ON THE VERGE OF HISTORY
the truth is that Korea was only a channel, whereas China was a source. Originally Korea did not stand on a much higher plane than her island neighbour in any respect, and in some her level was distinctly lower. But when she came within the range of Chinese civilisation, she began to reflect a faint light. Her record ought to have been better than it is, for she fell under the direct influence of China at a very early date. In the twelfth century before Christ, a band of Chinese wanderers found their way to the eastern region of the peninsula, and settling there, imparted to the tribe which received them forms of etiquette, principles of justice, methods of irrigation, tillage, sericulture, and weaving, and the provisions of "the Eight Fundamental Laws." Again, in the first century before Christ, a group of Chinese nobles, accompanying a fugitive prince, established themselves in the district lying nearest to Japan. And in the second century after Christ, northwestern Korea was overrun by a Chinese army, and divided into four districts each under the rule of a Chinese satrap. If, then, the atmosphere of Korea had been favourable to the growth of Chinese civilisation, she should have become a well-equipped teacher for Japan at an early date. But she never showed any strongly receptive faculty. Japan had to go direct to China, and that was an immense undertaking in days when means of communication were primitive. The character that the journey bore in the recollection
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