan occupied the capital and almost the whole of the country. In 947 +the Kitan ruler proclaimed himself emperor of the Kitan and the Chinese. + +[Illustration: Map 6: The State of the later T'ang dynasty] + +The Chinese gentry seem to have accepted this situation because a Kitan +emperor was just as acceptable to them as a Sha-t'o emperor; but the +Sha-t'o were not prepared to submit to the Kitan regime, because under +it they would have lost their position of privilege. At the head of this +opposition group stood the Sha-t'o general Liu Chih-yuan, who founded +the "Later Han dynasty" (947-950). He was able to hold out against the +Kitan only because in 947 the Kitan emperor died and his son had to +leave China and retreat to the north; fighting had broken out between +the empress dowager, who had some Chinese support, and the young heir to +the throne. The new Turkish dynasty, however, was unable to withstand +the internal Chinese resistance. Its founder died in 948, and his son, +owing to his youth, was entirely in the hands of a court clique. In his +effort to free himself from the tutelage of this group he made a +miscalculation, for the men on whom he thought he could depend were +largely supporters of the clique. So he lost his throne and his life, +and a Chinese general, Kuo Wei, took his place, founding the "Later Chou +dynasty" (951-959). + +A feature of importance was that in the years of the short-lived "Later +Han dynasty" a tendency showed itself among the Chinese military leaders +to work with the states in the south. The increase in the political +influence of the south was due to its economic advance while the north +was reduced to economic chaos by the continual heavy fighting, and by +the complete irresponsibility of the Sha-t'o ruler in financial matters: +several times in this period the whole of the money in the state +treasury was handed out to soldiers to prevent them from going over to +some enemy or other. On the other hand, there was a tendency in the +south for the many neighbouring states to amalgamate, and as this +process took place close to the frontier of North China the northern +states could not passively look on. During the "Later Han" period there +were wars and risings, which continued in the time of the "Later Chou". + +On the whole, the few years of the rule of the second emperor of the +"Later Chou" (954-958) form a bright spot in those dismal fifty-five +years. Sociologically regarded, that dynasty formed merely a transition +stage on the way to the Sung dynasty that now followed: the Chinese +gentry ruled under the leadership of an upstart who had risen from the +ranks, and they ruled in accordance with the old principles of gentry +rule. The Sha-t'o, who had formed the three preceding dynasties, had +been so reduced that they were now a tiny minority and no longer +counted. This minority had only been able to maintain its position +through the special social conditions created by the "Later Liang" +dynasty: the Liang, who had come from the lower classes of the +population, had driven the gentry into the arms of the Sha-t'o Turks. As +soon as the upstarts, in so far as they had not fallen again or been +exterminated, had more or less assimilated themselves to the old gentry, +and on the other hand the leaders of the Sha-t'o had become numerically +too weak, there was a possibility of resuming the old form of rule. + +There had been certain changes in this period. The north-west of China, +the region of the old capital Ch'ang-an, had been so ruined by the +fighting that had gone on mainly there and farther north, that it was +eliminated as a centre of power for a hundred years to come; it had been +largely depopulated. The north was under the rule of the Kitan: its +trade, which in the past had been with the Huang-ho basin, was now +perforce diverted to Peking, which soon became the main centre of the +power of the Kitan. The south, particularly the lower Yangtze region and +the province of Szechwan, had made economic progress, at least in +comparison with the north; consequently it had gained in political +importance. + +One other event of this time has to be mentioned: the great persecution +of Buddhism in 955, but not only because 30,336 temples and monasteries +were secularized and only some 2,700 with 61,200 monks were left. +Although the immediate reason for this action seems to have been that +too many men entered the monasteries in order to avoid being taken as +soldiers, the effect of the law of 955 was that from now on the +Buddhists were put under regulations which clarified once and for ever +their position within the framework of a society which had as its aim to +define clearly the status of each individual within each social class. +Private persons were no more allowed to erect temples and monasteries. +The number of temples per district was legally fixed. A person could +become monk only if the head of the family gave its permission. He had +to be over fifteen years of age and had to know by heart at least one +hundred pages of texts. The state took over the control of the +ordinations which could be performed only after a successful +examination. Each year a list of all monks had to be submitted to the +government in two copies. Monks had to carry six identification cards +with them, one of which was the ordination diploma for which a fee had +to be paid to the government (already since 755). The diploma was, in +the eleventh century, issued by the Bureau of Sacrifices, but the money +was collected by the Ministry of Agriculture. It can be regarded as a +payment _in lieu_ of land tax. The price was in the eleventh century 130 +strings, which represented the value of a small farm or the value of +some 17,000 litres of grain. The price of the diploma went up to 220 +strings in 1101, and the then government sold 30,000 diplomas per year +in order to get still more cash. But as diplomas could be traded, a +black market developed, on which they were sold for as little as twenty +strings. + + +(B) Period of Moderate Absolutism + +(1) The Northern Sung dynasty + +1 _Southward expansion_ + +The founder of the Sung dynasty, Chao K'uang-yin, came of a Chinese +military family living to the south of Peking. He advanced from general +to emperor, and so differed in no way from the emperors who had preceded +him. But his dynasty did not disappear as quickly as the others; for +this there were several reasons. To begin with, there was the simple +fact that he remained alive longer than the other founders of dynasties, +and so was able to place his rule on a firmer foundation. But in +addition to this he followed a new course, which in certain ways +smoothed matters for him and for his successors, in foreign policy. + +This Sung dynasty, as Chao K'uang-yin named it, no longer turned against +the northern peoples, particularly the Kitan, but against the south. +This was not exactly an heroic policy: the north of China remained in +the hands of the Kitan. There were frequent clashes, but no real effort +was made to destroy the Kitan, whose dynasty was now called "Liao". The +second emperor of the Sung was actually heavily defeated several times +by the Kitan. But they, for their part, made no attempt to conquer the +whole of China, especially since the task would have become more and +more burdensome the farther south the Sung expanded. And very soon there +were other reasons why the Kitan should refrain from turning their whole +strength against the Chinese. + +[Illustration: 10 Ladies of the Court: clay models which accompanied +the dead person to the grave. T'ang period. _In the collection of the +Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin_.] + +[Illustration: 11 Distinguished founder: a temple banner found at +Khotcho, Turkestan. _Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin, No. 1B_ 4524, +_illustration B_ 408.] + +As we said, the Sung turned at once against the states in the south. +Some of the many small southern states had made substantial economic and +cultural advance, but militarily they were not strong. Chao K'uang-yin +(named as emperor T'ai Tsu) attacked them in succession. Most of them +fell very quickly and without any heavy fighting, especially since the +Sung dealt mildly with the defeated rulers and their following. The +gentry and the merchants in these small states could not but realize the +advantages of a widened and well-ordered economic field, and they were +therefore entirely in favour of the annexation of their country so soon +as it proved to be tolerable. And the Sung empire could only endure and +gain strength if it had control of the regions along the Yangtze and +around Canton, with their great economic resources. The process of +absorbing the small states in the south continued until 980. Before it +was ended, the Sung tried to extend their influence in the south beyond +the Chinese border, and secured a sort of protectorate over parts of +Annam (973). This sphere of influence was politically insignificant and +not directly of any economic importance; but it fulfilled for the Sung +the same functions which colonial territories fulfilled for Europeans, +serving as a field of operation for the commercial class, who imported +raw materials from it--mainly, it is true, luxury articles such as +special sorts of wood, perfumes, ivory, and so on--and exported Chinese +manufactures. As the power of the empire grew, this zone of influence +extended as far as Indonesia: the process had begun in the T'ang period. +The trade with the south had not the deleterious effects of the trade +with Central Asia. There was no sale of refined metals, and none of +fabrics, as the natives produced their own textiles which sufficed for +their needs. And the export of porcelain brought no economic injury to +China, but the reverse. + +This Sung policy was entirely in the interest of the gentry and of the +trading community which was now closely connected with them. Undoubtedly +it strengthened China. The policy of nonintervention in the north was +endurable even when peace with the Kitan had to be bought by the payment +of an annual tribute. From 1004 onwards, 100,000 ounces of silver and +200,000 bales of silk were paid annually to the Kitan, amounting in +value to about 270,000 strings of cash, each of 1,000 coins. The state +budget amounted to some 20,000,000 strings of cash. In 1038 the payments +amounted to 500,000 strings, but the budget was by then much larger. One +is liable to get a false impression when reading of these big payments +if one does not take into account what percentage they formed of the +total revenues of the state. The tribute to the Kitan amounted to less +than 2 per cent of the revenue, while the expenditure on the army +accounted for 25 per cent of the budget. It cost much less to pay +tribute than to maintain large armies and go to war. Financial +considerations played a great part during the Sung epoch. The taxation +revenue of the empire rose rapidly after the pacification of the south; +soon after the beginning of the dynasty the state budget was double that +of the T'ang. If the state expenditure in the eleventh century had not +continually grown through the increase in military expenditure--in spite +of everything!--there would have come a period of great prosperity in +the empire. + +2 _Administration and army. Inflation_ + +The Sung emperor, like the rulers of the transition period, had gained +the throne by his personal abilities as military leader; in fact, he had +been made emperor by his soldiers as had happened to so many emperors in +later Imperial Rome. For the next 300 years we observe a change in the +position of the emperor. On the one hand, if he was active and +intelligent enough, he exercised much more personal influence than the +rulers of the Middle Ages. On the other hand, at the same time, the +emperors were much closer to their ministers as before. We hear of +ministers who patted the ruler on the shoulders when they retired from +an audience; another one fell asleep on the emperor's knee and was not +punished for this familiarity. The emperor was called "_kuan-chia_" +(Administrator) and even called himself so. And in the early twelfth +century an emperor stated "I do not regard the empire as my personal +property; my job is to guide the people". Financially-minded as the Sung +dynasty was, the cost of the operation of the palace was calculated, so +that the emperor had a budget: in 1068 the salaries of all officials in +the capital amounted to 40,000 strings of money per month, the armies +100,000, and the emperor's ordinary monthly budget was 70,000 strings. +For festivals, imperial birthdays, weddings and burials extra allowances +were made. Thus, the Sung rulers may be called "moderate absolutists" +and not despots. + +One of the first acts of the new Sung emperor, in 963, was a fundamental +reorganization of the administration of the country. The old system of a +civil administration and a military administration independent of it was +brought to an end and the whole administration of the country placed in +the hands of civil officials. The gentry welcomed this measure and gave +it full support, because it enabled the influence of the gentry to grow +and removed the fear of competition from the military, some of whom did +not belong by birth to the gentry. The generals by whose aid the empire +had been created were put on pension, or transferred to civil +employment, as quickly as possible. The army was demobilized, and this +measure was bound up with the settlement of peasants in the regions +which war had depopulated, or on new land. Soon after this the revenue +noticeably increased. Above all, the army was placed directly under the +central administration, and the system of military governors was thus +brought to an end. The soldiers became mercenaries of the state, whereas +in the past there had been conscription. In 975 the army had numbered +only 378,000, and its cost had not been insupportable. Although the +numbers increased greatly, reaching 912,000 in 1017 and 1,259,000 in +1045, this implied no increase in military strength; for men who had +once been soldiers remained with the army even when they were too old +for service. Moreover, the soldiers grew more and more exacting; when +detachments were transferred to another region, for instance, the +soldiers would not carry their baggage; an army of porters had to be +assembled. The soldiers also refused to go to regions remote from their +homes until they were given extra pay. Such allowances gradually became +customary, and so the military expenditure grew by leaps and bounds +without any corresponding increase in the striking power of the army. + +The government was unable to meet the whole cost of the army out of +taxation revenue. The attempt was made to cover the expenditure by +coining fresh money. In connection with the increase in commercial +capital described above, and the consequent beginning of an industry, +China's metal production had greatly increased. In 1050 thirteen times +as much silver, eight times as much copper, and fourteen times as much +iron was produced as in 800. Thus the circulation of the copper currency +was increased. The cost of minting, however, amounted in China to about +75 per cent and often over 100 per cent of the value of the money +coined. In addition to this, the metal was produced in the south, while +the capital was in the north. The coin had therefore to be carried a +long distance to reach the capital and to be sent on to the soldiers in +the north. + +To meet the increasing expenditure, an unexampled quantity of new money +was put into circulation. The state budget increased from 22,200,000 in +A.D. 1000 to 150,800,000 in 1021. The Kitan state coined a great deal of +silver, and some of the tribute was paid to it in silver. The greatly +increased production of silver led to its being put into circulation in +China itself. And this provided a new field of speculation, through the +variations in the rates for silver and for copper. Speculation was also +possible with the deposit certificates, which were issued in quantities +by the state from the beginning of the eleventh century, and to which +the first true paper money was soon added. The paper money and the +certificates were redeemable at a definite date, but at a reduction of +at least 3 per cent of their value; this, too, yielded a certain revenue +to the state. + +The inflation that resulted from all these measures brought profit to +the big merchants in spite of the fact that they had to supply directly +or indirectly all non-agricultural taxes (in 1160 some 40,000,000 +strings annually), especially the salt tax (50 per cent), wine tax (36 +per cent), tea tax (7 per cent) and customs (7 per cent). Although the +official economic thinking remained Confucian, i.e. anti-business and +pro-agrarian, we find in this time insight in price laws, for instance, +that peace times and/or decrease of population induce deflation. The +government had always attempted to manipulate the prices by +interference. Already in much earlier times, again and again, attempts +had been made to lower the prices by the so-called "ever-normal +granaries" of the government which threw grain on the market when prices +were too high and bought grain when prices were low. But now, in +addition to such measures, we also find others which exhibit a deeper +insight: in a period of starvation, the scholar and official Fan +Chung-yen instead of officially reducing grain prices, raised the prices +in his district considerably. Although the population got angry, +merchants started to import large amounts of grain; as soon as this +happened, Fan (himself a big landowner) reduced the price again. Similar +results were achieved by others by just stimulating merchants to import +grain into deficit areas. + +With the social structure of medieval Europe, similar financial and +fiscal developments which gave new chances to merchants, eventually led +to industrial capitalism and industrial society. In China, however, the +gentry in their capacity of officials hindered the growth of independent +trade, and permitted its existence only in association with themselves. +As they also represented landed property, it was in land that the +newly-formed capital was invested. Thus we see in the Sung period, and +especially in the eleventh century, the greatest accumulation of estates +that there had ever been up to then in China. + +Many of these estates came into origin as gifts of the emperor to +individuals or to temples, others were created on hillsides on land +which belonged to the villages. From this time on, the rest of the +village commons in China proper disappeared. Villagers could no longer +use the top-soil of the hills as fertilizer, or the trees as firewood +and building material. In addition, the hillside estates diverted the +water of springs and creeks, thus damaging severely the irrigation works +of the villagers in the plains. The estates (_chuang_) were controlled +by appointed managers who often became hereditary managers. The tenants +on the estates were quite often non-registered migrants, of whom we +spoke previously as "vagrants", and as such they depended upon the +managers who could always denounce them to the authorities which would +lead to punishment because nobody was allowed to leave his home without +officially changing his registration. Many estates operated mills and +even textile factories with non-registered weavers. Others seem to have +specialized in sheep breeding. Present-day village names ending with +-_chuang_ indicate such former estates. A new development in this period +were the "clan estates" (_i-chuang_), created by Fan Chung-yen +(989-1052) in 1048. The income of these clan estates were used for the +benefit of the whole clan, were controlled by clan-appointed managers +and had tax-free status, guaranteed by the government which regarded +them as welfare institutions. Technically, they might better be called +corporations because they were similar in structure to some of our +industrial corporations. Under the Chinese economic system, large-scale +landowning always proved socially and politically injurious. Up to very +recent times the peasant who rented his land paid 40-50 per cent of the +produce to the landowner, who was responsible for payment of the normal +land tax. The landlord, however, had always found means of evading +payment. As each district had to yield a definite amount of taxation, +the more the big landowners succeeded in evading payment the more had to +be paid by the independent small farmers. These independent peasants +could then either "give" their land to the big landowner and pay rent to +him, thus escaping from the attentions of the tax-officer, or simply +leave the district and secretly enter another one where they were not +registered. In either case the government lost taxes. + +Large-scale landowning proved especially injurious in the Sung period, +for two reasons. To begin with, the official salaries, which had always +been small in China, were now totally inadequate, and so the officials +were given a fixed quantity of land, the yield of which was regarded as +an addition to salary. This land was free from part of the taxes. Before +long the officials had secured the liberation of the whole of their land +from the chief taxes. In the second place, the taxation system was +simplified by making the amount of tax proportional to the amount of +land owned. The lowest bracket, however, in this new system of taxation +comprised more land than a poor peasant would actually own, and this was +a heavy blow to the small peasant-owners, who in the past had paid a +proportion of their produce. Most of them had so little land that they +could barely live on its yield. Their liability to taxation was at all +times a very heavy burden to them while the big landowners got off +lightly. Thus this measure, though administratively a saving of +expense, proved unsocial. + +All this made itself felt especially in the south with its great estates +of tax-evading landowners. Here the remaining small peasant-owners had +to pay the new taxes or to become tenants of the landowners and lose +their property. The north was still suffering from the war-devastation +of the tenth century. As the landlords were always the first sufferers +from popular uprisings as well as from war, they had disappeared, +leaving their former tenants as free peasants. From this period on, we +have enough data to observe a social "law ": as the capital was the +largest consumer, especially of high-priced products such as vegetables +which could not be transported over long distances, the gentry always +tried to control the land around the capital. Here, we find the highest +concentration of landlords and tenants. Production in this circle +shifted from rice and wheat to mulberry trees for silk, and vegetables +grown under the trees. These urban demands resulted in the growth of an +"industrial" quarter on the outskirts of the capital, in which +especially silk for the upper classes was produced. The next circle also +contained many landlords, but production was more in staple foods such +as wheat and rice which could be transported. Exploitation in this +second circle was not much less than in the first circle, because of +less close supervision by the authorities. In the third circle we find +independent subsistence farmers. Some provincial capitals, especially in +Szechwan, exhibited a similar pattern of circles. With the shift of the +capital, a complete reorganization appeared: landlords and officials +gave up their properties, cultivation changed, and a new system of +circles began to form around the new capital. We find, therefore, the +grotesque result that the thinly populated province of Shensi in the +north-west yielded about a quarter of the total revenues of the state: +it had no large landowners, no wealthy gentry, with their evasion of +taxation, only a mass of newly-settled small peasants' holdings. For +this reason the government was particularly interested in that province, +and closely watched the political changes in its neighbourhood. In 990 a +man belonging to a sinified Toba family, living on the border of Shensi, +had made himself king with the support of remnants of Toba tribes. In +1034 came severe fighting, and in 1038 the king proclaimed himself +emperor, in the Hsia dynasty, and threatened the whole of north-western +China. Tribute was now also paid to this state (250,000 strings), but +the fight against it continued, to save that important province. + +These were the main events in internal and external affairs during the +Sung period until 1068. It will be seen that foreign affairs were of +much less importance than developments in the country. + +3 _Reforms and Welfare schemes_ + +The situation just described was bound to produce a reaction. In spite +of the inflationary measures the revenue fell, partly in consequence of +the tax evasions of the great landowners. It fell from 150,000,000 in +1021 to 116,000,000 in 1065. Expenditure did not fall, and there was a +constant succession of budget deficits. The young emperor Shen Tsung +(1068-1085) became convinced that the policy followed by the ruling +clique of officials and gentry was bad, and he gave his adhesion to a +small group led by Wang An-shih (1021-1086). The ruling gentry clique +represented especially the interests of the large tea producers and +merchants in Szechwan and Kiangsi. It advocated a policy of +_laisser-faire_ in trade: it held that everything would adjust itself. +Wang An-shih himself came from Kiangsi and was therefore supported at +first by the government clique, within which the Kiangsi group was +trying to gain predominance over the Szechwan group. But Wang An-shih +came from a poor family, as did his supporters, for whom he quickly +secured posts. They represented the interests of the small landholders +and the small dealers. This group succeeded in gaining power, and in +carrying out a number of reforms, all directed against the monopolist +merchants. Credits for small peasants were introduced, and officials +were given bigger salaries, in order to make them independent and to +recruit officials who were not big landowners. The army was greatly +reduced, and in addition to the paid soldiery a national militia was +created. Special attention was paid to the province of Shensi, whose +conditions were taken more or less as a model. + +It seems that one consequence of Wang's reforms was a strong fall in the +prices, i.e. a deflation; therefore, as soon as the first decrees were +issued, the large plantation owners and the merchants who were allied to +them, offered furious opposition. A group of officials and landlords who +still had large properties in the vicinity of Loyang--at that time a +quiet cultural centre--also joined them. Even some of Wang An-shih's +former adherents came out against him. After a few years the emperor was +no longer able to retain Wang An-shih and had to abandon the new policy. +How really economic interests were here at issue may be seen from the +fact that for many of the new decrees which were not directly concerned +with economic affairs, such, for instance, as the reform of the +examination system, Wang An-shih was strongly attacked though his +opponents had themselves advocated them in the past and had no practical +objection to offer to them. The contest, however, between the two groups +was not over. The monopolistic landowners and their merchants had the +upper hand from 1086 to 1102, but then the advocates of the policy +represented by Wang again came into power for a short time. They had but +little success to show, as they did not remain in power long enough and, +owing to the strong opposition, they were never able to make their +control really effective. + +Basically, both groups were against allowing the developing middle class +and especially the merchants to gain too much freedom, and whatever +freedom they in fact gained, came through extra-legal or illegal +practices. A proverb of the time said "People hate their ruler as +animals hate the net (of the hunter)". The basic laws of medieval times +which had attempted to create stable social classes remained: down to +the nineteenth century there were slaves, different classes of serfs or +"commoners", and free burghers. Craftsmen remained under work +obligation. Merchants were second-class people. Each class had to wear +dresses of special colour and material, so that the social status of a +person, even if he was not an official and thus recognizable by his +insignia, was immediately clear when one saw him. The houses of +different classes differed from one another by the type of tiles, the +decorations of the doors and gates; the size of the main reception room +of the house was prescribed and was kept small for all non-officials; +and even size and form of the tombs was prescribed in detail for each +class. Once a person had a certain privilege, he and his descendants +even if they had lost their position in the bureaucracy, retained these +privileges over generations. All burghers were admitted to the +examinations and, thus, there was a certain social mobility allowed +within the leading class of the society, and a new "small gentry" +developed by this system. + +Yet, the wars of the transition period had created a feeling of +insecurity within the gentry. The eleventh and twelfth centuries were +periods of extensive social legislation in order to give the lower +classes some degree of security and thus prevent them from attempting to +upset the status quo. In addition to the "ever-normal granaries" of the +state, "social granaries" were revived, into which all farmers of a +village had to deliver grain for periods of need. In 1098 a bureau for +housing and care was created which created homes for the old and +destitute; 1102 a bureau for medical care sent state doctors to homes +and hospitals as well as to private homes to care for poor patients; +from 1104 a bureau of burials took charge of the costs of burials of +poor persons. Doctors as craftsmen were under corvee obligation and +could easily be ordered by the state. Often, however, Buddhist priests +took charge of medical care, burial costs and hospitalization. The state +gave them premiums if they did good work. The Ministry of Civil Affairs +made the surveys of cases and costs, while the Ministry of Finances paid +the costs. We hear of state orphanages in 1247, a free pharmacy in 1248, +state hospitals were reorganized in 1143. In 1167 the government gave +low-interest loans to poor persons and (from 1159 on) sold cheap grain +from state granaries. Fire protection services in large cities were +organized. Finally, from 1141 on, the government opened up to +twenty-three geisha houses for the entertainment of soldiers who were +far from home in the capital and had no possibility for other +amusements. Public baths had existed already some centuries ago; now +Buddhist temples opened public baths as social service. + +Social services for the officials were also extended. Already from the +eighth century on, offices were closed every tenth day and during +holidays, a total of almost eighty days per year. Even criminals got +some leave and exiles had the right of a home leave once every three +years. The pensions for retired officials after the age of seventy which +amounted to 50 per cent of the salary from the eighth century on, were +again raised, though widows did not receive benefits. + +4 _Cultural situation (philosophy, religion, literature, painting_) + +Culturally the eleventh century was the most active period China had so +far experienced, apart from the fourth century B.C. As a consequence of +the immensely increased number of educated people resulting from the +invention of printing, circles of scholars and private schools set up by +scholars were scattered all over the country. The various philosophical +schools differed in their political attitude and in the choice of +literary models with which they were politically in sympathy. Thus Wang +An-shih and his followers preferred the rigid classic style of Han Yue +(768-825) who lived in the T'ang period and had also been an opponent of +the monopolistic tendencies of pre-capitalism. For the Wang An-shih +group formed itself into a school with a philosophy of its own and with +its own commentaries on the classics. As the representative of the small +merchants and the small landholders, this school advocated policies of +state control and specialized in the study and annotation of classical +books which seemed to favour their ideas. + +But the Wang An-shih school was unable to hold its own against the +school that stood for monopolist trade capitalism, the new philosophy +described as Neo-Confucianism or the Sung school. Here Confucianism and +Buddhism were for the first time united. In the last centuries, +Buddhistic ideas had penetrated all of Chinese culture: the slaughtering +of animals and the executions of criminals were allowed only on certain +days, in accordance with Buddhist rules. Formerly, monks and nuns had to +greet the emperor as all citizens had to do; now they were exempt from +this rule. On the other hand, the first Sung emperor was willing to +throw himself to the earth in front of the Buddha statues, but he was +told he did not have to do it because he was the "Buddha of the present +time" and thus equal to the God. Buddhist priests participated in the +celebrations on the emperor's birthday, and emperors from time to time +gave free meals to large crowds of monks. Buddhist thought entered the +field of justice: in Sung time we hear complaints that judges did not +apply the laws and showed laxity, because they hoped to gain religious +merit by sparing the lives of criminals. We had seen how the main +current of Buddhism had changed from a revolutionary to a reactionary +doctrine. The new greater gentry of the eleventh century adopted a +number of elements of this reactionary Buddhism and incorporated them in +the Confucianist system. This brought into Confucianism a metaphysic +which it had lacked in the past, greatly extending its influence on the +people and at the same time taking the wind out of the sails of +Buddhism. The greater gentry never again placed themselves on the side +of the Buddhist Church as they had done in the T'ang period. When they +got tired of Confucianism, they interested themselves in Taoism of the +politically innocent, escapist, meditative Buddhism. + +Men like Chou Tun-i (1017-1073) and Chang Tsai (1020-1077) developed a +cosmological theory which could measure up with Buddhistic cosmology and +metaphysics. But perhaps more important was the attempt of the +Neo-Confucianists to explain the problem of evil. Confucius and his +followers had believed that every person could perfect himself by +overcoming the evil in him. As the good persons should be the _elite_ +and rule the others, theoretically everybody who was a member of human +society, could move up and become a leader. It was commonly assumed that +human nature is good or indifferent, and that human feelings are evil +and have to be tamed and educated. When in Han time with the +establishment of the gentry society and its social classes, the idea +that any person could move up to become a leader if he only perfected +himself, appeared to be too unrealistic, the theory of different grades +of men was formed which found its clearest formulation by Han Yue: some +people have a good, others a neutral, and still others a bad nature; +therefore, not everybody can become a leader. The Neo-Confucianists, +especially Ch'eng Hao (1032-1085) and Ch'eng I (1033-1107), tried to +find the reasons for this inequality. According to them, nature is +neutral; but physical form originates with the combination of nature +with Material Force (_ch'i_). This combination produces individuals in +which there is a lack of balance or harmony. Man should try to transform +physical form and recover original nature. The creative force by which +such a transformation is possible is _jen_, love, the creative, +life-giving quality of nature itself. + +It should be remarked that Neo-Confucianism accepts an inequality of +men, as early Confucianism did; and that _jen_, love, in its practical +application has to be channelled by _li_, the system of rules of +behaviour. The _li_, however, always started from the idea of a +stratified class society. Chu Hsi (1130-1200), the famous scholar and +systematizer of Neo-Confucian thoughts, brought out rules of behaviour +for those burghers who did not belong to the gentry and could not, +therefore, be expected to perform all _li_; his "simplified _li_" +exercised a great influence not only upon contemporary China, but also +upon Korea and Annam and there strengthened a hitherto looser +patriarchal, patrilinear family system. + +The Neo-Confucianists also compiled great analytical works of history +and encyclopaedias whose authority continued for many centuries. They +interpreted in these works all history in accordance with their outlook; +they issued new commentaries on all the classics in order to spread +interpretations that served their purposes. In the field of commentary +this school of thought was given perfect expression by Chu Hsi, who also +wrote one of the chief historical works. Chu Hsi's commentaries became +standard works for centuries, until the beginning of the twentieth +century. Yet, although Chu became the symbol of conservatism, he was +quite interested in science, and in this field he had an open eye for +changes. + +The Sung period is so important, because it is also the time of the +greatest development of Chinese science and technology. Many new +theories, but also many practical, new inventions were made. Medicine +made substantial progress. About 1145 the first autopsy was made, on the +body of a South Chinese captive. In the field of agriculture, new +varieties of rice were developed, new techniques applied, new plants +introduced. + +The Wang An-shih school of political philosophy had opponents also in +the field of literary style, the so-called Shu Group (Shu means the +present province of Szechwan), whose leaders were the famous Three Sus. +The greatest of the three was Su Tung-p'o (1036-1101); the others were +his father, Su Shih, and his brother, Su Che. It is characteristic of +these Shu poets, and also of the Kiangsi school associated with them, +that they made as much use as they could of the vernacular. It had not +been usual to introduce the phrases of everyday life into poetry, but Su +Tung-p'o made use of the most everyday expressions, without diminishing +his artistic effectiveness by so doing; on the contrary, the result was +to give his poems much more genuine feeling than those of other poets. +These poets were in harmony with the writings of the T'ang period poet +Po Chue-i (772-846) and were supported, like Neo-Confucianism, by +representatives of trade capitalism. Politically, in their conservatism +they were sharply opposed to the Wang An-shih group. Midway between the +two stood the so-called Loyang-School, whose greatest leaders were the +historian and poet Ss[)u]-ma Kuang (1019-1086) and the philosopher-poet +Shao Yung (1011-1077). + +In addition to its poems, the Sung literature was famous for the +so-called _pi-chi_ or miscellaneous notes. These consist of short notes +of the most various sort, notes on literature, art, politics, +archaeology, all mixed together. The _pi-chi_ are a treasure-house for +the history of the culture of the time; they contain many details, often +of importance, about China's neighbouring peoples. They were intended to +serve as suggestions for learned conversation when scholars came +together; they aimed at showing how wide was a scholar's knowledge. To +this group we must add the accounts of travel, of which some of great +value dating from the Sung period are still extant; they contain +information of the greatest importance about the early Mongols and also +about Turkestan and South China. + +While the Sung period was one of perfection in all fields of art, +painting undoubtedly gained its highest development in this time. We +find now two main streams in painting: some painters preferred the +decorative, pompous, but realistic approach, with great attention to the +detail. Later theoreticians brought this school in connection with one +school of meditative Buddhism, the so-called northern school. Men who +belonged to this school of painting often were active court officials or +painted for the court and for other representative purposes. One of the +most famous among them, Li Lung-mien (ca. 1040-1106), for instance +painted the different breeds of horses in the imperial stables. He was +also famous for his Buddhistic figures. Another school, later called the +southern school, regarded painting as an intimate, personal expression. +They tried to paint inner realities and not outer forms. They, too, were +educated, but they did not paint for anybody. They painted in their +country houses when they felt in the mood for expression. Their +paintings did not stress details, but tried to give the spirit of a +landscape, for in this field they excelled most. Best known of them is +Mi Fei (ca. 1051-1107), a painter as well as a calligrapher, art +collector, and art critic. Typically, his paintings were not much liked +by the emperor Hui Tsung (ruled 1101-1125) who was one of the greatest +art collectors and whose catalogue of his collection became very famous. +He created the Painting Academy, an institution which mainly gave +official recognition to painters in form of titles which gave the +painter access to and status at court. Ma Yuean (_c_. 1190-1224), member +of a whole painter's family, and Hsia Kui (_c_. 1180-1230) continued the +more "impressionistic" tradition. Already in Sung time, however, many +painters could and did paint in different styles, "copying", i.e. +painting in the way of T'ang painters, in order to express their +changing emotions by changed styles, a fact which often makes the dating +of Chinese paintings very difficult. + +Finally, art craft has left us famous porcelains of the Sung period. The +most characteristic production of that time is the green porcelain known +as "Celadon". It consists usually of a rather solid paste, less like +porcelain than stoneware, covered with a green glaze; decoration is +incised, not painted, under the glaze. In the Sung period, however, came +the first pure white porcelain with incised ornamentation under the +glaze, and also with painting on the glaze. Not until near the end of +the Sung period did the blue and white porcelain begin (blue painting on +a white ground). The cobalt needed for this came from Asia Minor. In +exchange for the cobalt, Chinese porcelain went to Asia Minor. This +trade did not, however, grow greatly until the Mongol epoch; later +really substantial orders were placed in China, the Chinese executing +the patterns wanted in the West. + +5 _Military collapse_ + +In foreign affairs the whole eleventh century was a period of diplomatic +manoeuvring, with every possible effort to avoid war. There was +long-continued fighting with the Kitan, and at times also with the +Turco-Tibetan Hsia, but diplomacy carried the day: tribute was paid to +both enemies, and the effort was made to stir up the Kitan against the +Hsia and vice versa; the other parties also intrigued in like fashion. +In 1110 the situation seemed to improve for the Sung in this game, as a +new enemy appeared in the rear of the Liao (Kitan), the Tungusic Juchen +(Jurchen), who in the past had been more or less subject to the Kitan. +In 1114 the Juchen made themselves independent and became a political +factor. The Kitan were crippled, and it became an easy matter to attack +them. But this pleasant situation did not last long. The Juchen +conquered Peking, and in 1125 the Kitan empire was destroyed; but in the +same year the Juchen marched against the Sung. In 1126 they captured +the Sung capital; the emperor and his art-loving father, who had retired +a little earlier, were taken prisoner, and the Northern Sung dynasty was +at an end. + +The collapse came so quickly because the whole edifice of security +between the Kitan and the Sung was based on a policy of balance and of +diplomacy. Neither state was armed in any way, and so both collapsed at +the first assault from a military power. + + +(2) The Liao (Kitan) dynasty in the north (937-1125) + +1 _Social structure. Claim to the Chinese imperial throne_ + +The Kitan, a league of tribes under the leadership of an apparently +Mongol tribe, had grown steadily stronger in north-eastern Mongolia +during the T'ang epoch. They had gained the allegiance of many tribes in +the west and also in Korea and Manchuria, and in the end, about A.D. +900, had become the dominant power in the north. The process of growth +of this nomad power was the same as that of other nomad states, such as +the Toba state, and therefore need not be described again in any detail +here. When the T'ang dynasty was deposed, the Kitan were among the +claimants to the Chinese throne, feeling fully justified in their claim +as the strongest power in the Far East. Owing to the strength of the +Sha-t'o Turks, who themselves claimed leadership in China, the expansion +of the Kitan empire slowed down. In the many battles the Kitan suffered +several setbacks. They also had enemies in the rear, a state named +Po-hai, ruled by Tunguses, in northern Korea, and the new Korean state +of Kao-li, which liberated itself from Chinese overlordship in 919. + +In 927 the Kitan finally destroyed Po-hai. This brought many Tungus +tribes, including the Jurchen (Juchen), under Kitan dominance. Then, in +936, the Kitan gained the allegiance of the Turkish general Shih +Ching-t'ang, and he was set on the Chinese throne as a feudatory of the +Kitan. It was hoped now to secure dominance over China, and accordingly +the Mongol name of the dynasty was altered to "Liao dynasty" in 937, +indicating the claim to the Chinese throne. Considerable regions of +North China came at once under the direct rule of the Liao. As a whole, +however, the plan failed: the feudatory Shih Ching-t'ang tried to make +himself independent; Chinese fought the Liao; and the Chinese sceptre +soon came back into the hands of a Sha-t'o dynasty (947). This ended the +plans of the Liao to conquer the whole of China. + +For this there were several reasons. A nomad people was again ruling +the agrarian regions of North China. This time the representatives of +the ruling class remained military commanders, and at the same time +retained their herds of horses. As early as 1100 they had well over +10,000 herds, each of more than a thousand animals. The army commanders +had been awarded large regions which they themselves had conquered. They +collected the taxes in these regions, and passed on to the state only +the yield of the wine tax. On the other hand, in order to feed the +armies, in which there were now many Chinese soldiers, the frontier +regions were settled, the soldiers working as peasants in times of +peace, and peasants being required to contribute to the support of the +army. Both processes increased the interest of the Kitan ruling class in +the maintenance of peace. That class was growing rich, and preferred +living on the income from its properties or settlements to going to war, +which had become a more and more serious matter after the founding of +the great Sung empire, and was bound to be less remunerative. The herds +of horses were a further excellent source of income, for they could be +sold to the Sung, who had no horses. Then, from 1004 onward, came the +tribute payments from China, strengthening the interest in the +maintenance of peace. Thus great wealth accumulated in Peking, the +capital of the Liao; in this wealth the whole Kitan ruling class +participated, but the tribes in the north, owing to their remoteness, +had no share in it. In 988 the Chinese began negotiations, as a move in +their diplomacy, with the ruler of the later realm of the Hsia; in 990 +the Kitan also negotiated with him, and they soon became a third partner +in the diplomatic game. Delegations were continually going from one to +another of the three realms, and they were joined by trade missions. +Agreement was soon reached on frontier questions, on armament, on +questions of demobilization, on the demilitarization of particular +regions, and so on, for the last thing anyone wanted was to fight. + +Then came the rising of the tribes of the north. They had remained +military tribes; of all the wealth nothing reached them, and they were +given no military employment, so that they had no hope of improving +their position. The leadership was assumed by the tribe of the Juchen +(1114). In a campaign of unprecedented rapidity they captured Peking, +and the Liao dynasty was ended (1125), a year earlier, as we know, than +the end of the Sung. + +2 _The State of the Kara-Kitai_ + +A small troop of Liao, under the command of a member of the ruling +family, fled into the west. They were pursued without cessation, but +they succeeded in fighting their way through. After a few years of +nomad life in the mountains of northern Turkestan, they were able to +gain the collaboration of a few more tribes, and with them they then +invaded western Turkestan. There they founded the "Western Liao" state, +or, as the western sources call it, the "Kara-Kitai" state, with its +capital at Balasagun. This state must not be regarded as a purely Kitan +state. The Kitan formed only a very thin stratum, and the real power was +in the hands of autochthonous Turkish tribes, to whom the Kitan soon +became entirely assimilated in culture. Thus the history of this state +belongs to that of western Asia, especially as the relations of the +Kara-Kitai with the Far East were entirely broken off. In 1211 the state +was finally destroyed. + + +(3) The Hsi-Hsia State in the north (1038-1227) + +1 _Continuation of Turkish traditions_ + +After the end of the Toba state in North China in 550, some tribes of +the Toba, including members of the ruling tribe with the tribal name +Toba, withdrew to the borderland between Tibet and China, where they +ruled over Tibetan and Tangut tribes. At the beginning of the T'ang +dynasty this tribe of Toba joined the T'ang. The tribal leader received +in return, as a distinction, the family name of the T'ang dynasty, Li. +His dependence on China was, however, only nominal and soon came +entirely to an end. In the tenth century the tribe gained in strength. +It is typical of the long continuance of old tribal traditions that a +leader of the tribe in the tenth century married a woman belonging to +the family to which the khans of the Hsiung-nu and all Turkish ruling +houses had belonged since 200 B.C. With the rise of the Kitan in the +north and of the Tibetan state in the south, the tribe decided to seek +the friendship of China. Its first mission, in 982, was well received. +Presents were sent to the chieftain of the tribe, he was helped against +his enemies, and he was given the status of a feudatory of the Sung; in +988 the family name of the Sung, Chao, was conferred on him. Then the +Kitan took a hand. They over-trumped the Sung by proclaiming the tribal +chieftain king of Hsia (990). Now the small state became interesting. It +was pampered by Liao and Sung in the effort to win it over or to keep +its friendship. The state grew; in 1031 its ruler resumed the old family +name of the Toba, thus proclaiming his intention to continue the Toba +empire; in 1034 he definitely parted from the Sung, and in 1038 he +proclaimed himself emperor in the Hsia dynasty, or, as the Chinese +generally called it, the "Hsi-Hsia", which means the Western Hsia. This +name, too, had associations with the old Hun tradition; it recalled the +state of Ho-lien P'o-p'o in the early fifth century. The state soon +covered the present province of Kansu, small parts of the adjoining +Tibetan territory, and parts of the Ordos region. It attacked the +province of Shensi, but the Chinese and the Liao attached the greatest +importance to that territory. Thus that was the scene of most of the +fighting. + +[Illustration: 12 Ancient tiled pagoda at Chengting (Hopei). _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +[Illustration: 13 Horse-training. Painting by Li Lung-mien. Late Sung +period. _Manchu Royal House Collection_.] The Hsia state had a ruling +group of Toba, but these Toba had become entirely tibetanized. The +language of the country was Tibetan; the customs were those of the +Tanguts. A script was devised, in imitation of the Chinese script. Only +in recent years has it begun to be studied. + +In 1125, when the Tungusic Juchen destroyed the Liao, the Hsia also lost +large territories in the east of their country, especially the province +of Shensi, which they had conquered; but they were still able to hold +their own. Their political importance to China, however, vanished, since +they were now divided from southern China and as partners were no longer +of the same value to it. Not until the Mongols became a power did the +Hsia recover some of their importance; but they were among the first +victims of the Mongols: in 1209 they had to submit to them, and in 1227, +the year of the death of Genghiz Khan, they were annihilated. + + +(4) The empire of the Southern Sung dynasty (1127-1279) + +1 _Foundation_ + +In the disaster of 1126, when the Juchen captured the Sung capital and +destroyed the Sung empire, a brother of the captive emperor escaped. He +made himself emperor in Nanking and founded the "Southern Sung" dynasty, +whose capital was soon shifted to the present Hangchow. The foundation +of the new dynasty was a relatively easy matter, and the new state was +much more solid than the southern kingdoms of 800 years earlier, for the +south had already been economically supreme, and the great families that +had ruled the state were virtually all from the south. The loss of the +north, i.e. the area north of the Yellow River and of parts of Kiangsu, +was of no importance to this governing group and meant no loss of +estates to it. Thus the transition from the Northern to the Southern +Sung was not of fundamental importance. Consequently the Juchen had no +chance of success when they arranged for Liu Yue, who came of a northern +Chinese family of small peasants and had become an official, to be +proclaimed emperor in the "Ch'i" dynasty in 1130. They hoped that this +puppet might attract