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Article THE GENERAL HISTORY OF CHINA: ← Page 5 of 5
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The General History Of China:
moon , with all its different phases and appearances , to represent the twenty-eig ht mansions of the heavens , and their conjunctioHs and oppositions with the sun , as they appear in the intersections of the circles , which the astronomers call the dragon ' s head and tail ; a hundred other standards followed these , and the rest of the mandarins carried maces , axes , hammers , and other instruments of war with heads of monsters and divers animals .
or ceremony , During this reign , which was one of the longest , the emperor ' s merit and g lory were not only held in veneration through Asia , but also procured him the regard and esteem of all Europe : it was be that united the two Tartaries with China , and made them but one empire , by that means bringing under his sole power an immense country , which is not separated by any lands belonging to
other potentates : as there were none but the eastern Tartars that could g ive him trouble , he , partly by policy , and partly by force , removed them three hundred miles beyond the great wall , where he gave them lands , and established his own subjects in their p laces : he divided this vast country into several provinces , which were submissive and tributary to him , and kept them in subjection by the means of the Lamas , whom the Tartars worship as so many divinities .
As soon as he had established a lasting peace in the empire , he recalled from the provinces the greater part of the forces that were dispersed there , and marched them three times a year into Tartary , armed with bows , arrows , and scimitars , as in a warlike expedition , making them endure great fatigues and long marches , and employing them to destroy the wild boars , bears , tigers , and other beasts ; this he did out of policy , to keep them from luxury
and idleness : the army was obliged to encamp at night , and lodge in tents , there being neither cities , towiis , or villages in the Western Tartary : the inhabitants have no other tenements but tents dispersed over the country , where they feed their oxen , horses and camels ; they know nothing of plowing , sowing of corn , or cultivating land , but remove their tents from place to place for the conveniency of pasture groundliving on milkcheeseand what
, , , game they can get . Notwithstanding all this the emperor did not lessen his application to state affairs , but would often consult his ministers under a tent , as if it had been his palace , governing the empire himself , as the soul that animated all the members of so great a body , not intrusting the care of the government either to his ministers or eunuchs .
Another piece of his policy was , establishing judges in the courts of judicature , who were half of them Chinese , and the other half Tartars , designed as so many spies on each other ; besides , it obliged the Tartars to apply themselves to learning , in order to qualify themselves for employments , according to the ancient custom of the empire . [ To be continued . }
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The General History Of China:
moon , with all its different phases and appearances , to represent the twenty-eig ht mansions of the heavens , and their conjunctioHs and oppositions with the sun , as they appear in the intersections of the circles , which the astronomers call the dragon ' s head and tail ; a hundred other standards followed these , and the rest of the mandarins carried maces , axes , hammers , and other instruments of war with heads of monsters and divers animals .
or ceremony , During this reign , which was one of the longest , the emperor ' s merit and g lory were not only held in veneration through Asia , but also procured him the regard and esteem of all Europe : it was be that united the two Tartaries with China , and made them but one empire , by that means bringing under his sole power an immense country , which is not separated by any lands belonging to
other potentates : as there were none but the eastern Tartars that could g ive him trouble , he , partly by policy , and partly by force , removed them three hundred miles beyond the great wall , where he gave them lands , and established his own subjects in their p laces : he divided this vast country into several provinces , which were submissive and tributary to him , and kept them in subjection by the means of the Lamas , whom the Tartars worship as so many divinities .
As soon as he had established a lasting peace in the empire , he recalled from the provinces the greater part of the forces that were dispersed there , and marched them three times a year into Tartary , armed with bows , arrows , and scimitars , as in a warlike expedition , making them endure great fatigues and long marches , and employing them to destroy the wild boars , bears , tigers , and other beasts ; this he did out of policy , to keep them from luxury
and idleness : the army was obliged to encamp at night , and lodge in tents , there being neither cities , towiis , or villages in the Western Tartary : the inhabitants have no other tenements but tents dispersed over the country , where they feed their oxen , horses and camels ; they know nothing of plowing , sowing of corn , or cultivating land , but remove their tents from place to place for the conveniency of pasture groundliving on milkcheeseand what
, , , game they can get . Notwithstanding all this the emperor did not lessen his application to state affairs , but would often consult his ministers under a tent , as if it had been his palace , governing the empire himself , as the soul that animated all the members of so great a body , not intrusting the care of the government either to his ministers or eunuchs .
Another piece of his policy was , establishing judges in the courts of judicature , who were half of them Chinese , and the other half Tartars , designed as so many spies on each other ; besides , it obliged the Tartars to apply themselves to learning , in order to qualify themselves for employments , according to the ancient custom of the empire . [ To be continued . }