following year in a campaign with the Tibetans, when one of his lieutenants was defeated and taken prisoner. Nothing dispirited, he renewed the war with fresh troops, and placed one hundred and fifty thousand well-trained soldiers in the field. The Tibetans, who then held possession of all the country touching China on the west, could not hold their own against this overwhelming force, and were compelled to give ground before their adversary.

Encouraged by his success, Chao Yuen resolved to assume a higher style than that of Prince of Hia, and "because he came of a family several of whose members had in times past borne the Imperial dignity," he took the title of Emperor. Peaceful as Jintsong's disposition was, he resented the assumption by a neighbour of a dignity equal to his own, and instead of taking measures to improve his relations with this ruler he spared no effort to form a league against him. Having met with some degree of success in these plans, he issued a proclamation forbidding his subjects to hold any intercourse with the people of Hia, and placed a price on the head of their king. Chao Yuen, enraged at this slight to his honour, answered threat with threat, and returned Jintsong the letters-patent which had on various occasions been sent him by Chinese rulers. The war thus provoked proved long, and disastrous for the arms of the Empire.

Well trained in its duties, and skilfully led by its great chief, the Hia army was able to take the field several weeks before the slower moving and less efficient forces of the Chinese ruler. The advantage of this celerity was shown by the capture of several towns, and by the moral strength which attaches to those who strike the first successful blow. Before Jintsong's troops had reached the frontier, Chao Yuen had advanced to a considerable distance within the Chinese territory. The armies encountered for the first time near the town of Sanchuen, when, after a stubborn fight of three days' duration, the advantage remained with the Hias. They came together again close to the town of Yang Moulong, and as both armies were in great force and equally confident of victory, this may be considered the decisive battle of the war. Each felt it to be so, and the commanders on either side

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resorted to various schemes to obtain some slight advantage of position over their opponent. opponent. In these preliminary manœuvres, Chao Yuen, who commanded in person, showed greater skill than Jintsong's lieutenants, and his plan of action was so ably conceived that he succeeded in surrounding the Chinese army, and in taking it at a great disadvantage. The Chinese fought with desperation, but the result was never in doubt. One after another their generals fell fighting bravely in the thick of the combat, and when night closed the flower of Jintsong's army encumbered the plain. Jinfou, the commanding-officer, was wounded in several places, and entreated by one of his soldiers to quit the field, but he exclaimed, "I withdraw! the general of this army. The battle is indeed lost, but I can and ought to die." His body was afterwards

found amid the thickest of the slain.

From this rude shock the Chinese did not easily recover. The consequences of so signal a defeat were made less serious than might have been anticipated by the prudence and good judgment shown by other commanders on the same frontier; but the success of the Hia king remained undimmed by any reverse. Jintsong was threatened by a fresh danger at this crisis. The Tartars of Leaoutung, seeing in this defeat a fresh chance for renewing their incursions, attacked the border towns, and acquired possession of no fewer than ten cities. These they restored under the terms of a treaty in A.D. 1042; but the bad days, when the Empire trusted for peace and for the preservation of its rights to the skill of diplomatists rather than to the strong arm of a great government, were again threatening to return. The Tartars had obtained an ample recompense for their expedition in the plunder of several rich districts; but over and above this the weakness of the Emperor consented to give them an increased allowance of silk and money in addition to the annual present granted by Chintsong.

In the same year negotiations were opened with Chao Yuen, the victorious king of Hia, and, although technical difficulties were raised in the path of the conclusion of a peace, Jintsong taking the matter into his own hands soon brought it to a speedy and successful issue. Seeing that

Chao Yuen was restored to all his dignities, and that the Emperor agreed to pay him each year one hundred thousand pieces of silk and thirty thousand pounds of tea, there was little in this treaty for the Chinese to feel proud of, although at the time it arrested what appeared to be a grave danger from a successful soldier. In the following year the concessions were further augmented by the right conceded to Chao Yuen to construct fortified places on his frontier; but, although thus endeavouring to conclude and maintain a solid peace, there was distrust on both sides.

