Shaanxi

“ About 1600 B.C. we come at last into the realm of history. Of the Shang dynasty, which now followed, we have knowledge both from later texts and from excavations and the documents they have brought to light. The Shang civilization, an evident off-shoot of the Lung-shan culture (Tai, Yao, and Tunguses) , but also with elements of the Hsia culture (with Tibetan and Mongol and/or Turkish elements) , was beyond doubt a high civilization. Of the origin of the Shang State we have no details, nor do we know how the Hsia culture passed into the Shang culture. ”

“ Now the empire is a great trust; but not to sacrifice one's life for it is precisely where the man of Tao differs from the man of the world.
Shun offered to resign the empire to Shan Chuan. Shan Chuan said, "I am a unit in the sum of the universe. In winter I wear fur clothes. In summer I wear grass-cloth. In spring I plough and sow, toiling with my body. In autumn I gather in the harvest, and devote myself to rest and enjoyment. At dawn I go to work; at sunset I leave off. Contented with my lot I pass through life with a light heart. Why then should I trouble myself with the empire? ”

“ A temple has added sacredness in China according as its foundation is on a spot originally chosen or honored by a representative of Heaven as a threshold of a place of worship. Thus Tai Shan, or the “Great Mount,” in the province of Shantung, China, is mentioned in the Shoo King, or Book of Records, as the site of the great Emperor Shun’s altar of sacrifice to Heaven, 2254 B.C., or, say, three centuries before the time of Abraham. ”

“ I think that I never before quite realized just what the loss of Shantung meant to these Chinese until that day, unless it was the next day, [171] when we climbed the sacred mountain Taishan, which is also in Shantung.
"It is the oldest worshiping-place in the world," said the historian of the party. "There is no other spot on earth where continuous worship has gone on so long. Here for more than twenty centuries before Christ was born men and women were worshiping. Emperors from the oldest history of China down to the present time have all visited this mountain to worship. ”

“ When that time arrives, the Chinese will find the elements of all they are in search of at the foreign settlements in Shanghai, where the schools, the splendid commerce, the merchant palaces, the fleets of steamers, the local foreign government, the opulence of the inhabitants, and the condition of the streets and dwellings, offer an instructive contrast to the condition of the Chinese walled city which lies to the south of the foreign settlements. The labour of centuries has brought this city to its present state, and the result is little to the credit of the authorities who rule there. ”

“ When a well-bred Chinese gentleman arrives at a strange place, he does not look around him, he shows no curiosity whatever in his surroundings, he retires to his room, his meal is brought to him and he remains quietly in his resting-place till it is time for him to take his departure, and what applies to a man, applies, of course, in an exaggerated degree, to a woman. Now I had come to see China, and I made every effort in my power to see all I could. I tremble to think what the inhabitants of Shansi must have thought of me! ”

“ Many old Shanghailanders, who have left the Settlement, now look forward to the monthly appearance of the magazine by the homeward-bound mail, and on perusing its interesting columns fancy themselves back in the gay Far Eastern city of which they retain endearing recollections. From its inception up to the present day Social Shanghai has been the work of only one lady, who, after working hard for years, alone and almost unaided, has the satisfaction now of knowing that her production has met a want, is being appreciated, and is extending its scope and usefulness month by month. ”

“ Zan was on the bridge in an instant, yelling out, "You sellout! How could you betray me?" Shao also spurred his horse onto the bridge. He pointed at Zan, saying, "Han Fu was lacking in ability, he wanted to give Jizhou to me. What does any of that have to do with you?" Zan said, "In the past, I took you for someone who understood loyalty; that's why I recommended that you be leader of the alliance. But now you've gone and done this! Your treachery is now revealed to me. How is it that you have the nerve to show yourself before the world!" Yuan Shao was outraged, saying, "Who can capture him?" ”

