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CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST PEEP.
HE missionary's family party had set sail, and the steamship, in which they were passengers, was now fairly out at sea.
As far as money was concerned, Mr. Graham had no anxieties, for being the only son of a very wealthy man, who had lost his wife some time before he died himself, Mr. Graham had, at his father's death, inherited the whole of his large fortune.
"Now, father, don't you think it's high time you began to tell us about old Peking?" Leonard said, a few days after they had sailed. "I did not ask you at first, because we had plenty to do to look about us, but now that there's nothing in the world but water to see anywhere, we should so like to hear some stories; so please begin, if it won't trouble you too much."
And sitting on deck, with Sybil on his right and Leonard on his left, Mr. Graham did as he was requested, and gave his children what they considered a very interesting description of a portion of that vast empire which they were so soon to visit. "The Chinese," he began, "are a very ancient race, so ancient, indeed, that the origin of their monarchy is not known."
"Do you mind waiting one minute, father, just to tell me a thing I have forgotten, and you told me once?" Leonard asked. "What does the word China mean?"
"The ancient name for China, Tien-sha, means 'inferior only to heaven.' Chinese history begins with the fabulous ages, two or three million years ago, when the Chinese say that no land but theirs was inhabited, and gods reigned upon the earth, which was made for them. After the gods, they tell us, came mythical kings, who were giants, had the power of working miracles, and lived for thousands of years; but it is really supposed that the first people who passed beyond the deserts of Central Asia settled in the province of Shen-si, which borders on Tartary, and here laid the foundation of the present monarchy of China.
"Some Chinese historians think that their first mortal Emperor was Fuh-hi, whose date of coming to the throne is fixed as early as 2,852 years b.c. He is described as possessing great virtues, and was called by his subjects the 'Son of heaven'—a title which is still given to Emperors of China, who are foolishly supposed, by some of their subjects, to be of celestial origin. He is said to have taught them how to keep laws and to live peaceably, also to have invented the arts of music and numbers. Certainly the Chinese have understood music from very early ages, and class it among the chief of the sciences.
"They have at least fifty different kinds of wind and string musical instruments, made of wood, stone, or metal, and they play a great deal, but especially upon their fiddle instruments. They do not like our music at all.
"But now we must go back to a little more Chinese history. There is nothing to prove that the Chinese existed as a nation before the time of Yu the Great, whose date of accession is said to be 2,285 years b.c., and he is also included in the Legendary Period to which Fuh-hi belongs. After the Legendary Period came the Semi-Historical Period in Chinese history; the really Historical Period dating from the early part of the eighth century before Christ.
"Different dynasties succeeded each other, till from the years 500 to 200 b.c. many petty kings, reigning over various provinces, waged war against one another. At length a fierce warrior, named Ching-wang, went to war with, and conquered, all of them, and made himself master of the whole empire, about 200 years b.c., his government comprising about the northern half of modern China. He was the first monarch of the dynasty called Tsin, or Chin. Next he turned his arms against the Tartars, who were a portion of those people whom we read of in history by the name of Huns, and who were now making constant inroads into China. They were capital soldiers—I believe every Tartar has now to be a soldier—and as the Chinese dreaded them very much, the Emperor thought out a way to keep them off. He erected a great wall along the whole extent of the northern frontier of China, of very great height, thickness, and strength, made of two walls of brick many feet apart, the space between them being, for half the length of the wall, filled up with earth, and the other half with gravel and rubbish. On it were square towers, which were erected at about a hundred yards' distance from one another. Some say this wall extended 1,500 miles from the sea to the most western provinces of Shen-si; McCulloch says it is 1,250 miles in length. It was carried over mountains and across rivers. Six horsemen could ride abreast upon it. But there was great cruelty practised in its construction, for the Emperor obliged every third labouring man in the kingdom to work at this wall without payment.
"It took five years to finish, and has now existed for more than two thousand years. It is called Wan-li-chang, or Myriad-mile Wall."
"And did it keep out the Tartars?" Leonard asked.
"No; the little Emperor Tsai-tien, born in 1871, and now on the throne, is, I believe, a descendant of theirs. He is called Kwang-su, which means 'Continuation of glory.'"
"Does the Emperor's eldest son always reign?"
"No; the ablest or best son is generally chosen. Ching-wang seemed to think that he was master of the whole universe, and called himself Che-Hwang-ti, or First Emperor; and then to try to show that he was the founder of the monarchy, he had, as he thought, all the historical documents burnt that could prove otherwise, but did not succeed, for some that had been hidden behind the walls of houses were found after his death."
"What a quantity of stuff it must have taken to build the wall!" said Leonard.
"Yes; the material in the Great Wall, including the earth in the middle of it, is said to be more than enough to surround the circumference of the earth, on two of its great circles, with two walls of six feet high and two feet thick. Guards are stationed in the strong towers by which the wall is fortified; every important pass having a strong fortress."
"And what is the height of the wall, father?" asked Leonard.
"About twenty feet; and there are steps of brick and stone for men on foot to ascend, and slanting places for the cavalry."
"I shall like to see Chinese soldiers," Leonard said. "Did you ever see them at drill, father?"
"I remember very well seeing a regiment of artillery at gun-drill one day, but I believe there has been a new armament of Chinese artillery since my time. I suppose you know, children," then said Mr. Graham, "that Peking ranks——"
"For the number of its inhabitants," Sybil said quickly, "as the second city in the world, only London having more inhabitants, Paris about the same number."
"Yes; and it has——"
"About two million inhabitants."
"Yes; and as Peking was built many centuries before the Christian era, it is a very old city. The name Peking means Court of the North. After the conquest by the Tartars of the kingdom of Yen, of which Peking was the capital, it became only a provincial town, when, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, it was again made the capital of China. The Chinese sovereigns used to live at Nanking, but when the Tartars had so often invaded the country, they removed to the northern province, to enable them the more easily to keep out the invaders."
"On our Chinese umbrella that we had in the dining-room fireplace at home," said Sybil, "there was, I remember, a picture