diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15125-0.txt | 10284 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15125-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 207717 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15125-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 218117 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 15125-h/15125-h.htm | 13930 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/15125-8.txt | 10284 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/15125-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 207583 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/15125.txt | 10284 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/15125.zip | bin | 0 -> 207420 bytes |
11 files changed, 44798 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15125-0.txt b/15125-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..308a57f --- /dev/null +++ b/15125-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10284 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Awakening of China + +Author: W.A.P. Martin + +Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15125] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + + + + + +The Awakening of China + + +By W. A. P. MARTIN, D.D., LL.D + +Formerly President of the Chinese Imperial University + +Author of "A Cycle of Cathay," "The Siege +in Peking," "The Lore of Cathay," etc. + + + + +[Page v] +PREFACE + +China is the theatre of the greatest movement now taking place +on the face of the globe. In comparison with it, the agitation +in Russia shrinks to insignificance; for it is not political, but +social. Its object is not a changed dynasty, nor a revolution in +the form of government; but, with higher aim and deeper motive, it +promises nothing short of the complete renovation of the oldest, +most populous, and most conservative of empires. Is there a people +in either hemisphere that can afford to look on with indifference? + +When, some thirty years ago, Japan adopted the outward forms of +Western civilisation, her action was regarded by many as a stage +trick--a sort of travesty employed for a temporary purpose. But +what do they think now, when they see cabinets and chambers of +commerce compelled to reckon with the British of the North Pacific? +The awakening of Japan's huge neighbour promises to yield results +equally startling and on a vastly extended scale. + +Political agitation, whether periodic like the tides or unforeseen +like the hurricane, is in general superficial and temporary; but +the social movement in China has its origin in subterranean forces +such as raise continents from the bosom of the deep. To explain +those forces is the object of the present work. + +It is the fascination of this grand spectacle that has +[Page vi] +brought me back to China, after a short visit to my native land--and +to this capital, after a sojourn of some years in the central provinces. +Had the people continued to be as inert and immobile as they appeared +to be half a century ago, I might have been tempted to despair +of their future. But when I see them, as they are to-day, united +in a firm resolve to break with the past, and to seek new life +by adopting the essentials of Western civilisation, I feel that +my hopes as to their future are more than half realised; and I +rejoice to help their cause with voice and pen. + +Their patriotism may indeed be tinged with hostility to foreigners; +but will it not gain in breadth with growing intelligence, and will +they not come to perceive that their interests are inseparable from +those of the great family into which they are seeking admission? + +Every day adds its testimony to the depth and genuineness of the +movement in the direction of reform. Yesterday the autumn +manoeuvres of the grand army came to a close. They have shown +that by the aid of her railways China is able to assemble a body +of trained troops numbering 100,000 men. Not content with this +formidable land force, the Government has ordered the construction +of the nucleus of a navy, to consist of eight armoured cruisers +and two battleships. Five of these and three naval stations are +to be equipped with the wireless telegraph. + +Not less significant than this rehabilitation of army and navy is +the fact that a few days ago a number of students, who had completed +their studies at foreign universities, were admitted to the third +degree (or +[Page vii] +D. C. L.) in the scale of literary honours, which means appointment +to some important post in the active mandarinate. If the booming +of cannon at the grand review proclaimed that the age of bows and +arrows is past, does not this other fact announce that, in the +field of education, rhyming and caligraphy have given place to +science and languages? Henceforth thousands of ambitious youth +will flock to the universities of Japan, and growing multitudes +will seek knowledge at its fountain-head beyond the seas. + +Still more surprising are the steps taken toward the intellectual +emancipation of woman in China. One of the leading ministers of +education assured me the other day that he was pushing the establishment +of schools for girls. The shaded hemisphere of Chinese life will thus +be brought into the sunshine, and in years to come the education +of Chinese youth will begin at the mother's knee. + +The daily deliberations of the Council of State prove that the +reform proposals of the High Commission are not to be consigned to +the limbo of abortions. Tuan Fang, one of the leaders, has just been +appointed to the viceroyalty of Nanking, with _carte blanche_ +to carry out his progressive ideas; and the metropolitan viceroy, +Yuan, on taking leave of the Empress Dowager before proceeding to +the manoeuvres, besought her not to listen to reactionary counsels +such as those which had produced the disasters of 1900. + +In view of these facts, what wonder that Chinese newspapers are +discussing the question of a national religion? The fires of the +old altars are well-nigh extinct; and, among those who have come +forward to +[Page vii] +advocate the adoption of Christianity as the only faith that meets +the wants of an enlightened people, one of the most prominent is +a priest of Buddha. + +May we not look forward with confidence to a time when China shall +be found in the brotherhood of Christian nations? + +W. A. P. M. + +_Peking, October 30, 1906._ + + + + +[Page ix] +INTRODUCTION + +How varied are the geological formations of different countries, +and what countless ages do they represent! Scarcely less diversified +are the human beings that occupy the surface of the globe, and not +much shorter the period of their evolution. To trace the stages +of their growth and decay, to explain the vicissitudes through +which they have passed, is the office of a philosophic historian. + +If the life history of a silkworm, whose threefold existence is +rounded off in a few months, is replete with interest, how much +more interesting is that of societies of men emerging from barbarism +and expanding through thousands of years. Next in interest to the +history of our own branch of the human family is that of the yellow +race confronting us on the opposite shore of the Pacific; even +more fascinating, it may be, owing to the strangeness of manners +and environment, as well as from the contrast or coincidence of +experience and sentiment. So different from ours (the author writes +as an American) are many phases of their social life that one is +tempted to suspect that the same law, which placed their feet opposite +to ours, of necessity turned their heads the other way. + +To pursue this study is not to delve in a necropolis like Nineveh +or Babylon; for China is not, like western Asia, the grave of dead +empires, but the home of a people +[Page x] +endowed with inexhaustible vitality. Her present greatness and her +future prospects alike challenge admiration. + +If the inhabitants of other worlds could look down on us, as we +look up at the moon, there are only five empires on the globe of +sufficient extent to make a figure on their map: one of these is +China. With more than three times the population of Russia, and an +almost equal area, in natural advantages she is without a rival, +if one excepts the United States. Imagination revels in picturing +her future, when she shall have adopted Christian civilisation, +and when steam and electricity shall have knit together all the +members of her gigantic frame. + +It was by the absorption of small states that the Chinese people +grew to greatness. The present work will trace their history as +they emerge, like a rivulet, from the highlands of central Asia +and, increasing in volume, flow, like a stately river, toward the +eastern ocean. Revolutions many and startling are to be recorded: +some, like that in the epoch of the Great Wall, which stamped the +impress of unity upon the entire people; others, like the Manchu +conquest of 1644, by which, in whole or in part, they were brought +under the sway of a foreign dynasty. Finally, contemporary history +will be treated at some length, as its importance demands; and +the transformation now going on in the Empire will be faithfully +depicted in its relations to Western influences in the fields of +religion, commerce and arms. + +As no people can be understood or properly studied apart from their +environment, a bird's-eye view of the country is given. + + + + +[Page xi] +CONTENTS + + PREFACE + INTRODUCTION + + +PART I + +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE + + I. China Proper + II. A Journey Through the Provinces--Kwangtung and Kwangsi + III. Fukien + IV. Chéhkiang + V. Kiangsu + VI. Shantung + VII. Chihli + VIII. Honan + IX. The River Provinces--Hupeh, Hunan, Anhwei, Kiangsi + X. Provinces of the Upper Yang-tse--Szechuen, Kweichau, Yunnan + XI. Northwestern Provinces--Shansi, Shensi, Kansuh + XII. Outlying Territories--Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, Tibet + + +[Page