258). Wu-wang is invariably considered the founder of this last dynasty, but the accounts of its establishment differ. According to one account, the natives of the interior dethroned Chew-sin, the last of the preceding dynasty. According to others, Wu-wang came, with an army of foreigners, from the west, and introduced civilization amongst the natives. After the establishment of this family, there is a long chasm in the historical records. This the Chinese writers fill with fables. Under this dynasty is the Chew-kew, or period of fighting kings, who ruled over many little neighboring states, and were continually at war with each other (from 770 till 320 B. C.). At length, a Chinese hero, Chi-hoang-ti, of the princely house of Ting, made his appearance, in the age of Hannibal, and with him commenced the house of Tsin (from 256 till 207 B. C.). He extirpated all the petty princes of the branch of Chew, and united the whole of China (247). He built the great wall as a protection against the Tartars. The empire was again dismembered, after his death, under his son Ul-shi, but was reunited, ten years later, by Lieu-pang. He adopted the new name of Hang, and founded the dynasty, of Hang, which reigned till A. D. 220, and was divided into the western and eastern Hang (Sihang, from B. C. 217 to A. D. 24, and Tong-hang, from A. D. 24 till 220). The princes of this dynasty extended their conquests considerably to the west, and took part in the affairs of Central Asia. The religion of Tao-tse prevailed during their ascendency; and in the same period Judaism was introduced into China. In the course of time, the princes degenerated, and, under Hien-ti, China was divided into three kingdoms (220), which were again united by Wu-ti (280). He was the founder of the family of Tsin (265-420). The sovereigns of this family were bad rulers. The last, Kong-ti, was dethroned by Wu-ti, founder of the Song dynasty (420-479). A short time before this, a separate kingdom was formed in the southern provinces (386), called U-tai, or the five families. The Songs were likewise sovereigns of little worth. Whilst the whole aspect of Europe was changed by the general emigration of nations, two empires were formed in China, with the extinction of the dynasty of Tsin-one in the north (386), and the other in the south (420); the latter of which was likewise called U-tai, or the empire of the five families. In the latter reigned successively the family Song (till

479), Tsin (till 502), Lang (till 537), Tchin (till 589), Soui (till 619). The northern empire (386 till 587) was founded by the Goli Tartars, who conquered the northern part of China, and was governed by four dynasties,-two native and two foreign,— viz. the Goei, of the race of To-pa, and the Hew-Chew, of the race of Sien-pi. a. The dynasty of Goei reigned from 386 till 556 in three branches (Yuen-Goei till 534, Tong-Goei till 550, and Si-Goei or the western Goei, till 550); b. the dynasty of Pe-Tsi (the northern Tsi), from 550 till 577; c. the dynasty of Hew-Chew (the last Chew), from 557 till 581; d. the dynasty of Hew-Lang (the last Lang), from 554 till 587. Yang-Kien dethroned Hew-Chew (581), conquered the empire of Hew-Lang (587), of the Tsin (589), and founded the dynasty of Soui. The second emperor of this dynasty, Yang-ti, was dethroned by Li-ien (617), who founded the family of Tang, which maintained itself 300 years, and resided at Sia-gan-fu, in Shen-si. During the reign of the first emperors of this line, particularly under Li-ien's learned son Tai-tsong I (626), China grew very powerful. But his successors gave themselves up to pleasure, and were entirely governed by their eunuchs. Internal distractions were the consequences. The last emperor, Tchaosiuen-ti, was dethroned by Shu-wen, who founded the dynasty of Hehu-Lang (907). This, as well as the succeeding dynasties of Hehu-Tang (923), Hehu-Tsin (936), Hehu-Han (946), Hehu-Tchew (957), was of short duration. These are called HehuU-tai, or the five last families. After this, China was torn by internal commotions, and almost every province had a separate ruler, when, in 990, the people elected the able Shao-Quang-Yu emperor. He was the founder of the dynasty Sing, or Song, which reigned till 1279. His immediate successors resembled him, yet the country suffered considerably by the devastations of the Tartars. Under Yin-tsong (1012), the Chinese were forced to pay tribute to the Tartar Leao-tsang. Whey-tsong overthrew the empire of Leao-tsang (1101); but the Tartars possessed themselves of the whole of the north of China (Pe-cheli), 1125. Kao-tsong II was their tributary, and reigned over the southern provinces only. Under the emperor Ning-tsong, the Chinese formed an alliance with GenghisKhan, and the Niu-cheng submitted to this great conqueror (1180). But the Mongols themselves turned their arms against China, and Kublai-Khan subjected them, after the death of the last emperor,