the southern Chinese, but seven years later they +dropped him. + +2 _Internal situation_ + +As the social structure of the Southern Sung empire had not been +changed, the country was not affected by the dynastic development. Only +the policy of diplomacy could not be pursued at once, as the Juchen were +bellicose at first and would not negotiate. There were therefore several +battles at the outset (in 1131 and 1134), in which the Chinese were +actually the more successful, but not decisively. The Sung military +group was faced as early as in 1131 with furious opposition from the +greater gentry, led by Ch'in K'ui, one of the largest landowners of all. +His estates were around Nanking, and so in the deployment region and the +region from which most of the soldiers had to be drawn for the defensive +struggle. Ch'in K'ui secured the assassination of the leader of the +military party, General Yo Fei, in 1141, and was able to conclude peace +with the Juchen. The Sung had to accept the status of vassals and to pay +annual tribute to the Juchen. This was the situation that best pleased +the greater gentry. They paid hardly any taxes (in many districts the +greater gentry directly owned more than 30 per cent of the land, in +addition to which they had indirect interests in the soil), and they +were now free from the war peril that ate into their revenues. The +tribute amounted only to 500,000 strings of cash. Popular literature, +however, to this day represents Ch'in K'ui as a traitor and Yo Fei as a +national hero. + +In 1165 it was agreed between the Sung and the Juchen to regard each +other as states with equal rights. It is interesting to note here that +in the treaties during the Han time with the Hsiung-nu, the two +countries called one another brothers--with the Chinese ruler as the +older and thus privileged brother; but the treaties since the T'ang time +with northern powers and with Tibetans used the terms father-in-law and +son-in-law. The foreign power was the "father-in-law", i.e. the older +and, therefore, in a certain way the more privileged; the Chinese were +the "son-in-law", the representative of the paternal lineage and, +therefore, in another respect also the more privileged! In spite of such +agreements with the Juchen, fighting continued, but it was mainly of the +character of frontier engagements. Not until 1204 did the military +party, led by Han T'o-wei, regain power; it resolved upon an active +policy against the north. In preparation for this a military reform was +carried out. The campaign proved a disastrous failure, as a result of +which large territories in the north were lost. The Sung sued for +peace; Han T'o-wei's head was cut off and sent to the Juchen. In this +way peace was restored in 1208. The old treaty relationship was now +resumed, but the relations between the two states remained tense. +Meanwhile the Sung observed with malicious pleasure how the Mongols were +growing steadily stronger, first destroying the Hsia state and then +aiming the first heavy blows against the Juchen. In the end the Sung +entered into alliance with the Mongols (1233) and joined them in +attacking the Juchen, thus hastening the end of the Juchen state. + +The Sung now faced the Mongols, and were defenceless against them. All +the buffer states had gone. The Sung were quite without adequate +military defence. They hoped to stave off the Mongols in the same way as +they had met the Kitan and the Juchen. This time, however, they +misjudged the situation. In the great operations begun by the Mongols in +1273 the Sung were defeated over and over again. In 1276 their capital +was taken by the Mongols and the emperor was made prisoner. For three +years longer there was a Sung emperor, in flight from the Mongols, until +the last emperor perished near Macao in South China. + +3 _Cultural situation; reasons for the collapse_ + +The Southern Sung period was again one of flourishing culture. The +imperial court was entirely in the power of the greater gentry; several +times the emperors, who personally do not deserve individual mention, +were compelled to abdicate. They then lived on with a court of their +own, devoting themselves to pleasure in much the same way as the +"reigning" emperor. Round them was a countless swarm of poets and +artists. Never was there a time so rich in poets, though hardly one of +them was in any way outstanding. The poets, unlike those of earlier +times, belonged to the lesser gentry who were suffering from the +prevailing inflation. Salaries bore no relation to prices. Food was not +dear, but the things which a man of the upper class ought to have were +far out of reach: a big house cost 2,000 strings of cash, a concubine +800 strings. Thus the lesser gentry and the intelligentsia all lived on +their patrons among the greater gentry--with the result that they were +entirely shut out of politics. This explains why the literature of the +time is so unpolitical, and also why scarcely any philosophical works +appeared. The writers took refuge more and more in romanticism and +flight from realities. + +The greater gentry, on the other hand, led a very elegant life, building +themselves magnificent palaces in the capital. They also speculated in +every direction. They speculated in land, in money, and above all in +the paper money that was coming more and more into use. In 1166 the +paper circulation exceeded the value of 10,000,000 strings! + +It seems that after 1127 a good number of farmers had left Honan and the +Yellow River plains when the Juchen conquered these places and showed +little interest in fostering agriculture; more left the border areas of +Southern Sung because of permanent war threat. Many of these lived +miserably as tenants on the farms of the gentry between Nanking and +Hangchow. Others migrated farther to the south, across Kiangsi into +southern Fukien. These migrants seem to have been the ancestors of the +Hakka which in the following centuries continued their migration towards +the south and who from the nineteenth century on were most strongly +concentrated in Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces as free farmers on hill +slopes or as tenants of local landowners in the plains. + +The influx of migrants and the increase of tenants and their poverty +seriously threatened the state and cut down its defensive strength more +and more. + +At this stage, Chia Ssu-tao drafted a reform law. Chia had come to the +court through his sister becoming the emperor's concubine, but he +himself belonged to the lesser gentry. His proposal was that state funds +should be applied to the purchase of land in the possession of the +greater gentry over and above a fixed maximum. Peasants were to be +settled on this land, and its yield was to belong to the state, which +would be able to use it to meet military expenditure. In this way the +country's military strength was to be restored. Chia's influence lasted +just ten years, until 1275. He began putting the law into effect in the +region south of Nanking, where the principal estates of the greater +gentry were then situated. He brought upon himself, of course, the +mortal hatred of the greater gentry, and paid for his action with his +life. The emperor, in entering upon this policy, no doubt had hoped to +recover some of his power, but the greater gentry brought him down. The +gentry now openly played into the hands of the approaching Mongols, so +hastening the final collapse of the Sung. The peasants and the lesser +gentry would have fought the Mongols if it had been possible; but the +greater gentry enthusiastically went over to the Mongols, hoping to save +their property and so their influence by quickly joining the enemy. On a +long view they had not judged badly. The Mongols removed the members of +the gentry from all political posts, but left them their estates; and +before long the greater gentry reappeared in political life. And when, +later, the Mongol empire in China was brought down by a popular rising, +the greater gentry showed themselves to be the most faithful allies of +the Mongols! + + +(5) The empire of the Juchen in the north (1115-1234) + +1 _Rapid expansion from northern Korea to the Yangtze_ + +The Juchen in the past had been only a small league of Tungus tribes, +whose name is preserved in that of the present Tungus tribe of the +Jurchen, which came under the domination of the Kitan after the collapse +of the state of Po-hai in northern Korea. We have already briefly +mentioned the reasons for their rise. After their first successes +against the Kitan (1114), their chieftain at once proclaimed himself +emperor (1115), giving his dynasty the name "Chin" (The Golden). The +Chin quickly continued their victorious progress. In 1125 the Kitan +empire was destroyed. It will be remembered that the Sung were at once +attacked, although they had recently been allied with the Chin against +the Kitan. In 1126 the Sung capital was taken. The Chin invasions were +pushed farther south, and in 1130 the Yangtze was crossed. But the Chin +did not hold the whole of these conquests. Their empire was not yet +consolidated. Their partial withdrawal closed the first phase of the +Chin empire. + +2 _United front of all Chinese_ + +But a few years after this maximum expansion, a withdrawal began which +went on much more quickly than usual in such cases. The reasons were to +be found both in external and in internal politics. The Juchen had +gained great agrarian regions in a rapid march of conquest. Once more +great cities with a huge urban population and immense wealth had fallen +to alien conquerors. Now the Juchen wanted to enjoy this wealth as the +Kitan had done before them. All the Juchen people counted as citizens of +the highest class; they were free from taxation and only liable to +military service. They were entitled to take possession of as much +cultivable land as they wanted; this they did, and they took not only +the "state domains" actually granted to them but also peasant +properties, so that Chinese free peasants had nothing left but the worst +fields, unless they became tenants on Juchen estates. A united front was +therefore formed between all Chinese, both peasants and landowning +gentry, against the Chin, such as it had not been possible to form +against the Kitan. This made an important contribution later to the +rapid collapse of the Chin empire. + +The Chin who had thus come into possession of the cultivable land and +at the same time of the wealth of the towns, began a sort of competition +with each other for the best winnings, especially after the government +had returned to the old Sung capital, Pien-liang (now K'ai-feng, in +eastern Honan). Serious crises developed in their own ranks. In 1149 the +ruler was assassinated by his chancellor (a member of the imperial +family), who in turn was murdered in 1161. The Chin thus failed to +attain what had been secured by all earlier conquerors, a reconciliation +of the various elements of the population and the collaboration of at +least one group of the defeated Chinese. + +3 _Start of the Mongol empire_ + +The cessation of fighting against the Sung brought no real advantage in +external affairs, though the tribute payments appealed to the greed of +the rulers and were therefore welcomed. There could be no question of +further campaigns against the south, for the Hsia empire in the west had +not been destroyed, though some of its territory had been annexed; and a +new peril soon made its appearance in the rear of the Chin. When in the +tenth century the Sha-t'o Turks had to withdraw from their dominating +position in China, because of their great loss of numbers and +consequently of strength, they went back into Mongolia and there united +with the Ta-tan (Tatars), among whom a new small league of tribes had +formed towards the end of the eleventh century, consisting mainly of +Mongols and Turks. In 1139 one of the chieftains of the Juchen rebelled +and entered into negotiations with the South Chinese. He was killed, but +his sons and his whole tribe then rebelled and went into Mongolia, where +they made common cause with the Mongols. The Chin pursued them, and +fought against them and against the Mongols, but without success. +Accordingly negotiations were begun, and a promise was given to deliver +meat and grain every year and to cede twenty-seven military strongholds. +A high title was conferred on the tribal leader of the Mongols, in the +hope of gaining his favour. He declined it, however, and in 1147 assumed +the title of emperor of the "greater Mongol empire". This was the +beginning of the power of the Mongols, who remained thereafter a +dangerous enemy of the Chin in the north, until in 1189 Genghiz Khan +became their leader and made the Mongols the greatest power of central +Asia. In any case, the Chin had reason to fear the Mongols from 1147 +onward, and therefore were the more inclined to leave the Sung in peace. + +In 1210 the Mongols began the first great assault against the Chin, the +moment they had conquered the Hsia. In the years 1215-17 the Mongols +took the military key-positions from the Chin. After that there could be +no serious defence of the Chin empire. There came a respite only because +the Mongols had turned against the West. But in 1234 the empire finally +fell to the Mongols. + +Many of the Chin entered the service of the Mongols, and with their +permission returned to Manchuria; there they fell back to the cultural +level of a warlike nomad people. Not until the sixteenth century did +these Tunguses recover, reorganize, and appear again in history this +time under the name of Manchus. + +The North Chinese under Chin rule did not regard the Mongols as enemies +of their country, but were ready at once to collaborate with them. The +Mongols were even more friendly to them than to the South Chinese, and +treated them rather better. + + + +Chapter Ten + + +THE PERIOD OF ABSOLUTISM + +(A) The Mongol Epoch (1280-1368) + +1 _Beginning of new foreign rules_ + +During more than half of the third period of "Modern Times" which now +began, China was under alien rule. Of the 631 years from 1280 to 1911, +China was under national rulers for 276 years and under alien rule for +355. The alien rulers were first the Mongols, and later the Tungus +Manchus. It is interesting to note that the alien rulers in the earlier +period came mainly from the north-west, and only in modern times did +peoples from the north-east rule over China. This was due in part to the +fact that only peoples who had attained a certain level of civilization +were capable of dominance. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, eastern +Mongolia and Manchuria were at a relatively low level of civilization, +from which they emerged only gradually through permanent contact with +other nomad peoples, especially Turks. We are dealing here, of course, +only with the Mongol epoch in China and not with the great Mongol +empire, so that we need not enter further into these questions. + +Yet another point is characteristic: the Mongols were the first alien +people to rule the whole of China; the Manchus, who appeared in the +seventeenth century, were the second and last. All alien peoples before +these two ruled only parts of China. Why was it that the Mongols were +able to be so much more successful than their predecessors? In the first +place the Mongol political league was numerically stronger than those of +the earlier alien peoples; secondly, the military organization and +technical equipment of the Mongols were exceptionally advanced for their +day. It must be borne in mind, for instance, that during their many +years of war against the Sung dynasty in South China the Mongols already +made use of small cannon in laying siege to towns. We have no exact +knowledge of the number of Mongols who invaded and occupied China, but +it is estimated that there were more than a million Mongols living in +China. Not all of them, of course, were really Mongols! The name covered +Turks, Tunguses, and others; among the auxiliaries of the Mongols were +Uighurs, men from Central Asia and the Middle East, and even Europeans. +When the Mongols attacked China they had the advantage of all the arts +and crafts and all the new technical advances of western and central +Asia and of Europe. Thus they had attained a high degree of technical +progress, and at the same time their number was very great. + +2 "_Nationality legislation_" + +It was only after the Hsia empire in North China, and then the empire of +the Juchen, had been destroyed by the Mongols, and only after long and +remarkably modern tactical preparation, that the Mongols conquered South +China, the empire of the Sung dynasty. They were now faced with the +problem of ruling their great new empire. The conqueror of that empire, +Kublai, himself recognized that China could not be treated in quite the +same way as the Mongols' previous conquests; he therefore separated the +empire in China from the rest of the Mongol empire. Mongol China became +an independent realm within the Mongol empire, a sort of Dominion. The +Mongol rulers were well aware that in spite of their numerical strength +they were still only a minority in China, and this implied certain +dangers. They therefore elaborated a "nationality legislation", the +first of its kind in the Far East. The purpose of this legislation was, +of course, to be the protection of the Mongols. The population of +conquered China was divided into four groups--(1) Mongols, themselves +falling into four sub-groups (the oldest Mongol tribes, the White +Tatars, the Black Tatars, the Wild Tatars); (2) Central Asian +auxiliaries (Naimans, Uighurs, and various other Turkish people, +Tanguts, and so on); (3) North Chinese; (4) South Chinese. The Mongols +formed the privileged ruling class. They remained militarily organized, +and were distributed in garrisons over all the big towns of China as +soldiers, maintained by the state. All the higher government posts were +reserved for them, so that they also formed the heads of the official +staffs. The auxiliary peoples were also admitted into the government +service; they, too, had privileges, but were not all soldiers but in +many cases merchants, who used their privileged position to promote +business. Not a few of these merchants were Uighurs and Mohammedans; +many Uighurs were also employed as clerks, as the Mongols were very +often unable to read and write Chinese, and the government offices were +bilingual, working in Mongolian and Chinese. The clever Uighurs quickly +learned enough of both languages for official purposes, and made +themselves indispensable assistants to the Mongols. Persian, the main +language of administration in the western parts of the Mongol empire +besides Uighuric, also was a _lingua franca_ among the new rulers of +China. + +In the Mongol legislation the South Chinese had the lowest status, and +virtually no rights. Intermarriage with them was prohibited. The Chinese +were not allowed to carry arms. For a time they were forbidden even to +learn the Mongol or other foreign languages. In this way they were to be +prevented from gaining official positions and playing any political +part. Their ignorance of the languages of northern, central, and western +Asia also prevented them from engaging in commerce like the foreign +merchants, and every possible difficulty was put in the way of their +travelling for commercial purposes. On the other hand, foreigners were, +of course, able to learn Chinese, and so to gain a footing in Chinese +internal trade. + +Through legislation of this type the Mongols tried to build up and to +safeguard their domination over China. Yet their success did not last a +hundred years. + +3 _Military position_ + +In foreign affairs the Mongol epoch was for China something of a +breathing space, for the great wars of the Mongols took place at a +remote distance from China and without any Chinese participation. Only a +few concluding wars were fought under Kublai in the Far East. The first +was his war against Japan (1281): it ended in complete failure, the +fleet being destroyed by a storm. In this campaign the Chinese furnished +ships and also soldiers. The subjection of Japan would have been in the +interest of the Chinese, as it would have opened a market which had been +almost closed against them in the Sung period. Mongol wars followed in +the south. In 1282 began the war against Burma; in 1284 Annam and +Cambodia were conquered; in 1292 a campaign was started against Java. It +proved impossible to hold Java, but almost the whole of Indo-China came +under Mongol rule, to the satisfaction of the Chinese, for Indo-China +had already been one of the principal export markets in the Sung period. +After that, however, there was virtually no more warfare, apart from +small campaigns against rebellious tribes. The Mongol soldiers now lived +on their pay in their garrisons, with nothing to do. The old campaigners +died and were followed by their sons, brought up also as soldiers; but +these young Mongols were born in China, had seen nothing of war, and +learned of the soldiers' trade either nothing or very little; so that +after about 1320 serious things happened. An army nominally 1,000 strong +was sent against a group of barely fifty bandits and failed to defeat +them. Most of the 1,000 soldiers no longer knew how to use their +weapons, and many did not even join the force. Such incidents occurred +again and again. + +4 _Social situation_ + +The results, however, of conditions within the country were of much more +importance than events abroad. The Mongols made Peking their capital as +was entirely natural, for Peking was near their homeland Mongolia. The +emperor and his entourage could return to Mongolia in the summer, when +China became too hot or too humid for them; and from Peking they were +able to maintain contact with the rest of the Mongol empire. But as the +city had become the capital of a vast empire, an enormous staff of +officials had to be housed there, consisting of persons of many +different nationalities. The emperor naturally wanted to have a +magnificent capital, a city really worthy of so vast an empire. As the +many wars had brought in vast booty, there was money for the building of +great palaces, of a size and magnificence never before seen in China. +They were built by Chinese forced labour, and to this end men had to be +brought from all over the empire--poor peasants, whose fields went out +of cultivation while they were held in bondage far away. If they ever +returned home, they were destitute and had lost their land. The rich +gentry, on the other hand, were able to buy immunity from forced labour. +The immense increase in the population of Peking (the huge court with +its enormous expenditure, the mass of officials, the great merchant +community, largely foreigners, and the many servile labourers), +necessitated vast supplies of food. Now, as mentioned in earlier +chapters, since the time of the Later T'ang the region round Nanking had +become the main centre of production in China, and the Chinese +population had gone over more and more to the consumption of rice +instead of pulse or wheat. As rice could not be grown in the north, +practically the whole of the food supplies for the capital had to be +brought from the south. The transport system taken over by the Mongols +had not been created for long-distance traffic of this sort. The capital +of the Sung had lain in the main centre of production. Consequently, a +great fleet had suddenly to be built, canals and rivers had to be +regulated, and some new canals excavated. This again called for a vast +quantity of forced labour, often brought from afar to the points at +which it was needed. The Chinese peasants had suffered in the Sung +period. They had been exploited by the large landowners. The Mongols had +not removed these landowners, as the Chinese gentry had gone over to +their side. The Mongols had deprived them of their political power, but +had left them their estates, the basis of their power. In past changes +of dynasty the gentry had either maintained their position or been +replaced by a new gentry: the total number of their class had remained +virtually unchanged. Now, however, in addition to the original gentry +there were about a million Mongols, for whose maintenance the peasants +had also to provide, and their standard of maintenance was high. This +was an enormous increase in the burdens of the peasantry. + +Two other elements further pressed on the peasants in the Mongol +epoch--organized religion and the traders. The upper classes among the +Chinese had in general little interest in religion, but the Mongols, +owing to their historical development, were very religious. Some of them +and some of their allies were Buddhists, some were still shamanists. The +Chinese Buddhists and the representatives of popular Taoism approached +the Mongols and the foreign Buddhist monks trying to enlist the interest +of the Mongols and their allies. The old shamanism was unable to compete +with the higher religions, and the Mongols in China became Buddhist or +interested themselves in popular Taoism. They showed their interest +especially by the endowment of temples and monasteries. The temples were +given great estates, and the peasants on those estates became temple +servants. The land belonging to the temples was free from taxation. + +We have as yet no exact statistics of the Mongol epoch, only +approximations. These set the total area under cultivation at some six +million _ch'ing_ (a _ch'ing_ is the ideal size of the farm worked by a +peasant family, but it was rarely held in practice); the population +amounted to fourteen or fifteen million families. Of this total tillage +some 170,000 _ch'ing_ were allotted to the temples; that is to say, the +farms for some 400,000 peasant families were taken from the peasants and +no longer paid taxes to the state. The peasants, however, had to make +payments to the temples. Some 200,000 _ch'ing_ with some 450,000 peasant +families were turned into military settlements; that is to say, these +peasants had to work for the needs of the army. Their taxes went not to +the state but to the army. Moreover, in the event of war they had to +render service to the army. In addition to this, all higher officials +received official properties, the yield of which represented part +payment of their salaries. Then, Mongol nobles and dignitaries received +considerable grants of land, which was taken away from the free +peasants; the peasants had then to work their farms as tenants and to +pay dues to their landlords, no longer to the state. Finally, especially +in North China, many peasants were entirely dispossessed, and their land +was turned into pasturage for the Mongols' horses; the peasants +themselves were put to forced labour. On top of this came the +exploitation of the peasants by the great landowners of the past. All +this meant an enormous diminution in the number of free peasants and +thus of taxpayers. As the state was involved in more expenditure than in +the past owing to the large number of Mongols who were its virtual +pensioners, the taxes had to be continually increased. Meanwhile the +many peasants working as tenants of the great landlords, the temples, +and the Mongol nobles were entirely at their mercy. In this period, a +second migration of farmers into the southern provinces, mainly Fukien +and Kwangtung, took place; it had its main source in the lower Yangtze +valley. A few gentry families whose relatives had accompanied the Sung +emperor on their flight to the south, also settled with their followers +in the Canton basin. + +The many merchants from abroad, especially those belonging to the +peoples allied to the Mongols, also had in every respect a privileged +position in China. They were free of taxation, free to travel all over +the country, and received privileged treatment in the use of means of +transport. They were thus able to accumulate great wealth, most of which +went out of China to their own country. This produced a general +impoverishment of China. Chinese merchants fell more and more into +dependence on the foreign merchants; the only field of action really +remaining to them was the local trade within China and the trade with +Indo-China, where the Chinese had the advantage of knowing the language. + +The impoverishment of China began with the flow abroad of her metallic +currency. To make up for this loss, the government was compelled to +issue great quantities of paper money, which very quickly depreciated, +because after a few years the government would no longer accept the +money at its face value, so that the population could place no faith in +it. The depreciation further impoverished the people. + +Thus we have in the Mongol epoch in China the imposing picture of a +commerce made possible with every country from Europe to the Pacific; +this, however, led to the impoverishment of China. We also see the +rising of mighty temples and monumental buildings, but this again only +contributed to the denudation of the country. The Mongol epoch was thus +one of continual and rapid impoverishment in China, simultaneously with +a great display of magnificence. The enthusiastic descriptions of the +Mongol empire in China offered by travellers from the Near East or from +Europe, such as Marco Polo, give an entirely false picture: as +foreigners they had a privileged position, living in the cities and +seeing nothing of the situation of the general population. + +5 _Popular risings: National rising_ + +It took time for the effects of all these factors to become evident. The +first popular rising came in 1325. Statistics of 1329 show that there +were then some 7,600,000 persons in the empire who were starving; as +this was only the figure of the officially admitted sufferers, the +figure may have been higher. In any case, seven-and-a-half millions were +a substantial percentage of the total population, estimated at +45,000,000. The risings that now came incessantly were led by men of the +lower orders--a cloth-seller, a fisherman, a peasant, a salt smuggler, +the son of a soldier serving a sentence, an office messenger, and so on. +They never attacked the Mongols as aliens, but always the rich in +general, whether Chinese or foreign. Wherever they came, they killed all +the rich and distributed their money and possessions. + +As already mentioned, the Mongol garrisons were unable to cope with +these risings. But how was it that the Mongol rule did not collapse +until some forty years later? The Mongols parried the risings by raising +loans from the rich and using the money to recruit volunteers to fight +the rebels. The state revenues would not have sufficed for these +payments, and the item was not one that could be included in the +military budget. What was of much more importance was that the gentry +themselves recruited volunteers and fought the rebels on their own +account, without the authority or the support of the government. Thus it +was the Chinese gentry, in their fear of being killed by the insurgents, +who fought them and so bolstered up the Mongol rule. + +In 1351 the dykes along the Yellow River burst. The dykes had to be +reconstructed and further measures of conservancy undertaken. To this +end the government impressed 170,000 men. Following this action, great +new revolts broke out. Everywhere in Honan, Kiangsu, and Shantung, the +regions from which the labourers were summoned, revolutionary groups +were formed, some of them amounting to 100,000 men. Some groups had a +religious tinge; others declared their intention to restore the emperors +of the Sung dynasty. Before long great parts of central China were +wrested from the hands of the government. The government recognized the +menace to its existence, but resorted to contradictory measures. In 1352 +southern Chinese were permitted to take over certain official positions. +In this way it was hoped to gain the full support of the gentry, who had +a certain interest in combating the rebel movements. On the other hand, +the government tightened up its nationality laws. All the old +segregation laws were brought back into force, with the result that in a +few years the aim of the rebels became no longer merely the expulsion of +the rich but also the expulsion of the Mongols: a social movement thus +became a national one. A second element contributed to the change in the +character of the popular rising. The rebels captured many towns. Some of +these towns refused to fight and negotiated terms of submission. In +these cases the rebels did not murder the whole of the gentry, but took +some of them into their service. The gentry did not agree to this out of +sympathy with the rebels, but simply in order to save their own lives. +Once they had taken the step, however, they could not go back; they had +no alternative but to remain on the side of the rebels. + +In 1352 Kuo Tz[)u]-hsing rose in southern Honan. Kuo was the son of a +wandering soothsayer and a blind beggar-woman. He had success; his group +gained control of a considerable region round his home. There was no +longer any serious resistance from the Mongols, for at this time the +whole of eastern China was in full revolt. In 1353 Kuo was joined by a +man named Chu Yuean-chang, the son of a small peasant, probably a tenant +farmer. Chu's parents and all his relatives had died from a plague, +leaving him destitute. He had first entered a monastery and become a +monk. This was a favourite resource--and has been almost to the present +day--for poor sons of peasants who were threatened with starvation. As a +monk he had gone about begging, until in 1353 he returned to his home +and collected a group, mostly men from his own village, sons of peasants +and young fellows who had already been peasant leaders. Monks were often +peasant leaders. They were trusted because they promised divine aid, and +because they were usually rather better educated than the rest of the +peasants. Chu at first also had contacts with a secret society, a branch +of the White Lotus Society which several times in the course of Chinese +history has been the nucleus of rebellious movements. Chu took his small +group which identified itself by a red turban and a red banner to Kuo, +who received him gladly, entered into alliance with him, and in sign of +friendship gave him his daughter in marriage. In 1355 Kuo died, and Chu +took over his army, now many thousands strong. In his campaigns against +towns in eastern China, Chu succeeded in winning over some capable +members of the gentry. One was the chairman of a committee that yielded +a town to Chu; another was a scholar whose family had always been +opposed to the Mongols, and who had himself suffered injustice several +times in his official career, so that he was glad to join Chu out of +hatred of the Mongols. + +These men gained great influence over Chu, and persuaded him to give up +attacking rich individuals, and instead to establish an assured control +over large parts of the country. He would then, they pointed out, be +permanently enriched, while otherwise he would only be in funds at the +moment of the plundering of a town. They set before him strategic plans +with that aim. Through their counsel Chu changed from the leader of a +popular rising into a fighter against the dynasty. Of all the peasant +leaders he was now the only one pursuing a definite aim. He marched +first against Nanking, the great city of central China, and captured it +with ease. He then crossed the Yangtze, and conquered the rich provinces +of the south-east. He was a rebel who no longer slaughtered the rich or +plundered the towns, and the whole of the gentry with all their +followers came over to him _en masse_. The armies of volunteers went +over to Chu, and the whole edifice of the dynasty collapsed. + +The years 1355-1368 were full of small battles. After his conquest of +the whole of the south, Chu went north. In 1368 his generals captured +Peking almost without a blow. The Mongol ruler fled on horseback with +his immediate entourage into the north of China, and soon after into +Mongolia. The Mongol dynasty had been brought down, almost without +resistance. The Mongols in the isolated garrisons marched northward +wherever they could. A few surrendered to the Chinese and were used in +southern China as professional soldiers, though they were always +regarded with suspicion. The only serious resistance offered came from +the regions in which other Chinese popular leaders had established +themselves, especially the remote provinces in the west and south-west, +which had a different social structure and had been relatively little +affected by the Mongol regime. + +Thus the collapse of the Mongols came for the following reasons: (1) +They had not succeeded in maintaining their armed strength or that of +their allies during the period of peace that followed Kublai's conquest. +The Mongol soldiers had become effeminate through their life of idleness +in the towns. (2) The attempt to rule the empire through Mongols or +other aliens, and to exclude the Chinese gentry entirely from the +administration, failed through insufficient knowledge of the sources of +revenue and through the abuses due to the favoured treatment of aliens. +The whole country, and especially the peasantry, was completely +impoverished and so driven into revolt. (3) There was also a +psychological reason. In the middle of the fourteenth century it was +obvious to the Mongols that their hold over China was growing more and +more precarious, and that there was little to be got out of the +impoverished country: they seem in consequence to have lost interest in +the troublesome task of maintaining their rule, preferring, in so far as +they had not already entirely degenerated, to return to their old home +in the north. It is important to bear in mind these reasons for the +collapse of the Mongols, so that we may compare them later with the +reasons for the collapse of the Manchus. + +No mention need be made here of the names of the Mongol rulers in China +after Kublai. After his death in 1294, grandsons and great-grandsons of +his followed each other in rapid succession on the throne; not one of +them was of any personal significance. They had no influence on the +government of China. Their life was spent in intriguing against one +another. There were seven Mongol emperors after Kublai. + +6 _Cultural_ + +During the Mongol epoch a large number of the Chinese scholars withdrew +from official life. They lived in retirement among their friends, and +devoted themselves mainly to the pursuit of the art of poetry, which had +been elaborated in the Later Sung epoch, without themselves arriving at +any important innovations in form. Their poems were built up +meticulously on the rules laid down by the various schools; they were +routine productions rather than the outcome of any true poetic +inspiration. In the realm of prose the best achievements were the +"miscellaneous notes" already mentioned, collections of learned essays. +The foreigners who wrote in Chinese during this epoch are credited with +no better achievements by the Chinese historians of literature. Chief of +them were a statesman named Yeh-lue Ch'u-ts'ai, a Kitan in the service of +the Mongols; and a Mongol named T'o-t'o (Tokto). The former accompanied +Genghiz Khan in his great campaign against Turkestan, and left a very +interesting account of his journeys, together with many poems about +Samarkand and Turkestan. His other works were mainly letters and poems +addressed to friends. They differ in no way in style from the Chinese +literary works of the time, and are neither better nor worse than those +works. He shows strong traces of Taoist influence, as do other +contemporary writers. We know that Genghiz Khan was more or less +inclined to Taoism, and admitted a Taoist monk to his camp (1221-1224). +This man's account of his travels has also been preserved, and with the +numerous European accounts of Central Asia written at this time it forms +an important source. The Mongol Tokto was the head of an historical +commission that issued the annals of the Sung dynasty, the Kitan, and +the Juchen dynasty. The annals of the Sung dynasty became the largest of +all the historical works, but they were fiercely attacked from the first +by Chinese critics on account of their style and their hasty +composition, and, together with the annals of the Mongol dynasty, they +are regarded as the worst of the annals preserved. Tokto himself is less +to blame for this than the circumstance that he was compelled to work in +great haste, and had not time to put into order the overwhelming mass of +his material. + +The greatest literary achievements, however, of the Mongol period belong +beyond question to the theatre (or, rather, opera). The emperors were +great theatre-goers, and the wealthy private families were also +enthusiasts, so that gradually people of education devoted themselves to +writing librettos for the operas, where in the past this work had been +left to others. Most of the authors of these librettos remained unknown: +they used pseudonyms, partly because playwriting was not an occupation +that befitted a scholar, and partly because in these works they +criticized the conditions of their day. These works are divided in +regard to style into two groups, those of the "southern" and the +"northern" drama; these are distinguished from each other in musical +construction and in their intellectual attitude: in general the northern +works are more heroic and the southern more sentimental, though there +are exceptions. The most famous northern works of the Mongol epoch are +_P'i-p'a-chi_ ("The Story of a Lute"), written about 1356, probably by +Kao Ming, and _Chao-shih ku-erh-chi_ ("The Story of the Orphan of Chao +"), a work that enthralled Voltaire, who made a paraphrase of it; its +author was the otherwise unknown Chi Chuen-hsiang. One of the most famous +of the southern dramas is _Hsi-hsiang-chi_ ("The Romance of the Western +Chamber"), by Wang Shih-fu and Kuan Han-ch'ing. Kuan lived under the +Juchen dynasty as a physician, and then among the Mongols. He is said to +have written fifty-eight dramas, many of which became famous. + +In the fine arts, foreign influence made itself felt during the Mongol +epoch much more than in literature. This was due in part to the Mongol +rulers' predilection for the Lamaism that was widespread in their +homeland. Lamaism is a special form of Buddhism which developed in +Tibet, where remnants of the old national Tibetan cult (_Bon_) were +fused with Buddhism into a distinctive religion. During the rise of the +Mongols this religion, which closely resembled the shamanism of the +ancient Mongols, spread in Mongolia, and through the Mongols it made +great progress in China, where it had been insignificant until their +time. Religious sculpture especially came entirely under Tibetan +influence (particularly that of the sculptor Aniko, who came from Nepal, +where he was born in 1244). This influence was noticeable in the Chinese +sculptor Liu Yuean; after him it became stronger and stronger, lasting +until the Manchu epoch. + +In architecture, too, Indian and Tibetan influence was felt in this +period. The Tibetan pagodas came into special prominence alongside the +previously known form of pagoda, which has many storeys, growing smaller +as they go upward; these towers originally contained relics of Buddha +and his disciples. The Tibetan pagoda has not this division into +storeys, and its lower part is much larger in circumference, and often +round. To this day Peking is rich in pagodas in the Tibetan style. + +The Mongols also developed in China the art of carpet-knotting, which to +this day is found only in North China in the zone of northern influence. +There were carpets before these, but they were mainly of felt. The +knotted carpets were produced in imperial workshops--only, of course, +for the Mongols, who were used to carpets. A further development +probably also due to West Asian influence was that of cloisonne +technique in China in this period. + +Painting, on the other hand, remained free from alien influence, with +the exception of the craft painting for the temples. The most famous +painters of the Mongol epoch were Chao Meng-fu (also called Chao +Chung-mu, 1254-1322), a relative of the deposed imperial family of the +Sung dynasty, and Ni Tsan (1301-1374). + + +(B) The Ming Epoch (1368-1644) + +1 _Start. National feeling_ + +It was necessary to give special attention to the reasons for the +downfall of Mongol rule in China, in order to make clear the cause and +the character of the Ming epoch that followed it. It is possible that +the erroneous impression might be gained that the Mongol epoch in China +was entirely without merits, and that the Mongol rule over China +differed entirely from the Mongol rule over other countries of Asia. +Chinese historians have no good word to say of the Mongol epoch and +avoid the subject as far as they can. It is true that the union of the +national Mongol culture with Chinese culture, as envisaged by the Mongol +rulers, was not a sound conception, and consequently did not endure for +long. Nevertheless, the Mongol epoch in China left indelible traces, and +without it China's further development would certainly have taken a +different course. + +The many popular risings during the latter half of the period of Mongol +rule in China were all of a purely economic and social character, and at +first they were not directed at all against the Mongols as +representatives of an alien people. The rising under Chu Yuean-chang, +which steadily gained impetus, was at first a purely social movement; +indeed, it may fairly be called revolutionary. Chu was of the humblest +origin; he became a monk and a peasant leader at one and the same time. +Only three times in Chinese history has a man of the peasantry become +emperor and founder of a dynasty. The first of these three men founded +the Han dynasty; the second founded the first of the so-called "Five +Dynasties" in the tenth century; Chu was the third. + +Not until the Mongols had answered Chu's rising with a tightening of the +nationality laws did the revolutionary movement become a national +movement, directed against the foreigners as such. And only when Chu +came under the influence of the first people of the gentry who joined +him, whether voluntarily or perforce, did what had been a revolutionary +movement become a struggle for the substitution of one dynasty for +another without interfering with the existing social system. Both these +points were of the utmost importance to the whole development of the +Ming epoch. + +The Mongols were driven out fairly quickly and without great difficulty. +The Chinese drew from the ease of their success a sense of superiority +and a clear feeling of nationalism. This feeling should not be +confounded with the very old feeling of Chinese as a culturally superior +group according to which, at least in theory though rarely in practice, +every person who assimilated Chinese cultural values and traits was a +"Chinese". The roots of nationalism seem to lie in the Southern Sung +period, growing up in the course of contacts with the Juchen and +Mongols; but the discriminatory laws of the Mongols greatly fostered +this feeling. From now on, it was regarded a shame to serve a foreigner +as official, even if he was a ruler of China. + +2 _Wars against Mongols and Japanese_ + +It had been easy to drive the Mongols out of China, but they were never +really beaten in their own country. On the contrary, they seem to have +regained strength after their withdrawal from China: they reorganized +themselves and were soon capable of counter-thrusts, while Chinese +offensives had as a rule very little success, and at all events no +decisive success. In the course of time, however, the Chinese gained a +certain influence over Turkestan, but it was never absolute, always +challenged. After the Mongol empire had fallen to pieces, small states +came into existence in Turkestan, for a long time with varying fortunes; +the most important one during the Ming epoch was that of Hami, until in +1473 it was occupied by the city-state of Turfan. At this time China +actively intervened in the policy of Turkestan in a number of combats +with the Mongols. As the situation changed from time to time, these +city-states united more or less closely with China or fell away from her +altogether. In this period, however, Turkestan was of no military or +economic importance to China. + +In the time of the Ming there also began in the east and south the +plague of Japanese piracy. Japanese contacts with the coastal provinces +of China (Kiangsu, Chekiang and Fukien) had a very long history: +pilgrims from Japan often went to these places in order to study +Buddhism in the famous monasteries of Central China; businessmen sold at +high prices Japanese swords and other Japanese products here and bought +Chinese products; they also tried to get Chinese copper coins which had +a higher value in Japan. Chinese merchants co-operated with Japanese +merchants and also with pirates in the guise of merchants. Some Chinese +who were or felt persecuted by the government, became pirates +themselves. This trade-piracy had started already at the end of the Sung +dynasty, when Japanese navigation had become superior to Korean shipping +which had in earlier times dominated the eastern seaboard. These +conditions may even have been one of the reasons why the Mongols tried +to subdue Japan. As early as 1387 the Chinese had to begin the building +of fortifications along the eastern and southern coasts of the country; +The Japanese attacks now often took the character of organized raids: a +small, fast-sailing flotilla would land in a bay, as far as possible +without attracting notice; the soldiers would march against the nearest +town, generally overcoming it, looting, and withdrawing. The defensive +measures adopted from time to time during the Ming epoch were of little +avail, as it was impossible effectively to garrison the whole coast. +Some of the coastal settlements were transferred inland, to prevent the +Chinese from co-operating with the Japanese, and to give the Japanese so +long a march inland as to allow time for defensive measures. The +Japanese pirates prevented the creation of a Chinese navy in this period +by their continual threats to the coastal cities in which the shipyards +lay. Not until much later, at a time of unrest in Japan in 1467, was +there any peace from the Japanese pirates. + +The Japanese attacks were especially embarrassing for the Chinese +government for one other reason. Large armies had to be kept all along +China's northern border, from Manchuria to Central Asia. Food supplies +could not be collected in north China which did not have enough +surplusses. Canal transportation from Central China was not reliable, as +the canals did not always have enough water and were often clogged by +hundreds of ships. And even if canals were used, grain still had to be +transported by land from the end of the canals to the frontier. The Ming +government therefore, had organized an overseas flotilla of grain ships +which brought grain from Central China directly to the front in +Liao-tung and Manchuria. And these ships, vitally important, were so +often attacked by the pirates, that this plan later had to be given up +again. + +These activities along the coast led the Chinese to the belief that +basically all foreigners who came by ships were "barbarians"; when +towards the end of the Ming epoch the Japanese were replaced by +Europeans who did not behave much differently and were also +pirate-merchants, the nations of Western Europe, too, were regarded as +"barbarians" and were looked upon with great suspicion. On the other +side, continental powers, even if they were enemies, had long been +regarded as "states", sometimes even as equals. Therefore, when at a +much later time the Chinese came into contact with Russians, their +attitude towards them was similar to that which they had taken towards +other Asian continental powers. + +3 _Social legislation within the existing order_ + +At the time when Chu Yuean-chang conquered Peking, in 1368, becoming the +recognized emperor of China (Ming dynasty), it seemed as though he would +remain a revolutionary in spite of everything. His first laws were +directed against the rich. Many of the rich were compelled to migrate to +the capital, Nanking, thus losing their land and the power based on it. +Land was redistributed among poor peasants; new land registers were also +compiled, in order to prevent the rich from evading taxation. The number +of monks living in idleness was cut down and precisely determined; the +possessions of the temples were reduced, land exempted from taxation +being thus made taxable--all this, incidentally, although Chu had +himself been a monk! These laws might have paved the way to social +harmony and removed the worst of the poverty of the Mongol epoch. But +all this was frustrated in the very first years of Chu's reign. The laws +were only half carried into effect or not at all, especially in the +hinterland of the present Shanghai. That region had been conquered by +Chu at the very beginning of the Ming epoch; in it lived the wealthy +landowners who had already been paying the bulk of the taxes under the +Mongols. The emperor depended on this wealthy class for the financing of +his great armies, and so could not be too hard on it. + +Chu Yuean-chang and his entourage were also unable to free themselves +from some of the ideas of the Mongol epoch. Neither Chu, nor anybody +else before and long after him discussed the possibility of a form of +government other than that of a monarchy. The first ever to discuss this +question, although very timidly, was Huang Tsung-hsi (1610-1695), at the +end of the Ming dynasty. Chu's conception of an emperor was that of an +absolute monarch, master over life and death of his subjects; it was +formed by the Mongol emperors with their magnificence and the huge +expenditure of their life in Peking; Chu was oblivious of the fact that +Peking had been the capital of a vast empire embracing almost the whole +of Asia, and expenses could well be higher than for a capital only of +China. It did not occur to Chu and his supporters that they could have +done without imperial state and splendour; on the contrary, they felt +compelled to display it. At first Chu personally showed no excessive +signs of this tendency, though