CHAPTER XLVII

THE FAR EAST [Sidenote: Asiatic Characteristics] An account, in this chapter, of the principal articles dealing with the history of India, China and Japan, will sufficiently indicate to the student the plan adopted in the Britannica’s treatment of all the countries in the far East. But before turning to these three groups of articles, he should read ASIA (Vol. 2, p. 734), which defines the social and economic position of the Orient in general, and gives a survey of the field covered by articles on Eastern countries other than the three dealt with in this chapter. This article, equivalent in length to 65 pages of this Guide, is by Sir Richard Strachey, the famous Indian administrator; Sir Charles Eliot, of the British diplomatic service Sir T. H. Holdich, of the Indian Frontier Survey; and Philip Lake, the Oriental geologist. The general survey of Asiatic characteristics, as revealed by history, with which the historical section (p. 749) of the article begins, is noteworthy in connection with current political questions: The words “Asiatic” and “oriental” are often used as if they denoted a definite and homogeneous type, but Russians resemble Asiatics in many ways, and Turks, Hindus, Chinese, etc., differ in so many important points that the common substratum is small. It amounts to this, that Asiatics have not the same sentiment of independence and freedom as Europeans. Individuals are thought of as members of a family, state or religion, rather than as entities with a destiny and rights of their own. This leads to autocracy in politics, fatalism in religion, and conservatism in both. All three of these are certainly conspicuous in the history of the first Eastern country dealt with in this chapter. INDIA In the article INDIA (Vol. 14, p. 375), (equivalent to 140 pages of this Guide) there is much of value to the historical student besides the chapter on _History_ (p. 395), which is written by Sir William Wilson Hunter, administrative head of the statistical survey of India and one of the editors of _The Imperial Gazetteer of India_, and by James Sutherland Cotton, editor of this same Gazetteer. Particularly important are the sections, _The People_ (p. 382), _Administration_ (p. 385), and _Indian Costume_ (p. 417), illustrated from pen-and-ink drawings by J. Lockwood Kipling, known to many as the illustrator of his son’s book _Kim_. And the student of Oriental history will find it possible to gain a little comprehension—at least—of Oriental ways of thought, Eastern setting and colour, by reading in the Britannica such articles as CASTE (Vol. 5, p. 464), HINDUISM (Vol. 13, p. 501), BRAHMANISM, BRAHMAN and BRAHMANA (Vol. 4, p. 378), all by Prof. Julius Eggeling, Edinburgh; BUDDHA and BUDDHISM (Vol. 4, p. 737), both by Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids of Manchester, author of _Sacred Books of the Buddhas_, etc.; MAHOMET (Vol. 17, p. 399), by Prof. D. G. Margoliouth, Oxford; MAHOMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS and MAHOMMEDAN LAW (Vol. 17, p. 411), by Prof. D. S. Macdonald, Hartford Theological Seminary, and MAHOMMEDAN RELIGION (Vol. 17, p. 417), by Rev. G. W. Thatcher, Camden College, Sydney, N. S. W.; INDIAN LAW (Vol. 14, p. 434), by Sir William Markby, author of _Lectures on English Law_, etc.; and ZOROASTER (Vol. 28, p. 1039), by Prof. Karl Geldner, Marburg, and PARSEES (Vol. 20, p. 866). This list of articles subsidiary to the history of India could be prolonged almost indefinitely, but enough has been given to put the student on the track of valuable articles which might otherwise escape his notice. Before we come to the authentic history of India there is a legendary period, the only historic test for which is the rock inscriptions,—see the article INSCRIPTIONS, _Indian_ (Vol. 14, p. 621), by J. F. Fleet, author of _Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings_. On the earliest literary description of the Aryans in India and their contests with the Dravidians see the article SANSKRIT, _Vedic Period_ (especially p. 161 of Vol. 24, on the _Rig Veda_)—and in general the articles ARYAN and DRAVIDIAN. An interesting reconstruction of the civilization