2 1 6 The National Geographic Magazine 



in the distant interior, that the mission- 

 aries are doing far more good than harm, 

 and that thej^ should have the moral 

 support of the American people in the 

 continuance of their labors. 



There are incompetent missionaries 

 as there are incompetent business men. 

 They have faults. These should and 

 will be corrected and the work will go 

 on. Missionaries will be a help and not 

 a hindrance in the regeneration of China. 

 The commercial spirit leading to ruthless 

 territorial aggrandizement, manifested 

 by the European powers, must bear the 

 responsibility for the Boxer outbreak as 

 much as the zeal of missionar}^ evan- 

 gelization. 



Such men as Li Hung Chang, Sheng 

 lyiu Kin Yi, and Chang Chi Tung have 

 told me unofficially that they had no 

 objection to Christian missionary work 

 where it was carried on b}^ worthy men, 

 but complained that too often indiscreet 

 and incompetent men were in charge who 

 excited hostilities and caused trouble for 

 the majority of the missionaries who 

 were qualified and successful. 



This discussion of religions, into which 

 I have gone to some length, although 

 cursorily, began with a consideration of 

 the character of the teachings of Con- 

 fucius, who lived in the illustrious Chow 

 Dynasty period. From the date of its 

 ending, in 255 B. C, we pass on rap- 

 idly down through the long historical 

 corridor of succeeding and changing 

 Chinese dynasties. Some we admire ; 

 some we abhor. Some we praise ; some 

 we decry, but it is the same old story of 

 ups and downs, great and little men, 

 good and bad men, until we grow almost 

 weary of the tale, and are constantly 

 reminded that in the dim future these 

 present daj's of critical negotiations at 

 Pekin may seem of little importance. 

 Let us hope that their conclusion and 

 results ma}^ warrant a higher measure 

 of praise than we can bestow on many 

 of the crises of the limitless \)^x^. fascinat- 

 ing past. 



THE GREAT WALL 



During the Tsin dynasty, which suc- 

 ceeded the Chows, the major portion of 

 the great wall of China was constructed. 

 This was approximately 240 B. C, but 

 some 250 or 300 miles of the wall were 

 added nearly 18 centuries later, in 1547 

 A. D., hj an emperor of the celebrated 

 Ming dynasty. Let us remember what 

 this means. A wall begun at one time 

 two centuries before Christ was com- 

 pleted nearly sixteen centuries after 

 Christ. Can anj^thing better illustrate 

 the great age and astonishing conserva- 

 tism of China than this simple record ? 

 What are the sixtj^ years of China's 

 present modern foreign relations — one 

 cycle of Cathay — in comparison with 

 these eighteen centuries which history 

 tosses up and off for our study as if 

 onl^^ eighteen da3^s ! 



The builder of the wall was, however, 

 a great man. Some call him the Na- 

 poleon of Asia. Chung was his name, 

 or Hwang-ti, as he called himself. He 

 built magnificent palaces, constructed 

 roads, dug canals, and did all in his 

 power to make his kingdom mighty and 

 prosperous, but was guilty of one un- 

 pardonable offense. Wishing to go down 

 to posterity as the y^ri-^* king of China, 

 he ordered the destruction of all the old 

 records and libraries, and decapitated 

 hundreds of scholars. For this he was 

 never forgiven by the Chinese people, 

 and few praises are now sung in his 

 honor. Fortunately for China sufiicient 

 records were preserved, and literarj^ men 

 survived to replace later the destroyed 

 records, legends, and histories. He was 

 succeeded by the Han dynasty, which 

 held swa}^ from 206 B. C. to 225 A. D. 



RELATIONS WITH THE ROMANS 



The Han dynast}', that started before 

 the Christian era and reigned into it over 

 two centuries, saw the first commercial 

 relations established with the Roman 



