What shall be said of the successors of Cheng-wang?  To account for the meagre chronicles of previous dynasties one may invoke the poverty of a language not yet sufficiently mature for the requirements of history; but for the seeming insignificance of the long line of Chous, who lived in the early bloom, if not the rich fruitage, of the classic period, no such apology is admissible.

Some there were, doubtless, who failed to achieve distinction because they had no foreign foe to oppose, no internal rebellion to suppress.  Others, again, were so hampered by system that they had nothing better to do than to receive the homage of vassals.  So wearied was one among them, Mu-wang, the fifth in succession, with those monotonous ceremonies that he betook himself to foreign travel as a relief from ennui, or perhaps impelled by an innate love of adventure.  He delighted in horses; and, yoking eight fine steeds to his chariot, he set off to see the world.  A book full of fables professes to record the narrative of his travels.  He had, it says, a magic whip which possessed the property of compressing the surface of the earth into a small space.  To-day Chinese envoys, with steam and [Page 88] electricity at command, are frequently heard to exclaim:  “Now at last we have got the swift steeds and the magic whip of Mu-wang.”

Two other kings, Li and Yu, are pointed at with the finger of scorn as examples of what a king ought not to be.  The latter set aside his queen and her son in favour of a concubine and her son; and so offended was high heaven by this unkingly conduct that the sun hid his face in a total eclipse.  This happened 775 B. C.; and it furnishes the starting-point for a reliable chronology.  For her amusement the king caused the signal-fires to be lighted.  She laughed heartily to see the great barons rush to the rescue and find it was a false alarm; but she did not smile when, not long after this, the capital was attacked by a real foe, the father of her injured rival.  The signal-fires were again lighted; but the barons, having once been deceived by the cry of “Wolf,” took care not to expose themselves again to derision.

The other king has not been lifted into the fierce light that beats upon a throne by anything so tragic as a burning palace; but his name is coupled with that of the former as a synonym of all that is weak and contemptible.

The story of the House of Chou is not to be disposed of in a few paragraphs, like the accounts of the preceding dynasties, because it was preeminently the formative period of ancient China; the age of her greatest sages, and the birthday of poetry and philosophy.  I shall therefore devote a chapter to the sages and another to the reign of anarchy before closing the Book of Chou.

[Page 89] CHAPTER XVII

THE SAGES OF CHINA

Confucius—­Describes Himself as Editor, not Author—­“Model Teacher of All Ages”—­Mencius—­More Eloquent than his Great Master—­Lao-tse, the Founder of Taoism