Jintsong was able, after these treaties, and especially after the death of his principal opponent, to devote himself with greater assiduity to his natural inclination for peace. Among the most notable of his acts were the re-establishment of the colleges on their ancient footing as under the Tangs, and some other measures which he sanctioned for the advancement of national education. On the recommendation of his minister Fang Chung Yen, he caused a college to be built in every town, and appointed lecturers and professors to hold examinations and to direct the studies of the collegians. Jintsong was especially interested in the raising of the standard of public speaking, and gave prizes for excellence in recitation. On the occasion of a visit to the chief college in the capital, dedicated to Confucius, Jintsong, wishing to show his respect for the man and the cause he represented, paid his memory the peculiar honour of prostrating himself before the door of the college.

Some years later, when his reign was approaching its close (A.D. 1060), he took steps for the publication of the great history of the Tangs as described in the official records. of the Empire. The chief historians of the day were entrusted with its preparation, and as these included, among others of scarcely less note, the celebrated Ssemakwang, there is no doubt that this work, which filled two hundred and twentyfive volumes, is one of the most remarkable in the literature of China. The writings of Ssemakwang, Ginyang Sieou, Lieouju, and others, redeem Jintsong's reign from the character of mediocrity which might otherwise attach to it, if they do not absolutely stamp it as the golden age of literature

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under the Sungs. To the same period also belongs the introduction of the influence of the learned into the practical work of the administration. The historians named, and others, including the minister Fang Chung Yen, combined together to carry their views into execution, and as they were united among themselves, their influence was very great, and made itself felt on all important questions. Complaints were made by the courtiers to the Emperor against this body of critics, whose pencils were always ready to denounce measures not approved of by them, and to point out the shortcomings of ministers. At one time Jintsong seemed disposed to discourage, if not to repress, the activity of this body, because "men in the public service should not form a party amongst themselves." Ginyang Sieou, one of the most elegant of Chinese writers, replied to this covert censure in a treatise which has been preserved. The line of argument which he adopted was ingenious, pointing out that the results of their association were good and beneficial for the nation, and that it was not to be confounded "with dangerous cabals formed for an unworthy object." The peace enjoyed during the last twenty years of Jintsong's reign cannot be held to have been turned to an unworthy purpose when we find that the arts and literature were held in such repute, and produced so many illustrious men.

In A.D. 1063, Jintsong died, having occupied the throne during more than thirty years. His virtues were greater and more transparent than his abilities; but, if he failed to perform any striking achievement, or to leave any deep impression in history, he succeeded in the not easy task of gaining the affection of his subjects, and the esteem of those who served under him.

The short reign of his nephew Yntsong, his successor, requires but brief description. Ill-health compelled him at first to resign the reins of government into the hands of the Empress-mother, who proved herself well able to administer public affairs, and when he resumed the discharge of his duties he devoted his time rather to the relaxation of study. than to the cares of his office. His principal object was to provide Ssemakwang and other writers with appropriate tasks

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for their talents, and to profit by discussion with them. Had he lived he might have shown that he had turned their counsels to good account, but his death in A.D. 1067, after a reign of four years, cut short his career, and left only the promise of what might have been.

Yntsong's son, Chintsong the Second, succeeded him, and soon showed that in many ways he was disposed to depart from the peaceful policy of his two predecessors. The necessities of the country, which had been long suffering from a scarcity produced by the want of rain, imposed fetters on his inclination, and the advice of his mother further influenced him in adopting the prudent course of running as little risk as possible in foreign expeditions. Meanwhile the army was losing its efficiency through the long period of inaction that had followed the last war, and the country did not possess the services of a general capable of leading a large force in the field. The peaceful inclinations of these rulers produced beneficial results for the time being; but they were in the end to entail dire consequences, and great national misfortunes.

The young monarch became the tool of a clique which endeavoured to compass the disgrace of Hanki, the chief minister of the two preceding rulers, and they succeeded so far in their designs that he felt compelled to resign his office. On the occasion of his retirement, he was asked whether one of his rivals was a proper person to succeed him. He replied, with candour, that he might possibly be of service in the Hanlin College, but that he had not had the necessary experience for the highest office of all. When Hanki was warned of the danger his candour entailed, he made the following noble reply, "A faithful subject ought ever to serve his prince with all the zeal of which he is capable. Good or bad fortune depends on Heaven, and, when we have done what we ought, should fear prevent us from continuing in the path of well-doing?" None the less for the excellent advice of the retiring sage, Chintsong gave the chief post in the ministry to this untried official, whose enactments excited so much discontent among the people, and such opposition in the palace, that they had to be withdrawn. The ascendency which he obtained over the mind of the young monarch was