2

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

extended  area,  and  in  so  doing  followed  the  line  of  least
resistance.  Their  first  great  advance  was  westward  up
the  River  Wei  into  Szechwan,  and  later  they  passed  by  way
of  the  Kan  River  into  Kiangsi,  and  by  the  Yuan  and  Hsiang
Rivers,  through  what  is  now  Hunan,  into  the  regions  about
Canton.  A  glance  at  the  historical  map  will  show  the  extent
of  the  territory  occupied  in  the  successive  periods.
It  is  convenient  to  divide  Chinese  history  into  the
following  three  periods  :
I.  The  period  of  the  gradual  extension  and  consolidation
of  the  Empire  (b.c.  2852-206).
II.  The  period  of  the  struggles  with  the  Northern
Tartars  (b.c.  206-A.D.  1644).
III.  The  period  of  the  reshaping  of  the  old  civilisation
through  intercourse  with  Western  nations  (a.d.  1644  to  the
present  time).
THE  FIRST  PERIOD  (b.c.  2852-206)
The  Age  of  the  Five  Rulers
The  first  Period  may  be  said  to  begin  with  what  is  known
as  the  Age  of  the  Five  Rulers.
The  Chinese  regard  Fu  Hsi,  a  mythical  ruler,  as  the
founder  of  their  history  (b.c.  2852).  He  is  said  to  have
resided  near  the  modern  Kaifeng  in  Honan,  and  to  have
taught  the  people  to  fish  with  nets,  to  rear  domestic  animals,
and  to  use  the  lute  and  lyre  ;  to  have  instituted  laws  of
marriage,  and  to  have  invented  a  system  of  writing  by  using
picture  symbols.
He  was  succeeded  by  Shen  Nung,  another  mythical
ruler  (b.c.  2737),  who  instructed  the  people  in  the  art  of
agriculture,  and  in  the  use  of  herbs  for  medicine.
Later,  Hwang  Ti  (b.c.  2697)  became  ruler,  and  to  him  is
ascribed  the  formation  of  the  Chinese  calendar,  and  the
introduction  of  the  rearing  of  the  silkworm.
The  great  ruler,  Yao  (b.c.  2356),  is  regarded  as  the
fourth  of  the  Five  Rulers,  and  he  with  the  two  following  rulers,
Shun  and  Yü,  formed  a  trio  immortalised  in  the  writings