Introduction 



EVER since the Original Hundred Families 

 wandered eastward from Central Asia into 

 the land now known as China, and settled in the 

 broad and fertile valley of the Wei River in the 

 present province of Shensi, forming the nucleus 

 of the Flowery Kingdom, its people have been 

 harassed continually by the ravaging hordes of 

 Tartary. 



The frontiers between the two races, one peace- 

 ful and addicted to the practice of the Arts, the 

 other warlike, and caring only for plunder, 

 rapine and conquest, have always been marked 

 by scenes of bloody conflicts, ruthless raids and 

 brutal massacres ; yet, strange though it may seem, 

 it has been the peaceful nation which has won in 

 the end, and continually the Sino-Mongolian 

 boundary has been pushed further to the north. 



The Chinese have repeatedly been conquered 

 by the Tartars, and subjected to a rule of tyranny 

 and oppression ; but it has always ended in the 

 same way — either the absorption or the ejection of 

 the Tartar conquerors, and a further advance 

 of the Chinese upon the acknowledged territories 

 of these predatory Nomads. 