they emerged later; but he conferred +great land grants on all his relatives, friends, and supporters; he +would give to a single person land sufficient for 20,000 peasant +families; he ordered the payment of state pensions to members of the +imperial family, just as the Mongols had done, and the total of these +pension payments was often higher than the revenue of the region +involved. For the capital alone over eight million _shih_ of grain had +to be provided in payment of pensions--that is to say, more than 160,000 +tons! These pension payments were in themselves a heavy burden on the +state; not only that, but they formed a difficult transport problem! We +have no close figure of the total population at the beginning of the +Ming epoch; about 1500 it is estimated to have been 53,280,000, and this +population had to provide some 266,000,000 _shih_ in taxes. At the +beginning of the Ming epoch the population and revenue must, however, +have been smaller. + +The laws against the merchants and the restrictions under which the +craftsmen worked, remained essentially as they had been under the Sung, +but now the remaining foreign merchants of Mongol time also fell under +these laws, and their influence quickly diminished. All craftsmen, a +total of some 300,000 men with families, were still registered and had +to serve the government in the capital for three months once every three +years; others had to serve ten days per month, if they lived close by. +They were a hereditary caste as were the professional soldiers, and not +allowed to change their occupation except by special imperial +permission. When a craftsman or soldier died, another family member had +to replace him; therefore, families of craftsmen were not allowed to +separate into small nuclear families, in which there might not always be +a suitable male. Yet, in an empire as large as that of the Ming, this +system did not work too well: craftsmen lost too much time in travelling +and often succeeded in running away while travelling. Therefore, from +1505 on, they had to pay a tax instead of working for the government, +and from then on the craftsmen became relatively free. + +4 _Colonization and agricultural developments_ + +As already mentioned, the Ming had to keep a large army along the +northern frontiers. But they also had to keep armies in south China, +especially in Yuennan. Here, the Mongol invasions of Burma and Thailand +had brought unrest among the tribes, especially the Shan. The Ming did +not hold Burma but kept it in a loose dependency as "tributary nation". +In order to supply armies so far away from all agricultural surplus +centres, the Ming resorted to the old system of "military colonies" +which seems to have been invented in the second century B.C. and is +still used even today (in Sinkiang). Soldiers were settled in camps +called _ying_, and therefore there are so many place names ending with +_ying_ in the outlying areas of China. They worked as state farmers and +accumulated surplusses which were used in case of war in which these +same farmers turned soldiers again. Many criminals were sent to these +state farms, too. This system, especially in south China, transformed +territories formerly inhabited by native tribes or uninhabited, into +solidly Chinese areas. In addition to these military colonies, a steady +stream of settlers from Central China and the coast continued to move +into Kwangtung and Hunan provinces. They felt protected by the army +against attacks by natives. Yet Ming texts are full of reports on major +and minor clashes with the natives, from Kiangsi and Fukien to Kwangtung +and Kwangsi. + +But the production of military colonies was still not enough to feed the +armies, and the government in Chu's time resorted to a new design. It +promised to give merchants who transported grain from Central China to +the borders, government salt certificates. Upon the receipt, the +merchants could acquire a certain amount of salt and sell it with high +profits. Soon, these merchants began to invest some of their capital in +local land which was naturally cheap. They then attracted farmers from +their home countries as tenants. The rent of the tenants, paid in form +of grain, was then sold to the army, and the merchant's gains +increased. Tenants could easily be found: the density of population in +the Yangtze plains had further increased since the Sung time. This +system of merchant colonization did not last long, because soon, in +order to curb the profits of the merchants, money was given instead of +salt certificates, and the merchants lost interest in grain transports. +Thus, grain prices along the frontiers rose and the effectiveness of the +armies was diminished. + +Although the history of Chinese agriculture is as yet only partially +known, a number of changes in this field, which began to show up from +Sung time on, seem to have produced an "agricultural revolution" in Ming +time. We have already mentioned the Sung attempts to increase production +near the big cities by deep-lying fields, cultivation on and in lakes. +At the same time, there was an increase in cultivation of mountain +slopes by terracing and by distributing water over the terraces in +balanced systems. New irrigation machines, especially the so-called +Persian wheel, were introduced in the Ming time. Perhaps the most +important innovation, however, was the introduction of rice from +Indo-China's kingdom Champa in 1012 into Fukien from where it soon +spread. This rice had three advantages over ordinary Chinese rice: it +was drought-resistant and could, therefore, be planted in areas with +poor or even no irrigation. It had a great productivity, and it could be +sown very early in the year. At first it had the disadvantage that it +had a vegetation period of a hundred days. But soon, the Chinese +developed a quick-growing Champa rice, and the speediest varieties took +only sixty days from transplantation into the fields to the harvest. +This made it possible to grow two rice harvests instead of only one and +more than doubled the production. Rice varieties which grew again after +being cut and produced a second, but very much smaller harvest, +disappeared from now on. Furthermore, fish were kept in the ricefields +and produced not only food for the farmers but also fertilized the +fields, so that continuous cultivation of ricefields without any +decrease in fertility became possible. Incidentally, fish control the +malaria mosquitoes; although the Chinese did not know this fact, large +areas in South China which had formerly been avoided by Chinese because +of malaria, gradually became inhabitable. + +The importance of alternating crops was also discovered and from now on, +the old system of fallow cultivation was given up and continuous +cultivation with, in some areas, even more than one harvest per field +per year, was introduced even in wheat-growing areas. Considering that +under the fallow system from one half to one third of all fields +remained uncultivated each year, the increase in production under the +new system must have been tremendous. We believe that the population +revolution which in China started about 1550, was the result of this +earlier agrarian revolution. From the eighteenth century on we get +reports on depletion of fields due to wrong application of the new +system. + +Another plant deeply affected Chinese agriculture: cotton. It is often +forgotten that, from very early times, the Chinese in the south had used +kapok and similar fibres, and that the cocoons of different kinds of +worms had been used for silk. Real cotton probably came from Bengal over +South-East Asia first to the coastal provinces of China and spread +quickly into Fukien and Kwangtung in Sung time. + +On the other side, cotton reached China through Central Asia, and +already in the thirteenth century we find it in Shensi in north-western +China. Farmers in the north could in many places grow cotton in summer +and wheat in winter, and cotton was a high-priced product. They ginned +the cotton with iron rods; a mechanical cotton gin was introduced not +until later. The raw cotton was sold to merchants who transported it +into the industrial centre of the time, the Yangtze valley, and who +re-exported cotton cloth to the north. Raw cotton, loosened by the +string of the bow (a method which was known since Sung), could now in +the north also be used for quilts and padded winter garments. + +5 _Commercial and industrial developments_ + +Intensivation and modernization of agriculture led to strong population +increases especially in the Yangtze valley from Sung time on. Thus, in +this area commerce and industry also developed most quickly. +Urbanization was greatest here. Nanking, the new Ming capital, grew +tremendously because of the presence of the court and administration, +and even when later the capital was moved, Nanking continued to remain +the cultural capital of China. The urban population needed textiles and +food. From Ming time on, fashions changed quickly as soon as government +regulations which determined colour and material of the dress of each +social class were relaxed or as soon as they could be circumvented by +bribery or ingenious devices. Now, only factories could produce the +amounts which the consumers wanted. We hear of many men who started out +with one loom and later ended up with over forty looms, employing many +weavers. Shanghai began to emerge as a centre of cotton cloth +production. A system of middle-men developed who bought raw cotton and +raw silk from the producers and sold it to factories. + +Consumption in the Yangtze cities raised the value of the land around +the cities. The small farmers who were squeezed out, migrated to the +south. Absentee landlords in cities relied partly on migratory, seasonal +labour supplied by small farmers from Chekiang who came to the Yangtze +area after they had finished their own harvest. More and more, +vegetables and mulberries or cotton were planted in the vicinity of the +cities. As rice prices went up quickly a large organization of rice +merchants grew up. They ran large ships up to Hankow where they bought +rice which was brought down from Hunan in river boats by smaller +merchants. The small merchants again made contracts with the local +gentry who bought as much rice from the producers as they could and sold +it to these grain merchants. Thus, local grain prices went up and we +hear of cases where the local population attacked the grain boats in +order to prevent the depletion of local markets. + +Next to these grain merchants, the above-mentioned salt merchants have +to be mentioned again. Their centre soon became the city of Hsin-an, a +city on the border of Chekiang and Anhui, or in more general terms, the +cities in the district of Hui-chou. When the grain transportation to the +frontiers came to an end in early Ming time, the Hsin-an merchants +specialized first in silver trade. Later in Ming time, they spread their +activities all over China and often monopolized the salt, silver, rice, +cotton, silk or tea businesses. In the sixteenth century they had +well-established contacts with smugglers on the Fukien coast and brought +foreign goods into the interior. Their home was also close to the main +centres of porcelain production in Kiangsi which was exported to +overseas and to the urban centres. The demand for porcelain had +increased so much that state factories could not fulfil it. The state +factories seem often to have suffered from a lack of labour: indented +artisans were imported from other provinces and later sent back on state +expenses or were taken away from other state industries. Thus, private +porcelain factories began to develop, and in connection with quickly +changing fashions a great diversification of porcelain occurred. + +One other industry should also be mentioned. With the development of +printing, which will be discussed below, the paper industry was greatly +stimulated. The state also needed special types of paper for the paper +currency. Printing and book selling became a profitable business, and +with the application of block print to textiles (probably first used in +Sung time) another new field of commercial activity was opened. + +As already mentioned, silver in form of bars had been increasingly used +as currency in Sung time. The yearly government production of silver was +_c_. 10,000 kg. Mongol currency was actually based upon silver. The +Ming, however, reverted to copper as basic unit, in addition to the use +of paper money. This encouraged the use of silver for speculative +purposes. + +The development of business changed the face of cities. From Sung time +on, the division of cities into wards with gates which were closed +during the night, began to break down. Ming cities had no more wards. +Business was no more restricted to official markets but grew up in all +parts of the cities. The individual trades were no more necessarily all +in one street. Shops did not have to close at sunset. The guilds +developed and in some cases were able to exercise locally some influence +upon the officials. + +6 _Growth of the small gentry_ + +With the spread of book printing, all kinds of books became easily +accessible, including reprints of examination papers. Even businessmen +and farmers increasingly learned to read and to write, and many people +now could prepare themselves for the examinations. Attendance, however, +at the examinations cost a good deal. The candidate had to travel to the +local or provincial capital, and for the higher examinations to the +capital of the country; he had to live there for several months and, as +a rule, had to bribe the examiners or at least to gain the favour of +influential people. There were many cases of candidates becoming +destitute. Most of them were heavily in debt when at last they gained a +position. They naturally set to work at once to pay their debts out of +their salary, and to accumulate fresh capital to meet future +emergencies. The salaries of officials were, however, so small that it +was impossible to make ends meet; and at the same time every official +was liable with his own capital for the receipt in full of the taxes for +the collection of which he was responsible. Consequently every official +began at once to collect more taxes than were really due, so as to be +able to cover any deficits, and also to cover his own cost of +living--including not only the repayment of his debts but the +acquisition of capital or land so as to rise in the social scale. The +old gentry had been rich landowners, and had no need to exploit the +peasants on such a scale. + +The Chinese empire was greater than it had been before the Mongol epoch, +and the population was also greater, so that more officials were needed. +Thus in the Ming epoch there began a certain democratization, larger +sections of the population having the opportunity of gaining government +positions; but this democratization brought no benefit to the general +population but resulted in further exploitation of the peasants. + +The new "small gentry" did not consist of great families like the +original gentry. When, therefore, people of that class wanted to play a +political part in the central government, or to gain a position there, +they had either to get into close touch with one of the families of the +gentry, or to try to approach the emperor directly. In the immediate +entourage of the emperor, however, were the eunuchs. A good many members +of the new class had themselves castrated after they had passed their +state examination. Originally eunuchs were forbidden to acquire +education. But soon the Ming emperors used the eunuchs as a tool to +counteract the power of gentry cliques and thus to strengthen their +personal power. When, later, eunuchs controlled appointments to +government posts, long established practices of bureaucratic +administration were eliminated and the court, i.e. the emperor and his +tools, the eunuchs, could create a rule by way of arbitrary decisions, a +despotic rule. For such purposes, eunuchs had to have education, and +these new educated eunuchs, when they had once secured a position, were +able to gain great influence in the immediate entourage of the emperor; +later such educated eunuchs were preferred, especially as many offices +were created which were only filled by eunuchs and for which educated +eunuchs were needed. Whole departments of eunuchs came into existence at +court, and these were soon made use of for confidential business of the +emperor's outside the palace. + +These eunuchs worked, of course, in the interest of their families. On +the other hand, they were very ready to accept large bribes from the +gentry for placing the desires of people of the gentry before the +emperor and gaining his consent. Thus the eunuchs generally accumulated +great wealth, which they shared with their small gentry relatives. The +rise of the small gentry class was therefore connected with the +increased influence of the eunuchs at court. + +7 _Literature, art, crafts_ + +The growth of the small gentry which had its stronghold in the +provincial towns and cities, as well as the rise of the merchant class +and the liberation of the artisans, are reflected in the new literature +of Ming time. While the Mongols had developed the theatre, the novel may +be regarded as the typical Ming creation. Its precursors were the +stories of story-tellers centuries ago. They had developed many styles, +one of which, for instance, consisted of prose with intercalated poetic +parts (_pien-wen_). Buddhists monks had used these forms of popular +literature and spread their teachings in similar forms; due to them, +many Indian stories and tales found their way into the Chinese +folklore. Soon, these stories of story-tellers or monks were written +down, and out of them developed the Chinese classical novel. It +preserved many traits of the stories: it was cut into chapters +corresponding with the interruptions which the story-teller made in +order to collect money; it was interspersed with poems. But most of all, +it was written in everyday language, not in the language of the gentry. +To this day every Chinese knows and reads with enthusiasm +_Shui-hu-chuan_ ("The Story of the River Bank"), probably written about +1550 by Wang Tao-k'un, in which the ruling class was first described in +its decay. Against it are held up as ideals representatives of the +middle class in the guise of the gentleman brigand. Every Chinese also +knows the great satirical novel _Hsi-yu-chi_ ("The Westward Journey"), +by Feng Meng-lung (1574-1645), in which ironical treatment is meted out +to all religions and sects against a mythological background, with a +freedom that would not have been possible earlier. The characters are +not presented as individuals but as representatives of human types: the +intellectual, the hedonist, the pious man, and the simpleton, are drawn +with incomparable skill, with their merits and defects. A third famous +novel is _San-kuo yen-i_ ("The Tale of the Three Kingdoms"), by Lo +Kuan-chung. Just as the European middle class read with avidity the +romances of chivalry, so the comfortable class in China was enthusiastic +over romanticized pictures of the struggle of the gentry in the third +century. "The Tale of the Three Kingdoms" became the model for countless +historical novels of its own and subsequent periods. Later, mainly in +the sixteenth century, the sensational and erotic novel developed, most +of all in Nanking. It has deeply influenced Japanese writers, but was +mercilessly suppressed by the Chinese gentry which resented the +frivolity of this wealthy and luxurious urban class of middle or small +gentry families who associated with rich merchants, actors, artists and +musicians. Censorship of printed books had started almost with the +beginning of book printing as a private enterprise: to the famous +historian, anti-Buddhist and conservative Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072), the +enemy of Wang An-shih, belongs the sad glory of having developed the +first censorship rules. Since Ming time, it became a permanent feature +of Chinese governments. + +The best known of the erotic novels is the _Chin-p'ing-mei_ which, for +reasons of our own censors can be published only in expurgated +translations. It was written probably towards the end of the sixteenth +century. This novel, as all others, has been written and re-written by +many authors, so that many different versions exist. It might be pointed +out that many novels were printed in Hui-chou, the commercial centre of +the time. + +The short story which formerly served the entertainment of the educated +only and which was, therefore, written in classical Chinese, now also +became a literary form appreciated by the middle classes. The collection +_Chin-ku ch'i-kuan_ ("Strange Stories of New Times and Old"), compiled +by Feng Meng-lung, is the best-known of these collections in vernacular +Chinese. + +Little original work was done in the Ming epoch in the fields generally +regarded as "literature" by educated Chinese, those of poetry and the +essay. There are some admirable essays, but these are only isolated +examples out of thousands. So also with poetry: the poets of the gentry, +united in "clubs", chose the poets of the Sung epoch as their models to +emulate. + +The Chinese drama made further progress in the Ming epoch. Many of the +finest Chinese dramas were written under the Ming; they are still +produced again and again to this day. The most famous dramatists of the +Ming epoch are Wang Shih-chen (1526-1590) and T'ang Hsien-tsu +(1556-1617). T'ang wrote the well-known drama _Mu-tan-ting_ ("The Peony +Pavilion"), one of the finest love-stories of Chinese literature, full +of romance and remote from all reality. This is true also of the other +dramas by T'ang, especially his "Four Dreams", a series of four plays. +In them a man lives in dream through many years of his future life, with +the result that he realizes the worthlessness of life and decides to +become a monk. + +Together with the development of the drama (or, rather, the opera) in +the Ming epoch went an important endeavour in the modernization of +music, the attempt to create a "well-tempered scale" made in 1584 by Chu +Tsai-yue. This solved in China a problem which was not tackled till later +in Europe. The first Chinese theorists of music who occupied themselves +with this problem were Ching Fang (77-37 B.C.) and Ho Ch'eng-t'ien (A.D. +370-447). + +In the Mongol epoch, most of the Chinese painters had lived in central +China; this remained so in the Ming epoch. Of the many painters of the +Ming epoch, all held in high esteem in China, mention must be made +especially of Ch'in Ying (_c_. 1525), T'ang Yin (1470-1523), and Tung +Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636). Ch'in Ying painted in the Academic Style, +indicating every detail, however small, and showing preference for a +turquoise-green ground. T'ang Yin was the painter of elegant women; Tung +became famous especially as a calligraphist and a theoretician of the +art of painting; a textbook of the art was written by him. + +Just as puppet plays and shadow theatre are the "opera of the common +man" and took a new development in Ming time, the wood-cut and +block-printing developed largely as a cheap substitute of real +paintings. The new urbanites wanted to have paintings of the masters and +found in the wood-cut which soon became a multi-colour print a cheap +mass medium. Block printing in colours, developed in the Yangtze valley, +was adopted by Japan and found its highest refinement there. But the +Ming are also famous for their monumental architecture which largely +followed Mongol patterns. Among the most famous examples is the famous +Great Wall which had been in dilapidation and was rebuilt; the great +city walls of Peking; and large parts of the palaces of Peking, begun in +the Mongol epoch. It was at this time that the official style which we +may observe to this day in North China was developed, the style employed +everywhere, until in the age of concrete it lost its justification. + +In the Ming epoch the porcelain with blue decoration on a white ground +became general; the first examples, from the famous kilns in +Ching-te-chen, in the province of Kiangsi, were relatively coarse, but +in the fifteenth century the production was much finer. In the sixteenth +century the quality deteriorated, owing to the disuse of the cobalt from +the Middle East (perhaps from Persia) in favour of Sumatra cobalt, which +did not yield the same brilliant colour. In the Ming epoch there also +appeared the first brilliant red colour, a product of iron, and a start +was then made with three-colour porcelain (with lead glaze) or +five-colour (enamel). The many porcelains exported to western Asia and +Europe first influenced European ceramics (Delft), and then were +imitated in Europe (Boettger); the early European porcelains long showed +Chinese influence (the so-called onion pattern, blue on a white ground). +In addition to the porcelain of the Ming epoch, of which the finest +specimens are in the palace at Istanbul, especially famous are the +lacquers (carved lacquer, lacquer painting, gold lacquer) of the Ming +epoch and the cloisonne work of the same period. These are closely +associated with the contemporary work in Japan. + +8 _Politics at court_ + +After the founding of the dynasty by Chu Yuean-chang, important questions +had to be dealt with apart from the social legislation. What was to be +done, for instance, with Chu's helpers? Chu, like many revolutionaries +before and after him, recognized that these people had been serviceable +in the years of struggle but could no longer remain useful. He got rid +of them by the simple device of setting one against another so that they +murdered one another. In the first decades of his rule the dangerous +cliques of gentry had formed again, and were engaged in mutual +struggles. The most formidable clique was led by Hu Wei-yung. Hu was a +man of the gentry of Chu's old homeland, and one of his oldest +supporters. Hu and his relations controlled the country after 1370, +until in 1380 Chu succeeded in beheading Hu and exterminating his +clique. New cliques formed before long and were exterminated in turn. + +Chu had founded Nanking in the years of revolution, and he made it his +capital. In so doing he met the wishes of the rich grain producers of +the Yangtze delta. But the north was the most threatened part of his +empire, so that troops had to be permanently stationed there in +considerable strength. Thus Peking, where Chu placed one of his sons as +"king", was a post of exceptional importance. + +In Chu Yuean-chang's last years (he was named T'ai Tsu as emperor) +difficulties arose in regard to the dynasty. The heir to the throne died +in 1391; and when the emperor himself died in 1398, the son of the late +heir-apparent was installed as emperor (Hui Ti, 1399-1402). This choice +had the support of some of the influential Confucian gentry families of +the south. But a protest against his enthronement came from the other +son of Chu Yuean-chang, who as king in Peking had hoped to become +emperor. With his strong army this prince, Ch'eng Tsu, marched south and +captured Nanking, where the palaces were burnt down. There was a great +massacre of supporters of the young emperor, and the victor made himself +emperor (better known under his reign name, Yung-lo). As he had +established himself in Peking, he transferred the capital to Peking, +where it remained throughout the Ming epoch. Nanking became a sort of +subsidiary capital. + +This transfer of the capital to the north, as the result of the victory +of the military party and Buddhists allied to them, produced a new +element of instability: the north was of military importance, but the +Yangtze region remained the economic centre of the country. The +interests of the gentry of the Yangtze region were injured by the +transfer. The first Ming emperor had taken care to make his court +resemble the court of the Mongol rulers, but on the whole had exercised +relative economy. Yung-lo (1403-1424), however, lived in the actual +palaces of the Mongol rulers, and all the luxury of the Mongol epoch was +revived. This made the reign of Yung-lo the most magnificent period of +the Ming epoch, but beneath the surface decay had begun. Typical of the +unmitigated absolutism which developed now, was the word of one of the +emperor's political and military advisors, significantly a Buddhist +monk: "I know the way of heaven. Why discuss the hearts of the people?" + +9 _Navy. Southward expansion_ + +After the collapse of Mongol rule in Indo-China, partly through the +simple withdrawal of the Mongols, and partly through attacks from +various Chinese generals, there were independence movements in +south-west China and Indo-China. In 1393 wars broke out in Annam. +Yung-lo considered that the time had come to annex these regions to +China and so to open a new field for Chinese trade, which was suffering +continual disturbance from the Japanese. He sent armies to Yuennan and +Indo-China; at the same time he had a fleet built by one of his eunuchs, +Cheng Ho. The fleet was successfully protected from attack by the +Japanese. Cheng Ho, who had promoted the plan and also carried it out, +began in 1405 his famous mission to Indo-China, which had been envisaged +as giving at least moral support to the land operations, but was also +intended to renew trade connections with Indo-China, where they had been +interrupted by the collapse of Mongol rule. Cheng Ho sailed past +Indo-China and ultimately reached the coast of Arabia. His account of +his voyage is an important source of information about conditions in +southern Asia early in the fifteenth century. Cheng Ho and his fleet +made some further cruises, but they were discontinued. There may have +been several reasons, (1) As state enterprises, the expeditions were +very costly. Foreign goods could be obtained more cheaply and with less +trouble if foreign merchants came themselves to China or Chinese +merchants travelled at their own risk. (2) The moral success of the +naval enterprises was assured. China was recognized as a power +throughout southern Asia, and Annam had been reconquered. (3) After the +collapse of the Mongol emperor Timur, who died in 1406, there no longer +existed any great power in Central Asia, so that trade missions from the +kingdom of the Shahruk in North Persia were able to make their way to +China, including the famous mission of 1409-1411. (4) Finally, the fleet +would have had to be permanently guarded against the Japanese, as it had +been stationed not in South China but in the Yangtze region. As early as +1411 the canals had been repaired, and from 1415 onward all the traffic +of the country went by the canals, so evading the Japanese peril. This +ended the short chapter of Chinese naval history. + +These travels of Cheng Ho seem to have had one more cultural result: a +large number of fairy-tales from the Middle East were brought to China, +or at all events reached China at that time. The Chinese, being a +realistically-minded people, have produced few fairy-tales of their own. +The bulk of their finest fairy-tales were brought by Buddhist monks, in +the course of the first millennium A.D., from India by way of Central +Asia. The Buddhists made use of them to render their sermons more +interesting and impressive. As time went on, these stories spread all +over China, modified in harmony with the spirit of the people and +adapted to the Chinese environment. Only the fables failed to strike +root in China: the matter-of-fact Chinese was not interested in animals +that talked and behaved to each other like human beings. In addition, +however, to these early fairy-tales, there was another group of stories +that did not spread throughout China, but were found only in the +south-eastern coastal provinces. These came from the Middle East, +especially from Persia. The fairy-tales of Indian origin spread not only +to Central Asia but at the same time to Persia, where they found a very +congenial soil. The Persians made radical changes in the stories and +gave them the form in which they came to Europe by various +routes--through North Africa to Spain and France; through +Constantinople, Venice, or Genoa to France; through Russian Turkestan to +Russia, Finland, and Sweden; through Turkey and the Balkans to Hungary +and Germany. Thus the stories found a European home. And this same +Persian form was carried by sea in Cheng Ho's time to South China. Thus +we have the strange experience of finding some of our own finest +fairy-tales in almost the same form in South China. + +10 _Struggles between cliques_ + +Yung-lo's successor died early. Under the latter's son, the emperor +Hsuean Tsung (1426-1435; reign name Hsuean-te), fixed numbers of +candidates were assigned for the state examinations. It had been found +that almost the whole of the gentry in the Yangtze region sat at the +examinations; and that at these examinations their representatives made +sure, through their mutual relations, that only their members should +pass, so that the candidates from the north were virtually excluded. The +important military clique in the north protested against this, and a +compromise was arrived at: at every examination one-third of the +candidates must come from the north and two-thirds from the south. This +system lasted for a long time, and led to many disputes. + +At his death Hsuean Tsung left the empire to his eight-year-old son Ying +Tsung (1436-49 and 1459-64), who was entirely in the hands of the Yang +clique, which was associated with his grandmother. Soon, however, +another clique, led by the eunuch Wang Chen, gained the upper hand at +court. The Mongols were very active at this time, and made several raids +on the province of Shansi; Wang Chen proposed a great campaign against +them, and in this campaign he took with him the young emperor, who had +reached his twenty-first birthday in 1449. The emperor had grown up in +the palace and knew nothing of the world outside; he was therefore glad +to go with Wang Chen; but that eunuch had also lived in the palace and +also knew nothing of the world, and in particular of war. Consequently +he failed in the organization of reinforcements for his army, some +100,000 strong; after a few brief engagements the Oirat-Mongol prince +Esen had the imperial army surrounded and the emperor a prisoner. The +eunuch Wang Chen came to his end, and his clique, of course, no longer +counted. The Mongols had no intention of killing the emperor; they +proposed to hold him to ransom, at a high price. The various cliques at +court cared little, however, about their ruler. After the fall of the +Wang clique there were two others, of which one, that of General Yue, +became particularly powerful, as he had been able to repel a Mongol +attack on Peking. Yue proclaimed a new emperor--not the captive emperor's +son, a baby, but his brother, who became the emperor Ching Tsung. The +Yang clique insisted on the rights of the imperial baby. From all this +the Mongols saw that the Chinese were not inclined to spend a lot of +money on their imperial captive. Accordingly they made an enormous +reduction in the ransom demanded, and more or less forced the Chinese to +take back their former emperor. The Mongols hoped that this would at +least produce political disturbances by which they might profit, once +the old emperor was back in Peking. And this did soon happen. At first +the ransomed emperor was pushed out of sight into a palace, and Ching +Tsung continued to reign. But in 1456 Ching Tsung fell ill, and a +successor to him had to be chosen. The Yue clique wanted to have the son +of Ching Tsung; the Yang clique wanted the son of the deposed emperor +Ying Tsung. No agreement was reached, so that in the end a third clique, +led by the soldier Shih Heng, who had helped to defend Peking against +the Mongols, found its opportunity, and by a _coup d'etat_ reinstated +the deposed emperor Ying Tsung. + +This was not done out of love for the emperor, but because Shih Heng +hoped that under the rule of the completely incompetent Ying Tsung he +could best carry out a plan of his own, to set up his own dynasty. It is +not so easy, however, to carry a conspiracy to success when there are +several rival parties, each of which is ready to betray any of the +others. Shih Heng's plan became known before long, and he himself was +beheaded (1460). + +The next forty years were filled with struggles between cliques, which +steadily grew in ferocity, particularly since a special office, a sort +of secret police headquarters, was set up in the palace, with functions +which it extended beyond the palace, with the result that many people +were arrested and disappeared. This office was set up by the eunuchs and +the clique at their back, and was the first dictatorial organ created in +the course of a development towards despotism that made steady progress +in these years. + +In 1505 Wu Tsung came to the throne, an inexperienced youth of fifteen +who was entirely controlled by the eunuchs who had brought him up. The +leader of the eunuchs was Liu Chin, who had the support of a group of +people of the gentry and the middle class. Liu Chin succeeded within a +year in getting rid of the eunuchs at court who belonged to other +cliques and were working against him. After that he proceeded to +establish his power. He secured in entirely official form the emperor's +permission for him to issue all commands himself; the emperor devoted +himself only to his pleasures, and care was taken that they should keep +him sufficiently occupied to have no chance to notice what was going on +in the country. The first important decree issued by Liu Chin resulted +in the removal from office or the punishment or murder of over three +hundred prominent persons, the leaders of the cliques opposed to him. He +filled their posts with his own supporters, until all the higher posts +in every department were in the hands of members of his group. He +collected large sums of money which he quite openly extracted from the +provinces as a special tax for his own benefit. When later his house was +searched there were found 240,000 bars and 57,800 pieces of gold (a bar +was equivalent of ten pieces), 791,800 ounces and 5,000,000 bars of +silver (a bar was five ounces), three bushels of precious stones, two +gold cuirasses, 3,000 gold rings, and much else--of a total value +exceeding the annual budget of the state! The treasure was to have been +used to finance a revolt planned by Liu Chin and his supporters. + +Among the people whom Liu Chin had punished were several members of the +former clique of the Yang, and also the philosopher Wang Yang-ming, who +later became so famous, a member of the Wang family which was allied to +the Yang. In 1510 the Yang won over one of the eunuchs in the palace and +so became acquainted with Liu Chin's plans. When a revolt broke out in +western China, this eunuch (whose political allegiance was, of course, +unknown to Liu Chin) secured appointment as army commander. With the +army intended for the crushing of the revolt, Liu Chin's palace was +attacked when he was asleep, and he and all his supporters were +arrested. Thus the other group came into power in the palace, including +the philosopher Wang Yang-ming (1473-1529). Liu Chin's rule had done +great harm to the country, as enormous taxation had been expended for +the private benefit of his clique. On top of this had been the young +emperor's extravagance: his latest pleasures had been the building of +palaces and the carrying out of military games; he constantly assumed +new military titles and was burning to go to war. + +11 _Risings_ + +The emperor might have had a good opportunity for fighting, for his +misrule had resulted in a great popular rising which began in the west, +in Szechwan, and then spread to the east. As always, the rising was +joined by some ruined scholars, and the movement, which had at first +been directed against the gentry as such, was turned into a movement +against the government of the moment. No longer were all the wealthy and +all officials murdered, but only those who did not join the movement. In +1512 the rebels were finally overcome, not so much by any military +capacity of the government armies as through the loss of the rebels' +fleet of boats in a typhoon. + +In 1517 a new favourite of the emperor's induced him to make a great +tour in the north, to which the favourite belonged. The tour and the +hunting greatly pleased the emperor, so that he continued his +journeying. This was the year in which the Portuguese Fernao Pires de +Andrade landed in Canton--the first modern European to enter China. + +In 1518 Wang Yang-ming, the philosopher general, crushed a rising in +Kiangsi. The rising had been the outcome of years of unrest, which had +two causes: native risings of the sort we described above, and loss for +the gentry due to the transfer of the capital. The province of Kiangsi +was a part of the Yangtze region, and the great landowners there had +lived on the profit from their supplies to Nanking. When the capital was +moved to Peking, their takings fell. They placed themselves under a +prince who lived in Nanking. This prince regarded Wang Yang-ming's move +into Kiangsi as a threat to him, and so rose openly against the +government and supported the Kiangsi gentry. Wang Yang-ming defeated +him, and so came into the highest favour with the incompetent emperor. +When peace had been restored in Nanking, the emperor dressed himself up +as an army commander, marched south, and made a triumphal entry into +Nanking. + +One other aspect of Wang Yang-ming's expeditions has not yet been +studied: he crushed also the so-called salt-merchant rebels in the +southernmost part of Kiangsi and adjoining Kwangtung. These +merchants-turned-rebels had dominated a small area, off and on since +the eleventh century. At this moment, they seem to have had connections +with the rich inland merchants of Hsin-an and perhaps also with +foreigners. Information is still too scanty to give more details, but a +local movement as persistent as this one deserves attention. + +Wang Yang-ming became acquainted as early as 1519 with the first +European rifles, imported by the Portuguese who had landed in 1517. (The +Chinese then called them Fu-lan-chi, meaning Franks. Wang was the first +Chinese who spoke of the "Franks".) The Chinese had already had mortars +which hurled stones, as early as the second century A.D. In the seventh +or eighth century their mortars had sent stones of a couple of +hundredweights some four hundred yards. There is mention in the eleventh +century of cannon which apparently shot with a charge of a sort of +gunpowder. The Mongols were already using true cannon in their sieges. +In 1519, the first Portuguese were presented to the Chinese emperor in +Nanking, where they were entertained for about a year in a hostel, a +certain Lin Hsuen learned about their rifles and copied them for Wang +Yang-ming. In general, however, the Chinese had no respect for the +Europeans, whom they described as "bandits" who had expelled the lawful +king of Malacca and had now come to China as its representatives. Later +they were regarded as a sort of Japanese, because they, too, practiced +piracy. + +12 _Machiavellism_ + +All main schools of Chinese philosophy were still based on Confucius. +Wang Yang-ming's philosophy also followed Confucius, but he liberated +himself from the Neo-Confucian tendency as represented by Chu Hsi, which +started in the Sung epoch and continued to rule in China in his time and +after him; he introduced into Confucian philosophy the conception of +"intuition". He regarded intuition as the decisive philosophic +experience; only through intuition could man come to true knowledge. +This idea shows an element of meditative Buddhism along lines which the +philosopher Lu Hsiang-shan (1139-1192) had first developed, while +classical Neo-Confucianism was more an integration of monastic Buddhism +into Confucianism. Lu had felt himself close to Wang An-shih +(1021-1086), and this whole school, representing the small gentry of the +Yangtze area, was called the Southern or the Lin-ch'uan school, +Lin-ch'uan in Kiangsi being Wang An-shih's home. During the Mongol +period, a Taoist group, the _Cheng-i-chiao_ (Correct Unity Sect) had +developed in Lin-ch'uan and had accepted some of the Lin-ch'uan +school's ideas. Originally, this group was a continuation of Chang +Ling's church Taoism. Through the _Cheng-i_ adherents, the Southern +school had gained political influence on the despotic Mongol rulers. The +despotic Yung-lo emperor had favoured the monk Tao-yen (_c_. 1338-1418) +who had also Taoist training and proposed a philosophy which also +stressed intuition. He was, incidentally, in charge of the compilation +of the largest encyclopaedia ever written, the _Yung-lo ta-tien_ +commissioned by the Yung-lo emperor. + +Wang Yang-ming followed the Lin-ch'uan tradition. The introduction of +the conception of intuition, a highly subjective conception, into the +system of a practical state philosophy like Confucianism could not but +lead in the practice of the statesman to Machiavellism. The statesman +who followed the teaching of Wang Yang-ming had the opportunity of +justifying whatever he did by his intuition. + +Wang Yang-ming failed to gain acceptance for his philosophy. His +disciples also failed to establish his doctrine in China, because it +served the interests of an individual despot against those of the gentry +as a class, and the middle class, which might have formed a +counterweight against them, was not yet politically ripe for the seizure +of the opportunity here offered to it. In Japan, however, Wang's +doctrine gained many followers, because it admirably served the +dictatorial state system which had developed in that country. +Incidentally, Chiang Kai-shek in those years in which he showed Fascist +tendencies, also got interested in Wang Yang-ming. + +13 _Foreign relations in the sixteenth century_ + +The feeble emperor Wu Tsung died in 1521, after an ineffective reign, +without leaving an heir. The clique then in power at court looked among +the possible pretenders for the one who seemed least likely to do +anything, and their choice fell on the fifteen-year-old Shih Tsung, who +was made emperor. The forty-five years of his reign were filled in home +affairs with intrigues between the cliques at court, with growing +distress in the country, and with revolts on a larger and larger scale. +Abroad there were wars with Annam, increasing raids by the Japanese, +and, above all, long-continued fighting against the famous Mongol ruler +Yen-ta, from 1549 onward. At one time Yen-ta reached Peking and laid +siege to it. The emperor, who had no knowledge of affairs, and to whom +Yen-ta had been represented as a petty bandit, was utterly dismayed and +ready to do whatever Yen-ta asked; in the end he was dissuaded from +this, and an agreement was arrived at with Yen-ta for state-controlled +markets to be set up along the frontier, where the Mongols could +dispose of their goods against Chinese goods on very favourable terms. +After further difficulties lasting many years, a compromise was arrived +at: the Mongols were earning good profits from the markets, and in 1571 +Yen-ta accepted a Chinese title. On the Chinese side, this Mongol trade, +which continued in rather different form in the Manchu epoch, led to the +formation of a local merchant class in the frontier province of Shansi, +with great experience in credit business; later the first Chinese +bankers came almost entirely from this quarter. + +After a brief interregnum there came once more to the throne a +ten-year-old boy, the emperor Shen Tsung (reign name Wan-li; 1573-1619). +He, too, was entirely under the influence of various cliques, at first +that of his tutor, the scholar Chang Chue-chan. About the time of the +death, in 1582, of Yen-ta we hear for the first time of a new people. In +1581 there had been unrest in southern Manchuria. The Mongolian tribal +federation of the Tuemet attacked China, and there resulted collisions +not only with the Chinese but between the different tribes living there. +In southern and central Manchuria were remnants of the Tungus Juchen. +The Mongols had subjugated the Juchen, but the latter had virtually +become independent after the collapse of Mongol rule over China. They +had formed several tribal alliances, but in 1581-83 these fought each +other, so that one of the alliances to all intents was destroyed. The +Chinese intervened as mediators in these struggles, and drew a +demarcation line between the territories of the various Tungus tribes. +All this is only worth mention because it was from these tribes that +there developed the tribal league of the Manchus, who were then to rule +China for some three hundred years. + +In 1592 the Japanese invaded Korea. This was their first real effort to +set foot on the continent, a purely imperialistic move. Korea, as a +Chinese vassal, appealed for Chinese aid. At first the Chinese army had +no success, but in 1598 the Japanese were forced to abandon Korea. They +revenged themselves by intensifying their raids on the coast of central +China; they often massacred whole towns, and burned down the looted +houses. The fighting in Korea had its influence on the Tungus tribes: as +they were not directly involved, it contributed to their further +strengthening. + +The East India Company was founded in 1600. At this time, while the +English were trying to establish themselves in India, the Chinese tried +to gain increased influence in the south by wars in Annam, Burma, and +Thailand (1594-1604). These wars were for China colonial wars, similar +to the colonial fighting by the British in India. But there began to be +defined already at that time in the south of Asia the outlines of the +states as they exist at the present time. + +In 1601 the first European, the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, succeeded in +gaining access to the Chinese court, through the agency of a eunuch. He +made some presents, and the Chinese regarded his visit as a mission from +Europe bringing tribute. Ricci was therefore permitted to remain in +Peking. He was an astronomer and was able to demonstrate to his Chinese +colleagues the latest achievements of European astronomy. In 1613, after +Ricci's death, the Jesuits and some Chinese whom they had converted were +commissioned to reform the Chinese calendar. In the time of the Mongols, +Arabs had been at work in Peking as astronomers, and their influence had +continued under the Ming until the Europeans came. By his astronomical +labours Ricci won a place of honour in Chinese literature; he is the +European most often mentioned. + +The missionary work was less effective. The missionaries penetrated by +the old trade routes from Canton and Macao into the province of Kiangsi +and then into Nanking. Kiangsi and Nanking were their chief centres. +They soon realized that missionary activity that began in the lower +strata would have no success; it was necessary to work from above, +beginning with the emperor, and then, they hoped, the whole country +could be converted to Christianity. When later the emperors of the Ming +dynasty were expelled and fugitives in South China, one of the +pretenders to the throne was actually converted--but it was politically +too late. The missionaries had, moreover, mistaken ideas as to the +nature of Chinese religion; we know today that a universal adoption of +Christianity in China would have been impossible even if an emperor had +personally adopted that foreign faith: there were emperors who had been +interested in Buddhism or in Taoism, but that had been their private +affair and had never prevented them, as heads of the state, from +promoting the religious system which politically was the most +expedient--that is to say, usually Confucianism. What we have said here +in regard to the Christian mission at the Ming court is applicable also +to the missionaries at the court of the first Manchu emperors, in the +seventeenth century. Early in the eighteenth century missionary activity +was prohibited--not for religious but for political reasons, and only +under the pressure of the Capitulations in the nineteenth century were +the missionaries enabled to resume their labours. + +14 _External and internal perils_ + +Towards the end of the reign of Wan-li, about 1620, the danger that +threatened the empire became more and more evident. The Manchus +complained, no doubt with justice, of excesses on the part of Chinese +officials; the friction constantly increased, and the Manchus began to +attack the Chinese cities in Manchuria. In 1616, after his first +considerable successes, their leader Nurhachu assumed the imperial +title; the name of the dynasty was Tai Ch'ing (interpreted as "The great +clarity", but probably a transliteration of a Manchurian word meaning +"hero"). In 1618, the year in which the Thirty Years War started in +Europe, the Manchus conquered the greater part of Manchuria, and in 1621 +their capital was Liaoyang, then the largest town in Manchuria. + +But the Manchu menace was far from being the only one. On the south-east +coast a pirate made himself independent; later, with his family, he +dominated Formosa and fought many battles with the Europeans there +(European sources call him Coxinga). In western China there came a great +popular rising, in which some of the natives joined, and which spread +through a large part of the southern provinces. This rising was +particularly sanguinary, and when it was ultimately crushed by the +Manchus the province of Szechwan, formerly so populous, was almost +depopulated, so that it had later to be resettled. And in the province +of Shantung in the east there came another great rising, also very +sanguinary, that of the secret society of the "White Lotus". We have +already pointed out that these risings of secret societies were always a +sign of intolerable conditions among the peasantry. This was now the +case once more. All the elements of danger which we mentioned at the +outset of this chapter began during this period, between 1610 and 1640, +to develop to the full. + +Then there were the conditions in the capital itself. The struggles +between cliques came to a climax. On the death of Shen Tsung (or Wan-li; +1573-1619), he was succeeded by his son, who died scarcely a month +later, and then by his sixteen-year-old grandson. The grandson had been +from his earliest youth under the influence of a eunuch, Wei +Chung-hsien, who had castrated himself. With the emperor's wet-nurse and +other people, mostly of the middle class, this man formed a powerful +group. The moment the new emperor ascended the throne, Wei was +all-powerful. He began by murdering every eunuch who did not belong to +his clique, and then murdered the rest of his opponents. Meanwhile the +gentry had concluded among themselves a defensive alliance that was a +sort of party; this party was called the Tung-lin Academy. It was +confined to literati among the gentry, and included in particular the +literati who had failed to make their way at court, and who lived on +their estates in Central China and were trying to gain power themselves. +This group was opposed to Wei Chung-hsien, who ruthlessly had every +discoverable member murdered. The remainder went into hiding and +organized themselves secretly under another name. As the new emperor had +no son, the attempt was made to foist a son upon him; at his death in +1627, eight women of the harem were suddenly found to be pregnant! He +was succeeded by his brother, who was one of the opponents of Wei +Chung-hsien and, with the aid of the opposing clique, was able to bring +him to his end. The new emperor tried to restore order at court and in +the capital by means of political and economic decrees, but in spite of +his good intentions and his unquestionable capacity he was unable to +cope with the universal confusion. There was insurrection in every part +of the country. The gentry, organized in their "Academies", and secretly +at work in the provinces, no longer supported the government; the +central power no longer had adequate revenues, so that it was unable to +pay the armies that should have marched against all the rebels and also +against external enemies. It was clear that the dynasty was approaching +its end, and the only uncertainty was as to its successor. The various +insurgents negotiated or fought with each other; generals loyal to the +government won occasional successes against the rebels; other generals +went over to the rebels or to the Manchus. The two most successful +leaders of bands were Li Tz[)u]-ch'eng and Chang Hsien-chung. Li came +from the province of Shensi; he had come to the fore during a disastrous +famine in his country. The years around 1640 brought several widespread +droughts in North China, a natural phenomenon that was repeated in the +nineteenth century, when unrest again ensued. Chang Hsien-chung returned +for a time to the support of the government, but later established +himself in western China. It was typical, however, of all these +insurgents that none of them had any great objective in view. They +wanted to get enough to eat for themselves and their followers; they +wanted to enrich themselves by conquest; but they were incapable of +building up an ordered and new administration. Li ultimately made +himself "king" in the province of Shensi and called his dynasty "Shun", +but this made no difference: there was no distribution of land among the +peasants serving in Li's army; no plan was set into operation for the +collection of taxes; not one of the pressing problems was faced. + +Meanwhile the Manchus were gaining support. Almost all the Mongol +princes voluntarily joined them and took part in the raids into North +China. In 1637 the united Manchus and Mongols conquered Korea. Their +power steadily grew. What the insurgents in China failed to achieve, the +Manchus achieved with the aid of their Chinese advisers: they created a +new military organization, the "Banner Organization". The men fit for +service were distributed among eight "banners", and these banners became +the basis of the Manchu state administration. By this device the +Manchus emerged from the stage of tribal union, just as before them +Turks and other northern peoples had several times abandoned the +traditional authority of a hierarchy of tribal leaders, a system of +ruling families, in favour of the authority, based on efficiency, of +military leaders. At the same time the Manchus set up a central +government with special ministries on the Chinese model. In 1638 the +Manchus appeared before Peking, but they retired once more. Manchu +armies even reached the province of Shantung. They were hampered by the +death at the critical moment of the Manchu ruler Abahai (1626-1643). His +son Fu Lin was not entirely normal and was barely six years old; there +was a regency of princes, the most prominent among them being Prince +Dorgon. + +Meanwhile Li Tz[)u]-ch'eng broke through to Peking. The city had a +strong garrison, but owing to the disorganization of the government the +different commanders were working against each other; and the soldiers +had no fighting spirit because they had no pay for a long time. Thus the +city fell, on April 24th, 1644, and the last Ming emperor killed +himself. A prince was proclaimed emperor; he fled through western and +southern China, continually trying to make a stand, but it was too late; +without the support of the gentry he had no resource, and ultimately, in +1659, he was compelled to flee into Burma. + +Thus Li Tz[)u]-ch'eng was now emperor. It should have been his task +rapidly to build up a government, and to take up arms against the other +rebels and against the Manchus. Instead of this he behaved in such a way +that he was unable to gain any support from the existing officials in +the capital; and as there was no one among his former supporters who had +any positive, constructive ideas, just nothing was done. + +This, however, improved the chances of all the other aspirants to the +imperial throne. The first to realize this clearly, and also to possess +enough political sagacity to avoid alienating the gentry, was General Wu +San-kui, who was commanding on the Manchu front. He saw that in the +existing conditions in the capital he could easily secure the imperial +throne for himself if only he had enough soldiers. Accordingly he +negotiated with the Manchu Prince Dorgon, formed an alliance with the +Manchus, and with them entered Peking on June 6th, 1644. Li +Tz[)u]-ch'eng quickly looted the city, burned down whatever he could, +and fled into the west, continually pursued by Wu San-kui. In the end he +was abandoned by all his supporters and killed by peasants. The Manchus, +however, had no intention of leaving Wu San-kui in power: they +established themselves in Peking, and Wu became their general. + + +(C) The Manchu Dynasty (1644-1911) + +1 _Installation of Manchus_ + +The Manchus had gained the mastery over China owing rather to China's +internal situation than to their military superiority. How was it that +the dynasty could endure for so long, although the Manchus were not +numerous, although the first Manchu ruler (Fu Lin, known under the rule +name Shun-chih; 1644-1662) was a psychopathic youth, although there were +princes of the Ming dynasty ruling in South China, and although there +were strong groups of rebels all over the country? The Manchus were +aliens; at that time the national feeling of the Chinese had already +been awakened; aliens were despised. In addition to this, the Manchus +demanded that as a sign of their subjection the Chinese should wear +pigtails and assume Manchurian clothing (law of 1645). Such laws could +not but offend national pride. Moreover, marriages between Manchus and +Chinese were prohibited, and a dual government was set up, with Manchus +always alongside Chinese in every office, the Manchus being of course in +the superior position. The Manchu soldiers were distributed in military +garrisons among the great cities, and were paid state pensions, which +had to be provided by taxation. They were the master race, and had no +need to work. Manchus did not have to attend the difficult state +examinations which the Chinese had to pass in order to gain an +appointment. How was it that in spite of all this the Manchus were able +to establish themselves? + +The conquering Manchu generals first went south from eastern China, and +in 1645 captured Nanking, where a Ming prince had ruled. The region +round Nanking was the economic centre of China. Soon the Manchus were in +the adjoining southern provinces, and thus they conquered the whole of +the territory of the landowning gentry, who after the events of the +beginning of the seventeenth century had no longer trusted the Ming +rulers. The Ming prince in Nanking was just as incapable, and surrounded +by just as evil a clique, as the Ming emperors of the past. The gentry +were not inclined to defend him. A considerable section of the gentry +were reduced to utter despair; they had no desire to support the Ming +any longer; in their own interest they could not support the rebel +leaders; and they regarded the Manchus as just a particular sort of +"rebels". Interpreting the refusal of some Sung ministers to serve the +foreign Mongols as an act of loyalty, it was now regarded as shameful to +desert a dynasty when it came to an end and to serve the new ruler, even +if the new regime promised to be better. Many thousands of officials, +scholars, and great landowners committed suicide. Many books, often +really moving and tragic, are filled with the story of their lives. Some +of them tried to form insurgent bands with their peasants and went into +the mountains, but they were unable to maintain themselves there. The +great bulk of the elite soon brought themselves to collaborate with the +conquerors when they were offered tolerable conditions. In the end the +Manchus did not interfere in the ownership of land in central China. + +At the time when in Europe Louis XIV was reigning, the Thirty Years War +was coming to an end, and Cromwell was carrying out his reforms in +England, the Manchus conquered the whole of China. Chang Hsien-chung and +Li Tz[)u]-ch'eng were the first to fall; the pirate Coxinga lasted a +little longer and was even able to plunder Nanking in 1659, but in 1661 +he had to retire to Formosa. Wu San-kui, who meanwhile had conquered +western China, saw that the situation was becoming difficult for him. +His task was to drive out the last Ming pretenders for the Manchus. As +he had already been opposed to the Ming in 1644, and as the Ming no +longer had any following among the gentry, he could not suddenly work +with them against the Manchus. He therefore handed over to the Manchus +the last Ming prince, whom the Burmese had delivered up to him in 1661. +Wu San-kui's only possible allies against the Manchus were the gentry. +But in the west, where he was in power, the gentry counted for nothing; +they had in any case been weaker in the west, and they had been +decimated by the insurrection of Chang Hsien-chung. Thus Wu San-kui was +compelled to try to push eastwards, in order to unite with the gentry of +the Yangtze region against the Manchus. The Manchus guessed Wu San-kui's +plan, and in 1673, after every effort at accommodation had failed, open +war came. Wu San-kui made himself emperor, and the Manchus marched +against him. Meanwhile, the Chinese gentry of the Yangtze region had +come to terms with the Manchus, and they gave Wu San-kui no help. He +vegetated in the south-west, a region too poor to maintain an army that +could conquer all China, and too small to enable him to last +indefinitely as an independent power. He was able to hold his own until +his death, although, with the loss of the support of the gentry, he had +no prospect of final success. Not until 1681 was his successor, his +grandson Wu Shih-fan, defeated. The end of the rule of Wu San-kui and +his successor marked the end of the national governments of China; the +whole country was now under alien domination, for the simple reason that +all the opponents of the Manchus had failed. Only the Manchus were +accredited with the ability to bring order out of the universal +confusion, so that there was clearly no alternative but to put up with +the many insults and humiliations they inflicted--with the result that +the national feeling that had just been aroused died away, except where +it was kept alive in a few secret societies. There will be more to say +about this, once the works which were suppressed by the Manchus are +published. + +In the first phase of the Manchu conquest the gentry had refused to +support either the Ming princes or Wu San-kui, or any of the rebels, or +the Manchus themselves. A second phase began about twenty years after +the capture of Peking, when the Manchus won over the gentry by desisting +from any interference with the ownership of land, and by the use of +Manchu troops to clear away the "rebels" who were hostile to the gentry. +A reputable government was then set up in Peking, free from eunuchs and +from all the old cliques; in their place the government looked for +Chinese scholars for its administrative posts. Literati and scholars +streamed into Peking, especially members of the "Academies" that still +existed in secret, men who had been the chief sufferers from the +conditions at the end of the Ming epoch. The young emperor Sheng Tsu +(1663-1722; K'ang-hsi is the name by which his rule was known, not his +name) was keenly interested in Chinese culture and gave privileged +treatment to the scholars of the gentry who came forward. A rapid +recovery quite clearly took place. The disturbances of the years that +had passed had got rid of the worst enemies of the people, the +formidable rival cliques and the individuals lusting for power; the +gentry had become more cautious in their behaviour to the peasants; and +bribery had been largely stamped out. Finally, the empire had been +greatly expanded. All these things helped to stabilize the regime of the +Manchus. + +2 _Decline in the eighteenth century_ + +The improvement continued until the middle of the eighteenth century. +About the time of the French Revolution there began a continuous +decline, slow at first and then gathering speed. The European works on +China offer various reasons for this: the many foreign wars (to which we +shall refer later) of the emperor, known by the name of his ruling +period, Ch'ien-lung, his craze for building, and the irruption of the +Europeans into Chinese trade. In the eighteenth century the court +surrounded itself with great splendour, and countless palaces and other +luxurious buildings were erected, but it must be borne in mind that so +great an empire as the China of that day possessed very considerable +financial strength, and could support this luxury. The wars were +certainly not inexpensive, as they took place along the Russian +frontier and entailed expenditure on the transport of reinforcements and +supplies; the wars against Turkestan and Tibet were carried on with +relatively small forces. This expenditure should not have been beyond +the resources of an ordered budget. Interestingly enough, the period +between 1640 and 1840 belongs to those periods for which almost no +significant work in the field of internal social and economic +developments has been made; Western scholars have been too much +interested in the impact of Western economy and culture or in the +military events. Chinese scholars thus far have shown a prejudice +against the Manchu dynasty and were mainly interested in the study of +anti-Manchu movements and the downfall of the dynasty. On the other +hand, the documentary material for this period is extremely extensive, +and many years of work are necessary to reach any general conclusions +even in one single field. The following remarks should, therefore, be +taken as very tentative and preliminary, and they are, naturally, +fragmentary. + +[Illustration: 14 Aborigines of South China, of the 'Black Miao' tribe, +at a festival. China-ink drawing of the eighteenth century. _Collection +of the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin. No. 1D 8756, 68_.] + +[Illustration: 15 Pavilion on the 'Coal Hill' at Peking, in which the +last Ming emperor committed suicide. _Photo Eberhard_.] + +[Illustration: Chart POPULATION GROWTH OF CHINA] + +The decline of the Manchu dynasty began at a time when the European +trade was still insignificant, and not as late as after 1842, when China +had to submit to the foreign Capitulations. These cannot have been the +true cause of the decline. Above all, the decline was not so noticeable +in the state of the Exchequer as in a general impoverishment of China. +The number of really wealthy persons among the gentry diminished, but +the middle class, that is to say the people who had education but little +or no money and property, grew steadily in number. + +One of the deeper reasons for the decline of the Manchu dynasty seems to +lie in the enormous increase in the population. Here are a few Chinese +statistics: + + _Year_ _Population_ + + 1578(before the Manchus) 10,621,463 families or 60,692,856 individuals + 1662 19,203,233 " 100,000,000 " [*] + 1710 23,311,236 " 116,000,000 " [*] + 1729 25,480,498 " 127,000,000 " [*] + 1741 " 143,411,559 " + 1754 184,504,493 " + 1778 242,965,618 " + 1796 275,662,414 " + 1814 374,601,132 " + 1850 414,493,899 " + (1953) (601,938,035 ") + + [*] Approximately + +It may be objected that these figures are incorrect and exaggerated. +Undoubtedly they contain errors. But the first figure (for 1578) of some +sixty millions is in close agreement with all other figures of early +times; the figure for 1850 seems high, but cannot be far wrong, for even +after the great T'ai P'ing Rebellion of 1851, which, together with its +after-effects, costs the lives of countless millions, all statisticians +of today estimate the population of China at more than four hundred +millions. If we enter these data together with the census of 1953 into a +chart (see p. 273), a fairly smooth curve emerges; the special features +are that already under the Ming the population was increasing and, +secondly, that the high rate of increase in the population began with +the long period of internal peace since about 1700. From that time +onwards, all China's wars were fought at so great a distance from China +proper that the population was not directly affected. Moreover, in the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Manchus saw to the maintenance +of the river dykes, so that the worst inundations were prevented. Thus +there were not so many of the floods which had often cost the lives of +many million people in China; and there were no internal wars, with +their heavy cost in lives. + +But while the population increased, the tillage failed to increase in +the needed proportion. I have, unfortunately, no statistics for all +periods; but the general tendency is shown by the following table: + + _Date Cultivated area_ mou _per person_ + _in_ mou + + 1578 701,397,600 11.6 + 1662 531,135,800 + 1719 663,113,200 + 1729 878,176,000 6.1 + (1953) (1,627,930,000) (2.7) + +Six _mou_ are about one acre. In 1578, there were 66 _mou_ land per +family of the total population. This was close to the figures regarded +as ideal by Chinese early economists for the producing family (100 +_mou_) considering the fact that about 80 per cent of all families at +that time were producers. By 1729 it was only 35 _mou_ per family, i.e. +the land had to produce almost twice as much as before. We have shown +that the agricultural developments in the Ming time greatly increased +the productivity of the land. This then, obviously resulted in an +increase of population. But by the middle of the eighteenth century, +assuming that production doubled since the sixteenth century, population +pressure was again as heavy as it had been then. And after _c_. 1750, +population pressure continued to build up to the present time. + +Internal colonization continued during the Manchu time; there was a +continuous, but slow flow of people into Kwangsi, Kweichow, Yuennan. In +spite of laws which prohibited emigration, Chinese also moved into +South-East Asia. Chinese settlement in Manchuria was allowed only in the +last years of the Manchus. But such internal colonization or emigration +could alleviated the pressure only in some areas, while it continued to +build up in others. + +In Europe as well as in Japan, we find a strong population increase; in +Europe at almost the same time as in China. But before population +pressure became too serious in Europe or Japan, industry developed and +absorbed the excess population. Thus, farms did not decrease too much in +size. Too small farms are always and in many ways uneconomical. With the +development of industries, the percentage of farm population decreased. +In China, however, the farm population was still as high as 73.3 per +cent of the total population in 1932 and the percentage rose to 81 per +cent in 1950. + +From the middle of the seventeenth century on, commercial activities, +especially along the coast, continued to increase and we find gentry +families who equip sons who were unwilling or not capable to study and +to enter the ranks of the officials, but who were too unruly to sit in +villages and collect the rent from the tenants of the family, with money +to enter business. The newly settled areas of Kwangtung and Kwangsi were +ideal places for them: here they could sell Chinese products to the +native tribes or to the new settlers at high prices. Some of these men +introduced new techniques from the old provinces of China into the +"colonial" areas and set up dye factories, textile factories, etc., in +the new towns of the south. But the greatest stimulus for these +commercial activities was foreign, European trade. American silver which +had flooded Europe in the sixteenth century, began to flow into China +from the beginning of the seventeenth century on. The influx was stopped +not until between 1661 and 1684 when the government again prohibited +coastal shipping and removed coastal settlements into the interior in +order to stop piracy along the coasts of Fukien and independence +movements on Formosa. But even during these twenty-three years, the +price of silver was so low that home production was given up because it +did not pay off. In the eighteenth century, silver again continued to +enter China, while silk and tea were exported. This demand led to a +strong rise in the prices of silk and tea, and benefited the merchants. +When, from the late eighteenth century on, opium began to be imported, +the silver left China again. The merchants profited this time from the +opium trade, but farmers had to suffer: the price of silver went up, and +taxes had to be paid in silver, while farm products were sold for +copper. By 1835, the ounce of silver had a value of 2,000 copper coins +instead of one thousand before 1800. High gains in commerce prevented +investment in industries, because they would give lower and later +profits than commerce. From the nineteenth century on, more and more +industrial goods were offered by importers which also prevented +industrialization. Finally, the gentry basically remained +anti-industrial and anti-business. They tried to operate necessary +enterprises such as mining, melting, porcelain production as far as +possible as government establishments; but as the operators were +officials, they were not too business-minded and these enterprises did +not develop well. The businessmen certainly had enough capital, but they +invested it in land instead of investing it in industries which could at +any moment be taken away by the government, controlled by the officials +or forced to sell at set prices, and which were always subject to +exploitation by dishonest officials. A businessman felt secure only when +he had invested in land, when he had received an official title upon the +payment of large sums of money, or when he succeeded to push at least +one of his sons into the government bureaucracy. No doubt, in spite of +all this, Chinese business and industry kept on developing in the Manchu +time, but they did not develop at such a speed as to transform the +country from an agrarian into a modern industrial nation. + +3 _Expansion in Central Asia; the first State treaty_ + +The rise of the Manchu dynasty actually began under the K'ang-hsi rule +(1663-1722). The emperor had three tasks. The first was the removal of +the last supporters of the Ming dynasty and of the generals, such as Wu +San-kui, who had tried to make themselves independent. This necessitated +a long series of campaigns, most of them in the south-west or south of +China; these scarcely affected the population of China proper. In 1683 +Formosa was occupied and the last of the insurgent army commanders was +defeated. It was shown above that the situation of all these leaders +became hopeless as soon as the Manchus had occupied the rich Yangtze +region and the intelligentsia and the gentry of that region had gone +over to them. + +A quite different type of insurgent commander was the Mongol prince +Galdan. He, too, planned to make himself independent of Manchu +overlordship. At first the Mongols had readily supported the Manchus, +when the latter were making raids into China and there was plenty of +booty. Now, however, the Manchus, under the influence of the Chinese +gentry whom they brought, and could not but bring, to their court, were +rapidly becoming Chinese in respect to culture. Even in the time of +K'ang-hsi the Manchus began to forget Manchurian; they brought tutors to +court to teach the young Manchus Chinese. Later even the emperors did +not understand Manchurian! As a result of this process, the Mongols +became alienated from the Manchurians, and the situation began once more +to be the same as at the time of the Ming rulers. Thus Galdan tried to +found an independent Mongol realm, free from Chinese influence. + +The Manchus could not permit this, as such a realm would have threatened +the flank of their homeland, Manchuria, and would have attracted those +Manchus who objected to sinification. Between 1690 and 1696 there were +battles, in which the emperor actually took part in person. Galdan was +defeated. In 1715, however, there were new disturbances, this time in +western Mongolia. Tsewang Rabdan, whom the Chinese had made khan of the +Oeloet, rose against the Chinese. The wars that followed, extending far +into Turkestan and also involving its Turkish population together with +the Dzungars, ended with the Chinese conquest of the whole of Mongolia +and of parts of eastern Turkestan. As Tsewang Rabdan had tried to extend +his power as far as Tibet, a campaign was undertaken also into Tibet, +Lhasa was occupied, a new Dalai Lama was installed there as supreme +ruler, and Tibet was made into a protectorate. Since then Tibet has +remained to this day under some form of Chinese colonial rule. + +This penetration of the Chinese into Turkestan took place just at the +time when the Russians were enormously expanding their empire in Asia, +and this formed the third problem for the Manchus. In 1650 the Russians +had established a fort by the river Amur. The Manchus regarded the Amur +(which they called the "River of the Black Dragon") as part of their own +territory, and in 1685 they destroyed the Russian settlement. After this +there were negotiations, which culminated in 1689 in the Treaty of +Nerchinsk. This treaty was the first concluded by the Chinese state with +a European power. Jesuit missionaries played a part in the negotiations +as interpreters. Owing to the difficulties of translation the text of +the treaty, in Chinese, Russian, and Manchurian, contained some +obscurities, particularly in regard to the frontier line. Accordingly, +in 1727 the Russians asked for a revision of the old treaty. The Chinese +emperor, whose rule name was Yung-cheng, arranged for the negotiations +to be carried on at the frontier, in the town of Kyakhta, in Mongolia, +where after long discussions a new treaty was concluded. Under this +treaty the Russians received permission to set up a legation and a +commercial agency in Peking, and also to maintain a church. This was the +beginning of the foreign Capitulations. From the Chinese point of view +there was nothing special in a facility of this sort. For some fifteen +centuries all the "barbarians" who had to bring tribute had been given +houses in the capital, where their envoys could wait until the emperor +would receive them--usually on New Year's Day. The custom had sprung up +at the reception of the Huns. Moreover, permission had always been given +for envoys to be accompanied by a few merchants, who during the envoy's +stay did a certain amount of business. Furthermore the time had been +when the Uighurs were permitted to set up a temple of their own. At the +time of the permission given to the Russians to set up a "legation", a +similar office was set up (in 1729) for "Uighur" peoples (meaning +Mohammedans), again under the control of an office, called the Office +for Regulation of Barbarians. The Mohammedan office was placed under two +Mohammedan leaders who lived in Peking. The Europeans, however, had +quite different ideas about a "legation", and about the significance of +permission to trade. They regarded this as the opening of diplomatic +relations between states on terms of equality, and the carrying on of +trade as a special privilege, a sort of Capitulation. This reciprocal +misunderstanding produced in the nineteenth century a number of serious +political conflicts. The Europeans charged the Chinese with breach of +treaties, failure to meet their obligations, and other such things, +while the Chinese considered that they had acted with perfect +correctness. + +4 _Culture_ + +In this K'ang-hsi period culture began to flourish again. The emperor +had attracted the gentry, and so the intelligentsia, to his court +because his uneducated Manchus could not alone have administered the +enormous empire; and he showed great interest in Chinese culture, +himself delved deeply into it, and had many works compiled, especially +works of an encyclopaedic character. The encyclopaedias enabled +information to be rapidly gained on all sorts of subjects, and thus were +just what an interested ruler needed, especially when, as a foreigner, +he was not in a position to gain really thorough instruction in things +Chinese. The Chinese encyclopaedias of the seventeenth and especially of +the eighteenth century were thus the outcome of the initiative of the +Manchurian emperor, and were compiled for his information; they were not +due, like the French encyclopaedias of the eighteenth century, to a +movement for the spread of knowledge among the people. For this latter +purpose the gigantic encyclopaedias of the Manchus, each of which fills +several bookcases, were much too expensive and were printed in much too +limited editions. The compilations began with the great geographical +encyclopaedia of Ku Yen-wu (1613-1682), and attained their climax in the +gigantic eighteenth-century encyclopaedia _T'u-shu chi-ch'eng_, +scientifically impeccable in the accuracy of its references to sources. +Here were already the beginnings of the "Archaeological School", built +up in the course of the eighteenth century. This school was usually +called "Han school" because the adherents went back to the commentaries +of the classical texts written in Han time and discarded the orthodox +explanations of Chu Hsi's school of Sung time. Later, its most prominent +leader was Tai Chen (1723-1777). Tai was greatly interested in +technology and science; he can be regarded as the first philosopher who +exhibited an empirical, scientific way of thinking. Late nineteenth and +early twentieth century Chinese scholarship is greatly obliged to him. + +The most famous literary works of the Manchu epoch belong once more to +the field which Chinese do not regard as that of true literature--the +novel, the short story, and the drama. Poetry did exist, but it kept to +the old paths and had few fresh ideas. All the various forms of the Sung +period were made use of. The essayists, too, offered nothing new, though +their number was legion. One of the best known is Yuean Mei (1716-1797), +who was also the author of the collection of short stories _Tse-pu-yue_ +("The Master did not tell"), which is regarded very highly by the +Chinese. The volume of short stories entitled _Liao-chai chich-i_, by +P'u Sung-lin (1640-1715?), is world-famous and has been translated into +every civilized language. Both collections are distinguished by their +simple but elegant style. The short story was popular among the greater +gentry; it abandoned the popular style it had in the Ming epoch, and +adopted the polished language of scholars. + +The Manchu epoch has left to us what is by general consent the finest +novel in Chinese literature, _Hung-lou-meng_ ("The Dream of the Red +Chamber"), by Ts'ao Hsueeh-ch'in, who died in 1763. It describes the +downfall of a rich and powerful family from the highest rank of the +gentry, and the decadent son's love of a young and emotional lady of the +highest circles. The story is clothed in a mystical garb that does +something to soften its tragic ending. The interesting novel _Ju-lin +wai-shih_ ("Private Reports from the Life of Scholars"), by Wu +Ching-tz[)u] (1701-1754), is a mordant criticism of Confucianism with +its rigid formalism, of the social system, and of the examination +system. Social criticism is the theme of many novels. The most modern in +spirit of the works of this period is perhaps the treatment of feminism +in the novel _Ching-hua-yuean_, by Li Yu-chen (d. 1830), which demanded +equal rights for men and women. + +The drama developed quickly in the Manchu epoch, particularly in +quantity, especially since the emperors greatly appreciated the theatre. +A catalogue of plays compiled in 1781 contains 1,013 titles! Some of +these dramas were of unprecedented length. One of them was played in 26 +parts containing 240 acts; a performance took two years to complete! +Probably the finest dramas of the Manchu epoch are those of Li Yue (born +1611), who also became the first of the Chinese dramatic critics. What +he had to say about the art of the theatre, and about aesthetics in +general, is still worth reading. + +About the middle of the nineteenth century the influence of Europe +became more and more marked. Translation began with Yen Fu (1853-1921), +who translated the first philosophical and scientific books and books on +social questions and made his compatriots acquainted with Western +thought. At the same time Lin Shu (1852-1924) translated the first +Western short stories and novels. With these two began the new style, +which was soon elaborated by Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, a collaborator of Sun +Yat-sen's, and by others, and which ultimately produced the "literary +revolution" of 1917. Translation has continued to this day; almost every +book of outstanding importance in world literature is translated within +a few months of its appearance, and on the average these translations +are of a fairly high level. + +Particularly fine work was produced in the field of porcelain in the +Manchu epoch. In 1680 the famous kilns in the province of Kiangsi were +reopened, and porcelain that is among the most artistically perfect in +the world was fired in them. Among the new colours were especially green +shades (one group is known as _famille verte_) and also black and yellow +compositions. Monochrome porcelain also developed further, including +very fine dark blue, brilliant red (called "ox-blood"), and white. In +the eighteenth century, however, there began an unmistakable decline, +which has continued to this day, although there are still a few +craftsmen and a few kilns that produce outstanding work (usually +attempts to imitate old models), often in small factories. + +In painting, European influence soon shows itself. The best-known +example of this is Lang Shih-ning, an Italian missionary whose original +name was Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766); he began to work in China in +1715. He learned the Chinese method of painting, but introduced a number +of technical tricks of European painters, which were adopted in general +practice in China, especially by the official court painters: the +painting of the scholars who lived in seclusion remained uninfluenced. +Dutch flower-painting also had some influence in China as early as the +eighteenth century. + +The missionaries played an important part at court. The first Manchu +emperors were as generous in this matter as the Mongols had been, and +allowed the foreigners to work in peace. They showed special interest in +the European science introduced by the missionaries; they had less +sympathy for their religious message. The missionaries, for their part, +sent to Europe enthusiastic accounts of the wonderful conditions in +China, and so helped to popularize the idea that was being formed in +Europe of an "enlightened", a constitutional, monarchy. The leaders of +the Enlightenment read these reports with enthusiasm, with the result +that they had an influence on the French Revolution. Confucius was found +particularly attractive, and was regarded as a forerunner of the +Enlightenment. The "Monadism" of the philosopher Leibniz was influenced +by these reports. + +The missionaries gained a reputation at court as "scientists", and in +this they were of service both to China and to Europe. The behaviour of +the European merchants who followed the missions, spreading gradually in +growing numbers along the coasts of China, was not by any means so +irreproachable. The Chinese were certainly justified when they declared +that European ships often made landings on the coast and simply looted, +just as the Japanese had done before them. Reports of this came to the +court, and as captured foreigners described themselves as "Christians" +and also seemed to have some connection with the missionaries living at +court, and as disputes had broken out among the missionaries themselves +in connection with papal ecclesiastical policy, in the Yung-cheng period +(1723-1736; the name of the emperor was Shih Tsung) Christianity was +placed under a general ban, being regarded as a secret political +organization. + +5 _Relations with the outer world_ + +During the Yung-cheng period there was long-continued guerrilla fighting +with natives in south-west China. The pressure of population in China +sought an outlet in emigration. More and more Chinese moved into the +south-west, and took the land from the natives, and the fighting was the +consequence of this. + +At the beginning of the Ch'ien-lung period (1736-1796), fighting started +again in Turkestan. Mongols, now called Kalmuks, defeated by the +Chinese, had migrated to the Ili region, where after heavy fighting they +gained supremacy over some of the Kazaks and other Turkish peoples +living there and in western Turkestan. Some Kazak tribes went over to +the Russians, and in 1735 the Russian colonialists founded the town of +Orenburg in the western Kazak region. The Kalmuks fought the Chinese +without cessation until, in 1739, they entered into an agreement under +which they ceded half their territory to Manchu China, retaining only +the Ili region. The Kalmuks subsequently reunited with other sections of +the Kazaks against the Chinese. In 1754 peace was again concluded with +China, but it was followed by raids on both sides, so that the Manchus +determined to enter on a great campaign against the Ili region. This +ended with a decisive victory for the Chinese (1755). In the years that +followed, however, the Chinese began to be afraid that the various Kazak +tribes might unite in order to occupy the territory of the Kalmuks, +which was almost unpopulated owing to the mass slaughter of Kalmuks by +the Chinese. Unrest began among the Mohammedans throughout the +neighbouring western Turkestan, and the same Chinese generals who had +fought the Kalmuks marched into Turkestan and captured the Mohammedan +city states of Uch, Kashgar, and Yarkand. + +The reinforcements for these campaigns, and for the garrisons which in +the following decades were stationed in the Ili region and in the west +of eastern Turkestan, marched along the road from Peking that leads +northward through Mongolia to the far distant Uliassutai and Kobdo. The +cost of transport for one _shih_ (about 66 lb.) amounted to 120 pieces +of silver. In 1781 certain economies were introduced, but between 1781 +and 1791 over 30,000 tons, making some 8 tons a day, was transported to +that region. The cost of transport for supplies alone amounted in the +course of time to the not inconsiderable sum of 120,000,000 pieces of +silver. In addition to this there was the cost of the transported goods +and of the pay of soldiers and of the administration. These figures +apply to the period of occupation, of relative peace: during the actual +wars of conquest the expenditure was naturally far higher. Thus these +campaigns, though I do not think they brought actual economic ruin to +China, were nevertheless a costly enterprise, and one which produced +little positive advantage. + +In addition to this, these wars brought China into conflict with the +European colonial powers. In the years during which the Chinese armies +were fighting in the Ili region, the Russians were putting out their +feelers in that direction, and the Chinese annals show plainly how the +Russians intervened in the fighting with the Kalmuks and Kazaks. The Hi +region remained thereafter a bone of contention between China and +Russia, until it finally went to Russia, bit by bit, between 1847 and +1881. The Kalmuks and Kazaks played a special part in Russo-Chinese +relations. The Chinese had sent a mission to the Kalmuks farthest west, +by the lower Volga, and had entered into relations with them, as early +as 1714. As Russian pressure on the Volga region continually grew, these +Kalmuks (mainly the Turgut tribe), who had lived there since 1630, +decided to return into Chinese territory (1771). During this enormously +difficult migration, almost entirely through hostile territory, a large +number of the Turgut perished; 85,000, however, reached the Hi region, +where they were settled by the Chinese on the lands of the eastern +Kalmuks, who had been largely exterminated. + +In the south, too, the Chinese came into direct touch with the European +powers. In 1757 the English occupied Calcutta, and in 1766 the province +of Bengal. In 1767 a Manchu general, Ming Jui, who had been victorious +in the fighting for eastern Turkestan, marched against Burma, which was +made a dependency once more in 1769. And in 1790-1791 the Chinese +conquered Nepal, south of Tibet, because Nepalese had made two attacks +on Tibet. Thus English and Chinese political interests came here into +contact. + +For the Ch'ien-lung period's many wars of conquest there seem to have +been two main reasons. The first was the need for security. The Mongols +had to be overthrown because otherwise the homeland of the Manchus was +menaced; in order to make sure of the suppression of the eastern +Mongols, the western Mongols (Kalmuks) had to be overthrown; to make +them harmless, Turkestan and the Ili region had to be conquered; Tibet +was needed for the security of Turkestan and Mongolia--and so on. Vast +territories, however, were conquered in this process which were of no +economic value, and most of which actually cost a great deal of money +and brought nothing in. They were conquered simply for security. That +advantage had been gained: an aggressor would have to cross great areas +of unproductive territory, with difficult conditions for reinforcements, +before he could actually reach China. In the second place, the Chinese +may actually have noticed the efforts that were being made by the +European powers, especially Russia and England, to divide Asia among +themselves, and accordingly they made sure of their own good share. + +6 _Decline; revolts_ + +The period of Ch'ien-lung is not only that of the greatest expansion of +the Chinese empire, but also that of the greatest prosperity under the +Manchu regime. But there began at the same time to be signs of internal +decline. If we are to fix a particular year for this, perhaps it should +be the year 1774, in which came the first great popular rising, in the +province of Shantung. In 1775 there came another popular rising, in +Honan--that of the "Society of the White Lotus". This society, which had +long existed as a secret organization and had played a part in the Ming +epoch, had been reorganized by a man named Liu Sung. Liu Sung was +captured and was condemned to penal servitude. His followers, however, +regrouped themselves, particularly in the province of Anhui. These +risings had been produced, as always, by excessive oppression of the +people by the government or the governing class. As, however, the anger +of the population was naturally directed also against the idle Manchus +of the cities, who lived on their state pensions, did no work, and +behaved as a ruling class, the government saw in these movements a +nationalist spirit, and took drastic steps against them. The popular +leaders now altered their program, and acclaimed a supposed descendant +from the Ming dynasty as the future emperor. Government troops caught +the leader of the "White Lotus" agitation, but he succeeded in escaping. +In the regions through which the society had spread, there then began a +sort of Inquisition, of exceptional ferocity. Six provinces were +affected, and in and around the single city of Wuch'ang in four months +more than 20,000 people were beheaded. The cost of the rising to the +government ran into millions. In answer to this oppression, the popular +leaders tightened their organization and marched north-west from the +western provinces of which they had gained control. The rising was +suppressed only by a very big military operation, and not until 1802. +There had been very heavy fighting between 1793 and 1802--just when in +Europe, in the French Revolution, another oppressed population won its +freedom. + +The Ch'ien-lung emperor abdicated on New Year's Day, 1795, after ruling +for sixty years. He died in 1799. His successor was Jen Tsung +(1796-1821; reign name: Chia-ch'ing). In the course of his reign the +rising of the "White Lotus" was suppressed, but in 1813 there began a +new rising, this time in North China--again that of a secret +organization, the "Society of Heaven's Law". One of its leaders bribed +some eunuchs, and penetrated with a group of followers into the palace; +he threw himself upon the emperor, who was only saved through the +intervention of his son. At the same time the rising spread in the +provinces. Once more the government succeeded in suppressing it and +capturing the leaders. But the memory of these risings was kept alive +among the Chinese people. For the government failed to realize that the +actual cause of the risings was the general impoverishment, and saw in +them a nationalist movement, thus actually arousing a national +consciousness, stronger than in the Ming epoch, among the middle and +lower classes of the people, together with hatred of the Manchus. They +were held responsible for every evil suffered, regardless of the fact +that similar evils had existed earlier. + +7 _European Imperialism in the Far East_ + +With the Tao-kuang period (1821-1850) began a new period in Chinese +history, which came to an end only in 1911. + +In foreign affairs these ninety years were marked by the steadily +growing influence of the Western powers, aimed at turning China into a +colony. Culturally this period was that of the gradual infiltration of +Western civilization into the Far East; it was recognized in China that +it was necessary to learn from the West. In home affairs we see the +collapse of the dynasty and the destruction of the unity of the empire; +of four great civil wars, one almost brought the dynasty to its end. +North and South China, the coastal area and the interior, developed in +different ways. + +Great Britain had made several attempts to improve her trade relations +with China, but the mission of 1793 had no success, and that of 1816 +also failed. English merchants, like all foreign merchants, were only +permitted to settle in a small area adjoining Canton and at Macao, and +were only permitted to trade with a particular group of monopolists, +known as the "Hong". The Hong had to pay taxes to the state, but they +had a wonderful opportunity of enriching themselves. The Europeans were +entirely at their mercy, for they were not allowed to travel inland, and +they were not allowed to try to negotiate with other merchants, to +secure lower prices by competition. + +The Europeans concentrated especially on the purchase of silk and tea; +but what could they import into China? The higher the price of the goods +and the smaller the cargo space involved, the better were the chances of +profit for the merchants. It proved, however, that European woollens or +luxury goods could not be sold; the Chinese would probably have been +glad to buy food, but transport was too expensive to permit profitable +business. Thus a new article was soon discovered--opium, carried from +India to China: the price was high and the cargo space involved was very +small. The Chinese were familiar with opium, and bought it readily. +Accordingly, from 1800 onwards opium became more and more the chief +article of trade, especially for the English, who were able to bring it +conveniently from India. Opium is harmful to the people; the opium trade +resulted in certain groups of merchants being inordinately enriched; a +great deal of Chinese money went abroad. The government became +apprehensive and sent Lin Tse-hsue as its commissioner to Canton. In 1839 +he prohibited the opium trade and burned the chests of opium found in +British possession. The British view was that to tolerate the Chinese +action might mean the destruction of British trade in the Far East and +that, on the other hand, it might be possible by active intervention to +compel the Chinese to open other ports to European trade and to shake +off the monopoly of the Canton merchants. In 1840 British ships-of-war +appeared off the south-eastern coast of China and bombarded it. In 1841 +the Chinese opened negotiations and dismissed Lin Tse-hsue. As the +Chinese concessions were regarded as inadequate, hostilities continued; +the British entered the Yangtze estuary and threatened Nanking. In this +first armed conflict with the West, China found herself defenceless +owing to her lack of a navy, and it was also found that the European +weapons were far superior to those of the Chinese. In 1842 China was +compelled to capitulate: under the Treaty of Nanking Hong Kong was ceded +to Great Britain, a war indemnity was paid, certain ports were thrown +open to European trade, and the monopoly was brought to an end. A great +deal of opium came, however, into China through smuggling--regrettably, +for the state lost the customs revenue! + +This treaty introduced the period of the Capitulations. It contained +the dangerous clause which added most to China's misfortunes--the Most +Favoured Nation clause, providing that if China granted any privilege to +any other state, that privilege should also automatically be granted to +Great Britain. In connection with this treaty it was agreed that the +Chinese customs should be supervised by European consuls; and a trade +treaty was granted. Similar treaties followed in 1844 with France and +the United States. The missionaries returned; until 1860, however, they +were only permitted to work in the treaty ports. Shanghai was thrown +open in 1843, and developed with extraordinary rapidity from a town to a +city of a million and a centre of world-wide importance. + +The terms of the Nanking Treaty were not observed by either side; both +evaded them. In order to facilitate the smuggling, the British had +permitted certain Chinese junks to fly the British flag. This also +enabled these vessels to be protected by British ships-of-war from +pirates, which at that time were very numerous off the southern coast +owing to the economic depression. The Chinese, for their part, placed +every possible obstacle in the way of the British. In 1856 the Chinese +held up a ship sailing under the British flag, pulled down its flag, and +arrested the crew on suspicion of smuggling. In connection with this and +other events, Britain decided to go to war. Thus began the "Lorcha War" +of 1857, in which France joined for the sake of the booty to be +expected. Britain had just ended the Crimean War, and was engaged in +heavy fighting against the Moguls in India. Consequently only a small +force of a few thousand men could be landed in China; Canton, however, +was bombarded, and also the forts of Tientsin. There still seemed no +prospect of gaining the desired objectives by negotiation, and in 1860 a +new expedition was fitted out, this time some 20,000 strong. The troops +landed at Tientsin and marched on Peking; the emperor fled to Jehol and +did not return; he died in 1861. The new Treaty of Tientsin (1860) +provided for (a) the opening of further ports to European traders; (b) +the session of Kowloon, the strip of land lying opposite Hong Kong; (c) +the establishment of a British legation in Peking; (d) freedom of +navigation along the Yangtze; (e) permission for British subjects to +purchase land in China; (f) the British to be subject to their own +consular courts and not to the Chinese courts; (g) missionary activity +to be permitted throughout the country. In addition to this, the +commercial treaty was revised, the opium trade was permitted once more, +and a war indemnity was to be paid by China. In the eyes of Europe, +Britain had now succeeded in turning China not actually into a colony, +but at all events into a semi-colony; China must be expected soon to +share the fate of India. China, however, with her very different +conceptions of intercourse between states, did not realize the full +import of these terms; some of them were regarded as concessions on +unimportant points, which there was no harm in granting to the trading +"barbarians", as had been done in the past; some were regarded as simple +injustices, which at a given moment could be swept away by +administrative action. + +But the result of this European penetration was that China's balance of +trade was adverse, and became more and more so, as under the commercial +treaties she could neither stop the importation of European goods nor +set a duty on them; and on the other hand she could not compel +foreigners to buy Chinese goods. The efflux of silver brought general +impoverishment to China, widespread financial stringency to the state, +and continuous financial crises and inflation. China had never had much +liquid capital, and she was soon compelled to take up foreign loans in +order to pay her debts. At that time internal loans were out of the +question (the first internal loan was floated in 1894): the population +did not even know what a state loan meant; consequently the loans had to +be issued abroad. This, however, entailed the giving of securities, +generally in the form of economic privileges. Under the Most Favoured +Nation clause, however, these privileges had then to be granted to other +states which had made no loans to China. Clearly a vicious spiral, which +in the end could only bring disaster. + +The only exception to the general impoverishment, in which not only the +peasants but the old upper classes were involved, was a certain section +of the trading community and the middle class, which had grown rich +through its dealings with the Europeans. These people now accumulated +capital, became Europeanized with their staffs, acquired land from the +impoverished gentry, and sent their sons abroad to foreign universities. +They founded the first industrial undertakings, and learned European +capitalist methods. This class was, of course, to be found mainly in the +treaty ports in the south and in their environs. The south, as far north +as Shanghai, became more modern and more advanced; the north made no +advance. In the south, European ways of thought were learnt, and Chinese +and European theories were compared. Criticism began. The first +revolutionary societies were formed in this atmosphere in the south. + +8 _Risings in Turkestan and within China: the T'ai P'ing Rebellion_ + +But the emperor Hsuean Tsung (reign name Tao-kuang), a man in poor health +though not without ability, had much graver anxieties than those caused +by the Europeans. He did not yet fully realize the seriousness of the +European peril. + +[Illustration: 16 The imperial summer palace of the Manchu rulers, at +Jehol. _Photo H. Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +[Illustration: 17 Tower on the city wall of Peking. _Photo H. +Hammer-Morrisson_.] + +In Turkestan, where Turkish Mohammedans lived under +Chinese rule, conditions were far from being as the Chinese desired. The +Chinese, a fundamentally rationalistic people, regarded religion as a +purely political matter, and accordingly required every citizen to take +part in the official form of worship. Subject to that, he might +privately belong to any other religion. To a Mohammedan, this was +impossible and intolerable. The Mohammedans were only ready to practice +their own religion, and absolutely refused to take part in any other. +The Chinese also tried to apply to Turkestan in other matters the same +legislation that applied to all China, but this proved irreconcilable +with the demands made by Islam on its followers. All this produced +continual unrest. + +Turkestan had a feudal system of government with a number of feudal +lords (_beg_), who tried to maintain their influence and who had the +support of the Mohammedan population. The Chinese had come to Turkestan +as soldiers and officials, to administer the country. They regarded +themselves as the lords of the land and occupied themselves with the +extraction of taxes. Most of the officials were also associated with the +Chinese merchants who travelled throughout Turkestan and as far as +Siberia. The conflicts implicit in this situation produced great +Mohammedan risings in the nineteenth century. The first came in +1825-1827; in 1845 a second rising flamed up, and thirty years later +these revolts led to the temporary loss of the whole of Turkestan. + +In 1848, native unrest began in the province of Hunan, as a result of +the constantly growing pressure of the Chinese settlers on the native +population; in the same year there was unrest farther south, in the +province of Kwangsi, this time in connection with the influence of the +Europeans. The leader was a quite simple man of Hakka blood, Hung +Hsiu-ch'uean (born 1814), who gathered impoverished Hakka peasants round +him as every peasant leader had done in the past. Very often the nucleus +of these peasant movements had been a secret society with a particular +religious tinge; this time the peasant revolutionaries came forward as +at the same time the preachers of a new religion of their own. Hung had +heard of Christianity from missionaries (1837), and he mixed up +Christian ideas with those of ancient China and proclaimed to his +followers a doctrine that promised the Kingdom of God on earth. He +called himself "Christ's younger brother", and his kingdom was to be +called _T'ai P'ing_ ("Supreme Peace"). He made his first comrades, +charcoal makers, local doctors, peddlers and farmers, into kings, and +made himself emperor. At bottom the movement, like all similar ones +before it, was not religious but social; and it produced a great +response from the peasants. The program of the T'ai P'ing, in some +points influenced by Christian ideas but more so by traditional Chinese +thought, was in many points revolutionary: (a) all property was communal +property; (b) land was classified into categories according to its +fertility and equally distributed among men and women. Every producer +kept of the produce as much as he and his family needed and delivered +the rest into the communal granary; (c) administration and tax systems +were revised; (d) women were given equal rights: they fought together +with men in the army and had access to official position. They had to +marry, but monogamy was requested; (e) the use of opium, tobacco and +alcohol was prohibited, prostitution was illegal; (f) foreigners were +regarded as equals, capitulations as the Manchus had accepted were not +recognized. A large part of the officials, and particularly of the +soldiers sent against the revolutionaries, were Manchus, and +consequently the movement very soon became a nationalist movement, much +as the popular movement at the end of the Mongol epoch had done. Hung +made rapid progress; in 1852 he captured Hankow, and in 1853 Nanking, +the important centre in the east. With clear political insight he made +Nanking his capital. In this he returned to the old traditions of the +beginning of the Ming epoch, no doubt expecting in this way to attract +support from the eastern Chinese gentry, who had no liking for a capital +far away in the north. He made a parade of adhesion to the ancient +Chinese tradition: his followers cut off their pigtails and allowed +their hair to grow as in the past. + +He did not succeed, however, in carrying his reforms from the stage of +sporadic action to a systematic reorganization of the country, and he +also failed to enlist the elements needed for this as for all other +administrative work, so that the good start soon degenerated into a +terrorist regime. + +Hung's followers pressed on from Nanking, and in 1853-1855 they advanced +nearly to Tientsin; but they failed to capture Peking itself. + +The new T'ai P'ing state faced the Europeans with big problems. Should +they work with it or against it? The T'ai P'ing always insisted that +they were Christians; the missionaries hoped now to have the opportunity +of converting all China to Christianity. The T'ai P'ing treated the +missionaries well but did not let them operate. After long hesitation +and much vacillation, however, the Europeans placed themselves on the +side of the Manchus. Not out of any belief that the T'ai P'ing movement +was without justification, but because they had concluded treaties with +the Manchu government and given loans to it, of which nothing would +have remained if the Manchus had fallen; because they preferred the weak +Manchu government to a strong T'ai P'ing government; and because they +disliked the socialistic element in many of the measured adopted by the +T'ai P'ing. + +At first it seemed as if the Manchus would be able to cope unaided with +the T'ai P'ing, but the same thing happened as at the end of the Mongol +rule: the imperial armies, consisting of the "banners" of the Manchus, +the Mongols, and some Chinese, had lost their military skill in the long +years of peace; they had lost their old fighting spirit and were glad to +be able to live in peace on their state pensions. Now three men came to +the fore--a Mongol named Seng-ko-lin-ch'in, a man of great personal +bravery, who defended the interests of the Manchu rulers; and two +Chinese, Tseng Kuo-fan (1811-1892) and Li Hung-chang (1823-1901), who +were in the service of the Manchus but used their position simply to +further the interests of the gentry. The Mongol saved Peking from +capture by the T'ai P'ing. The two Chinese were living in central China, +and there they recruited, Li at his own expense and Tseng out of the +resources at his disposal as a provincial governor, a sort of militia, +consisting of peasants out to protect their homes from destruction by +the peasants of the T'ai P'ing. Thus the peasants of central China, all +suffering from impoverishment, were divided into two groups, one +following the T'ai P'ing, the other following Tseng Kuo-fan. Tseng's +army, too, might be described as a "national" army, because Tseng was +not fighting for the interests of the Manchus. Thus the peasants, all +anti-Manchu, could choose between two sides, between the T'ai P'ing and +Tseng Kuo-fan. Although Tseng represented the gentry and was thus +against the simple common people, peasants fought in masses on his side, +for he paid better, and especially more regularly. Tseng, being a good +strategist, won successes and gained adherents. Thus by 1856 the T'ai +P'ing were pressed back on Nanking and some of the towns round it; in +1864 Nanking was captured. + +While in the central provinces the T'ai P'ing rebellion was raging, +China was suffering grave setbacks owing to the Lorcha War of 1856; and +there were also great and serious risings in other parts of the country. +In 1855 the Yellow River had changed its course, entering the sea once +more at Tientsin, to the great loss of the regions of Honan and Anhui. +In these two central provinces the peasant rising of the so-called "Nien +Fei" had begun, but it only became formidable after 1855, owing to the +increasing misery of the peasants. This purely peasant revolt was not +suppressed by the Manchu government until 1868, after many collisions. +Then, however, there began the so-called "Mohammedan risings". Here +there are, in all, five movements to distinguish: (1) the Mohammedan +rising in Kansu (1864-5); (2) the Salar movement in Shensi; (3) the +Mohammedan revolt in Yuennan (1855-1873); (4) the rising in Kansu (1895); +(5) the rebellion of Yakub Beg in Turkestan (from 1866 onward). + +While we are fairly well informed about the other popular risings of +this period, the Mohammedan revolts have not yet been well studied. We +know from unofficial accounts that these risings were suppressed with +great brutality. To this day there are many Mohammedans in, for +instance, Yuennan, but the revolt there is said to have cost a million +lives. The figures all rest on very rough estimates: in Kansu the +population is said to have fallen from fifteen millions to one million; +the Turkestan revolt is said to have cost ten million lives. There are +no reliable statistics; but it is understandable that at that time the +population of China must have fallen considerably, especially if we bear +in mind the equally ferocious suppression of the risings of the T'ai +P'ing and the Nien Fei within China, and smaller risings of which we +have made no mention. + +The Mohammedan risings were not elements of a general Mohammedan revolt, +but separate events only incidentally connected with each other. The +risings had different causes. An important factor was the general +distress in China. This was partly due to the fact that the officials +were exploiting the peasant population more ruthlessly than ever. In +addition to this, owing to the national feeling which had been aroused +in so unfortunate a way, the Chinese felt a revulsion against +non-Chinese, such as the Salars, who were of Turkish race. Here there +were always possibilities of friction, which might have been removed +with a little consideration but which swelled to importance through the +tactless behaviour of Chinese officials. Finally there came divisions +among the Mohammedans of China which led to fighting between themselves. + +All these risings were marked by two characteristics. They had no +general political aim such as the founding of a great and universal +Islamic state. Separate states were founded, but they were too small to +endure; they would have needed the protection of great states. But they +were not moved by any pan-Islamic idea. Secondly, they all took place on +Chinese soil, and all the Mohammedans involved, except in the rising of +the Salars, were Chinese. These Chinese who became Mohammedans are +called Dungans. The Dungans are, of course, no longer pure Chinese, +because Chinese who have gone over to Islam readily form mixed +marriages with Islamic non-Chinese, that is to say with Turks and +Mongols. + +The revolt, however, of Yakub Beg in Turkestan had a quite different +character. Yakub Beg (his Chinese name was An Chi-yeh) had risen to the +Chinese governorship when he made himself ruler of Kashgar. In 1866 he +began to try to make himself independent of Chinese control. He +conquered Ili, and then in a rapid campaign made himself master of all +Turkestan. + +His state had a much better prospect of endurance than the other +Mohammedan states. He had full control of it from 1874. Turkestan was +connected with China only by the few routes that led between the desert +and the Tibetan mountains. The state was supported against China by +Russia, which was continually pressing eastward, and in the south by +Great Britain, which was pressing towards Tibet. Farther west was the +great Ottoman empire; the attempt to gain direct contact with it was not +hopeless in itself, and this was recognized at Istanbul. Missions went +to and fro, and Turkish officers came to Yakub Beg and organized his +army; Yakub Beg recognized the Turkish sultan as Khalif. He also +concluded treaties with Russia and Great Britain. But in spite of all +this he was unable to maintain his hold of Turkestan. In 1877 the famous +Chinese general Tso Tsung-t'ang (1812-1885), who had fought against the +T'ai P'ing and also against the Mohammedans in Kansu, marched into +Turkestan and ended Yakub Beg's rule. + +Yakub was defeated, however, not so much by Chinese superiority as by a +combination of circumstances. In order to build up his kingdom he was +compelled to impose heavy taxation, and this made him unpopular with his +own followers: they had to pay taxes under the Chinese, but the Chinese +collection had been much less rigorous than that of Yakub Beg. It was +technically impossible for the Ottoman empire to give him any aid, even +had its internal situation permitted it. Britain and Russia would +probably have been glad to see a weakening of the Chinese hold over +Turkestan, but they did not want a strong new state there, once they had +found that neither of them could control the country while it was in +Yakub Beg's hands. In 1881 Russia occupied the Ili region, Yakub's first +conquest. In the end the two great powers considered it better for +Turkestan to return officially into the hands of the weakened China, +hoping that in practice they would be able to bring Turkestan more and +more under their control. Consequently, when in 1880, three years after +the removal of Yakub Beg, China sent a mission to Russia with the +request for the return of the Ili region to her, Russia gave way, and +the Treaty of Ili was concluded, ending for the time the Russian +penetration of Turkestan. In 1882 the Manchu government raised +Turkestan to a "new frontier" (Sinkiang) with a special administration. + +This process of colonial penetration of Turkestan continued. Until the +end of the first world war there was no fundamental change in the +situation in the country, owing to the rivalry between Great Britain and +Russia. But after 1920 a period began in which Turkestan became almost +independent, under a number of rulers of parts of the country. Then, +from 1928 onward, a more and more thorough penetration by Russia began, +so that by 1940 Turkestan could almost be called a Soviet Republic. The +second world war diverted Russian attention to the West, and at the same +time compelled the Chinese to retreat into the interior from the +Japanese, so that by 1943 the country was more firmly held by the +Chinese government than it had been for seventy years. After the +creation of the People's Democracy mass immigration into Sinkiang began, +in connection with the development of oil fields and of many new +industries in the border area between Sinkiang and China proper. Roads +and air communications opened Sinkiang. Yet, the differences between +immigrant Chinese and local, Muslim Turks, continue to play a role. + +9 _Collision with Japan; further Capitulations_ + +The reign of Wen Tsung (reign name Hsien-feng 1851-1861) was marked +throughout by the T'ai P'ing and other rebellions and by wars with the +Europeans, and that of Mu Tsung (reign name T'ung-chih: 1862-1874) by +the great Mohammedan disturbances. There began also a conflict with +Japan which lasted until 1945. Mu Tsung came to the throne as a child of +five, and never played a part of his own. It had been the general rule +for princes to serve as regents for minors on the imperial throne, but +this time the princes concerned won such notoriety through their +intrigues that the Peking court circles decided to entrust the regency +to two concubines of the late emperor. One of these, called Tz[)u] Hsi +(born 1835), of the Manchu tribe of the Yehe-Nara, quickly gained the +upper hand. The empress Tz[)u] Hsi was one of the strongest +personalities of the later nineteenth century who played an active part +in Chinese political life. She played a more active part than any +emperor had played for many decades. + +Meanwhile great changes had taken place in Japan. The restoration of the +Meiji had ended the age of feudalism, at least on the surface. Japan +rapidly became Westernized, and at the same time entered on an +imperialist policy. Her aims from 1868 onward were clear, and remained +unaltered until the end of the second World War: she was to be +surrounded by a wide girdle of territories under Japanese domination, in +order to prevent the approach of any enemy to the Japanese homeland. +This girdle was divided into several zones--(1) the inner zone with the +Kurile Islands, Sakhalin, Korea, the Ryukyu archipelago, and Formosa; +(2) the outer zone with the Marianne, Philippine, and Caroline Islands, +eastern China, Manchuria, and eastern Siberia; (3) the third zone, not +clearly defined, including especially the Netherlands Indies, +Indo-China, and the whole of China, a zone of undefined extent. The +outward form of this subjugated region was to be that of the Greater +Japanese Empire, described as the Imperium of the Yellow Race (the main +ideas were contained in the Tanaka Memorandum 1927 and in the Tada +Interview of 1936). Round Japan, moreover, a girdle was to be created of +producers of raw materials and purchasers of manufactures, to provide +Japanese industry with a market. Japan had sent a delegation of amity to +China as early as 1869, and a first Sino-Japanese treaty was signed in +1871; from then on, Japan began to carry out her imperialistic plans. In +1874 she attacked the Ryukyu islands and Formosa on the pretext that +some Japanese had been murdered there. Under the treaty of 1874 Japan +withdrew once more, only demanding a substantial indemnity; but in 1876, +in violation of the treaty and without a declaration of war, she annexed +the Ryukyu Islands. In 1876 began the Japanese penetration into Korea; +by 1885 she had reached the stage of a declaration that Korea was a +joint sphere of interest of China and Japan; until then China's +protectorate over Korea had been unchallenged. At the same time (1876) +Great Britain had secured further Capitulations in the Chefoo +Convention; in 1862 France had acquired Cochin China, in 1864 Cambodia, +in 1874 Tongking, and in 1883 Annam. This led in 1884 to war between +France and China, in which the French did not by any means gain an +indubitable victory; but the Treaty of Tientsin left them with their +acquisitions. + +Meanwhile, at the beginning of 1875, the young Chinese emperor died of +smallpox, without issue. Under the influence of the two empresses, who +still remained regents, a cousin of the dead emperor, the three-year-old +prince Tsai T'ien was chosen as emperor Te Tsung (reign name Kuang-hsue: +1875-1909). He came of age in 1889 and took over the government of the +country. The empress Tz[)u] Hsi retired, but did not really relinquish +the reins. + +In 1894 the Sino-Japanese War broke out over Korea, as an outcome of the +undefined position that had existed since 1885 owing to the +imperialistic policy of the Japanese. China had created a North China +squadron, but this was all that can be regarded as Chinese preparation +for the long-expected war. The Governor General of Chihli (now +Hopei--the province in which Peking is situated), Li Hung-chang, was a +general who had done good service, but he lost the war, and at +Shimonoseki (1895) he had to sign a treaty on very harsh terms, in which +China relinquished her protectorate over Korea and lost Formosa. The +intervention of France, Germany, and Russia compelled Japan to content +herself with these acquisitions, abandoning her demand for South +Manchuria. + +10 _Russia in Manchuria_ + +After the Crimean War, Russia had turned her attention once more to the +East. There had been hostilities with China over eastern Siberia, which +were brought to an end in 1858 by the Treaty of Aigun, under which China +ceded certain territories in northern Manchuria. This made possible the +founding of Vladivostok in 1860. Russia received Sakhalin from Japan in +1875 in exchange for the Kurile Islands. She received from China the +important Port Arthur as a leased territory, and then tried to secure +the whole of South Manchuria. This brought Japan's policy of expansion +into conflict with Russia's plans in the Far East. Russia wanted +Manchuria in order to be able to pursue a policy in the Pacific; but +Japan herself planned to march into Manchuria from Korea, of which she +already had possession. This imperialist rivalry made war inevitable: +Russia lost the war; under the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 Russia gave +Japan the main railway through Manchuria, with adjoining territory. Thus +Manchuria became Japan's sphere of influence and was lost to the Manchus +without their being consulted in any way. The Japanese penetration of +Manchuria then proceeded stage by stage, not without occasional +setbacks, until she had occupied the whole of Manchuria from 1932 to +1945. After the end of the second world war, Manchuria was returned to +China, with certain reservations in favour of the Soviet Union, which +were later revoked. + +11 _Reform and reaction: the Boxer Rising_ + +China had lost the war with Japan because she was entirely without +modern armament. While Japan went to work at once with all her energy to +emulate Western industrialization, the ruling class in China had shown a +marked repugnance to any modernization; and the centre of this +conservatism was the dowager empress Tz[)u] Hsi. She was a woman of +strong personality, but too uneducated--in the modern sense--to be able +to realize that modernization was an absolute necessity for China if it +was to remain an independent state. The empress failed to realize that +the Europeans were fundamentally different from the neighbouring tribes +or the pirates of the past; she had not the capacity to acquire a +general grasp of the realities of world politics. She felt instinctively +that Europeanization would wreck the foundations of the power of the +Manchus and the gentry, and would bring another class, the middle class +and the merchants, into power. + +There were reasonable men, however, who had seen the necessity of +reform--especially Li Hung-chang, who has already been mentioned. In +1896 he went on a mission to Moscow, and then toured Europe. The +reformers were, however, divided into two groups. One group advocated +the acquisition of a certain amount of technical knowledge from abroad +and its introduction by slow reforms, without altering the social +structure of the state or the composition of the government. The others +held that the state needed fundamental changes, and that superficial +loans from Europe were not enough. The failure in the war with Japan +made the general desire for reform more and more insistent not only in +the country but in Peking. Until now Japan had been despised as a +barbarian state; now Japan had won! The Europeans had been despised; now +they were all cutting bits out of China for themselves, extracting from +the government one privilege after another, and quite openly dividing +China into "spheres of interest", obviously as the prelude to annexation +of the whole country. + +In Europe at that time the question was being discussed over and over +again, why Japan had so quickly succeeded in making herself a modern +power, and why China was not succeeding in doing so; the Japanese were +praised for their capacity and the Chinese blamed for their lassitude. +Both in Europe and in Chinese circles it was overlooked that there were +fundamental differences in the social structures of the two countries. +The basis of the modern capitalist states of the West is the middle +class. Japan had for centuries had a middle class (the merchants) that +had entered into a symbiosis with the feudal lords. For the middle class +the transition to modern capitalism, and for the feudal lords the way to +Western imperialism, was easy. In China there was only a weak middle +class, vegetating under the dominance of the gentry; the middle class +had still to gain the strength to liberate itself before it could become +the support for a capitalistic state. And the gentry were still strong +enough to maintain their dominance and so to prevent a radical +reconstruction; all they would agree to were a few reforms from which +they might hope to secure an increase of power for their own ends. + +In 1895 and in 1698 a scholar, K'ang Yo-wei, who was admitted into the +presence of the emperor, submitted to him memoranda in which he called +for radical reform. K'ang was a scholar who belonged to the empiricist +school of philosophy of the early Manchu period, the so-called Han +school. He was a man of strong and persuasive personality, and had such +an influence on the emperor that in 1898 the emperor issued several +edicts ordering the fundamental reorganization of education, law, trade, +communications, and the army. These laws were not at all bad in +themselves; they would have paved the way for a liberalization of +Chinese society. But they aroused the utmost hatred in the conservative +gentry and also in the moderate reformers among the gentry. K'ang Yo-wei +and his followers, to whom a number of well-known modern scholars +belonged, had strong support in South China. We have already mentioned +that owing to the increased penetration of European goods and ideas, +South China had become more progressive than the north; this had added +to the tension already existing for other reasons between north and +south. In foreign policy the north was more favourable to Russia and +radically opposed to Japan and Great Britain; the south was in favour of +co-operation with Britain and Japan, in order to learn from those two +states how reform could be carried through. In the north the men of the +south were suspected of being anti-Manchu and revolutionary in feeling. +This was to some extent true, though K'ang Yo-wei and his friends were +as yet largely unconscious of it. + +When the empress Tz[)u] Hsi saw that the emperor was actually thinking +about reforms, she went to work with lightning speed. Very soon the +reformers had to flee; those who failed to make good their escape were +arrested and executed. The emperor was made a prisoner in a palace near +Peking, and remained a captive until his death; the empress resumed her +regency on his behalf. The period of reforms lasted only for a few +months of 1898. A leading part in the extermination of the reformers was +played by troops from Kansu under the command of a Mohammedan, Tung +Fu-hsiang. General Yuean Shih-k'ai, who was then stationed at Tientsin in +command of 7,000 troops with modern equipment, the only ones in China, +could have removed the empress and protected the reformers; but he was +already pursuing a personal policy, and thought it safer to give the +reformers no help. + +There now began, from 1898, a thoroughly reactionary rule of the dowager +empress. But China's general situation permitted no breathing-space. In +1900 came the so-called Boxer Rising, a new popular movement against the +gentry and the Manchus similar to the many that had preceded it. The +Peking government succeeded, however, in negotiations that brought the +movement into the service of the government and directed it against the +foreigners. This removed the danger to the government and at the same +time helped it against the hated foreigners. But incidents resulted +which the Peking government had not anticipated. An international army +was sent to China, and marched from Tientsin against Peking, to liberate +the besieged European legations and to punish the government. The +Europeans captured Peking (1900); the dowager empress and her prisoner, +the emperor, had to flee; some of the palaces were looted. The peace +treaty that followed exacted further concessions from China to the +Europeans and enormous war indemnities, the payment of which continued +into the 1940's, though most of the states placed the money at China's +disposal for educational purposes. When in 1902 the dowager empress +returned to Peking and put the emperor back into his palace-prison, she +was forced by what had happened to realize that at all events a certain +measure of reform was necessary. The reforms, however, which she +decreed, mainly in 1904, were very modest and were never fully carried +out. They were only intended to make an impression on the outer world +and to appease the continually growing body of supporters of the reform +party, especially numerous in South China. The south remained, +nevertheless, a focus of hostility to the Manchus. After his failure in +1898, K'ang Yo-wei went to Europe, and no longer played any important +political part. His place was soon taken by a young Chinese physician +who had been living abroad, Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), who turned the +reform party into a middle-class revolutionary party. + +12 _End of the dynasty_ + +Meanwhile the dowager empress held her own. General Yuean Shih-k'ai, who +had played so dubious a part in 1898, was not impeccably loyal to her, +and remained unreliable. He was beyond challenge the strongest man in +the country, for he possessed the only modern army; but he was still +biding his time. + +In 1908 the dowager empress fell ill; she was seventy-four years old. +When she felt that her end was near, she seems to have had the captive +emperor Te Tsung assassinated (at 5 p.m. on November 14th); she herself +died next day (November 15th, 2 p.m.): she was evidently determined that +this man, whom she had ill-treated and oppressed all his life, should +not regain independence. As Te Tsung had no children, she nominated on +the day of her death the two-year-old prince P'u Yi as emperor (reign +name Hsuean-t'ung, 1909-1911). + +The fact that another child was to reign and a new regency to act for +him, together with all the failures in home and foreign policy, brought +further strength to the revolutionary party. The government believed +that it could only maintain itself if it allowed Yuean Shih-k'ai, the +commander of the modern troops, to come to power. The chief regent, +however, worked against Yuean Shih-k'ai and dismissed him at the +beginning of 1909; Yuean's supporters remained at their posts. Yuean +himself now entered into relations with the revolutionaries, whose +centre was Canton, and whose undisputed leader was now Sun Yat-sen. At +this time Sun and his supporters had already made attempts at +revolution, but without success, as his following was as yet too small. +It consisted mainly of young intellectuals who had been educated in +Europe and America; the great mass of the Chinese people remained +unconvinced: the common people could not understand the new ideals, and +the middle class did not entirely trust the young intellectuals. + +The state of China in 1911 was as lamentable as could be: the European +states, Russia, America, and Japan regarded China as a field for their +own plans, and in their calculations paid scarcely any attention to the +Chinese government. Foreign capital was penetrating everywhere in the +form of loans or railway and other enterprises. If it had not been for +the mutual rivalries of the powers, China would long ago have been +annexed by one of them. The government needed a great deal of money for +the payment of the war indemnities, and for carrying out the few reforms +at last decided on. In order to get money from the provinces, it had to +permit the viceroys even more freedom than they already possessed. The +result was a spectacle altogether resembling that of the end of the +T'ang dynasty, about A.D. 900: the various governors were trying to make +themselves independent. In addition to this there was the revolutionary +movement in the south. + +The government made some concession to the progressives, by providing +the first beginnings of parliamentary rule. In 1910 a national assembly +was convoked. It had a Lower House with representatives of the provinces +(provincial diets were also set up), and an Upper House, in which sat +representatives of the imperial house, the nobility, the gentry, and +also the protectorates. The members of the Upper House were all +nominated by the regent. It very soon proved that the members of the +Lower House, mainly representatives of the provincial gentry, had a much +more practical outlook than the routineers of Peking. Thus the Lower +House grew in importance, a fact which, of course, brought grist to the +mills of the revolutionary movement. + +In 1910 the first risings directed actually against the regency took +place, in the province of Hunan. In 1911 the "railway disturbances" +broke out in western China as a reply of the railway shareholders in the +province of Szechwan to the government decree of nationalization of all +the railways. The modernist students, most of whom were sons of +merchants who owned railway shares, supported the movement, and the +government was unable to control them. At the same time a great +anti-Manchu revolution began in Wuch'ang, one of the cities of which +Wuhan, on the Yangtze, now consists. The revolution was the result of +government action against a group of terrorists. Its leader was an +officer named Li Yuean-hung. The Manchus soon had some success in this +quarter, but the other provincial governors now rose in rapid +succession, repudiated the Manchus, and declared themselves independent. +Most of the Manchu garrisons in the provinces were murdered. The +governors remained at the head of their troops in their provinces, and +for the moment made common cause with the revolutionaries, from whom +they meant to break free at the first opportunity. The Manchus +themselves failed at first to realize the gravity of the revolutionary +movement; they then fell into panic-stricken desperation. As a last +resource, Yuean Shih-k'ai was recalled (November 10th, 1911) and made +prime minister. + +Yuean's excellent troops were loyal to his person, and he could have made +use of them in fighting on behalf of the dynasty. But a victory would +have brought no personal gain to him; for his personal plans he +considered that the anti-Manchu side provided the springboard he needed. +The revolutionaries, for their part, had no choice but to win over Yuean +Shih-k'ai for the sake of his troops, since they were not themselves +strong enough to get rid of the Manchus, or even to wrest concessions +from them, so long as the Manchus were defended by Yuean's army. Thus +Yuean and the revolutionaries were forced into each other's arms. He then +began negotiations with them, explaining to the imperial house that the +dynasty could only be saved by concessions. The revolutionaries--apart +from their desire to neutralize the prime minister and general, if not +to bring him over to their side--were also readier than ever to +negotiate, because they were short of money and unable to obtain loans +from abroad, and because they could not themselves gain control of the +individual governors. The negotiations, which had been carried on at +Shanghai, were broken off on December 18th, 1911, because the +revolutionaries demanded a republic, but the imperial house was only +ready to grant a constitutional monarchy. + +Meanwhile the revolutionaries set up a provisional government at +Nanking (December 29th, 1911), with Sun Yat-sen as president and Li +Yuean-hung as vice-president. Yuean Shih-k'ai now declared to the imperial +house that the monarchy could no longer be defended, as his troops were +too unreliable, and he induced the Manchu government to issue an edict +on February 12th, 1912, in which they renounced the throne of China and +declared the Republic to be the constitutional form of state. The young +emperor of the Hsuean-t'ung period, after the Japanese conquest of +Manchuria in 1931, was installed there. He was, however, entirely +without power during the melancholy years of his nominal rule, which +lasted until 1945. + +In 1912 the Manchu dynasty came in reality to its end. On the news of +the abdication of the imperial house, Sun Yat-sen resigned in Nanking, +and recommended Yuean Shih-k'ai as president. + + + +Chapter Eleven + + +THE REPUBLIC (1912-1948) + +1 _Social and intellectual position_ + +In order to understand the period that now followed, let us first +consider the social and intellectual position in China in the period +between 1911 and 1927. The Manchu dynasty was no longer there, nor were +there any remaining real supporters of the old dynasty. The gentry, +however, still existed. Alongside it was a still numerically small +middle class, with little political education or enlightenment. + +The political interests of these two groups were obviously in conflict. +But after 1912 there had been big changes. The gentry were largely in a +process of decomposition. They still possessed the basis of their +existence, their land, but the land was falling in value, as there were +now other opportunities of capital investment, such as export-import, +shareholding in foreign enterprises, or industrial undertakings. It is +important to note, however, that there was not much fluid capital at +their disposal. In addition to this, cheaper rice and other foodstuffs +were streaming from abroad into China, bringing the prices for Chinese +foodstuffs down to the world market prices, another painful business +blow to the gentry. Silk had to meet the competition of Japanese silk +and especially of rayon; the Chinese silk was of very unequal quality +and sold with difficulty. On the other hand, through the influence of +the Western capitalistic system, which was penetrating more and more +into China, land itself became "capital", an object of speculation for +people with capital; its value no longer depended entirely on the rents +it could yield but, under certain circumstances, on quite other +things--the construction of railways or public buildings, and so on. +These changes impoverished and demoralized the gentry, who in the course +of the past century had grown fewer in number. The gentry were not in a +position to take part fully in the capitalist manipulations, because +they had never possessed much capital; their wealth had lain entirely +in their land, and the income from their rents was consumed quite +unproductively in luxurious living. + +Moreover, the class solidarity of the gentry was dissolving. In the +past, politics had been carried on by cliques of gentry families, with +the emperor at their head as an unchangeable institution. This edifice +had now lost its summit; the struggles between cliques still went on, +but entirely without the control which the emperor's power had after all +exercised, as a sort of regulative element in the play of forces among +the gentry. The arena for this competition had been the court. After the +destruction of the arena, the field of play lost its boundaries: the +struggles between cliques no longer had a definite objective; the only +objective left was the maintenance or securing of any and every hold on +power. Under the new conditions cliques or individuals among the gentry +could only ally themselves with the possessors of military power, the +generals or governors. In this last stage the struggle between rival +groups turned into a rivalry between individuals. Family ties began to +weaken and other ties, such as between school mates, or origin from the +same village or town, became more important than they had been before. +For the securing of the aim in view any means were considered +justifiable. Never was there such bribery and corruption among the +officials as in the years after 1912. This period, until 1927, may +therefore be described as a period of dissolution and destruction of the +social system of the gentry. + +Over against this dying class of the gentry stood, broadly speaking, a +tripartite opposition. To begin with, there was the new middle class, +divided and without clear political ideas; anti-dynastic of course, but +undecided especially as to the attitude it should adopt towards the +peasants who, to this day, form over 80 per cent of the Chinese +population. The middle class consisted mainly of traders and bankers, +whose aim was the introduction of Western capitalism in association with +foreign powers. There were also young students who were often the sons +of old gentry families and had been sent abroad for study with grants +given them by their friends and relatives in the government; or sons of +businessmen sent away by their fathers. These students not always +accepted the ideas of their fathers; they were influenced by the +ideologies of the West, Marxist or non-Marxist, and often created clubs +or groups in the University cities of Europe or the United States. Such +groups of people who had studied together or passed the exams together, +had already begun to play a role in politics in the nineteenth century. +Now, the influence of such organizations of usually informal character +increased. Against the returned students who often had difficulties in +adjustment, stood the students at Chinese Universities, especially the +National University in Peking (Peita). They represented people of the +same origin, but of the lower strata of the gentry or of business; they +were more nationalistic and politically active and often less influenced +by Western ideologies. + +In the second place, there was a relatively very small genuine +proletariat, the product of the first activities of big capitalists in +China, found mainly in Shanghai. Thirdly and finally, there was a +gigantic peasantry, uninterested in politics and uneducated, but ready +to give unthinking allegiance to anyone who promised to make an end of +the intolerable conditions in the matter of rents and taxes, conditions +that were growing steadily worse with the decay of the gentry. These +peasants were thinking of popular risings on the pattern of all the +risings in the history of China--attacks on the towns and the killing of +the hated landowners, officials, and moneylenders, that is to say of the +gentry. + +Such was the picture of the middle class and those who were ready to +support it, a group with widely divergent interests, held together only +by its opposition to the gentry system and the monarchy. It could not +but be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve political +success with such a group. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the "Father of the +Republic", accordingly laid down three stages of progress in his many +works, of which the best-known are _San-min chu-i_, ("The Three +Principles of the People"), and _Chien-kuo fang-lueeh_ ("Plans for the +Building up of the Realm"). The three phases of development through +which republican China was to pass were: the phase of struggle against +the old system, the phase of educative rule, and the phase of truly +democratic government. The phase of educative rule was to be a sort of +authoritarian system with a democratic content, under which the people +should be familiarized with democracy and enabled to grow politically +ripe for true democracy. + +Difficult as was the internal situation from the social point of view, +it was no less difficult in economic respects. China had recognized that +she must at least adopt Western technical and industrial progress in +order to continue to exist as an independent state. But the building up +of industry demanded large sums of money. The existing Chinese banks +were quite incapable of providing the capital needed; but the acceptance +of capital from abroad led at once, every time, to further political +capitulations. The gentry, who had no cash worth mention, were violently +opposed to the capitalization of their properties, and were in favour of +continuing as far as possible to work the soil in the old style. Quite +apart from all this, all over the country there were generals who had +come from the ranks of the gentry, and who collected the whole of the +financial resources of their region for the support of their private +armies. Investors had little confidence in the republican government so +long as they could not tell whether the government would decide in +favour of its right or of its left wing. + +No less complicated was the intellectual situation at this time. +Confucianism, and the whole of the old culture and morality bound up +with it, was unacceptable to the middle-class element. In the first +place, Confucianism rejected the principle, required at least in theory +by the middle class, of the equality of all people; secondly, the +Confucian great-family system was irreconcilable with middle-class +individualism, quite apart from the fact that the Confucian form of +state could only be a monarchy. Every attempt to bolster up Confucianism +in practice or theory was bound to fail and did fail. Even the gentry +could scarcely offer any real defence of the Confucian system any +longer. With Confucianism went the moral standards especially of the +upper classes of society. Taoism was out of the question as a +substitute, because of its anarchistic and egocentric character. +Consequently, in these years, part of the gentry turned to Buddhism and +part to Christianity. Some of the middle class who had come under +European influence also turned to Christianity, regarding it as a part +of the European civilization they had to adopt. Others adhered to modern +philosophic systems such as pragmatism and positivism. Marxist doctrines +spread rapidly. + +Education was secularized. Great efforts were made to develop modern +schools, though the work of development was continually hindered by the +incessant political unrest. Only at the universities, which became foci +of republican and progressive opinion, was any positive achievement +possible. Many students and professors were active in politics, +organizing demonstrations and strikes. They pursued a strong national +policy, often also socialistic. At the same time real scientific work +was done; many young scholars of outstanding ability were trained at the +Chinese universities, often better than the students who went abroad. +There is a permanent disagreement between these two groups of young men +with a modern education: the students who return from abroad claim to be +better educated, but in reality they often have only a very superficial +knowledge of things modern and none at all of China, her history, and +her special circumstances. The students of the Chinese universities have +been much better instructed in all the things that concern China, and +most of them are in no way behind the returned students in the modern +sciences. They are therefore a much more serviceable element. + +The intellectual modernization of China goes under the name of the +"Movement of May Fourth", because on May 4th, 1919, students of the +National University in Peking demonstrated against the government and +their pro-Japanese adherents. When the police attacked the students and +jailed some, more demonstrations and student strikes and finally a +general boycott of Japanese imports were the consequence. In these +protest actions, professors such as Ts'ai Yuean-p'ei, later president of +the Academia Sinica (died 1940), took an active part. The forces which +had now been mobilized, rallied around the journal "New Youth" (_Hsin +Ch'ing-nien_), created in 1915 by Ch'en Tu-hsiu. The journal was +progressive, against the monarchy, Confucius, and the old traditions. +Ch'en Tu-hsiu who put himself strongly behind the students, was more +radical than other contributors but at first favoured Western democracy +and Western science; he was influenced mainly by John Dewey who was +guest professor in Peking in 1919-20. Similarly tending towards +liberalism in politics and Dewey's ideas in the field of philosophy were +others, mainly Hu Shih. Finally, some reformers criticized +conservatism purely on the basis of Chinese thought. Hu Shih (born +1892) gained greatest acclaim by his proposal for a "literary +revolution", published in the "New Youth" in 1917. This revolution was +the logically necessary application of the political revolution to the +field of education. The new "vernacular" took place of the old +"classical" literary language. The language of the classical works is so +remote from the language of daily life that no uneducated person can +understand it. A command of it requires a full knowledge of all the +ancient literature, entailing decades of study. The gentry had +elaborated this style of speech for themselves and their dependants; it +was their monopoly; nobody who did not belong to the gentry and had not +attended its schools could take part in literary or in administrative +life. The literary revolution introduced the language of daily life, the +language of the people, into literature: newspapers, novels, scientific +treatises, translations, appeared in the vernacular, and could thus be +understood by anyone who could read and write, even if he had no +Confucianist education. + +It may be said that the literary revolution has achieved its main +objects. As a consequence of it, a great quantity of new literature has +been published. Not only is every important new book that appears in the +West published in translation within a few months, but modern novels and +short stories and poems have been written, some of them of high literary +value. + +At the same time as this revolution there took place another fundamental +change in the language. It was necessary to take over a vast number of +new scientific and technical terms. As Chinese, owing to the character +of its script, is unable to write foreign words accurately and can do no +more than provide a rather rough paraphrase, the practice was started of +expressing new ideas by newly formed native words. Thus modern Chinese +has very few foreign words, and yet it has all the new ideas. For +example, a telegram is a "lightning-letter"; a wireless telegram is a +"not-have-wire-lightning-communication"; a fountain-pen is a +"self-flow-ink-water-brush"; a typewriter is a "strike-letter-machine". +Most of these neologisms are similar in the modern languages of China +and Japan. + +There had been several proposals in recent decades to do away with the +Chinese characters and to introduce an alphabet in their place. They +have all proved to be unsatisfactory so far, because the character of +the Chinese language, as it is at this moment, is unsuited to an +alphabetical script. They would also destroy China's cultural unity: +there are many dialects in China that differ so greatly from each other +that, for instance, a man from Canton cannot understand a man from +Shanghai. If Chinese were written with letters, the result would be a +Canton literature and another literature confined to Shanghai, and China +would break up into a number of areas with different languages. The old +Chinese writing is independent of pronunciation. A Cantonese and a +Pekinger can read each other's newspapers without difficulty. They +pronounce the words quite differently, but the meaning is unaltered. +Even a Japanese can understand a Chinese newspaper without special study +of Chinese, and a Chinese with a little preparation can read a Japanese +newspaper without understanding a single word of Japanese. + +The aim of modern education in China is to work towards the +establishment of "High Chinese", the former official (Mandarin) +language, throughout the country, and to set limits to the use of the +various dialects. Once this has been done, it will be possible to +proceed to a radical reform of the script without running the risk of +political separatist movements, which are always liable to spring up, +and also without leading, through the adoption of various dialects as +the basis of separate literatures, to the break-up of China's cultural +unity. In the last years, the unification of the spoken language has +made great progress. Yet, alphabetic script is used only in cases in +which illiterate adults have to be enabled in a short time to read very +simple informations. More attention is given to a simplification of the +script as it is; Japanese had started this some forty years earlier. +Unfortunately, the new Chinese abbreviated forms of characters are not +always identical with long-established Japanese forms, and are not +developed in such a systematic form as would make learning of Chinese +characters easier. + +2 _First period of the Republic: The warlords_ + +The situation of the Republic after its foundation was far from hopeful. +Republican