CHAPTER XXXI
ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE
Whence did the Chinese come?—All men of equal age and ancestry— Records make civilization and nobility—Evidences of antiquity— China and the West totally unknown to each other in ancient times— Tartars the connecting link—Though tamed by religion they are not much changed now—Traders then, as now, but no through travellers—Chinese probably in China for myriads of years before their records began—Tonic peculiarities of all tribes near China except the Tartars—Chinese followed lines of least resistance— Tartars driven back, but difficult to absorb—So with Coreans and Japanese-Indo-China not so favourable for Chinese absorption— Records decided the direction taken by culture—Southern half- Chinese have equal claims with orthodox Chinese—Traditions of ancient emperors in north, coast, and south parts—Suggestions as to how the most ancient Chinese spread themselves—No hint of immigration from anywhere—The old suggestion of immigration from the Tarim Valley and Babylonia—Suggested compromise with Western religious views—Creation and Nature—Compromise with the supernatural and imaginative—Summing up.
CHAPTER XXXII
THE CALENDAR
The Chinese calendar—Confucius and eclipses—Proclaiming the new moon—Celestial observations in different states—Chinese year is luni-Solar—Difficulty with the exact length of a moon—Ingenious devices for bringing the solar and lunar years, the seasons, solstices, and equinoxes into harmony with agricultural needs—The sixty-year cycle—Various reforms of the calendar, and various changes in the month beginning the year—Effect of calendar changes on Confucius' birthday—All is evidence in favour of accuracy of the Chinese records.
CHAPTER XXXIII
NAMES
The difficulty of proper names—Instances-Clans and detached families—Surnames and personal names—Strange personal appellations—Interchange of names by all states—Eunuchs and priests-Minute rules about "naming" individuals—Confucius conveys praise or censure by "naming" persons—The principles upon which several names are applied to one person—Tabu-Instances, and Roman parallel—The Duke of Chou virtual founder of posthumous name system—Dying king and posthumous choice of name—Incestuous marriages in own clan—Hushing up incest in high places— Complication of names connected—Bearing of names upon the political events connected therewith.