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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1921 
  

  

  The 
  Chinese 
  accordingly 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  northernmost 
  branch 
  of 
  

   these 
  sedentary 
  populations, 
  the 
  western 
  branch 
  being 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  

   Tibeto-Burman 
  tribes 
  of 
  Tibet, 
  of 
  Szechiian, 
  and 
  of 
  Yunnan 
  — 
  the 
  

   Tibetans, 
  the 
  Lolos, 
  the 
  Mossos, 
  the 
  Burmans, 
  and 
  others; 
  the 
  

   southern 
  branch 
  by 
  the 
  Tai 
  of 
  southern 
  China 
  and 
  northern 
  Indo- 
  

   China 
  — 
  the 
  Shan 
  of 
  Yunnan 
  and 
  Burma, 
  the 
  Dioi 
  of 
  Kuangsi, 
  

   the 
  White 
  and 
  Black 
  Tai 
  of 
  Tonkin, 
  the 
  Laotians, 
  and 
  the 
  Sia- 
  

   mese; 
  and 
  the 
  central 
  branch 
  by 
  the 
  Miao-tzu 
  of 
  Hunan 
  and 
  

   Kueichou. 
  For 
  these 
  prehistoric 
  Chinese, 
  life 
  was 
  perhaps 
  harder 
  

   than 
  for 
  their 
  more 
  southern 
  brethren. 
  The 
  great 
  plain 
  of 
  north- 
  

   eastern 
  China, 
  comprising 
  the 
  modern 
  Provinces 
  of 
  Chihli, 
  Shantung, 
  

   and 
  Honan, 
  where 
  the 
  rudiments 
  of 
  their 
  civilization 
  began 
  to 
  

   develop, 
  was 
  far 
  from 
  being 
  the 
  well-tilled 
  land 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  our 
  

   own 
  day. 
  The 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  which 
  traversed 
  it, 
  had 
  then 
  a 
  different 
  

   course 
  from 
  its 
  modern 
  one. 
  After 
  a 
  long 
  detour 
  past 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  

   mountains 
  of 
  Shansi 
  it 
  entered 
  the 
  sea 
  by 
  the 
  present 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  

   Pei-ho, 
  near 
  Tientsin,'^ 
  its 
  innumerable 
  branches 
  wandering 
  ca- 
  

   priciously 
  over 
  the 
  low-lying 
  flat 
  and 
  almost 
  dead-level 
  plain, 
  then 
  

   called 
  the 
  country 
  of 
  the 
  "Nine 
  Rivers," 
  because 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River 
  

   in 
  this 
  portion 
  of 
  its 
  course 
  was 
  considered 
  to 
  split 
  up 
  into 
  nine 
  

   principal 
  branches.^" 
  Every 
  year, 
  its 
  course 
  modified 
  by 
  the 
  inunda- 
  

   tions, 
  it 
  sought 
  out 
  new 
  channels. 
  The 
  low-lying 
  areas, 
  filled 
  with 
  

   water, 
  formed 
  great 
  marshes 
  which 
  in 
  course 
  of 
  time 
  have 
  become 
  

   silted 
  up, 
  although 
  remains 
  of 
  them 
  exist 
  even 
  to-day. 
  There 
  were 
  

   brakes 
  of 
  aquatic 
  plants, 
  of 
  knotgrass, 
  of 
  rushes, 
  of 
  dolichos, 
  and 
  

   valerian, 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  which 
  wild 
  geese 
  and 
  cranes 
  nested 
  and 
  fish 
  

   swarmed. 
  All 
  about 
  stretched 
  patches 
  of 
  land, 
  too 
  wet 
  for 
  cultivation, 
  

   covered 
  with 
  high 
  grass 
  interspersed 
  v/ith 
  coppices 
  of 
  white 
  elms, 
  of 
  

   plum 
  trees, 
  and 
  of 
  chestnuts. 
  These, 
  however, 
  did 
  not 
  form 
  a 
  true 
  

   forest. 
  The 
  latter 
  only 
  existed 
  around 
  the 
  periphery 
  of 
  the 
  plain, 
  on 
  

   the 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  Shantung 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  and 
  of 
  Shansi 
  

   on 
  the 
  west, 
  and 
  with 
  it 
  began 
  the 
  domain 
  of 
  the 
  barbarians. 
  The 
  

   dense 
  undergrowth 
  formed 
  a 
  refuge 
  for 
  the 
  larger 
  animals 
  — 
  tigers, 
  

   panthers, 
  leopards, 
  wildcats, 
  bears, 
  wild 
  bulls, 
  even 
  elephant 
  and 
  

   rhinoceros, 
  and 
  wolves, 
  boars, 
  and 
  foxes, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  smaller 
  game 
  

   of 
  all 
  sorts, 
  herds 
  of 
  deer 
  and 
  antelope, 
  monkeys, 
  hares, 
  rabbits, 
  

  

  WM. 
  Fujita, 
  The 
  River 
  Huang 
  in 
  the 
  Reign 
  of 
  Yii 
  (Shinagaku, 
  I, 
  1921, 
  XII, 
  1-32), 
  has 
  

   tried 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  third 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  the 
  region 
  traversed 
  by 
  the 
  Pei-ho 
  

   from 
  a 
  point 
  some 
  distance 
  above 
  Pao-ting 
  downward 
  was 
  still 
  an 
  arm 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  

   Chihli, 
  into 
  the 
  upper 
  end 
  of 
  which 
  flowed 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River 
  ; 
  his 
  argument, 
  however, 
  is 
  

   scarcely 
  conclusive, 
  and 
  I 
  doubt 
  whether, 
  during 
  the 
  ancient 
  period, 
  the 
  coast 
  line 
  was 
  

   very 
  far 
  from 
  Tientsin. 
  

  

  w 
  The 
  following 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  landscape 
  and 
  the 
  fauna 
  and 
  flora 
  of 
  ancient 
  China 
  

   Is 
  based 
  upon 
  a 
  combination 
  of 
  numerous 
  brief 
  accounts 
  scattered 
  through 
  the 
  Shih 
  

   Ching, 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  poems 
  of 
  the 
  seventh 
  aiid 
  sixth 
  centuries 
  before 
  our 
  era. 
  Cf. 
  Biot, 
  

   Recherches 
  sur 
  les 
  moeurs 
  des 
  anciens 
  Chinois 
  d'aprfes 
  lo 
  Che 
  King 
  (Journal 
  asiatique, 
  

   IV, 
  ii, 
  p. 
  310 
  et 
  seq.) 
  ; 
  on 
  the 
  particular 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  rhinoceros, 
  see 
  

   Laufer, 
  Chinese 
  Clay 
  Figures, 
  I, 
  pp. 
  1-173. 
  

  

  