Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 625

1842

History of the Ming Dynasty

603

When he heard that a robber had taken possession of the throne, his indignation exceeded all bounds, and taking 7000 Tartars into his pay, he marched to meet the enemy. In a hard fought battle victory decided in his favor, and getting another reinforcement of 60,000 Mantchous and Mongols, he pressed to exterminate the monster Lí. In this endeavor he succeeded, but wishing to send home his guests, they flatly refused to leave, and in a strong force marched to the capital, where they were received as deliverers of the country. When in possession of the nine gates, the Mantchou chiefs held a coun- cil; Táitsung having died, they appointed his nephew, a child of seven years as their leader, and proclaimed him emperor of China in 1644, under the title of

Shunchí, or Obedient-Rule.

From this period the reigning dynasty dates its sway.

A young man heir to the Ming throne, who held his court at Nan- king was supported by a number of patriotic Chinese, but weakened himself in idle intrigues and revels. Other princes of the blood in Chekiáng, in Fukien, and Kwangtung, successively defended them- selves bravely, and were one after the other overcome, so that in 1650, there remained scarcely a single individual to oppose the Man- tchous. The rover Koxinga and his father also caused the Tsing emperors much trouble, but no well organized effort was made by the people to reinstate their native sovereigns, a sign that they did not have a very hearty loyalty to their persons, or feel that they would lose much by the change.

Turn we now to examine the chronicles, (68 volumes there are of them) from which the preceding sketch has been drawn. The Ming Shi was commenced by order of Kánghí in 1696, and appears to have been finished in 1715, by a number of learned men, whose names are given in the introduction. And as there can be a great deal done in 20 years, especially when many scholars set to work, there is every probability that the 'book contains a great deal. The first part is a history of the dynasty in nineteen chapters, as we have already given it. Then follow seventy-seven miscellaneous chapters, containing among other things, an account of astronomy and the elements, of chronology, geography, hydraulics, ceremonials, music and dress, choice of officers, official rank, military affairs, punish- ments, arts and sciences, &c. Nine chapters describe the kings, ministers and household officers. Finally there are 250 chapters containing miscellaneous notices of the lives of the empresses, queens, and members of the imperial harem, the princes and princesses royal, notices of a host of scholars, retired individuals, statesmen, gran-