xii] +PART II + +HISTORY IN OUTLINE, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + XIII. Origin of the Chinese + XIV. The Mythical Period + XV. The Three Dynasties + XVI. House of Chou + XVII. The Sages of China + XVIII. The Warring States + XIX. House of Ts'in + XX. House of Han + XXI. The Three Kingdoms + XXII. The Tang Dynasty + XXIII. The Sung Dynasty + XXIV. The Yuen Dynasty + XXV. The Ming Dynasty + XXVI. The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty + + +PART III + +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION + + XXVII. The Opening of China, a Drama in Five Acts--God in + History--Prologue + ACT 1--The Opium War + (Note on the Tai-ping Rebellion) + ACT 2--The "Arrow" War + ACT 3--War with France + ACT 4--War with Japan + ACT 5--The Boxer War +[Page xiii] + XXVIII. The Russo-Japanese War + XXIX. Reform in China + XXX. Viceroy Chang + XXXI. Anti-foreign Agitation + XXII. The Manchus, the Normans of China + + +APPENDIX + + I. The Agency of Missionaries in the Diffusion of Secular + Knowledge in China + II. Unmentioned Reforms + III. A New Opium War + +INDEX + + + + +[Page 1] +PART I + +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE + + + +[Page 3] +THE AWAKENING OF CHINA + + + +CHAPTER I + +CHINA PROPER + +_Five Grand Divisions--Climate--Area and Population--The Eighteen +Provinces_ + +The empire consists of five grand divisions: China Proper, Manchuria, +Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. In treating of this huge conglomerate +it will be most convenient to begin with the portion that gives +name and character to the whole. + +Of China Proper it may be affirmed that the sun shines nowhere on +an equal area which combines so many of the conditions requisite +for the support of an opulent and prosperous people. Lying between +18° and 49° north latitude, her climate is alike exempt from the +fierce heat of the torrid zone and the killing cold of the frigid +regions. There is not one of her provinces in which wheat, rice, +and cotton, the three staples of food and clothing, may not be +cultivated with more or less success; but in the southern half +wheat gives place to rice, while in the north cotton yields to +silk and hemp. In the south cotton is king and rice is queen of +the fields. + +Traversed in every direction by mountain ranges of moderate elevation +whose sides are cultivated in +[Page 4] +terraces to such a height as to present the appearance of hanging +gardens, China possesses fertile valleys in fair proportion, together +with vast plains that compare in extent with those of our American +prairie states. Furrowed by great rivers whose innumerable affluents +supply means of irrigation and transport, her barren tracts are +few and small. + +A coast-line of three thousand miles indented with gulfs, bays, +and inlets affords countless harbours for shipping, so that few +countries can compare with her in facilities for ocean commerce. + +As to her boundaries, on the east six of her eighteen provinces +bathe their feet in the waters of the Pacific; on the south she +clasps hands with Indo-China and with British Burma; and on the +west the foothills of the Himalayas form a bulwark more secure +than the wall that marks her boundary on the north. Greatest of +the works of man, the Great Wall serves at present no other purpose +than that of a mere geographical expression. Built to protect the +fertile fields of the "Flowery Land" from the incursions of northern +nomads, it may have been useful for some generations; but it can +hardly be pronounced an unqualified success, since China in whole +or in part has passed more than half of the twenty-two subsequent +centuries under the domination of Tartars. + +With an area of about 1,500,000 square miles, or one-half that of +Europe, China has a busy population of about four hundred millions; +yet, so far from being exhausted, there can be no doubt that with +improved methods in agriculture, manufactures, mining, and +transportation, she might very +[Page 5] +easily sustain double the present number of her thrifty children. + +Within this favoured domain the products of nature and of human industry +vie with each other in extent and variety. A bare enumeration would +read like a page of a gazetteer and possibly make no more impression +than a column of figures. To form an estimate of the marvellous +fecundity of the country and to realise its picturesqueness, one +ought to visit the provinces in succession and spend a year in +the exploration of each. If one is precluded from such leisurely +observation, undoubtedly the next best thing is to see them through +the eyes of those who have travelled in and have made a special +study of those regions. + +To more than half of the provinces I can offer myself as a guide. +I spent ten years at Ningpo, and one year at Shanghai, both on the +southern seacoast. At the northern capital I spent forty years; +and I have recently passed three years at Wuchang on the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang, a special coign of vantage for the study +of central China. While residing in the above-mentioned foci it +was my privilege to visit six other provinces (some of them more +than once), thus gaining a personal acquaintance with ten out of +the eighteen and being enabled to gather valuable information at +first hand. + +A glance at the subjoined table (from the report of the China Inland +Mission for 1905) will exhibit the magnitude of the field of +investigation before us. The average province corresponds in extent +to the average state of the American Union; and the whole exceeds +[Page 6] +that portion of the United States which lies east of the Mississippi. + + CHINA PROPER + + --------------------------------------------- + PROVINCES | AREA | POPULATION + | SQ. MILES | + -------------------|-----------|------------- + Kwangtung (Canton) | 99,970 | 31,865,000 + Kwangsi | 77,200 | 5,142,000 + Fukien | 46,320 | 22,876,000 + Chéhkiang | 36,670 | 11,580,000 + Kiangsu | 38,600 | 13,980,000 + Shantung | 55,970 | 38,248,000 + Chihli | 115,800 | 20,937,000 + Shansi | 81,830 | 12,200,000 + Shensi | 75,270 | 8,450,000 + Kansuh | 125,450 | 10,385,000 + Honan | 67,940 | 35,316,000 + Hupeh | 71,410 | 35,280,000 + Hunan | 83,380 | 22,170,000 + Nganhwei(Anhwei) | 54,810 | 23,670,000 + Yünnan | 146,680 | 12,325,000 + Szechuen | 218,480 | 68,725,000 + Kiangsi | 69,480 | 26,532,000 + Kweichau | 67,160 | 7,650,000 + -------------------|-----------|------------- + Totals | 1,532,420 | 407,331,000 + + + + +[Page 7] +CHAPTER II + +A JOURNEY THROUGH THE PROVINCES--KWANGTUNG AND KWANGSI + +_Hong Kong--A Trip to Canton--Macao--Scenes on Pearl River--Canton +Christian College--Passion for Gambling--A Typical City--A Chief +Source of Emigration_ + +Let us take an imaginary journey through the provinces and begin +at Hong Kong, where, in 1850, I began my actual experience of life +in China. + +From the deck of the good ship _Lantao_, which had brought me +from Boston around the Cape in one hundred and thirty-four days, +I gazed with admiration on the Gibraltar of the Orient. Before me +was a land-locked harbour in which all the navies of the world +might ride in safety. Around me rose a noble chain of hills, their +slopes adorned with fine residences, their valleys a chessboard +of busy streets, with here and there a British battery perched +on a commanding rock. + +Under Chinese rule Hong Kong had been an insignificant fishing +village, in fact a nest of pirates. In 1841 the island was ceded +by China to Great Britain, and the cession was confirmed by the +treaty of Nanking in August, 1842. The transformation effected in +less than a decade had been magical; yet that was only the bloom +[Page 8] +of babyhood, compared with the rich maturity of the, present day. + +A daily steamer then sufficed for its trade with Canton; a weekly +packet connected it with Shanghai; and the bulk of its merchandise +was still carried in sailing ships or Chinese junks. How astounding +the progress that has marked the last half-century! The streets that +meandered, as it were, among the valleys, or fringed the water's +edge, now girdle the hills like rows of seats in a huge amphitheatre; +a railway lifts the passenger to the mountain top; and other railways +whirl him from hill to hill along the dizzy height. I Trade, too, +has multiplied twenty fold. In a commercial report for the year +ending June, 1905, it is stated that in amount of tonnage Hong +Kong has become the banner port of the world. + +Though politically Hong Kong is not China, more than 212,000 of its +busy population (about 221,000) are Chinese; and it is preëminently +the gate of China. By a wise and liberal policy the British Government +has made it the chief emporium of the Eastern seas. + +We now take a trip to Canton and cross a bay studded with islands. +These are clothed with copious verdure, but, like all others on the +China coast, lack the crowning beauty of trees. In passing we get +a glimpse of Macao, a pretty town under the flag of the Portuguese, +the pioneers of Eastern trade. The oldest foreign settlement in China, +it dates from 1544--not quite a half-century after the discovery +of the route to India, an achievement whose fourth centenary was +celebrated in 1898. If it could be ascertained on what +[Page 9] +day some adventurous argonaut pushed the quest of the Golden Fleece +to Farther India, as China was then designated, that exploit might +with equal appropriateness be commemorated also. + +The city of Macao stands a monument of Lusitanian enterprise. +Beautifully situated on a projecting spur of an island, it is a +favourite summer resort of foreign residents in the metropolis. +It has a population of about 70,000, mostly Chinese, and contains +two tombs that make it sacred in my eyes; namely, that of Camöens, +author of "The Lusiad" and poet of Gama's voyage, and that of Robert +Morrison, the pioneer of Protestant missions, the centennial of +whose arrival had in 1907 a brilliant