--Origin of the term "Middle Kingdom"--Duke Chou and
Cheng wang, "The Completer"--A Royal Traveller--Li and Yu, two
bad kings_

The merciful conqueror who at this time rescued the people from
oppression was Wu-wang, the martial king. He found, it is said, the
people "hanging with their heads downward" and set them on their
feet. On the eve of the decisive battle he harangued his troops,
appealing to the Deity as the arbiter, and expressing confidence in
the result. "The tyrant," he said, "has ten myriads of soldiers,
and I have but one myriad. His soldiers, however, have ten myriads
of hearts, while my army has but one heart."

When the battle had been fought and won he turned his war-horses
out to pasture and ordained that they should be forever free from
yoke and saddle. Could he have been less humane in the treatment
of his new subjects?

The credit of his victory he gave to ten wise counsellors, one
of whom was his mother. History, however, ascribes it in a large
degree to his father, Wen-wang,
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who was then dead, but who had prepared the way for his son's triumph.

Wen-wang, the Beauclerc of the Chous, is one of the most notable
figures in the ancient history of China. A vassal prince, by wise
management rather than by military prowess he succeeded in enlarging
his dominions so that he became possessor of two-thirds of the
empire. He is applauded for his wisdom in still paying homage to
his feeble chief. The latter, however, must have regarded him with
no little suspicion, as Wen-wang was thrown into prison, and only
regained his liberty at the cost of a heavy ransom. Wen-wang apparently
anticipated a mortal struggle; for it is related that, seeing an
old man fishing, he detected in him an able general who had fled
the service of the tyrant. "You," said he, "are the very man I
have been looking for"; and, taking him up into his chariot, as
Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the assurance of coming victory.
The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung, the ancestor of the royal House
of Ts'i in Shantung. Though eighty-one years of age he took command
of the cavalry and presided in the councils of his new master.

Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-wang should be the real
founder of the new dynasty; for now for the first time those pictured
symbols become living blossoms from which the fruits of learning and
philosophy are to be gathered. The rise and progress of a generous
culture is the chief characteristic