China and the Manchus
China and the Manchus
Book Excerpt
uld devise means for putting out
of the way so uncompromising a spirit. No notice, however, was taken
of the affair at the moment; and that night Akutêng, with a band of
followers, disappeared from the scene. Making his way eastward, across
the Sungari, he started a movement which may be said to have
culminated five hundred years later in the conquest of China by the
Manchus. In 1114 he began to act on the offensive, and succeeded in
inflicting a severe defeat on the Kitans. By 1115 he had so far
advanced towards the foundation of an independent kingdom that he
actually assumed the title of Emperor. Thus was presented the rare
spectacle of three contemporary rulers, each of whom claimed a title
which, according to the Chinese theory, could only belong to one. The
style he chose for his dynasty was Chin (also read /Kin/), which means
"gold," and which some say was intended to mark a superiority over
Liao (= iron), that of the Kitans, on the ground that gold is not,
like iron, a prey to rust. Others, however, t
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