d; even a Chinese emperor, and enthusiastic patron of
literature to boot, recoiled before the enormous cost of cutting such
a work on blocks. It was however transcribed for printing, and there
appear to have been at one time three copies in existence. Two of these
perished at Nanking with the downfall of the dynasty in 1644, and the
third was in great part destroyed in Peking during the siege of the
Legations in 1900. Odd volumes have been preserved, and bear ample
witness to the extraordinary character of the achievement.

This emperor was an ardent Buddhist, and the priests of that religion
were raised to high positions and exerted considerable influence at
court. In times of famine there were loud complaints that some ten
thousand priests were living comfortably at Peking, while the people of
several provinces were reduced to eating bark and grass.

The porcelain of the Ming dynasty is famous all over the world. Early in
the sixteenth century a great impetus was given to the art, owing to
the extravagant patronage of the court, which was not allowed to pass
without openly expressed remonstrance. The practice of the pictorial
art was very widely extended, and the list of Ming painters is endless,
containing as it does over twelve hundred names, some few of which stand
for a high level of success.

Towards the close of the sixteenth century the Portuguese appeared upon
the scene, and settled themselves at Macao, the ownership of which has
been a bone of contention between China and Portugal ever since. It is
a delightful spot, with an excellent climate, not very far from Canton,
and was for some time the residence of the renowned poet Camoens. Not
far from Macao lies the island of Sancian, where St. Francois Xavier
died. He was the first Roman Catholic missionary of more modern times
to China, but he never set foot on the mainland. Native maps mark the
existence of "Saint's Grave" upon the island, though he was actually
buried at Goa. There had previously been a Roman Catholic bishop in
Peking so far back as the thirteenth century, from which date it seems
likely that Catholic converts have had a continuous footing in the
empire.

In 1583, Matteo Ricci, the most famous of all missionaries who have
ever reached China, came upon the scene at Canton, and finally, in
1601, after years of strenuous effort succeeded in installing himself
at Peking, with the warm support of the emperor himself, dying there in
1610. Beside