called religion in the strict sense; for Buddhism and Taoism have never
had any connection with the State.

The history of China is known in some detail from the year 722 B.C.,
because with this year begins Confucius' _Springs and Autumns_, which is
a chronicle of the State of Lu, in which Confucius was an official.

One of the odd things about the history of China is that after the
Emperors have been succeeding each other for more than 2,000 years, one
comes to a ruler who is known as the "First Emperor," Shih Huang Ti. He
acquired control over the whole Empire, after a series of wars, in 221
B.C., and died in 210 B.C. Apart from his conquests, he is remarkable
for three achievements: the building of the Great Wall against the Huns,
the destruction of feudalism, and the burning of the books. The
destruction of feudalism, it must be confessed, had to be repeated by
many subsequent rulers; for a long time, feudalism tended to grow up
again whenever the Central Government was in weak hands. But Shih Huang
Ti was the first ruler who made his authority really effective over all
China in historical times. Although his dynasty came to an end with his
son, the impression he made is shown by the fact that our word "China"
is probably derived from his family name, Tsin or Chin[5]. (The Chinese
put the family name first.) His Empire was roughly co-extensive with
what is now China proper.

The destruction of the books was a curious incident. Shih Huang Ti, as
appears from his calling himself "First Emperor," disliked being
reminded of the fact that China had existed before his time; therefore
history was anathema to him. Moreover the literati were already a strong
force in the country, and were always (following Confucius) in favour of
the preservation of ancient customs, whereas Shih Huang Ti was a