THE HOUSE OF TS’IN, 246-206 B. C.

(2 Emperors)

Ts’in Shi-hwang-ti, “Emperor First”—­The Great Wall—­The Centralised Monarchy—­The title Hwang-ti—­Origin of the name China—­Burning of the Books—­Expedition to Japan—­Revolution Places the House of Han on the Throne

“Viewed in the light of philosophy,” says Schiller, “Cain killed Abel because Abel’s sheep trespassed on Cain’s cornfield.”  From that day to this farmers and shepherds have not been able to live together in peace.  A monument of that eternal conflict is the Great Wall of China.  Like the Roman Wall in North Britain, to compare great things with small, its object was not to keep out the Tartars but to reenforce the vigilance of the military pickets.  That end it seems to have accomplished for a long time.  It was, the Chinese say, the destruction of one generation and the salvation of many.  We shall soon see how it came to be a mere geographical expression.  For our present purpose it may also be regarded as a chronological landmark, dividing ancient from mediaeval China.

With the House of Chou the old feudal divisions disappeared forever.  The whole country was brought [Page 101] under the direct sway of one emperor who, for the first time in the history of the people, had built up a dominion worthy of that august title.  This was the achievement of Yin Cheng, the Prince of Ts’in.  He thereupon assumed the new style of Hwang-ti.  Hwangs and Tis were no novelty; but the combination made it a new coinage and justified the additional appellation of “the First,” or Shi-hwang-ti.  Four imperishable monuments perpetuate his memory:  the Great Wall, the centralised monarchy, the title Hwang-ti, and the name of China itself—­the last derived from a principality which under him expanded to embrace the empire.  Where is there another conqueror in the annals of the world who has such solid claims to everlasting renown?  Alexander overthrew many nations; but he set up nothing permanent.  Julius Caesar instituted the Roman Empire; but its duration was ephemeral in comparison with that of the empire founded by Shi-hwang-ti, the builder of the Wall.

Though Shi-hwang-ti completed it, the wall was not the work of his reign alone.  Similarly the triumphs of his arms and arts were due in large measure to his predecessors, who for centuries had aspired to universal sway.  Conscious of inferiority in culture, they welcomed the aid and rewarded the services of men of talent from every quarter.  Some came as penniless adventurers from rival or hostile states and were raised to the highest honours.