1000000030

(,hou-king, gives Fou hi, Chine nong, Hoang-ti, for

lhethree Hoang, ;u\d Ihat he takes Chao-hao, T ehouene–

hio, Tio, Yao, and Chune for the five Ti; bUl that we

know nol on wha! foundalinn he docs Ihis, finee Con–

fueius, in the Kia-yu, di(linguiOles by Ihe title of

Ti,

alllhe kings afler Fou hi_ The fame Ihiog is proved

by fome

p~/Tages

of Tfo·ehi and of Liu·pOll·ouei; from

",henee lhey eonclude, thal

Fou.hi

, Chine.nong, and

1I0ang ti ue not lhe time Hoaog, and lhat there are no

olher Hoang but heaven, eanh, and mano

Tehine-huene retrenehes Hoang ti from the number

of !he Sane hoang, and pU1S in his place Niu·oua, whom

he ranges belween Fou-hi and Chine nong. Olhers

/Irike out Niu-oua, and put T eho-yong in the place of

Hoaog-ti . Niu·oua was lhe fi/ler of fou hi, anu Fou·hi,

,hey fay, reigned

lI S

years. Al whal age mu(l lhis

prineefs .have mounted lhe lhrone, for lhey make her fue·

ceed her brOlher

The (amous Se ma·lfieDe, 10whomlhe Chincfe, from

lheir high

e(leem

of him, have given lhe name of

Toi.fe–

cong,

fa/hu of hijl"J.

will hdve Hoang-li, Tehouene–

hio, Cao·fine, Yao, and Chune 10 be the five Ti; and

he gave thefe prinees for lheir predeee/Tors Soui.gine ehi,

Fou·hi. and Chine-nong. who, aeeording to him, were

lhe three Hoang. This opinion, finee his lime, has

been embrae<d by flveral otber wrilers, who depended

upon his aUlhorily more lhan upon proofs \Vhieh he

eonld nOl produce.

Confueius fays in his Kia yu, that the prinees \Vho had

governed 'the empire began at fou hi lO lake the name

ot Emperor. The fame philofopher fays funher,

in the malife Hi-tfee, or eommentary upon the Y·king,

that aneiently fou hi gomned China, thal Chine nong

fu ceeeded him, that afler them Ho. ng-li, Yao, and

Chune were feated on lhe tlHone. From fo dccifive a

te(limony, Hou-ou.fang, and feveral olhers \Vith him, have

DOt donbled, lhal thefe five prinees named by Confueius

\Vere the OU' li, or five emperors. As to the Sane–

hoang, they admitted T ient-hoang ehi, Ti·hoang thi,

Gine.hoang ehi, as lhree ehiefs of lhe peQple who had

governed the empire before f ou-hi.

As il is from T ao.lre, lhat lhe feveral authors we

ha"e nnw quotcd, have borrowed lheir idea of Ihis ehi·

merieal di.ifion of lhe eight fir(l Chinefe emperors, inlo

three Hoang and five Ti, il is neee/Tary tO relale what

Ihefe religious lhink lhemfdves. They have opinions

peculiar to themfelves aboul thefe fir(l ages of the mo–

narehy. They beli"ve, thal al lhe fir(l there wcre lhree

Augufli, Sane-hoang; then five emperors, Ou li; neXl

three kings,

S.ne

·vang; and la(\ly, five Pa, Ou-pa;

that is lO fay, file ehiefs of Regulos.

This order fu regul.rly obrerved of three and then

five , whieh is rtpealed lwiec OleIYS plainly, lhal all this

has no foundalion in trulh, bUl lhal it is a {yllem invenl·

ed at pleafure. Wherefore Ton·ehong·ehu, who lived

nnder lhe Hane. explatned lhis in an allegorieal manner.

The lhree Ht>ang were, aceording to him, lhe lhree

powers, (heaven,

e~rth,

and man); The five Ti were

the

r.ve

duties (Ihe duties of king and fuhj ell, of f.llher

Qnd children, of hllfband and wire, of clder alld yonnger

brothers, of rricnds); Ihe lhrte Vang wcre lhe lhree

VOL. 11.

No. 38.

