I

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

CHAPTER  I  *
SKETCH  OF  CHINESE  HISTORY  FROM  ANCIENT  TIMES  TO
BEGINNING  OF  FOREIGN  RELATIONS
In  this  and  the  following  chapter  we  shall  attempt  to  take
a  brief  survey  of  the  entire  field  of  Chinese  history,  so  as  to
enable  our  readers  to  fix  in  their  minds  the  salient  points
of  the  long  story.  As  in  the  case  of  the  history  of  all  ancient
nations  the  beginnings  are  shrouded  in  obscurity,  and  we
must  be  content  to  look  upon  the  early  records  as  made-up
matter  that  is  largely  legendary.
The  Chinese  are  not  the  native  race  of  China,  but  migrated
into  the  country  from  Western  Asia  somewhere  about
B.c.  2500.  They  were  originally  a  nomad  people,  and  with
their  herds  and  flocks  made  a  settlement  in  the  valley  of
the  Yellow  River,  in  a  part  of  what  is  now  the  province  of
Shensi.  They  displaced  the  aborigines  of  the  country
and  drove  them  to  the  south  and  west.  Many  traces  of
the  original  inhabitants  may  still  be  found,  for  they  were
never  on  the  one  hand  completely  conquered  or  exterminated,
nor  on  the  other  entirely  absorbed.  The  modern  Tolos,
Shans,  and  Miaotze  are  their  descendants,  and  still  live
apart  by  themselves  in  the  islands  of  Formosa  and  Hainan,
and  in  the  provinces  of  Kweichow,  Szechwan,  Yunnan,
Kwangtung,  and  Kwangsi.
The  Chinese  gradually  spread  themselves  over  a  more
*  Written  by  the  Rev.  F.  L.  Hawks  Pott,  D.D.