Beginning of dated history--Size of ancient China--Parcelled out into fiefs--Fiefs correspond to modern _hien_ districts-- Mesne lords and sub-vassals--Method of migration and colonizing-- Course of the Yellow River in 842 B.C.--Distant fiefs in Shan Tung and Chih Li provinces of to-day--A river which subsequently became part of the Grand Canal--The Hwai River system of waters-- Europeans always regard China from the sea inwards--Corea, Japan, and Liao Tung unknown in 842 B.C. except, perhaps, to the vassal state in Peking plain--Orthodox Chinese adopting barbarian usages in Shan Tung--Eastern barbarians on the coast to Shanghai--No knowledge of South or West Asia--Left bank of Yellow River was mostly Tartar, except in South Shan Si--Ancient capital in Shan Si--Ancient colonization of the Wei River valleys in Shen Si-- Possibilities of Western ideas having been carried by Tartar horsemen from Persia and Turkestan--Traditions of western, eastern, and southern intercourse previous to 842 B.C.--Early knowledge of the River Yang-tsz and its three mouths--Explorations by ancient emperors--Development of China followed much the same normal course as that of Greece or England. CHAPTER II _SHIFTING SCENES_ Character of the early colonizing Chinese satraps--Revolt of the western satrap and flight of the Emperor in 842 B.C.--Daughter of a later satrap marries the Emperor--Tartars mix up with questions of imperial succession and kill the Emperor--Transfer of the imperial metropolis from Shen Si to Ho Nan--The Chou dynasty, dating from 1122 B.C.--Before its conquest, the vassal house of Chou occupied the same relation to the imperial dynasty of Shang that the Wardens of the Western Marches, or Princes of Ts'in, did in turn to the imperial dynasty of Chou--The Shang dynasty had in 1766 B.C., for like reasons, supplanted the Hia dynasty-No events of great interest recorded in limited area of China before 771 B.C.--Decline of the imperial power until its extinction in 250 B.C.--The Five Tyrant or Protector period--Natural movement to keep pace with political development--Easier system of writing-- Development of trade and industry--Living interests clash with extinct aspirations--From 722 B.C. to 480 B.C. is the period of change covered by Confucius' history CHAPTER III _THE NORTHERN POWERS_