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pronounced his text
obscure, and the mysterious Taouism which he founded holds the
smallest or the least assignable part in what passes for the religion of
the Chinese. As a philosopher and minister Laoutse will always attract
attention and excite speculation, but as a practical reformer and
politician he was far surpassed by his younger and less theoretical
contemporary Confucius.
Confucius was an official in the service of one of the great princes who
divided the governing power of China among themselves during the
whole of the seventh century before our era, which beheld the
appearance of both of these religious teachers and leaders. He was a
trained administrator with long experience when he urged upon his
prince the necessity of reform, and advocated a policy of union
throughout the States. His exhortations were in vain, and so far
ill-timed that he was obliged to resign the service of one prince after
another. In his day the authority of the Chow emperor had been reduced
to the lowest point. Each prince was unto himself the supreme authority.
Yet one cardinal point of the policy of Confucius was submission to the
emperor, as implicit obedience to the head of the State throughout the
country as was paid to the father of every Chinese household. Although
he failed to find a prince after his own heart, his example and precepts
were not thrown away, for in a later generation his reforms were
executed, and down to the present day the best points in Chinese
government are based on his recommendations. If "no intelligent
monarch arose" in his time, the greatest emperors have since sought to

conform with his usages and to rule after the ideal of the great
philosopher. His name and his teachings were perpetuated by a band of
devoted disciples, and the book which contained the moral and
philosophical axioms of Confucius passed into the classic literature of
the country and stood in the place of a Bible for the Chinese. The list of
the great Chinese reformers is completed by the name of Mencius, who,
coming two centuries later, carried on with better opportunities the
reforming work of Confucius, and left behind him in his Sheking the
most popular book of Chinese poetry and a crowning tribute to the
great Master.
From teachers we must again pass to the chronicle of kings, although
few of the later Chow emperors deserve their names to be rescued from
oblivion. One emperor suffered a severe defeat while attempting to
establish his authority over the troublesome tribes beyond the frontier;
of another it was written that "his good qualities merited a happier
day," and the general character of the age may be inferred from its
being designated by the native chroniclers "The warlike period." At last,
after what seemed an interminable old age, marked by weakness and
vice, the Chow dynasty came to an end in the person of Nan Wang,
who, although he reigned for nearly sixty years, was deposed in
ignominious fashion by one of his great vassals, and reduced to a
humble position. His conqueror became the founder of the fourth
Chinese dynasty.
During the period of internal strife which marked the last four centuries
of the Chow dynasty, one family had steadily waxed stronger and
stronger among the princes of China: the princes of Tsin, by a
combination of prudence and daring, gradually made themselves
supreme among their fellows. It was said of one of them that "like a
wolf or a tiger he wished to draw all the other princes into his claws, so
that he might devour them." Several of the later Tsin princes, and
particularly one named Chow Siang Wang, showed great capacity, and
carried out a systematic policy for their own aggrandizement. When
Nan Wang was approaching the end of his career, the Tsin princes had
obtained everything of the supreme power short of the name and the
right to wear the imperial yellow robes. Ching Wang, or, to give him

his later name as emperor, Tsin Chi Hwangti, was the reputed
great-grandson of Chow Siang Wang, and under him the fame and
power of the Tsins reached their culminating point. This prince also
proved himself one of the greatest rulers who ever sat on the Dragon
throne of China.
The country had been so long distracted by internal strife, and the
authority of the emperor had been reduced to such a shadow, that peace
was welcomed under any ruler, and the hope was indulged that the Tsin
princes, who had succeeded in making themselves the most powerful
feudatories of the empire, might be able to restore to the central
government something of its ancient power and splendor. Nor was the
expectation unreasonable or ungratified. The Tsins had fairly earned by
their ability the confidence of the