celebration. + +Entering the Pearl River, a fine stream 500 miles in length, whose +affluents spread like a fan over two provinces, we come to the +viceregal capital, as Canton deserves to be called, though the +viceroy actually resides in another city. The river is alive with +steamboats, large and small, mostly under the British flag; but +native craft of the old style have not yet been put to flight. +Propelled by sail or oar, the latter creep along the shore; and at +Pagoda Anchorage near the city they form a floating town in which +families are born and die without ever having a home on _terra +firma_. + +Big-footed women are seen earning an honest living by plying the +oar, or swinging on the scull-beam with babies strapped on their +backs. One may notice also the so-called "flower-boats," embellished +like the palaces of water fairies. Moored in one locality, they +are a well-known resort of the vicious. In the fields are +[Page 10] +the tillers of the soil wading barefoot and bareheaded in mud and +water, holding plough or harrow drawn by an amphibious creature +called a carabao or water-buffalo, burying by hand in the mire +the roots of young rice plants, or applying as a fertiliser the +ordure and garbage of the city. Such unpoetic toils never could +have inspired the georgic muse of Vergil or Thomson. + +The most picturesque structure that strikes the eye as one approaches +the city is a Christian college--showing how times have changed. +In 1850 the foreign quarter was in a suburb near one of the gates. +There I dined with Sir John Bowring at the British Consulate, having +a letter of introduction from his American cousin, Miss Maylin, a +gifted lady of Philadelphia. There, too, I lodged with Dr. Happer, +who by the tireless exertions of many years succeeded in laying +the foundations of that same Christian college. For him it is a +monument more lasting than brass; for China it is only one of many +lighthouses now rising at commanding points on the seacoast and +in the interior. + +In passing the Fati, a recreation-ground near the city, a view +is obtained of the amusements of the rich and the profligate. We +see a multitude seated around a cockpit intent on a cock-fight; but +the cocks are quails, not barnyard fowls. Here, too, is a smaller +and more exclusive circle stooping over a pair of crickets engaged +in deadly combat. Insects of other sorts or pugnacious birds are +sometimes substituted; and it might be supposed that the people +must be warlike in their disposition, to enjoy such spectacles. +The fact is, they are fond of fighting by proxy. What attracts them +[Page 11] +most, however, is the chance of winning or losing a wager. + +A more intellectual entertainment to be seen in many places is the +solving of historical enigmas. Some ancient celebrity is represented +by an animal in a rhyming couplet; and the man who detects the hero +under this disguise wins a considerable sum. Such is the native +passion for gambling that bets are even made on the result of the +metropolitan examinations, particularly on the province to which will +fall the honour of the first prize, that of the scholar-laureateship. + +Officials in all parts and benevolent societies take advantage +of this passion for gambling in opening lotteries to raise funds +for worthy objects--a policy which is unwise if not immoral. It +should not be forgotten, however, that our own forefathers sometimes +had recourse to lotteries to build churches. + +The foreign settlement now stands on Shamien, a pretty islet in +the river, in splendid contrast with the squalor of the native +streets. The city wall is not conspicuous, if indeed it is visible +beyond the houses of a crowded suburb. Yet one may be sure that it +is there; for every large town must have a wall for protection, +and the whole empire counts no fewer than 1,553 walled cities. +What an index to the insecurity resulting from an ill-regulated +police! The Chinese are surprised to hear that in all the United +States there is nothing which they would call a city, because the +American cities are destitute of walls. + +Canton with its suburbs contains over two million people; it is +therefore the most populous city in the empire. In general the +houses are low, dark, and +[Page 12] +dirty, and the streets are for the most part too narrow for anything +broader than a sedan or a "rickshaw" (jinriksha). Yet in city and +suburbs the eye is dazzled by the richness of the shops, especially +of those dealing in silks and embroideries. In strong contrast with +this luxurious profusion may be seen crowds of beggars displaying +their loathsome sores at the doors of the rich in order to extort +thereby a penny from those who might not be disposed to give from +motives of charity. The narrow streets are thronged with coolies +in quality of beasts of burden, having their loads suspended from +each end of an elastic pole balanced on the shoulder, or carrying +their betters in sedan chairs, two bearers for a commoner, four +for a "swell," and six or eight for a magnate. High officials borne +in these luxurious vehicles are accompanied by lictors on horse or +foot. Bridegrooms and brides are allowed to pose for the nonce as +grandees; and the bridal chair, whose drapery blends the rainbow +and the butterfly, is heralded by a band of music, the blowing of +horns, and the clashing of cymbals. The block and jam thus occasioned +are such as no people except the patient Chinese would tolerate. +They bow to custom and smile at inconvenience. Of horse-cars or +carriages there are none except in new streets. Rickshaws and +wheelbarrows push their way in the narrowest alleys, and compete +with sedans for a share of the passenger traffic. + +In those blue hills that hang like clouds on the verge of the horizon +and bear the poetical name of White Cloud, there are gardens that +combine in rich variety the fruits of both the torrid and the temperate +zones. Tea and silk are grown in many other +[Page 13] +parts of China; but here they are produced of a superior quality. + +Enterprising and intelligent, the people of this province have +overflowed into the islands of the Pacific from Singapore to Honolulu. +Touching at Java in 1850, I found refreshments at the shop of a +Canton man who showed a manifest superiority to the natives of the +island. Is it not to be regretted that the Chinese are excluded +from the Philippines? Would not the future of that archipelago +be brighter if the shiftless native were replaced by the thrifty +Chinaman? + +It was in Canton that American trade suffered most from the boycott +of 1905, because there the ill-treatment of Chinese in America was +most deeply felt, the Chinese in California being almost exclusively +from the province of Canton. + +The viceroy of Canton has also the province of Kwangsi under his +jurisdiction. Mountainous and thinly peopled, it is regarded by +its associate as a burden, being in an almost chronic state of +rebellion and requiring large armies to keep its turbulent inhabitants +in order. + + + + +[Page 14] +CHAPTER III + +PROVINCE OF FUKIEN + +_Amoy--Bold Navigators--Foochow--Mountain of Kushan--The Bridge +of Ten Thousand Years_ + +Following the coast to the north some three hundred miles we come +to Amoy, the first important seaport in the adjacent province of +Fukien. The aspect of the country has undergone a change. Hills +attain the altitude of mountains, and the alluvial plains, so +conspicuous about Canton, become contracted to narrow valleys. + +The people, too, are changed in speech and feature. Taller, coarser +in physiognomy, with high cheek-bones and harsh voices, their dialect +is totally unintelligible to people of the neighbouring province. +As an example of the diversity of dialects in China, may be cited +the Chinese word for man. In some parts of Fukien it is _long_; +in Canton, _yan_ or _yin_; at Ningpo, _ning_; and +at Peking, _jin_. + +One is left in doubt whether the people or the mountains which +they inhabit were the most prominent factors in determining the +dividing line that separates them from their neighbours on the +south and west. In enterprise and energy they rival the Cantonese. +They are bold navigators; the grand island of Formosa, now ceded +to Japan, was colonised by them; and by +[Page 15] +them also the savage aborigines were driven over to the east coast. +A peculiar sort of black tea is grown on these mountains, and, along +with grass cloth, forms a staple in the trade of Amoy. The harbour +is not wanting in beauty; and a view from one of the hill-tops, from +which hundreds of villages are visible, is highly picturesque. +Of the town of Amoy with its 200,000 people there is not much to +be said except that several missions, British and American, which +opened stations there soon after the first war with Great Britain, +have met with encouraging success. At Swatow, a district in Canton +Province beyond the boundary, the American Baptists have a flourishing +mission. + +Entering the Formosan Channel we proceed to the mouth of the Min, +a fine river which leads up to Foochow (Fuchau), some thirty miles +inland. We do not stop to explore the Island of Formosa because, +having been ceded to Japan, it no longer forms a part of the Chinese +Empire. From the river the whole province is sometimes described +as "the country of Min"; but its official name is Fukien. This +name does not signify "happily established," as stated in most +books, but is compounded of the names of its two chief cities by +taking the first syllable of each, somewhat as the pioneer settlers +of Arkansas formed the name of the boundary town of Texarkana. +The names of some other provinces of China are formed in the same +way; e.g. Kiangsu, Kansuh, and that of the viceregal district of +Yünkwei. + +Kushan, a mountain on the bank of the river, is famed for its scenery; +and, as with mountains everywhere else in China, it has been made +the seat of a +[Page 16] +Buddhist monastery, with some scores of monks passing their time +not in contemplation, but in idleness. + +The city of Foochow is imposing with its fine wall of stone, and +a long stone bridge called Wansuik'iao "the bridge of ten thousand +years." It has a population of about 650,000. To add to its importance +it has a garrison or colony of Manchus who from the date of the +conquest in 1644 have lived apart from the Chinese and have not +diminished in numbers. + +The American Board and the Methodist Episcopal Board have large and +prosperous missions at this great centre, and from this base they +have ramified through the surrounding mountains, mostly following +the tributaries of the Min up to their sources. In 1850 I was +entertained at Foochow by the Rev. Dr. C. C. Baldwin, who, I am +glad to say, still lives after the lapse of fifty-five years; but +he is no longer in the mission field. + + + + +[Page 17] +CHAPTER IV + +PROVINCE OF CHÉHKIANG + +_Chusan Archipelago--Putu and Pirates--Queer Fishers and Queer +Boats--Ningpo--A Literary Triumph--Search for a Soul--Chinese +Psychology--Hangchow--The Great Bore_ + +Chéhkiang, the next province to the north, and the smallest of +the eighteen, is a portion of the highlands mentioned in the last +chapter. It is about as large as Indiana, while some of the provinces +have four or five times that area. There is no apparent reason +why it should have a distinct provincial government save that its +waters flow to the north, or perhaps because the principality of +Yuih (1100 B.C.) had such a boundary, or, again, perhaps because +the language of the people is akin to that of the Great Plain in +which its chief river finds an outlet. How often does a conqueror +sever regions which form a natural unit, merely to provide a +principality for some favourite! + +Lying off its coast is the Chusan archipelago, in which two islands +are worthy of notice. The largest, which gives the archipelago +its name, is about half the length of Long Island, N. Y., and is +so called from a fancied resemblance to a junk, it having a high +promontory at either end. It contains eighteen valleys--a division +not connected with the eighteen provinces, but +[Page 18] +perpetuated in a popular rhyme which reflects severely on the morals +of its inhabitants. Shielded by the sea, and near enough to the +land to strike with ease at any point of the neighbouring coast, +the British forces found here a secure camping-ground in their +first war. + +To the eastward lies the sacred Isle of Putu, the Iona of the China +coast. With a noble landscape, and so little land as to offer no +temptation to the worldly, it was inevitable that the Buddhists +should fix on it as a natural cloister. For many centuries it has been +famous for its monasteries, some of which are built of timbers taken +from imperial palaces. Formerly the missionaries from neighbouring +seaports found at Putu refuge from the summer heat, but it is now +abandoned, since it afforded no shelter from the petty piracy at +all times so rife in these waters. + +In 1855 Mr. (afterward Bishop) Russell and myself were captured by +pirates while on our way to Putu. The most gentlemanly freebooters +I ever heard of, they invited us to share their breakfast on the +deck of our own junk; but they took possession of all our provisions +and our junk too, sending us to our destination in a small boat, +and promising to pay us a friendly visit on the island. One of +them, who had taken my friend's watch, came to the owner to ask him +how to wind it. The Rev. Walter Lowrie, founder of the Presbyterian +Mission at Ningpo, was not so fortunate. Attacked by pirates nearly +on the same spot, he was thrown into the sea and drowned. + +Passing these islands we come to the Ningpo River, with Chinhai, +a small city, at its mouth, and Ningpo, +[Page 19] +a great emporium, some twelve miles inland. This curious arrangement, +so different from what one would expect, confronts one in China with +the regularity of a natural law: Canton, Shanghai, Foochow, and +Tientsin, all conform to it. The small city stands at the anchorage +for heavy shipping; but the great city, renouncing this advantage, +is located some distance inland, to be safe from sea-robbers and +foreign foes. + +As we ascend the river we are struck with more than one peculiar +mode of taking fish. We see a number of cormorants perched on the +sides of a boat. Now and then a bird dives into the water and comes +up with a fish in its beak. If the fish be a small one, the bird +swallows it as a reward for its services; but a fish of considerable +size is hindered in its descent by a ring around the bird's neck +and becomes the booty of the fisherman. The birds appear to be +well-trained; and their sharp eyes penetrate the depths of the +water. Another novelty in fishing is a contrivance by which fish are +made to catch themselves--not by running into a net or by swallowing +a hook, but by leaping over a white board and falling into a boat. +More strange than all are men who, like the cormorants, dive into +the water and emerge with fish--sometimes with one in either hand. +These fishermen when in the water always have their feet on the +ground and grope along the shore. The first time I saw this method +in practice I ran to the brink of the river to save, as I thought, +the life of a poor man. He no sooner raised his head out of the +water, however, than down it went again; and I was laughed at for +my want of discernment by a crowd of people who shouted _Ko-ng, +Ko-ng_, "he's catching fish." + +[Page 20] +The natives have a peculiar mode of propelling a boat. Sitting +in the stern the boatman holds the helm with one hand, while with +the other he grasps a long pipe which he smokes at leisure. Without +mast or sail, he makes speed against wind or current by making +use of his feet to drive the oar. He thus gains the advantage of +weight and of his strong sartorial muscles. These little craft +are the swiftest boats on the river. + +At the forks of the river, in a broad plain dotted with villages, +rise the stone walls of Ningpo, six miles in circuit, enclosing +a network of streets better built than those of the majority of +Chinese cities. The foreign settlement is on the north bank of +the main stream; but a few missionaries live within the walls, and +there I passed the first years of my life in China. + +Above the walls, conspicuous at a distance, appears the pinnacle +of a lofty pagoda, a structure like most of those bearing the name, +with eight corners and nine stories. Originally designed for the +mere purposes of look-outs, these airy edifices have degenerated +into appliances of superstition to attract good influences and +to ward off evil. + +Not only has this section of the province a dialect of its own, +of the mandarin type, but its people possess a finer physique than +those of the south. Taller, with eyes less angular and faces of +faultless symmetry, they are a handsome people, famed alike for +literary talent and for commercial enterprise. During my residence +there the whole city was once thrown into excitement by the news +that one of her sons had won the first prize in prose and verse +in competition, before the emperor, with the assembled scholars +of the empire--an +[Page 21] +an honour comparable to that of poet laureate or of a victor in +the Olympic games. When that distinction falls to a city, it is +believed that, in order to equalise matters, the event is sure +to be followed by three years of dearth. In this instance, the +highest mandarins escorted the wife of the literary athlete to +the top of the wall, where she scattered a few handfuls of rice +to avert the impending famine. + +My house was attached to a new church which was surmounted by a +bell-tower. In a place where nothing of the sort had previously +existed, that accessory attracted many visitors even before the bell +was in position to invite them. One day a weeping mother, attended +by an anxious retinue, presented herself and asked permission to +climb the tower, which request of course was not refused. + +Uncovering a bundle, she said: "This is my boy's clothing. Yesterday +he was up in the tower and, taking fright at the height of the +building, his little soul forsook his body and he had to go home +without it. He is now delirious with fever. We think the soul is +hovering about in this huge edifice and that it will recognise +these clothes and, taking possession of them, will return home with +us." + +When a bird escapes from its cage the Chinese sometimes hang the +cage on the branch of a tree and the bird returns to its house +again. They believe they can capture a fugitive soul in the same +way. Sometimes, too, a man may be seen standing on a housetop at +night waving a lantern and chanting in dismal tones an invitation +to some wandering spirit to return to its abode. Whether in the +case just mentioned the poor +[Page 22] +woman's hopes were fulfilled and whether the _animula vagula +blandula_ returned from its wanderings I never learned, but I +mention the incident as exhibiting another picturesque superstition. + +Chinese psychology recognises three souls, viz., the animal, the +spiritual, and the intellectual. The absence of one of the three +does not, therefore, involve immediate death, as does the departure +of the soul in our dual system. + +But I tarry too long at my old home. We have practically an empire +still before us, and will, therefore, steer west for Hangchow. + +In the thirteenth century this was the residence of an imperial +court; and the provincial capital still retains many signs of imperial +magnificence. The West Lake with its pavilions and its lilies, +a pleasance fit for an emperor; the vast circuit of the city's +walls enclosing hill and vale; and its commanding site on the bank +of a great river at the head of a broad bay--all combine to invest +it with dignity. Well do I recall the day in 1855 when white men +first trod its streets. They were the Rev. Henry Rankin and myself. +Though not permitted by treaty to penetrate