China: Her History and Development 217 



Empire. The latter even sent an em- 

 bassy to China, and presents were ex- 

 changed. Ptolemy and Pliny wrote of 

 the Seres, a name which described the 

 Chinese ; and China was distinguished 

 at times far apart by Sin, Chin, and 

 Sinae. ' ' The reign of the Seres was a 

 vas", populous countrj^, touching on the 

 east the ocean and the limits of the hab- 

 itable world, and extending west nearlj^ 

 to Imaus and the confines of Bactria," 

 says Yule, adding, ' ' It seems probable 

 that relations existed from the earliest 

 times between China and India, and pos- 

 sibly, too, between China and Chaldea. 

 The ' Sinim ' of the prophet Isaiah is by 

 many taken to mean China, and the 

 Ptolemys ' Sinae ' are generally under- 

 stood to have been the Chinese. ' ' 



In the fort3^-ninth chapter, twelfth 

 verse, the great prophet says, "Behold, 

 they shall come from far: and, lo, these 

 from the north and from the west ; and 

 these from the land of Sinim."' 



I referred to the honest}^ of the Chi- 

 nese ; that same story was told in Europe 

 twenty centuries ago. Therefore the 

 reputation of the Chinese for integrit}^ 

 in spite of all that is said against them, 

 has some good foundation. Justinian 

 was the next great western writer who 

 discussed the Chinese ; and then Marco 

 Polo, returning from the magnificent 

 court and mighty empire of the imperial 

 conqueror Kublai Khan in the thirteenth 

 century, awoke the world to its first 

 actual appreciation of the extent and 

 power of Cathay. 



The Roman Empire was often de- 

 scribed by early Chinese historians as a 

 nation with which China enjoj^ed trade 

 exchange. The land of Tatsin-Kwoh 

 was the name of this European kingdom 

 in Chinese terminology. 



While Rome was in the height of her 

 glory and preparing the way for her 

 downfall the Han dynasty was sailing 

 on the flood tide of prosperit}', great 

 wars, territorial aggrandizement, and 

 splendid material progress. When we 



consider that such an eventful period is 

 included in the records of Chinese his- 

 tory-, we wonder that we have not given 

 it more attention in our study of former 

 civilizations. In those days we are told 

 that temples and palaces were erected 

 larger and grander than those of con- 

 temporaneous Rome and Greece; canals 

 were dug of sufficient depth to float pon- 

 derous junks ; walls were built that 

 reached over high mountain tops; roads 

 were opened that connected capitals and 

 trade centers ; wars were waged that 

 killed millions of men, and peace and 

 strife alternated from decade to decade. 

 There was blood}^ civil contention among 

 the feudal chieftains at one time, and 

 then again a war of the entire united 

 empire against a foreign enem3^ The 

 present Boxer uprising would have been 

 treated in those martial days as an amus- 

 ing incident, and no foreigner would 

 have been spared to tell the tale and 

 write lurid accounts for the magazines. 

 The contemplation of China's won- 

 derful . past suggests at once the ques- 

 tion. Why, if such great deeds were 

 done and such splendid buildings, pal- 

 aces, and roads were constructed, are 

 there not more tangible evidences re- 

 maining of these and later glorious 

 periods? The answer is simple and 

 conclusive. First, every new emperor, 

 or the founder of each new dynasty, 

 who was not friendly to his predecessor 

 seemed prompted by an immediate and 

 overwhelming desire to destroy all the 

 signs of his predecessor's work and 

 power, and proceeded to raze not only 

 to the ground but obliterate all monu- 

 ments of former glory. Secondly, there 

 are remaining, even against such ad- 

 verse conditions, more monuments of 

 the past than are generally remembered 

 in a discussion of this subject, such as 

 the great wall, the Ming tombs, the 

 Temple of Heaven, the Grand Canal, 

 paved roads, great arched bridges, por- 

 celain pagodas, and numerous lesser 

 signs, like the Nestorian Monument. 



