have spent a good deal of time in
examining the various eclipses which might be thought to be represented
by the inharmonious meeting of the Sun and the Moon as above recorded.
To cut a long story short, it is generally agreed that we are here
considering one or other of two eclipses of the Sun which occurred in
the years 2136 or 2128 B.C. respectively, the Sun being then in the
sidereal division "Fang," a locality determined by the stars [Greek:
beta], [Greek: delta], [Greek: pi], and [Greek: rho]Scorpii, and which
includes a few small stars in Libra and Ophiuchus to the N. and in Lupus
to the S. How this simple and neat conclusion, which I have stated with
such apparent dogmatism, was arrived at is quite another question, and
it would hardly be consistent with the purpose of this volume to attempt
to work it out in detail, but a few points presented in a summary form
may be interesting.

In the first place, be it understood, that though it is fashionable to
cast ridicule on John Chinaman, especially by way of retaliation for his
calling us "Barbarians," yet it is a sure and certain fact that not only
have the Chinese during many centuries been very attentive students of
Astronomy, but that we Westerns owe a good deal of our present knowledge
in certain departments to the information stored up by Chinese observers
during many centuries both before and after the Christian Era.

This, however, is a digression. The circumstances of this eclipse as
regards its identification having been carefully examined by Mr. R. W.
Rothman,[19] in 1839 were further reviewed by Professor S. M. Russell
in a paper published in the proceedings of the Pekin Oriental
Society.[20] The substance of the case is that in the reign of
Chung-K'ang, the fourth Emperor of the Hsia Dynasty, there occurred an
eclipse of the Sun, which is interesting not only for its antiquity, but
also for the dread fate of the two Astronomers Royal of the period, who
were taken by surprise at its occurrence, and were unprepared to perform
the customary rites. These rites were the shooting of arrows and the
beating of drums, gongs, etc., with the object of delivering the Sun
from the monster which threatened to devour it. The two astronomers by
virtue of their office should have superintended these rites. They were,
however, drunk and incapable of performing their duties, so that great
turmoil ensued, and it was considered that the land was exposed to the
anger of the