even the rind of the +"melon," as the Chinese call their empire, to a distance farther +than admitted of our returning to sleep at home, we nevertheless +broke bounds and set out for the old capital of the Sungs. On the +way we made a halt at the city of Shaohing; and as we were preaching +to a numerous and respectful audience in the public square, a +well-dressed man pressed through the crowd and invited us to do +him the honour of taking tea at his house. His mansion exhibited every +[Page 23] +evidence of affluence; and he, a scholar by profession, aspiring +to the honours of the mandarinate, explained, as he ordered for +us an ample repast, that he would have felt ashamed if scholars +from the West had been allowed to pass through his city without +anyone offering them hospitality. What courtesy! Could Hebrew or +Arab hospitality surpass it? + +Two things for which the city of Shaohing is widely celebrated +are (1) a sort of rice wine used throughout the Empire as being +indispensable at mandarin feasts, and (2) clever lawyers who are +deemed indispensable as legal advisers to mandarins. They are the +"Philadelphia lawyers" of China. + +As we entered Hangchow the boys shouted _Wo tsei lai liao_, +"the Japanese are coming "--never having seen a European, and having +heard their fathers speak of the Japanese as sea-robbers, a terror +to the Chinese coast. Up to this date, Japan had no treaty with +China, and it had never carried on any sort of regular commerce +with or acknowledged the superiority of China. Before many years +had passed, these youths became accustomed to Western garb and +features; and I never heard that any foreigner suffered insult or +injury at their hands. + +In 1860 the Rev. J. L. Nevius, one of my colleagues, took possession +of the place in the name of Christ. He was soon followed by Bishop +Burden, of the English Church Mission, whose apostolic successor, +Bishop Moule, now makes it the seat of his immense diocese. + +Another claim to distinction not to be overlooked is that its river +is a trap for whales. Seven or eight years ago a cetaceous monster +was stranded near the +[Page 24] +river's mouth. The Rev. Dr. Judson, president of the Hangchow Mission +College, went to see it and sent me an account of his observations. +He estimated the length of the whale at 100 feet; the tail had been +removed by the natives. To explain the incident it is necessary +to say that, the bay being funnel-shaped, the tides rise to an +extraordinary height. Twice a month, at the full and the change of +the moon, the attractions of sun and moon combine, and the water +rushes in with a roar like that of a tidal wave. The bore of Hangchow +is not surpassed by that of the Hooghly or of the Bay of Fundy. +Vessels are wrecked by it; and even the monsters of the deep are +unable to contend with the fury of its irresistible advance. + + + + +[Page 25] +CHAPTER V + +PROVINCE OF KIANGSU + +_Nanking--Shanghai--The Yang-tse Kiang--The Yellow River_ + +Bordering on the sea, traversed by the Grand Canal and the Yang-tse +Kiang, the chief river of the Empire, rich in agriculture, fisheries, +and commerce, Kiangsu is the undisputed queen of the eighteen provinces. +In 1905 it was represented to the throne as too heavy a burden for +one set of officers. The northern section was therefore detached and +erected into a separate province; but before the new government was +organised the Empress Dowager yielded to remonstrances and rescinded +her hasty decree--showing how reluctant she is to contravene the +wishes of her people. What China requires above all things is the +ballot box, by which the people may make their wishes known. + +The name of the province is derived from its two chief cities, +Suchow and Nanking. Suchow, the Paris of the Far East, is coupled +with Hangchow in a popular rhyme, which represents the two as paragon +cities: + + _"Shang yu t'ien t'ang hia yu Su-Hang."_ + + "Su and Hang, so rich and fair, + May well with Paradise compare." + +[Page 26] +The local dialect is so soft and musical that strolling players from +Suchow are much sought for in the adjacent provinces. A well-known +couplet says: + + "I'd rather hear men wrangle in Suchow's dulcet tones + Than hear that mountain jargon, composed of sighs and groans." + +Farther inland, near the banks of the "Great River," stands Nanking, +the old capital of the Ming dynasty. The Manchus, unwilling to +call it a _king_, _i.e._ seat of empire, changed its +name to Kiangning; but the old title survives in spite of official +jealousy. As it will figure prominently in our history we shall +not pause there at present, but proceed to Shanghai, a place which +more than any other controls the destinies of the State. + +Formerly an insignificant town of the third order (provincial capitals +and prefectural towns ranking respectively first and second), some +sapient Englishman with an eye to commerce perceived the advantage +of the site; and in the dictation of the terms of peace in 1842 it +was made one of the five ports. It has come to overshadow Canton; +and more than all the other ports it displays to the Chinese the +marvels of Western skill, knowledge, and enterprise. + +On a broad estuary near the mouth of the main artery that penetrates +the heart of China, it has become a leading emporium of the world's +commerce. The native city still hides its squalor behind low walls +of brick, but outside the North Gate lies a tract of land known +as the "Foreign Concessions." There a beautiful city styled the +"model settlement" has sprung up like a gorgeous pond-lily from +the muddy, +[Page 27] +paddy-fields. Having spent a year there, I regard it with a sort +of affection as one of my Oriental homes. + +Shanghai presents a spectacle rare amongst the seaports of the +world. Its broad streets, well kept and soon to be provided with +electric trolleys, extend for miles along the banks of two rivers, +lined with opulent business houses and luxurious mansions, most of +the latter being surrounded by gardens and embowered in groves +of flowering trees. Nor do these magazines and dwelling-houses +stand merely for taste and opulence. Within the bounds of the +Concessions is the reign of law--not, as elsewhere in China, the +arbitrary will of a magistrate, but the offspring of freedom and +justice. Foreigners live everywhere under the protection of their +own national flags: and within the Concessions. Chinese accused of +crimes are tried by a mixed court which serves as an object-lesson +in justice and humanity. Had one time to peep into a native +_yamên_, one might see bundles of bamboos, large and small, +prepared for the bastinado; one might see, also, thumb-screws, +wooden boots, wooden collars, and other instruments of torture, +some of them intended to make mince-meat of the human body. The +use of these has now been forbidden.[*] + +[Footnote *: In another city a farmer having extorted a sum of money +from a tailor living within the Concession, the latter appealed +to the British consul for Justice. The consul, an inexperienced +young man, observing that the case concerned only the Chinese, +referred it to the city magistrate, who instantly ordered the tailor +to receive a hundred blows for having applied to a foreign court.] + +In Shanghai there are schools of all grades, some under the foreign +municipal government, others under missionary societies. St. John's +College (U. S. +[Page 28] +Episcopal) and the Anglo-Chinese College (American M. E.) bear the +palm in the line of education so long borne by the Roman Catholics +of Siccawei. Added to these, newspapers foreign and native--the +latter exercising a freedom of opinion impossible beyond the limits +of this city of refuge--the Society for the Diffusion of Christian +Knowledge and other translation bureaux, foreign and native, turning +out books by the thousand with the aid of steam presses, form a +combination of forces to which China is no longer insensible. + +Resuming our imaginary voyage we proceed northward, and in the +space of an hour find ourselves at the mouth of the Yang-tse Kiang, +or Ta Kiang, the "Great River," as the Chinese call it. The width +of its embouchure suggests an Asiatic rival of the Amazon and La +Plata. We now see why this part of the ocean is sometimes described +as the Yellow Sea. A river whose volume, it is said, equals that of +two hundred and forty-four such rivulets as Father Thames, pours +into it its muddy waters, making new islands and advancing the +shore far into the domain of Neptune. + +Notice on the left those long rows of trees that appear to spring +from the bosom of the river. They are the life-belt of the Island +of Tsungming which six centuries ago rose like the fabled Delos +from the surface of the turbid waters. Accepted as the river's +tribute to the Dragon Throne, it now forms a district of the province +with a population of over half a million. About the same time, +a large tract of land was carried into the sea by the Hwang Ho, +the "Yellow River," which gave rise to the popular proverb, "If +we lose in Tungking we gain in Tsungming." + +[Page 29] +The former river comes with its mouth full of pearls; the latter +yawns to engulf the adjacent land. At present, however, the Yellow +River is dry and thirsty, the unruly stream, the opposite of Horace's +_uxorius amnis_, having about forty years ago forsaken its +old bed and rushed away to the Gulf of Pechili (Peh-chihli). This +produced as much consternation as the Mississippi would occasion +if it should plough its way across the state that bears its name +and enter the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay. The same phenomenon +has occurred at long intervals in times past. The wilful stream +has oscillated with something like periodical regularity from side +to side of the Shantung promontory, and sometimes it has flowed +with a divided current, converting that territory into an island. +Now, however, the river seems to have settled itself in its new +channel, entering