Jights, (fun, moon, and (Iars); finally, the fi ve

were lhe five mountaios, four of whieh are filllated at

the four cardinal points of the empire, and lhe 6flh at

th~

centre. Thus Tong.tehong-ehu allegorized this

IhlS pmcnded fueeeflion of kings. But Lopi, who re–

lates this explanation, adds, il was not his own. This

isapoinl of critieifm of liule importance to us; let Ihem,

if they pleafe, aferibe it to fome other thanTong-lchong–

ehu; \Ve have (Iill grouAd to fay, lhal il carne froOl fome

wriler "'ho lived in an age nOl far froOl thal of Tong–

tehong-ehu. This is enough for our prefent purpofe,

finee we fee f,om henee lhe tiule regard they then paid

10 this divifion, \Vhieh they eonfidered as ehimerieal.

would be in vain lO attempl to reeoneile all thefe eontra–

diélions. AII thefe imaginary reigns are in the manne' oF

the T ao-lre, who have ddrkened lhe origin of lhe Chi–

nefe monarehy by their f.lbles and mythology. The ten

Ki or periods are of their inventing; they gave lhcm

betwecn two and three millions of yearl duralion.

BUI

before thefe len periods, they place lhree dyna(lies, viz.

the dynafly of Thiene-hnang.ehi, lhal of Ti hoang ·ehi,

and finally, lbal of Gine·hoang-ehi. If we attend lO the

fignifiealion of lhefe names, they mllfl be inlerpreled

lhus: lhc

SO~"lIgn ~f

h,avm,

the

Sovucign of ,ar/h,

the

Sovudgn

0/111".

Wefee from henee, that the al·

I~gorieal

explanalion of Tong-lehong ehu, whieh made

the time Hoang fignify lhe three powers, lhat is, hea–

ven, eanh, and mao, is not wilhout probabililY.

T hefe lhree

I-Io.ng

fueeeeded 10 Pouane·eoll, other–

wife HoeDe lune, thc ehaos, the origin of the world,

\Vhieh feveral of the T ao /Te lake for lhe fir(l man, or

the fir(l king who gOl'erned China.

T he dyna(ly of ThieDe.hoang-chi had thirteen kings,

\Vho reigoed, fay they, 18,000 years; lnen carne the

dyna(ly of Ti-hoang.ehi, \Vhofe kings, to lhe number

of eleven, make up a like duration of 18,000

y~ars.

finally, to Ti-hoang-ehi fueeeeded the Gine·hoang-ehi,

whofe dynafly, eompofed of nine kings, furni!hes a fpaee

of 4S ,600

year~.

Thefe time fllms added, give us pre–

eifely 81,600 years .

B~l

if we add 10 th.:fe time dy–

na(lies, thofe whieh are eomprehended in eaeh of the ten

Ki, and whieh amount, aeeording to fome ealculalions,

to more lhan 230; IVe Olall find tbal the pretenfioos of

lhe Chinefe vtry mlleh exeeed thofe of lhe Chaldeans

and Egyplians. f o, if we believe lhe ealclllations of va·

rious amhors, from Ponane-eou to the deatll of Confu–

eius, whieh happened in the year 479 before

C. lhere

is eldpfed 276,000 years, or 1,276,000. 01"

1'"S9,860,

or cocn 3,276,000; or, finall)', whieh is .

~reat

deal

more, 96,961 ,740 year!: for we find all lhefe dilrerent

ealculations.

is vifi[¡le enough, that lhcfe extravagant numbe's

can be nOlhing elfe but a(lronomieal paiods, contri ved

lOgive lhe eonjunélion of lhe planets in eemin eoollella–

tions, or ealclllalions \Vhieh have fome relalion

tbe

ideas of lhe Tao

fie,

eoneerning the perpe ual de(lrue–

tions and reprodnélions of worlds. lo faél, fome hHe

endc.lvou red to make lhefe numbers aArce wilh lhe

pe.

rif,o of

Tchao-e~og.tfie,

a fJillOUS I'hilofopher in the days

of Song, who h: ..

undertaken lO d,·ternlinc the

p~riod

oC the Juraliun of the IVorld; for the Cyfielll of lhe

,10-

/Iru,~iou