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China · 1001 Questions and Answers on General History

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Chapter two of one thousand one Questions and Answers on General History. This is
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a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by uting in
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Singapore, one thousand one Questions and Answers on General History by Benjamin Hathaway,
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China. One Where is the Chinese Empire and what does it embrace in the
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central part of Asia? And it embraces China proper or the Middle Kingdom and
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its chief dependencies of Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet, Sungaria, and East Turkeystan.
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Two? What is the area of the empire one fourth of Asia or
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a little more than one thirteenth of the land area of the globe? Three?
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What is the relation of the population of the Chinese Empire to his commerce?
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Although the Empire is as large as the United States and Mescuho and has
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nearly six times their population, its commerce does not equal that of Switzerland.
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Four What is meant by China proper the fertile values drained by the huang Hua
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and Yangzuzang rivers. Five? What other name has the huang Hua River yellow
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river, on account of its color? Six What is there peculiar about this
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river? Frequent floods often cause a change in the channel and sometimes divide it
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into two streams. Seven On account of the destruction by his floods? What
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is it sometimes called the sorrel of China? Eight? What is the population
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of China? Nearly four hundred million? Nine What follows from such an immense
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population? The field of labor at home is so overcrowded that great numbers emigrate
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to every country that will receive them. Ten What countries have refused to receive
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them? The United States and the Australian provinces. Eleven What is said of
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the poverty of the people. The masses of the population are poor, with
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a poverty of which we have very little conception. Twelve Where is the plateau
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of Tibet in the central part of China? Thirteen What may be said of
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its height? It is the highest land in the world inhabited by man?
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Fourteen What is peculiar about the inhabitants? It is the only country in the
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world where pollendry is legalized. Fifteen What is meant by polyandry a popularity of
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husbands? Sixteen? What is the origin of the Chinese. The wreckers claim
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to read far back of all known chronology in a largely mythical seventeen What part
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seems to be true? The ancestors of the Chinese were wandering shepherds who were
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gradually moved eastward from some point in central Asia. Eighteen What is supposed to
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be the date of the foundation of the empire about two thousand, eight hundred
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BC. Nineteen. Who was the great social teacher of the Chinese, Usiu,
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who established the law of marriage and introduced the written characters. He is
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said to have reigned one hundred and fifteen years, and his tomb is shown
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at this day. Twenty What invention was made during his successor's rule the plow
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twenty one? Under whose reign was the Chinese territory greatly extended? Under Tao,
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who began his reign about two thousand, three hundred and fifty six b
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C. Twenty two, what improvements were made during Tao's reign? Fairs were
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established and flooded lands drained Twenty three. What may be said of the successors
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of Tao? They were cruel, vicious, and degenerate. Twenty four What
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effect did their reign have on China, The country degenerated and civilization gave way
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to nomadic life twenty five? How long did this continue till about one thousand,
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one hundred b C. Twenty six? What was the next dynasty the
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Jou dynasty? Twenty seven? How long did the Joe dynasty last from one
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thousand, one hundred BC to two hundred and fifty six b C. Twenty
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eight. What did one of the early rulers of the Dro dynasty do?
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He divided the kingdom into a number of independent states that he might bestow principalities
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on his own relations twenty nine? Who finally gained the ascendancy the kings of
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king and at last one of them reduced the other states to subjection and assumed
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the title of Huang Emperor? Thirty What gave the country its name the Qing
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dynasty Xina or China? Thirty one? How was the country disturbed in earlier
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times by incursions of Tatars? Thirty two? Who expelled them from China?
