1825,] 
nations, witha commentary, in a work 
called He-king (the book of alterations). 
He also published a meagre chronicle 
of the country of Loo (now the pro- 
vince of Khan-toong) under the title of 
of Tshhun thsee aoo (spring and au- 
tumn) including a period from the year 
723 to 479 B. C. 
The government of the two first dy- 
nasties that reigned in China, from the 
year 2205 till the year 1122 B.C., was 
that of a pure monarchy, and the whole 
of the present empire subject to one 
monarch. The bad conduct, however, 
of the last monarch of the second dy- 
nasty, created a general revolt. He was 
deposed by Woo-Wang, who founded 
the third dynasty of Tsheoo, which 
lasted till about the middle of the third 
century B.C. Woo-Wang changed the 
form of government, by dividing the 
greater part of the country among his 
adherents, and thus introducing a feudal 
system for that of a pure monarchy. 
As long as the emperors were strong, 
their power was tolerably secure; but 
from about the eighth century B.C., the 
imperial power began to sink, and the 
country became distracted by the con- 
stant wars which about twenty princes, 
who had become nearly independent, 
waged against one another. The 
princes of the house of Thsin, however, 
at last obtained the superiority, and 
after having subdued ail the other minor 
states, they also put an end to the dy- 
nasty of Cheoo, and again reduced the 
whole empire under owe sovereign. 
All those petty states, however, had 
their histories and chronicles, which 
offered materials sufficient for a univer- 
sal history of the empire. 
Khee hooang tee, of the new dynasty 
of the Thsin, had constantly to contend 
against the pretensions of the grandees 
of the state, who, founding their rights 
on the historical records of the coun- 
try, pressed him to restore their feudal 
rights, which his house had usurped. 
Teased by their importunities, he at 
last ordered the burning of all the an- 
cient works of history, especially the 
Shoo-king and Shee-king of Confucius. 
In a country, however, in which writ- 
ing was then so generally diffused, it 
was impossible but that some portions 
of history must have been saved from 
the general wreck. The dynasty of the 
Thsin terminated soon after the death 
of the above monarch, about two cen- 
turies B.C. It was succeeded by that 
of the Kan, one as powerful as the 
former, and which, like it, kept the 
empire undivided; and when time had 
the Asiatic Historians. 
35 
still more fortified their power, by 
casting the feudal times of the T'sheoo 
into oblivion, they had the confidence 
to order the restoration of the records 
which had appeared so dangerous to 
their predecessors. By dint of re- 
searches, a few fragments of the above- 
mentioned works of Confucius were 
discovered. 
even now, for persons who pretend to 
the title of scholars to learn them by. 
heart, either in parts or entirely. Thus 
an old man, born under the Thsin, was 
found, who remembered the whole of 
the Shoo-king, which was re-written 
under his dictation; and having been 
compared with the MSS. that had been 
found, formed the work of that name 
now in existence. In the same manner 
the other works were restored, more or 
less perfectly. Morever, the history 
of the Zhsin, as well as that of some 
minor states, from the period of the 
Tsheoo, had remained unimpaired. And 
with a view of perfecting the history of 
the empire still more, the emperor 
Woo-tee, who reigned at that time, 
about 100 years B.C., offered rewards ° 
for the production of any ancient MSS. 
which were carefully digested by Szu 
ma Tan, and finally published in the 
shape of a complete history, by his son 
su ma Thsian. : 
His history begins during the reign 
of Hooang-tee, about 2,637 years B.C.: 
however, previous to the ninth cen- 
tury B.C., it is all a mass of confusion. 
The documents to which he refers fre- 
quently disagree with one another ; and 
it is but about the eighth century B.C. 
that his chronology is no longer at va- 
riance with itself. 
For this reason I date the uncertain 
history of China from the first year of 
the first cyclus (2,637 years B.C.), and 
the certain history from 782 before the 
same epoch. It has been continued 
under every dynasty that has reigned 
there since Szu ma Thsian ; and it has 
been the practice never to let the au- 
thentic annals of a reigning family 
appear till after its extinction. Their 
collection now consists of twenty-two 
different works, containing not only 
the history of the emperors and princes, 
but likewise their geography, statistics, 
laws, and the lives of their great men. 
It is composed of sixty large volumes, 
and comes down to the middle of the 
seventeenth century, the time when the 
present dynasty began to rule. 
Some writers subsequent to Szu,ma 
Thsian, not content with the antiquity 
F2 he 
It is the custom in China, - 
+ 
