d are the rise of a great
school of philosophy and the constant encroachment of the Tartars. The
two Chengs being brothers, the names of the five leading philosophers
fall into an alliterative line of four syllables, _Cheo,
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Cheng, Chang, Chu_. Acute in speculation and patient in research,
they succeeded in fixing the interpretation of the sacred books,
and in establishing a theory of nature and man from which it is
heresy to dissent. The rise of their school marks an intellectual
advance as compared with the lettered age of the T'angs. It was an
age of daring speculation; but, as constantly happens in China,
the authority of these great men was converted into a bondage for
posterity. The century in which they flourished (1020-1120) is
unique in the history of their country as the age of philosophy.
In Europe it was a part of the Dark Ages; and at that time the
Western world was convulsed by the Crusades.

The most eminent of the five philosophers was Chu Fu-tse. Not the
most original, he collected the best thoughts of all into a system;
and his erudition was such that the whole range of literature was
his domain. Chu Hi, the Coryphaeus of mediaeval China, stands next
in honour after that incomparable pair, Confucius and Mencius.
Contemporary with the earlier members of this coterie appeared Wang
Ngan-shi, an economist, of rare originality. His leading principle
was the absorption by the state of all industrial enterprises--state
ownership of land, and in general a paternal system to supersede
private initiative. So charming was the picture presented in his
book "The Secret of Peace" (still extant) that the Emperor gave him
_carte blanche_ to put his theory into practice. In practical
life however it was a failure--perhaps because he failed to allow
for the strength or weakness of materials and instruments. His
book is a Chinese
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Utopia, nearly akin to those of Plato and Sir John More.

In the northeast beyond the Wall were two Tartar kingdoms, one
of which was the Kin or "Golden Horde"--remote ancestors of the
Manchu dynasty. A constant menace to the settled population of the
"inner land," they obtained possession of Peking in 1118. For a
time they were kept at bay by a money payment which reminds one of
the _Danegeld_ paid by our forefathers to the sea-robbers of
northern Europe. Payments not being punctual, the Tartars occupied
portions of the northern provinces, and pushed their way as far s