of the primitive Aryans on the basis of languages will be found in the article INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES (Vol. 14, especially pp. 498–500), by Dr. Peter Giles, Cambridge, author of _Manual of Comparative Philology_; and this picture of Aryan life before the conquest of India will hold in the main for the earlier period of the Aryans in India. [Sidenote: Early Buddhism] With the 6th century we come to the beginning of the Buddhist period. See the article JAINS, the articles on Buddhism already mentioned, and the articles: ASOKA, the great Buddhist emperor and organizer of the faith, whose rock inscriptions throughout India are so valuable as historical records; KANISHKA, the Buddhist king of Kabul and Kashmir; FA-HIEN and HSÜAN TSANG, the Chinese pilgrims of India, who left important records of early Buddhism and of Brahmanism, which was steadily growing in power and strength. The Hindu period, overlapping the Buddhist, is marked by the beginning of Western influences on India. For the Persians in India see the articles PERSIA (Vol. 21, especially pp. 209–210), DARIUS (Vol. 7, p. 832), and SCYLAX, the Greek who under Darius’s orders explored the course of the Indus. Far more important was the conquest by Alexander the Great and the establishment of the Hellenistic empire of the Seleucids in Syria, Bactria and India: see ALEXANDER THE GREAT (Vol. 1, especially p. 548), NEARCHUS, Alexander’s admiral and navigator, and SELEUCID DYNASTY. The first paramount ruler of India was CHANDRAGUPTA (Vol. 5, p. 839), whom the Greeks called Sandracottus and who crushed the Seleucid power and founded the Maurya dynasty. Of his grandson Asoka we have already spoken in outlining the growth and decline of Buddhism. In this period Greek thought and art influenced India greatly, and in the period immediately following—2nd century B.C.—northwestern India was invaded again by western troops: see DEMETRIUS, EUCRATIDES, MENANDER. The records of the next four centuries are confused and vague; on the invasions from the North, see SAKA and YUE-CHI, by Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot. The Yue-Chi founded the Kushan dynasty, in which the greatest king was KANISHKA (Vol. 15, p. 653), already mentioned as a Buddhist ruler whose policy marked the beginning of the end of Buddhism in India. On the succeeding dynasty see the article GUPTA; and refer again to the article FA-HIEN for the Chinese account of the rule of the second Gupta king, Chandragupta,—on whom in legend see VIKRAMADITYA. On the White Huns and their invasion consult the articles EPHTHALITES and HUNS. On the only other great king of this period, who was paramount monarch of northern India in the first half of the 7th century and whose administration was described by Hsüan-Tsang, see HARSHA. On the principal Deccan dynasties of the Hindu period, see CHALUKYA and RASHTRAKUTA, and the article DECCAN. [Sidenote: Mahommedans and Moslems] For a general notion of the Mahommedan period in India the student should read the articles on Mahommedanism already mentioned, and for more definite information about India, the articles on the 11th century invader MAHMUD OF GHAZNI (Vol. 17, p. 397), and on SOMNATH, the temple city which he captured and sacked in 1025. See DECCAN and GUJARAT for the Moslem conquest of these states by Ala-ud-din. For the destruction of the Tughlak dynasty, which followed Ala-ud-din’s successors, see AFGHANISTAN (Vol. 1, especially p. 315) and TIMUR (Vol. 26, p. 994), by Major-General Sir Frederick John Goldsmid. The “last stand made by the national faith in India against conquering Islam” was in VIJAYANAGAR (Vol. 28, p. 62). With the 16th century and the Mogul dynasty, India is quite definitely Moslem: see BABER, HUMAYUN, AKBAR, ABUL FAZL the historian of Akbar’s reign, JAHANGIR, SHAH JAHAN, and AGRA and INDIAN ARCHITECTURE (especially Fig. 17, opposite p. 433, Vol. 14) for the Taj Mahal, the Mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtäz Mal, and—for the culmination of the Mogul power, the beginning of its decay, and the first sign of Moslem bigotry and intolerance on the part of the Mogul emperors,—AURANGZEB. His