﻿ORIGINS 
  OF 
  CHINESE 
  CIVILIZATION 
  MASPERO 
  439 
  

  

  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Chou 
  dynasty 
  and 
  were 
  civilized 
  entirely 
  through 
  

   contact. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  chieftains 
  of 
  the 
  plain 
  where 
  the 
  Han 
  flows 
  

   into 
  the 
  Yangtse 
  conquered 
  all 
  his 
  neighbors, 
  founded 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  

   Ch'u, 
  and 
  took 
  the 
  title 
  of 
  king 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  eighth 
  century. 
  In 
  

   Szechuan, 
  the 
  Ch'eng-tu 
  Plain 
  was 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  principality 
  of 
  

   Shu, 
  while 
  the 
  tribes 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  and 
  the 
  lower 
  Yangtse, 
  

   although 
  at 
  first 
  under 
  the 
  rule 
  of 
  the 
  kings 
  of 
  Ch^i, 
  also 
  finally 
  set 
  

   up 
  as 
  the 
  independent 
  States 
  of 
  Wu 
  and 
  Yiieh. 
  

  

  To 
  sum 
  up, 
  ancient 
  China, 
  scarcely 
  extending 
  outside 
  the 
  basin 
  of 
  

   the 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  comprised, 
  toward 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  eighth 
  century 
  

   before 
  our 
  era, 
  two 
  distinct 
  groupings. 
  Of 
  these, 
  one 
  lay 
  to 
  the 
  

   east, 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  plain 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  while 
  the 
  other 
  

   was 
  in 
  the 
  west, 
  in 
  the 
  Valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Wei 
  and 
  the 
  Fen. 
  Between 
  

   the 
  two 
  were 
  interposed 
  great 
  masses 
  of 
  barbarians 
  which 
  sepa- 
  

   rated 
  them 
  completely. 
  This 
  state 
  of 
  things 
  was 
  evidently 
  very 
  old 
  

   and 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  dislocation 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  Chinese 
  hloc 
  through 
  

   the 
  intrusion 
  of 
  barbarian 
  invaders. 
  The 
  latter 
  hypothesis 
  is 
  ex- 
  

   cluded 
  by 
  the 
  very 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  habitat 
  of 
  the 
  barbarians. 
  The 
  

   latter 
  were 
  in 
  fact 
  masters 
  of 
  the 
  uplands 
  and 
  of 
  these 
  alone, 
  all 
  

   the 
  plain 
  being 
  in 
  Chinese 
  hands. 
  But 
  the 
  paths 
  of 
  invasion 
  in 
  

   China 
  are 
  the 
  plain 
  on 
  the 
  east, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  the 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  

   Yellow 
  River 
  and 
  its 
  affluents; 
  the 
  mountains 
  form 
  obstacles, 
  not 
  

   passages. 
  The 
  theory 
  advanced 
  by 
  De 
  Groot 
  ^^ 
  of 
  Turkic 
  invaders 
  

   painfully 
  conquering 
  the 
  barren 
  and 
  inaccessible 
  mountains 
  and 
  

   leaving 
  the 
  lowlands 
  to 
  the 
  vanquished 
  is 
  opposed 
  to 
  all 
  probability. 
  

  

  A 
  detailed 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  geographical 
  grouping 
  of 
  the 
  Chi- 
  

   nese 
  and 
  the 
  barbarians 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  regions 
  in 
  the 
  eighth 
  

   century 
  proves 
  that 
  the 
  respective 
  situations 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  groups 
  were 
  

   far 
  from 
  being 
  identical. 
  The 
  Chinese 
  of 
  the 
  Valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Wei 
  

   and 
  the 
  Fen 
  were 
  outsiders 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  indigenes 
  whom 
  they 
  had 
  

   not 
  yet 
  succeeded 
  in 
  assimilating 
  or 
  exterminating, 
  and 
  of 
  whom 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  groups 
  long 
  survived 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese. 
  The 
  dis- 
  

   tribution 
  of 
  their 
  settlements 
  shows 
  how 
  they 
  ascended 
  the 
  rivers 
  

   and 
  installed 
  themselves 
  in 
  the 
  well-watered 
  plains 
  which 
  they 
  pro- 
  

   ceeded 
  to 
  cultivate, 
  while 
  leaving 
  to 
  the 
  indigenes 
  the 
  uplands, 
  diffi- 
  

   cult 
  of 
  access 
  and 
  of 
  doubtful 
  value 
  for 
  tillage. 
  Even 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  

  

  "De 
  Groot, 
  Die 
  Hunnen 
  der 
  vorchristlichen 
  Zeit, 
  p. 
  5, 
  makes 
  the 
  Shansi 
  barbarians 
  

   Turks 
  through 
  a 
  false 
  etymology 
  of 
  their 
  name, 
  " 
  Ti 
  " 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  declares 
  that 
  they 
  estab- 
  

   lished 
  themselves 
  iu 
  the 
  mountains, 
  " 
  favored 
  by 
  the 
  circumstances 
  that 
  they 
  found 
  them 
  

   nearly 
  or 
  quite 
  uninhabited" 
  (p. 
  28). 
  The 
  incursions 
  of 
  the 
  Ti 
  into 
  Chinese 
  territory 
  

   during 
  the 
  seventh 
  and 
  sixth 
  centuries 
  suggested 
  to 
  him 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  a 
  " 
  powerful 
  

   empire 
  " 
  in 
  the 
  unknown 
  north 
  which 
  had 
  directed 
  these, 
  and 
  with 
  which 
  the 
  barbarians 
  

   living 
  iu 
  Shansi 
  wore 
  in 
  permanent 
  contact 
  (p. 
  28). 
  Although 
  our 
  gratitude 
  Is 
  due 
  to 
  

   De 
  Groot 
  for 
  having 
  undertaken 
  a 
  profound 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  chapters 
  in 
  the 
  Shih 
  Chi, 
  of 
  

   the 
  first 
  century 
  B. 
  C, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Ch'ien 
  Han 
  Shu, 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  century 
  A. 
  D,. 
  concerning 
  

   the 
  Huns, 
  one 
  can 
  only 
  regret 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  included 
  in 
  his 
  work 
  such 
  hazardous 
  

   hypotheses. 
  

  

  