Ti-ping (1260). Under the Tang dynasty, arts and sciences flourished in China; several of the emperors themselves were learned men. The Chinese authors call the Mongolian dynasty of emperors Yuen (from 1279 till 1368), and Kublai-Khan is by them called Shi-tsu. This was the first time that the whole of China was subjected by foreign princes. But the conquerors conformed themselves entirely to the Chinese customs, and left the laws, manners and religion of the country unchanged. Most of the emperors of this line were able princes. But after the death of Timur-Khan, or Tsing-Tsang (Tamerlane), 1307, and still more after that of Yeson-Timur-Khan, or Tai-ting (1318), divisions in the imperial family frequently occasioned internal wars, which weakened the strength of the Mongols. The Chinese Chu took up arms against the voluptuous Toka-mur-Khan, or Shunti, and the Mongolian grandees became divided among themselves. Toka-murKhan fled into Mongolia (1368), where he died (1379). His son Bisurdar fixed his residence in the ancient Mongolian capital Karakorum, and was the founder of the empire of the Kalkas, or northern Yuen. This state did not remain long united; but, after the death of Tokoz-Timur (1460), each horde, under its own khan, became independent; in consequence of which, they were, with few exceptions, constantly kept in subjection to China after this period. Chu, afterwards called Tai-tsoo IV, a private individual, but worthy of the throne, delivered his country from the foreign yoke, and founded the dynasty of Ming (1368 till 1644), which gave the empire 16 sovereigns, most of whom were men of merit. On the frontiers of the empire, the remains of the Niudshee Tartars, now called Mantchoos, still existed. The emperor Shin-tsong II gave them lands in the province of Leao-tong; and, when an attempt was made, soon after, to expel them, they resisted successfully, under their prince Taitsu, and obtained possession of Leao-tong; upon which their chief assumed the title of emperor. He continued the war during the reigns of the Chinese emperors Quan-tsong and Hi-tsong, until his death. His son Tatsong succeeded him, and Hoai-tsong, a good but weak prince, was the successor of Hi-tsong on the throne of China. On the death of Ta-tsong, the Tartars did not appoint any one to succeed him, and discontinued the war. But in China, Litching excited an insurrection, during which Hong-Puan put an end to his life

He

(1644). Li-tching's opponents called in the Mantchoos to their assistance. They got possession of Pekin, and of the whole empire, over which they still reign. Under Shun-chi, a child of six years old, the conquest of China was completed (1646— 47), and the present dynasty of Tatim, or Tsim, or Tsing, was founded. He was succeeded, in 1662, by his son Kang-hi, who subdued the khan of the Mongols, took Formosa, and made several other additions to his empire. During the reign of this prince, the Christian religion was tolerated, but his son Yong-ching prohibited it in 1724. The son of the latter, Kien-Lung, continued the persecution against the Christians (1746-73). conquered Cashgar, Yarkand, the greatest part of Songaria, the north-eastern part of Thibet and Lassa, the empires of Miao-tse and Siao-Kin-tshuen, and extended his territories to Hindostan and Bucharia. He peopled the Calmuck country, which the expulsion of the Songarians had rendered almost a desert, with the fugitive Torgots and Songarians from Russia. In 1768, he was totally defeated by the Birmese of Ava; nevertheless, the Chinese took possession of a town in Ava in 1770, and returned to their country with the loss of half of their army. They were more successful against the Miaotse (mountaineers). Towards the end of his reign, his minister, favorite and son-inlaw, Ho-Tchington, abused his influence over him. Kien-Lung was succeeded, in 1799, by his 15th son, Kia-King. His reign was frequently disturbed by internal commotions; for in China there exist secret combinations of malcontents of all classes. In their nightly meetings, they curse the emperor, celebrate Priapian mysteries, and prepare everything for the arrival of a new Fo, who is to restore the golden age. The Catholics, whom he favored, have lost most of their privileges by their inconsiderate zeal, and at Pekin, the preaching of the Christian religion has been strictly prohibited. Kia-King was succeeded, in 1820, by his second son, Tara-Kwang, whom the Russians call Daoguan. The embassy of lord Macartney (q. v.) was not more successful in attempting to change the policy maintained by the court of China for more than 1000 years, than the Russian embassy of count Golowkin, or the more recent one of lord Amherst, the British ambassador, in 1816. The envoys were unable to form political or commercial treaties with this "celestial empire of the world," which treats all monarchs as its

