Historic Tales, Vol. 12 (of 15) - The Romance of Reality

Charles Morris

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• Publié par: vewyor
• Publié le: 01 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 18
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Project Gutenberg's Historic Tales, Vol. 12 (of 15), by Charles Morris This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Historic Tales, Vol. 12 (of 15) The Romance of Reality Author: Charles Morris Release Date: March 9, 2010 [EBook #31571] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORIC TALES, VOL. 12 (OF 15) *** Produced by Christine Aldridge and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcribers Notes: 1. Four minor spelling corrections made. A list appears at the end of this text. [Pg 1] Édition d'Élite Historical Tales The Romance of Reality By CHARLES MORRIS Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the Dramatists," etc. IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES Volume XII Japanese and Chinese J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON Copyright, 1898, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. Copyright, 1904, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. Copyright, 1908, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. [Pg 2] GREAT GATE NIKKO. CONTENTS. THE FIRST OF THE MIKADOS HOW CIVILIZATION CAME TO JAPAN YAMATO-DAKÉ, A HERO OF ROMANCE JINGU, THE AMAZON OF JAPAN THE DECLINE OF THE MIKADOS HOW THE TAIRA AND THE MINAMOTO FOUGHT FOR POWER THE BAYARD OF JAPAN THE HOJO TYRANNY THE TARTAR INVASION OF JAPAN NOBUNAGA AND THE FALL OF THE BUDDHISTS HOW A PEASANT BOY BECAME PREMIER THE FOUNDER OF YEDO AND OF MODERN FEUDALISM THE PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN THE DECLINE AND FALL OF CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN THE CAPTIVITY OF CAPTAIN GOLOWNIN THE OPENING OF JAPAN THE MIKADO COMES TO HIS OWN AGAIN HOW THE EMPIRE OF CHINA AROSE AND GREW CONFUCIUS, THE CHINESE SAGE THE FOUNDER OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE KAOTSOU AND THE DYNASTY OF THE HANS THE EMPRESS POISONER OF CHINA THE INVASION OF THE TARTAR STEPPES THE "CRIMSON EYEBROWS" THE CONQUEST OF CENTRAL ASIA PAGE 5 12 19 27 35 41 51 59 67 73 80 86 97 106 113 123 133 142 150 156 172 180 186 192 197 THE SIEGE OF SINCHING FROM THE SHOEMAKER'S BENCH TO THE THRONE THREE NOTABLE WOMEN THE REIGN OF TAITSONG THE GREAT A FEMALE RICHELIEU THE TARTARS AND GENGHIS KHAN HOW THE FRIARS FARED AMONG THE TARTARS THE SIEGE OF SIANYANG THE DEATH-STRUGGLE OF CHINA THE PALACE OF KUBLAI KHAN THE EXPULSION OF THE MONGOLS THE RISE OF THE MANCHUS THE MANCHU CONQUEST OF CHINA THE CAREER OF A DESERT CHIEF THE RAID OF THE GOORKHAS HOW EUROPE ENTERED CHINA THE BURNING OF THE SUMMER PALACE A GREAT CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT AND ITS FATE COREA AND ITS NEIGHBORS THE BATTLE OF THE IRON-CLADS PROGRESS IN JAPAN AND CHINA 202 205 212 217 223 228 236 242 249 255 264 272 281 290 299 306 315 323 330 339 347 [Pg 4] [Pg 3] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. JAPANESE AND CHINESE. PAGE GREAT GATE, NIKKO FUJIYAMA SHUZENJI VILLAGE, IDZU FARMERS PLANTING RICE SPROUTS, JAPAN LETTER-WRITING IN JAPAN KARAMO TEMPLE, NIKKO RETURNING FROM MARKET, JAPAN MAIN STREET, YOKOHAMA CHUSENJI ROAD AND DAIYA RIVER A CHINESE IRRIGATION WHEEL AN ITINERANT COBBLER, CANTON, CHINA A CHINESE PAGODA WATER CART, PEKIN, CHINA SHANGHAI, FROM THE WATER-SIDE MARKET SCENE IN SHANGHAI CHINESE GAMBLERS CHAIR AND CAGO CARRIERS STREET SCENE, PEKIN, CHINA A BRONZE-WORKER'S SHOP THE PEKIN GATE Frontispiece. 10 36 52 63 78 98 108 132 165 180 197 210 222 255 281 306 318 330 347 [Pg 5] THE FIRST OF THE MIKADOS. The year 1 in Japan is the same date as 660 B.C. of the Christian era, so that Japan is now in its twenty-sixth century. Then everything began. Before that date all is mystery and mythology. After that date there is something resembling history, though in the early times it is an odd mixture of history and fable. As for the gods of ancient Japan, they were many in number, and strange stories are told of their doings. Of the early men of the island kingdom we know very little. When the ancestors of the present Japanese arrived there they found the islands occupied by a race of savages, a people thickly covered with hair, and different in looks from all the other inhabitants of Asia. These in time were conquered, and only a few of them now remain, —known as Ainos, and dwelling in the island of Yezo. In the Japanese year 1 appeared a conqueror, Jimmu Tennō by name, the first of the mikados or emperors. He was descended from the goddess of the Sun, and made his home at the foot of Kirishima, a famous mountain in the island of Kiushiu, the most southerly of the four large islands of Japan. As to the smaller islands of that anchored empire, it may be well to say that they form a vast multitude of all shapes and sizes, [Pg 6] being in all nearly four thousand in number. The Sea of Japan is truly a sea of islands. By way of the sailing clouds, and the blue sky which rests upon Kirishima's snowy top, the gods stepped down from heaven to earth. Down this celestial path came Jimmu's ancestors, of whom there were four between him and the mighty Sun goddess. Of course no one is asked to accept this for fact. Somewhat too many of the fathers of nations were sons of the gods. It may be that Jimmu was an invader from some foreign land, or came from a band of colonists who had settled at the mountain's foot some time before, but the gods have the credit of his origin. At any rate, Hiuga, as the region in which he dwelt was called, was not likely to serve the ends of a party of warlike invaders, there being no part of Japan less fertile. So, as the story goes, Jimmu, being then fifty years old, set out to conquer some richer realm. He had only a few followers, some being his brothers, the others his retainers, all of them, in the language of the legends, being kami, or gods. Jimmu was righteous; the savages were wicked, though they too had descended from the gods. These savages dwelt in villages, each governed by a head-man or chief. They fought hard for their homes, and were not easily driven away. The story of Jimmu's exploits is given in the Kojiki, or "Book of Ancient Traditions," the oldest book of Japan. There is another, called the Nihongi, nearly as old, being composed in 720 A.D. These give us all that is known of the ancient history of the island, but are so full of myths and fables that very little of the story