PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
505 
town ; but the king, desirous of ascertaining whether he was a competent CHAP, 
person to succeed him, first made him prime minister ; and being at . 
length satisfied that the choice of the people was judicious, he abdicated Map 
in his favour, reserving a very moderate provision for himself and family. 
Ynt-sou ascended the throne A.D. 1260, and reigned forty years. 
He is said to have been the first to levy taxes, and to have intro., 
duced useful regulations for the cultivation of the soil. In his reign 
Ta-tao, Ki-ki-ai, and other islands to the north-east and north-west 
came under the dominion of Loo Choo. This reign was also marked by 
an attempt of the Emperor of China to renew his demand of tribute, 
which had not been made for so many generations, that the Loo Chooans 
began to consider themselves absolved from the obligation. The Em- 
peror of China, however, determined not to relinquish the advantages 
which had been gained by his predecessor Yang-ti, equipped a fleet 
for the purpose of compelling payment ; but about this time China 
having sulFered a serious defeat from the Japanese, and from the king- 
doms of Tonquin and Cochin China, and lost 100,000 men in her 
expeditions against those places, disaffection spread throughout the 
troops, and the expedition returned without even having reached its 
destination, 
Ynt-sou was succeeded by his son Ta-tchin, who was followed by 
his son Ynt-see, two princes much esteemed for their wisdom and be- 
nevolence. Not so Yut-ching, a prince of avaricious and voluptuous 
disposition, who ascended the throne of his father in 1314 ; during 
whose reign the state fell into considerable disorder. The governor of 
Keng-koaey-gin revolted and declared himself King of Chanpe, the 
northern province of the island. The governor of Tali also revolted, and 
became king of the southern province Chan-nan, leaving Yut-ching to 
govern only the centre of the island, which was called Tchong-chan. 
Thus was this island, not sixty miles in length, divided into three in- 
dependent kingdoms. The greatest animosity prevailed between these 
three principalities; and long and bloody wars ensued. About sixty 
years after the country had been thus divided, Tsay-tou, a prince 
beloved by his people and esteemed for his valour, came to the throne 
of the middle province. It was in his reign that Hong-vou; the Era- 
3 T 
