After a brilliant reign
of ten years he handed over the imperial dignity to his son, Tai-tsung
(627-650), perhaps the greatest monarch the Middle Kingdom has ever
seen. At this time China undoubtedly stood in the very forefront of
civilization. She was then the most powerful, the most enlightened, the
most progressive, and the best governed empire, not only in Asia, but on
the face of the globe. Tai-tsung's frontiers reached from the confines
of Persia, the Caspian Sea, and the Altai of the Kirghis steppe, along
these mountains to the north side of the Gobi desert eastward to the
inner Hing-an, while Sogdiana, Khorassan, and the regions around the
Hindu Rush also acknowledged his suzerainty. The sovereign of Nepal and
Magadha in India sent envoys; and in 643 envoys appeared from the
Byzantine Empire and the Court of Persia."]
[Footnote 11: Cordier, op. cit. ii. p. 212.]
[Footnote 12: Cordier, op. cit. ii. p. 339.]
[Footnote 13: Cordier, op. cit. i. p. 484.]
[Footnote 14: _The Truth About China and Japan_. George Allen & Unwin,
Ltd., pp. 13, 14.]
[Footnote 15: For example, the nearest approach that could be made in
Chinese to my own name was "Lo-Su." There is a word "Lo," and a word
"Su," for both of which there are characters; but no combination of
characters gives a better approximation to the sound of my name.]
[Footnote 16: Giles, op.
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