Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/40

18 The first part of the country possessed by their primeval ancestors, soon after the dispersion, was that portion of territory now included in the provinces of Shan-se and Shen-se, on the banks of the Yellow River, just after it crosses the great wall; or the northwestern part of China Proper. Here the land was laid out in portions which were divided into nine equal squares, the outer allotments of which were cultivated by eight separate husbandmen, while the middle plot was wrought by the united strength of the whole, and the proceeds given up for the service of the state. As the population increased, they spread themselves farther eastward, occupying the lands that lie between the Yellow River and the modern wall, as far as the sea; until, in the time of Confucius, the whole of the territory north and south of the Yellow River, as far as the Yang-tsze-keang, was inhabited by tribes speaking the same language, and adopting the same customs, separated into different states, and acknowledging one federal head. In process of time, these were all brought under the dominion of Tsin, and the foundation of that empire was laid, which has been long known to the western world, under the appellation of Sin, Chin, and China. It was long, however, before the emperors of China extended their sway over the tribes lying to the south of the Yang-tsze-keang, and, for many ages, the provinces of Fŭh-këen, Canton, Kwang-se, Yun-nan, and Kwei-chow, were in a state of barbarism, scarcely submitting to the Chinese yoke, and deriving little benefit from the civilizing influence of their northern neighbours. Education, however, and superior tactics, gradually won over the southern states, and the