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C H I The 9th, the of Ki-kiu-chi *.

The 10th, the of Hi-ouei-chi *.

The 11th, the of Yeou-tao-chi.

The 12th, the of Soui gine.

The 13th and lat, the of Yong-tching-chi.

Of thee even s, or founders of, which remain to be conidered to complete the number of included in this eighth period, nothing is aid of thoe marked * that has any relation to our ubject.

As to Yeou-tao-chi, founder of the eleventh, whoe reign, ay they, lated more than 300 s, and whoe family, they add, continued more than 100 generations during the pace of 12 or 18,000 s: here is what we find recorded.

Hane-tee ays, that, in the firt ages of the, s multiplied very fat; and that men being but few, they could not ubdue the and.

Yene-tee ays alo, that the ancients, either perched on s, or tretched in hollow s, poeed the, (Tiene-hia, that is to ay, ). Thee good s (continues he) breathed nothing but without any hadow of hatred. They gave much, and took nothing. The people did not go to pay their to them, but all the  ubmitted to their s.

Lopi and Ouai-ki ay almot in the ame words, that, in the mot remote antiquity, men heltered themelves in the hollows of s, that they dwelt in, and lived in ociety with all the other. They had no thought of doing any injury to the, and the did not think of hurting them. But in the ucceeding ages they became too wie, which made the s rebel; armed with s,, s, and , they aaulted man, and man was not able to reit them. Yeou tao reigned then. He was the firt who  of, in the form of s ; he peruaded men to retire into them to avoid the wild. They did not know as yet how to the, they lived on s and s. They drank the  of s, they devoured their  quite raw, they wallowed the  and the s. This is what they ay of Yeou-tao chi: after him comes Soui gine, founder of the 12th.

Soui-gine chi is eteemed the inventor of.

On the ummit of the Pou-tcheou, ays an author, are to be een the walls of. The and the  cannot approach them; there is no difference of  there, nor viciitudes of s and s. This is the  of  on the confines of Si-ouang mou. A (a great man) went to make a tour beyond the bounds of the  and : he beheld a, and upon that  a , who made  come out of it by picking it. He was urpried at this; he took a branch of this, and from thence truck ; from whence they called this great peronage Soui-gine.

Other authors ay alo, that Soui-gine made with a certain kind of, and taught men to dres their. By this means all, and all of the  and  were prevented. In this he followed the direction of, and from thence was named Soui-gine.

They ay further, that, in the s of Soui-gine, there was much upon the, and that this  taught men the  of. He mut, of conequence, have invented s or lines, which invention is after this acribed to Fou-hi.

One Long-ma, or -, brought him a kind of, and the. Soui-gine is the firt to whom they apply this event, but the ame thing will be aid in the equel of everal others.

Soui-gine was the firt who gave names to s and s; and thee names (ay they) were o expreive, that the nature of every thing was known by its name. He invented and  for the regulation of, which had been unknown before him.

Anciently (ays an author) men at fifty, and women at thirty years of age: Soui-gine hortened this period, and appointed that young men hould  at thirty, and girls at twenty.

Latly, the Liki ays, that it was Soui-gine who firt taught men urbanity and politenes.

It now remains to peak of Yong-tching-chi, the founder of the thirteenth and lat of this period.

In his time, they ued lender on which they tied various s, and this erved them intead of. But, after the invention of, how could they return again to the ue of thee , which is o limited and imperfect? This evidently implies a contradiction?

We come now to the ninth Ki or period, named Chene-tong. This ninth period will bring us down to the times of Fou hi. It comprehends twenty-one s, whoe names are as follow:

Liu-pou-ouei ays plainly, that Se-hoang made. This Se-hoang, is called alo Tang hie. Some place him under Hoang-ti, whoe  they make him; while others make him a , and much anterior to Hoang-ti.

The firt inventor of was Tang-hie, then the  Vou-hoai made them be  on the, and Fou-hi ued them in the public acts for the  of the. But oberve, that thee three s were even before Chini-nong; how can it be aid then, that were not invented till under Hoang-ti? Such is the reaoning of Lopi, who was quite confounded with thee fabulous times.

To this criticim it may be anwered, You have told us, that had been invented in the reign of Soui-gine, the 12th  of the eighth period; how then can you pretend to give the honour of this invention to Tang-