feeling existed only among the very small groups of students +who had modern education, and a few traders, in other words, among the +"middle class". And even in the revolutionary party to which these +groups belonged there were the most various conceptions of the form of +republican state to be aimed at. The left wing of the party, mainly +intellectuals and manual workers, had in view more or less vague +socialistic institutions; the liberals, for instance the traders, +thought of a liberal democracy, more or less on the American pattern; +and the nationalists merely wanted the removal of the alien Manchu rule. +The three groups had come together for the practical reason that only so +could they get rid of the dynasty. They gave unreserved allegiance to +Sun Yat-sen as their leader. He succeeded in mobilizing the enthusiasm +of continually widening circles for action, not only by the integrity of +his aims but also because he was able to present the new socialistic +ideology in an alluring form. The anti-republican gentry, however, whose +power was not yet entirely broken, took a stand against the party. The +generals who had gone over to the republicans had not the slightest +intention of founding a republic, but only wanted to get rid of the rule +of the Manchus and to step into their place. This was true also of Yuean +Shih-k'ai, who in his heart was entirely on the side of the gentry, +although the European press especially had always energetically defended +him. In character and capacity he stood far above the other generals, +but he was no republican. + +Thus the first period of the Republic, until 1927, was marked by +incessant attempts by individual generals to make themselves +independent. The Government could not depend on its soldiers, and so was +impotent. The first risings of military units began at the outset of +1912. The governors and generals who wanted to make themselves +independent sabotaged every decree of the central government; especially +they sent it no money from the provinces and also refused to give their +assent to foreign loans. The province of Canton, the actual birthplace +of the republican movement and the focus of radicalism, declared itself +in 1912 an independent republic. + +Within the Peking government matters soon came to a climax. Yuean +Shih-k'ai and his supporters represented the conservative view, with the +unexpressed but obvious aim of setting up a new imperial house and +continuing the old gentry system. Most of the members of the parliament +came, however, from the middle class and were opposed to any reaction of +this sort. One of their leaders was murdered, and the blame was thrown +upon Yuean Shih-k'ai; there then came, in the middle of 1912, a new +revolution, in which the radicals made themselves independent and tried +to gain control of South China. But Yuean Shih-k'ai commanded better +troops and won the day. At the end of October 1912 he was elected, +against the opposition, as president of China, and the new state was +recognized by foreign countries. + +China's internal difficulties reacted on the border states, in which the +European powers were keenly interested. The powers considered that the +time had come to begin the definitive partition of China. Thus there +were long negotiations and also hostilities between China and Tibet, +which was supported by Great Britain. The British demanded the complete +separation of Tibet from China, but the Chinese rejected this (1912); +the rejection was supported by a boycott of British goods. In the end +the Tibet question was left undecided. Tibet remained until recent years +a Chinese dependency with a good deal of internal freedom. The Second +World War and the Chinese retreat into the interior brought many Chinese +settlers into Eastern Tibet which was then separated from Tibet proper +and made a Chinese province (Hsi-k'ang) in which the native Khamba will +soon be a minority. The communist regime soon after its establishment +conquered Tibet (1950) and has tried to change the character of its +society and its system of government which lead to the unsuccessful +attempt of the Tibetans to throw off Chinese rule (1959) and the flight +of the Dalai Lama to India. The construction of highways, air and +missile bases and military occupation have thus tied Tibet closer to +China than ever since early Manchu times. + +In Outer Mongolia Russian interests predominated. In 1911 there were +diplomatic incidents in connection with the Mongolian question. At the +end of 1911 the Hutuktu of Urga declared himself independent, and the +Chinese were expelled from the country. A secret treaty was concluded in +1912 with Russia, under which Russia recognized the independence of +Outer Mongolia, but was accorded an important part as adviser and helper +in the development of the country. In 1913 a Russo-Chinese treaty was +concluded, under which the autonomy of Outer Mongolia was recognized, +but Mongolia became a part of the Chinese realm. After the Russian +revolution had begun, revolution was carried also into Mongolia. The +country suffered all the horrors of the struggles between White Russians +(General Ungern-Sternberg) and the Reds; there were also Chinese +attempts at intervention, though without success, until in the end +Mongolia became a Soviet Republic. As such she is closely associated +with Soviet Russia. China, however, did not quickly recognize Mongolia's +independence, and in his work _China's Destiny_ (1944) Chiang Kai-shek +insisted that China's aim remained the recovery of the frontiers of +1840, which means among other things the recovery of Outer Mongolia. In +spite of this, after the Second World War Chiang Kai-shek had to +renounce _de jure_ all rights in Outer Mongolia. Inner Mongolia was +always united to China much more closely; only for a time during the war +with Japan did the Japanese maintain there a puppet government. The +disappearance of this government went almost unnoticed. + +At the time when Russian penetration into Mongolia began, Japan had +entered upon a similar course in Manchuria, which she regarded as her +"sphere of influence". On the outbreak of the first world war Japan +occupied the former German-leased territory of Tsingtao, at the +extremity of the province of Shantung, and from that point she occupied +the railways of the province. Her plan was to make the whole province a +protectorate; Shantung is rich in coal and especially in metals. Japan's +plans were revealed in the notorious "Twenty-one Demands" (1915). +Against the furious opposition especially of the students of Peking, +Yuean Shih-k'ai's government accepted the greater part of these demands. +In negotiations with Great Britain, in which Japan took advantage of the +British commitments in Europe, Japan had to be conceded the predominant +position in the Far East. + +Meanwhile Yuean Shih-k'ai had made all preparations for turning the +Republic once more into an empire, in which he would be emperor; the +empire was to be based once more on the gentry group. In 1914 he secured +an amendment of the Constitution under which the governing power was to +be entirely in the hands of the president; at the end of 1914 he secured +his appointment as president for life, and at the end of 1915 he induced +the parliament to resolve that he should become emperor. + +This naturally aroused the resentment of the republicans, but it also +annoyed the generals belonging to the gentry, who had the same ambition. +Thus there were disturbances, especially in the south, where Sun Yat-sen +with his followers agitated for a democratic republic. The foreign +powers recognized that a divided China would be much easier to penetrate +and annex than a united China, and accordingly opposed Yuean Shih-k'ai. +Before he could ascend the throne, he died suddenly--and this +terminated the first attempt to re-establish monarchy. + +Yuean was succeeded as president by Li Yuean-hung. Meanwhile five +provinces had declared themselves independent. Foreign pressure on China +steadily grew. She was forced to declare war on Germany, and though this +made no practical difference to the war, it enabled the European powers +to penetrate further into China. Difficulties grew to such an extent in +1917 that a dictatorship was set up and soon after came an interlude, +the recall of the Manchus and the reinstatement of the deposed emperor +(July 1st-8th, 1917). + +This led to various risings of generals, each aiming simply at the +satisfaction of his thirst for personal power. Ultimately the victorious +group of generals, headed by Tuan Ch'i-jui, secured the election of Feng +Kuo-chang in place of the retiring president. Feng was succeeded at the +end of 1918 by Hsue Shih-ch'ang, who held office until 1922. Hsue, as a +former ward of the emperor, was a typical representative of the gentry, +and was opposed to all republican reforms. + +The south held aloof from these northern governments. In Canton an +opposition government was set up, formed mainly of followers of Sun +Yat-sen; the Peking government was unable to remove the Canton +government. But the Peking government and its president scarcely counted +any longer even in the north. All that counted were the generals, the +most prominent of whom were: (1) Chang Tso-lin, who had control of +Manchuria and had made certain terms with Japan, but who was ultimately +murdered by the Japanese (1928); (2) Wu P'ei-fu, who held North China; +(3) the so-called "Christian general", Feng Yue-hsiang, and (4) Ts'ao +K'un, who became president in 1923. + +At the end of the first world war Japan had a hold over China amounting +almost to military control of the country. China did not sign the Treaty +of Versailles, because she considered that she had been duped by Japan, +since Japan had driven the Germans out of China but had not returned the +liberated territory to the Chinese. In 1921 peace was concluded with +Germany, the German privileges being abolished. The same applied to +Austria. Russia, immediately after the setting up of the Soviet +government, had renounced all her rights under the Capitulations. This +was the first step in the gradual rescinding of the Capitulations; the +last of them went only in 1943, as a consequence of the difficult +situation of the Europeans and Americans in the Pacific produced by the +Second World War. + +At the end of the first world war the foreign powers revised their +attitude towards China. The idea of territorial partitioning of the +country was replaced by an attempt at financial exploitation; military +friction between the Western powers and Japan was in this way to be +minimized. Financial control was to be exercised by an international +banking consortium (1920). It was necessary for political reasons that +this committee should be joined by Japan. After her Twenty-one Demands, +however, Japan was hated throughout China. During the world war she had +given loans to the various governments and rebels, and in this way had +secured one privilege after another. Consequently China declined the +banking consortium. She tried to secure capital from her own resources; +but in the existing political situation and the acute economic +depression internal loans had no success. + +In an agreement between the United States and Japan in 1917, the United +States, in consequence of the war, had to give their assent to special +rights for Japan in China. After the war the international conference at +Washington (November 1921-February 1922) tried to set narrower limits to +Japan's influence over China, and also to re-determine the relative +strength in the Pacific of the four great powers (America, Britain, +France, Japan). After the failure of the banking plan this was the last +means of preventing military conflicts between the powers in the Far +East. This brought some relief to China, as Japan had to yield for the +time to the pressure of the western powers. + +The years that followed until 1927 were those of the complete collapse +of the political power of the Peking government--years of entire +dissolution. In the south Sun Yat-sen had been elected generalissimo in +1921. In 1924 he was re-elected with a mandate for a campaign against +the north. In 1924 there also met in Canton the first general congress +of the Kuomintang ("People's Party"). The Kuomintang (in 1929 it had +653,000 members, or roughly 0.15 per cent of the population) is the +continuation of the Komingtang ("Revolutionary Party") founded by Sun +Yat-sen, which as a middle-class party had worked for the removal of the +dynasty. The new Kuomintang was more socialistic, as is shown by its +admission of Communists and the stress laid upon land reform. + +At the end of 1924 Sun Yat-sen with some of his followers went to +Peking, to discuss the possibility of a reunion between north and south +on the basis of the program of the People's Party. There, however, he +died at the beginning of 1925, before any definite results had been +attained; there was no prospect of achieving anything by the +negotiations, and the south broke them off. But the death of Sun Yat-sen +had been followed after a time by tension within the party between its +right and left wings. The southern government had invited a number of +Russian advisers in 1923 to assist in building up the administration, +civil and military, and on their advice the system of government had +been reorganized on lines similar to those of the soviet and commissar +system. This change had been advocated by an old friend of Sun Yat-sen, +Chiang Kai-shek, who later married Sun's sister-in-law. Chiang Kai-shek, +who was born in 1886, was the head of the military academy at Whampoa, +near Canton, where Russian instructors were at work. The new system was +approved by Sun Yat-sen's successor, Hu Han-min (who died in 1936), in +his capacity of party leader. It was opposed by the elements of the +right, who at first had little influence. Chiang Kai-shek soon became +one of the principal leaders of the south, as he had command of the +efficient troops of Canton, who had been organized by the Russians. + +The People's Party of the south and its governments, at that time fairly +radical in politics, were disliked by the foreign powers; only Japan +supported them for a time, owing to the anti-British feeling of the +South Chinese and in order to further her purpose of maintaining +disunion in China. The first serious collision with the outer world came +on May 30th, 1925, when British soldiers shot at a crowd demonstrating +in Shanghai. This produced a widespread boycott of British goods in +Canton and in British Hong Kong, inflicting a great loss on British +trade with China and bringing considerable advantages in consequence to +Japanese trade and shipping: from the time of this boycott began the +Japanese grip on Chinese coastwise shipping. + +The second party congress was held in Canton in 1926. Chiang Kai-shek +already played a prominent part. The People's Party, under Chiang +Kai-shek and with the support of the communists, began the great +campaign against the north. At first it had good success: the various +provincial governors and generals and the Peking government were played +off against each other, and in a short time one leader after another was +defeated. The Yangtze was reached, and in 1926 the southern government +moved to Hankow. All over the southern provinces there now came a +genuine rising of the masses of the people, mainly the result of +communist propaganda and of the government's promise to give land to the +peasants, to set limits to the big estates, and to bring order into the +taxation. In spite of its communist element, at the beginning of 1927 +the southern government was essentially one of the middle class and the +peasantry, with a socialistic tendency. + +3 _Second period of the Republic: Nationalist China_ + +With the continued success of the northern campaign, and with Chiang +Kai-shek's southern army at the gates of Shanghai (March 21st, 1927), a +decision had to be taken. Should the left wing be allowed to gain the +upper hand, and the great capitalists of Shanghai be expropriated as it +was proposed to expropriate the gentry? Or should the right wing +prevail, an alliance be concluded with the capitalists, and limits be +set to the expropriation of landed estates? Chiang Kai-shek, through his +marriage with Sun Yat-sen's wife's sister, had become allied with one of +the greatest banking families. In the days of the siege of Shanghai +Chiang, together with his closest colleagues (with the exception of Hu +Han-min and Wang Chying-wei, a leader who will be mentioned later), +decided on the second alternative. Shanghai came into his hands without +a struggle, and the capital of the Shanghai financiers, and soon foreign +capital as well, was placed at his disposal, so that he was able to pay +his troops and finance his administration. At the same time the Russian +advisers were dismissed or executed. + +The decision arrived at by Chiang Kai-shek and his friends did not +remain unopposed, and he parted from the "left group" (1927) which +formed a rival government in Hankow, while Chiang Kai-shek made Nanking +the seat of his government (April 1927). In that year Chiang not only +concluded peace with the financiers and industrialists, but also a sort +of "armistice" with the landowning gentry. "Land reform" still stood on +the party program, but nothing was done, and in this way the confidence +and co-operation of large sections of the gentry was secured. The choice +of Nanking as the new capital pleased both the industrialists and the +agrarians: the great bulk of China's young industries lay in the Yangtze +region, and that region was still the principal one for agricultural +produce; the landowners of the region were also in a better position +with the great market of the capital in their neighbourhood. + +Meanwhile the Nanking government had succeeded in carrying its dealings +with the northern generals to a point at which they were largely +out-manoeuvred and became ready for some sort of collaboration (1928). +There were now four supreme commanders--Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yue-hsiang +(the "Christian general"), Yen Hsi-shan, the governor of Shansi, and the +Muslim Li Chung-yen. Naturally this was not a permanent solution; not +only did Chiang Kai-shek's three rivals try to free themselves from his +ever-growing influence and to gain full power themselves, but various +groups under military leadership rose again and again, even in the home +of the Republic, Canton itself. These struggles, which were carried on +more by means of diplomacy and bribery than at arms, lasted until 1936. +Chiang Kai-shek, as by far the most skilful player in this game, and at +the same time the man who had the support of the foreign governments +and of the financiers of Shanghai, gained the victory. China became +unified under his dictatorship. + +As early as 1928, when there seemed a possibility of uniting China, with +the exception of Manchuria, which was dominated by Japan, and when the +European powers began more and more to support Chiang Kai-shek, Japan +felt that her interests in North China were threatened, and landed +troops in Shantung. There was hard fighting on May 3rd, 1928. General +Chang Tso-lin, in Manchuria, who was allied to Japan, endeavoured to +secure a cessation of hostilities, but he fell victim to a Japanese +assassin; his place was taken by his son, Chang Hsueeh-liang, who pursued +an anti-Japanese policy. The Japanese recognized, however, that in view +of the international situation the time had not yet come for +intervention in North China. In 1929 they withdrew their troops and +concentrated instead on their plans for Manchuria. + +Until the time of the "Manchurian incident" (1931), the Nanking +government steadily grew in strength. It gained the confidence of the +western powers, who proposed to make use of it in opposition to Japan's +policy of expansion in the Pacific sphere. On the strength of this +favourable situation in its foreign relations, the Nanking government +succeeded in getting rid of one after another of the Capitulations. +Above all, the administration of the "Maritime Customs", that is to say +of the collection of duties on imports and exports, was brought under +the control of the Chinese government: until then it had been under +foreign control. Now that China could act with more freedom in the +matter of tariffs, the government had greater financial resources, and +through this and other measures it became financially more independent +of the provinces. It succeeded in building up a small but modern army, +loyal to the government and superior to the still existing provincial +armies. This army gained its military experience in skirmishes with the +Communists and the remaining generals. + +It is true that when in 1931 the Japanese occupied Manchuria, Nanking +was helpless, since Manchuria was only loosely associated with Nanking, +and its governor, Chang Hsueeh-liang, had tried to remain independent of +it. Thus Manchuria was lost almost without a blow. On the other hand, +the fighting with Japan that broke out soon afterwards in Shanghai +brought credit to the young Nanking army, though owing to its numerical +inferiority it was unsuccessful. China protested to the League of +Nations against its loss of Manchuria. The League sent a commission (the +Lytton Commission), which condemned Japan's action, but nothing further +happened, and China indignantly broke away from her association with the +Western powers (1932-1933). In view of the tense European situation +(the beginning of the Hitler era in Germany, and the Italian plans of +expansion), the Western powers did not want to fight Japan on China's +behalf, and without that nothing more could be done. They pursued, +indeed, a policy of playing off Japan against China, in order to keep +those two powers occupied with each other, and so to divert Japan from +Indo-China and the Pacific. + +China had thus to be prepared for being involved one day in a great war +with Japan. Chiang Kai-shek wanted to postpone war as long as possible. +He wanted time to establish his power more thoroughly within the +country, and to strengthen his army. In regard to external relations, +the great powers would have to decide their attitude sooner or later. +America could not be expected to take up a clear attitude: she was for +peace and commerce, and she made greater profits out of her relations +with Japan than with China; she sent supplies to both (until 1941). On +the other hand, Britain and France were more and more turning away from +Japan, and Russo-Japanese relations were at all times tense. Japan tried +to emerge from her isolation by joining the "axis powers", Germany and +Italy (1936); but it was still doubtful whether the Western powers would +proceed with Russia, and therefore against Japan, or with the Axis, and +therefore in alliance with Japan. + +Japan for her part considered that if she was to raise the standard of +living of her large population and to remain a world power, she must +bring into being her "Greater East Asia", so as to have the needed raw +material sources and export markets in the event of a collision with the +Western powers; in addition to this, she needed a security girdle as +extensive as possible in case of a conflict with Russia. In any case, +"Greater East Asia" must be secured before the European conflict should +break out. + +4 _The Sino-Japanese war_ (1937-1945) + +Accordingly, from 1933 onward Japan followed up her conquest of +Manchuria by bringing her influence to bear in Inner Mongolia and in +North China. She succeeded first, by means of an immense system of +smuggling, currency manipulation, and propaganda, in bringing a number +of Mongol princes over to her side, and then (at the end of 1935) in +establishing a semi-dependent government in North China. Chiang Kai-shek +took no action. + +The signal for the outbreak of war was an "incident" by the Marco Polo +Bridge, south of Peking (July 7th, 1937). The Japanese government +profited by a quite unimportant incident, undoubtedly provoked by the +Japanese, in order to extend its dominion a little further. China still +hesitated; there were negotiations. Japan brought up reinforcements and +put forward demands which China could not be expected to be ready to +fulfil. Japan then occupied Peking and Tientsin and wide regions between +them and south of them. The Chinese soldiers stationed there withdrew +almost without striking a blow, but formed up again and began to offer +resistance. In order to facilitate the planned occupation of North +China, including the province of Shantung, Japan decided on a +diversionary campaign against Shanghai. The Nanking government sent its +best troops to the new front, and held it for nearly three months +against superior forces; but meanwhile the Japanese steadily advanced in +North China. On November 9th Nanking fell into their hands. By the +beginning of January 1938, the province of Shantung had also been +conquered. + +Chiang Kai-shek and his government fled to Ch'ung-k'ing (Chungking), the +most important commercial and financial centre of the interior after +Hankow, which was soon threatened by the Japanese fleet. By means of a +number of landings the Japanese soon conquered the whole coast of China, +so cutting off all supplies to the country; against hard fighting in +some places they pushed inland along the railways and conquered the +whole eastern half of China, the richest and most highly developed part +of the country. Chiang Kai-shek had the support only of the +agriculturally rich province of Szechwan, and of the scarcely developed +provinces surrounding it. Here there was as yet no industry. Everything +in the way of machinery and supplies that could be transported from the +hastily dismantled factories was carried westward. Students and +professors went west with all the contents of their universities, and +worked on in small villages under very difficult conditions--one of the +most memorable achievements of this war for China. But all this was by +no means enough for waging a defensive war against Japan. Even the +famous Burma Road could not save China. + +By 1940-1941 Japan had attained her war aim: China was no longer a +dangerous adversary. She was still able to engage in small-scale +fighting, but could no longer secure any decisive result. Puppet +governments were set up in Peking, Canton, and Nanking, and the Japanese +waited for these governments gradually to induce supporters of Chiang +Kai-shek to come over to their side. Most was expected of Wang +Ching-wei, who headed the new Nanking government. He was one of the +oldest followers of Sun Yat-sen, and was regarded as a democrat. In +1925, after Sun Yat-sen's death, he had been for a time the head of the +Nanking government, and for a short time in 1930 he had led a government +in Peking that was opposed to Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship. Beyond any +question Wang still had many followers, including some in the highest +circles at Chungking, men of eastern China who considered that +collaboration with Japan, especially in the economic field, offered good +prospects. Japan paid lip service to this policy: there was talk of +sister peoples, which could help each other and supply each other's +needs. There was propaganda for a new "Greater East Asian" philosophy, +_Wang-tao_, in accordance with which all the peoples of the East could +live together in peace under a thinly disguised dictatorship. What +actually happened was that everywhere Japanese capitalists established +themselves in the former Chinese industrial plants, bought up land and +securities, and exploited the country for the conduct of their war. + +After the great initial successes of Hitlerite Germany in 1939-1941, +Japan became convinced that the time had come for a decisive blow +against the positions of the Western European powers and the United +States in the Far East. Lightning blows were struck at Hong Kong and +Singapore, at French Indo-China, and at the Netherlands East Indies. The +American navy seemed to have been eliminated by the attack on Pearl +Harbour, and one group of islands after another fell into the hands of +the Japanese. Japan was at the gates of India and Australia. Russia was +carrying on a desperate defensive struggle against the Axis, and there +was no reason to expect any intervention from her in the Far East. +Greater East Asia seemed assured against every danger. + +The situation of Chiang Kai-shek's Chungking government seemed hopeless. +Even the Burma Road was cut, and supplies could only be sent by air; +there was shortage of everything. With immense energy small industries +were begun all over western China, often organized as co-operatives; +roads and railways were built--but with such resources would it ever be +possible to throw the Japanese into the sea? Everything depended on +holding out until a new page was turned in Europe. Infinitely slow +seemed the progress of the first gleams of hope--the steady front in +Burma, the reconquest of the first groups of inlands; the first bomb +attacks on Japan itself. Even in May, 1945, with the war ended in +Europe, there seemed no sign of its ending in the Far East. Then came +the atom bomb, bringing the collapse of Japan; the Japanese armies +receded from China, and suddenly China was free, mistress once more in +her own country as she had not been for decades. + + + +Chapter Twelve + + +PRESENT-DAY CHINA + +1 _The growth of communism_ + +In order to understand today's China, we have to go back in time to +report events which were cut short or left out of our earlier discussion +in order to present them in the context of this chapter. + +Although socialism and communism had been known in China long ago, this +line of development of Western philosophy had interested Chinese +intellectuals much less than liberalistic, democratic Western ideas. It +was widely believed that communism had no real prospects for China, as a +dictatorship of the proletariat seemed to be relevant only in a highly +industrialized and not in an agrarian society. Thus, in its beginning +the "Movement of May Fourth" of 1919 had Western ideological traits but +was not communistic. This changed with the success of communism in +Russia and with the theoretical writings of Lenin. Here it was shown +that communist theories could be applied to a country similar to China +in its level of development. Already from 1919 on, some of the leaders +of the Movement turned towards communism: the National University of +Peking became the first centre of this movement, and Ch'en Tu-hsiu, then +dean of the College of Letters, from 1920 on became one of its leaders. +Hu Shih did not move to the left with this group; he remained a liberal. +But another well-known writer, Lu Hsuen (1881-1936), while following Hu +Shih in the "Literary Revolution," identified politically with Ch'en. +There was still another man, the Director of the University Library, Li +Ta-chao, who turned towards communism. With him we find one of his +employees in the Library, Mao Tse-tung. In fact, the nucleus of the +Communist Party, which was officially created as late as 1921, was a +student organization including some professors in Peking. On the other +hand, a student group in Paris had also learned about communism and had +organized; the leaders of this group were Chou En-lai and Li Li-san. A +little later, a third group organized in Germany; Chu Te belonged to +this group. The leadership of Communist China since 1949 has been in the +hands of men of these three former student groups. + +After 1920, Sun Yat-sen, too, became interested in the developments in +Soviet Russia. Yet, he never actually became a communist; his belief +that the soil should belong to the tiller cannot really be combined with +communism, which advocates the abolition of individual land-holdings. +Yet, Soviet Russia found it useful to help Sun Yat-sen and advised the +Chinese Communist Party to collaborate with the KMT (Kuomintang). This +collaboration, not always easy, continued until the fall of Shanghai in +1927. + +In the meantime, Mao Tse-tung had given up his studies in Peking and had +returned to his home in Hunan. Here, he organized his countrymen, the +farmers of Hunan. It is said that at the verge of the northern +expedition of Chiang Kai-shek, Mao's adherents in Hunan already numbered +in the millions; this made the quick and smooth advance of the +communist-advised armies of Chiang Kai-shek possible. Mao developed his +ideas in written form in 1927; he showed that communism in China could +be successful only if it was based upon farmers. Because of this +unorthodox attitude, he was for years severely attacked as a +deviationist. + +When Chiang Kai-shek separated from the KMT in 1927, the main body of +the KMT remained in Hankow as the legal government. But now, while +Chiang Kai-shek executed all leftists, union leaders, and communists who +fell into his hands, tensions in Hankow increased between the Chinese +Communist Party and the rest of the KMT. Finally, the KMT turned against +the communists and reunited with Chiang Kai-shek. The remaining +communists retreated to the Hunan-Kiangsi border area, the centre of +Mao's activities; even the orthodox communist wing, which had condemned +Mao, now had to come to him for protection from the KMT. A small +communist state began to develop in Kiangsi, in spite of pressure and, +later, attacks of the KMT against them. By 1934, this pressure became so +strong that Kiangsi had to be abandoned, and in the epic "Long March" +the rest of the communists and their army fought their way through all +of western and north-western China into the sparsely inhabited, +underdeveloped northern part of Shensi, where a new socialistic state +was created with Yen-an as its capital. + +After the fall of the communist enclave in Kiangsi, the prospects for +the Nationalist regime were bright; indeed, the unification of China was +almost achieved. At this moment a new Japanese invasion threatened and +demanded the full attention of the regime. Thus, in spite of talk about +land reform and other reforms which might have led to a liberalization +of the government, no attention was given to internal and social +problems except to the suppression of communist thought. Although all +leftist publications were prohibited, most historians and sociologists +succeeded in writing Marxist books without using Marxist terminology, so +that they escaped Chiang's censors. These publications contributed +greatly to preparing China's intellectuals and youth for communism. + +When the Japanese War began, the communists in Yen-an and the +Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek agreed to co-operate against the +invaders. Yet, each side remembered its experiences in 1927 and +distrusted the other. Chiang's resistance against the invaders became +less effective after the Japanese occupied all of China's ports; +supplies could reach China only in small quantities by airlift or via +the Burma Road. There was also the belief that Japan could be defeated +only by an attack on Japan itself and that this would have to be +undertaken by the Western powers, not by China. The communists, on their +side, set up a guerrilla organization behind the Japanese lines, so +that, although the Japanese controlled the cities and the lines of +communication, they had little control over the countryside. The +communists also attempted to infiltrate the area held by the +Nationalists, who in turn were interested in preventing the communists +from becoming too strong; so, Nationalist troops guarded also the +borders of communist territory. + +American politicians and military advisers were divided in their +opinions. Although they recognized the internal weakness of the +Nationalist government, the fighting between cliques within the +government, and the ever-increasing corruption, some advocated more help +to the Nationalists and a firm attitude against the communists. Others, +influenced by impressions gained during visits to Yen-an, and believing +in the possibility of honest co-operation between a communist regime and +any other, as Roosevelt did, attempted to effect a coalition of the +Nationalists with the communists. + +At the end of the war, when the Nationalist government took over the +administration, it lacked popular support in the areas liberated from +the Japanese. Farmers who had been given land by the communists, or who +had been promised it, were afraid that their former landlords, whether +they had remained to collaborate with the Japanese or had fled to West +China, would regain control of the land. Workers hoped for new social +legislation and rights. Businessmen and industrialists were faced with +destroyed factories, worn-out or antiquated equipment, and an unchecked +inflation which induced them to shift their accounts into foreign banks +or to favour short-term gains rather than long-term investments. As in +all countries which have suffered from a long war and an occupation, +the youth believed that the old regime had been to blame, and saw +promise and hope on the political left. And, finally, the Nationalist +soldiers, most of whom had been separated for years from their homes and +families, were not willing to fight other Chinese in the civil war now +well under way; they wanted to go home and start a new life. The +communists, however, were now well organized militarily and well +equipped with arms surrendered by the Japanese to the Soviet armies as +well as with arms and ammunition sold to them by KMT soldiers; moreover, +they were constantly strengthened by deserters from the KMT. The civil +war witnessed a steady retreat by the KMT armies, which resisted only +sporadically. By the end of 1948, most of mainland China was in the +hands of the communists, who established their new capital in Peking. + +2 _Nationalist China in Taiwan_ + +The Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan with those soldiers who +remained loyal. This island was returned to China after the defeat of +Japan, though final disposition of its status had not yet been +determined. + +Taiwan's original population had been made up of more than a dozen +tribes who are probably distant relatives of tribes in the Philippines. +These are Taiwan's "aborigines," altogether about 200,000 people in +1948. + +At about the time of the Sung dynasty, Chinese began to establish +outposts on the island; these developed into regular agricultural +settlements toward the end of the Ming dynasty. Immigration increased in +the eighteenth and especially the nineteenth centuries. These Chinese +immigrants and their descendants are the "Taiwanese," Taiwan's main +population of about eight million people as of 1948. + +Taiwan was at first a part of the province of Fukien, whence most of its +Chinese settlers came; there was also a minority of Hakka, Chinese from +Kuangtung province. When Taiwan was ceded to Japan, it was still a +colonial area with much lawlessness and disorder, but with a number of +flourishing towns and a growing population. The Japanese, who sent +administrators but no settlers, established law and order, protected the +aborigines from land-hungry Chinese settlers, and attempted to abolish +headhunting by the aborigines and to raise the cultural level in +general. They built a road and railway system and strongly stressed the +production of sugar cane and rice. During the Second World War, the +island suffered from air attacks and from the inability of the Japanese +to protect its industries. + +After Chiang Kai-shek and the remainder of his army and of his +government officials arrived in Taiwan, they were followed by others +fleeing from the communist regime, mainly from Chekiang, Kiangsu, and +the northern provinces of the mainland. Eventually, there were on Taiwan +about two million of these "mainlanders," as they have sometimes been +called. + +When the Chinese Nationalists took over from the Japanese, they assumed +all the leading positions in the government. The Taiwanese nationals who +had opposed the Japanese were disappointed; for their part, the +Nationalists felt threatened because of their minority position. The +next years, especially up to 1952, were characterized by terror and +bloodshed. Tensions persisted for many years, but have lessened since +about 1960. + +The new government of Taiwan resembled China's pre-war government under +Chiang Kai-shek. First, to maintain his claim to the legitimate rule of +all of China, Chiang retained--and controlled through his party, the +KMT--his former government organization, complete with cabinet +ministers, administrators, and elected parliament, under the name +"Central Government of China." Secondly, the actual government of +Taiwan, which he considered one of China's provinces, was organized as +the "Provincial Government of Taiwan," whose leading positions were at +first in the hands of KMT mainlanders. There have since been elections +for the provincial assembly, for local government councils and boards, +and for various provincial and local positions. Thirdly, the military +forces were organized under the leadership and command of mainlanders. +And finally, the education system was set up in accordance with former +mainland practices by mainland specialists. However, evolutionary +changes soon occurred. + +The government's aim was to make Mandarin Chinese the language of all +Chinese in Taiwan, as it had been in mainland China long before the War, +and to weaken the Taiwanese dialects. Soon almost every child had a +minimum of six years of education (increased in 1968 to nine years), +with Mandarin Chinese as the medium of instruction. In the beginning few +Taiwanese qualified as teachers because, under Japanese rule, Japanese +had been the medium of instruction. As the children of Taiwanese and +mainland families went to school together, the Taiwanese children +quickly learned Mandarin, while most mainland children became familiar +with the Taiwan dialect. For the generation in school today, the +difference between mainlander and Taiwanese has lost its importance. At +the same time, more teachers of Taiwanese origin, but with modern +training, have begun to fill first the ranks of elementary, later of +high-school, and now even of university instructors, so that the end of +mainland predominance in the educational system is foreseeable. + +The country is still ruled by the KMT, but although at first hardly any +Taiwanese belonged to the Party, many of the elective jobs and almost +all positions in the provincial government are at present (1969) in the +hands of Taiwanese independents, or KMT members, more of whom are +entering the central government as well. Because military service is +compulsory, the majority of common soldiers are Taiwanese: as career +officers grow older and their sons show little interest in an army +career, more Taiwan-Chinese are occupying higher army positions. Foreign +policy and major political decisions still lie in the hands of mainland +Chinese, but economic power, once monopolized by them, is now held by +Taiwan-Chinese. + +This shift gained impetus with the end of American economic aid, which +had tied local businessmen to American industry and thus worked to the +advantage of mainland Chinese, for these had contacts in the United +States, whereas the Taiwan-Chinese had contacts only in Japan. After the +termination of American economic aid, Taiwanese trade with Japan, the +Philippines, and Korea grew in importance and with it the economic +strength of Taiwan-Chinese businessmen. After 1964, Taiwan became a +strong competitor of Hong Kong and Japan in some export industries, such +as electronics and textiles. We can regard Taiwan from 1964 on as +occupying the "takeoff" stage, to use Rostow's terminology--a stage of +rapid development of new, principally light and consumer, industries. +There has been a rapid rise of industrial towns around the major cities, +and there are already many factories in the countryside, even in some +villages. Electrification is essentially completed, and heavy +industries, such as fertilizer and assembly plants and oil refineries, +now exist. + +This rapid industrialization was accompanied by an unusually fast +development of agriculture. A land-reform program limited land +ownership, reduced rents, and redistributed formerly Japanese-owned +land. This was the program that the Nationalist government had attempted +unsuccessfully to enforce in liberated China after the Pacific War. It +is well known that the abolition of landlordism and the distribution of +land to small farmers do not in themselves improve or enlarge +production. The Joint Council on Rural Reconstruction, on which American +advisers worked with Chinese specialists to devise a system comparable +to American agricultural extension services but possessing added +elements of community development, introduced better seeds, more and +better fertilizers, and numerous other innovations which the farmers +quickly adopted, with the result that the island became +self-supporting, in spite of a steadily growing population (thirteen +million in 1968). + +At the same time, the government succeeded in stabilizing the currency +and in eliminating corruption, thus re-establishing public confidence +and security. Good incomes from farming as well as from industries were +invested on the island instead of flowing into foreign banks. In +addition, the population had enough surplus money to buy the products of +the new domestic industries as these appeared. Thus, the +industrialization of Taiwan may be called "industrialization without +tears," without the suffering, that is, of proletarian masses who +produce objects which they cannot afford for themselves. Today, even +lower middle-class families have television consoles which cost the +equivalent of US $200; they own electric fans and radios; they are +buying Taiwan-produced refrigerators and air conditioners; and more and +more think of buying Taiwan-assembled cars. They encourage their +children to finish high school and to attend college if at all possible; +competition for admission is very strong in spite of the continuous +building of new schools and universities. Education to the level of the +B.A. is of good quality, but for most graduate study students are still +sent abroad. Taiwan complains about the "brain drain," as about 93 per +cent of its students who go overseas do not return, but in many fields +it has sufficient trained manpower to continue its development, and in +any case there would not be enough jobs available if all the students +returned. Most of these expatriates would be available to develop +mainland China, if conditions there were to change in a way that would +make them compatible with the values with which these expatriates grew +up on Taiwan, or with the Western democratic values which they absorbed +abroad. + +Chiang Kai-shek's government still hopes that one day its people will +return to the mainland. This hope has changed from hope of victory in a +civil war to hope of revolutionary developments within Communist China +which might lead to the creation of a more liberal government in which +men with KMT loyalties could find a place. Because they are Chinese, the +present government and, it is believed, the majority of the people, +consider themselves a part of China from which they are temporarily +separated. Therefore they reject the idea, proposed by some American +politicians, that Taiwan should become an independent state. There are, +mainly in the United States and Japan, groups of Taiwan-Chinese who +favour an independent Taiwan, which naturally would be close to Japan +politically and economically. One may agree with their belief that +Taiwan, now larger than many European countries, could exist and +flourish as an independent country; yet few Chinese will wish to divorce +themselves from the world's largest society. + +3 _Communist China_ + +Both Taiwan and mainland China have developed extremely quickly. The +reasons do not seem to lie solely in the form of government, for the +pre-conditions for a "takeoff" existed in China as early as the 1920's, +if not earlier. That is, the quick development of China could have +started forty years ago but was prevented, primarily for political +reasons. One of the main pre-conditions for quick development is that a +large part of the population is inured to hard and repetitive work. The +Chinese farmer was accustomed to such work; he put more time and energy +into his land than any other farmer. He and his fellows were the +industrial workers of the future: reliable, hard-working, tractable, +intelligent. To train them was easy, and absenteeism was never a serious +problem, as it is in other developing nations. Another pre-condition is +the existence of sufficient trained people to manage industry. Forty +years ago China had enough such men to start modernization; foreign +assistance would have been necessary in some fields, but only briefly. + +Another requirement (at least in the period before radio and television) +is general literacy. Meaningful statistical data on literacy in China +before 1937 are lacking. Some authors remark that before 1800 probably +all upper-class sons and most daughters were educated, and that men in +the middle and even in the lower classes often had some degree of +literacy. In this context "educated" means that these persons could read +classical poetry and essays written in literary Chinese, which was not +the language of daily conversation. "Literacy," however, might mean only +that a person could read and write some 600 characters, enough to +conduct a business and to read simple stories. Although newspapers today +have a stock of about 6,000 characters, only some 600 characters are +commonly used, and a farmer or worker can manage well with a knowledge +of about 100 characters. Statements to the effect that in 1935 some 70 +per cent of all men and 95 per cent of all women were illiterate must +include the last category in these figures. In any case, the literacy +program of the Nationalist government had penetrated the countryside and +had reached even outlying villages before the Pacific War. + +The transportation system in China before the war was not highly +developed, but numerous railroads connecting the main industrial centers +did exist, and bus and truck services connected small towns with the +larger centers. What were missing in the pre-war years were laws to +protect the investor, efficient credit facilities, an insurance system +supported by law, and a modern tax structure. In addition, the monetary +system was inflation-prone. Although sufficient capital probably could +have been mobilized within the country, the available resources either +went into foreign banks or were invested in enterprises providing a +quick return. + +The failure to capitalize on existing means of development before the +War resulted from the chronic unrest caused by warlordism, +revolutionaries and foreign invaders, which occupied the energies of the +Nationalist government from its establishment to its fall. Once a stable +government free from internal troubles arose, national development, +whether private or socialist, could proceed at a rapid pace. + +Thus, the development of Communist China is not a miracle, possible only +because of its form of government. What is unusual about Communist China +is the fact that it is the only nation possessing a highly developed +culture of its own to have jettisoned it in favour of a foreign one. What +missionaries had dreamed of for centuries and knew they would never +accomplish, Mao Tse-tung achieved; he imposed an ideology created by +Europeans and understandable only in the context of Central Europe in +the nineteenth century. How long his success will last is uncertain. One +school of analysts believes that the friction between Soviet Russia and +Communist China indicates that China's communism has become Chinese. +These men point out that Communist Chinese practices are often direct +continuations of earlier Chinese practices, customs, and attitudes. And +they predict that this trend will continue, resulting in a form of +socialism or communism distinctly different from that found in any other +country. Another school, however, believes that communism precedes +"Sinism," and that the regime will slowly eliminate traits which once +were typical of China and replace them with institutions developed out +of Marxist thinking. In any case, for the present, although the +Communist government's aim is to impose communist thought and +institutions in the country, typically Chinese traits are still +omnipresent. + +Soon after the establishment of the Peking regime, a pact of friendship +and alliance with the Soviet Union was concluded (February 1950), and +Soviet specialists and civil and military products poured into China to +speed its development. China had to pay for this assistance as well as +for the loans it received from Russia, but the application of Russian +experience, often involving the duplication of whole factories, was +successful. In a few years, China developed its heavy industry, just as +Russia had done. It should not be forgotten that Manchuria, as well as +other parts of China, had modern heavy industries long before 1949. The +Manchurian factories ceased production because, when the Russians +invaded Manchuria at the end of the war, they removed the machinery to +Russia. + +Russian aid to Communist China continued to 1960. Its termination slowed +development briefly but was not disastrous. Russian assistance was a +"shot in the arm," as stimulating and about as lasting as American aid +to Taiwan or to European countries. The stress laid upon heavy industry, +in imitation of Russia, increased China's military strength quickly, but +the consumer had to wait for goods which would make his life more +enjoyable. One cause of friction in China today concerns the relative +desirability of heavy industry versus consumer industry, a problem which +arose in Russia after the death of Stalin. + +China's military strength was first demonstrated in the Korean War when +Chinese armies entered Korea (October 1950). Their successes contributed +to the prestige of the Peking regime at home and abroad, but they also +foreshadowed a conflict with Soviet Russia, which regarded North Korea +as lying within its own sphere of influence. + +In the same year, China invaded and conquered Tibet. Tibet, under Manchu +rule until 1911, had