attempt to conquer the Mahommedan kings of the Deccan gave the natives an opportunity to regain power: see the article MAHRATTAS, and for the earlier risings of the Mahrattas, SIVAJI. And for the rise of Afghan power under the Durani dynasty and the battle of Panipat in 1761, a crushing defeat for the Mahrattas, see AFGHANISTAN, _History_ (Vol. 1, especially p. 316), and AHMAD SHAH. On earlier European settlements in India see the article INDIA, _History_ (Vol. 14, p. 404), and more particularly for Portuguese explorations and settlements the articles VASCO DA GAMA (Vol. 11, p. 433), ALBUQUERQUE (Vol. 1, p. 516), and GOA the capitol of Portuguese India, the last article being by K. G. Jayne, author of _Vasco da Gama and His Successors_: for Dutch rule the article DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY (Vol. 8, p. 716); and for the beginning of British influence in India the articles EAST INDIA COMPANY; SURAT; MADRAS, where the first English fort was built in 1640 and the first grant, except for factory use, was made by the English; BOMBAY, acquired from Portugal in 1661–65; SIR JOHN and SIR JOSIAH CHILD; JOB CHARNOCK, founder of Calcutta, and the article on CALCUTTA. [Sidenote: The British Conquest] On British political history in India in the 18th century, see the articles on PONDICHERRY, DUPLEIX, French Governor-General in Pondicherry, his rival CLIVE the founder of the British Empire and of the power of the East India Company in India, EYRE COOTE who took Pondicherry from the French in 1761, SURAJ-UD-DOWLAH and CALCUTTA for the siege of the city and story of the Black Hole, PLASSEY, SHAH ALAM for the massacre of PATNA; and for the period after CLIVE the articles WARREN HASTINGS, MAHRATTAS for the first Mahratta war, HYDER ALI and MYSORE for the first Mysore war; TIPPOO SAHIB and CORNWALLIS for the second Mysore war; TEIGNMOUTH and BENGAL, for the permanent settlement of Bengal under Cornwallis; WELLESLEY and TIPPOO SAHIB and SERINGAPATAM, WELLINGTON and LAKE (Vol. 16, p. 85) for the campaigns against the French and natives during Wellesley’s governor-generalship; LORD MINTO for the years from 1807 to 1813; MARQUESS OF HASTINGS, OCHTERLONY and NEPAL for the war in Nepal; for the wars of 1817 the articles PINDARIS, MAHRATTAS, ELPHINSTONE, SIR JOHN MALCOLM; for the administration (1823–28) of Lord Amherst, the articles AMHERST, BURMESE WARS, BHARATPUR and COMBERMERE; for Bentinck’s rule, the articles BENTINCK, SUTTEE, THUGS by Reinhold Rost, late secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, and MYSORE; METCALFE, for a view of his short tenure of office; for the stormy period of the ’40’s, AUCKLAND, ELLENBOROUGH, AFGHANISTAN, SIR W. H. MACNAGHTEN, SIR R. H. SALE and SIND; and for the Sikh wars, HARDINGE, PUNJAB, SIKH WARS, RANJIT SINGH, SIR HUGH GOUGH, DALHOUSIE, SIR HENRY LAWRENCE, EDWARDES, BURMESE WARS for the second war of 1852, and OUDH for its annexation; and for the close of the Company’s rule, the articles LORD CANNING, INDIAN MUTINY, DELHI, LORD LAWRENCE, RICHARD BAIRD SMITH, JOHN NICHOLSON, SIR NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN, CAWNPORE, NANA SAHIB, LUCKNOW, SIR HENRY LAWRENCE, SIR J. E. W. INGLIS, HAVELOCK, J. G. S. NEILL, OUTRAM, Sir Colin Campbell. On India under the Crown, since 1858, see particularly the articles on the viceroys, CANNING, ELGIN, LAWRENCE, MAYO, NORTHBROOK, LYTTON (see also SHERE ALI and YAKUB KHAN),—RIPON (see also AYUB KHAN, EARL ROBERTS, and ABDUR RAHMAN KHAN), DUFFERIN (see also PANJDEH for the Russian scare of 1885 and BURMA and BURMESE WARS for the dispute with Thebaw), CURZON and KITCHENER, and MINTO. CHINA As with India, so with China, the whole of the article in the Britannica is of value to the historical student. The article CHINA (Vol. 6, pp. 166–231) is equivalent to 200 pages of this Guide. The most important part for the student of history is section V. (pp. 188–212) on _History_: but such parts of the article as _Geography_, with a coloured map, the _People_ (pp. 171–174), _Religion_ (174–177), _Economics_ (177–181), _Government and Administration_ (181–188), _Art_ (213–216) with illustrations, and _Language and Literature_ (216–231) are all of importance to help get the background that is so baffling to an occidental studying the Far East. As was the case with India, the study of religions is particularly important and besides the section _Religion_ in the article CHINA, the student should turn to the articles LAO-TSZE, the founder of a philosophy debased into Taoism, MENCIUS, and CONFUCIUS, all by the Rev. James Legge, author of _The Religions of China_, and the editor of _The Chinese Classics_, and BUDDHISM and LAMAISM, the latter the form of Buddhism in vogue in China,—and he should remember that there are some Mahommedans in China. In connection with the latest developments in Chinese history he should read with great care in the article CHINA, Section IV, _Government and Administration_, especially p. 184 on the Civil Service, an elaborate merit system. Section V. of the article CHINA opens with a treatment by Sir Henry Yule, the famous Orientalist, of the European knowledge of China before 1615, particularly “Cathay” and the early explorers of Mongolia, CARPINI (see Vol. 5, p. 397) and RUBRUQUIS (see Vol. 23, pp. 810–812), and of Cathay itself MARCO POLO (see Vol. 22, pp. 7–10). The internal history of China begins (Vol. 6, p. 191) with a discussion of Chinese origins: “anthropological arguments seem to contradict the idea of any connection with Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians, or Indians. The earliest hieroglyphics of the Chinese, ascribed by them to the Shang dynasty (second millenium B.C.) betray the Mongol character of the nation that invented them by the decided obliquity of the human eye whenever it appears in an ideograph.... Our standpoint as regards the origin of the Chinese race is, therefore, that of the agnostic.... Their civilization was already old at a time when Britain and Germany were peopled by half-naked barbarians, and the philosophical and ethical principles on which it is based remain, to all appearances, as firmly rooted as ever.” Chinese legendary history goes back to Fu-hi as the “first historical emperor; and they place his lifetime in the years 2852–2738 B.C.” [Sidenote: The First Definite Date] There is much that is purely legendary and mythical in these early records, but with the year 776 B.C. we find a veritable record: in an ode referring to a wicked emperor there is mention of “certain signs showing that Heaven itself is indignant at Yu-wang’s crimes. One of these signs was an eclipse of the sun ... the date and month being clearly stated. This date corresponds exactly with August 29, 776 B.C.; and astronomers have calculated that on that precise date an eclipse of the sun was visible in North China.” It is an interesting coincidence that this earliest sure date in Chinese history is the date of the first Greek Olympiad, from which time was reckoned in the Greek calendar—though there are no certain dates in Greek history until much later. The first outstanding event in the history of China was nearly 20 centuries later—the Mongol invasion; see the articles MONGOLS (Vol. 18, pp. 712–719) and JENGHIZ KHAN (Vol. 15, p. 316), both by Sir Robert K. Douglas, author of _The Life of Jenghiz Khan_. On the period immediately following see KUBLAI KHAN, for the foundation of the Mongol dynasty, and the section _Medieval Cathay_ (Vol. 6, p. 189) of the article CHINA for early exploration and missionary effort. Mongol rule was broken in the 14th century by the founder of the Ming dynasty. [Sidenote: Foreign Relations] The Portuguese arrival at Canton in 1517 marked the beginning of modern intercourse with Europe; and see the article MATTEO RICCI by Sir Henry Yule, for the first important work of a Christian missionary in China early in the 17th century. Immediately thereafter came the Manchu invasion, on which see the article MANCHURIA, by Sir R. K. Douglas. Trade with Europe on a large scale began in the second half of the 18th century; see the article CANTON. British diplomatic missions for the improvement of the condition of traders in Canton were unsuccessful, but in 1840 the opium war made China feel the weight of Great Britain’s power when Hong Kong was ceded to the English and