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trade of shoe-making, but he chafed at the monotony of his occupation. Feeling within him the instincts of a soldier, he seized the first opportunity to adopt the profession of arms, in which he showed such proficiency that he was at once entrusted with a small independent command. It was against the pirate Sunghen that he earned his first laurels. During three years he was constantly engaged in opposing, and sometimes in forestalling, the descents made by that leader. The credit of Sunghen's final overthrow does not indeed belong to Lieouyu, but it was he who first broke the reputation of the pirate, and shattered his power by repeated successes. After this introduction to military life, Lieouyu's promotion was rapid. He led the Emperor's armies on numerous occasions; and, having overthrown a formidable rebel named Hwanhiuen in a battle which was fought with a smaller force both on land and on water, Ganti could only manifest his sense of the high service rendered by nominating him commander-in-chief of all the forces of the Empire.

Lieouyu showed no falling-off in either ability or energy, because he had attained the summit of a soldier's ambition. Marching from one province to another, he repressed sedition and restored the blessings of a settled rule; and was fast giving reality to the theoretical claims of the Emperor to obedience. In the course of his expeditions he came into contact with Topa, Prince of Wei, a district north of the Hoangho. This prince having refused permission to Lieouyu's troops to march through his territory incurred his resentment. Lieouyu forced the passage of the Hoangho, routed the army of Wei, while one of his lieutenants marched on Changnan, the capital of the newly-formed principality of Chin. The expedition against Changnan was commanded by a resolute officer named Wangchinou, who, having conveyed his force as far towards its destination by water as was possible, caused his ships to be cast adrift. Addressing his soldiers, he said: "We have neither provisions nor supplies; and the current of the Weiho bears away from us the barks in which we came. But let us beat the enemy, and while covering ourselves with glory we shall regain a hundredfold everything we have lost. If on the other hand we are conquered, death for us all is

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inevitable. To conquer or to die, that is our lot; go and prepare yourselves to march against the enemy." The result of the campaign was in proportion to the fortitude of the commander. Changnan surrendered, and the Prince of Chin was executed as a rebel. Lieouyu arrived hard upon the heels of his victorious troops, and made preparations for extending still further his conquests. At this moment he was recalled to the capital, and his further advance was suspended. During his absence Changnan and all the recent conquests were lost, and a great reverse was inflicted on the arms of the Empire. In this year Lieouyu, dissatisfied with the conduct. of Ganti, who had only raised him to the third rank among princes, as Prince of Song, caused the Emperor to be strangled, and named his brother successor under the style of Kongti (A.D. 418).

Kongti reigned less than two years, being then deposed by the man who had set him up. The change was effected in the most formal manner. Kongti resigned a position which he felt incapable of retaining, and the ambitious Lieouyu assumed what he had long coveted. In a field they erected a scaffold, and on it they placed a throne, from which Kongti descended to give place to the Prince of Song. Before the assembled thousands of Kienkang, and in the presence of the great officials, Kongti then paid homage to Lieouyu *; and in this act the dynasty of the Tsins reached its consummation. Their rule had extended over one hundred and fifty-five years. and there had been fifteen Emperors of the name; but on the whole no family with less pretensions to the right of government has ever lorded it over the docile people of China. The impression they leave on the mind is as vague and indistinct as the part they played in the history of their age (A.D. 420).

* The Emperors of China wore and still wear a cap or crown with twelve pendants. The assumption of this crown formed the principal portion of the coronation service. Its shape was peculiar. Round in the front, it was straight behind, and was ornamented with one hundred and forty-four precious stones. The pendants consisted of strings of pearls, four of which hung over the eyes for the purpose, it was said, of preventing the Emperor seeing those who were brought before him for trial. See "Mailla," vol. iv. p. 69.

CHAPTER XI.

THE SONG AND THE TSI RULERS.

WHEN Lieouyu assumed the Imperial dignity in the year A.D. 420, and proclaimed himself by the name of Kaotsou, the founder of the Song dynasty, China was still as a house divided against itself. Six kingdoms had been established within the borders of the northern provinces, and each aspired to bring its neighbour to its feet, and to figure as the regenerator of the Empire. As none of them were formidable, their weakness at least constituted an efficient defence against each other, and when all were decrepit there was safety in an incapacity for offence. The new ruler did not possess the means of giving reality to his pretensions of authority over these states, to which his own did but add a seventh competitor; and, although the fact is disguised as much as possible, the Songs were never more than one ruler among many, and their government always that of only a small section of the Chinese nation.

