The sun., 1900-08-12
THE sun, SUNDAY. AUGUST ,.,f1ssc.E

49, fift.
,,f1s9o.T
ofChinese and Coreans. hut illinG every Monsoa
Kublai Khan now abandoned tho attempt "
conquer Japan. and subsequent efforts TO sub
jugate Ton1uin and AMMAN alse failed. though
these countries consented to paw a nominal
tribute TO China. Endeavors to annex the Loo
choo Islands In the east and the island Of Java
In che south met with no better sucoess. The
only one Of Kublais expeditions In Eastern
Asia which succeeded was that directed against
Burmah. then small but fourishng kingdom
under Buddhist ruler. After ak years the
country was subdued and the King agreed to
become vassal Of the Chinese Emperor. Be-
sides his warlike enterprises kublai sent many
peaceful missions TO distant States. including.
II Ia said. even Madagascar. or tho public
works which he carried out tho most important
and useful was the reconstruction Of tho ancient
Imperial canal, connecting Tientsin and II an
Chow. II Is about thousand miles long and
stu forms tho chief highway OF the Empire.
/ IL raverses series of nat plains, and there
are no considerable engineering ificulties to
be overcome
In 1904 the Great Khan died. and. under his
feeble successors. the Mongol Empire rapidly
declined Rebellions kept breaking out. and
although for a time on land these were put
down with but little difficulty. the Monsol
Government had no naval force capable OF
coping with the pirates who infested the coasts.
One Of the later Mongol Emperors prosecuted
Buddhism. signal departure from the usual
tolerance Of the dynasty; another tried TO force
his court TO kotow to the Grand Lama Of Tibet.
The President Of the Hanlin College. an In
sutution which. at the time. had fallen very
much into neglect. refused to do 20. affirming
that Confuciua was In no way inferior to Buddha.
and that 1t would be improper for the repre-
sentative Of the one to PROSTATE himself before
the representative Of the other. Taoism In the
MonRol period was at very low ebb. its priests
spending most Of their time in attempting to
discover certain medical herbs which were
supposed to bring immortality. Ielam was
all the while slowly increasing. The Mes
torians were rapidly dwindling. and II waa
probably before the end Of the Mongol dynasty
that their Church died out entirely. On the
other hand. Roman missionaries carried on an
active propaganda. especially In the north,
the Emperors. for the most part. giving them
every encouragement. The most famous OF
them was John Of Montecorvino. for many
years Bishop Of Pekin. Another was Oderlc,
a Lombard friar. from whose accounts Of the
Chinese and other peoples Sir John Mande-
vile seems TO have borrowed largely In writing
mis- books on the holy places OF Jerusalem,
India. and Cathay The Roman mission seems
TO have come to an end. or to have dwindled
almost to the vanishing point when the Mon
gols were expelled from China.
vi.
About the middle Of the fourteenth century
an insurrection Of the native Chinese broke
out and eventually proved successful Its
leader was Buddhist priest. Choo Yuen Chang.
who had raised himself TO eminence by MIL
itary skill. and gained the confidence and aiYec-
ton OF his countrymen by his moderation
and his humanity. He did all he possibly
could to prevent massacre and pillagins dur
ing war. In 1855 he captured Nankin,
and at once set about organizing arm gov
ernment. After time. the South of China
espoused his cause, and he
was thus made strong enough to despatch q
force against Pekn Itself. The Imperial city
was taken by strategy. and the Great Khan
He'd In haste to Koko Nor; little further resist
anoe was offered by the Monsos. After con-
siderable hesitation. Choo Yuen Chang. who had !
not at first aspired to the Empire, assumed tho |,
Imperial Yellow; he took the style Of Hong |;
wou. the frst Of the Ming (briaht or illustrious)
1ynasty. II may be doubted whether any |
'ormer Emperor OF China had ever enjoyed a |
greater popularity than the new ruler who |
had delivered the nation from the hated for
'isn yoke and had once moro restored tho
OF the Empire under a native mon-
'rch. Eankin was made the capital: reforms
we're at once set on foot; the expenses Of tho
'ourt were considerably reduced: the Hanlin
'ollegs was restored TO full activity and every
Encouragement was given to literature pub-
ic libraries In the chief cities were provided,
md free education was granted the law oourts
gere improved and the laws were onos more
odlned. buddhism was naturally favored .by n |
buddhist pr est, yet complete religious freedom
vas allowed. To aliens settled in the coun-
ry. including even the Mongols, protection
vas given. and many Of them received appo,nt-
nents under the new Government The Co
cans. who had taken advantage Of the rotten
less OF the Yuen dynasty to repudiate alle-
lance had the greatest respect for the Chi
ese proper. and their King voluntarily be-
anne vassal OF the Minge. Hong Won. NOT |
ontent with having driven the Mongols from
ne sacred soil OF China, sent armies to attack
hem In their own country. These expedi-
ions were successful, and one Of the best Chi |
ese Generals, Suta, who had DISTINGUISHED
tmself by the capture Of Pekin inflicted a
rushing defeat on the MoDgols near the west
m extremity OF the Great Wall. Szechuan
nd funnan. still ruled by officers appointed ,
the Mongols. were now conquered after n |
1ort war. and Liao-TunR was likeuiss s,h
'ied with little difficulty
Attempts made. on the other hand to s,h,u-
ate remote parts of Mongolia and Central =
sia tailed. Turkestan and Thibet maintained ,
ler Independence Of China. The Empire IN .
er the Minss was thus far from reaching its :
reatest extent. but the people were thoroughly 4,
and prosperous There was Uttlc IN
sturb their Internal peaoe. but tho coast. con- .
nually suffered from the ravages Of Japanese
rates. In 1898 Hongwou died and was buried a
Nanldn. where his tomb remains. He was
cceeded by his grandson Vent, but a civil T
ar broke out, owing to tho ambition of one OF \
% new Emperor's unoles named Yen, an active 4
ID unscrupulous man. who. being succassful II
the war. made himself Emperor under tho q
.e OF Yonglo u%os-3s). his nephew Vent u
ur1ng Into monastery. Yonglo seems to Il
I'VE been vicious and cruol ruler. but he II
lily maintained the dignity OF the Empire. Il
nus insults having been offered to some rsprs- h
natives Of China. he sent an expedition nv v
a to chastse Stem and Cambodia and brought II
-