186 



CHINA. 



diief eiport is tea. Hitherto Britain has been en- 

 tirely supplied with this article through the medium 

 of the East India Company; but in April, 1834, this 

 monopoly ceased, and the trade to China is now 

 open. (See East India Company, and Tea Trade.) 

 Chinese merchants are by no means distinguished 

 for honesty in their dealings ; but the higher class of 

 them, or the hong merchants, equal any Europeans 

 in probity. Some of these amass immense fortunes. 



Chinese Merchants. 



The ancient history of China is enveloped in dark- 

 ness and fable. According to tradition, China was 

 governed, for many millions of years, by the gods, 

 Tien-Hoan-Chi, and the fabulous families of kings, 

 Ti-Hoan-Chi, Kiehu-Tohu-Ki. Amongst the latter 

 was Fo-hi, the lawgiver of the Chinese, and U-ti, 

 under whose family commences, with the reign of 

 the celebrated Yau, the work called the Shu-king, 

 from wliich the Chinese derive their early history. 

 But the historical character of this book cannot bear 

 criticism. The royal families of this obscure period 

 are the Kia (till 1767 B. C.), Shang (till 1122), 

 Chew (till 258). Wu-wang is invariably considered 

 the founder of this last dynasty, but the accounts of 

 its establishment differ. According to one account, 

 the natives of the interior dethroned Chew-sin, the 

 last of the preceding dynasty. According to others, 

 Wu-wang came, with an army of foreigners, from 

 the west, and introduced civilization amongst the 

 natives. After the establishment of this family, 

 there is a long chasm in the historical records. This 

 the Chinese writers fill with fables. Under this dy- 

 nasty is the Chew-kew, or period of fighting kings, 

 who ruled over many little neighbouring states, and 

 were continually at war with each other (from 770 

 till 320 B. C.). At length, a Chinese hero, Chi- 

 hoang-ti, of the princely house of Ting, made his 

 appearance, in the age of Hannibal, and with him 

 commenced the house of Tsin (from 256 till 207 B.C.). 

 He extirpated all the petty princes of the branch of 

 Chew, and united the whole of China (247). He 

 built the great wall as a protection against the Tar- 

 tars. The empire was again dismembered, after his 

 death, under his son Ul-shi, but was re-united, ten 

 years later, by Lieu-pang. He adopted the new 

 name of Hang, and founded the dynasty of Hang, 

 which reigned till A. D. 220, and was divided 

 into the western and eastern Hang (Si-Hang, from 

 B.C. 217 to A.D. 24, and Tong-hang, from A.D. 24 

 till 220). The princes of this dynasty extended their 

 conquests considerably to the west, and took part in 

 the affairs of Central Asia, The religion of Tao-tse 

 prevailed during their ascendency ; and in the same 



period Judaism was introduced into China. In the 

 course of time, the princes degenerated, and, under 

 Hien-ti, China was divided into three kingdoms (220), 

 which were again united by Wu-ti (280). He was 

 the founder of the family of Tsin (265 420). The 

 sovereigns of this family were bad rulers. The last, 

 Kong-ti, was dethroned by Wu-ti, founder of the 

 Song dynasty (420 479). A short time before this, 

 a separate kingdom was formed in the southern 

 provinces (386), called U-tai, or the five families. 

 The Songs were likewise sovereigns of little worth. 

 Whilst the whole aspect of Europe was changed by 

 the general emigration of nations, two empires were 

 formed in China, with the extinction of the dynasty 

 of Tsin one in the north (386), and the other in the 

 south (420) ; the latter of which was likewise called 

 I '-tui, or the empire of the five families. In the lat- 

 ter reigned successively the family Song (till 479), 

 Tsin (till 502), Lang (till 537), Tchin (till 589), Soui 

 (till 619). The northern empire (386 till 587) was 

 founded by the Goli Tartars, who conquered the 

 northern part of China, and was governed by four 

 dynasties, two native and two foreign, viz. the 

 Goei, of the race of To-pa, and the Hew-Chew, of 

 the race of Sien-pi. a. The dynasty of Goei reigned 

 from 386 till 556 in three branches (Vuen-Goei till 

 534, Tong-Goei till 550, and Si-Goei or the western 

 Goei, till 550) ; b. the dynasty of Pe-Tsi (the north- 

 ern Tsi), from 550 till 557 ; c. the dynasty of Hew- 

 Chew (the last Chew), from 557 till 581 ; d. the 

 dynasty of Hew-Lang (the last Lang), from 554 till 

 587. Yang-Kien dethroned Hew-Chew (581), con- 

 quered the empire of Hew-Lang (587), of the Tsin 

 (589), and founded the dynasty of Soui. The second 

 emperor of this dynasty, Yang-ti, was dethroned by 

 Li-ien (617), who founded the family of Tang, which 

 maintained itself 300 years, and resided at Sia-gan-fu, 

 in Shen-si. During the reign of the first emperors 

 of this line, particularly under Li-ien's learned son 

 Tai-tsong I. (626), China grew very powerful. But 

 his successors gave themselves up to pleasure, and 

 were entirely governed by their eunuchs. Internal 

 distractions were the consequences. The last em- 

 peror, Tchao-siuen-ti, was dethroned by Shu-wen, 

 who founded the dynasty of Hehu-Lang (907). This, 

 as well as the succeeding dynasties of Hehu-Tang 

 (923),Hehu-Tsin (936),Hehu-Han (946),Hehu-Tchew 

 (957), was of short duration. These are called 

 Hehu-U-tai, or the five last families. After this, 

 China was torn by internal commotions, and almost 

 every province had a separate ruler, when, in 990 

 the people elected the able Shao-Quang-Yu emperor. 

 He was the founder of the dynasty Sing, or Song, 

 which reigned till 1279. His immediate successors 

 resembled him, yet the country suffered considerably 

 by the devastations of the Tartars. Under Yiu- 

 tsong (1012), the Chinese were forced to pay tribute 

 to the Tartar Leao-tsang. Whey-tsong overthrew 

 the empire of Leao-tsang (1101) ; but the Tartars 

 possessed themselves of the whole of the north of 

 China (Pe-cheli), 1125. Kao-tsong II. was their 

 tributary, and reigned over the southern provinces 

 only. Under the emperor Ning-tsong, the Chinese 

 formed an alliance with Genghis-Khan, and the Niu- 

 ;ng submitted to this great conqueror (1180). But 

 ! Mongols themselves turned their arms against 

 China, and Kublai-Khan subjected them, after the 

 death of the last emperor, Ti-ping (1260). Under 

 the Tang dynasty, arts and sciences flourished in 

 China; several of the emperors themselves were 

 learned men. The Chinese authors call the Mon- 

 golian dynasty of emperors Yuen (from 1279 till 

 1368), and Kublai-Khan is by them called SAi-tsu. 

 This was the first time that the whole of China was 

 subjected by foreign princes. But the conquerors 



