compatriots, who have for ages been pressing towards the Irawadi valley, are a more important factor for consideration in the immigration problem. If the movement be discouraged, as some recommend, its satisfactory solution must be relegated to a very distant future. Though the generally received notion that Marco Polo introduced the mariner's compass into Europe from China has long exploded, no doubt the instrument was known to the Chinese ages before it was used in Europe-some say as early as the twelfth century before Christ. When the greater part of Europe was in a state of barbarous ignorance, this enterprising people, probably navigating by the magnet, are known to have pushed their explorations and carried on an extensive commerce throughout the eastern hemisphere; and judging by their annals, their historians and geographers of the early part of the Christian era spoke of the Irawadi and the Ganges as naturally as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society does now. When Vasco da Gama, after his discovery of the route to India by the Cape, first encountered the Arabs, they had their charts, astrolabes, and astronomical tables, but as yet no compass. The Chinese, however, had, centuries before this, acquired a maritime influence in the East which put the vaunted supremacy of the Arabs into the shade. History records the Phoenician feat of having sailed round Africa 604 B.C., and the still more wonderful exploit achieved by them four hundred years before, when, with King Solomon's stewards, they went to the Golden Chersonese to fetch him materials for building, enriching, and beautifying the Temple. We also know that the navies of Solomon and Hiram, manned by the mariners of Zidon and Arphad, and piloted by the wise men of Tyre, freighted with embroidered fine linen from Egypt; blue and purple from the isles of Elishu; emeralds, corals, and agates from Syria; oil and palm from Judah; rich wares, wine of Helbon, and white wool from Damascus; iron, cassia, and calamus from Dan and Javan; for Ezekiel, speaking of the Tyre which was of perfect beauty and glorious in the midst of the seas, says, "Thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and thy merchandise." none of these ancient mariners, so far as we know, were aided in any way by scientific appliances. It will be seen, therefore, that the Chinese, by their knowledge and application of the magnet, possessed advantages long denied to the rest of the world. From Marco Polo we learn that, in the thirteenth century, during the reign of the famous Emperor, Kublai Khan, the Chinese - far from exhibiting their traditional characteristics of exclusiveness— asserted themselves in a very pronounced fashion both by sea and by land. Graphic accounts handed down to us by the celebrated traveller prove that the physical difficulties of intercourse between China and Farther India, which modern travellers assure us are so appalling, were of no account with the Great Khan, who practically proved his faith in being able to remove mountains, by despatching across the alleged almost impracticable alpine barriers efficiently equipped armies, powerful enough to overrun and completely conquer Burma. The reports of the celebrated Venetian further demon strate the great capacity for shipbuilding, as well as the aptitude for maritime enterprise, which distinguished the Chinese of his time -worthy of Fohi or Noah, their reputed founder, the first and most eminent shipbuilder ever known. If we are to depend on tradition, one hundred years or so before the Christian era, India appears to have exercised as great a fascination for the Celestial imagination as it did in Europe fifteen centuries afterwards.1 For we learn that the Emperor Woo Te of the Hans dynasty sent an expedition by the west and south in search of Shintoo or India. His commissioners, however, were baffled in their endeavour to acquire information as to its whereabouts, and had to return discomfited. His Land, for at a remote age she had achieved a position entitling her to be considered the most powerful nation among the States of Central Asia; and it is very possible that Indian princes, who had been conquered and oppressed by Scythian hordes, may have hoped to rid themselves of the yoke by endeavouring to ingratiate themselves with the paramount Power, which had already extended its conquests beyond the Caspian Sea and as far as Bengal. In the seventh century China added much to her prestige 2 by invading India to punish a refractory tributary, and accomplished her object by the aid of the kings of Tibet and Nepaul. After this it is recorded that the kings of the five Indies sent ambassadors to offer homage to the Sun of Heaven. successors were, however, more fortunate; for Chinese annals tell From very remote times, emus that, during the Woo dynasty, bassies passed to and fro frequently, or in the third century of our era, and if Chinese history be correct, the king of Foonan-now Tonquin it would appear permanent ambasand Cambodia-sent an embassy sadors were occasionally accredited to India, which went by the mouth as representatives of the Flowery of the Irawadi via the Bay of Ben- Land; for we read that, in the gal to India, to the great astonish- middle of the seventh century, ment of the king of the country, the Emperor sent an envoy to the who gave the envoys Scythian King of Magadha "in order that horses to