Chapter XXXI: Origin of the Chinese

Whence did the Chinese come?--All men of equal age and ancestry-- Records make civilization and nobility--Evidences of antiquity-- China and the West totally unknown to each other in ancient times-- Tartars the connecting link--Though tamed by religion they are not much changed now--Traders then, as now, but no through travellers--Chinese probably in China for myriads of years before their records began--Tonic peculiarities of all tribes near China except the Tartars--Chinese followed lines of least resistance-- Tartars driven back, but difficult to absorb--So with Coreans and Japanese-Indo-China not so favourable for Chinese absorption-- Records decided the direction taken by culture--Southern half- Chinese have equal claims with orthodox Chinese--Traditions of ancient emperors in north, coast, and south parts--Suggestions as to how the most ancient Chinese spread themselves--No hint of immigration from anywhere--The old suggestion of immigration from the Tarim Valley and Babylonia--Suggested compromise with Western religious views--Creation and Nature--Compromise with the supernatural and imaginative--Summing up.

CHAPTER XXXII

_THE CALENDAR_

The Chinese calendar--Confucius and eclipses--Proclaiming the new moon--Celestial observations in different states--Chinese year is luni-Solar--Difficulty with the exact length of a moon--Ingenious devices for bringing the solar and lunar years, the seasons, solstices, and equinoxes into harmony with agricultural needs--The sixty-year cycle--Various reforms of the calendar, and various changes in the month beginning the year--Effect of calendar changes on Confucius' birthday--All is evidence in favour of accuracy of the Chinese records.

CHAPTER XXXIII

_NAMES_

The difficulty of proper names--Instances-Clans and detached families--Surnames and personal names--Strange personal appellations--Interchange of names by all states--Eunuchs and priests-Minute rules about "naming" individuals--Confucius conveys praise or censure by "naming" persons--The principles upon which several names are applied to one person--Tabu-Instances, and Roman parallel--The Duke of Chou virtual founder of posthumous name system--Dying king and posthumous choice of name--Incestuous marriages in own clan--Hushing up incest in high places-- Complication of names connected--Bearing of names upon the political events connected therewith.