. The awakening of China . es from the Shu-King or Bookof History, the most venerated of the Five Classicsedited by Confucius; but the reader will readily per-ceive that it is no more historical than the stories ofCodrus or Numa Pompilius. In the reign of Yao we have an account of astronom-ical observations made with a view to fixing the lengthof the year. The King tells one man to go to theeast and another to the west, to observe the culminationand transit of certain stars. As a result he says theywill find that the year consists of 366 days, a closeapproximation for that epoch. The absurdity
. The awakening of China . es from the Shu-King or Bookof History, the most venerated of the Five Classicsedited by Confucius; but the reader will readily per-ceive that it is no more historical than the stories ofCodrus or Numa Pompilius. In the reign of Yao we have an account of astronom-ical observations made with a view to fixing the lengthof the year. The King tells one man to go to theeast and another to the west, to observe the culminationand transit of certain stars. As a result he says theywill find that the year consists of 366 days, a closeapproximation for that epoch. The absurdity ofthis style, which attributes omniscience to the princeand leaves to his agents nothing but the task of verifi-cation, should not be allowed to detract from thecredit due to their observations. The result arrivedat was about the same as that reached by the Baby-lonians at the same date (2356 B. c.) Other rulers who are credited with great inventions • Dr. Hanisch of Berlin has taken great pains to expose the FRFSHMAX BOOXE SCHOOL, WUCHAXG
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