take back to their sov- the principles of humanity and ereign. A perusal of curious de- justice which had been diffused in tails, placed on record by these and that country should have a permaother Chinese travellers, proves that nent protector and representative the Celestials were then better in- there.3 It is almost needless to formed about India than might be say that such diplomatic amenities expected. At a very early period, were not then even dreamt of, much China exercised such an influence less in vogue in Europe. Marco in India that several ambassadors Polo was often employed in various came therefrom charged with embassies by Kublai Khan, when friendly letters and presents, which he ascertained that his zeal, courby Celestial euphony-as is the age, and discretion could be relied case to this day - were termed on, and that his reports, instead of tribute. There was some excuse being confined to the four corners for the arrogance of the Flowery of his instructions--as was the 1 Chinese Account of India, Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. vi. 2 Yule's Cathay, and the Way Thither. 1886. 3 Ibid. case with the despatches submitted by his own subjects were replete with interesting particulars of the countries and peoples he visited. Not the least interesting of his adventures was when, with his father Niccolo and his uncle Maffeo, he was commissioned by the Great Khan to return with three barons sent to his Court as ambassadors from Argon, Lord of the Levant, to fetch as his bride a lady belonging to the family of Queen Bologna, his late consort. It appears that the Khan called the Italians into his presence, and intrusted them with golden tablets of authority, which gave them the right of passage through all his dominions, and secured them facilities for procuring all that they might require. Thirteen ships were commissioned for the use of the embassy, escorting Queen Coachin, Lord Argon's bride-elect, and her companion, the daughter of the King of Manu. The capacity of these vessels may be imagined when they are described as having had four masts, and often hoisting as many as twelve sails, with some sixty or seventy private cabins, provided with closets and other conveniences, as well as public rooms for the use of merchants and other first-class passengers, besides ample accommodation for two hundred or more sailors, who sometimes had their families with them, and also managed to find space for small kitchen-gardens in spare ship's buckets. These arks though larger than any ships afloat in Europe, were, according to Marco, smaller than the Chinese possessed before that period. The fleet put forth to sea with the envoys and a goodly company, and first touched at Java, and loosing 1 Yule's Marco Polo. 1871. thence, it proceeded to the different ports in the Indian seas, the voyage lasting about two years, and thus enabling our Venetians to give most interesting accounts of their novel experiences, as well as an idea of the extent of Chinese influence at that time. Suffice it to say, the envoys arrived at their destination in due course, and handed over the ladies to Casan, who, owing to the death of his father Argon, had not only become Lord of the Levant, but in accordance with the custom of the country, had also inherited his father's right to the young lady in Marco's charge. This incident in Kublai Khan's remarkable career shows that the Chinese naval heroes of that period were animated with the same spirit of enterprise that stimulated Drake, Frobisher, and other English worthies. Like them, the Great Khan was not a little aggressive, for he sent numerous expeditions against Japan and Java, which, though not always successful, prove that he had vast resources at his disposal, in the shape of ships, mariners, troops of various kinds, as well as abundance of war matériel. No wonder, then, that he insisted on all intercourse with the Flowery Land resolving itself into the form of homage; for he had learned from the annals of his country that, for several centuries previously, the kings of India and the Golden Chersonese had been in the habit of sending embassies to China for the payment of tribute. At the time of Marco Polo's voyage, the prestige of China as a maritime Power seems to have arrived at its zenith. It subsequently waned; and in the beginning of the fifteenth century the Emperor felt himself 2 Yule's Cathay, and the Way Thither. 1866. constrained to send a large fleet with a military force to India and the Golden Chersonese, to coerce those that wavered in their allegiance, and encourage the loyal by the bestowal of honours and imperial gifts. The Great Khan was as enterprising by land as by sea. Far from being content with his own enormous territory, he had an inveterate craze to be acknowledged suzerain of all the States on his borders; hence arose endless difficulties with Burma, which may conveniently be referred to now. With the political sagacity which used to distinguish Chinese statesmen in connection with the administration of the south-western provinces of the empire, he determined first to conquer Yunnan; for, holding it, he knew he could dominate the trade as well as political affairs pertaining to the peoples who have their habitat on and near the rivers flowing to the south. Kublai first made his reputation as lieutenant of his brother Mangu, who reigned at Karakoram as the Great Khan