2 12 The National Geographic Magazine 



unlimited past competition of peoples 

 and governments, and has kept China 

 in the front as an independent power, 

 will riot its application in the future be 

 attested by a newer and greater China 

 rising out of the trials and confusion of 

 the hour ? With such an evolution of 

 events, the policy of our Government of 

 friendly assistance to China would seem 

 all the more wise, and fraught with 

 favorable results alike to Cathay and 

 America. 



THE GOLDEN AGE IN CHINA'S AN- 

 CIENT HISTORY 



Out of the darkness shall come light. 

 From the haze of the Shang dynasty 

 was born the incomparable Chow dy- 

 nasty, which boasted of thirty-five rulers 

 and lasted through nine eventful centu- 

 ries, from B. C. 1122 to 255. This pe- 

 riod was a golden age in China's ancient 

 history. It was the bridge between the 

 doubtful past and the actual present. 

 But its crowning glory was the appear- 

 ance of Confucius and Mencius upon 

 the stage of the world's history; nor 

 should I^aotze, the founder of Taoism, be 

 omitted. He figured in the same dy- 

 nasty, but his work was not so much 

 for the bettering of his fellow-men as 

 were the teachings and example of 

 Confucius. 



When we discuss at the dinner table, 

 in lecture-rooms, and in social and lit- 

 erary intercourse the golden ages of 

 Greece and Rome we are prone to for- 

 get entirely that in China there was a 

 corresponding age, when real civiliza- 

 tion in its broad sense reached a mark as 

 high even as it did in southern Europe. 

 It began in strength, blazed into unpar- 

 alleled brilliancy, and then sank into 

 decadence, to be followed by a period 

 when the dregs of misfortune were 

 drunk by the people ; and such was the 

 record also of European and western 

 Asiatic powers. 



If the founder of the Chow dynasty, 



Wu Wang, were alive today he would 

 be the man of power, ability, and leader- 

 ship to save China. He found the em- 

 pire in a more deplorable state than 

 Kwangsu, the present ruler, when he 

 ascended the throne. He made it re- 

 spected throughout Asia. Embassies 

 came with tribute from Korea on the 

 north, Cambodia and Siam on the south, 

 and Tatary and Tibet on the north and' 

 west. But in his power he made one 

 cardinal error : he established the sys- 

 tem of feudal states and feudal lords. 

 Their struggles and wars were the in- 

 fluences which eventually wrought the 

 downfall of his dynasty. 



Singular enough, great national pro- 

 gress was made during these times of 

 strife, and the boundaries of the empire 

 were enlarged in proportion to the in- 

 ternal wars. The foundation was laid 

 for the greater China that was to follow. 



If nothing stood to the credit of the 

 Chow dynasty other than the life of 

 Confucius, it would have honor enough, 

 without even including Mencius and 

 Eaotze. 



CONFUCIUS AND HIS PRECEPTS 



Confucius was born 551 years, or 

 nearly six centuries, before Christ. Be- 

 yond a few myths and legends con- 

 nected with his birth, there is nothing 

 fabulous about his life. He stands out 

 clearly as one of the greatest men that 

 the world has ever produced. He was' 

 a man, not a saint ; a man who went 

 through the average experiences of a 

 scholar and statesman in public life, and 

 who in an unpretentious but sincere way 

 endeavored to better his fellow-men. 

 He gradually rose from low estate to 

 be a magistrate, and finally became the 

 prime minister of Duke Ting. He was 

 an eminent lawyer, not unlike Moses 

 or Solon, and was a practical philoso- 

 pher like Benjamin Franklin. He was 

 a man of the people and knew their im- 

 pulses, hopes, and wishes like Abi-aham 



