180 SURGEON-GENERAL C. A. GORDON. 
5. Modern history, from the commencement of the Ming 
dynasty, A.D. 1368, to the present time. 
To the first of these periods are assigned six different eras,* 
the duration of the whole extending over many thousands of 
years,—sufficiently long to satisfy the most ardent believer in 
“the antiquity of man.” In the first, PwanKoo was “ pro- 
duced,” after the first division of heaven and earth, and the 
settlement of chaos. In the second, Teen Hwang-she, 
“Imperial Heaven,” settled the years. In the third, Te 
Hwang-she, ‘‘ Royal Earth,” fixed the months. In the 
fourth, Jin Hwang-she, “Sovereign Man,” divided the land, 
In the fifth year, Chaou-she invented dwellings. In the sixth. 
Suy-jin-she ‘invented ”’ fire. 
The period thus indicated is considered to extend backward 
in time till lost in remotest antiquity, and down to a date 
variously assigned to B.C. 3369; 3254, and still later when the 
next era is said to open, namely :— 
The second, or traditionary period, called also the period of 
the “Five Kings,” is considered to include that which ex- 
tends from the dates above given to about B.C. 2204, namely, | 
the date of accession to power of the Emperor Yu; but in 
respect to the several rulers to be named as belonging to it, 
the actual times in which they respectively lived are undefined, 
if, indeed,. the names to be mentioned represent real and 
not mythological personages. With regard to each, a brief 
notice only can here be given, namely :— 
Funet was “assisted” by a female principal called Wa. 
To him is assigned the credit of introducing the elements of 
civilisation among the Chinese. He taught hunting and fishing; 
he invented music ; instituted a distinctive dress for men and 
for women; established marriages, and in relation thereto laid 
down a list of prohibited degrees. 
SHINNONG taught the arts of husbandry and medicine, was, 
like Cain, ‘‘a tiller of the ground” } (Gen. iv. 2). He intro- 
duced markets and established commerce. 
Hwanotr, or “The Yellow Emperor,” is credited with the 
invention of the “Chinese cycle” of sixty years; with 
* Somewhat similar to the four ages or Yugas of the Hindoos ; the fourth of 
which corresponding to the present age or Kal Yuga, is held to date from 
B.C. 3101.—According to Menu, Noah (corresponding to Fohi of the 
Chinese) lived in the third or beginning of the fourth yuga, when the life of 
man, previously 1,000 years, had been shortened to 100. 
+ The date assigned to Fuhe is B.C. 2958. According to usually accepted 
chronology, Noah died B.C. 1998, aged 950 years; the Noachian deluge 
happened B.C, 2348. 
ee To Shinnong is attributed the discovery of the properties of the tea 
plant. 
