seems to
have inherited with the throne a legacy of national disorder similar to
that which eventually brought about the ruin of Louis XVI of France.
With all the best intentions possible, he was unable to stem the tide.
Over-taxation brought in its train, as it always does in China, first
resistance and then rebellion. The Emperor was besieged in Peking by a
rebel army; the Treasury was empty; there were too few soldiers to man
the walls; and the capital fell.

On the previous night, the Emperor, who had refused to flee, slew the
eldest Princess, commanded the Empress to commit suicide, and sent his
three sons into hiding. At dawn the bell was struck for the Court to
assemble; but no one came. His Majesty then ascended the well-known hill
in the Palace grounds, and wrote a last decree on the lapel of his
robe:--

"Poor in virtue, and of contemptible personality, I have incurred the
wrath of high Heaven. My ministers have deceived me. I am ashamed to
meet my ancestors; and therefore I myself take off my cap of State, and
with my hair covering my face, await dismemberment at the hands of you
rebels."

Instead of the usual formula, "Respect this!" the Emperor added, "Spare
my people!"

He then hanged himself, and the great Ming dynasty was no more.

* * * * *

Chinese studies have always laboured under this disadvantage,--that the
ludicrous side of China and her civilisation was the one which first
attracted the attention of foreigners; and to a great extent it does so
still. There was a time when China was regarded as a Land of Opposites,
_i.e._ diametrically opposed to us in every imaginable direction. For
instance, in China the left hand is the place of honour; men keep their
hats on in company; use fans; mount their horses on the off side; begin
dinner with fruit and end it with soup; shake their own instead of their
friends' hands when meeting; begin at what we call the wrong end of a
book and read from right to left down vertical columns; wear white for
mourning; have huge visiting-cards instead of small ones; prevent
criminals from having their hair cut; regard the south as the standard
point of the compass; begin to build a house by putting on the roof
first; besides many other nicer distinctions, the mere enumeration of
which would occupy much of the time at my disposal.

The other side of the medal, showing the similarities, and even the
identities, has been unduly neglec