achieved a certain degree of independence +thereafter: no republican Chinese regime ever ruled Lhasa. The military +conquest of Tibet is regarded by many as an act of Chinese imperialism, +or colonialism, as the Tibetans certainly did not want to belong to +China or be forced to change their traditional form of government. +Having regarded themselves as subjects of the Manchu but not of the +Chinese, they rose against the communist rulers in March 1959, but +without success. + +Chinese control of Tibet, involving the construction of numerous roads, +airstrips, and military installations, as well as differences concerning +the international border, led in 1959 to conflicts with India, a country +which had previously sided with the new China in international affairs. +Indeed, the borders were uncertain and looked different depending on +whether one used Manchu or Indian maps. China's other border problem was +with Burma. Early in 1960 the two countries concluded a border agreement +which ended disputes dating from British colonial times. + +Very early in its existence Communist China assumed control of Sinkiang, +Chinese Central Asia, a large area originally inhabited by Turkish and +Mongolian tribes and states, later conquered by the Manchu, and then +integrated into China in the early nineteenth century. The communist +action was to be expected, although after the Revolution of 1911 Chinese +rule over this area had been spotty, and during the Pacific War some +Soviet-inspired hope had existed that Sinkiang might gain independence, +following the example of Outer Mongolia, another country which had been +attached to the Manchu until 1911 and which, with Russian assistance, +had gained its independence from China. Sinkiang is of great importance +to Communist China as the site of large sources of oil and of atomic +industries and testing grounds. The government has stimulated and often +forced Chinese immigration into Sinkiang, so that the erstwhile Turkish +and Mongolian majorities have become minorities, envious of their ethnic +brothers in Soviet Central Asia who enjoy a much higher standard of +living and more freedom. + +Inner Mongolia had a brief dream of independence under Japanese +protection during the war. But the majority of the population were +Chinese, and already before the Pacific War, the country had been +divided into three Chinese provinces, of which the Chinese Communists +gained control without delay. + +In general, when the Chinese Communists discuss territorial claims, they +appear to seek the restoration of borders that China claimed in the +eighteenth century. Thus, they make occasional remarks about the Hi area +and parts of Eastern Siberia, which the Manchu either lost to the +Russians or claimed as their territory. North Vietnam is probably aware +that Imperial China exercised political rights over Tongking and Annam +(the present-day North and part of South Vietnam). And, treaty or no, +the Sino-Burmese question may be reopened one day, for Burma was +semi-dependent on China under the Manchu. + +The build-up of heavy industry enabled China to conduct an aggressive +policy towards the countries surrounding her, but industrialization had +to be paid for, and, as in other countries, it was basically agriculture +that had to create the necessary capital. Therefore, in June 1950 a +land-reform law was promulgated. By October 1952 it had been implemented +at an estimated cost of two million human lives: the landlords. The next +step, socialization of the land, began in 1953. + +The co-operative farms were supposed to achieve higher production than +small individual farms. It may be that any farmer, but particularly the +Chinese, is emotionally involved in his crop, in contrast to the +industrial worker, who often is alienated from the product he makes. +Thus the farmer is unwilling to put unlimited energy and time into +working on a farm that does not belong to him. But it may also be that +the application of principles of industrial operation to agriculture +fails because emergencies often occur in farming and are followed by +periods of leisure, whereas in industry steady work is possible. + +In any case, in 1956 strains began to appear in China's economy. In +early 1958 the "Great Leap Forward" was promoted in an attempt to speed +production in all sectors. Soon after, the first communes were created, +against the advise of Russian specialists. The objective of the communes +seems to have been not only the creation of a new organizational form +which would allow the government to exercise more pressure upon farmers +to increase production, but also the correlation of labor and other +needs of industry with agriculture. The communes may have represented an +attempt to set up an organization which could function independently, +even in the event of a governmental breakdown in wartime. At the same +time, the decentralization of industries began and a people's militia +was created. The "back-yard furnaces," which produced high-cost iron of +low quality, seem to have had a similar purpose: to teach citizens how +to produce iron for armaments in case of war and enemy occupation, when +only guerrilla resistance would be possible. In the same year, +aggressive actions against offshore, Nationalist-held islands increased. +China may have believed that war with the United States was imminent. +Perhaps as a result of Russian talks with China, a detente followed in +1959, but so too did increased tension between Russia and China, while +the results of the Great Leap and its policies proved catastrophic. The +years 1961-64 provided a needed respite from the failures of the Great +Leap. Farmers regained limited rights to income from private efforts, +and improved farm techniques such as better seed and the use of +fertilizer began to produce results. China can now feed her population +in normal years. + +Chinese leaders realize that an improved level of living is difficult to +attain while the birth rate remains high. They have hesitated to adopt a +family-planning policy, which would fly in the face of Marxist doctrine, +although for a short period family planning was openly recommended. +Their most efficient method of limiting the birth rate has been to +recommend postponement of marriage. + +First the limitation of private enterprise and business and then the +nationalization of all important businesses following the completion of +land reform deprived many employers as well as small shopkeepers of an +occupation. But the new industries could not absorb all of the labor +that suddenly became available. When rural youth inundated the cities in +search of employment, the government returned the excess urban +population to die countryside and recruited students and other urban +youth to work on farms. Reeducation camps in outlying areas also +provided cheap farm labor. + +The problem facing China or any nation that modernizes and +industrializes in the twentieth century can be simply stated. +Nineteenth-century industry needed large masses of workers which only +the rural areas could supply; and, with the development of farming +methods, the countryside could afford to send its youth to the cities. +Twentieth-century industry, on the other hand, needs technicians and +highly qualified personnel, often with college degrees, but few +unskilled workers. China has traditionally employed human labor where +machines would have been cheaper and more efficient, simply because +labor was available and capital was not. But since, with the growth of +modern industry and modern farming, the problem will arise again, the +policy of employing urban youth on farms is shortsighted. + +The labor force also increased as a result of the "liberation" of women, +in which the marriage law of April 1950 was the first step. Nationalist +China had earlier created a modern and liberal marriage law; moreover, +women were never the slaves that they have sometimes been painted. In +many parts of China, long before the Pacific War, women worked in the +fields with their husbands. Elsewhere they worked in secondary +agricultural industries (weaving, preparation of food conserves, home +industries, and even textile factories) and provided supplementary +income for their families. All that "liberation" in 1950 really meant +was that women had to work a full day as their husbands did, and had, in +addition, to do house work and care for their children much as before. +The new marriage law did, indeed, make both partners equal; it also made +it easier for men to divorce their wives, political incompatibility +becoming a ground for divorce. + +The ideological justification for a new marriage law was the +desirability of destroying the traditional Chinese family and its +economic basis because a close family, and all the more an extended +family or a clan, could obviously serve as a center of resistance. Land +collectivization and the nationalization of business destroyed the +economic basis of families. The "liberation" of women brought them out +of the house and made it possible for the government to exploit +dissension between husband and wife, thereby increasing its control over +the family. Finally, the new education system, which indoctrinated all +children from nursery to the end of college, separated children from +parents, thus undermining parental control and enabling the state to +intimidate parents by encouraging their children to denounce their +"deviations." Sporadic efforts to dissolve the family completely by +separating women from men in communes--recalling an attempt made almost +a century earlier by the T'ai-p'ing--were unsuccessful. + +The best formula for a revolution seems to involve turning youth against +its elders, rather than turning one class against another. Not all +societies have a class system so clear-cut that class antagonism is +effective. On the other hand, Chinese youth, in its opposition to the +"establishment," to conservatism, to traditional religion, to blind +emulation of Western customs and institutions, to the traditional family +structure and the position of women, had hopes that communism would +eradicate the specific "evil" which each individual wanted abolished. +Mao and his followers had once been such rebellious youths, but by the +1960's they were mostly old men and a new youth had appeared, a +generation of revolutionaries for whom the "old regime" was dim history, +not reality. In the struggle between Mao and Liu Shao-ch'i, which became +increasingly apparent in 1966, Mao tried to retain his power by +mobilizing young people as "Red Guards" and by inciting them to make the +"Great Proletarian Revolution." The motives behind the struggle are +diverse. It is on the one hand a conflict of persons contending for +power, but there are also disagreements over theory: for example, should +China's present generation toil to make possible a better life only for +the next generation, or should it enjoy the fruits of its labor, after +its many years of suffering? Mao opposes such "weakening" and favours a +new generation willing to endure hardships, as he did in his youth. +There is also a question whether the Chinese Communist Party under the +banner of Maoism should replace the Russian party, establish Mao as the +fourth founder after Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, and become the leader of +world communism, or whether it should collaborate with the Russian +party, at least temporarily, and thus ensure China Russian support. +When, however, Chinese youth was summoned to take up the fight for Mao +and his group, forces were loosed which could not be controlled. +Following independent action by youth groups similar in nature to youth +revolts in Western countries, the power and prestige of older leaders +suffered. Even now (1969) it is impossible to re-establish unity and +order; the Mao and Liu groups still oppose each other, and local +factions have arisen. Violent confrontations, often resulting in +hundreds of deaths, occur in many provinces. The regime is no longer so +strong and unified as it was before 1966, although its end is not in +sight. Quite possibly far-reaching changes may occur in the future. + +Three factors will probably influence the future of China. First, the +emergence of neo-communism, as in Czechoslovakia in 1968, in an attempt +to soften traditional communist practice. Second, the outcome of the war +in Vietnam. Will China be able to continue its eighteenth-century dream +of direct or indirect domination of South-east Asia? Will North Vietnam +detach itself from China and attach itself more closely to Russia? Will +Russia and China continue to create separate spheres of influence in +Asia, Africa, and South America? The first factor depends on +developments inside China, the second on events outside, and at least in +part on decisions in the United States, Japan, and Europe. + +The third factor has to do with human nature. One may justifiably ask +whether the change in human personality which Chinese communism has +attempted to achieve is possible, let alone desirable. Studies of +animals and of human beings have demonstrated a tendency to identify +with a territory, with property, and with kin. Can the Chinese eradicate +this tendency? The Chinese have been family-centered and accustomed to +subordinating their individual inclinations to the requirements of +family and neighborhood. But beyond these established frameworks they +have been individualistic and highly idiosyncratic at all times. Under +the communist regime, however, the government is omnipresent, and people +must toe the official line. One senses the tragedy that affects +well-known scholars, writers and poets, who must degrade themselves, +their work, their past and their families in order to survive. They may +hope for comprehension of their actions, but nonetheless they must +suffer shame. Will the present government change the minds of these men +and eradicate their feelings? + +Communist China has made great progress, no doubt. Soon it may equal +other developed nations. But its progress has been achieved at an +unnecessary cost in human lives and happiness. + +That the regime is no longer so strong and unified as it was before 1966 +does not mean that its end is in sight. Far-reaching changes may occur +in the near future. Public opinion is impressed with mainland China's +progress, as the world usually is with strong nations. And public +opinion is still unimpressed by the achievements of Taiwan and has +hardly begun to change its attitude toward the government of the +"Republic of China." To the historian and the sociologist, the +experience of Taiwan indicates that China, if left alone and freed from +ideological pressures, could industrialize more quickly than any other +presently underdeveloped nation. Taiwan offers a model with which to +compare mainland China. + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +The following notes and references are intended to help the interested +reader. They draw his attention to some more specialized literature in +English, and occasionally in French and German. They also indicate for +the more advanced reader the sources for some of the interpretations of +historical events. As such sources are most often written in Chinese or +Japanese and, therefore, inaccessible to most readers, only brief hints +and not full bibliographical data are given. The specialists know the +names and can easily find details in the standard bibliographies. The +general reader will profit most from the bibliography on Chinese history +published each year in the _Journal of Asian Studies_. These Notes do +not mention the original Chinese sources which are the factual basis of +this book. + +_Chapter One_ + +p. 7: Reference is made here to the _T'ung-chien kang-mu_ and its +translation by de Mailla (1777-85). Criticism by O. Franke, Ku +Chieh-kang and his school, also by G. Haloun. + +p. 8: For the chronology, I rely here upon Ijima Tadao and my own +research. Excavations at Chou-k'ou-tien still continue and my account +should be taken as very preliminary. An earlier analysis is given by E. +von Eickstedt (_Rassendynamik von Ostasien_, Berlin 1944). For the +following periods, the best general study is still J.G. Andersson, +_Researches into the Prehistory of the Chinese_, Stockholm 1943. A great +number of new findings has been made recently, but no comprehensive +analysis in a Western language is available. + +p. 9: Comparison with Ainu has been made by Weidenreich. The theory of +desiccation of Asia is not the Huntington theory, but I rely here upon +arguments by J.G. Andersson and Sven Hedin. + +p. 10. The earlier theories of R. Heine-Geldern have been used here. + +p. 11: This is a summary of my own theories. Concerning the Tungus +tribes, K. Jettmar (_Wiener Beitraege zur Kulturgeschichte_, vol. 9, +1952, p. 484f and later studies) has proposed a more refined theory; +other parts of the theory, as far as it is concerned with conditions in +Central Asia, have been modified by F. Kussmaul (in: _Tribus_, vol. +1952-3, pp. 305-60). Archaeological data from Central Asia have been +analysed again by K. Jettmar (in: _The Museum of Far Eastern +Antiquities, Bulletin_ No. 23, 1951). The discussion on domestication of +large animals relies on the studies by C.O. Sauer, H. von Wissmann, +Menghin, Amschler, Flohr and, most recently, F. Han[vc]ar (in: +_Saeculum_, vol. 10, 1959, pp. 21-37 with further literature), and also +on my own research. + +p. 12: An analysis of the situation in the South according to Western +and Chinese studies is found in H.J. Wiens, _China's March toward the +Tropics_, Hamden 1954. Much further work is now published by Ling +Shun-sheng, Rui Yi-fu and other anthropologists in Taipei. The best +analysis of denshiring in the Far East is still the book by K.J. Pelzer, +_Population and Land Utilization_, New York 1941. The anthropological +theories on this page are my own, influenced by ideas of R. +Heine-Geldern and Gordon Luce. + +p. 14: Sociological theory, as developed by R. Thurnwald and others, has +been used as a theoretical tool here, together with observations by A. +Credner and H. Bernatzik. Concerning rice in Yang-shao see R. +Heine-Geldern in _Anthropos_, vol. 27, p. 595. + +p. 15: Wu Chin-ting defended the local origin of Yang-shao; T.J. Arne, +J.G. Andersson and many others suggested Western influences. Most +recently R. Heine-Geldern elaborated this theory. The allusion to +Indo-Europeans refers to the studies by G. Haloun and others concerning +the Ta-Hsia, the later Yueeh-chih, and the Tocharian problem. + +p. 16: R. Heine-Geldern proposed a "Pontic migration". Yin Huan-chang +discussed most recently Lung-shan culture and the mound-dwellers. + +p. 17: The original _Chu-shu chi-nien_ version of the stories about Yao +has been accepted here, together with my own research and the studies by +B. Karlgren, M. Loehr, G. Haloun, E.H. Minns and others concerning the +origin and early distribution of bronze and the animal style. Smith +families or tribes are well known from Central Asia, but also from India +and Africa (see W. Ruben, _Eisenschmiede und Daemonen in Indien_, Leiden +1939, for general discussion).--For a discussion of the Hsia see E. +Erkes. + +_Chapter Two_ + +p. 19: The discussion in this chapter relies mainly upon the Anyang +excavation reports and the studies by Tung Tso-pin and, most strongly, +Ch'en Meng-chia. In English, the best work is still H.G. Creel, _The +Birth of China_, London 1936 and his more specialized _Studies in Early +Chinese Culture_, Baltimore 1937. + +p. 20: The possibility of a "megalithic" culture in the Far East has +often been discussed, by O. Menghin, R. Heine-Geldern, Cheng Te-k'un, +Ling Shun-sheng and others. Megaliths occur mainly in South-East Asia, +southern China, Korea and Japan.--Teng Ch'u-min and others believe that +silk existed already in the time of Yang-shao. + +p. 21: Kuo Mo-jo believes, that the Shang already used a real plough +drawn by animals. The main discussion on ploughs in China is by Hsue +Chung-shu; for general anthropological discussion see E. Werth and H. +Kothe. + +p. 22: For the discussion of the T'ao-t'ieh see the research by B. +Karlgren and C. Hentze. + +p. 23: I follow here mainly Ch'en Meng-chia, but work by B. Schindler, +C. Hentze, H. Maspero and also my own research has been considered. + +p. 24: I am accepting here a narrow definition of feudalism (see my +_Conquerors and Rulers_, Leiden 1952).--The division of armies into +"right" and "left" is interesting in the light of the theories +concerning the importance of systems of orientation (Fr. Rock and +others). + +p. 25: Here, the work by W. Koppers, O. Spengler, F. Han[vc]ar, V.G. +Childe and many others, concerning the domestication of the horse and +the introduction of the war-chariot in general, and work by Shih +Chang-ju, Ch'en Meng-chia, O. Maenchen, Uchida Gimpu and others +concerning horses, riding and chariots in China has been used, in +addition to my own research. + +p. 26: Concerning the wild animals, I have relied upon Ch'en Meng-chia, +Hsue Chung-shu and Tung Tso-pin.--The discussion as to whether there was +a period of "slave society" (as postulated by Marxist theory) in China, +and when it flourished, is still going on under the leadership of Kuo +Mo-jo and his group. I prefer to differentiate between slaves and serfs, +and relied for factual data upon texts from oracle bones, not upon +historical texts.--The problem of Shang chronology is still not solved, +in spite of extensive work by Liu Ch'ao-yang, Tung Tso-pin and many +Japanese and Western scholars. The old chronology, however, seems to be +rejected by most scholars now. + +_Chapter Three_ + +p. 29: Discussing the early script and language, I refer to the great +number of unidentified Shang characters and, especially, to the +composite characters which have been mentioned often by C. Hentze in his +research; on the other hand, the original language of the Chou may have +been different from classical Chinese, if we can judge from the form of +the names of the earliest Chou ancestors. Problems of substrata +languages enter at this stage. Our first understanding of Chou language +and dialects seems to come through the method applied by P. Serruys, +rather than through the more generally accepted theories and methods of +B. Karlgren and his school. + +p. 30: I reject here the statement of classical texts that the last +Shang ruler was unworthy, and accept the new interpretation of Ch'en +Meng-chia which is based upon oracle bone texts,--The most recent +general study on feudalism, and on feudalism in China, is in R. +Coulborn, _Feudalism in History_, Princeton 1956. Stimulating, but in +parts antiquated, is M. Granet, _La Feodalite Chinoise_, Oslo 1952. I +rely here on my own research. The instalment procedure has been +described by H. Maspero and Ch'i Sz[)u]-ho. + +p. 31: The interpretation of land-holding and clans follows my own +research which is influenced by Niida Noboru, Kat[=o] Shigeru and other +Japanese scholars, as well as by G. Haloun.--Concerning the origin of +family names see preliminarily Yang Hsi-mei; much further research is +still necessary. The general development of Chinese names is now studied +by Wolfgang Bauer.--The spread of cities in this period has been studied +by Li Chi, _The Formation of the Chinese People_, Cambridge 1928. My +interpretation relies mainly upon a study of the distribution of +non-Chinese tribes and data on early cities coming from excavation +reports (see my "Data on the Structure of the Chinese City" in _Economic +Development and Cultural Change_, 1956, pp. 253-68, and "The Formation +of Chinese Civilization" in _Sociologus_ 7, 1959, pp. 97-112). + +p. 32: The work on slaves by T. Pippon, E. Erkes, M. Wilbur, Wan +Kuo-ting, Kuo Mo-jo, Niida Noboru, Kao Nien-chih and others has been +consulted; the interpretation by E.G. Pulleyblank, however, was not +accepted. + +p. 33: This interpretation of the "well-field" system relies in part +upon the work done by Hsue Ti-shan, in part upon M. Granet and H. +Maspero, and attempts to utilize insight from general anthropological +theory and field-work mainly in South-East Asia. Other interpretations +have been proposed by Yang Lien-sheng, Wan Kuo-ting, Ch'i Sz[)u]-ho P. +Demieville, Hu Shih, Chi Ch'ao-ting, K.A. Wittfogel, and others Some +authors, such as Kuo Mo-jo, regard the whole system as an utopia, but +believe in an original "village community".--The characterization of the +_Chou-li_ relies in part upon the work done by Hsue Chung-shu and Ku +Chieh-kang on the titles of nobility, research by Yang K'uan and textual +criticism by B. Karlgren, O. Franke, and again Ku Chieh-kang and his +school.--The discussion on twin cities is intended to draw attention to +its West Asian parallels, the "acropolis" or "ark" city, as well as to +the theories on the difference between Western and Asian cities (M. +Weber) and the specific type of cities in "dual societies" (H. Boeke). + +p. 34: This is a modified form of the Hu Shih theory.--The problem of +nomadic agrarian inter-action and conflict has been studied for a later +period mainly by O. Lattimore. Here, general anthropological research as +well as my own have been applied. + +p. 36: The supra-stratification theory as developed by R. Thurnwald has +been used as analytic tool here. + +p. 38: For this period, a novel interpretation is presented by R.L. +Walker, _The Multi-State System of China_, Hamden 1953. For the concepts +of sovereignty, I have used here the _Chou-li_ text and interpretations +based upon this text. + +p. 40: For the introduction of iron and the importance of Ch'i, see Chu +Hsi-tsu, Kuo Mo-jo, Yang K'uan, Sekino, Takeshi.--Some scholars (G. +Haloun) tend to interpret attacks such as the one of 660 B.C. as attacks +from outside the borders of China. + +p. 41: For Confucius see H.G. Creel, _Confucius_, New York 1949. I do +not, however, follow his interpretation, but rather the ideas of Hu +Shih, O. Franke and others. + +p. 42: For "chuen-tz[)u]" and its counterpart "hsiao-jen" see D. Bodde +and Ch'en Meng-chia. + +p 43: I rely strongly here upon O. Franke and Ku Chieh-kang and upon my +own work on eclipses. + +p. 44: I regard the Confucian traditions concerning the model emperors +of early time as such a falsification. The whole concept of "abdication" +has been analysed by M. Granet. The later ceremony of abdication was +developed upon the basis of the interpretations of Confucius and has +been studied by Ku Chieh-kang and Miyakawa Hisayuki. Already Confucius' +disciple Meng Tz[)u], and later Chuang Tz[)u] and Han Fei Tz[)u] were +against this theory.--As a general introduction to the philosophy of +this period, Y.L. Feng's _History of Chinese Philosophy_, London 1937 +has still to be recommended, although further research has made many +advances.--My analysis of the role of Confucianism in society is +influenced by theories in the field of Sociology of religion. + +p. 45: The temple in Turkestan was in Khotan and is already mentioned in +the _Wei-shu_ chapter 102. The analysis of the famous "Book on the +transfiguration of Lao Tz[)u] into a Western Barbarian" by Wang +Wei-cheng is penetrating and has been used here. The evaluation of Lao +Tz[)u] and his pupils as against Confucius by J. Needham, in his +_Science and Civilization in China_, Cambridge 1954 _et seq_. (in volume +2) is very stimulating, though necessarily limited to some aspects only. + +p. 47: The concept of _wu-wei_ has often been discussed; some, such as +Masaaki Matsumoto, interpreted the concept purely in social terms as +"refusal of actions carrying worldly estimation". + +p. 49 Further literature concerning alchemy and breathing exercises is +found in J. Needham's book. + +_Chapter Four_ + +p. 51: I have used here the general framework of R.L. Walker, but more +upon Yang K'uan's studies. + +p. 52: The interpretation of the change of myths in this period is based +in part upon the work done by H. Maspero, G. Haloun, and Ku Chieh-kang. +The analysis of legends made by B. Karlgren from a philological point of +view ("Legends and Cults in Ancient China", _The Museum of Far Eastern +Antiquities, Bulletin_ No. 18, 1946, pp. 199-365) follows another +direction. + +p. 53: The discussion on riding involves the theories concerning +horse-nomadic tribes and the period of this way of life. It also +involves the problem of the invention of stirrup and saddle. The saddle +seems to have been used in China already at the beginning of our period; +the stirrup seems to be as late as the fifth century A.D. The article by +A. Kroeber, _The Ancient Oikumene as an Historic Culture Aggregate_, +Huxley Memorial Lecture for 1945, is very instructive for our problems +and also for its theoretical approach.--The custom of attracting +settlers from other areas in order to have more production as well as +more manpower seems to have been known in India at the same time. + +p. 54: The work done by Kat[=o] Shigeru and Niida Noboru on property and +family has been used here. For the later period, work done by Makino +Tatsumi has also been incorporated.--Literature on the plough and on +iron for implements has been mentioned above. Concerning the fallow +system, I have incorporated the ideas of Kat[=o] Shigeru, [=O]shima +Toshikaza, Hsue Ti-shan and Wan Kuo-ting. Hsue Ti-shan believes that a +kind of 3-field system had developed by this time. Traces of such a +system have been observed in modern China (H.D. Scholz). For these +questions, the translation by N. Lee Swann, _Food and Money in Ancient +China_, 1959 is very important. + +p. 55: For all questions of money and credit from this period down to +modern times, the best brief introduction is by Lien-sheng Yang, _Money +and Credit in China_, Cambridge 1952. The _Introduction to the Economic +History of China_, London 1954, by E. Stuart Kirby is certainly still +the best brief introduction into all problems of Chinese Economic +history and contains a bibliography in Western and Chinese-Japanese +languages. Articles by Chinese authors on economic problems have been +translated in E-tu Zen Sun and J. de Francis, _Chinese Social History_, +Washington 1956.--Data on the size of early cities have been collected +by T. Sekino and Kat[=o] Shigeru. + +p. 56: T. Sekino studied the forms of cities. C. Hentze believes that +the city even in the Shang period normally had a square plan.--T. Sekino +has also made the first research on city coins. Such a privilege and +such independence of cities disappear later, but occasionally the +privilege of minting was given to persons of high rank.--K.A. Wittfogel, +_Oriental Despotism_, New Haven 1957 regards irrigation as a key +economic and social factor and has built up his theory around this +concept. I do not accept his theory here or later. Evidence seems to +point towards the importance of transportation systems rather than of +government-sponsored or operated irrigation systems.--Concerning steel, +we follow Yang K'uan; a special study by J. Needham is under +preparation. Centre of steel production at this time was Wan (later +Nanyang in Honan).--For early Chinese law, the study by A.F.P. Hulsewe, +_Remnants of Han Law_, Leiden 1955 is the best work in English. He does +not, however, regard Li K'ui as the main creator of Chinese law, though +Kuo Mo-jo and others do. It is obvious, however, that Han law was not a +creation of the Han Chinese alone and that some type of code must have +existed before Han, even if such a code was not written by the man Li +K'ui. A special study on Li was made by O. Franke. + +p. 57: In the description of border conditions, research by O. Lattimore +has been taken into consideration. + +p. 59: For Shang Yang and this whole period, the classical work in +English is still J.J.L. Duyvendak, _The Book of Lord Shang_, London +1928; the translation by Ma Perleberg of _The Works of Kung-sun +Lung-tzu_, Hongkong 1952 as well as the translation of the _Economic +Dialogues in Ancient China: The Kuan-tzu_, edited by L. Maverick, New +Haven 1954 have not found general approval, but may serve as +introductions to the way philosophers of our period worked. Han Fei +Tz[)u]; has been translated by W.K. Liao, _The Complete Works of Han Fei +Tz[)u]_, London 1939 (only part 1). + +p. 60: Needham does not have such a positive attitude towards Tsou Yen, +and regards Western influences upon Tsou Yen as not too likely. The +discussion on pp. 60-1 follows mainly my own researches. + +p. 61: The interpretation of secret societies is influenced by general +sociological theory and detailed reports on later secret societies. S. +Murayama and most modern Chinese scholars stress almost solely the +social element in the so-called "peasant rebellions". + +_Chapter Five_ + +p. 63: The analysis of the emergence of Ch'in bureaucracy has profited +from general sociological theory, especially M. Weber (see the new +analysis by R. Bendix, _Max Weber, an Intellectual Portrait_, Garden +City 1960, p. 117-157). Early administration systems of this type in +China have been studied in several articles in the journal _Yue-kung_ +(vol. 6 and 7). + +p. 65: In the discussion of language, I use arguments which have been +brought forth by P. Serruys against the previously generally accepted +theories of B. Karlgren.--For weights and measures I have referred to T. +Sekino, Liu Fu and Wu Ch'eng-lo. + +p. 66: For this period, D. Bodde's _China's First Unifier_, Leiden 1938 +and his _Statesman, Patriot, and General in Ancient China_, New Haven +1940 remain valuable studies. + +_Chapter Six_ + +p. 71: The basic historical text for this whole period, the _Dynastic +History of the Han Dynasty_, is now in part available in English +translation (H.H. Dubs, _The History of the Former Han Dynasty_, +Baltimore 1938, 3 volumes). + +p. 72: The description of the gentry is based upon my own research. +Other scholars define the word "gentry", if applied to China, +differently (some of the relevant studies are discussed in my note in +the _Bull. School of Orient. & African Studies_, 1955, p. 373 f.). + +p. 73: The theory of the cycle of mobility has been brought forth by Fr. +L.K. Hsu and others. I have based my criticism upon a forthcoming study +of _Social Mobility in Traditional Chinese Society_. The basic point is +not the momentary economic or political power of such a family, but the +social status of the family (_Li-shih yen-chiu_, Peking 1955, No. 4, p. +122). The social status was, increasingly, defined and fixed by law +(Ch'ue T'ung-tsu).--The difference in the size of gentry and other +families has been pointed out by a number of scholars such as Fr. L.K. +Hsu, H.T. Fei, O. Lang. My own research seems to indicate that gentry +families, on the average, married earlier than other families. + +p. 74: The Han system of examinations or rather of selection has been +studied by Yang Lien-sheng; and analysis of the social origin of +candidates has been made in the _Bull. Chinese Studies_, vol. 2, 1941, +and 3, 1942.--The meaning of the term "Hundred Families" has been +discussed by W. Eichhorn, Kuo Mo-jo, Ch'en Meng-chia and especially by +Hsue T'ung-hsin. It was later also a fiscal term. + +p. 75: The analysis of Hsiung-nu society is based mainly upon my own +research. There is no satisfactory history of these northern federations +available in English. The compilation of W.M. MacGovern, _The Early +Empires of Central Asia_, Chapel Hill 1939, is now quite antiquated.--An +attempt to construct a model of Central Asian nomadic social structure +has been made by E.E. Bacon, _Obok, a Study of Social Structure in +Eurasia_, New York 1958, but the model constructed by B. Vladimirtsov +and modified by O. Lattimore remains valuable.--For origin and +early-development of Hsiung-nu society see O. Maenchen, K. Jettmar, B. +Bernstam, Uchida Gimpu and many others. + +p. 79: Material on the "classes" (_sz[)u] min_) will be found in a +forthcoming book. Studies by Ch'ue T'ung-tsu and Tamai Korehiro are +important here. An up-to-date history of Chinese education is still a +desideratum. + +p. 80: For Tung Chung-shu, I rely mainly upon O. Franke.--Some scholars +do not accept this "double standard", although we have clear texts which +show that cases were evaluated on the basis of Confucian texts and not +on the basis of laws. In fact, local judges probably only in exceptional +cases knew the text of the law or had the code. They judged on the basis +of "customary law". + +p. 81: Based mainly upon my own research. K.A. Wittfogel, _Oriental +Despotism_, New Haven 1957, has a different interpretation. + +p. 82: Cases in which the Han emperors disregarded the law code were +studied by Y. Hisamura.--I have used here studies published in the +_Bull, of Chinese Studies_, vol. 2 and 3 and in _Toyo gakuho_, +vol. 8 and 9, in addition to my own research. + +p. 85: On local administration see Kat[=o] Shigeru and Yen Keng-wang's +studies. + +p. 86: The problem of the Chinese gold, which will be touched upon later +again, has gained theoretical interest, because it could be used as a +test of M. Lombard's theories concerning the importance of gold in the +West (_Annales, Economies, Societes, Civilisations_, vol. 12, Paris +1957, No. 1, p. 7-28). It was used in China from c. 600 B.C. on in form +of coins or bars, but disappeared almost completely from A.D. 200 on, +i.e. the period of economic decline (see L.S. Yang, Kat[=o] +Shigeru).--The payment to border tribes occurs many times again in +Chinese history down to recent times; it has its parallel in British +payments to tribes in the North-West Frontier Province in India which +continued even after the Independence. + +p. 88: According to later sources, one third of the tributary gifts was +used in the Imperial ancestor temples, one third in the Imperial +mausolea, but one third was used as gifts to guests of the Emperor.--The +trade aspect of the tributes was first pointed but by E. Parker, later +by O. Lattimore, recently by J.K. Fairbank.--The importance of Chang +Ch'ien for East-West contacts was systematically studied by B. Laufer; +his _Sino-Iranica_, Chicago 1919 is still a classic. + +p. 89: The most important trait which points to foreign trade, is the +occurrence of glass in Chinese tombs in Indo-China and of glass in China +proper from the fifth century B.C. on; it is assumed that this glass was +imported from the Near East, possibly from Egypt (O. Janse, N. Egami, +Seligman). + +p. 91: Large parts of the "Discussions" have been translated by Esson M. +Gale, _Discourses on Salt and Iron_, Leiden 1931; the continuation of +this translation is in _Jour. Royal As. Society, North-China Branch_ +1934.--The history of eunuchs in China remains to be written. They were +known since at least the seventh century B.C. The hypothesis has been +made that this custom had its origin in Asia Minor and spread from there +(R.F. Spencer in _Ciba Symposia_, vol. 8, No. 7, 1946 with references). + +p. 92: The main source on Wang Mang is translated by C.B. Sargent, _Wang +Mang, a translation_, Shanghai 1950 and H.H. Dubs, _History of the +Former Han Dynasty_, vol, 3, Baltimore 1955. + +p. 93: This evaluation of the "Old character school" is not generally +accepted. A quite different view is represented by Tjan Tjoe Som and +R.P. Kramers and others who regard the differences between the schools +as of a philological and not a political kind. I follow here most +strongly the Chinese school as represented by Ku Chieh-kang and his +friends, and my own studies. + +p. 93: Falsification of texts refers to changes in the Tso-chuan. My +interpretation relies again upon Ku Chieh-kang, and Japanese +astronomical studies (Ijima Tadao), but others, too, admit +falsifications (H.H. Dubs); B. Karlgren and others regard the book as in +its main body genuine. The other text mentioned here is the _Chou-li_ +which is certainly not written by Wang Mang (_Jung-chai Hsue-pi_ 16), but +heavily mis-used by him (in general see S. Uno). + +p. 94: I am influenced here by some of H.H. Dubs's studies. For this and +the following period, the work by H. Bielenstein, _The Restoration of +the Han Dynasty_, Stockholm 1953 and 1959 is the best monograph.--The +"equalization offices" and their influence upon modern United States has +been studied by B. Bodde in the _Far Eastern Quarterly_, vol. 5, 1946. + +p. 95: H. Bielenstein regards a great flood as one of the main reasons +for the breakdown of Wang Mang's rule. + +p. 98: For the understanding of Chinese military colonies in Central +Asia as well as for the understanding of military organization, civil +administration and business, the studies of Lao Kan on texts excavated +in Central Asia and Kansu are of greatest importance. + +p. 101: Mazdaistic elements in this rebellion have been mentioned mainly +by H.H. Dubs. Zoroastrism (Zoroaster born 569 B.C.) and Mazdaism were +eminently "political" religions from their very beginning on. Most +scholars admit the presence of Mazdaism in China only from 519 on +(Ishida Mikinosuke, O. Franke). Dubs's theory can be strengthened by +astronomical material.--The basic religious text of this group, the +"Book of the Great Peace" has been studied by W. Eichhorn Maspero +and Ho Ch'ang-ch'uen. + +p. 102: For the "church" I rely mainly upon H. Maspero and W. Eichhorn. + +p. 103: I use here concepts developed by Cheng Chen-to and especially by +Jung Chao-tsu. + +p. 104: Wang Ch'ung's importance has recently been mentioned again by J. +Needham. + +p. 105: These "court poets" have their direct parallel in Western Asia. +This trend, however, did not become typical in China.--On the general +history of paper read A. Kroeber, _Anthropology_, New York 1948, p. +490f., and Dard Hunter, _Paper Making_, New York 1947 (2nd ed.). + +_Chapter Seven_ + +p. 109: The main historical sources for this period have been translated +by Achilles Fang, _The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms_, Cambridge, +Mass. 1952; the epic which describes this time is C.H. Brewitt-Taylor, +_San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Shanghai 1925. + +p. 112: For problems of migration and settlement in the South, we relied +in part upon research by Ch'en Yuean and Wang Yi-t'ung. + +p. 114: For the history of the Hsiung-nu I am relying mainly upon my own +studies. + +p. 117: This analysis of tribal structure is based mainly upon my own +research; it differs in detail from the studies by E. Bacon, _Obok, a +Study of Social Structure in Eurasia_, New York 1958, B. Vladimirtsov, +O. Lattimore's _Inner Asian Frontiers of China_, New York 1951 (2nd +edit.) and the studies by L.M.J. Schram, _The Monguors of the +Kansu-Tibetan Frontier_, Philadelphia 1954 and 1957. + +p. 118: The use of the word "Huns" does not imply that we identify the +early or the late Hsiung-nu with the European Huns. This question is +still very much under discussion (O. Maenchen, W. Haussig, W. Henning, +and others). + +p. 119: For the history of the early Hsien-pi states see the monograph +by G. Schreiber, "The History of the Former Yen Dynasty", in _Monomenta +Serica_, vol. 14 and 15 (1949-56). For all translations from Chinese +Dynastic Histories of the period between 220 and 960 the _Catalogue of +Translations from the Chinese Dynastic Histories for the Period +220-960_, by Hans H. Frankel, Berkeley 1957, is a reliable guide. + +p. 125: For the description of conditions in Turkestan, especially in +Tunhuang, I rely upon my own studies, but studies by A. von Gabein, L. +Ligeti, J.R. Ware, O. Franke and Tsukamoto Zenryu have been used, too. + +p. 133: These songs have first been studied by Hu Shih, later by Chinese +folklorists. + +p. 134: For problems of Chinese Buddhism see Arthur F. Wright, _Buddhism +in Chinese History_, Stanford 1959, with further bibliography. I have +used for this and later periods, in addition to my own sociological +studies, R. Michihata, J. Gernet, and Tamai Korehiro.--It is interesting +that the rise of landowning temples in India occurred at exactly the +same time (R.S. Sharma in _Journ. Econ. and Soc. Hist. Orient_, vol. 1, +1958, p. 316). Perhaps even more interesting, but still unstudied, is +the existence of Buddhist temples in India which owned land and villages +which were donated by contributions from China.--For the use of foreign +monks in Chinese bureaucracies, I have used M. Weber's theory as an +interpretative tool. + +p. 135: The important deities of Khotan Buddhism are Vai['s]ramana and +Kubera, (research by P. Demieville, R. Stein and others).--Where, how, +and why Hinayana and Mahayana developed as separate sects, is not yet +studied. Also, a sociological analysis of the different Buddhist sects +in China has not even been attempted yet. + +p. 136: Such public religious disputations were known also in India. + +p. 137: Analysis of the tribal names has been made by L. Bazin. + +pp. 138-9: The personality type which was the ideal of the Toba +corresponded closely to the type described by G. Geesemann, _Heroische +Lebensform_, Berlin 1943. + +p. 142: The Toba occur in contemporary Western sources as Tabar, Tabgac, +Tafkac and similar names. The ethnic name also occurs as a title (O. +Pritsak, P. Pelliot, W. Haussig and others).--On the _chuen-t'ien_ system +cf. the article by Wan Kuo-ting in E-tu Zen Sun, _Chinese Social +History_, Washington 1956, p. 157-184. I also used Yoshimi Matsumoto and +T'ang Ch'ang-ju.--Census fragments from Tunhuang have been published by +L. Giles, Niida Noboru and other Japanese scholars. + +p. 143: On slaves for the earlier time see M. Wilbur, _Slavery in China +during the Former Han Dynasty_, Chicago 1943. For our period Wang +Yi-t'ung and especially Niida Noboru and Ch'ue T'ung-tsu. I used for this +discussion Niida, Ch'ue and Tamai Korehiro.--For the _pu-ch'ue_ I used in +addition Yang Chung-i, H. Maspero, E. Balazs, W. Eichhorn. Yang's +article is translated in E-tu Zen Sun's book, _Chinese Social History_, +pp. 142-56.--The question of slaves and their importance in Chinese +society has always been given much attention by Chinese Communist +authors. I believe that a clear distinction between slaves and serfs is +very important. + +p. 145: The political use of Buddhism has been asserted for Japan as +well as for Korea and Tibet (H. Hoffmann, _Quellen zur Geschichte der +tibetischen Bon-Religion_, Mainz 1950, p. 220 f.). A case could be made +for Burma. In China, Buddhism was later again used as a tool by rulers +(see below). + +p. 146: The first text in which such problems of state versus church are +mentioned is Mou Tz[)u] (P. Pelliot transl.). More recently, some of the +problems have been studied by R. Michihata and E. Zuercher. Michihata +also studied the temple slaves. Temple families were slightly different. +They have been studied mainly by R. Michihata, J. Gernet and Wang +Yi-t'ung. The information on T'an-yao is mainly in _Wei-shu_ 114 +(transl. J. Ware).--The best work on Yuen-kang is now Seiichi Mizuno and +Toshio Nagahiro, _Yuen-kang. The Buddhist Cave-Temples of the Fifth +Century A.D. in North China_, Kyoto 1951-6, thus far 16 volumes. For +Chinese Buddhist art, the work by Tokiwa Daijo and Sekino Tadashi, +_Chinese Buddhist Monuments_, Tokyo 1926-38, 5 volumes, is most +profusely illustrated.--As a general reader for the whole of Chinese +art, Alexander Soper and L. Sickman's _The Art and Architecture of +China_, Baltimore 1956 may be consulted. + +p, 147: Zenryu Tsukamoto has analysed one such popular, revolutionary +Buddhist text from the fifth century A.D. I rely here for the whole +chapter mainly upon my own research. + +p. 150: On the Ephtalites (or Hephtalites) see R. Ghirshman and +Enoki.--The carpet ceremony has been studied by P. Boodberg, and in a +comparative way by L. Olschki, _The Myth of Felt_, Berkeley 1949. + +p. 151: For Yang Chien and his time see now A.F. Wright, "The Formation +of Sui Ideology" in John K. Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and +Institutions_, Chicago 1957, pp. 71-104. + +p. 153: The processes described here, have not yet been thoroughly +analysed. A preliminary review of literature is given by H. Wiens, +_China's March towards the Tropics_, Hamden 1954. I used Ch'en Yuean, +Wang Yi-t'ung and my own research. + +p. 154: It is interesting to compare such hunting parks with the +"_paradeisos"_ (Paradise) of the Near East and with the "Garden of +Eden".--Most of the data on gardens and manors have been brought +together and studied by Japanese scholars, especially by Kat[=o] +Shigeru, some also by Ho Tzu-ch'uean.--The disappearance of "village +commons" in China should be compared with the same process in Europe; +both processes, however, developed quite differently. The origin of +manors and their importance for the social structure of the Far East +(China as well as Japan) is the subject of many studies in Japan and in +modern China. This problem is connected with the general problem of +feudalism East and West. The manor (_chuang_: Japanese _sho_) in later +periods has been studied by Y. Sudo. H. Maspero also devotes attention +to this problem. Much more research remains to be done. + +p. 158: This popular rebellion by Sun En has been studied by W. +Eichhorn. + +p. 163: On foreign music in China see L.C. Goodrich and Ch'ue T'ung-tsu, +H.G. Farmer, S. Kishibe and others.--Niida Noboru pointed out that +musicians belonged to one of the lower social classes, but had special +privileges because of their close relations to the rulers. + +p. 164: Meditative or _Ch'an_ (Japanese: _Zen_) Buddhism in this period +has been studied by Hu Shih, but further analysis is necessary.--The +philosophical trends of this period have been analysed by E. +Balazs.--Mention should also be made of the aesthetic-philosophical +conversation which was fashionable in the third century, but in other +form still occurred in our period, the so-called "pure talk" +(_ch'ing-t'an_) (E. Balazs, H. Wilhelm and others). + +_Chapter Eight_ + +p. 167: For genealogies and rules of giving names, I use my own research +and the study by W. Bauer. + +p. 168: For Emperor Wen Ti, I rely mainly upon A.F. Wright's +above-mentioned article, but also upon O. Franke. + +p. 169: The relevant texts concerning the T'u-chueeh are available in +French (E. Chavannes) and recently also in German translation (Liu +Mau-tsai, _Die chinesischen Nachrichten zur Geschichte der Ost-T[vu]rken_, +Wiesbaden 1958, 2 vol.).--The Toeloes are called T'e-lo in Chinese +sources; the T'u-yue-hun are called Aza in Central Asian sources (P. +Pelliot, A. Minorsky, F.W. Thomas, L. Hambis, _et al_.). The most +important text concerning the T'u-yue-hun had been translated by Th. D. +Caroll, _Account of the T'u-yue-hun in the History of the Chin Dynasty_, +Berkeley 1953. + +p. 171: The transcription of names on this and on the other maps could +not be adjusted to the transcription of the text for technical reasons. + +p. 172: It is possible that I have underestimated the role of Li Yuean. I +relied here mainly upon O. Franke and upon W. Bingham's _The Founding of +the T'ang Dynasty_, Baltimore 1941. + +p. 173: The best comprehensive study of T'ang economy in a Western +language is still E. Balazs's work. I relied, however, strongly upon Wan +Kuo-ting, Yang Chung-i, Kat[=o] Shigeru, J. Gernet, T. Naba, Niida +Noboru, Yoshimi Matsumoto. + +pp. 173-4: For the description of the administration I used my own +studies and the work of R. des Rotours; for the military organization I +used Kikuchi Hideo. A real study of Chinese army organization and +strategy does not yet exist. The best detailed study, but for the Han +period, is written by H. Maspero. + +p. 174: For the first occurrence of the title _tu-tu_ we used W. +Eichhorn; in the form _tutuq_ the title occurs since 646 in Central Asia +(J. Hamilton). + +p. 177: The name T'u-fan seems to be a transcription of Tuepoet which, +in turn, became our Tibet. (J. Hamilton).--The Uighurs are the Hui-ho or +Hui-hu of Chinese sources. + +p. 179: On relations with Central Asia and the West see Ho Chien-min and +Hsiang Ta, whose classical studies on Ch'ang-an city life have recently +been strongly criticized by Chinese scholars.--Some authors (J.K. +Rideout) point to the growing influence of eunuchs in this period.--The +sources paint the pictures of the Empress Wu in very dark colours. A +more detailed study of this period seems to be necessary. + +p. 180: The best study of "family privileges" (_yin_) in general is by +E.A. Kracke, _Civil Service in Early Sung China_, Cambridge, Mass. 1953. + +p. 180-1: The economic importance of organized Buddhism has been studied +by many authors, especially J. Gernet, Yang Lien-sheng, Ch'uean +Han-sheng, K. Tamai and R. Michihata. + +p. 182: The best comprehensive study on T'ang prose in English is still +E.D. Edwards, _Chinese Prose Literature of the T'ang Period_, London +1937-8, 2 vol. On Li T'ai-po and Po Chue-i we have well-written books by +A. Waley, _The Poetry and Career of Li Po_, London 1951 and _The Life +and Times of Po Chue-i_, London 1950.--On the "free poem" (_tz[)u]_), +which technically is not a free poem, see A. Hoffmann and Hu Shih. For +the early Chinese theatre, the classical study is still Wang Kuo-wei's +analysis, but there is an almost unbelievable number of studies +constantly written in China and Japan, especially on the later theatre +and drama. + +p. 184: Conditions at the court of Hsuean Tsung and the life of Yang +Kui-fei have been studied by Howard Levy and others, An Lu-shan's +importance mainly by E.G. Pulleyblank, _The Background of the Rebellion +of An Lu-shan_, London 1955. + +p. 187: The tax reform of Yang Yen has been studied by K. Hino; the most +important figures in T'ang economic history are Liu Yen (studied by Chue +Ch'ing-yuean) and Lu Chih (754-805; studied by E. Balazs and others). + +pp. 187-8: The conditions at the time of this persecution are well +described by E.O. Reischauer, _Ennin's Travels in T'ang China_, New York +1955, on the basis of his _Ennin's Diary. The Record of a Pilgrimage to +China_, New York 1955. The persecution of Buddhism has been analysed in +its economic character by Niida Noboru and other Japanese +scholars.