walls of his garden, and then summoned Mazdek to see the fruit borne by the seed he had sown. Then he hung the teacher head downwards from a high gibbet, and slew him with arrows.1

The story shows that Chinese literature was known to serious thinkers in other countries, though the influence of the Middle State, as a civilizing force, was strictly limited to its own subjects. A generation or more before, Moses of Chorene spoke of the Chinese people as wealthy, civilized, and eminently pacific, and there can be little doubt that trade with Persia and the various kingdoms bordering the desert went on continuously in spite of the subdivision of the empire. The superior safety and quickness of the land traffic is alleged by Cosmas as a reason why there was so much silk in Persia, and the quantity exported is proved to have been considerable, by its reaching the empire of Justinian in quantities sufficient to suggest the thought of acclimatizing the precious worm. Another Persian embassy was received in 567 A.D.

The last of the six minor dynasties preceding the Tang did a good deal to facilitate its work by consolidating the imperial authority. In 607 the emperor threatened to drop all correspondence with Japan, because it was addressed from the "Great son of heaven in the East" to the "Great son of heaven in the West," and this was "contrary to the Rites." This was equivalent to a declaration of hostility, because, as Amyot observes,

tributary" in Chinese history means virtually ally, and Japan consequently protested against being erased from the list of tributaries. The Chinese were forbidden, in the same reign, to carry arms—a change always significant of an important stage in national progress. The Souy emperors (589-619 A.D.) gave some attention to letters, though the attempt to take stock of the surviving literary monuments of former ages ended in the discovery that 60 or 70 per cent. of the works known to have existed under the Hans had been lost beyond recovery. The form of character now in use was adopted (375 A.D.) towards the close of the T'sin Dynasty. About the same time (350 A.D.) the earliest mention of the tea plant being cultivated for the infusion made from its leaves is met with, and it is noticeable that references to drunkenness become much rarer in future than in the literature of the earlier times. The general use of hot tea as a beverage has also contributed to the remarkable freedom from epidemics of modern China; the water boiled for tea is rendered innocuous, and besides, since the habit of taking hot drinks has been formed, it has become usual for those who cannot obtain tea, to drink always hot water, instead of cold. One other worthy of the 3rd century should be mentioned, the doctor Chua-to, because he is still venerated as the patron saint of the medical profession, and has incense burnt before his tablet by every member of the faculty. He is said to have invented anaesthetics and to have been put to death by a general who suspected the motives. of his offer to try trepanning as a cure for headache.

1 J. Mohl, Le Livre des Rois, vol. vi. p. 109. The poet concludes: "If thou art a man of sense, do not follow the way of Mazdek."

The arts as well as letters were held in honour under the Souy princes, for besides the production of a famous green porcelain, the dynasty is notable as the first in which a famous artist in pottery is commemorated by name, an honour conferred upon one who brought to the capital some vases which were described as "artificial jade.” 1 Manufactories had previously been established at Si-ngan-fu and Loyang under the first Wei (220–264 A.D.) and under the T'sin Dynasty (265-419 A.D.) blue china of high repute was made in the province of Tche-kiang. The prosperity of different parts of the empire was unequal, but all the rich towns, which Tai-tsong-tang was shortly to gain credit by refusing to sack, could not have existed, if the individual life of the people had not gone on its tranquil course, habitually unmolested even by the weak and tyrannical rulers whom he superseded.

1 Histoire et Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise. Ouvrage traduit du Chinois, par M. Stanislas Julien, 1856, xxiv.

WITH the accession of Kao-tsou, the founder of the Tang Dynasty, a new period begins-a period not cut off from what precedes it by any great upheaval or transformation of the national life, but one which joins on still more closely to the ages which follow it. The first Tang emperor did not long survive his triumph; he scandalized the tribunal of Rites by insisting on having one of his daughters buried with military honours, because she had raised an army and marched to his relief when hard pressed; and he was also accused of a leaning towards Taoism. A palace intrigue to get rid of the younger son, whose victories had done much to establish the dynasty, was defeated, and in 626 A.D. Kao-tsong abdicated in favour of this prince.

The reign of Tai-tsong opens with the exchange on all hands of sentiments appropriate to the dawn of a new golden age. The Emperor defers piously to the patriotic counsels of his mother, cultivates sincerity of speech, rejects flatterers, discourages superstition, and gives his confidence to worthy ministers, all of which traits are illustrated by edifying anecdotes which it is not necessary to quote. The late emperor had made all members of his family princes of the first rank, and complaints were heard of the expense thus imposed on the country. Tai-tsong accordingly reduced the number of princes, allowing those only to retain the first rank who had deserved their place by services rendered to the State. In 637 a new code was drawn up in 500 articles. Milder penalties were substituted for ninetytwo causes of death, and seventy-one of exile previously recognised, and the total number of penalties was reduced to twenty; 1,590 rites and ceremonies, having the force of law, were enumerated, but, as usual, these were mostly derived from former codes.