the gulf at Yang Chia Kow--a place which foreign +sailors describe as "Yankee cow"--and making a portentous alteration +in the geography of the globe. + + + + +[Page 30] +CHAPTER VI + +PROVINCE OF SHANTUNG + +_Kiao-Chao--Visit to Confucius's Tomb--Expedition to the Jews +of K'ai-fung-fu--The Grand Canal--Chefoo_ + +In Shantung the people appear to be much more robust than their +neighbours to the south. Wheat and millet rather than rice are +their staple food. In their orchards apples, pears and peaches take +the place of oranges. + +At Kiao-chao (Kiau-Chau) the Germans, who occupied that port in +1897, have built a beautiful town opposite the Island of Tsingtao, +presenting a fine model for imitation, which, however, the Chinese +are not in haste to copy. They have constructed also a railway from +the sea to Tsinan-fu, very nearly bisecting the province. Weihien +is destined to become a railroad centre; and several missionary +societies are erecting colleges there to teach the people truths +that Confucius never knew. More than half a century ago, when a +missionary distributed Christian books in that region, the people +brought them back saying, "We have the works of our Sage, and they +are sufficient for us." Will not the new arts and sciences of the +West convince them that their Sage was not omniscient? + +In 1866 I earned the honours of a _hadji_ by visiting the tomb +of Confucius--a magnificent mausoleum surrounded by his descendants +of the seventieth generation, +[Page 31] +one of whom in quality of high priest to China's greatest teacher +enjoys the rank of a hereditary duke. + +On that occasion, I had come up from a visit to the Jews in Honan. +Having profited by a winter vacation to make an expedition to +K'ai-fung-fu, I had the intention of pushing on athwart the province +to Hankow. The interior, however, as I learned to my intense +disappointment, was convulsed with rebellion. No cart driver was +willing to venture his neck, his steed, and his vehicle by going +in that direction. I accordingly steered for the Mecca of Shantung, +and, having paid my respects to the memory of China's greatest sage, +struck the Grand Canal and proceeded to Shanghai. From K'ai-fung-fu +I had come by land slowly, painfully, and not without danger. From +Tsi-ning I drifted down with luxurious ease in a well-appointed +house-boat, meditating poetic terms in which to describe the contrast. + +The canal deserves the name of "grand" as the wall on the north +deserves the name of "great." Memorials of ancient times, they both +still stand unrivalled by anything the Western world has to show, +if one except the Siberian Railway. The Great Wan is an effete relic +no longer of use; and it appears to be satire on human foresight +that the Grand Canal should have been built by the very people +whom the Great Wall was intended to exclude from China. The canal +is as useful to-day as it was six centuries ago, and remains the +chief glory of the Mongol dynasty. + +Kublai having set up his throne in the north, and completed the +conquest of the eighteen provinces, ordered the construction of +this magnificent waterway, +[Page 32] +which extends 800 miles from Peking to Hangchow and connects with +other waterways which put the northern capital in roundabout +communication with provinces of the extreme south. His object was +to tap the rice-fields of Central China and obtain a food supply +which could not be interfered with by those daring sea-robbers, +the redoubtable Japanese, who had destroyed his fleets and rendered +abortive his attempt at conquest. Of the Great Wall, it may be said +that the oppression inseparable from its construction hastened +the overthrow of the house of its builder. The same is probably +true of the Grand Canal. The myriads of unpaid labourers who were +drafted by _corvée_ from among the Chinese people subsequently +enlisted, they or their children, under the revolutionary banner +which expelled the oppressive Mongols. + +Another port in this province which we cannot pass without an admiring +glance, is Chefoo (Chifu). On a fine hill rising from the sea wave the +flags of several nations; in the harbour is a cluster of islands; and +above the settlement another noble hill rears its head crowned with +a temple and groves of trees. On its sides and near the seashore are +the residences of missionaries. There I have more than once found +a refuge from the summer heat, under the hospitable roof of Mrs. +Nevius, the widow of my friend Dr. J. L. Nevius, who, after opening +a mission in Hangchow, became one of the pioneers of Shantung. In +Chefoo he planted not only a church, but a fruit garden. To the +Chinese eye this garden was a striking symbol of what his gospel +proposed to effect for the people. + + + + +[Page 33] +CHAPTER VII + +PROVINCE OF CHIHLI + +_Taku--Tientsin--Peking--The Summer Palace--Patachu--Temples +of Heaven, Earth, and Agriculture--Foreign Quarter--The Forbidden +City--King-Han Railway--Paoting-fu_ + +Crossing the gulf we reach Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, and, +passing the dismantled forts, ascend the river to Tientsin. + +In 1858 I spent two months at Taku and Tientsin in connection with +the tedious negotiations of that year. At the latter place I became +familiar with the dusty road to the treaty temple; and at the former +witnessed the capture of the forts by the combined squadrons of +Great Britain and France. The next year on the same ground I saw +the allied forces repulsed with heavy loss--a defeat avenged by +the capture of Peking in 1860. + +In the Boxer War the relief force met with formidable opposition +at Tientsin. The place has, however, risen with new splendour from +its half-ruined condition, and now poses as the principal residence +of the most powerful of the viceroys. Connected by the river with +the seaboard, by the Grand Canal with several provinces to the south, +and by rail with Peking, Hankow and Manchuria, Tientsin commands +the chief lines of +[Page 34] +communication in northern China. In point of trade it ranks as the +third in importance of the treaty ports. + +Three hours by rail bring us to the gates of Peking, the northern +capital. Formerly it took another hour to get within the city. +Superstition or suspicion kept the railway station at a distance; +now, however, it is at the Great Central Gate. Unlike Nanking, +Peking has nothing picturesque or commanding in its location. On +the west and north, at a distance of ten to twenty miles, ranges +of blue hills form a feature in the landscape. Within these limits +the eye rests on nothing but flat fields, interspersed with clumps +of trees overshadowing some family cemetery or the grave of some +grandee. + +Between the city and the hills are the Yuen Ming Yuen, the Emperor's +summer palace, burnt in 1860 and still an unsightly ruin, and the +Eho Yuen, the summer residence of the Empress Dowager. Enclosing +two or three pretty hills and near to a lofty range, the latter +occupies a site of rare beauty. It also possesses mountain water +in rich abundance. No fewer than twenty-four springs gush from +the base of one of its hills, feeding a pretty lake and numberless +canals. Partly destroyed in 1860, this palace was for many years as +silent as the halls of Palmyra. I have often wandered through its +neglected grounds. Now, every prominent rock is crowned with pagoda +or pavilion. There are, however, some things which the slave of the +lamp is unable to produce even at the command of an empress--there +are no venerable oaks or tall pines to lend their majesty to the +scene. + +Patachu, in the adjacent hills, used to be a favourite +[Page 35] +summer resort for the legations and other foreigners before the +seaside became accessible by rail. Its name, signifying the "eight +great places," denotes that number of Buddhist temples, built one +above another in a winding gorge on the hillside. In the highest, +called Pearl Grotto, 1,200 feet above the sea, I have found repose +for many a summer. I am there now (June, 1906), and there I expect +to write the closing chapters of this work. These temples are at my +feet; the great city is in full view. To that shrine the emperors +sometimes made excursions to obtain a distant prospect of the world. +One of them, Kien Lung, somewhat noted as a poet, has left, inscribed +on a rock, a few lines commemorative of his visit: + + "Why have I scaled this dizzy height? + Why sought this mountain den? + I tread as on enchanted ground, + Unlike the abode of men. + + "Beneath my feet my realm I see + As in a map unrolled, + Above my head a canopy + Adorned with clouds of gold." + +The capital consists of two parts: the Tartar city, a square of +four miles; and the Chinese city, measuring five miles by three. +They are separated by imposing walls with lofty towers, the outer +wall being twenty-one miles in circuit. At present the subject +people are permitted to mingle freely with their conquerors; but +most of the business is done in the Chinese city. Resembling other +Chinese towns in its unsavoury condition, this section contains two +imperial temples of great sanctity. One of these, the Temple of Heaven, +[Page 36] +has a circular altar of fine white marble with an azure dome in +its centre in imitation of the celestial vault. Here the Emperor +announces his accession, prays for rain, and offers an ox as a burnt +sacrifice at the winter solstice--addressing himself to Shang-ti, +the supreme ruler, "by whom kings reign and princes decree justice." + +The Temple of Agriculture, which stands at a short distance from +that just mentioned, was erected in honour of the first man who +cultivated the earth. In Chinese, he has no name, his title, Shin-nung +signifying the "divine husbandman"--a masculine Ceres. Might we not +call the place the Temple of Cain? There the Emperor does honour +to husbandry by ploughing a few furrows at the vernal equinox. +His example no doubt tends to encourage and comfort his toiling +subjects. + +Another temple