“ A son of one of the concubines of the penultimate feudal ruler of Ch'in was living as a hostage in the neighbouring state of Chao, in what is now northern Shansi. There he made the acquaintance of an unusual man, the merchant Lü Pu-wei, a man of education and of great political influence. Lü Pu-wei persuaded the feudal ruler of Ch'in to declare this son his successor. He also sold a girl to the prince to be his wife, and the son of this marriage was to be the famous and notorious Shih Huang-ti. ”

“ The population is returned as 12,200,000. It includes, in the northern districts, about 500,000 Mongols. The configuration of Shan-si is noteworthy, forming, from its southern frontier as far north as Ning-wu Fu—an area of about 30,000 sq. m.—a plateau 2600 to 6000 ft. above the level of the sea, the whole of which is one vast coal-field. North and west the plateau is bounded by high mountain ranges trending south-west and northeast. Down the central line of the province from north to south lies a series of deep depressions, all of which are ancient lake basins. ”

“ Ho-nan and Shan-si, with portions of Shen-si, Chih-li, Shan-tung, Gan-hwui, Kiang-su, and Hu-pih, were all which formed the dominions of Chow. For thirteen years of his life Confucius wandered about from state to state, seeking rest and patrons; but his journeyings were confined within the modern provinces of Ho-nan and Shan-tung, and the borders of Chih-li and Hu-pih. Many Europeans now living have travelled over much more of China than he did. ”

“ But the interesting fact is that the docile, long-suffering people of Shansi did some butchering on their own account, as soon as the word was passed around that no questions would be asked by the officials.
Apparently, the Shansi peasant can be at one time simple, industrious, loyal, and at another time a slaying, ravishing maniac. The Chinaman himself is the greatest paradox of all. He is the product of a civilization which sprang from a germ and has developed in a soil and environment different from anything within our Western range of experience. ”

“ Shantung, the birthplace of Confucius, is arid and filled with rocky, barren hills, and the provinces of Chili, Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu, which extend Westward, skirting the Great Wall, are also sandy and often parched for lack of water, while Szechwan, lying on the Tibetan border, although rich and well irrigated, is barred from the rest of China by tremendous mountain ranges difficult to pass. ”

“ It is not in such a manner that China's Empire shall spread. There are ancestors of mine who would turn in their graves to find China in league with a western Power."
"You are a wise man, Li Wen," his master declared. "We hold the mastery of the world. What shall we do with it?"
"The mightiest sword is that which enforces peace," was the calm reply. "Highness, the lady whom you were expecting waits in the anteroom."
Prince Shan nodded. He welcomed Naida, who was ushered in a moment or two later, with rather more than his usual grave and pleasant courtesy, leading her himself to a chair. ”

“ The people of Shan-si are great traders, and nearly all the commerce of southern Mongolia is in their hands. A railway connecting the capital with Pekin was opened in 1908. The only wagon road leading into and through Shan-si is the great highway from Peking to Si-gan Fu, which enters Shan-si west of Chêng-ting Fu, and leaves the province at Tung-kwan at the great bend of the Hwang-ho. Transport is chiefly on the backs of camels, mules and asses. ”

“ The area under more or less organized Shang control comprised towards the end of the dynasty the present provinces of Honan, western Shantung, southern Hopei, central and south Shansi, east Shensi, parts of Kiangsu and Anhui. We can only roughly estimate the size of the population of the Shang state. Late texts say that at the time of the annihilation of the dynasty, some 3.1 million free men and 1.1 million serfs were captured by the conquerors; this would indicate a population of at least some 4-5 millions. ”

“ And I am also not sure that that makes any difference as long as the idea is buried in the heart of the Chinese people. A tradition often means as much to a race as a fact. And the tradition certainly is well established that Shantung is the birthplace of all Chinese history. So that is one of the deeply rooted spiritual facts that makes Shantung sacred to the Chinese.
The second spiritual gold mine is that one of its cities, Chufu, is the birthplace and the last resting-place of the sage Confucius. And China is literally impregnated with Confusian philosophy and Confucian sayings. ”

