﻿446 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  ently 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  pictography, 
  but 
  which 
  in 
  time 
  became 
  a 
  true 
  script, 
  

   in 
  part 
  ideographic, 
  in 
  part 
  phonetic, 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  char- 
  

   acters. 
  Of 
  the 
  first 
  dynasty, 
  the 
  Hsia, 
  founded 
  at 
  the 
  southern 
  base 
  

   of 
  T^ai 
  Shan, 
  we 
  know 
  nothing. 
  About 
  the 
  seventh 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  

   the 
  dukes 
  of 
  Sung 
  claimed 
  as 
  their 
  ancestors 
  the 
  kings 
  of 
  the 
  Yin 
  

   dynasty, 
  whose 
  center 
  of 
  power 
  lay 
  about 
  the 
  great 
  bend 
  of 
  the 
  Yel- 
  

   low 
  liiver 
  where 
  it 
  debouches 
  upon 
  the 
  plain. 
  This 
  dynasty 
  also 
  is 
  

   half 
  legendary; 
  but 
  the 
  later 
  rulers 
  of 
  its 
  line, 
  toward 
  the 
  eleventh 
  

   century 
  B. 
  C, 
  have 
  left 
  us 
  the 
  most 
  ancient 
  Chinese 
  written 
  docu- 
  

   ments 
  known 
  thus 
  far, 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  inscriptions 
  engraved 
  on 
  tor- 
  

   toise 
  shell.^^ 
  It 
  was 
  from 
  this 
  region, 
  probably 
  toward 
  the 
  middle 
  

   or 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Yin 
  dynasty, 
  that 
  colonists 
  set 
  out 
  to 
  carve 
  for 
  them- 
  

   selves 
  domains 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  the 
  barbarians. 
  

  

  There 
  was 
  no 
  question 
  of 
  emigrations 
  en 
  masse 
  of 
  Chinese 
  " 
  tribes 
  " 
  ; 
  

   nor, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  does 
  anything 
  that 
  we 
  Imow 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  

   Chinese 
  religion 
  recall 
  the 
  " 
  ver 
  sacrum 
  " 
  of 
  ancient 
  Italy. 
  These 
  

   movements 
  were 
  undoubtedly 
  headed 
  by 
  the 
  nearly 
  or 
  quite 
  landless 
  

   younger 
  sons 
  of 
  princely 
  families, 
  who 
  set 
  out 
  thus 
  to 
  seek 
  their 
  for- 
  

   tunes 
  at 
  a 
  distance 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  little 
  bands 
  of 
  clients, 
  kinsmen, 
  

   slaves, 
  and 
  people 
  recruited 
  by 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  religious 
  contract 
  under 
  an 
  

   oath 
  of 
  mutual 
  fidelity.^"* 
  At 
  this 
  period, 
  in 
  fact, 
  the 
  Chinese 
  world 
  

   was 
  split 
  up 
  into 
  numerous 
  petty 
  feudal 
  domains, 
  of 
  which, 
  in 
  the 
  

   eighth 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  the 
  plain 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Yellow 
  River 
  counted 
  at 
  

   least 
  a 
  hundred. 
  These 
  were 
  governed 
  by 
  hereditary 
  lords, 
  the 
  ch'u- 
  

   hou, 
  or 
  "princes," 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  called, 
  both 
  political 
  and 
  religious 
  

   rulers, 
  subject 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  distant 
  suzerainty 
  of 
  the 
  king. 
  Each 
  of 
  

   them, 
  at 
  his 
  accession 
  or 
  during 
  his 
  reign, 
  distributed 
  lands 
  to 
  his 
  

   brothers, 
  his 
  cousins, 
  and 
  his 
  children 
  as 
  appanages 
  for 
  their 
  support 
  ; 
  

   it 
  was 
  undoubtedly 
  those 
  who 
  were 
  poorly 
  endowed 
  with 
  land, 
  or 
  

   v^'ho 
  were 
  too 
  distantly 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  lord 
  to 
  receive 
  anything, 
  or 
  who, 
  

   again, 
  felt 
  their 
  lives 
  threatened 
  by 
  the 
  intrigues 
  of 
  a 
  favorite, 
  who 
  

   expatriated 
  themselves. 
  The 
  legend 
  which 
  connects 
  the 
  founder 
  of 
  

   the 
  royal 
  family 
  of 
  Wu, 
  a 
  barbarian 
  kingdom 
  of 
  southern 
  Iviangsu, 
  

   with 
  the 
  ancestors 
  of 
  the 
  kings 
  of 
  Chou 
  and 
  makes 
  him 
  an 
  elder 
  son 
  

  

  ■•==■ 
  The 
  carapace 
  of 
  tbe 
  tortoise 
  was 
  used 
  in 
  divination. 
  Upon 
  it 
  was 
  inscribed 
  an 
  inquiry 
  

   addressed 
  to 
  tlie 
  ancestors, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  then 
  exposed 
  to 
  the 
  fire, 
  responses 
  being 
  drawn 
  

   from 
  an 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  cracljs 
  and 
  lines 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  heat. 
  

  

  2* 
  The 
  traditions 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  foundation 
  of 
  the 
  principality 
  of 
  Ch6ng, 
  near 
  Hsin- 
  

   cheng, 
  in 
  Honan, 
  in 
  806 
  B. 
  C, 
  show 
  its 
  count, 
  whom 
  his 
  duties 
  as 
  minister 
  kept 
  at 
  court, 
  

   far 
  from 
  his 
  fief, 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  hand 
  sending 
  his 
  son 
  as 
  governor 
  in 
  his 
  place, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   other 
  making 
  an 
  agreement 
  with 
  certain 
  merchants 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  clearing 
  and 
  improv- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  the 
  domain 
  ; 
  he 
  enters 
  into 
  a 
  religious 
  couvention 
  with 
  them, 
  under 
  an 
  oath 
  by 
  

   which 
  the 
  two 
  parties 
  swear 
  for 
  themselves 
  and 
  for 
  their 
  descendants, 
  the 
  merchants 
  not 
  

   to 
  revolt, 
  and 
  the 
  count 
  not 
  to 
  molest 
  them 
  in 
  their 
  trade 
  ; 
  cf. 
  the 
  Tso 
  Chuan, 
  tsl. 
  by 
  

   I^egge, 
  p. 
  664. 
  

  

  The 
  principality 
  of 
  Cheng 
  was 
  in 
  China 
  proper, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  question 
  here 
  of 
  the 
  

   reclamation 
  of 
  lands 
  within 
  the 
  Empire 
  itself, 
  and 
  not 
  of 
  colonization 
  abroad. 
  The 
  anec- 
  

   dote 
  shows, 
  however, 
  how 
  the 
  recruiting 
  of 
  colonists 
  and 
  the 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  hierarchy 
  

   was 
  carried 
  on. 
  

  

  