Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-10-11


and, as distinctive mark of rank, is
highly valued.
The prince chosen by Chi-Hwang-ti
as his successor happening to be alb
sent at the time of his fathers death,
a younger son took advantage of the
occasion to seize upon the sovereignty,
and contrived to have his brother Sc
cletly strangled. He made himself
unpopular with the people by neglect
ing the affairs of state and attending
to nothing but his own pleasures An
insurrection broke out in the country,
headed by a chief of band of free
hooters, named Lin-pang, man dis
tinguished by many noble qualities,
although he was no better than a
robber. The emperor was finally
killed and the leader of the insurgents
was placed upon the imperial throne.
The new emperor was native of
Tie province of Han, therefore the dy-
nasty he founded was known as the
Han dynasty. For more than four
centuries the throne was occupied by
kings Of his race. The first Of the
rsee obtained the sovereignty two
hrr dred and two years before the
The most celebrated periods of Chinese
history The Tartars continued their
predatory warfare, in spite of the
Great Wall, and sorely disquieted the
peaceful Chinese, who vainly attempt
ed to propitiate them with alliances and
tribute.
Most of the princes of the Han dy
nasty were muniflcent patrons of
learniDg; they bestowed the highest
digrities on men of literary fame, and
thus learning, as in earlier times, con-
tirued to be the only sure road to
wealth and honor The mobiles of
China, are not necessarily persons of
high birth, but are men of learning,
who must have passed a public exami-
nation with credit before they can as
pire to rank and Office in the state.
The reign of Hwanti is memorable
on account of Roman embassay
which reached China, according to the
histories of that period, in the year 166
A. d. The fact of this intercourse
makes more probable the brief asser-
ton of the preaching of Christianity
in those distant regions. The Chinese
had very good opinion of the Rom
ans, and they are spoken of by the
Chinese as remarkable for their
wealth and for their integrity and
honesty. The Chinese armies con-
quored during the Han dynasty the
countries to the west and south of the
empire, which have paid them tribute
until now.
When the kings of the Han dynasty
began to weaken, three different par
ties claimed the throne. After a fierce
contest. which lasted forty years, the
empire was divided into three separate
kingdoms. The war was known as
THE War of the Three Kingdoms y
and China was known as "The Three
Kingdoms" The division of the
country occurred about A. d. 1874.
A prince finally put an end to the
war, and reunited the three states un-
der one scepter. He assumed the title
C. emperor, established the capital in
Ho-nan, and commenced in A. d. 260,
the dynasty called Tsin, name
which, though spelled in our alphabet
like that of the first general dynasty
of the empire, five hundred years ear
lier yet it is written in Chinese with
lliferent character Five sovereigns
ruled the country for more than cen
tury and half and during this period
the sovereigns introduced a law, de-
claring that women should not reign
nor take any part in public matters.
Up to the Middle Ages the Chinese
were in a state of continual wars and
there were two or more princes who
claimed the throne, and generally a
war ensued before the contestants
could come to terms in regard to who
should occupy the throne.
The history of China is very interest
ing and another paper or two will suf
! flee to finish what | have begun.
THURSTON R. PORTER.