The Civilization which we of to-day enjoy is a very complex thing, made up of many different contributions, some large and some small, from people in many different lands and different ages. To trace all these contributions back to their sources would be a task impossible of accomplishment, and, while specific parts would be interesting, for our purposes they would not be important. Especially would it not be profitable for us to attempt to trace the development of minor features, or to go back to the rudimentary civilizations of primitive peoples. The early development of civilization among the Chinese, the Hindoos, the Persians, the Egyptians, or the American Indians all alike present features which to some form a very interesting study, but our western civilization does not go back to these as sources, and consequently they need not concern us in the study we are about to begin. While we have obtained the alphabet from the Phoenicians and some of our mathematical and scientific developments through the medium of the Mohammedans, the real sources of our present-day civilization lie elsewhere, and these minor sources will be referred to but briefly and only as they influenced the course of western progress.

Sku: historyofeducation

The Australian continent is not distinguished, as are many other
continents of equal and even of less extent, by any prominent
geographical feature. Its mountains seldom exceed four thousand feet in
elevation, nor do any of its rivers, whether falling internally or
externally, not even the Murray, bear any proportion to the size of the
continent itself. There is no reason, however, why rivers of greater
magnitude, than any which have hitherto been discovered in it, should not
emanate from mountains of such limited altitude, as the known mountains
of that immense and sea-girt territory. But, it appears to me, it is not
in the height and character of its hilly regions, that we are to look for
the causes why so few living streams issue from them. The true cause, I
apprehend, lies in its climate, in its seldom experiencing other than
partial rains, and in its being subject to severe and long continued
droughts. Its streams descend rapidly into a country of uniform equality
of surface, and into a region of intense heat, and are subject, even at a
great distance from their sources, to sudden and terrific floods, which
subside, as the cause which gave rise to them ceases to operate; the
consequence is, that their springs become gradually weaker and weaker,
all back impulse is lost, and whilst the rivers still continue to support
a feeble current in the hills, they cease to flow in their lower
branches, assume the character of a chain of ponds, in a few short weeks
their deepest pools are exhausted by the joint effects of evaporation and
absorption, and the traveller may run down their beds for miles, without
finding a drop of water with which to slake his thirst.

Sku: centralaustraliaV2

William John Wills was born at Totnes, in Devonshire, on the 5th of
January, 1834. He had, therefore, attained the full age of
twenty-seven at the time of his death. Even in infancy, his
countenance was interesting and expressive. He began to speak and
walk alone before he had completed his first year. His lively
disposition gave ample employment to his nurses, though I cannot
remember that he ever worried one, through peevishness or a
fractious temper. As soon as he could talk distinctly, he evinced
an aptitude to name things after his own fancy; and I may fairly
say, that he was never a child in the common acceptation of the
term, as he gave early indications of diligence and discretion
scarcely compatible with the helplessness and simplicity of such
tender years. About the time of his completing his third year, Mr.
Benthall, a friend and near neighbour, asked permission to take him
for a walk in his garden.

Sku: successfulexploration

The Ruler of the Southern Ocean was Shu (Heedless), the Ruler of the Northern Ocean was Hu (Sudden), and the Ruler of the Centre was Chaos. Shu and Hu were continually meeting in the land of Chaos, who treated them very well. They consulted together how they might repay his kindness, and said, “Men all have seven orifices for the purpose of seeing, hearing, eating, and breathing, while this poor Ruler alone has not one. Let us try and make them for him.” Accordingly they dug one orifice in him every day; and at the end of seven days Chaos died.

CONTENTS

I.     QUESTIONS
II.    CHINA BEFORE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
III.   CHINA AND THE WESTERN POWERS
IV.   MODERN CHINA
V.    JAPAN BEFORE THE RESTORATION
VI.   MODERN JAPAN
VII.  JAPAN AND CHINA BEFORE 1914
VIII. JAPAN AND CHINA DURING THE WAR
IX.   THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE
X.    PRESENT FORCES AND TENDENCIES IN THE FAR EAST
XI.   CHINESE AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION CONTRASTED
XII.  THE CHINESE CHARACTER
XIII. HIGHER EDUCATION IN CHINA
XIV. INDUSTRIALISM IN CHINA
XV.  THE OUTLOOK FOR CHINA

Sku: theproblemofchina

It is a very common thing now-a-days to meet people who are going to
“China,” which can be reached by the Siberian railway in fourteen or
fifteen days. This brings us at once to the question–What is meant by
the term China?
Taken in its widest sense, the term includes Mongolia, Manchuria,
Eastern Turkestan, Tibet, and the Eighteen Provinces, the whole being
equivalent to an area of some five million square miles, that is,
considerably more than twice the size of the United States of America.
But for a study of manners and customs and modes of thought of the
Chinese people, we must confine ourselves to that portion of the whole
which is known to the Chinese as the “Eighteen Provinces,” and to us
as China Proper.

Sku: civilizationofchina

There are indeed enough Histories of China already: why yet another one?
Because the time has come for new departures; because we need to clear
away the false notions with which the general public is constantly being
fed by one author after another; because from time to time syntheses
become necessary for the presentation of the stage reached by research.

Sku: ahistoryofchina1