﻿ORIGIHS 
  OF 
  CHINESE 
  CIVILIZATION 
  MASPERO 
  451 
  

  

  The 
  auguries 
  having 
  been 
  favorable, 
  he 
  settles 
  there 
  and 
  builds 
  

   first 
  the 
  ancestral 
  tenipie, 
  and 
  then 
  constructs 
  a 
  small 
  earthen 
  ring 
  

   wall 
  of 
  6,000 
  feet, 
  or 
  about 
  1,200 
  meters, 
  in 
  circumference; 
  next 
  he 
  

   erects 
  his 
  audience 
  hall 
  and 
  his 
  palace, 
  and 
  finally 
  the 
  altar 
  to 
  his 
  

   god 
  of 
  the 
  soil. 
  As 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  clearing 
  and 
  reclamation 
  goes 
  on 
  

   the 
  barbarians 
  continue 
  to 
  flee. 
  

  

  The 
  oaks 
  aud 
  the 
  vili 
  were 
  [gradually] 
  thinned, 
  

   And 
  roads 
  for 
  travelling 
  were 
  opened. 
  

   The 
  hordes 
  of 
  the 
  Keun 
  disappeared, 
  

   Startled 
  and 
  panting." 
  

  

  In 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  poets, 
  under 
  color 
  of 
  recounting 
  events 
  of 
  the 
  distant 
  

   past, 
  describe 
  the 
  sort 
  of 
  thing 
  which 
  was 
  actually 
  going 
  on 
  before 
  

   their 
  own 
  eyes 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  that 
  the 
  Chinese 
  were 
  often 
  able 
  to 
  

   establish 
  themselves 
  peacefully 
  in 
  unoccupied 
  tracts 
  of 
  jungle. 
  These 
  

   they 
  then 
  proceeded 
  to 
  clear 
  and 
  lay 
  out 
  as 
  permanent 
  irrigated 
  

   fields, 
  unlike 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  indigenes, 
  who 
  only 
  made 
  temporary 
  clear- 
  

   ings 
  like 
  the 
  rai 
  of 
  the 
  mountaineers 
  of 
  upper 
  Tonkin, 
  by 
  burning 
  

   off 
  patches 
  of 
  forest. 
  It 
  was 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  sequel 
  that 
  the 
  extension 
  of 
  

   colonization 
  brought 
  the 
  settlers 
  into 
  conflict 
  with 
  the 
  natives, 
  whose 
  

   agricultural 
  practices 
  demanded 
  much 
  space, 
  and 
  who 
  accordingly, 
  if 
  

   unable 
  to 
  drive 
  out 
  the 
  intruders, 
  as 
  they 
  did, 
  for 
  example, 
  according 
  

   to 
  tradition, 
  the 
  old 
  duke, 
  T'an-fu, 
  had 
  perforce 
  either 
  to 
  abandon 
  

   the 
  country 
  or 
  else 
  adopt 
  the 
  ways 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  settlers 
  and 
  allow 
  

   themselves 
  to 
  be 
  gradually 
  absorbed 
  by 
  them. 
  

  

  Thus 
  from 
  the 
  great 
  plain 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Yellow 
  Kiver, 
  where 
  it 
  

   originated, 
  Chinese 
  civilization 
  crept 
  little 
  by 
  little 
  into 
  the 
  farthest 
  

   west, 
  ascending 
  the 
  river 
  valleys 
  and 
  outflanking 
  the 
  mountain 
  

   ranges. 
  The 
  basins 
  of 
  the 
  Wei 
  and 
  the 
  Fen 
  formed 
  its 
  highwa3-s 
  

   of 
  penetration. 
  In 
  Shansi 
  the 
  newcomers 
  established 
  themselves 
  in 
  

   the 
  little 
  plains 
  traversed 
  by 
  the 
  last-named 
  river, 
  working 
  their 
  

   way 
  upstream 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  great 
  canyon 
  above 
  Huo, 
  where 
  the 
  valley 
  

   ceases 
  to 
  be 
  passable. 
  It 
  was 
  only 
  later 
  that 
  they 
  penetrated 
  farther 
  

   north, 
  the 
  basin 
  of 
  T'ai-yuan 
  only 
  becoming 
  Chinese 
  territory 
  in 
  the 
  

   full 
  historical 
  period 
  during 
  the 
  sixth 
  and 
  fifth 
  centuries 
  B. 
  C. 
  By 
  

   that 
  time, 
  however, 
  the 
  Chinese 
  expansion 
  into 
  barbarian 
  countries 
  

   had 
  changed 
  its 
  character. 
  Consisting 
  no 
  longer 
  of 
  isolated 
  enter- 
  

   prises 
  conducted 
  by 
  adventurers 
  wishing 
  to 
  carve 
  out 
  domains 
  for 
  

   themselves 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  the 
  barbarians, 
  it 
  had 
  become 
  a 
  matter 
  

   of 
  systematic 
  conquest 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  Chin 
  in 
  the 
  modern 
  Shansi 
  

   and 
  Ch'in 
  in 
  Shensi, 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  principalities 
  which 
  had 
  just 
  

   been 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  consolidation 
  of 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  petty 
  

  

  2«Shih 
  Ching, 
  tsl. 
  Couvreur, 
  287, 
  316; 
  tsl. 
  Legge, 
  437. 
  483. 
  

  

  