vassals. (See Staunton's Miscellaneous Notices relating to China, &c. (London, 1822.) A history of China, translated from the Chinese of Choo-Foo-Tsze, by P. P. Thoms, many years resident at Macao, in China, was lately announced for publication. It is stated to commence with the reign of Fuh-he, according to Chinese chronology, B. C. 3000, and to reach the reign of Min-te, A. D. 300, including a period of 3300 years.

Chinese Language, Writing and Literature. The Chinese language belongs to that class of idioms which are called monosyllabic. (See Languages.) Every word of it consists only of one syllable. They may, however, be combined together as in the English words welcome, welfare; but every syllable is significant, and therefore is of itself a word. If the Chinese language were written, like our own, with an alphabet, it would be found to possess comparatively but few sounds. It wants the consonants b, d, r, v, and z. Every syllable ends with a vowel sound. The Chinese cannot articulate two consonants successively, without interposing a sheva, or English u short. Thus they pronounce the Latin word Christus in this manner, Kul-iss-ut-oo-suh. The number of syllables of which the Chinese language is composed is very small. According to Remusat, it does not exceed 252; but Montucci thinks there are 460. It is not, therefore, accurately known. But this number is quadrupled by four different tones or accents (some say five), of which an idea cannot be given by words. By means of these accents, the Chinese speak in a kind of cantilena, or recitative, which is not, however, much observed when they speak fast, in their ordinary conversation. It requires a nice ear to distinguish those varieties of tone. This language, consisting of monosyllables, is destitute of grammatical forms. The nouns and verbs cannot be inflected, and therefore the differences of tenses, moods, cases, and the like, are either left to be understood by means of the context, or expressed by the manner in which the words are placed in relation to each other, as in French, sage-femme and femme-sage. With all these deficiencies, if they can so be called, the Chinese understand each other perfectly well, and are never at a loss to express their ideas. Their extensive and varied literature is a proof of it; but this is generally ascribed to their writing, which, it is said, expresses more than their spoken language. But we do not concur with those who hold this opin

ion. We think that the spoken language is fully adequate to the expression of every idea, and that the written characters add nothing to its force. The enthusiasm with which some writers speak of the wonderful effects of the Chinese writings upon the minds of those who read them, has often reminded us of the ocular harpsichord of father Castel. The Chinese characters, like all others, represent the sounds, that is to say, the syllabic sounds or words of the spoken language; and through those sounds the ideas are communicated to the mind. The writing of the Chinese, indeed, if we consider only the number of their characters, and compare it with that of their words, would seem to possess a very great superiority. There are not less than 80,000 Chinese characters; but of these only 10,000 are in common use, and the knowledge of them is sufficient to enable one to understand almost every Chinese book. It was once thought that it required a man's whole life to learn to read and write Chinese; but M. Remusat, the celebrated professor of that language in the royal college at Paris, has demonstrated by facts, that the Chinese may be learned in as short a time as any other idiom. The great number of these characters proceeds, in the first place, from the considerable quantity of homophonous words which exist in the Chinese. These are represented by dif ferent characters, as with us by different modes of spelling, of which the French words cent, cens, sang, sans, sens, sent, each having a different meaning, but all pronounced alike, are a striking example. Neither are homophonous words wanting in English, as bow and bough, great and grate, and many others. The Chinese characters, also, by being combined together, as it were, into one, express two or more words at the same time, and this, in a great degree, accounts for there being so many of them. The Chinese characters are all reducible to 214, which are called keys or radicals (in Chinese, poo), each of them representing one word, and each word an idea. By the analogy of those ideas the complex characters are formed an ingenious contrivance, which facilitates very much the acquisition of the knowledge of them. Thus all the words which express some manual labor or occupation are combined of the character which represents the word hand, with some other, expressive of the particular occupation intended to be designated, or of the material employed. This has induced many of the learned, and even