“ The chalk-ranges to the southward provide magnificent scenery, and two miles from Sandown, but on higher ground, is Shanklin, from which its celebrated chine descends to the sea. This little ravine is about four hundred and fifty yards long and at its mouth about two hundred feet deep. It has been gradually worn in the brown sandstone rock by the action of a diminutive brook that bubbles over a little cascade at the upper end. The rich colors of the crags, the luxuriant foliage of the slopes, and the rhapsodies of guide books combine to give the Shanklin Chine a world-wide fame. ”

“ There have been famous consuls at Shanghai, like Sir Harry Parkes, whose statue is erected on the bund. He became British minister, and did much for British diplomacy and world trade in Chinese wars. The first government of the rebellion of October, 1911, opened in Shanghai, with Wu Ting Fang as foreign minister. Shanghai, like Tientsin and other river ports, has its great conservancy question in the matter of keeping the channel free from loess and sand silt. Dredging is infinitely too expensive, and the wit of man has to be matched against the will of tide and stream. ”

“ God indignant.—Finally, when the Shang dynasty sank into the lowest depths of moral abasement, King Wu, who charged himself with its overthrow, and who subsequently became the first sovereign of the Chou dynasty, offered sacrifices to Almighty God, and also to Mother Earth. "The King of Shang," he said in his address to the high officers who collected around him, "does not reverence God above, and inflicts calamities on the people below. Almighty God is moved with indignation." ”

“ Bless my stars, what a crow ! Shanghai sent up such a perfect pagan and laudamus—such a trumpet blast of triumph, that my soul fairly snorted in me. Duns !—I could have fought an army of them! Plainly, Shanghai was of the opinion that duns only came into the world to be kicked, hanged, bruised, battered, choked, walloped, hammered, drowned, clubbed!
Returning indoors, when the exultation of my victory over the dun had a little subsided, I fell to musing over the mysterious Shanghai. ”

“ There was a good sprinkling of Chinese women with dwarfed feet, but they were much more poorly clad than the prosperous-looking Shans.
The men, Shan and Chinese, were all dressed in dark blue jackets and trousers, the Shans being distinguished by blue turbans with the pigtail wound into their coils, while the Chinese wore skull-caps. Almost all carried long-stemmed pipes. After some delay and expostulation with the headmen, we were inducted into a Buddhist khyoung or temple, standing in a separate courtyard just within the town, but entered through a gate of its own in the town wall. ”

“ The province of Shansi boasts having the best governor in the Chinese Empire, and he has accomplished in the last ten years a remarkable change in the entire province—a province which is considerably larger than Great Britain. The city of Taiyuanfu is perhaps the most striking evidence of this change. The whole place is unrecognizable since the days when I first knew it in 1893. The streets are wide and well kept ”

“ But in the parts of Shansi and Chihli where I was so much light has not yet penetrated. The wife and mother has influence because any living thing with which we are closely associated—even if it be but a little dog—must needs influence us, but all the same the Chinese women are as a rule mere chattels, dependent entirely upon their menfolk. Amongst the Chinese the five happinesses are: old age, a son, riches, official position and a moustache; so slight a thing is a woman that she does not come in in this connection. ”

“ Chao Chen tried to console him, saying, “Heaven has granted you three daughters: no human power can change this divine decree. When these princesses have grown up, we will choose three sons-in-law for your Majesty, and you can elect your successor from among them. Who will dare to dispute his right to the throne?”
The King named the third daughter Miao Shan. She became noted for her modesty and many other good qualities, and scrupulously observed all the tenets of the Buddhist doctrines. Virtuous living seemed, indeed, to be to her a second nature. ”

“ Shanghai is an example of one of the curious anomalies which have been generated by the collision of Western progress with Eastern stagnancy. It presents, indeed, an astonishing phenomenon, a European city—not unfit to be the capital of many a European country—dumped down on a Chinese mud-flat. The mud-flat is still the property of China, who receives ground-rent from the foreigner who has spread his palatial mansions over it ”