Part 2 (1/2)

[Footnote 7: See Hirth, _China and the Roman Orient_ (Leipzig and Shanghai, 1885), an admirable and fascinating monograph. There are allusions to the Chinese in Virgil and Horace; cf. Cordier, op. cit., i.

p. 271.]

[Footnote 8: Cordier, op. cit. i. p. 281.]

[Footnote 9: Cordier, op. cit. i. p. 237.]

[Footnote 10: Murdoch, in his _History of j.a.pan_ (vol. i. p. 146), thus describes the greatness of the early Tang Empire:

”In the following year (618) Li Yuen, Prince of T'ang, established the ill.u.s.trious dynasty of that name, which continued to sway the fortunes of China for nearly three centuries (618-908). After a brilliant reign of ten years he handed over the imperial dignity to his son, Tai-tsung (627-650), perhaps the greatest monarch the Middle Kingdom has ever seen. At this time China undoubtedly stood in the very forefront of civilization. She was then the most powerful, the most enlightened, the most progressive, and the best governed empire, not only in Asia, but on the face of the globe. Tai-tsung's frontiers reached from the confines of Persia, the Caspian Sea, and the Altai of the Kirghis steppe, along these mountains to the north side of the Gobi desert eastward to the inner Hing-an, while Sogdiana, Khora.s.san, and the regions around the Hindu Rush also acknowledged his suzerainty. The sovereign of Nepal and Magadha in India sent envoys; and in 643 envoys appeared from the Byzantine Empire and the Court of Persia.”]

[Footnote 11: Cordier, op. cit. ii. p. 212.]

[Footnote 12: Cordier, op. cit. ii. p. 339.]

[Footnote 13: Cordier, op. cit. i. p. 484.]

[Footnote 14: _The Truth About China and j.a.pan_. George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., pp. 13, 14.]

[Footnote 15: For example, the nearest approach that could be made in Chinese to my own name was ”Lo-Su.” There is a word ”Lo,” and a word ”Su,” for both of which there are characters; but no combination of characters gives a better approximation to the sound of my name.]

[Footnote 16: Giles, op. cit., p. 74. Professor Giles adds, _a propos_ of the phrase ”maintaining always a due reserve,” the following footnote: ”Dr. Legge has 'to keep aloof from them,' which would be equivalent to 'have nothing to do with them.' Confucius seems rather to have meant 'no familiarity.'”]

[Footnote 17: Op. cit., p. 21.]

[Footnote 18: Giles, op. cit. p. 86.]

[Footnote 19: Cordier, op. cit. i. p. 167.]

[Footnote 20: As far as anti-militarism is concerned, Taoism is even more emphatic. ”The best soldiers,” says Lao-Tze, ”do not fight.”

(Giles, op. cit. p. 150.) Chinese armies contain many good soldiers.]

[Footnote 21: Giles, op. cit., Lecture VIII. When Chu Fu Tze was dead, and his son-in-law was watching beside his coffin, a singular incident occurred. Although the sage had spent his life teaching that miracles are impossible, the coffin rose and remained suspended three feet above the ground. The pious son-in-law was horrified. ”O my revered father-in-law,” he prayed, ”do not destroy my faith that miracles are impossible.” Whereupon the coffin slowly descended to earth again, and the son-in-law's faith revived.]

[Footnote 22: Translated by the Bureau of Economic Information, Peking, 1920.]

[Footnote 23: Op. cit. p. 233.]

CHAPTER III

CHINA AND THE WESTERN POWERS

In order to understand the international position of China, some facts concerning its nineteenth-century history are indispensable. China was for many ages the supreme empire of the Far East, embracing a vast and fertile area, inhabited by an industrious and civilized people.

Aristocracy, in our sense of the word, came to an end before the beginning of the Christian era, and government was in the hands of officials chosen for their proficiency in writing in a dead language, as in England. Intercourse with the West was spasmodic and chiefly religious. In the early centuries of the Christian era, Buddhism was imported from India, and some Chinese scholars penetrated to that country to master the theology of the new religion in its native home, but in later times the intervening barbarians made the journey practically impossible. Nestorian Christianity reached China in the seventh century, and had a good deal of influence, but died out again.

(What is known on this subject is chiefly from the Nestorian monument discovered in Hsianfu in 1625.) In the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries Roman Catholic missionaries acquired considerable favour at Court, because of their astronomical knowledge and their help in rectifying the irregularities and confusions of the Chinese calendar.[24] Their globes and astrolabes are still to be seen on the walls of Peking. But in the long run they could not resist quarrels between different orders, and were almost completely excluded from both China and j.a.pan.

In the year 1793, a British amba.s.sador, Lord Macartney, arrived in China, to request further trade facilities and the establishment of a permanent British diplomatic representative. The Emperor at this time was Chien Lung, the best of the Manchu dynasty, a cultivated man, a patron of the arts, and an exquisite calligraphist. (One finds specimens of his writing in all sorts of places in China.) His reply to King George III is given by Backhouse and Bland.[25] I wish I could quote it all, but some extracts must suffice. It begins:

You, O King, live beyond the confines of many seas, nevertheless, impelled by your humble desire to partake of the benefits of our civilization, you have despatched a mission respectfully bearing your memorial.... To show your devotion, you have also sent offerings of your country's produce. I have read your memorial: the earnest terms in which it is cast reveal a respectful humility on your part, which is highly praiseworthy.