usand years ago.
Mencius, of the third century B.C., observed that written characters had
the same form, and axle-trees the same breadth, all over the empire; and
to this day an unaltering uniformity is one of the chief characteristics
of the Chinese people in every department of life.

In spite, however, of the peaceful aspirations of the House of Sung,
the Kitan Tartars were for ever encroaching upon Chinese territory, and
finally overran and occupied a large part of northern China, with
their capital where Peking now stands. This resulted in an amicable
arrangement to divide the empire, the Kitans retaining their conquests
in the north, from which, after about two hundred years, they were in
turn expelled by the Golden Tartars, who had previously been subject to
them.

Many volumes, rather than pages, would be required to do justice to the
statesmen, soldiers, philosophers, poets, historians, art critics, and
other famous men of this dynasty. It has already been stated that the
interpretation of the Confucian Canon, accepted at the present day,
dates from this period; and it may now be of interest to give a brief
account of another remarkable movement connected with the dynasty,
though in quite a different line.

Wang An-shih (as _shi_ in _shirk_), popularly known as the Reformer, was
born in 1021. In his youth a keen student, his pen seemed to fly over
the paper. He rose to high office; and by the time he was forty-eight he
found himself installed as confidential adviser to the emperor. He then
entered upon a series of startling political reforms, said to be based
upon new and more correct interpretations of portions of the Confucian
Canon, which still remained, so far as explanation was concerned, just
as it had been left by the scholars of the Han dynasty. This appeal to
authority was, of course, a mere blind, cleverly introduced to satisfy
the bulk of the population, who were always unwilling to move in any
direction where no precedent is forthcoming. One of his schemes, the
express object of which was to decrease taxation and at the same time
to increase the revenue, was to secure a sure and certain market for all
products, as follows. From the produce of a given district, enough was
to be set aside (1) for the payment of taxes, and (2) to supply the
wants of the district; (3) the balance was then to be taken over by the
state at a low rate, and held for a rise or forwarded to some centre
where there happened