CHINA. 



187 



conformed themselves entirely to the Chinese cus- 

 toms, and left the laws, manners, and religion of the 

 country unchanged. Most of the emperors of this 

 line were able princes. But after the death of 

 Timur-Khan, or Tsing-Tsang (Tamerlane), 1307, and 

 still more after that of Yeson-Timur-Khan, or Tai- 

 ting (1318), divisions in the imperial family fre- 

 quently occasioned internal wars, which weakened 

 the strength of the Mongols. The Chinese Chu 

 took up arms against the voluptuous Toka-mur- 

 Khiin, or Shun-ti, and the Mongolian grandees be- 

 came divided among themselves. Toka-mur-Khan 

 fled into Mongolia (1368), where he died (1379). 

 His son Bisurdar fixed his residence in the ancient 

 Mongolian capital Karakorum, and was the founder 

 of the empire of the Kalkas, or northern Yuen. 

 This state did not remain long united ; but, after the 

 death of Toko&-Timur (1460), each horde, under its 

 own khan, became independent; in consequence of 

 which, they were, with few exceptions, constantly 

 kept in subjection to China after this period. Chu, 

 afterwards called Tai-tsoo IV., a private individual, 

 but worthy of the throne, delivered his country from 

 the foreign yoke, and founded the dynasty of Ming 

 (1368 till 1644), which gave the empire sixteen 

 sovereigns, most of whom were men of merit. On 

 the frontiers of the empire, the remains of the Niud- 

 shee Tartars, now called Mantchoos, still existed. 

 The emperor Shin-tsong II. gave them lands in the 

 province of Leao-tong ; and, when an attempt was 

 made, soon after, to expel them, they resisted suc- 

 cessfully, under their prince Taitsu, and obtained 

 possession of Leao-tong; upon which their chief 

 assumed the title of emperor. He continued the 

 war during the reigns of the Chinese emperors 

 Quan-tsong and Hi-tsong, until his death. His son 

 Ta-tsong succeeded him, and Hoai-tsong, a good 

 but weak prince, was the successor of Hi-tsong on 

 the. throne of China. On the death of Ta-tsong, the 

 Tartars did not appoint any one to succeed him, and 

 discontinued the war. But in China, Li-tching ex- 

 cited an insurrection, during which Hong-Puan put 

 an end to his life (1644). Li-telling's opponents 

 called in the Mantchoos to their assistance. They 

 got possession of Pekin, and of the whole empire, 

 over which they still reign. Under Shun-chi, a 

 child of six years old, the conquest of China was 

 completed (1646 47), and the present dynasty of 

 Tatim, or Tsim, or Tsing, was founded. He was 

 succeeded, in 1662, by his son Kang-hi, who sub- 

 dued the khan of the Mongols, took Formosa, and 

 made several other additions to his empire. During 

 the reign of this prince, the Christian religion was 

 tolerated, but his son Yong-ching prohibited it in 

 1724. The son of the latter, Kien-Lung, continued 

 the persecution against the Christians (1746 73). 

 He conquered Cashgar, Yarkand, the greatest part 

 of Songaria, the north-eastern part of Thibet and 

 Lassa, the empires of Miao-tse and Siao-Kin-tshuen, 

 and extended his territories to Hindostan and Bu- 

 charia. He peopled the Calmuck country, which 

 the expulsion of the Songarians had rendered almost 

 a desert, with the fugitive Torgots and Songarians 

 from Russia. In 1768, he was totally defeated by 

 the Birmese of Ava ; nevertheless, the Chinese took 

 possession of a town in Ava in 1770, and returned 

 to their country with the loss of half of their army. 

