. The awakening of China . Wen-wangapparently anticipated a mortal struggle; for it isrelated that, seeing an old man fishing, he detected inhim an able general who had fled the service of thetyrant. You, said he, are the very man I havebeen looking for ; and, taking him up into his chariot,as Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the assurance ofcoming victory. The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung,the ancestor of the royal House of Tsi in eighty-one years of age he took command ofthe cavalry and presided in the councils of his newmaster. Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-wang shou
. The awakening of China . Wen-wangapparently anticipated a mortal struggle; for it isrelated that, seeing an old man fishing, he detected inhim an able general who had fled the service of thetyrant. You, said he, are the very man I havebeen looking for ; and, taking him up into his chariot,as Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the assurance ofcoming victory. The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung,the ancestor of the royal House of Tsi in eighty-one years of age he took command ofthe cavalry and presided in the councils of his newmaster. Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-wang shouldbe the real founder of the new dynasty; for now forthe first time those pictured symbols become livingblossoms from which the fruits of learning and philos-ophy are to be gathered. The rise and progress of agenerous culture is the chief characteristic of the Houseof Chou. Besides encouraging letters Wen-wang con-tributed much to the new literature. He is known asa commentator in the Yih-King, Book of Changes, H &■. I THE LITTLE ORPHAX, PROVINCE Ul KL\XGSI y^^ HOUSE OF CHOU 85 pronotinced by Confucius the profoundest of theancient classics—a 15bok which he never understood. In theory there was under this and the precedingdynasty no private ownership of land. The arableground was laid out in plots of nine squares, thus:Eight of these were assigned to the peopleto cultivate for themselves; and the middlesquare was reserved for the government andtilled by the joint labour of aU. The simple-hearted souls of that day are said to have prayed thatthe rains might first descend on the public field andthen visit their private grounds. In later years this communistic scheme was foundnot to work perfectly, owing, it is said, to the decay ofpublic virtue. A statesman, named Shangyang, con-verted the tenure of land into fee simple—a naturalevolution which was, however, regarded as quite toorevolutionary and earned for him the execrations ofthe populace. The charming simplicity of the
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