the Chinese literati themselves, to maintain that the Chinese writing is ideographic, and represents ideas in a manner unconnected with the spoken language; but this supposition is disproved by the fact that no two Chinese can read aloud from the same book without using the same words, which are precisely those which the characters represent. If it were otherwise, every person in reading would use different words, and the written language, as it is called, would be translated, not read. It must be added, also, that the Chinese poetry is in rhyme, and therefore addressed to the ear, and not to the eye. This shows that it is impossible for those who are ignorant of the Chinese language to read the Chinese writing, unless their own idiom should be constructed exactly on the same model with the Chinese, have the same number of words, with the same meaning affixed to_each, and the same grammatical forms. It has been repeatedly asserted that the Coreans, and other nations in the neighborhood of China, can all read the Chinese writing, and understand it, without knowing a word of the spoken language; but this appears impossible. It is more reasonable to suppose, either that they have adapted the Chinese characters to their own idioms, or that the Chinese is among them, as Latin is with us, a learned language, which is generally acquired as a part of a liberal system of education. The Chinese characters are written from top to bottom and from right to left. The lines are not horizontal, but perpendicular, and parallel to each other. The Chinese literature is rich in works of every description, both in verse and in prose. They are fond of works of moral philosophy, but they have a great many books of history, geography, voyages, dramas, romances, tales and fictions of all kinds. Several of the latter works have been lately translated in England and France. The books called the Kings, ascribed to their great sage Confucius, are now in a course of translation. The works of his successor, Meng-Tseu, have been lately published at Paris in the original, with an elegant Latin translation, in two octavo volumes, by M. Stanislas Julien. Other translations from the Chinese are in prog ress, both at London and Paris, under the patronage of the Asiatic societies of those capitals. The king of France has established a professorship of Chinese in the royal college at Paris. This chair is now filled by the learned Remusat, who has already formed several distinguished pu

pils. The study of the Chinese language appears to be now pursued with great ardor in Europe, and with remarkable success. The reverend Mr. Morrison has published a Chinese grammar, and a dictionary of the same language, in 4 vols., 4to.; the former printed at Serampore, the latter at Macao, and both difficult to be procured. M. Remusat has published at Paris an excellent grammar of that language. The manuscript dictionary of father Basil de Glemona was translated into French, and published at Paris, by M. de Guignes, under the patronage of the emperor Napoleon, in the year 1813, in one thick folio volume, to which a valuable supplement has been since added by M. Klaproth. Auxiliary means are not now wanting for those who are desirous of learning this curious idiom.

CHINA WARE. (See Porcelain.) CHINCHILLA. (See Lanigera.) CHINESE STYLE. (See Architecture.) CHIO; called by the ancients Chios. (See Scio.)

CHIPPEWAY; a town in Upper Canada, on the Chippeway or Welland, 2 miles N. W. Niagara falls, 10 S. Queenstown. This place is famous for a victory gained near it by the American troops over the British, July 5, 1814.

CHIPPEWAY; a river of the U. States in the North-West Territory, which runs S. W. into the Mississippi; lon. 92° W.; lat. 43° 45′ N.; length, about 300 miles.

CHIPPEWAYS; Indians, in the NorthWest Territory, on the Chippeway, in Michigan Territory, and in Canada on the Utawas. Number, according to Pike, 11,177; 2049 warriors. (See Indians.)

CHIQUITOS; a province of S. America, in Buenos Ayres, inhabited, in 1732, by 7 Indian nations, each composed of about 600 families. The country is mountainous and marshy; but the more fertile soils produce a variety of fruits without culture. The varilla is common, and a kind of cocoa is found, whose fruit is more like a melon than a cocoa-nut. It lies to the south of Moxes.

CHIRAGRA (Greek; from χείρη the hand, and ǎypa, a seizure); that species of arthritis, or gout, which attacks the joints of the hand (the wrist and knuckles) and hinders their motions. It gradually deprives the hands of their flexibility, and bends the fingers, distorts them, and impedes their action, by the accumulation of a calcareous matter around the sinews, which finally benumbs and stiffens the joints.

