544 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



invariable whenever possible. The main hall in which the prince sits 

 in state, or the host entertains his guest, or the god in his temple, is 

 invariably aligned to face the south. The lord faces the midday sun. 

 The cities are likewise laid out along the meridian line accurately, 

 and, where natural obstacles intervene, such as a mountain, a river, or 

 where other special considerations require the city walls to deviate 

 and take some other direction, yet the axial line is always main- 

 tained in the meridian in all the temples, government buildings, and 

 dwellings. 



China has often changed its capital. The Empire has been ruled 

 from the Yangtze, from Honan, and Shensi ; but for long ages, even 

 before the Mongolian dynasty, they have always returned to Peking, 

 which lies in the extreme north. This was, of course, mainly due to 

 political considerations. But knowing the ideal importance which is 

 attributed to the line of the axis, we can appreciate the exalted notion 

 of conceiving the Emperor as seated on the dragon throne in Peking 

 and turning his gaze southward along the meridian of Peking over 

 the entire Empire, when at the New Year festival, or on the Em- 

 peror's birthday, all officials and many of the people assemble at the 

 same hour in all the cities and villages to kneel before his altars 

 throughout the Empire and offer their homage, looking north toward 

 him, the Son of Heaven. Claims of nature, the political development, 

 and the ideal all agree and assist in demanding and deepening this 

 sentiment. Thus natural conditions, political evolution, and ideal 

 conceptions answer one another and form a combination. The world 

 of phenomena is merely a mirror of the infinite which in our world 

 conception and religion we try to give a definite, and yet how change- 

 able, formula. 



Before considering the details of China's idealistic culture it is 

 necessary first to refer briefly to certain external conditions and rela- 

 tions which have contributed to those grand conceptions of the unity. 



The population of China is constantly fluctuating, and it has 

 always been so. Allusion was made to the wars that carried great 

 masses of men and women as far as Turkestan. These wars prevailed 

 for long periods and were repeated at certain intervals. At times, 

 as during the Mongolian sway, intercourse with the western coun- 

 tries reached a certain climax, but it was constantly lively. The 

 Chinese have a tendency to emigration, probably greater than we of 

 to-day. For ages they have been colonizing and invading foreign 

 countries for peace or war. The south was colonized in historic 

 times, while northern Chihli has ony been colonized during the past 

 two centuries in a methodical manner. During the past five years 

 the Chinese have been systematically settling in Tibet, and since the 

 European press has only recently sounded an alarm over this pro- 

 ceeding, it goes to show how news is really only relatively new. 