other ports were opened to trade: see LORD NAPIER, SIR HUGH GOUGH, and HONG-KONG. On the T’ai-p’ing rebellion, the “Arrow” affair, and the second interference of Great Britain with China, see SIR H. S. PARKES, CHARLES GEORGE GORDON (“Chinese Gordon”), EARL OF ELGIN (Vol. 9, p. 268), TSENG KUO-FAN, LI HUNG CHANG. On the Russian boundary disputes of 1858 and 1860 see AMUR and VLADIVOSTOK. The history of China since 1875 is told pretty completely in the article CHINA, in two sections, the first on 1875–1901 being by Sir Valentine Chirol, author of _The Far Eastern Question_. But in connection with the general treatment the student should read the articles on KOREA, ANNAM and TONGKING for the earlier efforts to detach from the Chinese empire these quasi-vassals; CHINO-JAPANESE WAR for the military details of the struggle by which Japan got command of the Korean coast-line; MEKONG for the dispute of 1895 with Great Britain; KIAOCHOW BAY, PORT ARTHUR and WEI-HAI-WEI for the seizures of 1897 and 1898 by Germany, Russia and Great Britain respectively; JOHN HAY for America’s part in the Open Door policy; PEKING and TIENTSIN for details added to the general account in the article CHINA, of the “Boxer” rising; MANCHURIA for Russian encroachments before, and JAPAN for Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War. JAPAN [Sidenote: Japanese in America] The article JAPAN (Vol. 15, p. 156) is equivalent to 370 pages of this Guide,—and is almost entirely the work of Captain Frank Brinkley, editor of the _Japan Mail_, author of _Japan_, _A History of Japan_, _An Unabridged Japanese-English Dictionary_, etc. The article is divided into 10 parts—_Geography_, _People_, _Language and Literature_, _Art_, _Economic Conditions_, _Government and Administration_, _Religion_, _Foreign Intercourse_, _Domestic History_, and _The Claim of Japan; A Japanese View_, by Baron Dairoku Kikuchi, in which the president of the Imperial University of Kyoto and of the Imperial Academy of Japan discusses “the ambition of the Japanese people ... to be recognized as an equal by the Great Powers,” their resenting “any discrimination against them as an Asiatic people,” the “misrepresentation, arising from want of proper knowledge of Japanese character and feelings,” that the Japanese immediately after the war with Russia were “ready and eager to fight with the United States”—whereas the Japanese have always regarded the Americans with a special good will, due no doubt to the steady liberal attitude of the American government and people towards Japan and Japanese, and they look upon the idea of war between Japan and the United States as ridiculous. [Sidenote: Marks of the Race] Any justifiable discrimination against the Japanese as Asiatics must of course be based upon such characteristics of custom and thought as render Japanese immigration undesirable, and not upon the colour of the Japanese skin or any other peculiarity of appearance. But it is none the less interesting to turn from Baron Dairoku Kikuchi’s argument to Capt. Brinkley’s careful study (p. 164) of the physical characteristics of the Japanese. “The best authorities are agreed that the Japanese do not differ, physically, from their Korean and Chinese neighbors as much as the inhabitants of Northern Europe differ from those of Southern Europe.” Some of the bodily traits which distinguish the Japanese from races of European origin are to be observed “in the eyes, the eyelashes, the cheekbones and the beard.” The eyeball does not differ from that of an occidental, but the eye is less deeply set. The conspicuous peculiarity is that the upper eyelids are much heavier at the inner corners than at the outer, making the eyes apparently oblique; and a fold of the upper lids hangs over the roots of the upper lashes. The lashes, too, are short and scanty, and converge, instead of diverging as they do in occidentals, so that the tips are nearer together than the roots. There is but little hair on the face (except among the Ainus), and it is nearly always straight. The cheekbones are prominent among the lower, rather than the upper classes. The article proceeds to discuss the moral characteristics of the