CHIROGRAPH. (See Charter.)

CHIROLOGY; the language of the fin

gers, or the art of making one's self understood by means of the hands and fingers. It is an important means of communication for the deaf and dumb.

CHIROMANCY (from the Greek), or PALMISTRY; the pretended art of prognosticating by the lines of the hand. Its adherents maintain, that human inclinations, faults and virtues are designated in an infallible manner by the lines which divine Providence has originally drawn in the hands of all men. Traces of chiromancy are found in the writings of Aristotle, who asserts, for instance, that it is a sign of a long life if one or two lines run across the whole hand. The chiromancers quote some passages of the Bible to prove that their art is founded on the divine decrees, as the following: :-"And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes" (Exodus xiii. 9); and, "He sealeth up the hand of every man, that all men may know his work" (Job xxxvii. 7). In the middle ages, chiromancy was cultivated; and, in the present age, the French chiromancer madame Lenormand found, as she states, some eminent adepts in Paris, and in her travels to the different European congresses. The books in which chiromancy is explained and taught are numerous; and, in order to give dignity to the art, it has been connected with astrology. The Gipsies are at present the principal professors of chiromancy, and people who have no faith in the art not unfrequently amuse themselves with their predictions.

CHIRON; Son of Saturn and Philyra. Saturn assumed the shape of a horse, in this amour, to deceive his wife Rhea. The shape of Chiron, therefore, was half that of a man, half of a horse. In point of fact, Chiron was one of the people called Centaurs. He was celebrated through all Greece for his wisdom and acquirements; and the greatest princes and heroes of the time-Bacchus, Jason, Hercules, Achilles, Esculapius, Nestor, Theseus, Palamedes, Ulysses, Castor and Pollux, &c.—were intrusted to him for education. Besides the other branches in which young men of rank were instructed at that time, they learned from him music and medicine. He was particularly skilled in surgery. When Hercules drove the Centaurs from mount Pelion, they took refuge with Chiron, in Malea; but their enemy pursued them even into this retreat, and unfortunately wounded his old teacher with a misdirected arrow. The speedy operation of the poison, in which the arrow had been dipped, rendered remedies

useless; and Chiron suffered the severest torments. The gods, at his prayer, put an end to his life, though his nature was immortal by reason of his descent from Saturn. After his death, he was placed among the stars, and became the constellation Sagittarius.

CHIRONOMY (Xεipovopía, Greek; from xɛip, the hand, and vóμos, a rule); the science which treats of the rules of gesticulation, which is a part of pantomime. The ancient orators recognised the importance of gesticulation as a means of giving expressiveness to a discourse. (See Gilbert Austin's Chironomia, or a Treatise on Rhetorical Delivery, London, 1806.)

CHIVALRY (from the French chevalier, a horseman ; in German, Ritter, which signifies likewise a rider on horseback). Poets still sometimes use chivalry for cavalry; but this word is generally employed to signify a certain institution of the middle ages. The age of chivalry is the heroic age of the Teutonic-Christian tribes, corresponding to the age of the Grecian heroes. This heroic period of a nation may be compared to the youth of an individual; and we find, therefore, nations, in this stage of their progress, distinguished by the virtues, follies, and even vices, to which the youth of individuals is most prone-thirst for glory, enthusiasm, pride, indescribable and indefinite aspirations after something beyond the realities of life, strong faith in virtue and intellectual greatness, together with much vanity and credulity. Chivalry, in the perfection of its glory and its extravagance, existed only among the German tribes, or those which were conquered by and mingled with them, and whose institutions and civilization were impregnated with the Teutonic spirit. Therefore we find chivalry never fully developed in Italy, because the Teutonic spirit never penetrated all the institutions of that country, as it found a civilization already established, of too settled a character to be materially affected by its influence. We do not find much of the chivalric spirit in Greece, nor among the Sclavonic tribes, except some traces among the Bohemians and the Poles, who had caught a portion of it from the Germans. Among the Swedes, though a genuine Teutonic tribe, chivalry never struck deep root; but this is to be ascribed to their remote situation, and to the circumstance that they early directed their attention to navigation and naval warfare, which, in many ways, were unfavorable to the growth of the chivalric spirit; affording, for instance, compara