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give a ſhort view of theſe pretenſions, principally extracted from their own writers. But, when any thing is quoted from the Chineſe hiſtory, it is abſolutely necessary to attend, 1. To the times purely fabulous and mythological; 2. To the doubtful and uncertain times; and, 3. To the hiſtorical times, when the Chinese hiſtory, ſupported by indisſputable monuments, begins to proceed on ſure grounds.
1. Some aſcribe to Tiene-hoang, a book in eight chapters, which contains the origin of letters. They add, that the characters uſed by the Sane hoang were natural, without any determinate form, that they were nothing but gold and precious ſtones.
Lieou-jou, author of Ouai-ki, ſays, that Tiene-hoang gave names to the ten KANE, and to the twelve TCHI, to determine the place of the year: this is meant of the cyclic characters.
Tiene-hoang signifies emperor of heaven. They also call him alſo Tiene ling, the intelligent heaven; Tſee jun, the ſon who nouriſhes and adorns all things; and finally Tchong-tiene-hoang-kune, the ſupreme king of the middle heaven, &c. This Tiene-hoang ſucceeded Pouane-cou.
The Ouai-ki ſays, that Ti-hoang (emperor of the earth), the ſucceſſor of Tiene-hoang, divided the day and the night, and appointed thirty days to make one moon. The book Tong li, quoted in Lopi, adds further, that this emperor fixed the winter-ſolstice to the eleventh moon. A proof that the Chineſe year was originally very incorrect, and that the courſe of it was regulated only by that of the ſeaſons, is, that for a long time, to expreſs a year, they ſaid a change of the leaves.
This Ti-hoang, ſay they, was father of Tiene-hoang, and of Gine-hoang who follows.
They give Gine-hoang (ſovereign of men) nine brothers, and pretend, that they divided the government among them. They were nine brothers (ſays Yuene-leoa-fane) who divided the earth among them, and built cities, which they ſurrounded with walls. It was under this prince (ſays Lopi), that there firſt began to be a diſtinction between the ſovereign and the ſubject; they drank, they eat, and the two ſexes united.
After theſe three emperors which we have juſt now named, they place the period named Ou-long (the five Long or dragons) compoſed of five different families. But they do not tell us their names, nor the duration of their reigns. In theſe times (ſays an author) men dwelt in the bottom of caves, or perched upon trees as it were in neſts. This fact contradicts the invention of building cities, and ſurrounding them with walls, which they place under the reign of Gine-hoang; but we will meet with many ſuch contradictions in the ſequel.
They ſay nothing of the third Ki. Of the fourth, named Ho-lo, and compoſed of three families, they ſay, that the Ho-lo taught men to retire into the hollows of rocks. This is all they ſay of it. Neither do they ſay any thing of the fifth Ki, named Liene-tong, and compoſed of ſix families; of the ſixth Ki, named Su-ming, and compoſed of four families.
It is a folly to dwell upon the epocha of theſe ſix Ki; nothing is more abſurd. Lopi cites an author who generouſly gives them 1,100,750 years duration; Lopi ſays himſelf, that the five firſt Ki after Gine hoang make in all 90,000 years.
The ſeventh Ki is named Sune-fei, and comprehends twenty-two families. But they ſay nothing under all theſe reigns that has any relation to the arts or ſciences. Only under the twenty-ſecond and laſt, named Tſee-che-chi, they ſay, that it was not until then that men ceaſed to dwell in caves. Is it not a palpable abſurdity that after ſo many ages, and under kings of whom they relate ſo many wonders, they had not yet found out the art of building huts to ſhelter them from the winds and rains!
The eighth Ki, named Yne-ti, contains thirteen families or dynaſties. Tchine-fang-chi, the firſt of this period, reigned after Tſee-che-chi, and founded the first family. They ſay, that at the beginning men covered their bodies with leaves and herbs; ſerpents and beaſts were very numerous; the waters which had overflowed were not yet returned into their channels; and the miſery of mankind was extreme. Tchine-fang taught men to prepare ſkins, to take off the hair with rollers of wood, and uſe them againſt the winds and froſt which incommoded them very much. He taught them alſo to make a kind of web of their hair, to ſerve them as a covering to their heads againſt the rain. They obeyed him with joy; he called his ſubjects people clothed with ſkins; he reigned 350 years. To Tchine-fang chi succeeded Chou-chane-chi, then Hai-kouei-chi, of whom they ſay nothing which has any relation to our ſubject.
The fourth prince, who also ſucceeded Hai-kouei-chi, was named Hoene-tune; he founded the fourth dynaſty, (for each of theſe princes which we have juſt now mentioned, was the founder of a family or dynaſty.) In the hiſtory of this king, Lopi quotes Lao-chene-tſee, who ſpeaks thus:
"The ancient kings wore their hair diſhevelled, without any ornament upon their heads. They had neither ſceptre nor crown, and they governed their people in peace. Being of a beneficial diſpoſition, they cheriſhed all things, and put no perſon to death. Always giving, and never receiving any thing, their ſubjects, without dreading their power as maſters, revered their virtue in their hearts. Then heaven and earth obſerved a moſt beautiful order, and every thing flouriſhed in a ſurpriſing manner. The birds built their neſts ſo low, that they might be reached with the hand; all the animal creation tamely ſubmitted to the will of man. Then the juſt medium was obſerved, and harmony reigned over all. They did not reckon the year by the days. There was no diſtinction between within and without, between mine and thine. In this manner reigned Hoene-tune. But when mankind had degenerated from this happy ſtate, birds and beaſts, inſects and ſerpents, all together, and as it were in concert, made war againſt them."
To this dynaſty of Hoene-tune, ſucceeded that of Tong-hou-chi, containing ſeven kings which are not named. To this fifth dynaſty ſucceeded the ſixth, whoſe founder was Hoang-tane-chi.
The 7th, the dynaſty of Ki-tong-chi *.
The 8th, the dynaſty of Ki-y-chi *.