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As the general of the later Tsins Kaotsou had shown great skill, and obtained many successes; but during his brief reign the opportunity did not present itself of following them up by further triumph. The only event of any importance was the murder of the deposed Emperor Kongti, and this circumstance is chiefly invested with interest for the reason that Kongti refused "to drink the waters of eternal life," because suicide was opposed by the principles of his religion. This is the first, and indeed the only, instance in history of a Chinese ruler violating the custom of the nation by declining to acquiesce in the inevitable. Kongti was thereupon

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murdered in his palace by the guard in whose custody he had been placed.

Kaotsou enjoyed possession of the throne for no more than three years. That he possessed many sterling qualities is not to be denied. His frugality and attention to his duties were most worthy of being commended; and the courage which he evinced on the field of battle was well calculated to have produced great results in an age more remarkable for the practice of chicane than for the manifestations of the qualities of a soldier. His kindness and devotion to the fostermother who had nourished him, and who had lived long enough to see Kaotsou on the throne, were most exemplary, and received the eulogium of his countrymen. On the other hand, he was unfortunate in not coming to the front until well advanced in life, and the prudence obtained only with the experience of years made him loth to endanger what he possessed by striving to attain the wider authority with which, when a younger man, he would alone have rested satisfied.

The reign of the next Emperor Chowti, Kaotsou's eldest son, would not call for notice were it not for the deeds of the northern kingdom of Wei, the ruler of which saw in the death of Kaotsou a favourable opportunity for resuming the operations suspended through fear of the military skill of that prince. The glimpse that is obtained of Topasse, the king of Wei, shows him to have been a man of exceptional talent and energy. At the great council of war, which he held on the eve of the invasion of the Song territories, he propounded the question whether the enterprise should be begun by attacking some fortified place or by overrunning the open country. The former course was adopted mainly on the advice of Hikin, and under the command of this leading general of the period several successes were obtained by the Wei troops. It was not, indeed, until they appeared before the walls of Houlao, a small fortress defended by a brave officer named Maotetso, that their career was in any degree arrested. Topasse sent his best troops to the assistance of Hikin, and came in person to encourage his army with his presence; but Maotetso relaxed in no degree the vigilance with which he defended his post. His skill and valour baffled the flower

of the army, and the most skilful of the generals, of Topasse during seven months, and when at length Houlao surrendered, the conquerors won nothing but a pile of ruins. Topasse died shortly afterwards from the hardships he had endured at, and the chagrin caused by, this siege; but at all events he has secured a durable place in history by the magnanimity, not often met with in Asian annals, which he evinced in the honourable reception he accorded the gallant Maotetso.

This disastrous war was the only event which marked Chowti's reign of one year. From the first it had been plain that he possessed neither the capacity nor the desire to govern his people well. He gave himself up to amusement, and neglected all public business. The nobles and great officials thought that it would be better to check his course with as little delay as possible, and with Tantaotsi at their head they deposed him, putting his brother in his place. Knowing well that there was no safety for themselves or for the nation in a deposed prince who preserved the desire for power, they secretly caused Chowti to be put to death, thus relieving themselves from further apprehension on that score.

Although profiting by their deed, one of the first acts of Wenti, the new ruler, was to punish the murderers of his brother. In this has been seen an instance of fraternal affection; but perhaps it might be taken with more truth as showing the fears of the ruler, who saw in the persons of these deposers and executors of a king the ever-present wardens of the people's rights. This act, which was viewed at the time as to be commended rather than condemned even by those who had applauded the fall of Chowti, so fickle a thing is the public mind, did not prevent Wenti's reign beginning under the fairest auspices. On his side there appears to have been the best intentions, and as to the people, their hopes led them to augur the things which they most desired.

Topasse, of Wei, had been succeeded by his son Topatao, a man not less capable or ambitious than his father. In A.D. 426 he resolved to attack and, if possible, conquer the dominions of Hia, which had just lost their ruler; and with that object he despatched a large army across the Hoangho

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