﻿ORIGINS 
  OP 
  CHINESE 
  CIVILIZATION 
  MASPEEO 
  435 
  

  

  west 
  and 
  placing 
  their 
  first 
  settlement 
  in 
  the 
  Valley 
  of 
  the 
  Wei. 
  

   They 
  believed 
  themselves 
  justified 
  in 
  doing 
  so 
  by 
  what 
  they, 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  the 
  Chinese 
  themselves, 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  authentic 
  history 
  of 
  

   primitive 
  China. 
  The 
  Emperor 
  Yao, 
  whom 
  the 
  official 
  chronology 
  

   places 
  in 
  the 
  twenty-fourth 
  century 
  B. 
  C, 
  was 
  believed 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  

   his 
  capital 
  at 
  P'ing-yang,^ 
  on 
  the 
  Fen, 
  in 
  Shansi. 
  His 
  successor 
  

   Shun 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  established 
  his 
  own 
  farther 
  south, 
  near 
  P'u-chou, 
  

   in 
  the 
  same 
  province. 
  That 
  of 
  his 
  successor 
  Yii, 
  in 
  the 
  twenty-second 
  

   century, 
  had 
  been 
  situated, 
  so 
  tradition 
  alleged, 
  not 
  far 
  away, 
  at 
  

   An-yi; 
  but 
  the 
  fief 
  of 
  Hsia, 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  held 
  prior 
  to 
  his 
  accession, 
  

   was 
  near 
  the 
  present 
  city 
  of 
  K'ai-feng, 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  plain, 
  about 
  

   the 
  region 
  where 
  his 
  descendants, 
  the 
  emperors 
  of 
  the 
  Hsia 
  dynasty, 
  

   set 
  up 
  their 
  successive 
  capitals, 
  in 
  Chihli 
  and 
  Shantung 
  Provinces. 
  

   Thus 
  the 
  accession 
  of 
  this 
  dynasty 
  at 
  first 
  sight 
  bears 
  the 
  look 
  of 
  

   having 
  marked 
  a 
  fresh 
  step 
  in 
  advance 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  

   conquerors, 
  at 
  first 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  upper 
  Yellow 
  River 
  but 
  passing 
  

   thence 
  into 
  the 
  plain 
  through 
  which 
  flows 
  the 
  lower 
  portion 
  of 
  its 
  

   couree. 
  

  

  This 
  entire 
  scheme, 
  however, 
  is 
  founded 
  upon 
  a 
  most 
  violent 
  dis- 
  

   tortion 
  of 
  the 
  traditional 
  Chinese 
  history. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  place, 
  these 
  

   changes 
  of 
  capital 
  have 
  never 
  been 
  regarded 
  by 
  Chinese 
  historians 
  as 
  

   indicative 
  of 
  a 
  migration 
  or 
  a 
  conquest; 
  any 
  such 
  interpretation 
  is 
  

   only 
  a 
  forced 
  one 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  European 
  scholars 
  anxious 
  to 
  find 
  

   confirmation 
  for 
  their 
  preconceived 
  opinions. 
  Moreover, 
  even 
  this 
  ap- 
  

   parent 
  justification 
  can 
  be 
  obtained 
  only 
  by 
  establishing 
  an 
  arbitrary 
  

   division 
  in 
  Chinese 
  official 
  history, 
  according 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  reign 
  of 
  

   the 
  Emperor 
  Yao 
  is 
  selected 
  to 
  mark 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  claimed 
  

   as 
  authentic 
  history, 
  while 
  everything 
  earlier 
  is 
  thrust 
  back 
  into 
  the 
  

   realm 
  of 
  legend. 
  In 
  point 
  of 
  fact, 
  for 
  the 
  period 
  before 
  this 
  

   sovereign, 
  tradition 
  locates 
  all 
  the 
  oldest 
  capitals 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  plain, 
  

   in 
  southern 
  Chihli, 
  in 
  Shantung, 
  and 
  in 
  Honan. 
  That 
  of 
  Ti-k^ou, 
  

   the 
  father 
  and 
  predecessor 
  of 
  Yao, 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  near 
  P^o, 
  in 
  

   Honan, 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  Chuan-hsii, 
  predecessor 
  of 
  Ti-k^ou 
  and 
  grand- 
  

   father 
  of 
  Yii, 
  at 
  P^u-yang, 
  in 
  Chihli, 
  As 
  for 
  Huang-ti, 
  grandfather 
  

   of 
  Chuan-hsii 
  and 
  great-grandfather 
  of 
  Ti-k^ou, 
  some 
  declare 
  that 
  

   he 
  never 
  had 
  a 
  fixed 
  capital, 
  while 
  others 
  make 
  him 
  reside 
  at 
  Hsin- 
  

   cheng, 
  in 
  Honan. 
  Before 
  him 
  again, 
  the 
  capital 
  of 
  Shen-nung 
  is 
  

   placed 
  at 
  Ch^ii-fu, 
  in 
  Shantung, 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  Fu-hsi, 
  the 
  first 
  emperor 
  

   according 
  to 
  the 
  official 
  history, 
  at 
  Ch^en, 
  in 
  Honan. 
  

  

  All 
  this 
  is 
  of 
  little 
  importance. 
  The 
  official 
  history 
  of 
  Chinese 
  

   antiquity 
  is 
  in 
  fact 
  only 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  legends 
  ; 
  the 
  reigns 
  of 
  Shen- 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  names 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  Chinese 
  prefectures 
  and 
  subprefectures 
  have 
  been 
  

   altered 
  since 
  the 
  administrative 
  reform 
  of 
  1914 
  ; 
  but 
  since 
  the 
  names 
  in 
  use 
  prior 
  to 
  this 
  

   reform 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  ones 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  on 
  European 
  maps 
  I 
  have 
  retained 
  them 
  in 
  this 
  

   article. 
  

  

  