a prince of the empire and giving him commercial privileges, which
were supplemented by the succeeding emperor Wan-li (1573-1620) by the
grant of land in Shen-si. During the reign of this sovereign, in the
year 1592, the Japanese successfully invaded Korea, and Taikosarna,
the regent of Japan, was on the point of proclaiming himself king of
the peninsula, when a large Chinese force, answering to the invitation
of the king, appeared and completely routed the Japanese army, at the
same time that the Chinese fleet cut off their retreat by sea. In this
extremity the Japanese sued for peace, and sent an embassy to Peking
to arrange terms. But the peace was of short duration. In 1597 the
Japanese again invaded Korea, defeated the Chinese army, destroyed the
Chinese fleet and ravaged the coast. Suddenly, however, when in the
full tide of conquest, they evacuated Korea, which again fell under
the direction of China. Four years later the missionary Matteo Ricci
(q.v.) arrived at the Chinese court; and though at first the emperor
was inclined to send him out of the country, his abilities gradually
won for him the esteem of the sovereign and his ministers, and he
remained the scientific adviser of the court until his death in 1610.

Manchu invasion: 17th century.

About this time the Manchu Tatars, goaded into war by the injustice they
were constantly receiving at the hands of the Chinese, led an army into
China (in 1616) and completely defeated the force which was sent against
them. Three years later they gained possession of the province of
Liao-tung. These disasters overwhelmed the emperor, and he died of a
broken heart in 1620.

In the same year T'ien-ming, the Manchu sovereign, having declared
himself independent, moved the court to San-ku, to the east of Mukden,
which, five years later, he made his capital. In 1627 Ts'ung-cheng, the
last emperor of the Ming dynasty, ascended the Chinese throne. In his
reign English merchants first made their appearance at Canton. The
empire was now torn by internal dissensions. Rebel bands, enriched by
plunder, and grown bold by success, began to assume the proportion of
armies. Two rebels, Li Tsze-ch'eng and Shang K'o-hi, decided to divide
the empire between them. Li besieged K'ai-feng Fu, the capital of
Ho-nan, and so long and closely did he beleaguer it that in the
consequent famine human flesh was regularly sold in the markets. At
length an imp