98 SURGEON-GENEEAL SIR C. A. GORDON^ M.D.^ K.C.B., ON 



The successor of the great and estimable monarch so 

 alkided to, namely, Tc Shun or Clmn, is stated to have had 

 only one title to advancement to the throne over the here- 

 ditary lieir to that dignity, namely, his integrity. His early 

 life was rendered the reverse of happy by reason of the 

 conduct towards him of his step-mother and half-brother ;* 

 nevertheless, his demeanour under such trying circumstances 

 was so correct that philosophers derived therefrom two great 

 principles of morality : the first, that hoAvever wicked parents 

 may be, their children are none the less bound to show them 

 respect and obedience ; the second, that there is no man so 

 bad but he may be reclaimed by good offices. Throughout 

 his reignf he was rigid in his religious observances. " A 

 prince," said he, " who desires to fulfil his obligations, and 

 longs to preserve his people in the way of peace, should 

 watch without ceasing that the laws are observed with 

 exactitude." To the advance of agriculture he paid special 

 attention; he established various colleges, and endowed a 

 hospice for the aged.:}: 



An allusion in this place to some contemporary events else- 

 where than in China may serve to indicate the vast distance 

 by which the present time is separated from the periods to 

 which, so far, our attention has been directed, namely, that 

 described as the Mythological or that of " the Five 

 Emperors," of uncertain duration, but usually reckoned as 

 extending from B.C. 2637 to B.C. 2208. But as with regard 

 to the one series of events, so in respect to the others 

 there are difficulties in drawing a definite line between what 

 is actual history and what traditional. 



In Egypt, great obscurity prevailed over the history of 

 the land and people. The sacred island of Meroe, as it is 

 called, formed by the confluence of the Astraboras and the 

 Astrapus, otherwise the Tacasze and Blue River, appears to 

 have been the first nucleus, whence sprang "the civilisers 

 of mankind." Thence they spread their industrious colonies 

 downwards along the course of the Nile, displacing the 

 earlier inhabitants as they advanced. In their progress, 

 B.C. 4400 to B.C. 2200, the cities of Thebes or No-Amon, 

 On (Heliopolis) and Memphis were erected by them. Great 

 improvements had already been made in respect to the 



* Persecutions to which Shun was subjected. See Gutslaff, vol. 

 p. 131. t From b.c. 2254 to 2204. 



\ Pauthier, p. 67. 



