China: Her History and Development 211 



some of m}^ successors, through drink- 

 ing this, will cause infinite sorrow to 

 the nation." Yu was the founder of 

 the Hia or Hai dynasty, which controlled 

 China from 2200 to 1818 B. C. 



The records of Chinese historians are 

 not definite in naming the year when 

 the Chinese settlers first arrived in their 

 new home, but it was in these early 

 semi-legendary years. B}^ some the time 

 is placed before the days of Fuh-hi or 

 as contemporaneous with his reign. 

 Others contend that they came about 

 2500 B. C, antedating the reign of Yu; 

 but nearly all agree that the Chinese 

 were not natives. They came, if we 

 are to take the word of Confucius, from 

 the valley of the Euphrates or from the 

 regions of the Caspian Sea. Journeying 

 for a new land and home, the}' persisted 

 in their eastern pilgrimage b}^ a north- 

 ern route and entered China through 

 the valley of the Hoangho or Yellow 

 River, until finally they were stopped by 

 the boundless waters of the Pacific. 



The fact that the Chinese were not 

 indigenous adds vastly' to interest in the 

 study of the growth of the empire. It 

 establishes a degree of sympathy on our 

 part with their histor}^ that we might 

 not otherwise feel. The present domi- 

 nant American race were not aborigines; 

 we drove the latter unmercifully before 

 us and ruthlessl}^ took possession of this 

 continent. So the Chinese, entering 

 their new field of effort, graduall}' drove 

 before them the natives until now there 

 are left only small numbers of the ab- 

 origines, who have their home and ren- 

 dezvous in the fastnesses of the south- 

 ern mountains. The Chinese seem to 

 have begun their empire with isolated 

 bands of colonists in the northern, cen- 

 tral, and western provinces of Shensi, 

 Shansi, Honan, and Hupeh, just as the 

 first Europeans established themselves 

 in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Florida, 

 Now they reach over an area larger than 

 that which is under the sovereignty of 

 the American people. 



The mighty Hia dynasty was doomed 

 to end through the very means that Yu 

 predicted. It went out in debauchery 

 and unbridled voluptuousness, under the 

 lead of vain Kieh-Kwei, and of his 

 beautiful but wanton consort, Meihi. 



The dynasty of Shang then assumed 

 power, and 28 sovereigns occupied the 

 throne through 644 years. These kings 

 were good and bad, strong and weak, 

 and the empire prospered and suffered, 

 extended and contracted, according to 

 the character and power of these men. 

 If we will pause and think what a 

 period of 644 years and 28 monarchs 

 means, and yet what little impression 

 they made on history be5''ond a passing 

 record of the usual wars, cabals, and 

 strifes, we are in a mood to appreciate 

 how trifling a portion of history's long 

 stor}^ the present exciting times may 

 occupy in the minds of the future 

 historians. 



RECUPERx\TIVE CHARACTFR OF CHI- 

 NESE 



lyct us remember, however, one con- 

 sideration that augurs well for China in 

 the future, as it has figured conspicu- 

 ously to her advantage and in her growth 

 during both the clear and the misty cen- 

 turies of time that is gone : the end of 

 the majority of the dynasties has come 

 under the reign of evil or weak minded 

 men and women, when it deserved to end 

 and when it was best for the people and 

 kingdom that a change should be inau- 

 gurated, and with few exceptions the 

 succeeding monarchs have been men of 

 eminent ability and leadership. This 

 recuperative feature of China — of her 

 dynasties, kings, and people — which has 

 been illustrated repeatedly through fifty 

 centuries or seventy-five cycles, may 

 prove her salvation in the present cri- 

 sis. No other nation in the history of 

 the world has successfully mastered the 

 events of centuries like China. If the 

 principle of the survival of the fittest is 

 demonstrated as logical and true in the 