associated with these is that of Mother Earth, the +personified consort of Heaven; but it is not in this locality. +The eternal fitness of things requires that it should be outside +of the walls and on the north. It has a square altar, because the +earth is supposed to have "four corners." "Heaven is round and +Earth square," is the first line of a school reader for boys. The +Tartar city is laid out with perfect regularity, and its streets +and alleys are all of convenient width. + +Passing from the Chinese city through the Great Central Gate we +enter Legation Street, so called because most of the legations +are situated on or near it. Architecturally they make no show, +being of one story, or at most two stories, in height and hidden +[Page 37] +behind high walls. So high and strong are the walls of the British +Legation that in the Boxer War of 1900 it served the whole community +for a fortress, wherein we sustained a siege of eight weeks. A +marble obelisk near the Legation gate commemorates the siege, and +a marble gateway on a neighbouring street marks the spot where +Baron Ketteler was shot. Since that war a foreign quarter has been +marked out, the approaches to which have been partially fortified. +The streets are now greatly improved; ruined buildings have been +repaired; and the general appearance of the old city has been altered +for the better. + +Two more walled enclosures have to be passed before we arrive at +the palace. One of them forms a protected barrack or camping-ground +for the palace guards and other officials attendant on the court. The +other is a sacred precinct shielded from vulgar eyes and intrusive +feet, and bears the name "Forbidden City." In the year following the +flight of the court these palaces were guarded by foreign troops, +and were thrown open to foreign visitors. + +Marble bridges, balustrades, and stairways bewilder a stranger. +Dragons, phoenixes and other imaginary monsters carved on doorways +and pillars warn him that he is treading on sacred ground. The +ground, though paved with granite, is far from clean; and the +costly carvings within remind one of the saying of an Oriental +monarch, "The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in kings' +houses." None of the buildings has more than one story, but the +throne-rooms and great halls are so lofty as to suggest the dome +of a cathedral. The roofs are all covered with tiles of a +[Page 38] +yellow hue, a colour which even princes are not permitted to use. + +Separated from the palace by a moat and a wall is Prospect Hill, +a charming elevation which serves as an imperial garden. On the +fall of the city in 1643 the last of the Mings hanged himself +there--after having stabbed his daughter, like another Virginius, +as a last proof of paternal affection. + +From the gate of the Forbidden City to the palace officials high +and low must go on foot, unless His Majesty by special favour confers +the privilege of riding on horseback, a distinction which is always +announced in the _Gazette_ by the statement that His Majesty +has "given a horse" to So-and-So. No trolleys are to be seen in +the streets, and four-wheeled carriages are rare and recent. Carts, +camels, wheel-barrows, and the ubiquitous rickshaw are the means +of transport and locomotion. The canals are open sewers never used +for boats. + +Not lacking in barbaric splendour, as regards the convenience of +living this famous capital will not compare with a country village of +the Western world. On the same parallel as Philadelphia, but dryer, +hotter, and colder, the climate is so superb that the city, though +lacking a system of sanitation, has a remarkably low death-rate. +In 1859 I first entered its gates. In 1863 I came here to reside. +More than any other place on earth it has been to me a home; and +here I am not unlikely to close my pilgrimage. + +On my first visit, I made use of Byron's lines on Lisbon to express my +impressions of Peking. Though there are now some signs of improvement +in the city +[Page 39] +the quotation can hardly be considered as inapplicable at the present +time. Here it is for the convenience of the next traveller: + + "...Whoso entereth within this town, + That, sheening far, celestial seems to be, + Disconsolate will wander up and down, + 'Mid many things unsightly to strange ee: + For hut and palace show like filthily: + The dingy denizens are rear'd in dirt; + Ne personage of high or mean degree + Doth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt..." + (_Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the First_, st. xvii.) + +Returning to the station we face about for the south and take tickets +for Paoting-fu. We are on the first grand trunk railway of this +empire. It might indeed be described as a vertebral column from +which iron roads will ere long be extended laterally on either side, +like ribs, to support and bind together the huge frame. Undertaken +about twelve years ago it has only recently been completed as far +as Hankow, about six hundred miles. The last spike in the bridge +across the Yellow River was driven in August, 1905, and since that +time through trains have been running from the capital to the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang. + +This portion has been constructed by a Belgian syndicate, and their +task has been admirably performed. I wish I could say as much of +the other half (from Hankow to Canton), the contract for which +was given to an American company. After a preliminary survey this +company did no work, but, under pretext of waiting for tranquil +times, watched the fluctuations of the share market. The whole +enterprise was eventually +[Page 40] +taken over by a native company opposed to foreign ownership--at an +advance of 300 per cent. It was a clever deal; but the Americans +sacrificed the credit and the influence of their country, and a +grand opportunity was lost through cupidity and want of patriotism. + +This iron highway is destined in the near future to exert a mighty +influence on people and government. It will bring the provinces +together and make them feel their unity. It will also insure that +communication between the north and the south shall not be interrupted +as it might be were it dependent on sea or canal. These advantages +must have been so patent as to overcome an inbred hostility to +development. Instead of being a danger, these railways are bound +to become a source of incalculable strength. + +Paoting-fu was the scene of a sad tragedy in 1900, and when avenging +troops appeared on the scene, and saw the charred bones of missionaries +among the ashes of their dwellings, they were bent on destroying +the whole city, but a missionary who served as guide begged them +to spare the place. So grateful were the inhabitants for his kindly +intervention that they bestowed on the mission a large plot of +ground--showing that, however easily wrought up, they were not +altogether destitute of the better feelings of humanity. + +Continuing our journey through half a dozen considerable cities, +at one of which, Shunteh-fu, an American mission has recently been +opened, we reach the borders of the province of Honan. + + + + +[Page 41] +CHAPTER VIII + +PROVINCE OF HONAN + +_A Great Bridge--K'ai-fung-fu--Yellow Jews_ + +Passing the border city of Weihwei-fu, we find ourselves arrested +by the Hwang Ho--not that we experience any difficulty in reaching +the other bank; but we wish to indulge our curiosity in inspecting +the means of transit. It is a bridge, and such a bridge as has no +parallel on earth. Five miles in length, it is longer than any +other bridge built for the passage of a river. It is not, however, +as has been said, the longest bridge in the world; the elevated +railway of New York is a bridge of much greater length. So are +some of the bridges that carry railways across swamp-lands on the +Pacific Coast. Bridges of that sort, however, are of comparatively +easy construction. They have no rebellious stream or treacherous +quicksands to contend with. Cæsar's bridge over the Rhine was an +achievement worthy to be recorded among the victories of his Gallic +wars; but it was a child's plaything in comparison with the bridge +over the Yellow River. Cæsar's bridge rested on sesquipedalian +beams of solid timber. The Belgian bridge is supported on tubular +piles of steel of sesquipedalian diameter driven by steam or screwed +down into the sand to a depth of fifty feet. + +There have been other bridges near this very spot +[Page 42] +with which it might be compared. One of them was called Ta-liang, +the "Great Bridge," and gave name to a city. Another was Pien-liang, +"The Bridge of Pien," one of the names of the present city of +K'ai-fung-fu. That bridge has long since disappeared; but the name +adheres to the city. + +What an unstable foundation on which to erect a seat of empire! +Yet the capital has been located in this vicinity more than once +or twice within the last twenty-five centuries. The first occasion +was during the dynasty of Chou (1100 B. c.), when the king, to be +more central, or perhaps dreading the incursions of the Tartars, +forsook his capital in Shensi and followed the stream down almost +to the sea, braving the quicksands and the floods rather than face +those terrible foes. Again, in the Sung period, it was the seat +of government for a century and a half. + +The safest refuge for a fugitive court which, once established +there, has no reason to fear attack by sea or river, it is somewhat +strange that in 1900 the Empress Dowager did not direct her steps +toward K'ai-fung-fu, instead of escaping to Si-ngan. Being, however, +herself a Tartar, she might have been expected to act in a way +contrary to precedents set by Chinese dynasties. Obviously, she +chose the latter as a place of refuge because it lay near the borders +of Tartary. It is noteworthy that a loyal governor of Honan at that +very time prepared a palace for her accommodation in K'ai-fung-fu, +and when the court was invited to return to Peking, he implored +her not to risk herself in the northern capital. + +Honan is a province rich in agricultural, and probably +[Page 43] +in mineral, resources, but it has no outlet in the way of trade. +What a boon this railway is destined to be, as a channel of +communication with neighbouring provinces! + +I crossed the Yellow River in 1866, but there was then no bridge +of any kind. Two-thirds of a mile in width, with a furious current, +the management of the ferry-boat was no easy task. On that occasion +an object which presented stronger attractions than this wonderful +bridge had drawn me to K'ai-fung-fu--a colony of Jews, a fragment +of the Lost Tribes of Israel. As mentioned in a previous chapter, I +had come by land over the very track now followed by the railroad, +but under conditions in strong contrast with the luxuries of a +railway carriage--"Alone, unfriended, solitary, slow," I had made my +way painfully, shifting from horse to cart, and sometimes compelled +by the narrowness of a path to descend to a wheelbarrow. How I +longed for the advent of the iron horse. Now I have with me a jovial +company; and we may enjoy the mental stimulus of an uninterrupted +session of the Oriental Society, while making more distance in +an hour than I then made in a day. + +Of the condition of the Jews of K'ai-fung-fu, as I found them, +I have given a detailed account elsewhere.