By his orders an eminent scholar drew up a report upon the popular manuals of astrology, which were denounced as pernicious and delusive. In pursuance of the delightful Chinese plan of giving reasons for every official decree, it is explained that, according to the astrologers, all persons born at the same day and hour should have a similar fate, which experience proves not to be the case; while many of those who are actually overtaken by the same destiny-as, for instance, the soldiers who perished in a great

historical massacre-were certainly not all born under the same constellations.1 The same manifesto contains a warning against the arts of diviners who profess to tell what burial-places, if chosen, will bring good luck to the survivors. It is mentioned incidentally that burial-places used always to be on the north side of a town, which, as the cold or shady side, might originally have been preferred on hygienic grounds. But the superstitions attacked were too thoroughly indigenous to be suppressed by edict, and they survive at the present day in the well-known form of Feng-shwuy. The Emperor declined a flattering invitation to have his public utterances collected in a book, as three emperors of recent short-lived dynasties had done; but he finally bequeathed a book of instructions, called Ti-fan-fu, for the use of his son and successor.

3

The next reign was disturbed by Tatar incursions, Tibetan aggressions, and palace intrigues, the lawful Empress having been supplanted by a ci-devant Buddhist nun, whom she herself brought to court to supersede another favourite. The new-comer obtained complete ascendancy over the emperor, and, on his death, she took upon herself, as empress mother, to depose the emperor for having raised his wife's father to an unsuitable dignity, and reigned herself in his stead. The usurpation was successful, and if the supreme power had come legitimately into her hands, the Empress Wu-heou would probably have been allowed to count among the capable and successful rulers of the dynasty. As it was, insurrections were frequent, and many officers of high standing held aloof from her administration. She attempted to change the name of the dynasty, and by raising her ancestors to the imperial rank, attempted to substitute her own family for that of Tang.

She is said to have established examinations for women, with a view to admitting them to the civil service. And she provoked a dangerous amount of discontent by allowing and inviting secret reports, addressed to herself, not through ministers, which it seems took the form of delations. In 689 A.D. she had the unparalleled audacity, in her own womanly person, to offer sacrifice in the imperial robes. The comparative leniency with which the historiographers, nevertheless, record her offences, may be due to the fact that she felt herself strong enough to tolerate the usual amount of free-spoken criticism, as to the favour shown to her own relations and the like. The best princes heed such remonstrances in Chinese story, but the praise of second-bestness is always allowed to those who listen without resentment, even when, it is added, they take no further notice. In 705 A.D., after twenty years of empire, and shortly before her death, at the venerable age of eighty-one, Wu-heou was forced to make way for her son, who, in his turn, was ruled by his wife, a lady whom the candid historians admit to have been much cleverer than himself, though she failed in the attempt to interrupt the succession as Wu-heou had done.

1 De Mailla, vi. p. 94.

2 Cf. S. B., xxvii. p. 170.

3 Or rather by a member of the late emperor's harem, who, according to the custom of the period, had been forced to retire to a convent.

After another short reign, we come to that of Hiuen-tsong, 714-756 A.D., which began prosperously, but ended in disaster and abdication. The faults which the historians lay to his charge are the want of self-control, the love of women, elevation of eunuchs, and addiction to magic rites and religious superstitions. But the troubles were at first local, and did not prevent a moderate increase in the numbers of the tax-paying population: a census of 726 gives over seven million families or forty-one million persons in the empire, besides those employed in the army or the civil service, and in 754 the families exceed nine millions, and the total population fifty-two millions. In 746 the revolt which endangered the dynasty began. It was headed by a successful general, and former favourite of the emperor, of barbarous origin, who took that means of defending himself against rivals and detractors. The capital and central provinces suffered most severely, and before his abdication, Hiuen-tsong had been driven to take refuge in Sz'chuen.1

The census of 764 A.D. shows an almost incredible falling off in the population during the decade, less than three million householders being registered. The figures may be taken as an authentic record of the empire's weakness, though the actual loss of life in battle and famine cannot have been so great as they imply. Some districts were depopulated, and it is stated that during one siege, in Honan, human flesh was eaten. Si-ngan-fu also suffered froin famine owing to the blocking of the canals, by which grain was imported from the south. But the census returns would also be affected by the necessary omission of all districts in the hands of the rebels, as well as those temporarily deserted by the cultivators, to say nothing of all that would profit by the disturbances to make fraudulent returns.

At the same time a determined attempt was made, especially in Honan, Shantung, and Petcheli, to restore the hereditary character of provincial governorships, and in 784 A.D., a number of these governors united together to force the emperor to appoint the sons of all the allies to succeed on their fathers' death. The fate of the provinces at this time depended much on the local governors, who for good or evil were able to make themselves tolerably independent of the empire. Sz'chuen seems to have enjoyed exceptional good fortune in this respect. The law provided (as it still does) that rations should be given to the families of soldiers on a campaign, in addition to their regular pay; but the general in charge of this province earned much gratitude, by continuing the allowance to the widows and children of deceased soldiers, till the former married again and the latter were of age to work. And this liberal ruler was so good an economist in other respects, that he was able to remit the usual tribute to court and at the same time levy less than the customary amount of taxes.

Tibet and the Tatars were still the most formidable neighbours, and the relations with the latter are a curious commentary on the Chinese preten

1 Mémoire sur la Population de la Chine et ses variations. E. Biot, Journ. As., 1836,

P. 457.