Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/663

two peoples before this, and a Japanese colony had been driven out of Ningpo by force and not without bloodshed a few years previously. Kea-tsing was not equal to such emergencies, and his death, which took place in 1567, would have been an advantage to the empire, had his son been a more able prince. But the only weapon Lung-king (1567–1573) was able to wield against the Tatar Yen-ta was a bribe. He made him a prince of the empire, and gave him certain commercial privileges, which were further supplemented by the succeeding emperor Wan-leĭh (1573–1620) by a grant of land in Shen-se. During the reign of this sovereign, in the year 1592, the Japanese successfully invaded Corea, and Taikosama, the emperor of Japan, was on the point of proclaiming himself king of the peninsula, when a large Chinese force answering to the invitation of the king, appeared on the field and completely routed the Japanese army, at the same time that the Chinese fleet cut off their retreat by sea. In this extremity the Japanese sued for peace, and sent an embassy to Peking to arrange terms. But the peace was of short duration. In 1597 the Japanese again invaded Corea and defeated the Chinese army which was sent against them, nor were they less successful at sea. They destroyed the Chinese fleet and ravaged the coast. Suddenly, however, when in the full tide of conquest, they evacuated Corea, which again fell under the direction of China. Four years later Ricci arrived at the Chinese court; and though at first the emperor was inclined to send him out of the country, his abilities gradually won for him the esteem of the sovereign and his ministers, and he remained the scientific adviser of the court until his death in 1610. About this time the power which was destined to overthrow the Ming dynasty began to grow restless. The Manchoo Tatars, goaded into war by the injustice they were constantly receiving at the hands of the Chinese, led an army into China in 1616 and completely defeated the force which was sent against them. Three years later they were again victorious over the Chinese, and they then gained possession of the province of Leaou-tung. This final series of disasters was more than the emperor could bear, and he died of a broken heart in 1620.

In the same year Teen-ning, the Manchoo sovereign, having declared himself independent, and possessed himself of Leaou-tung, moved the court to San-koo, to the east of Moukden, which, five years later, he made his capital. Meanwhile Tai-chang, the son of Wan-leĭh, ascended the Chinese throne, but barely had he assumed the reins of power when he fell ill. Acting on the advice of his doctors he drank of the liquor of immortality and died. The next emperor Teen-ke, after a brief and troublous reign, followed him to the grave in 1627, and to him succeeded Tsung-ching, the last emperor of the Ming dynasty. In his reign the storm-clouds, which had been collecting for some years, burst over the empire. In addition to the threatened danger on the north, rebel bands, enriched by plunder, and grown bold by success, began to assume the proportion of armies. They dominated over whole districts and provinces and paralyzed the imperial forces by their energy and daring. Out of this seething mass of insubordination two leaders showed themselves conspicuously. These were Le Tsze-ching and Shang Ko-he. In order that there should be no dispute as to which should be greatest, they decided to divide the empire between them, and to begin with it was agreed that Shang should take possession of Sze-chuen and Hoo-kwang, and that Le should make himself master of Ho-nan. Bent on this mission Le besieged Kaifung Foo, the capital of the province, and so long and closely did he beleaguer it that in the consequent famine human flesh was regularly sold in the market. At length an imperial force came to raise the siege, with consequences as fatal to the inhabitants as if the rebels had gained the city; for, fearful of meeting Le a army in the field, they cut through the dykes of the Yellow River, “China's Sorrow,” and flooded the whole country including the city. The rebels escaped to the mountains, but upwards of 200,000 inhabitants perished in the flood, and the city became a heap of ruins (1642). From Kai-fung Foo Le marched against the other strongholds of Ho-nan and Shen-se, and was so completely successful that he determined to attack Peking. A treacherous eunuch opened the gates to him, on being informed of which the emperor committed suicide. When the news of this disaster reached the general-commanding on the frontier of Manchoo Tatary, he, in an unguarded moment, concluded a peace with the Manchoos, and invited them to dispossess the rebel Le Tsze-ching. With ready acquiescence the Manchoos entered China, and after defeating a rebel army sent against them, they marched towards Peking. On hearing of the approach of the invaders, Le Tsze-ching, after having set fire to the imperial palace, evacuated the city, but was overtaken, and his force was completely routed. The object for which the Manchoos had been introduced into the empire having now been accomplished, the Chinese wished them to retire, but, like the Mongols, having once gained a footing in the empire, they declared themselves unwilling to leave it, and having taken possession of Peking they proclaimed the ninth son of Teen-ning emperor of China under the title of Shun-che, and adopted the name of Ta-tsing, or “Great pure,” for the dynasty (1644). Meanwhile the mandarins at Nanking had chosen an imperial prince to ascend the throne. But with all the prestige of victory the Tatars bore down all opposition, and at this most inopportune moment “a claimant” to the throne, in the person of a pretended son of the last emperor, appeared at court. This additional complication still further reduced the Chinese power of acting. While this contention prevailed inside Nanking the Tatar army appeared at the walls. But there was no need for them to use force. The gates were thrown open, and they took possession of the city without shedding a drop of blood. Following the conciliatory policy they had everywhere pursued, they confirmed the mandarins in their offices and granted a general amnesty to all who would lay down their arms. As the Tatars entered the city the emperor left it, and after wandering about for some days in great misery, he threw himself into the Yang-tsze Keang and was drowned. Thus ended the Ming dynasty, and the empire passed again under a foreign yoke.

All accounts agree in stating that the Manchoo conquerors are descendants of a branch of the family which gave the Kin dynasty to the north of China; and in lieu of any authentic account of their early history, native writers have thrown a cloud of fable over their origin. These tell us that in remote ages three heaven-born virgins dwelt beneath the shadow of the Great White mountains, and that while they were bathing in a lake which reflected in its bosom the snow-clad peaks which towered above it, a magpie dropped a blood-red fruit on the clothes of the youngest. This the maiden instinctively devoured, and forthwith conceived and bore a son, whose name they called Ai-sin Ghioro, which being interpreted is the “Golden Family Stem,” and which is the family name of the present emperors of China. When his mother had entered the icy cave of the dead, her son embarked on a little boat and floated down the River Hurka until he reached a district occupied by three families who were at war with each other. The personal appearance of the supernatural youth so impressed these warlike chiefs that they forgot their enmities and hailed him as their ruler. The town of