 They were more successful against the Miaotse (moun- 

 taineers). Towards the end of his reign, his minister, 

 favourite, and son-in-law, Ho-Tchington, abused his 

 influence over him. Kien-Lung was succeeded, hi 

 1799, by his fifteenth son, Kia-King. His reign was 

 frequently disturbed by internal commotions ; for in 

 China there exist secret combinations of malcontents 

 of all classes. In their nightly meetings, they curse 



the emperor, celebrate Priapian mysteries, and prepare 

 everything for the arrival of a new Fo, who is to restore 

 the golden age. The Catholics, whom he favoured, 

 have lost most of their privileges by their inconsiderate 

 zeal, and at Pekin, the preaching of the Christian re- 

 ligion has been strictly prohibited. Kia-King was sue- 

 ceeded, hi 1820, by his second son,Tara-Kwang, whom 

 the Russians call Daoguan. The embassy of lord Ma- 

 cartney was not more successful in attempting to 

 change the policy maintained by the court of China 

 for more than 1000 years, than the Russian embassy 

 of count Golowkin, or the more recent one of lord 

 Amherst, the British ambassador, in 1816. The en- 

 voys were unable to form political or commercial 

 treaties with this " celestial empire of the world," 

 which treats all monarchs as its vassals. (See Staun- 

 ton's Miscellaneous Notices relating to China, &c. 

 London, 1822.) A history of China, translated from 

 the Chinese of Choo-Foo-Tsze, by P. P. Thorns, many 

 years resident at Macao, in China, was lately an- 

 nounced for publication. It is stated to commence 

 with the reign of Fuh-he, according to Chinese chro- 

 nology, B. C. 3000, and to reach the reign of Min-te, 

 A. D. 300, including a period of 3300 years. 



Chinese Language, Writing, and Literature. The 

 Chinese language belongs to that class of idioms 

 which are called monosyllabic. (See Languages.) 

 Every word of it consists only of one syllable. They 

 may, however, be combined together as in the Eng- 

 lish words welcome, welfare ; but every syllable is sig- 

 nificant, and therefore is of itself a word. If the 

 Chinese language were written, like our own, with 

 an alphabet, it would be found to possess compara- 

 tively but few sounds. It wants the consonants 

 b, d, r, v, and s. Every syllable ends with a vowel 

 sound. The Chinese cannot articulate two conso- 

 nants successively, without interposing a sheva, or 

 English u short. Thus they pronounce the Latin 

 word Christus in this manner, Kul-iss-ut-oo-suh. The 

 number of syllables of which the Chinese language is 

 composed is very small. According to Remusat, it 

 does not exceed 252 ; but Montucci thinks there are 

 460. It is not, therefore, accurately known. But 

 this number is quadrupled by four different tones or 

 accents (some say five), of which an idea cannot be 

 given by words. By means of these accents, the 

 Chinese speak in a kind of cantilena, or recitative, 

 which is not, however, much observed when they 

 speak fast, in their ordinary conversation. It requires 

 a nice ear to distinguish those varieties of tone. This 

 language, consisting of monosyllables, is destitute of 

 grammatical forms. The nouns and verbs cannot be 

 inflected, and therefore the differences of tenses, 

 moods, cases, and the like, are either left to be un- 

 derstood by means of the context, or expressed by 

 the manner hi which the words are placed in relation 

 to each other, as in French, sage-femme and femme- 

 sage. With all these deficiencies, if they can so be 

 called, the Chinese understand each other perfectly 

 well, and are never at a loss to express their ideas. 

 Their extensive and varied literature is a proof of it ; 

 but this is generally ascribed to their writing, which, 

 it is said, expresses more than their spoken language. 

 But we do not concur with those who hold this opi- 

 nion. We think that the spoken language is fully 

 adequate to the expression of every idea, and that the 

 written characters add nothing to its force. The en- 

 thusiasm with which some writers speak of the won- 

 derful effects of the Chinese writings upon the minds 

 of those who read them, has often reminded us of the 

 ocular harpsichord of father Castel. The Chinese 

 characters, like all others, represent the sounds, that 

 is to say, tiie syllabic sounds or words of the spoken 

 language ; and through those sounds the ideas are 

 communicated to the mind. 



