תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

1

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

A BRIEF OUTLINE OF CHINESE HISTORY, DOWN TO THE TIMES OF CONFUCIUS AND MENCIUS.

CHINESE historians have endeavored to explain the creation and origin of the world around them; but, ignorant of the sublime fact that there is one Creator who upholds His works by the word of His power, they have invented various modes of accounting for it, and wearied themselves in theorizing and disputing with each other. One of them, Yangtsz, remarks, in view of these conflicting suppositions : "Who knows the affairs of remote antiquity, since no authentic records have come down to us? He who examines these stories will find it difficult to believe them, and careful scrutiny will convince him that they are without foundation. In the primeval ages no historical records were kept. Why then, since the ancient books that described those times were burnt by Tsin, should we misrepresent those remote ages, and sat

isfy ourselves with vague fables? But as everything except heaven and earth must have a cause, it is clear that they have always existed, and that cause produced all sorts of men and beings, and endowed them with their various qualities. But it must have been man who in the beginning produced all things on earth, and who may there. fore be viewed as the lord, and from whom rulers derive their dignities." Mencius said: "It would be better to be without the Book of History, than to give entire credit to it." The Book of History here mentioned is the Shoo King; and if he speaks thus of the records of Yaou, and Shun, and other ancient emperors, how much more would he discredit these mythological histories.

Most of the Chinese imagine that the world owes its existence to the retroactive agency of the dual powers yang and yin, which first formed the outline of the universe, and were themselves influenced by their own creations. One of their authors says:

"Heaven was formless-an utter chaos; and the whole

mass was nothing but confusion. Order was first produced in the pure ether, and out of it the universe came forth. The universe produced air, and air the milky way. When the pure male principle yang had been diluted, it formed the heavens; the heavy and thick parts coagulated, and formed the earth. The refined particles united very soon, but the union of the thick and heavy went on slowly; therefore the heavens came into existence first, and the earth afterwards. From the subtle essence of heaven and earth, the dual principles yang and yin were formed. From their joint operation came the four seasons, and these putting forth their energies gave birth to all the products of the earth.

The warm effluence of the yang being condensed produced fire, and the finest parts of fire formed the sun. The cold exhalations of the yin being likewise condensed produced water, and the finest parts of the watery substance formed the moon. By the seminal influence of the sun and moon, came the stars. Thus heaven was adorned with the sun, moon, and stars. The earth also received rain, rivers, and dust."

But this acute explanation, like the notions of Hesiod among the Greeks, was too subtle for the common people. They also wanted to personify and deify these powers and operations; but lacking the imaginative genius and fine taste of the Greeks, their mythological personages are outrageous, and their theories shapeless monsters. No creator of the world is known or imagined, who, like Brahm, lives in space, ineffable, formless. But the first man, Pwanku, had a herculean task given him—no less a work than to mould the chaos which produced him, and chisel out the earth that was to contain him. The Rationalists picture him holding a chisel and mallet in his hands, splitting and fashioning vast masses of granite floating confusedly in space. Behind the openings his powerful hand has made are seen the sun, moon, and stars, monuments of his stupendous labors; and at his right hand, inseparable companions of his toils, but whose generation is left in obscurity, stand the dragon, the phoenix, and the tortoise, and sometimes the unicorn-divine types and progenitors with himself of the animal creation. His efforts were continued eighteen thousand years, and by small degrees he and his work increased; the heavens rose; the earth spread out and thickened; and Pwanku grew in stature six feet

every day, till, his labor done, he died for the benefit of his handiwork. His head became mountains, his breath wind and clouds, and his voice thunder. His limbs were changed into the four poles, his veins into rivers, his sinews into the undulations of the earth's surface, and his flesh into fields; his beard, like Berenice's hair, was turned into stars; his skin and hair into herbs and trees; and his teeth, bones, and marrow, into metals, rocks, and precious stones; his dropping sweat increased to rain; and lastly, (nascitur ridiculus mus) the insects which stuck to his body were transformed into people!

Pwanku was succeeded by three rulers of monstrous forms, called the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Human Sovereigns, impersonations of a trinity of powers, whose traces and influences run through Chinese philosophy, religion, and politics. Their acts and characters are detailed with the utmost gravity, and more than Methusalean longevity allowed them to complete their plans. Their reigns continued eighteen thousand years (more or less, according to the author quoted) during which time good government commenced, men learned to eat and drink, the sexes united, sleep was invented, and other improvements adopted. One would think, if the subjects of these wonderful beings were so long lived, great perfection might have been attained in these and other useful arts; but the mysterious tortoise, companion of Pwanku, on whose carapace was written in tadpole-headed characters the history of the anterior world, did not survive, and their record has not come down.

After them flourished two other monarchs, one of them being called Yu-chau, which means having a nest, and the other Sui-jin, or match-man. Whether the former in

« הקודםהמשך »