CHINA. 





U'ix poli 



JrwU miu 



they were an incumbranco in time of war, ai. 

 them in example, by ,(X> of hit 



own women. He pretended to be * friend to the Chris- 

 tuft*. tad to K.ivc received a commiuiun from heaven to 

 rout out every other system of faith. Advancing to meet 

 . -.'urn-sec, be wa* sliot through the 

 heart with an arrow, while he wat reconnoitring unarm- 

 ed to the front of his troops ; upon which, hii soldier* 

 immediately dispersed, ami submitted to the Tartar em- 

 . By stratagem rather than by force, by sowing 

 divisions among the Chinese commanders, and by the 

 effect of promises and bribes, the Tartars succeeded at 

 length in regaining all the places which had revolted ; 

 and Yoon-l , being hard pressed in his capital, was com- 

 pelled to take refuge in the court of Pegu ; but was af- 

 terwards delivered up at the demand of Shrc-tsonir. l>y 

 whom he was .ordered to be strangled at Pi-kin. It was 

 chiefly owing to the wise policy ad humane conduct of 

 A-mavaa, the uncle and guardian of the young Tartar 

 prince, that the Chinese were so easily subdued, and :o 

 completely reconciled to the authority of the new dynas- 

 ty. Soee-tanng faithfully adhered to the system, which 

 his uncle had adopted in governing thv empire. He as- 

 cribed hi> great success, not to the number or valour of 

 his troops, but to the will and favour of heaven ; a sen- 

 timent exactly coinciding with the Chinese creed, and 

 furnishing them with an excuse, which they plead to this 

 day. for submitting to a foreign yoke. Instead of shut- 

 ting himself up in his palace, according to the custom of 

 the Chinese emperors, he began his reign with shewing 

 .himself much in public, and giving his subj. cts free ac- 

 cess to his presence. He gained their attachment, above 

 all thingt, by the respect which he paid to their whole- 

 system of government, laws, and customs. Nothing was 

 changed, that could be regarded as of any importance ; 

 but, on the contrary, the conquerors confirmed almost 

 in every respect, to the manners of the vanquished ; mar- 

 ried into Chinese families, studied the Chinese language, 

 adopted the Chinese dress, and mixed completely with 

 the common mass. The ablest Chinese were appointed 

 to the civil departments, in preference to Tartars ; the 

 superstitions of the country were upheld and encouraged ; 

 and the people were scarcely sensible of any change ha- 

 ving taken place in the administration of public affairs. 

 The army alone was reset ved for the Tartars; and is 

 still chiefly composed of the countrymen of the emperor. 

 Shce-tsong greatly patronised men of learning ; and 

 shewed extraordinary favour particularly to the persons 

 employed in the Jesuit mission to China. Adam Schaal 

 was nude president of the tribunal of mathematics, and 

 intruded with the reformation of the calendar, an office 

 which had been held by the M.ihommedans nearly 300 

 years. This eminent Jesuit was honoured by the emperor 

 with the appellation of Ma-fa, " my father," and enjoy- 

 ed the special privilege of presenting his petitions into 

 his own bands, without subjecting them to the examina- 

 tion of the usual tribunals. About eight years after 

 Sbec-taong had taken the reins of government into his 

 own Inn !, he renowned sea-captain fching-tcliing-long, 

 orCoxinga, again appeared upon the coast of China with 

 bis numerous fleet, and at length laid u ge to the city of 

 Nan-kin ; but his army, having devoted themselves to 

 feasting and amusements for three day, in celebration of 

 his birth-day, the txsieged embraced ihe opportunity to 

 make an attack upon his camp at midnight, while the 

 soldiers were oppressed with wine and sleep, and drove 

 ir snips with gr. at slaughter. Enraged by 

 . he (-ur-.il ved a num- 



ber of vessels, took 40UOpnoners, and afterhavmg barbar- 



ously cut off their noses and ears, he sent them all ashore, 

 where they put to death by 



their own g.m : .1 punishment for having yield- 



ed to a reb i, but, in reality, a-> a mean of concealing the 

 digr;i<v of the discomfiture. Coxinga, after this victo- 

 ry di .;id of Formosa, 

 which was chiefly occupied !>y Dutch traders; and, af- 

 ter a block .( months, compelled them to surren- 

 der from want of pi M .latch, however, 

 \vcre permitted to carry off their property ; and the part 

 of (he island, which had been occupied by the Chinese, 

 was formed by thi- pirate chief into a small kingdom. 



The emperor Shec-tsong, about the 17th year of his 

 reign, while he was only '2i years of age, died of grief on 

 account of the loss of one of his queens, after having made 

 an attempt to deprive himself of life. While he was up- 

 on bis death-bed, he called four of his chief mandarins 

 into his presence, and charged himself before them with 

 various faults during his government, with ingratitude 

 to his most faithful minister, neglect of the counsels of 

 his mother, aff ction to the eunuchs, extravagance in 

 vain curiosities, and inordinate attachment to the late 

 queen. He next appointed them guardians of his young- 

 est son Kang-hee, whom he declared his successor, and 

 who was then only eight years of age. Then, calling for 

 his imperial robe, he covered himself with it in his bed, 

 and in uutiy expired. 



The guardians of the young monarch devoted them- 

 selves to the welfare of the empire. They began their 

 administration with wisely expelling all the eunuchs from 

 the palace except about 1000, who were reserved for per- 

 forming the lowest offices. They next published an 

 edict, requiring all the inhabitants of the sea coast to 

 withdraw three leagues from the sea, and all maritime 

 commerce to be abandoned ; which impaired, indeed, as 

 th y are supposed to have intended, the power of Cox- 

 inga, but which also completely ruined an immense mul- 

 titude of Chinese families, who subsisted by fishing. They 

 next issued a severe edict against the Christians, who 

 were soon alter compelled to leave the empire, as will af- 

 terwards be more particularly related. Oo-san-hoey, 

 who had invited the Tartars into China, and who bad 

 received from Shee-tsong a district in Shcn-see, with the 

 dignity of king, is represented by the Chinese historians, 

 as having soon repented his error in calling the Tartars 

 to his aid, saying that " he had sent for lions to drive 

 away dogs." In the 12th year of tne emperor Kang- 

 hee, he openly raised the standard of rebellion, made him- 

 self master of several western provinces, and excreted 

 the prerogatives of the emperor. At the same time, two 

 of the southern princes declared war against the Tartar 

 government, and were joined by Tchiiig-tchinir-may, the 

 son of Coxinga, and now king of Formosa. But these in- 

 surgents soon quarrelled with each other, and made their 

 submission to Kang-hee ; while Oo-saii-hoey, alter sus- 

 taining several successive defeats, sunk under the load of 

 years, the fatigues of war, and the pressure of grief and 

 disappointment. His son Hong-hoa, nevertheless, sup- 

 ported his father's views, and assumed the title of emp - 

 ror ; but was soon reduced to such extremities by the 

 Tartar generals, that, to avoid falling into their power, 

 he put him.-clf to death. About this time, a dreadful 

 earthquake was experienced in the northern parts of the 

 empire, and at Pekin alone, 300,000 persons arc said to 

 have bi en buried in the ruins of their habitations. 1. 

 bee, who, even in his youth, had discovered the jn 

 talents for governing, as noon as the different insurgents 

 had been completely suppressed, made a vir.it to his na- 

 tive dominions in Eastern Tartary, accompanied by his 



History. 



A. D. 



Heath of 

 the Kmpcr- 

 nr S:>ce- 

 tsong. 



ArccsuoB 

 of King- 

 live. 



Intestine 

 commo- 

 tions. 