--Metal statues had to be delivered to the Salt and Iron Office +in order to be converted into cash; iron statues were collected by local +offices for the production of agricultural implements; figures in gold, +silver or other rare materials were to be handed over to the Finance +Office. Figures made of stone, clay or wood were not affected +(Michihata). + +p. 189: It seems important to note that popular movements are often not +led by simple farmers of members of the lower classes. There are other +salt merchants and persons of similar status known as leaders. + +p. 190: For the Sha-t'o, I am relying upon my own research. Tatars are +the Ta-tan of the Chinese sources. The term is here used in a narrow +sense. + +_Chapter Nine_ + +p. 195: Many Chinese and Japanese authors have a new period begin with +the early (Ch'ien Mu) or the late tenth century (T'ao Hsi-sheng, Li +Chien-nung), while others prefer a cut already in the Middle of the +T'ang Dynasty (Teng Ch'u-min, Naito Torajiro). For many Marxists, the +period which we called "Modern Times" is at best a sub-period within a +larger period which really started with what we called "Medieval China". + +p. 196: For the change in the composition of the gentry, I am using my +own research.--For clan rules, clan foundations, etc., I used D.C. +Twitchett, J. Fischer, Hu Hsien-chin, Ch'ue T'ung-tsu, Niida Noboru and +T. Makino. The best analysis of the clan rules is by Wang Hui-chen in +D.S. Nivison, _Confucianism in Action_, Stanford 1959, p. 63-96.--I do +not regard such marriage systems as "survivals" of ancient systems which +have been studied by M. Granet and systematically analysed by C. +Levy-Strauss in his _Les structures elementaires de la parente_, Paris +1949, pp. 381-443. In some cases, the reasons for the establishment of +such rules can still be recognized.--A detailed study of despotism in +China still has to be written. K.A. Wittfogel's _Oriental Despotism_, +New Haven 1957 does not go into the necessary detailed work. + +p. 197: The problem of social mobility is now under study, after +preliminary research by K.A. Wittfogel, E. Kracke, myself and others. E. +Kracke, Ho Ping-ti, R.M. Marsh and I are now working on this topic.--For +the craftsmen and artisans, much material has recently been collected by +Chinese scholars. I have used mainly Li Chien-nung and articles in +_Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3 and in _Mem. Inst. Orient. Cult_. +1956.--On the origin of guilds see Kat[=o] Shigeru; a general study of +guilds and their function has not yet been made (preliminary work by P. +Maybon, H.B. Morse, J. St. Burgess, K.A. Wittfogel and others). +Comparisons with Near-Eastern guilds on the one hand and with Japanese +guilds on the other, are quite interesting but parallels should not be +over-estimated. The _tong_ of U.S. Chinatowns (_tang_ in Mandarin) are +late and organizations of businessmen only (S. Yokoyama and Laai +Yi-faai). They are not the same as the _hui-kuan_. + +p. 198: For the merchants I used Ch'ue T'ung-tsu, Sung Hsi and Wada +Kiyoshi.--For trade, I used extensively Ch'uean Han-sheng and J. +Kuwabara.--On labour legislation in early modern times I used Ko +Ch'ang-chi and especially Li Chien-nung, also my own studies.--On +strikes I used Kat[=o] Shigeru and modern Chinese authors.--The problem +of "vagrants" has been taken up by Li Chien-nung who always refers to +the original sources and to modern Chinese research.--The growth of +cities, perhaps the most striking event in this period, has been studied +for the earlier part of our period by Kat[=o] Shigeru. Li Chien-nung +also deals extensively with investments in industry and agriculture. The +problem as to whether China would have developed into an industrial +society without outside stimulus is much discussed by Marxist authors in +China. + +p. 199: On money policy see Yang Lien-sheng, Kat[=o] Shigeru and others. + +p. 200: The history of one of the Southern Dynasties has been translated +by Ed. H. Schafer, _The Empire of Min_, Tokyo 1954; Schafer's +annotations provide much detail for the cultural and economic conditions +of the coastal area.--For tea and its history, I use my own research; +for tea trade a study by K. Kawakami and an article in the _Frontier +Studies_, vol. 3, 1943.--Salt consumption according to H.T. Fei, +_Earthbound China, 1945, p_. 163. + +p. 201: For salt I used largely my own research. For porcelain +production Li Chien-nung and other modern articles.--On paper, the +classical study is Th. F. Carter, _The Invention of Printing in China_, +New York 1925 (a revised edition now published by L.C. Goodrich). + +p. 202: For paper money in the early period, see Yang Lien-sheng, _Money +and Credit in China_, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. Although the origin of +paper money seems to be well established, it is interesting to note that +already in the third century A.D. money made of paper was produced and +was burned during funeral ceremonies to serve as financial help for the +dead. This money was, however, in the form of coins.--On iron money see +Yang Lien-sheng; I also used an article in _Tung-fang tsa-chih_, vol. +35, No. 10. + +p. 203: For the Kitan (Chines: Ch'i-tan) and their history see K.A. +Wittfogel and Feng Chia-sheng, _History of Chinese Society. Liao_, +Philadelphia 1949. + +p. 204: For these dynasties, I rely upon my own research.--Niida Noboru +and Kat[=o] Shigeru have studied adoption laws; our specific case has in +addition been studied by M. Kurihara. This system of adoptions is +non-Chinese and has its parallels among Turkish tribes (A. Kollantz, +Abdulkadir Inan, Osman Turan). + +p. 207: For the persecution I used K. Tamai and my own research. + +p. 211: This is based mainly upon my own research.--The remark on tax +income is from Ch'uean Han-sheng. + +p. 212: Fan Chung-yen has been studied recently by J. Fischer and D. +Twitchett, but these notes on price policies are based upon my own +work.--I regard the statement, that it was the gentry which prevented +the growth of an industrial society--a statement which has often been +made before--as preliminary, and believe that further research, +especially in the growth of cities and urban institutions may lead to +quite different explanations.--On estate management I relied on Y. +Sudo's work. + +p. 213: Research on place names such as mentioned here, has not yet been +systematically done.--On _i-chuang_ I relied upon the work by T. Makino +and D. Twitchett.--This process of tax-evasion has been used by K.A. +Wittfogel (1938) to construct a theory of a crisis cycle in China. I do +not think that such far-reaching conclusions are warranted. + +p. 214: This "law" was developed on the basis of Chinese materials from +different periods as well as on materials from other parts of Asia.--In +the study of tenancy, cases should be studied in which wealthier farmers +rent additional land which gets cultivated by farm labourers. Such cases +are well known from recent periods, but have not yet been studied in +earlier periods. At the same time, the problem of farm labourers should +be investigated. Such people were common in the Sung time. Research +along these lines could further clarify the importance of the so-called +"guest families" (_k'o-hu_) which were alluded to in these pages. They +constituted often one third of the total population in the Sung period. +The problem of migration and mobility might also be clarified by +studying the _k'o-hu_. + +p. 215: For Wang An-shih, the most comprehensive work is still H. +Williamson's _Wang An-shih_, London 1935, 3 vol., but this work in no +way exhausts the problems. We have so much personal data on Wang that a +psychological study could be attempted; and we have since Williamson's +time much deeper insight into the reforms and theories of Wang. I used, +in addition to Williamson, O. Franke, and my own research. + +p. 216: Based mainly upon Ch'ue T'ung-tsu.--For the social legislation +see Hsue I-t'ang; for economic problems I used Ch'uean Han-sheng, Ts'en +Chung-mien and Liu Ming-shu.--Most of these relief measures had their +precursors in the T'ang period. + +p. 217: It is interesting to note that later Buddhism gave up its +"social gospel" in China. Buddhist circles in Asian countries at the +present time attempt to revive this attitude. + +p. 218: For slaughtering I used A. Hulsewe; for greeting R. Michihata; +on law Ch'ue T'ung-tsu; on philosophy I adapted ideas from Chan Wing-sit. + +p. 219: A comprehensive study of Chu Hsi is a great desideratum. Thus +far, we have in English mainly the essays by Feng Yu-lan (transl. and +annotated by D. Bodde) in the _Harvard Journal of Asiat. Stud_., vol. 7, +1942. T. Makino emphasized Chu's influence upon the Far East, J. Needham +his interest in science. + +p. 220: For Su Tung-p'o as general introduction see Lin Yutang, _The Gay +Genius. The Life and Times of Su Tung-p'o_, New York 1947.--For +painting, I am using concepts of A. Soper here. + +p. 222: For this period the standard work is K.A. Wittfogel and Feng +Chia-sheng, _History of Chinese Society, Liao_, Philadelphia +1949.--Po-hai had been in tributary relations with the dynasties of +North China before its defeat, and resumed these from 932 on; there were +even relations with one of the South Chinese states; in the same way, +Kao-li continuously played one state against the other (M. Rogers _et +al_.). + +p. 223: On the Kara-Kitai see Appendix to Wittfogel-Feng. + +p. 228: For the Hakka, I relied mainly upon Lo Hsiang-lin; for Chia +Ssu-tao upon H. Franke. + +p. 229: The Juchen (Jurchen) are also called Nue-chih and Nue-chen, but +Juchen seems to be correct (_Studia Serica_, vol. 3, No. 2). + +_Chapter Ten_ + +p. 233: I use here mainly Meng Ssu-liang, but also others, such as Chue +Ch'ing-yuean and Li Chien-nung.--The early political developments are +described by H.D. Martin, _The Rise of Chingis Khan and his Conquest of +North China_, Baltimore 1950. + +p. 236: I am alluding here to such Taoist sects as the Cheng-i-chiao +(Sun K'o-k'uan and especially the study in _Kita Aziya gakuh[=o]_, vol. 2). + +pp. 236-7: For taxation and all other economic questions I have relied +upon Wan Kuo-ting and especially upon H. Franke. The first part of the +main economic text is translated and annotated by H.F. Schurmann, +_Economic Structure of the Yuean Dynasty_, Cambridge, Mass., 1956. + +p. 237: On migrations see T. Makino and others.--For the system of +communications during the Mongol time and the privileges of merchants, I +used P. Olbricht. + +p. 238: For the popular rebellions of this time, I used a study in the +_Bull. Acad. Sinica_, vol. 10, 1948, but also Meng Ssu-liang and others. + +p. 239: On the White Lotus Society (Pai-lien-hui) see note to previous +page and an article by Hagiwara Jumpei. + +p. 240: H. Serruys, _The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu Period_, +Bruges 1959, has studied in this book and in an article the fate of +isolated Mongol groups in China after the breakdown of the dynasty. + +pp. 241-2: The travel report of Ch'ang-ch'un has been translated by A. +Waley, _The Travels of an Alchemist_, London 1931. + +p. 242: _Hsi-hsiang-chi_ has been translated by S.I. Hsiung. _The +Romance of the Western Chamber_, London 1935. All important analytic +literature on drama and theatre is written by Chinese and Japanese +authors, especially by Yoshikawa Kojiro.--For Bon and early Lamaism, I +used H. Hoffmann. + +p. 243: Lamaism in Mongolia disappeared later, however, and was +reintroduced in the reformed form (Tsong-kha-pa, 1358-1419) in the +sixteenth century. See R.J. Miller, _Monasteries and Culture Change in +Inner Mongolia_, Wiesbaden 1959. + +p. 245: Much more research is necessary to clarify Japanese-Chinese +relations in this period, especially to determine the size of trade. +Good material is in the article by S. Iwao. Important is also S. Sakuma +and an article in _Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3. For the loss of coins, +I relied upon D. Brown. + +p. 246: The necessity of transports of grain and salt was one of the +reasons for the emergence of the Hsin-an and Hui-chou merchants. The +importance of these developments is only partially known (studies mainly +by H. Fujii and in _Li-shih-yen-chiu_ 1955, No. 3). Data are also in an +unpublished thesis by Ch. Mac Sherry, _The Impairment of the Ming +Tributary System_, and in an article by Wang Ch'ung-wu. + +p. 247: The tax system of the Ming has been studied among others by +Liang Fang-chung. Yoshiyuki Suto analysed the methods of tax evasion in +the periods before the reform. For the land grants, I used Wan +Kuo-ting's data. + +p. 248: Based mainly upon my own research. On the progress of +agriculture wrote Li Chien-nung and also Kat[=o] Shigeru and others. + +p. 250: I believe that further research would discover that the +"agrarian revolution" was a key factor in the economic and social +development of China. It probably led to another change in dietary +habits; it certainly led to a greater labour input per person, i.e. a +higher number of full working days per year than before. It may be--but +only further research can try to show this--that the "agrarian +revolution" turned China away from technology and industry.--On cotton +and its importance see the studies by M. Amano, and some preliminary +remarks by P. Pelliot. + +pp. 250-1: Detailed study of Central Chinese urban centres in this time +is a great desideratum. My remarks here have to be taken as very +preliminary. Notice the special character of the industries +mentioned!--The porcelain centre of Ching-te-chen was inhabited by +workers and merchants (70-80 per cent of population); there were more +than 200 private kilns.--On indented labour see Li Chien-nung, H. Iwami +and Y. Yamane. + +p. 253: On _pien-wen_ I used R. Michihata, and for this general +discussion R. Irvin, _The Evolution of a Chinese Novel_, Cambridge, +Mass., 1953, and studies by J. Jaworski and J. Pru[vs]ek. Many texts of +_pien-wen_ and related styles have been found in Tunhuang and have been +recently republished by Chinese scholars. + +p. 254: _Shui-hu-chuan_ has been translated by Pearl Buck, _All Men are +Brothers_. Parts of _Hsi-yu-chi_ have been translated by A. Waley, +_Monkey_, London 1946. _San-kuo yen-i_ is translated by C.H. +Brewitt-Taylor, _San Kuo, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, Shanghai +1925 (a new edition just published). A purged translation of +Chin-p'ing-mei is published by Fr. Kuhn _Chin P'ing Mei_, New York 1940. + +p. 255: Even the "murder story" was already known in Ming time. An +example is R.H. van Gulik, _Dee Gong An. Three Murder Cases solved by +Judge Dee_, Tokyo 1949. + +p. 256: For a special group of block-prints see R.H. van Gulik, _Erotic +Colour Prints of the Ming Dynasty_, Tokyo 1951. This book is also an +excellent introduction into Chinese psychology. + +p. 257: Here I use work done by David Chan. + +p. 258: I use here the research of J.J.L. Duyvendak; the reasons for the +end of such enterprises, as given here, may not exhaust the problem. It +may not be without relevance that Cheng came from a Muslim family. His +father was a pilgrim (_Bull. Chin. Studies_, vol. 3, pp. 131-70). +Further research is desirable.--Concerning folk-tales, I use my own +research. The main Buddhist tales are the _Jataka_ stories. They are +still used by Burmese Buddhists in the same context. + +p. 260: The Oirat (Uyrat, Ojrot, Oeloet) were a confederation of four +tribal groups: Khosud, Dzungar, Doerbet and Turgut. + +p. 261: I regard this analysis of Ming political history as +unsatisfactory, but to my knowledge no large-scale analysis has been +made.--For Wang Yang-ming I use mainly my own research. + +p. 262: For the coastal salt-merchants I used Lo Hsiang-lin's work. + +p. 263: On the rifles I used P. Pelliot. There is a large literature on +the use of explosives and the invention of cannons, especially L.C. +Goodrich and Feng Chia-sheng in _Isis_, vol. 36, 1946 and 39, 1948; also +G. Sarton, Li Ch'iao-p'ing, J. Pru[vs]ek, J. Needham, and M. Ishida; a +comparative, general study is by K. Huuri, _Studia Orientalia_ vol. 9, +1941.--For the earliest contacts of Wang with Portuguese, I used Chang +Wei-hua's monograph.--While there is no satisfactory, comprehensive +study in English on Wang, for Lu Hsiang-shan the book by Huang Siu-ch'i, +_Lu Hsiang-shan, a Twelfth-century Chinese Idealist Philosopher_, New +Haven 1944, can be used. + +p. 264: For Tao-yen, I used work done by David Chan.--Large parts of the +_Yung-lo ta-tien_ are now lost (Kuo Po-kung, Yuean T'ung-li studied this +problem). + +p. 265: Yen-ta's Mongol name is Altan Qan (died 1582), leader of the +Tuemet. He is also responsible for the re-introduction of Lamaism into +Mongolia (1574).--For the border trade I used Hou Jen-chih; for the +Shansi bankers Ch'en Ch'i-t'ien and P. Maybon. For the beginnings of the +Manchu see Fr. Michael, _The Origins of Manchu Rule in China_, Baltimore +1942. + +p. 266: M. Ricci's diary (Matthew Ricci, _China in the Sixteenth +Century_. The Journals of M. Ricci, transl. by L.J. Gallagher, New York +1953) gives much insight into the life of Chinese officials in this +period. Recently, J. Needham has tried to show that Ricci and his +followers did not bring much which was not already known in China, but +that they actually attempted to prevent the Chinese from learning about +the Copernican theory. + +p. 267: For Coxinga I used M. Eder's study.--The Szechwan rebellion was +led by Chang Hsien-chung (1606-1647); I used work done by James B. +Parsons. Cheng T'ien-t'ing, Sun Yueh and others have recently published +the important documents concerning all late Ming peasant +rebellions.--For the Tung-lin academy see Ch. O. Hucker in J.K. +Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and Institutions_, Chicago 1957. A different +interpretation is indicated by Shang Yueeh in _Li-shih yen-chiu_ 1955, +No. 3. + +p. 268: Work on the "academies" (shu-yuean) in the earlier time is done +by Ho Yu-shen. + +pp. 273-4: Based upon my own, as yet unfinished research. + +p. 274: The population of 1953 as given here, includes Chinese outside +of mainland China. The population of mainland China was 582.6 millions. +If the rate of increase of about 2 per cent per year has remained the +same, the population of mainland China in 1960 may be close to 680 +million. In general see P.T. Ho. _Studies on the Population of China, +1368-1953_, Cambridge, Mass., 1960. + +p. 276: Based upon my own research.--A different view of the development +of Chinese industry is found in Norman Jacobs, _Modern Capitalism and +Eastern Asia_, Hong Kong 1958. Jacobs attempted a comparison of China +with Japan and with Europe. Different again is Marion Levy and Shih +Kuo-heng, _The Rise of the Modern Chinese Business Class_, New York +1949. Both books are influenced by the sociological theories of T. +Parsons. + +p. 277: The Dzungars (Dsunghar; Chun-ko-erh) are one of the four Oeloet +(Oirat) groups. I am here using studies by E. Haenisch and W. Fuchs. + +p. 278: Tibetan-Chinese relations have been studied by L. Petech, _China +and Tibet in the Early 18th Century_, Leiden 1950. A collection of data +is found in M.W. Fisher and L.E. Rose, _England, India, Nepal, Tibet, +China, 1765-1958_, Berkeley 1959. For diplomatic relations and tributary +systems of this period, I referred to J.K. Fairbank and Teng Ssu-yue. + +p. 279: For Ku Yen-wu, I used the work by H. Wilhelm.--A man who +deserves special mention in this period is the scholar Huang Tsung-hsi +(1610-1695) as the first Chinese who discussed the possibility of a +non-monarchic form of government in his treatise of 1662. For him see +Lin Mou-sheng, _Men and Ideas_, New York 1942, and especially W.T. de +Bary in J.K. Fairbank, _Chinese Thought and Institutions_, Chicago 1957. + +pp. 280-1: On Liang see now J.R. Levenson, _Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and the Mind +of Modern China_, London 1959. + +p. 282: It should also be pointed out that the Yung-cheng emperor was +personally more inclined towards Lamaism.--The Kalmuks are largely +identical with the above-mentioned Oeloet. + +p. 286: The existence of _hong_ is known since 1686, see P'eng Tse-i and +Wang Chu-an's recent studies. For details on foreign trade see H.B. +Morse, _The Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China +1635-1834_, Oxford 1926, 4 vols., and J.K. Fairbank, _Trade and +Diplomacy on the China Coast. The Opening of the Treaty Ports, +1842-1854_, Cambridge, Mass., 1953, 2 vols.--For Lin I used G.W. +Overdijkink's study. + +p. 287: On customs read St. F. Wright, _Hart and the Chinese Customs_, +Belfast 1950. + +p. 288: For early industry see A. Feuerwerker, _China's Early +Industrialization: Sheng Hsuan-huai (1844-1916_), Cambridge, Mass., +1958. + +p. 289: The Chinese source materials for the Mohammedan revolts have +recently been published, but an analysis of the importance of the +revolts still remains to be done.--On T'ai-p'ing much has been +published, especially in the last years in China, so that all documents +are now available. I used among other studies, details brought out by Lo +Hsiang-lin and Jen Yu-wen. + +p. 291: For Tseng Kuo-fan see W.J. Hail, _Tseng Kuo-fan and the +T'ai-p'ing Rebellion_, New Haven 1927, but new research on him is about +to be published.--The Nien-fei had some connection with the White Lotus, +and were known since 1814, see Chiang Siang-tseh, _The Nien Rebellion_, +Seattle 1954. + +p. 292: Little is known about Salars, Dungans and Yakub Beg's rebellion, +mainly because relevant Turkish sources have not yet been studied. On +Salars see L. Schram, _The Monguors of Kansu_, Philadelphia 1954, p. 23 +and P. Pelliot; on Dungans see I. Grebe. + +p. 293: On Tso Tsung-t'ang see G. Ch'en, _Tso Tung T'ang, Pioneer +Promotor of the Modern Dockyard and Woollen Mill in China_, Peking 1938, +and _Yenching Journal of Soc. Studies_, vol. I. + +p. 294: For the T'ung-chih period, see now Mary C. Wright, _The Last +Stand of Chinese Conservativism. The T'ung-chih Restoration, 1862-1874_, +Stanford 1957. + +p. 295: Ryukyu is Chinese: Liu-ch'iu; Okinawa is one of the islands of +this group.--Formosa is Chinese: T'ai-wan (Taiwan). Korea is Chinese: +Chao-hsien, Japanese: Chosen. + +p. 297: M.C. Wright has shown the advisers around the ruler before the +Empress Dowager realized the severity of the situation.--Much research +is under way to study the beginning of industrialization of Japan, and +my opinions have changed greatly, due to the research done by Japanese +scholars and such Western scholars as H. Rosovsky and Th. Smith. The +eminent role of the lower aristocracy has been established. Similar +research for China has not even seriously started. My remarks are +entirely preliminary. + +p. 298: For K'ang Yo-wei, I use work done by O. Franke and others. See +M.E. Cameron, _The Reform Movement in China, 1898-1921_, Stanford 1921. +The best bibliography for this period is J.K. Fairbank and Liu +Kwang-ching, _Modern China: A Bibliographical Guide to Chinese Works, +1898-1937_, Cambridge, Mass., 1950. The political history of the time, +as seen by a Chinese scholar, is found in Li Chien-nung, _The Political +History of China 1840-1928_, Princeton 1956.--For the social history of +this period see Chang Chung-li, _The Chinese Gentry_, Seattle 1955.--For +the history of Tz[)u] Hsi Bland-Backhouse, _China under the Empress +Dowager_, Peking 1939 (Third ed.) is antiquated, but still used. For +some of K'ang Yo-wei's ideas, see now K'ang Yo-wei: _Ta T'ung Shu. The +One World Philosophy of K'ang Yu Wei_, London 1957. + +_Chapter Eleven_ + +p. 305: I rely here partly upon W. Franke's recent studies. For Sun +Yat-sen (Sun I-hsien; also called Sun Chung-shan) see P. Linebarger, +_Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese Republic_, Cambridge, Mass., 1925 and his +later _The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat-sen_, Baltimore +1937.--Independently, Atatuerk in Turkey developed a similar theory of +the growth of democracy. + +p. 306: On student activities see Kiang Wen-han, _The Ideological +Background of the Chinese Student Movement_, New York 1948. + +p. 307: On Hu Shih see his own _The Chinese Renaissance_, Chicago 1934 +and J. de Francis, _Nationalism and Language Reform in China_, Princeton +1950. + +p. 310: The declaration of Independence of Mongolia had its basis in the +early treaty of the Mongols with the Manchus (1636): "In case the Tai +Ch'ing Dynasty falls, you will exist according to previous basic laws" +(R.J. Miller, _Monasteries and Culture Change in Inner Mongolia_, +Wiesbaden 1959, p. 4). + +p. 315: For the military activities see F.F. Liu, _A Military History of +Modern China, 1924-1949_, Princeton 1956. A Marxist analysis of the 1927 +events is Manabendra Nath Roy, _Revolution and Counter-Revolution in +China_, Calcutta 1946; the relevant documents are translated in C. +Brandt, B. Schwartz, J.K. Fairbank, _A Documentary History of Chinese +Communism_, Cambridge, Mass., 1952. + +_Chapter Twelve_ + +For Mao Tse-tung, see B. Schwartz, _Chinese Communism and the Rise of +Mao_, second ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1958. For Mao's early years; see +J.E. Rue, _Mao Tse-tung in Opposition_, 1927-1935, Stanford 1966. For +the civil war, see L.M. Chassin, _The Communist Conquest of China: A +History of the Civil War, 1945-1949_, Cambridge, Mass., 1965. For brief +information on communist society, see Franz Schurmann and Orville +Schell, _The China Reader_, vol. 3, _Communist China_, New York 1967. +For problems of organization, see Franz Schurmann, _Ideology and +Organization in Communist China_, Berkeley 1966. For cultural and +political problems, see Ho Ping-ti, _China in Crisis_, vol. 1, _China's +Heritage and the Communist Political System_, Chicago 1968. For a +sympathetic view of rural life in communist China, see J. Myrdal, +_Report from a Chinese Village_, New York 1966; for Taiwanese village +life, see Bernard Gallin, _Hsin Hsing, Taiwan: A Chinese Village in +Change_, Berkeley 1966. + +INDEX + + Abahai, ruler + Abdication + Aborigines + Absolutism (_see_ Despotism, Dictator, Emperor, Monarchy) + Academia Sinica + Academies + Administration; + provincial + (_see_ Army, Feudalism, Bureaucracy) + Adobe (Mud bricks) + Adoptions + Afghanistan + Africa + Agriculture; + development; + Origin of; + of Shang; + shifting (denshiring) + (_see_ Wheat, Millet, Rice, Plough, Irrigation, Manure, Canals, + Fallow) + An Ti, ruler of Han + Ainu, tribes + Ala-shan mountain range + Alchemy (_see_ Elixir) + Alexander the Great + America (_see_ United States) + Amithabha, god + Amur, river + An Chi-yeh, rebel + An Lu-shan, rebel + Analphabetism + Anarchists + Ancestor, cult + Aniko, sculptor + Animal style + Annam (Vietnam) + Anyang (Yin-ch'ue) + Arabia; + Arabs + Architecture + Aristocracy (_see_ Nobility, Feudalism) + Army, cost of; + organization of; + size of; + Tibetan + (_see_ War, Militia, tu-tu, pu-ch'ue) + Art, Buddhist (_see_ Animal style, Architecture, Pottery, Painting, + Sculpture, Wood-cut) + Arthashastra, book, attributed to Kautilya + Artisans; + Organizations of + (_see_ Guilds, Craftsmen) + Assimilation (_see_ Colonization) + Astronomy + Austroasiatics + Austronesians + Avars, tribe (_see_ Juan-juan) + Axes, prehistoric + Axis, policy + + Babylon + Baghdad, city + Balasagun, city + Ballads + Banks + Banner organization + Barbarians (Foreigners) + Bastards + Bath + Beg, title + Beggar + Bengal + Boat festival + Bokhara (Bukhara), city + Bon, religion + Bondsmen (_see pu-ch'ue_, Serfs, Feudalism) + Book, printing; + B burning + Boettger, inventor + Boxer rebellion + Boycott + Brahmans, Indian caste + Brain drain + Bronze (_see_ Metal, Copper) + Brothel (Tea-house) + Buddha; + Buddhism + (_see_ Ch'an, Vinaya, Sects, Amithabha, Maitreya, Hinayana, + Mahayana, Monasteries, Church, Pagoda, Monks, Lamaism) + Budget (_see_ Treasury, Inflation, Deflation) + Bullfights + Bureaucracy; + religious B + (_see_ Administration; Army) + Burgher (_liang-min_) + Burma + Businessmen (_see_ Merchants, Trade) + Byzantium + + Calcutta, city + Caliph (Khaliph) + Cambodia + Canals; + Imperial C + (_see_ Irrigation) + Cannons + Canton (Kuang-chou), city + Capital of Empire (_see_ Ch'ang-an, Sian, Loyang, etc.) + Capitalism (_see_ Investments, Banks, Money, Economy, etc.) + Capitulations (privileges of foreign nations) + Caravans (_see_ Silk road, Trade) + Carpet + Castes, (_see_ Brahmans) + Castiglione, G., painter + Cattle, breeding + Cavalry, (_see_ Horse) + Cave temples (_see_ Lung-men, Yuen-kang, Tunhuang) + Censorate + Censorship + Census (_see_ Population) + Central Asia (_see_ Turkestan, Sinkiang, Tarim, City States) + Champa, State + Ch'an (Zen), meditative Buddhism + Chan-kuo Period (Contending States) + Chancellor + Ch'ang-an, capital of China (_see_ Sian) + Chang Ch'ien, ambassador + Chang Chue-chan, teacher + Chang Hsien-chung, rebel + Chang Hsueeh-hang, war lord + Chang Ling, popular leader + Chang Ti, ruler + Chang Tsai, philosopher + Chang Tso-lin, war lord + Chao, state; + Earlier Chao; + Later Chao + Chao K'uang-yin (T'ai Tsu), ruler + Chao Meng-fu, painter + Charters + Chefoo Convention + Ch'en, dynasty + Ch'en Pa-hsien, ruler + Ch'en Tu-hsiu, intellectual + Ch'eng Hao, philosopher + Cheng Ho, navy commander + Ch'eng I, philosopher + Cheng-i-chiao, religion + Ch'eng Ti, ruler of Han; + ruler of Chin + Ch'eng Tsu, ruler of Manchu + Ch'engtu, city + Ch'i, state; + short dynasty; + Northern Ch'i + Ch'i-fu, clan + Chi-nan, city + Ch'i-tan (_see_ Kitan) + Ch'i Wan-nien, leader + Chia, clan + Chia-ch'ing, period + Chia Ss[)u]-tao, politician + Ch'iang, tribes, (_see_ Tanguts) + Chiang Kai-shek, president + Ch'ien-lung, period + _ch'ien-min_ (commoners), + Chin, dynasty, (_see_ Juchen); + dynasty; + Eastern Chin dynasty; + Later Chin dynasty, + Ch'in, state; + Ch'in, dynasty; + Earlier Ch'in dynasty; + Later Ch'in dynasty; + Western Ch'in dynasty + Ch'in K'ui, politician + Chinese, origin of + Ching Fang, scholar + Ching-te (-chen), city + _ching-t'ien_ system + Ching Tsung, Manchu ruler + Ch'iu Ying, painter + Chou, dynasty; + short Chou dynasty; + Later Chou dynasty; + Northern Chou dynasty + Chou En-lai, politician + Chou-k'ou-tien, archaeological site + Chou-kung (Duke of Chou) + Chou-li, book + Chou Tun-i, philosopher + Christianity (_see_ Nestorians, Jesuits, Missionaries) + Chronology + Ch'u, state + Chu Ch'uean-chung, general and ruler + Chu Hsi, philosopher + Chu-ko Liang, general + Chu Te, general + Chu Tsai-yue, scholar + Chu Yuean-chang (T'ai Tsu), ruler + _chuang_ (_see_ Manors, Estates) + Chuang Tz[)u], philosopher + Chuen-ch'en, ruler + Ch'un-ch'iu, book + _chuen-t'ien_ system (land equalization system) + _chuen-tz[)u]_ (gentleman) + Chung-ch'ang T'ung, philosopher + Chungking (Ch'ung-ch'ing), city + Church, Buddhistic + Taoistic + (_see_ Chang Ling) + Cities + spread and growth of cities + origin of cities + twin cities + (_see_ City states, Ch'ang-an, Sian, Loyang, Hankow, etc.) + City States (of Central Asia) + Clans + Classes, social classes + (_see_ Castes, _ch'ien-min, liang-min_, Gentry, etc.) + Climate, changes + Cliques + Cloisonne + Cobalt + Coins (_see_ Money) + Colonialism (_see_ Imperialism) + Colonization (_see_ Migration, Assimilation) + Colour prints + Communes + Communism (_see_ Marxism, Socialism, Soviets) + Concubines + Confessions + Confucian ritual + Confucianism + Confucian literature + false Confucian literature + Confucians + (_see_ Neo-Confucianism) + Conquests (_see_ War, Colonialism) + Conservatism + Constitution + Contending States + Co-operatives + Copper (_see_ Bronze, Metal) + Corruption + Corvee (forced labour) (_see_ Labour) + Cotton + Courtesans (_see_ Brothel) + Coxinga, rebel + Craftsmen (_see_ Artisans) + Credits + Criminals + Crop rotation + + Dalai Lama, religious ruler of Tibet + Dance + Deflation + Deities (_see_ T'ien, Shang Ti, Maitreya, Amithabha, etc.) + Delft, city + Demands, the twenty-one + Democracy + Denshiring + Despotism (_see_ Absolutism) + Dewey, J., educator + Dialects (_see_ Language) + Dialecticians + Dictators (_see_ Despotism) + Dictionaries + Diploma, for monks + Diplomacy + Disarmament + Discriminatory laws (_see_ Double Standard) + Dog + Dorgon, prince + Double standard, legal + Drama + Dress, changes + Dungan, tribes + Dynastic histories (_see_ History) + Dzungars, people + + Eclipses + Economy + Money economy + Natural economy + (_see_ Agriculture, Nomadism, Industry, Denshiring, Money, Trade, etc.) + Education (_see_ Schools, Universities, Academies, Script, + Examination system, etc.) + Elements, the five + Elephants + Elite (_see_ Intellectuals, Students, Gentry) + Elixir (_see_ Alchemy) + Emperor, position of + Emperor and church + (_see_ Despotism, King, Absolutism, Monarchy, etc.) + Empress (_see_ Lue, Wu, Wei, Tz[)u] Hsi) + Encyclopaedias + England (_see_ Great Britain) + Ephtalites, tribe + Epics + Equalization Office (_see chuen-t'ien_) + Erotic literature + Estates (_chuang_) + Ethics (_see_ Confucianism) + Eunuchs + Europe + Europeans + Examination system + Examinations for Buddhists + + Fables + Factories + Fallow system + Falsifications (_see_ Confucianism) + Family structure + Family ethics + Family planning + Fan Chung-yen, politician + Fascism + Federations, tribal + Felt + Feng Kuo-chang, politician + Feng Meng-lung, writer + Feng Tao, politician + Feng Yue-hsiang, war lord + Ferghana, city + Fertility cults + differential fertility + Fertilizer + Feudalism + end of feudalism + late feudalism + new feudalism + nomadic feudalism + (_see_ Serfs, Aristocracy, Fiefs, Bondsmen, etc.) + Fiefs + Finances (_see_ Budget, Inflation, Money, Coins) + Fire-arms (_see_ Rifles, Cannons) + Fishing + Folk-tales + Food habits + Foreign relations (_see_ Diplomacy, Treaty, Tribute, War) + Forests + Formosa (T'aiwan) + France + Frontier, concept of + Frugality + Fu Chien, ruler + Fu-lan-chi (Franks) + Fu-lin, Manchu ruler + Fu-yue, country + Fukien, province + + Galdan, leader + Gandhara, country + Gardens + Geisha (_see_ Courtesans) + Genealogy + Genghiz Khan, ruler + Gentry (Upper class) + colonial gentry + definition of gentry + gentry state + southern gentry + Germany + Goek Turks + Governors, role of + Grain (_see_ Millet, Rice, Wheat) + Granaries + Great Britain (_see_ England) + Great Leap Forward + Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution + Great Wall + Greeks + Guilds + + Hakka, ethnic group + Hami, city state + Han, dynasty + Later Han dynasty + Han Fei Tz[)u], philosopher + Han T'o-wei, politician + Han Yue, philosopher + Hankow (Han-k'ou), city + Hangchow (Hang-chou), city + Heaven (_see_ Shang Ti, T'ien) + Hermits (_see_ Monks, Sages) + Hinayana, religion + Historians + Histories, dynastic + falsification of histories + Historiography + Hitler, Adolf, dictator + Hittites, ethnic group + Ho Ch'eng-t'ien, scholar + Ho-lien P'o-p'o, ruler + Ho Ti, Han ruler + _hong_, association + Hong Kong, colony + Hopei, province + Horse + horse chariot + horse riding + horse trade + Hospitals + Hou Ching, ruler + Houses (_see_ Adobe) + Hsi-hsia, kingdom + Hsi-k'ang, Tibet + Hsia, dynasty + Hunnic Hsia dynasty + (_see_ Hsi-hsia) + Hsia-hou, clan + Hsia Kui, painter + Hsiao Tao-ch'eng, general + Hsiao Wu Ti, Chin ruler + Hsieh, clan + Hsieh Hsuean, general + Hsien-feng, period + Hsien-pi, tribal federation + Hsien Ti, Han ruler + Hsien-yuen, tribes + Hsin, dynasty + Hsin-an merchants + _Hsin Ch'ing-nien_, journal + Hsiung-nu, tribal federation (_see_ Huns) + Hsue Shih-ch'ang, president + Hsuean-te, period + Hsuean-tsang, Buddhist + Hsuean Tsung, T'ang ruler + Manchu ruler + Hsuean-t'ung, period + Hsuen Tz[)u], philosopher + Hu, name of tribes (_see_ Huns) + Hu Han-min, politician + Hu Shih, scholar and politician + Hu Wei-yung, politician + Huai-nan Tz[)u], philosopher + Huai, Ti, Chin ruler + Huan Hsuean, general + Huan Wen, general + Huang Ch'ao, leader of rebellion + Huang Ti, ruler + Huang Tsung-hsi, philosopher + Hui-chou merchants + _hui-kuan_, association + Hui Ti, Chin ruler + Manchu ruler + Hui Tsung, Sung ruler + Hui Tz[)u], philosopher + Human sacrifice + Hung Hsiu-ch'uean, leader of rebellion + Huns (_see_ Hu, Hsiung-nu) + Hunting + Hutuktu, religious ruler + Hydraulic society + + _i-chuang_, clan manors + Ili, river + Imperialism (_see_ Colonialism) + India (_see_ Brahmans, Bengal, Gandhara, Calcutta, Buddhism) + Indo-China (_see_ Cambodia, Annam, Laos). + Indo-Europeans, language group (_see_ Yueeh-chih, Tocharians, + Hittites) + Indonesia, (_see_ Java) + Industries + Industrialization + Industrial society + (_see_ Factories) + Inflation + Inheritance, laws of + Intellectuals (_see_ Elite, Students) + Investments + Iran (Persia) + Iron + Cast iron + Iron money + (_see_ Steel) + Irrigation + Islam (_see_ Muslims) + Istanbul (Constantinople) + Italy + Japan (_see_ Meiji, Tada, Tanaka) + Java + Jedzgerd, ruler, + Jehol, province, + Jen Tsung, Manchu ruler + Jesuits + Jews + _Ju_ (scribes) + Juchen (Chin Dynasty, Jurchen) + Juan-juan, tribal federation + Jurchen (_see_ Juchen) + + K'ai-feng, city (_see_ Yeh, Pien-liang) + Kalmuk, Mongol tribes (_see_ Oeloet) + K'ang-hsi, period + K'ang Yo-wei, politician and scholar + Kansu, province (_see_ Tunhuang) + Kao-ch'ang, city state + Kao, clan + Kao-li, state (_see_ Korea) + Kao Ming, writer + Kao Tsu, Han ruler + Kao Tsung, T'ang ruler + Kao Yang, ruler + Kapok, textile fibre + Kara Kitai, tribal federation + Kashgar, city + Kazak, tribal federation + Khalif (_see_ Caliph) + Khamba, Tibetans + Khan, Central Asian title + Khocho, city + Khotan, city + King, position of + first kings + religious character of kingship + (_see_ Yao, Shun, Hsia dynasty, Emperor, Wang, Prince) + Kitan (Ch'i-tan), tribal federation (_see_ Liao dynasty) + Ko-shu Han, general + Korea (_see_ Kao-li, Pai-chi, Sin-lo) + K'ou Ch'ien-chih, Taoist + Kowloon, city + Ku Yen-wu, geographer + Kuan Han-ch'ing, writer + Kuang-hsue, period + Kuang-wu Ti, Han ruler + Kub(i)lai Khan, Mongol ruler + Kung-sun Lung, philosopher + K'ung Tz[)u] (Confucius) + Kuomintang (KMT), party + Kuo Wei, ruler + Kuo Tz[)u]-hsing, rebel leader + Kuo Tz[)u]-i, loyal general + Kyakhta (Kiachta), city + + Labour, forced (_see_ Corvee) + Labour laws + Labour shortage + Lacquer + Lamaism, religion + Land ownership (_see_ Property) + Land reform (_see chuen-t'ien, ching-t'ien_) + Landlords + temples as landlords + Language + dialects + Language reform + Lang Shih-ning, painter + La Tz[)u], philosopher + Laos, country + Law codes (_see_ Li K'ui, Property law, Inheritance, Legalists) + Leadership + League of Nations + Leibniz, philosopher + Legalists (_fa-chia_) + Legitimacy of rule (_see_ Abdication) + Lenin, V. + Lhasa, city + Li An-shih, economist + Li Chung-yen, governor + Li Hung-chang, politician + Li K'o-yung, ruler + Li Kuang-li, general + Li K'ui, law-maker + Li Li-san, politician + Li Lin-fu, politician + Li Lung-mien, painter + Li Shih-min (_see_ T'ai Tsung), T'ang ruler + Li Ss[)u], politician + Li Ta-chao, librarian + Li T'ai-po, poet + Li Tz[)u]-ch'eng, rebel + Li Yu, writer + Li Yu-chen, writer + Li Yuean, ruler + Li Yuean-hung, politician + Liang dynasty, Earlier + Later Liang + Northern Liang + Southern Liang + Western Liang + Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, journalist + _liang-min_ (burghers) + Liao, tribes, + Liao dynasty (_see_ Kitan) + Western Liao dynasty + _Liao-chai chih-i_, short-story collection + Libraries + Lin-chin, city + Lin-ch'uan, city + Lin Shu, translator + Lin Tse-hsue, politician + Literati, (_see_ Scholars, Confucianists) + Literature (_see pien-wen, pi-chi_, Poetry, Drama, Novels, Epics, + Theatre, ballads, Folk-tales, Fables, History, Confucians, Writers, + Scholars, Scribes) + Literary revolution + Liu Chi, Han ruler + Liu Chin-yuean, ruler + Liu Chin, eunuch + Liu Hsiu (_see_ Kuang wu Ti), Han ruler + Liu Lao-chih, general + _liu-min_ (vagrants) + Liu Pang (_see_ Liu Chi) + Liu Pei, general and ruler + Liu Shao-ch'i, political leader + Liu Sung, rebel + Liu Tsung-yuean, writer + Liu Ts'ung, ruler + Liu Yao, ruler + Liu Yue, general + emperor + Liu Yuean, sculptor + emperor + Lo Kuan-chung, writer + Loans, to farmers + foreign + Loess, soil formation + Logic + Long March + Lorcha War + Loyang (Lo-yang), capital of China + Lu, state + Lue, empress + Lu Hsiang-shan, philosopher + Lu Hsuen, writer + Lue Kuang, ruler + Lue Pu, general + Lue Pu-wei, politician + Lun, prince + _Lun-heng_, book + Lung-men, place + Lung-shan, excavation site + Lytton Commission + Ma Yin, ruler + Ma Yuean, general + painter + Machiavellism + Macao, Portuguese colony + Mahayana, Buddhist sect + Maitreya, Buddhist deity (_see_ Messianic movements) + Malacca, state + Malaria + Managers + Manchu, tribal federation and dynasty + Manchuria + Manichaeism, Iranian religion + Manors (_chuang, see_ Estates) + Mao Tun, Hsiung-nu ruler + Mao Tse-tung, party leader + Marco Polo, businessman + Market + Market control + Marriage systems + Marxism + Marxist theory of history + (_see_ Materialism, Communism, Lenin, Mao Tse-tung) + Materialism + Mathematics + Matrilinear societies + Mazdaism, Iranian religion + May Fourth Movement + Medicine + Medical doctors + Meditation (_see_ Ch'an) + Megalithic culture + Meiji, Japanese ruler + Melanesia + Mencius (Meng Tz[)u]), philosopher + Merchants + foreign merchants + (_see_ Trade, Salt, Caravans, Businessmen) + Messianic movements + Metal (_see_ Bronze, Copper, Iron) + Mi Fei, painter + Middle Class (_see_ Burgher, Merchant, Craftsmen, Artisans) + Middle East (_see_ Near East) + Migrations + forced migrations + (_see_ Colonization, Assimilation, Settlement) + Militarism + Militia + Millet + Mills + Min, state in Fukien + Ming dynasty + Ming Jui, general + Min Ti, Chin ruler + Ming Ti, Han ruler + Wei ruler + Later T'ang ruler + Minorate + Missionaries, Christian (_see_ Jesuits) + Mo Ti, philosopher + Modernization + Mohammedan rebellions (_see_ Muslim) + Mon-Khmer tribes + Monarchy (_see_ King, Emperor, Absolutism, Despotism) + Monasteries, Buddhist + economic importance + Money + Money economy + Origin of money + paper money + (_see_ Coins, Paper, Silver) + Mongolia + Mongols, tribes, tribal federation, dynasty (_see_ Yuean dynasty, + Kalmuk, Tuemet, Oirat, Oeloet, Naiman, Turgut, Timur, Genghiz, Kublai) + Monks, Buddhist + Monopolies + Mound-dwellers + Mu-jung, tribes + Mu Ti, East Chin ruler + Mu Tsung, Manchu ruler + Mulberries + Munda tribes + Music (_see_ Theatre, Dance, Geisha) + Muslims + Muslim rebellions + (_see_ Islam, Mohammedans) + Mysticism + + Naiman, Mongol tribe + Nan-chao, state + Nanyang, city + Nanking (Nan-ching), capital of China + Nanking regime + Nationalism (_see_ Kuomintang) + Nature + Nature philosophers + Navy + Near East (_see_ Arabs, Iran, etc.) + Neo-Confucianism + Neolithicum + Nepal + Nerchinsk, place + Nestorian Christianity + Ni Tsan, painter + Nien Fei, rebels + Niu Seng-yu, politician + Nobility + Nomadic nobility + (_see_ Aristocracy) + Nomadism + Economy of nomads + Nomadic society structure + Novels + + Oil + Oirat, Mongol tribes + Okinawa (_see_ Ryukyu) + Oeloet, Mongol tribes + Opera + Opium + Opium War + Oracle bones + Ordos, area + Orenburg, city + Organizations (_see hui-kuan_ Guilds, _hong_, Secret Societies) + Orphanages + Ottoman (Turkish) Empire + Ou-yang Hsiu, writer + Outer Mongolia + + Pagoda + Pai-chi (Paikche), state in Korea + Pai-lien-hui (_see_ White Lotus) + Painting + Palaeolithicum + Pan Ch'ao, general + _pao-chia_, security system + Paper + Paper money + (_see_ Money) + Parliament + Party (_see_ Kuomintang, Communists) + Pearl Harbour + Peasant rebellions (_see_ Rebellions) + Peking, city + Peking Man + Pensions + People's Democracy + Persecution, religious + Persia (Iran) + Persian language + Peruz, ruler + Philippines, state + Philosophy, (_see_ Confucius, Lao Tz[)u], Chuang Tz[)u], + Huai-nan Tz[)u], Hsuen Tz[)u], Mencius, Hui Tz[)u], Mo Ti, + Kung-sun Lung, Shang Tz[)u], Han Fei Tz[)u], Tsou Yen, Legalists, + Chung-ch'ang, T'ung, Yuean Chi, Liu Ling, Chu Hsi, Ch'eng Hao, + Lu Hsiang-shan, Wang Yang-ming, etc.) + _pi-chi_, literary form + _pieh-yeh_ (_see_ Manor) + Pien-liang, city (_see_ K'ai-feng) + _pien-wen_, literary form + Pig + Pilgrims + P'ing-ch'eng, city + Pirates + Plantation economy + Plough + Po Chue-i, poet + Po-hai, state + Poetry + Court Poetry + Northern Poetry + Poets (_see_ T'ao Ch'ien, Po Chue-i, Li T'ai-po, Tu Fu, etc.) + Politicians, migratory + Pontic migration + Population changes + Population decrease + (_see_ Census, Fertility) + Porcelain + Port Arthur, city + Portsmouth, treaty + Portuguese (_see_ Fu-lan-chi, Macao) + Potter + Pottery + black pottery + (_see_ Porcelain) + Price controls + Priests (_see_ Shamans, Ju, Monks) + Primogeniture + Princes + Printing (_see_ Colour, Book) + Privileges of gentry + Proletariat (_see_ Labour) + Propaganda + Property relations (_see_ Laws, Inheritance, Primogeniture) + Protectorate + Provinces, administration + _pu-ch'ue_, bondsmen + P'u-ku Huai-en, general + P'u Sung-lin, writer + P'u Yi, Manchu ruler + Puppet plays + + Railways + Manchurian Railway + Rebellions (_see_ Peasants, Secret Societies, Revolutions) + Red Eyebrows, peasant movement + Red Guards + Reforms; Reform of language (_see_ Land reform) + Regents + Religion + popular religion + (_see_ Bon, Shintoism, Persecution, Sacrifice, Ancestor cult, + Fertility cults, Deities, Temples, Monasteries, Christianity, Islam, + Buddhism, Mazdaism, Manichaeism, Messianic religions, Secret + societies, Soul, Shamanism, State religion) + Republic + Revolutions; legitimization of revolution (_see_ Rebellions) + Ricci, Matteo, missionary + Rice + Rifles + Ritualism + Roads + Roman Empire + Roosevelt, F.D., president + Russia (_see_ Soviet Republics) + Ryukyu (Liu-ch'iu), islands + + Sacrifices + Sages + Sakhalin (Karafuto), island + Salar, ethnic group + Salary + Salt + Salt merchants + Salt trade + Samarkand, city + _San-min chu-i_, book + Sang Hung-yang, economist + Sassanids, Iranian dynasty + Scholars (_Ju_) (_see_ Literati, Scribes, Intellectuals, + Confucianists) + Schools, (_see_ Education) + Science, (_see_ Mathematics, Astronomy, Nature) + Scribes + Script, Chinese + Sculpture + Buddhist sculptures + _se-mu_ (auxiliary troops) + Seal, imperial + Secret societies (_see_ Red Eyebrows; Yellow Turbans; White Lotus; + Boxer; Rebellions) + Sects + Buddhist sects + Seng-ko-lin-ch'in, general + Serfs (_see_ Slaves, Servants, Bondsmen) + Servants + Settlement, of foreigners + military + (_see_ Colonization) + Sha-t'o, tribal federation + Shadow theatre + Shahruk, ruler + Shamans + Shamanism + Shan tribes of South East Asia + _Shan-hai-ching_, book + Shan-yue, title of nomadic ruler + Shang dynasty + Shang Ti, deity + Shang Tz[)u], philosopher (Shang Yang) + Shanghai, city + Shao Yung, philosopher + Sheep + Shen Nung, mythical figure + Shen Tsung, Sung ruler + Manchu ruler + Sheng Tsu, Manchu ruler + _Shih-chi_, book + Shih Ching-t'ang, ruler + Shih Ch'ung, writer + Shih Heng, soldier + Shih Hu, ruler + Shih Huang-ti, ruler + Shih Lo, ruler + Shih-pi, ruler + Shih Ss[)u]-ming + Shih Tsung, Manchu ruler + Shih-wei, Mongol tribes + Shintoism, Japanese religion + Ships (_see_ Navy) + Short stories + Shoulder axes + Shu (Szechwan), area and/or state + Shu-Han dynasty + Shun, dynasty + mythical ruler + Shun-chih, reign period + Sian (Hsi-an, Ch'ang-an), city + Siao Ho (Hsiao Ho), jurist + Silk + Silk road + Silver + Sin-lo (Hsin-lo, Silla), state of Korea + Sinanthropos + Sinkiang (Hsin-Chiang, Turkestan) + Slash and burn agriculture (denshiring) + Slaves + Slave society + Temple slaves + Social mobility + Social structure of tribes + Socialism (_see_ Marxism, Communism) + Sogdiana, country in Central Asia + Soul, concept of soul + South-East Asia (_see_ Burma, Champa, Cambodia, Annam, Laos, + Vietnam, Tonking, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Mon-Khmer) + Soviet Republics (_see_ Russia) + Speculations, financial + Ss[)u]-ma, clan + Ss[)u]-ma Ch'ien, historian + Ss[)u]-ma Kuang, historian + Ss[)u]-ma Yen, ruler + Standardization + States, territorial and national + State religion + Statistics (_see_ Population) + Steel + Steppe + Stone age + Stratification, social (_see_ Classes, Social mobility) + Strikes + Students + Su Chuen, rebel + Su Tsung, T'ang ruler + Su Tung-p'o, poet + _su-wang_ (uncrowned king) + Sui, dynasty + Sun Ts'e, ruler + Sun Yat-sen (Sun I-hsien), revolutionary leader, president + Sung, dynasty + Liu-Sung dynasty + Szechwan (Ss[)u]-ch'uan), province (_see_ Shu) + + Ta-tan (Tatars), tribal federation + Tada, Japanese militarist + Tai, tribes (_see_ Thailand) + Tai Chen, philosopher + Tai Ch'ing dynasty (Manchu) + T'ai P'ing, state + T'ai Tsu, Sung ruler + Manchu ruler + T'ai Tsung, T'ang ruler (_see_ Li Shih-min) + Taiwan (T'ai-wan, _see_ Formosa) + T'an-yao, priest + Tanaka, Japanese militarist + T'ang, dynasty + Later T'ang dynasty + T'ang Hsien-tsu, writer + T'ang Yin, painter + Tanguts, Tibetan tribal federation and/or state (_see_ Ch'iang) + Tao, philosophical term + Tao-kuang, reign period + _Tao-te-ching_, book + T'ao-t'ieh, mythical emblem + Tao-yen, monk + Taoism, religion + Taoists + (_see_ Lao Tz[)u], Chuang Tz[)u], Chang Ling, etc.) + Tarim basin + Tatars (Ta-tan) Mongolian tribal federation + Taxation + Tax collectors + Tax evasion + Tax exemptions + Taxes for monks + Tax reform + Te Tsung, Manchu ruler + Tea + Tea trade + Tea house (_see_ Brothel) + Teachers (_see_ Schools) + Technology + Tell, archaeological term + Temples (_see_ Monasteries) + Tengri khan, ruler + Textile industry (_see_ Silk, Cotton) + Thailand, state (_see_ Tai tribes) + Theatre (_see_ Shadow, Puppet, Opera) + Throne, accession to (_see_ Abdication, Legitimacy) + Ti, Tibetan tribes + Tibet (_see_ Ch'iang, Ti, T'u-fan, T'u-yue-hun, Lhasa Tanguts) + T'ien, deity + Tientsin (T'ien-chin), city + Timur, ruler + Tin + Ting-ling, tribal federation + T'o-pa (_see_ Toba) + T'o-t'o, writer + Toba, Turkish tribal federation + Tocharians, Central Asian ethnic group + Tokto (_see_ T'o-t'o) + Toeloes, Turkish tribal group + Tombs + Tonking, state + Tortoise + Totalitarianism (_see_ Dictatorship, Fascism, Communism) + Tou Ku, general + T'ou-man, ruler + Towns (_see_ City) + Trade + barter trade + international trade + (_see_ Merchants, Commerce, Caravans, Silk road) + Translations + Transportation (_see_ Roads, Canals, Ships, Post, Caravans, Horses) + Travels of emperors + Treasury + Treaty, international + Tribal organization (_see_ Banner, Army, Nomads) + Tribes, disappearance of + social organization + military organization + Tribute (_kung_) + _tsa-hu_, social class + Tsai T'ien, prince + Ts'ai Yuean-p'ei, scholar + Ts'ao Chih, poet + Ts'ao Hsueeh-ch'in, writer + Ts'ao K'un, politician + Ts'ao P'ei, ruler + Ts'ao Ts'ao, general + Tsewang Rabdan, general + Tseng Kuo-fan, general + Tso Tsung-t'ang, general + Tsou Yen, philosopher + Ts'ui, clan + T'u-chueeh, Goek Turk tribes (_see_ Turks) + Tu Fu, poet + T'u-fan, Tibetan tribal group + Tu-ku, Turkish tribe + _T'u-shu chi-ch'eng_, encyclopaedia + _tu-tu_, title + T'u-yue-hun, Tibetan tribal federation + Tuan Ch'i-jui, president + Tuemet, Mongol tribal group + Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, painter + T'ung-chien kang-mu, historical encyclopaedia + T'ung-chih, reign period + Tung Chung-shu, thinker + Tung Fu-hsiang, politician + Tung-lin academy + Tungus tribes (_see_ Juchen, Po-hai, Manchu) + Tunhuang (Tun-huang), city + Turfan, city state + Turgut, Mongol tribal federation + Turkestan (_see_ Central Asia, Tarim, Turfan, Sinkiang, Ferghana, + Samarkand, Khotcho, Tocharians, Yueeh-chih, Sogdians, etc.) + Turkey + Turks (_see_ Goek Turks, T'u-chueeh, Toba, Toeloes, Ting-ling, Uighur, + Sha-t'o, etc.) + Tz[)u] Hsi, empress + + Uighurs, Turkish federation + United States (_see_ America) + Ungern-Sternberg, general + Urbanization (_see_ City) + Urga, city + University + Usury + + Vagrants (_liu-min_) + Vietnam (_see_ Annam) + Village + Village commons + Vinaya Buddhism + Voltaire, writer + + Walls + Great Wall + Wan-li, reign period + _Wang_ (king) + Wang An-shih, statesman + Wang Chen, eunuch + Wang Ching-wei, collaborator + Wang Ch'ung, philosopher + Wang Hsien-chih, peasant leader + Wang Kung, general + Wang Mang, ruler + Wang Shih-chen, writer + Wang Shih-fu, writer + Wang Tao-k'un, writer + Wang Tun, rebel + Wang Yang-ming, general and philosopher + War + size of wars + War-chariot + cost of wars + War lords + Warrior-nomads + (_see_ Army, World War, Opium War, Lorcha War, Fire-arms) + Washington, conference + Wei, dynasty + small state + empress + Wei Chung-hsien, eunuch + Wei T'o, ruler in South China + Welfare state + Well-field system (_ching-t'ien_), + Wen Ti, Han ruler + Wei ruler + Toba ruler + Sui ruler + Wen Tsung, Manchu ruler + Whampoa, military academy + Wheat + White Lotus sect (Pai-lien) + Wholesalers + Wine + Wood-cut (_see_ Colour print) + Wool (_see_ Felt) + World Wars + Women rights + Writing, invention (_see_ Script) + Wu, empress + state + Wuch'ang, city (_see_ Hankow) + Wu Ching-tz[)u], writer + Wu-huan, tribal federation + Wu P'ei-fu, war lord + Wu San-kui, general + Wu Shih-fan, ruler + Wu-sun, tribal group + Wu Tai (Five Dynasties period) + Wu Tao-tz[)u], painter + Wu (Ti), Han ruler + Chin ruler + Liang ruler + Wu Tsung, Manchu ruler + Wu Wang, Chou ruler + _wu-wei_, philosophical term + + Yakub beg, ruler + Yamato, part of Japan + Yang, clan + Yang Chien, ruler (_see_ Wen Ti) + Yang (Kui-fei), concubine + Yang-shao, archaeological site + Yang Ti, Sui ruler + Yao, mythical ruler + tribes in South China + Yarkand, city in Turkestan + Yeh (K'ai-feng), city + Yeh-ta (_see_ Ephtalites) + Yehe-Nara, tribe + Yellow Turbans, secret society + Yeh-lue Ch'u-ts'ai, politician + Yen, state + dynasty + Earlier Yen dynasty + Later Yen dynasty + Western Yen dynasty + Yen-an, city + Yen Fu, translator + Yen Hsi-shan, war lord + Yen-ta (Altan), ruler + _Yen-t'ieh-lun_ (Discourses on Salt and Iron), book + Yin Chung-k'an, general + Yin-ch'ue, city + Yin and Yang, philosophical terms + Ying Tsung, Manchu ruler + Yo Fei, general + Yue Liang, general + Yue-wen, tribal group + Yuean Chen + Yuean Chi, philosopher + Yuean Mei, writer + Yuean Shao, general + Yuean Shih-k'ai, general and president + Yuean Ti, Han ruler + Chin ruler + Yueeh, tribal group and area + Yueeh-chih, Indo-European-speaking ethnic group + Yuen-kang, caves + Yuennan (Yuen-nan), province + Yung-cheng, reign period + Yung-lo, reign period + + Zen Buddhism (_see_ Ch'an) + Zoroaster, founder of religion + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of China, by Wolfram Eberhard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 11367.txt or 11367.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/6/11367/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Gene Smethers and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/11367.zip b/old/11367.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1178711 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11367.zip |