1 h ..1 u:iJrrt jken to draw off the waters. I . 

 ' empire into five departir. r >gress 



'a* far ai .5000 lc. !,..>! !_ ', v.. :-. I 



.:-. J the four leas within their limits. Th 

 alone could not be subdu'd." " : " n-plied the 



emperor, " who have induced my people to pciforin the 

 I exhorted them. Kao-yao his given 

 renown to your work, by establishing the live pu- 

 nishments; and iipcnetrated.with esteem for your worth." 

 Such is an example of those numerous imperial i 

 utions and moral n fl.vtioiu, with which the ancient his- 

 tory of the Chinese abounds ; and which often form the 

 whole annals of many a reign. Their sameness, also, is so 

 ; it will be very unnecessary to fill our pagei 

 wi:!i frequent extracts ; and the few events, which occur 

 through the course of whole dynasties, may be compres- 

 sed within a small space. 



Shun, we are told, erected eminences on the twelve 

 mountains of the twelve provinces as places of sacrifice, 

 regulated the different kinds of music, and attended at 

 the performance of songs and dances. One author 

 ascribes to him the invention of a lyre with five strings, 

 upon which Kue-ee, his chief musician, performed vari- 

 ous airs, as a reward to the grandees, and as a mean of 

 exciting them to a virtu-jus conduct. In the 32d year 

 of his reign, it became necessary to levy troops ; a:>d a 

 long discourse upon jhe subject took place between 

 Shun, Yu, and Kao-yao, which, concludes with the exal- 

 tation of Yu to be prime- minister, as Shun had been un- 

 der Yao. A long history is given, by a later historian, 

 of a law revealed from heaven to Yu, consisting of nine 

 articles, which were represented on the back of a tor- 

 toise that came out of the river Lo. This table of num- 

 bers, called Lo shoo, is supposed to have been borrowed 

 from the doctrine of Pythagoras, and is considered by 

 the Chinese as the source of all human knowledge. Ac- 

 cording to it, Yu divided the empire into nine provinces, 

 nine mountains, nine rivers, and nine lake--, by which 

 numbers many mysteries arc understood to be expressed. 

 In the 35th year of his reign, Shun commanded Yu to 

 march against the Miao ; but nothing is related of the 

 effects of this armament, except that, after its return 

 from the field, the Miao made a voluntary submission. 

 Shun died in the year 2203 before Christ, while he was 

 visiting the southern provinces ; and the people mourned 

 three years. 



Yu, in order to avoid the sons of Shun, retired to 

 Yang-tching, where the nobles followed and put them- 

 selves under his sway, in the year before Christ 220,3. 

 With the reign of this prince begins 



The Firtt Imperial Dynasty. 

 KIA. 



Before Christ. 



Yu 2205 



Tee kee 2197 



Tay-kang 2188 



Tchong-kang . . . . 2159 



Tay-siang 2146 



Han-tsoo 2119 



Shao-kang 



Tee- shoo 2057 



Tce-hoaee 201-0 



Before Christ. 



Tee-mang 2014 



Tcc-sie 1996 



Tee-po-kiang .... 1980 



Tee-kiong 1921 



Tec-kin 1900 



Kong-kia 1879 



Tec kao 1848 



Tee fa 1837 



Kie, or Kooei. . . . 1818 



This dynasty lasted 440 years, according to some au- 

 thors, and 480 according to others ; and may be consi- 

 dered ai a period of mere conjecture. 



Yu i* represented by the Chinese genealogist! as alio 



N A. 



a descendant of Hoang-tce, but the Shoo-king makes no ' 



:i of him after he began to reign ; and (. 

 little that is related concerning him, has 

 or conceived by later wn;.-. . i '. the 



throne, he assembled ilu- nobles upon mount Tuo-han, 

 in the province of Kiang-uan, and t > 1 to them the 



principles, by which 1. d to govern, 



in a particular situation a tambour, two diiierent kinds 

 of bella, and another instrument, of which the na, 

 not known ; and each of his chief officers, when they 

 came to demand an audience, were appointed to strike 

 upon one or other of tho.e instruments, according to the 

 subject of his application. According to the usage of 

 his predecessors, he chose one of his : , named Y, 



as his successor, and having inquired into the conduct of 

 his officers of state, set out to visit his dominions. Ha- 

 ving met a criminal in his progress, he descended from 

 his chariot, and burst into tears, saying, " If there are 

 men in the empire, who do not obey the laws, the blame 

 falls upon me. It was not thus in the time of Yao and 

 Shun ; but all the people then had only one heart." 

 Some years after, he went into the provinces in the south, 

 and put to death a chief of the name of Far.g-fong-i.hee, 

 because he was the last who appeared at the great as- 

 sembly, which he had summoned ; and he died after a 

 reign of eight years. 



V, who had been nominated his successor, left the em- 

 pire to Tee-kee, the son of Yu, by whom, after his 

 death, he was honoured with animal sacrifices. Thi* 

 prince assembled the six generals of his army, and 

 them to march against a. rebel chief, who despised t!.e 

 laws of the empire ; and some authors ascribe to him the 

 first opening of mines and preparation of m-. tals. 



Tay-kang, according to the Shocking, >. sta- 



tue upon the throne, entirely the slave of his passions, 

 and utterly regardless of the wishes of his people, by 

 whom he was held in the greatest detestation; but the 

 paintings, palaces, and extreme luxury, with the love of 

 which this prince is reproached, are not very compati- 

 ble with the recent instruction of his subjects in the art 

 of husbandry, and in the first principles of social li; . 



During the reigu of his brother Tchong-kang, by 

 whom he was succeeded, took place one of the two eclip- 

 ses mentioned in the Shoo- king, and fixed by succeed- 

 ing annalists in the year before Christ 2159. No more 

 of the princes of Hia are mentioned in the Shoo-kinij, 

 and the remaining history of this dynasty is a miserable 

 patch-work by later writers. Siang, the son and succes- 

 sor of Tchong-kang, was slain by the rebel Han-tsoo ; 

 but the widow of the dethroned prince, being left preg- 

 nant, brought forth a son named Shao-kang, who soon 

 became distinguished by his virtues, collected the ancient 

 subjects of his father, attacked aod slew the usurper, and 

 \va.< reinstated on the throne of his ancestors. 



In the reign of Kong-kia, it is said, that iron wa 

 taken from a mountain and formed into swords. During 

 the same period flourished a remarkable person named 

 Lieoo-lee, who knew how to tame serpents, and to make 

 them obey his voice. An idle story is related of one of Eat i nR O f 

 his serpents having died, and been given to Kong-kia to , c rpcnt. 

 cat, who was so delighted with this new species of food, 

 that he wished for more, to the great alarm of Licoo- 

 lee, who retired with his tame stock to a distant place. 

 Kong-kia is reproached with having observed the wor- 

 ship of genii, and given himself up to every kind of vicious 

 excess ; and his subjects, imitating his example, the 

 whole empire was thrown into a state of the greatest dis- 

 order and weakness. 



Kic, another wicked prince, governed the people by 