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The first emperor, Shihuangdi, the national hero? Thirty three? What great
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work did the Shihuangdi accomplish? He began the Great Wall of China along the
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northern frontier as a protection against the hordes of barbarians. Thirty four give short
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description of the war averages twenty five feet high and twenty feet thick with brick
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towers at regular intervals, is doubled at import and passes, and is still
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in the well preserved condition. It extends over mountains and vallees twelve hundred miles
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and more. Earth enclosed in brickwork forms the mass of the war, but
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for more than half its length it is little else than a heap of gravel
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and rubbish. Thirty five What order was issued by the Shihuanzi that all books
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and the literature be burned? Thirty six Why did he require this? The
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people's admiration of the heroes of the earlier times was disastrous to the government,
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and it seems necessary to him that the past history of the empire should be
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destroyed. Thirty seven. How many dynasties of kings have ruled China over twenty
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thirty eight? Who were the constant terror of the Chinese? The monks,
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Gaolians or Tartars? Thirty nine When did they get a foothold in the empire
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in three hundred eighty six? Ady when they established an independent kingdom in the
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northern part of the empire. Forty From this time on, what may be
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said of the empire it was a constant struggle between the Tartars and the Chinese
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Forty one. What was the final result of these conflicts the conquest of the
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Empire by the Tartars and the establishment of a Mongolia dynasty Forty two? When
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was the first Mongolian dynasty In the thirteenth century when the great Asiatic conqueror Kublai
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Khan invaded the empire forty three? How long did it last? One hundred
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years? Forty four? What event took place during his reign? The first
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European visited China? Forty five? Who was the European who versed went to
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China? Marco Polo in one thousand, two hundred and ninety eight. He
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remained there seventeen years and brought home a glowing description of the Eastern monarch's court.
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Forty six. What occurred in the seventeenth century the Tatars again obtained the
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throne forty seven? What they found the dynasty which still governs the empire?
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That that Sein dynasty? Forty eight? What was the Opium War eighteen forty
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the trade in opium between China and Great Britain was not legalized, and the
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Chinese commissioner attempted to suppress it. This brought on unfriendly relafations and war was
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declared between the two countries. The Chinese were thoroughly humbled by the result and
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sued for peace. A treaty was effected, and by one of its provisions,
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Hong Kong was ceded to the Queen Forty nine With whom did China carry
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on war between eighteen fifty six and eighteen sixty England and Bronze fifty What was
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the cause of the war? The impossibility of effecting satisfactory relations with the Chinese
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government because all foreigners were treated as inferiors, the Emperor and his officials claiming
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for China the sovereignty of the world. Fifty one. What was the result?
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The allied powers made their own terms, and England established her right to
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have an envoy in Peking, whether the Chinese liked it or not. Fifty
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two. How did the British punish the Chinese for perfidy Day destroyed the Summer
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Palace. It covered an area of many miles and was filled with all the
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curiosities and treasures Chinese wealth and taste could bring together Fifty three. What rebellion
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was inaugurated in eighteen fifty the Taiping Rebellion? Fifty four? What did an
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instigator pretend calling himself the Heavenly Prince? He pretended that he had a mission
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to overturn the ruling dynasty and set up a purely native one to be styled
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the Tayping or Great Peace Dynasty. Fifty five. How did the Typings show
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their disloyalty to the government by discarding the queue? And they were on that
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account called long haired rebels Fifty six. When was the incursion suppressed in eighteen
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sixty four with the aid of the ever victorious army under Colonel Gordon, who
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from that time became known as Chinese Gordon. Fifty seven. Who is the
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present Emperor of China Wang Shu born in eighteen seventy one. Fifty eight.
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What is the sign of loyalty to the government the wearing of the cue?
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Fifty nine. Are the Chinese are wandering race? They are not, but
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are home loving, and when they emigrate it is with the expectation of returning
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to their flowery land sixty Why has China influenced history so little? Because the
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Chinese have kept themselves isolated from other nations sixty one What is the cause of
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this law and tradition? Sixty two? How is the life of the Chinese
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regulated? The dress, the plan of the house, the mode of bowing,
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the minutest detail of life are regulated by three thousand ceremonial laws of immemorial
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usage. Sixty three. What is the chief occupation of the Chinese agriculture?
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Sixty four? How is their respect for agriculture shown? Once a year the
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Emperor exhibits himself in public holding a plow with which he raises a furrow.
