The Problem of China | Page 6

which fell in 249 B.C. and is supposed to have begun in
1122 B.C., was already declining in power as compared with a number
of nominally subordinate feudal States. The position of the Emperor at
this time, and for the next 500 years, was similar to that of the King of
France during those parts of the Middle Ages when his authority was at
its lowest ebb. Chinese history consists of a series of dynasties, each
strong at first and weak afterwards, each gradually losing control over
subordinates, each followed by a period of anarchy (sometimes lasting
for centuries), and ultimately succeeded by a new dynasty which
temporarily re-establishes a strong Central Government. Historians
always attribute the fall of a dynasty to the excessive power of eunuchs,
but perhaps this is, in part, a literary convention.
What distinguishes the Emperor is not so much his political power,
which fluctuates with the strength of his personality, as certain
religious prerogatives. The Emperor is the Son of Heaven; he sacrifices
to Heaven at the winter solstice. The early Chinese used "Heaven" as
synonymous with "The Supreme Ruler," a monotheistic God;[3] indeed
Professor Giles maintains, by arguments which seem conclusive, that
the correct translation of the Emperor's title would be "Son of God."
The word "Tien," in Chinese, is used both for the sky and for God,
though the latter sense has become rare. The expression "Shang Ti,"
which means "Supreme Ruler," belongs in the main to pre-Confucian
times, but both terms originally represented a God as definitely

anthropomorphic as the God of the Old Testament.[4]
As time went by the Supreme Ruler became more shadowy, while
"Heaven" remained, on account of the Imperial rites connected with it.
The Emperor alone had the privilege of worshipping "Heaven," and the
rites continued practically unchanged until the fall of the Manchu
dynasty in 1911. In modern times they were performed in the Temple
of Heaven in Peking, one of the most beautiful places in the world. The
annual sacrifice in the Temple of Heaven represented almost the sole
official survival of pre-Confucian religion, or indeed of anything that
could be called religion in the strict sense; for Buddhism and Taoism
have never had any connection with the State.
The history of China is known in some detail from the year 722 B.C.,
because with this year begins Confucius' _Springs and Autumns_,
which is a chronicle of the State of Lu, in which Confucius was an
official.
One of the odd things about the history of China is that after the
Emperors have been succeeding each other for more than 2,000 years,
one comes to a ruler who is known as the "First Emperor," Shih Huang
Ti. He acquired control over the whole Empire, after a series of wars, in
221 B.C., and died in 210 B.C. Apart from his conquests, he is
remarkable for three achievements: the building of the Great Wall
against the Huns, the destruction of feudalism, and the burning of the
books. The destruction of feudalism, it must be confessed, had to be
repeated by many subsequent rulers; for a long time, feudalism tended
to grow up again whenever the Central Government was in weak hands.
But Shih Huang Ti was the first ruler who made his authority really
effective over all China in historical times. Although his dynasty came
to an end with his son, the impression he made is shown by the fact that
our word "China" is probably derived from his family name, Tsin or
Chin[5]. (The Chinese put the family name first.) His Empire was
roughly co-extensive with what is now China proper.
The destruction of the books was a curious incident. Shih Huang Ti, as
appears from his calling himself "First Emperor," disliked being
reminded of the fact that China had existed before his time; therefore

history was anathema to him. Moreover the literati were already a
strong force in the country, and were always (following Confucius) in
favour of the preservation of ancient customs, whereas Shih Huang Ti
was a vigorous innovator. Moreover, he appears to have been
uneducated and not of pure Chinese race. Moved by the combined
motives of vanity and radicalism, he issued an edict decreeing that--
All official histories, except the memoirs of Tsin (his own family),
shall be burned; except the persons who have the office of literati of the
great learning, those who in the Empire permit themselves to hide the
Shi-King, the Shu-King (Confucian classics), or the discourses of the
hundred schools, must all go before the local civil and military
authorities so that they may be burned. Those who shall dare to discuss
among themselves the Shi-King and the Shu-King shall be put to death
and their corpses exposed in a public place; those who shall make use
of antiquity