in the thirteenth century. He had command of the Mongol armies, which for thirty years had been fighting to subdue the Chinese empire, and in person directed the preliminary arrangements for the conquest of Yunnan, leaving them to be carried out by his second in command. According to Burmese history, this officer, adopting his master's policy, sent a deputation to Mien or Burma, and demanded recognition of the Khan's suzerainty in the shape of tribute. The Burmese king scouted the notion, and caused the envoys to be decapitated for alleged insolence. Kublai Khan was not slow to avenge this outrage, and sent a vast army to attack Mien. A Burmese force for three months successfully resisted the invaders, but was then obliged to retreat to Malè, where they made a creditable stand, but were eventually routed, and forced to retreat on the capital, which they found had already been abandoned. It appears that preparations had been begun for the defence of the city, in the shape of a huge wall composed of the debris of numerous pagodas which had been destroyed for the purpose, but were arrested owing to the verification of an ominous prediction, setting forth that the city would be captured by the Chinese, which was found inscribed on a copper plate discovered in the process of dilapidation. The superstitious king lost all heart when he read the inscription, and, collecting his valuables, fled in all haste to Bassein. The Mongol army pursued the king and his retinue as far as a place some thirty miles below Prome, known to this day as Taruk-hmaw Turk or Chinese point. Straitened by want of provisions, they here abandoned the pursuit, and after returning again to the capital, plundered it, and went back to their own country. The Burmese, thoroughly disgusted with the cowardice of their king, nicknamed him Taruk-pyè-men—the king who fled from the Chinese a title which has stuck to him ever since. There is no allusion in Burmese history to collisions on the frontier at this time; and their improbability is evidenced by the pusillanimous disposition of the Burmese monarch, who was very unlikely to have attacked a more powerful country than his own. Yet, according to Marco Polo, the Great Khan sent an army into the kingdoms of Carajan (Yunnan) and Vochan (Yung Chang), to protect his subjects from the attacks of The fame and glories of Mien, with its gold and silver towers, or Pugan, as it was subsequently known, extended far beyond the limits of the Golden Chersonese, and even reached Karakoram, the Court of Kublai Khan. The Great Khan, foiled in his ambitious attempts to conquer the comparatively warlike Japanese on the east of his dominions, was fain to turn his attention to his western neighbours, on hearing marvellous accounts of the richness of their country, and the probabilities of its easy conquest. The splendours of Mien or Pugan have departed, and yet it is one of the most interesting places in Burma, though now it does not contain more than a dozen inhabited houses. unruly people. The King of Mien, an end! and then, too, they "a very puissant prince, with much plunged into the wood and rushed territory, treasure, and people," this way and that, dashing their taking umbrage, it is said, at this castles against the trees, bursting manœuvre, considered it incumbent their harness, and smashing and on him to give the Khan such a destroying everything that was on lesson, that he would never again them."2 Suffice it to add, the dare to molest his frontier. He Burmese, in spite of a gallant reaccordingly prepared a force con- sistance, were routed with great sisting of 2000 elephants, each slaughter. carrying I 2 to 16 well-armed warriors, besides cavalry and in fantry amounting to 60,000 men, and caused it to march against the Tartars. The commander of the Tartar host naturally "waxed uneasy" when he considered he had only 12,000 horsemen to encounter this vast army. Natheless he was a most valiant and able soldier, of great experience in arms, and an excellent captain;' and having troops on which he could implicitly rely, as well as confidence in himself, he felt equal to the occasion, and made his dispositions accordingly. To this end he advanced his troops to meet the enemy, and halted them in the plain of Vochan, hard by a forest. The Burmese king made a counter-demonstration with skill, and advanced to the attack. The Tartar horses could not be got to face the elephants, to the dismay of their riders. Their commander Its magnificent ruins excite the had, however, foreseen this dilem- wonder of all beholders, as far ma, and ordered his men to dis- more elaborate than anything of mount, fasten their horses to the the kind the Burmese have attrees of the forest to which they tempted before or since, baffling had retreated, and ply their bows archæologists to this day. Preand arrows. This they did so facing a description of the most deftly and strenuously as to cause notable of these temples, which, as the elephants to turn tail and fly, he truly remarks, suggest strange with the fighting men on their memories of southern Catholic backs. They sped with a noise Europe, Colonel Yule 3 says: "The and uproar that you would have impression on us as we again and trowed the world was coming to again paced the dim and lofty cor 66 "A jolly place,' he said, in times of old, But something ails it now: the spot is cursed.'" 1 Yule's Marco Polo. 1871. Ibid. |