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Sixty five What is said of their agricultural system. It is rude but effective,
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and every inch of arable land is carefully cultivated. Sixty six What do
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the Chinese call their country the flowery Land or or the flowery Kingdom? Sixty
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seven? Named some articles that originated among the Chinese tea, silk, paper,
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printing, monactic needle, and gunpowder sixty eight. How early was astronomy
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cultivated by them? As early as two thousand, three hundred BC. A
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Chinese chart of the stars represents the heavens as seen at that time? Sixty
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nine. What is the comparative age of the Chinese language? Is the oldest
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spoken language now existing upon the earth? Seventy Why is it called a monosyllabic
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language because it has no alphabet and each character represents in itself a complete idea
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Seventy one Why is it a difficult language to learn? It is composed of
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an enormous list of characters, and each one must be learned by itself.
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Seventy two. What is said of the literature of the Chinese? It is
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very extensive. Seventy three What books are chiefly used in the schools? The
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writings of Conflucius There are the model and type of all Chinese literary work.
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Seventy four How is education regarded The public sentiment in favor of it is universal,
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and it is a reproach to any parents, however poor, if they
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neglect to send their sons to school Seventy five on what are appointment to the
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civil service based on examinations that include the preparation of essays and poems and the
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writing of the classical selection? Seventy six What is the character of the government.
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It is a patriarchal despotism, of which the family is the type.
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The emperor is the father of the nation, and his power is no more
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despodict than that with which the head of every family is clothed. Seventy seven
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What is the theory of parental authority? In China? The parent is the
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absolute master of his son, entitled to his service and obedience so long as
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the parent loves Seventy eight. What is the most essential duty filial piety?
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Seventy nine? How is the emperor resisted in administering the government He delegates he
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is parental authority to officers of various ranks and degrees, and each of them
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becomes, by this act the father of those under his jurisdiction. Eighty How
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must they administer justice so that no complaints are lodged against them at peking?
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Eighty one? What is the important element in the conservation of this system?
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The offices of state are chosen from among the people themselves, no class being
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entitled to special privileges from the emperor. Eighty two. What are some of
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the rewards given for ability in public service? A peacock feather to be worn
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in the official hat and possessed of no eye, or of one, two
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or three eyes, according to the magnitude of the favor shown, permission to
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enter the outer gate of the palace on horseback a sable rope, and most
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prized afore a short jacket of imperial yellow, the colour sacred to his majesty
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eighty three. Who was the great philosopher of China? Confucius? Eighty four
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Give a short biography of Confucius born June nineteenth, five hundred fifty one BC.
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Lost his father when three years of age, was educated by his mother,
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set himself up as a teacher at the age of thirty. Was a
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great teacher of religious truth and holds a similar relation to China that Moses does
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to the Western civilization. Died four hundred and seventy nine BC. American Encyclopedia
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eighty five. How is he regarded by the people. His memory is venerated,
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and his word is law. He is the great arbitrator, authority,
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and peacemaker of the Empire. Eighty six. What worship is universal in China?
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The worship of ancestors. It is as old as the race. Eighty
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seven. What is the one original religion of China Confucianism? Eighty eight.
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What are the two religions supplemented Taoism and Buddhism? Eighty nine? What is
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Confucianism the practical government of men through a code of morals, having referenced solely
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to his person state ninety What is Taoism a religion of the Supreme reason alone?
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Ninety one? Who taught it? Laudzam, a celebrated philosopher who lived
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during the time of Confucius. Ninety two. When was Buddhism introduced into China
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during the first century? It spread rapidly and today has more adherents than the
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other religions ninety three. Who performs the religious ceremonies? The Emperor is the
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sole high priest and is the only one who, assisted by his ministers,
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can perform the great religious ceremonies, one of which is the sacrifice to Heaven
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every year read at the time of the winter solstice. Ninety four What it
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was China called by a medieval europe Cathay end of chapter two recording by Utine in Singapore