Japanese; attributing to them a degree of frugality and endurance such as to make it virtually impossible for any occidental race, living in reasonable comfort, to compete with Japanese labour. As in the study of India and China, it will be well for the student of Japanese history to make himself familiar with the Britannica’s full material on native religion: see Vol. 15, p. 222, noting especially that in the section on Shinto it is said: “The grandson of the sun goddess was the first sovereign of Japan, and his descendants have ruled the land in unbroken succession ever since.” [Sidenote: Foreign intercourse] In Japanese history two main topics of study present themselves—foreign intercourse and domestic or internal history—the former naturally the more attractive to the foreign student, and of additional interest both because of its picturesque and romantic early detail and by reason of its explaining the sudden emergence of Japan as a power in world politics. Portuguese shipwrecked in Japan in 1542 or 1543 opened the country to Portuguese trade and in 1549 landed the great Jesuit missionary, FRANCISCO DE XAVIER: see the article by K. G. Jayne, author of _Vasco da Gama and his Successors_. The contest between Spain and Portugal for Eastern trade and between Jesuits and Franciscans for Japanese converts to Christianity and the other factors that resulted in the suppression of Christianity in 1614 and the consequent persecutions of converts and missionaries are told in the article JAPAN—and so also is the story of the foothold that Dutch and English traders got before the Japanese practically excluded them also, as Christians rather than as foreigners or traders. From the middle of the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century Japan was practically untouched by Western civilization. The part of the United States navy in opening the country to trade in 1853 is described in the article JAPAN (pp. 237–238) and in the article MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. The article JAPAN also devotes much space (p. 238) to the work done by another American, Townsend Harris, who was less known than Perry, but who carried through the immensely important first commercial treaty. [Sidenote: Recent Wars] The remainder of the story of Japan’s foreign relations is given in the main article JAPAN, but the student should read besides the articles CHINO-JAPANESE WAR, MANCHURIA, and RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR. The last of these would be equivalent to 40 pages of this Guide; it is accompanied by the following plans: _General Dispositions after Nanshan_, _Liao-Yang_, _Port Arthur_, and _Mukden_: and it is a remarkable critical summary of the military operations of the war. Read also the biographies of KATSURA, KODAMA, KUROKI, NOGI, NOZU, OKUMA, OYAMA, TOGO, YAMAGATA. [Sidenote: Domestic History] As for domestic history, it is important to note that early Japanese history is more purely mythical and legendary, and is chronologically untrustworthy for a longer period than is Chinese history. The conventionally accepted date of the establishment of the Empire is 660 B. C.; and from this year all dates are reckoned; but Japanese annals are self-contradictory and are proved faulty by Chinese and Korean records. Even the famed Japanese invasion of Korea in 200 is possibly apocryphal, and there are few trustworthy recorded facts before 400 A.D. or dates before 500 A.D. In the middle of the 6th century Chinese influence, through Korea, became strong, and in 552 Buddhism was introduced from Korea. A century later legislative government and administrative reform began. On the Japanese feudal system beginning in the 12th century see: the article BUSHIDO; in the article JAPAN the account of the earlier army; and the articles SHOGUN and MIKADO. The more important separate articles for the later period are: TOKUGAWA and ARISUGAWA for the rival families of the 17th–19th centuries; MUTSU HITO; SANJO; OKUBO TOSHIMITSU; SAIGO; MUTSU; IWAKURA MATSUKATA, the financier; KATO; KOMURA; ITO; ENOMOTO; ITAGAKI, “the first to organize and lead a political party in Japan”; INOUYE; OKUMA; YAMAGATA; HAYASHI.