CHAPTER XXI
PUBLIC WORKS
Engineering works of old Emperors—Marvellous chiselled gorge above Tch'ang—Pa and Shuh kingdoms (= Sz Ch'wan)—The engineer Li Ping in Sz Ch'wan: his sluices still in working order after 2200 years of use—Chinese ideas about the sources of the Yang-tsz—The Lolo country and its independence—The Yellow River and its vagaries—Substitution of the Chou dynasty for the Shang dynasty— First rulers of Wu make a canal—Origin of the Grand Canal— Explanation of the old riverine system of Shan Tung—Extension of the Canal by the First August Emperor—Kublai Khan's share in it— The old Wu capital—Soochow and its ancient arsenals—No bridges in old clays: fords used—Instances—Limited navigability of northern rivers—Various Great Walls—Enormous waste of human life—New Ts'in metropolis—Forced labour and eunuchs.
CHAPTER XXII
CITIES AND TOWNS
Ancient cities mere hovels—Soul, the capital of modern Corea— Modern cities still poor affairs—Want of unity causes downfall of Ts'in and China—Magnificence of Ts'i capital—Ts'u's palaces imitated in Lu—The capital of Wu—Modern Soochow—Nothing known of early Ts'in towns—Reforms of Wei Yang in Ts'in—Probable population—Magnificent buildings at new Ts'in metropolis— Facility with which vassal states shifted their capitals— Insignificant size of ancient principalities—Walled cities.
CHAPTER XXIII
BREAK-UP OF CHINA
Collapse of Wu, flight in boats to Japan—Ground to believe that the ruling caste of Japan was influenced by Chinese colonists in the fifth century B.C.—Rise of Yueh, and action in China as Protector—Changes in the Hwai River system—Last days of the Chou dynasty—The year 403 B.C. is the second great pivot point in history—Undermining of Ts'i state by the T'ien or Ch'en family— Confucius shocked at the murder of a Ts'i prince—Sudden rise of Ts'in after two centuries of stagnation—The reforms of Wei Yang lead to the conquest of China—Orthodox China compared with Greece—The "Fighting State" Period.