ATHOUGHTS which sway the minds of this generation have their roots in the life of ancient times. In this light it is interesting to learn that in China eight hundred and Atty years ago there was a proto-type of President Roosevelt's New Deal. The situation was in many ways similar to that of to-day. Long expensive wars had drained the resources of the empire, bringing economic. stringency and widespread poverty in their train. There wa strong conservative party, the bulwark of tradition alist, which, in times t00, stood for individualism and laissez-faire; and, although it was evident the conditions were dally growing worse. the members of this party refused io admit the necessity for a drastic policy: Finally Wang An-shih, a statesms by dint of courage and force Of purpose overcome all opposition and, ith the support of the emperor, Initiated a series of economic and social reforms to relieve poverty and strengthen the imperial treasury.
He nas been called an innovator, But his policies, In their turn, had precedents centuries and milleniums Before his time, His originality seen in his selection of old ideas, in hhis modifications of them to suit his purposes, and in the energetic mar for, in which he sought to put his principles into practice.
The Sung dynasty (960—1126 A.D.) in all that has to do with culture and refinement was a golden age in China's history.
Acnumber of the arts flourished side by side, some of them reaching the highest excellence ever attained before or since. Belles-lettres and poetry, history and philosophy odd fed some of their choicest treasures t0 the store of Chinese literature. Moreover the Sung scholars had a versatility truly Elizabethan, Wang An-shih was poet, painter and essayist though we are here con= cerned mainly with his political ac~ tivities, "The same wide range of cultural interests was characteristic of all the a thronged the political stage at that ly the dynasty was not Immediately preceding was the turbulent period known as "the five dynasties" during which for 80 years. the country. suffered incessantly from civil strife. Finally Chao) K'uang-yin, a general, was made emperor by his victorious troops at Kaifeny, and became founder of the Sting dynasty. He proved a statesman of no mean ability, and set about to right the evils which had brought the country: Into chaos. His frst task was dear with the numerous semininde~ pendent military forees which still held power in sections of the coun try. He solved this problem by centralizing the control of the army and depriving it of all civil fune~ tions Including control of taxation and public finance. Important ernment posts throughout the empire were filled by civil oMcials, some of whom were, indeed, late " military leaders who were glad to renounce their military power in consideration of a civil office. The purpose of these measures was effectively achieved and the empire during the Sung period was remarkable free from civil strife, This policy, how~ over, weakened the state at ils most vulnerable point, The emphasis on civil administration in time produced A aaloxy of able statesman but mille tary affairs were given a place of lesser importance. Tartar hordes were, meanwhile, menacing the northern and north-west borders and, Indeed, the history of the Sung dynasty is the story of a losing fight against this ever present enemy.
Tartar Conquerors Avparently the Sungs were too ree fined to plunge whole-heartedly into. war. They wanted to be left alone to follow more urbane pursuits and, the defence of their frontiers was unwelcome and wearying necesalty.
The Sung armies experienced a serious reverse in 1004 when the Khitan Tartars_ made a victorious march right to the Yellow River and threatened Kaifeng, the capital. A humiliating treaty was drawn which the Chinese, in return for the withdrawal of the enemy troops. promised to pay an annual tribute of 100,000 ounces of silver and 200,- 000 pieces of silk. The indecisive, struggle dragged on for decades and, when armies were unable to cope with the enemy, statesmen were sent make terms with him which usually involved an increase in the amount of tribute, This annual ex-ort of large funds and the ex. pense of keeping a huge army in the field made a heavy drain on the resources of the empire. There was 2 feeling of helplessness among the leaders of the state and most of the emperors had to be content with temporizing methods. However, when Shen Tsung, the sixth em. error, came to the throne (1008) wished to initiate a more aggressive Policy and was, therefore, strongly attracted by the ideas of Wang An-shih, Chinese "New Dealer"
Wang Anashih was born, 1021 AD. in the city of Lin Ch'uan, Kiangsi. His father was a civil official so that the boy from the first was surround ed by the influences of an educated home. He was sent to school and studied writing and the Confucian classics. His rapid advance in learn~ ing amazed his teachers and there are many stories told of his precocious powers. "He had only to read a passage (from the classies) once and he re~ membered it for the rest of his tite: and when writing his brush literally flew over the paper," said his biographer in the dynastic history. As he grew older his writings attracted the Attention of the veteran scholar and statesman, On-Yang Hsin, who thought so highly of them that he showed them" to the emperor Jen Tsung (1023-1046).
What interest us more, however. are the indications of a vigorous and Independent mind. He early ques. tioned many traditional interpret tions of the classics and began to work on a commentary. of his own. He also read widely in the literature of heterodox schools and some of his reforms were based largely on Ideas he derived from these sources. Ina Totter to a friend, translated by HA. Giles, he said, "Study of the Canon alone does not suffice for a thorough knowledge of the Canon Consequently, T have been myself an omnivorous reader of books of all kinds, even, for example, of ancient medical and botanical works. T have, moreover, dipped into treatises on agriculture and on needlework. fall of which T have found very pro-Atable in aiding me to seize the great scheme of the Canon itself. For learning in these days is a tolally different pursuit from what it was in the olden times; and it is now Impossible otherwise to get at the Feal meaning of our ancient sages." He was also, as we shall see, remarkably free from the superstitious Bellefs of his time and had a sense of the order in nature similar to What we find in the teachings of modern science.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.