The Washington times., 1903-11-11
ry ARCHER BUTLER HUBERT.
VI.

Ths phrase "opt ming China" has been
used frequently during the past year. as
though 1t were new. There is no older
problem It was momentous question
before the races upon whose bJs It is
sounded today emerged from the obliv-
ion OF their birth. When Isaiah penned
his prophecy. the land of Confucius was
known for its beautiful silks. and mer-
chants chen. like their modern proto-
types pondered upon the opening Of
ChiiTa
Among Latin writer's. the land of Sina
was a vast and populOus country.
touching on the east the ocean. and the
limits Of the habitable world. and ex-
tending west nearly to Imaus and the
confines of Bactria- The Greek writ
ers. Cosmas and Theophylact. spoke of
the Turkish tribe Tangas. at the ex-
treme east of Asia. These were the
Chinese
OF all distant people the Buddhists of
India knew China best. and from their
writings. recently translated. we obtain
the best old-time accounts OF the Celes-
tial Kingdom.
Fabian 1893 A. ID. Kiuen (62S A ID,
and Hwiutsang (51S A d. give the best
accounts extant OF ancient China.
Land Of the Great Khan.
The desire to possess the new FL Dor
ado was felt at one time or another
BY all the western nations. Masters
OF Mosiem merchantmen asked Genoese
plrateers concerning the land Of the
great Khan. Roman Catholic zealOts
confirmed their reading of Marco Polo
and Monte Corvino. and Moorish stu
dents. fired by the matchless prose Of
Plato telling Of the wondrOus kingdom
OF Atlantis beyond the pillars Of Her
cules. listened to and believed the tales
OF arthaginlan sailors who told of a
land OF strange perfumes. the shores
OF which were kissed by western waves.
And after the Western Hemisphere
was knows 10 the maritime nations the
rivalry an seeking the shortest course
70 China became intense as the ancient
competition TO know and possess it. Ia
the sixteenth century when Jacques Car
tier Murdered into the bay Of ST. Law
renee he found what was long thought
TO be the short western passage 10
Cathay. The tourist today visits the
Ettle hamlet Of la Chine and passes
Down the "a pids which the bold coureurs
de bois could not ride, but named La
Chine--'-on the road TO China"-as an in
SEPARATION to r.=Se the roundab Out por-
tage.
The fas westerners first met the Chi
nese at Calcutta During the first half
OF the fifteenth Gentry an attempt was
made by the Ming dynasty TO extend
the Chinese Empire over India The
attempt ended in failure. though Cal
cutta Was for a lime held In fee AT
that tine the daring Portuguese ap-
peared IL India and the course from
Europe to the mythical Csthay was
made known TO Europe. For this knowl-
edge OF sea route to China Europe
had long been seeking Since the time
when Marcianus of Ieracles first told
OF a land OF the Sinae which lay at the
extremity Of the habitable world. ad-
joining the eastern Terra Incognito be-
yond which there was neither naviga-
ton nor haDitation. China had been the
goal Of an hundred fleets which had
persisted. the grave OF a thousand Fran
eiscan, Jesuit and Dominican mission
aries, the FL Dorado OF countless enter
prises, commercial, political, religious.
The discoveries OF Columbus dimmed
the luster Of other brave men OF his
school, OF Gonzales, Nunc Tristan Gill
tanes and Vasco de Cana. Colura bus
died believing he had discovered the
eastern coast OF Asia.
II was for another TO prove other
wise. Two years ago was celebrated