﻿OEIGINS 
  OF 
  CHINESE 
  CIVILIZATION 
  MASPERO 
  445 
  

  

  family 
  in 
  its 
  own 
  house 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  spring 
  they 
  left 
  them 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  go 
  

   to 
  live, 
  in 
  groups 
  of 
  3 
  families 
  together, 
  in 
  great 
  communal 
  huts 
  in 
  

   the 
  midst 
  of 
  the 
  ching 
  ; 
  they 
  then 
  lived 
  entirely 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  air, 
  with- 
  

   out 
  returning 
  to 
  their 
  abandoned 
  villages 
  until 
  after 
  the 
  harvest. 
  

   They 
  thus 
  produced 
  for 
  themselves 
  all 
  that 
  they 
  needed, 
  grain, 
  do- 
  

   mestic 
  animals, 
  cloth, 
  silk, 
  etc., 
  the 
  surplus 
  being 
  taken 
  to 
  market. 
  

   Every 
  village, 
  every 
  hamlet, 
  had 
  at 
  least 
  one 
  market 
  situated 
  on 
  its 
  

   northern 
  side; 
  in 
  towns 
  in 
  which 
  resided 
  feudal 
  lords, 
  it 
  was 
  estab- 
  

   lished 
  by 
  the 
  wife 
  of 
  the 
  lord 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  settlement, 
  just 
  

   as 
  the 
  lord 
  himself 
  then 
  erected 
  the 
  temple 
  of 
  the 
  ancestors 
  and 
  the 
  

   altar 
  of 
  the 
  god 
  of 
  the 
  soil. 
  The 
  market 
  formed 
  a 
  large 
  public 
  square 
  

   about 
  which 
  peasants 
  and 
  peddlers 
  set 
  up 
  their 
  booths, 
  grouped 
  in 
  

   quarters 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  commodities 
  sold, 
  such 
  as 
  grain, 
  silk, 
  cattle. 
  

   horses, 
  slaves, 
  pottery, 
  and 
  so 
  on. 
  The 
  petty 
  castles 
  of 
  the 
  lords 
  were 
  

   situated 
  far 
  apart 
  ; 
  in 
  each 
  lived 
  the 
  lord 
  of 
  the 
  fief, 
  for 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  

   the 
  great 
  plain 
  was 
  divided 
  into 
  feudal 
  domains, 
  in 
  tlie 
  midst 
  of 
  his 
  

   wives, 
  his 
  children, 
  and 
  his 
  servants. 
  About 
  him 
  was 
  a 
  little 
  court 
  of 
  

   dependent 
  nobles, 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  cadets 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  family 
  or 
  else 
  petty 
  

   vassals 
  ; 
  these 
  performed 
  for 
  him 
  the 
  functions 
  of 
  priests, 
  scribes, 
  and 
  

   warriors. 
  The 
  castles 
  were 
  built 
  after 
  a 
  uniform 
  pattern 
  drawn 
  up 
  

   in 
  accordance 
  with 
  ritual 
  principles. 
  In 
  the 
  center 
  was 
  the 
  audience 
  

   hall, 
  facing 
  south, 
  with 
  a 
  vast 
  court 
  in 
  front 
  where 
  the 
  functionaries 
  

   and 
  vassals 
  ranged 
  themselves 
  according 
  to 
  rank 
  at 
  the 
  great 
  audi- 
  

   ences. 
  Flanking 
  the 
  audience 
  hall 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  was 
  the 
  ancestral 
  

   temple, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  the 
  altar 
  of 
  the 
  god 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  ; 
  behind 
  was 
  an- 
  

   other 
  court 
  with 
  the 
  residence 
  itself, 
  while 
  in 
  front 
  a 
  gateway 
  led 
  to 
  

   the 
  entrance 
  court 
  with 
  its 
  monumental 
  south 
  gate. 
  The 
  whole 
  was 
  

   surrounded 
  by 
  a 
  wall 
  and 
  moat 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  guard 
  against 
  surprise 
  

   attacks. 
  All 
  around 
  were 
  the 
  houses 
  of 
  the 
  ministers, 
  functionaries, 
  

   scribes, 
  and 
  priests, 
  and 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  artisans 
  and 
  all 
  those 
  whose 
  w^or]^ 
  

   was 
  necessary 
  at 
  the 
  court. 
  Sometimes, 
  but 
  not 
  ahvays, 
  an 
  outer 
  wall 
  

   surrounded 
  this 
  agglomeration. 
  But 
  at 
  best 
  it 
  would 
  form 
  only 
  a 
  

   small 
  town 
  ; 
  Mencius 
  speaks 
  of 
  one 
  whose 
  outer 
  wall 
  was 
  T 
  li, 
  or 
  about 
  

   3,000 
  meters, 
  in 
  circumference, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  held 
  that 
  " 
  when 
  the 
  wall 
  

   of 
  a 
  town, 
  other 
  than 
  the 
  capital 
  alone, 
  was 
  over 
  3,000 
  feet, 
  or 
  about 
  

   600 
  meters, 
  in 
  length, 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  danger 
  to 
  the 
  State." 
  -- 
  The 
  

   capital 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  Chou 
  dynasty, 
  Lo-yi, 
  whose 
  walls 
  were 
  17,200 
  

   feet, 
  or 
  less 
  than 
  4,000 
  meters, 
  in 
  circumference, 
  was 
  supposed 
  as 
  a 
  

   matter 
  of 
  principle 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  largest 
  city 
  in 
  the 
  empire. 
  

  

  The 
  more 
  progress 
  the 
  Chinese 
  made 
  tlie 
  more 
  did 
  they 
  feel 
  the 
  

   difference 
  betw^een 
  themselves 
  and 
  their 
  less 
  advanced 
  neighbors, 
  

   whom 
  they 
  began 
  to 
  look 
  down 
  upon 
  as 
  "barbarians." 
  This 
  dis- 
  

   tinction 
  was 
  accentuated 
  by 
  the 
  invention 
  of 
  writing, 
  at 
  first 
  appar- 
  

  

  ^Meaeiiis, 
  tsl. 
  Lcgge 
  (Cliiiipse 
  Classics, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  64). 
  [I 
  am 
  unable 
  to 
  verify 
  this 
  

   reference 
  ; 
  the 
  passage 
  does 
  not 
  occur 
  on 
  the 
  page 
  indicated. 
  C. 
  W. 
  K.] 
  

  

  