[*] Suffice it to say +here that the so-called colony consisted of about four hundred +persons, belonging to seven families or clans. Undermined by a +flood of the Yellow River, their synagogue had become ruinous, +and, being unable to repair it, they had disposed of its timbers +to relieve the pressure of their dire poverty. +[Page 44] +Nothing remained but the vacant space, marked by a single stone +recording the varying fortunes of these forlorn Israelites. It +avers that their remoter ancestors arrived in China by way of India +in the Han dynasty, before the Christian era, and that the founders +of this particular colony found their way to K'ai-fung-fu in the +T'ang dynasty about 800 A. D. It also gives an outline of their +Holy Faith, showing that, in all their wanderings, they had not +forsaken the God of their fathers. They still possessed some rolls +of the Law, written in Hebrew, on sheepskins, but they no longer +had a rabbi to expound them. They had forgotten the sacred tongue, +and some of them had wandered into the fold of Mohammed, whose +creed resembled their own. Some too had embraced the religion of +Buddha. + +[Footnote *: See "Cycle of Cathay." Revell & Co., New York.] + +My report was listened to with much interest by the rich Jews of +Shanghai, but not one of them put his hand in his pocket to rebuild +the ruined synagogue; and without that for a rallying-place the +colony must ere long fade away, and be absorbed in the surrounding +heathenism, or be led to embrace Christianity. + +I now learn that the Jews of Shanghai have manifested enough interest +to bring a few of their youth to that port for instruction in the +Hebrew language. Also that some of these K'ai-fung-fu Jews are +frequent attendants in Christian chapels, which have now been opened +in that city. To my view, the resuscitation of that ancient colony +would be as much of a miracle as the return from captivity in the +days of Cyrus. + + + + +[Page 45] +CHAPTER IX + +THE RIVER PROVINCES + +_Hupeh--Hankow--Hanyang Iron Works--A Centre of Missionary +Activity--Hunan--Kiangsi--Anhwei--Native Province of Li Hung Chang_ + +By the term "river provinces" are to be understood those provinces +of central and western China which are made accessible to intercourse +and trade by means of the Yang-tse Kiang. + +Pursuing our journey, in twelve hours by rail we reach the frontier +of Hupeh. At that point we see above us a fortification perched on +the side of a lofty hill which stands beyond the line. At a height +more than double that of this crenelated wall is a summer resort of +foreigners from Hankow and other parts of the interior. I visited +this place in 1905. In Chinese, the plateau on which it stands is +called, from a projecting rock, the "Rooster's Crest"; shortened +into the more expressive name, the "Roost," it is suggestive of the +repose of summer. It presents a magnificent prospect, extending +over a broad belt of both provinces. + +Six hours more and we arrive in Hankow, which is one of three cities +built at the junction of the Han and the Yang-tse, the Tripolis of +China, a tripod of empire, the hub of the universe, as the Chinese +fondly regard it. The other two cities are Wuchang, the capital +[Page 46] +of the viceroyalty, and Hanyang, on the opposite bank of the river. + +In Hankow one beholds a Shanghai on a smaller scale, and in the +other two cities the eye is struck by indications of the change +which is coming over the externals of Chinese life. + +At Hanyang, which is reached by a bridge, may be seen an extensive +and well-appointed system of iron-works, daily turning out large +quantities of steel rails for the continuation of the railway. It +also produces large quantities of iron ordnance for the contingencies +of war. This is the pet enterprise of the enlightened Viceroy Chang +Chi-tung; but on the other side of the Yang-tse we have cheering +evidence that he has not confined his reforms to transportation and +the army. There, on the south bank, you may see the long walls and +tall chimneys of numerous manufacturing establishments--cotton-mills, +silk filatures, rope-walks, glass-works, tile-works, powder-works--all +designed to introduce the arts of the West, and to wage an industrial +war with the powers of Christendom. There, too, in a pretty house +overlooking the Great River, I spent three years as aid to the viceroy +in educational work. In the heart of China, it was a watch-tower from +which I could look up and down the river and study the condition +of these inland provinces. + +This great centre was early preëmpted by the pioneers of missionary +enterprise. Here Griffith John set up the banner of the cross forty +years ago and by indefatigable and not unfruitful labours earned +for himself the name of "the Apostle of Central China." +[Page 47] +In addition he has founded a college for the training of native +preachers. The year 1905 was the jubilee of his arrival in the +empire. Here, too, came David Hill, a saintly man combining the +characters of St. Paul and of John Howard, as one of the pioneers +of the churches of Great Britain. These leaders have been followed +by a host who, if less distinguished, have perhaps accomplished +more for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. Without the +coöperation of such agencies all reformatory movements like those +initiated by the viceroy must fall short of elevating the people +to the level of Christian civilisation. + +The London Mission, the English Wesleyans, and the American +Episcopalians, all have flourishing stations at Wuchang. The Boone +school, under the auspices of the last-named society, is an admirable +institution, and takes rank with the best colleges in China. + +At Hankow the China Inland Mission is represented by a superintendent +and a home for missionaries in transit. At that home the Rev. J. +Hudson Taylor, the founder of that great society, whom I call the +Loyola of Protestant missions, spent a few days in 1906; and there +Dr. John and I sat with him for a group of the "Three Senior +Missionaries" in China. + +The river provinces may be divided into lower and upper, the +dividing-line being at Ichang near the gorges of the Yang-tse. Hupeh +and Hunan, Kiangsi and Anhwei occupy the lower reach; Szechuen, +Kweichau, and Yünnan, the upper one. The first two form one viceregal +district, with a population exceeding that of any European country +excepting Russia. + +[Page 48] +Hupeh signifies "north of the lake"; Hunan, "south of the lake"--the +great lake of Tungting lying between the two. Hupeh has been open to +trade and residence for over forty years; but the sister province +was long hermetically sealed against the footprints of the white +man. Twenty or even ten years ago to venture within its limits +would have cost a European his life. Its capital, Changsha, was +the seat of an anti-foreign propaganda from which issued masses of +foul literature; but the lawless hostility of the people has been +held in check by the judicious firmness of the present viceroy, +and that city is now the seat of numerous mission bodies which +are vying with each other in their efforts to diffuse light and +knowledge. It is also open to commerce as a port of trade. + +One of the greatest distinctions of the province is its production +of brave men, one of the bravest of whom was the first Marquis Tseng +who, at the head of a patriotic force from his native province, +recaptured the city of Nanking and put an end to the chaotic government +of the Taiping rebels--a service which has ever since been recognised +by the Chinese Government in conferring the viceroyalty of Nanking +on a native of Hunan. + +Lying to the south of the river, is the province of Kiangsi, containing +the Poyang Lake, next in size to the Tungting. Above its entrance +at Kiukiang rises a lone mountain which bears the name of Kuling. +Beautifully situated, and commanding a wide view of lake and river, +its sides are dotted with pretty cottages, erected as summer resorts +for people from all the inland ports. Here may be seen the flags of many +[Page 49] +nations, and here the hard-worked missionary finds rest and recreation, +without idleness; for he finds clubs for the discussion of politics +and philosophy, and libraries which more than supply the absence of +his own. Just opposite the entrance to the lake stands the "Little +Orphan," a vine-clad rock 200 feet in height, with a small temple +on the top. It looks like a fragment torn from the mountain-side +and planted in the bosom of the stream. Fancy fails to picture +the convulsion of which the "Little Orphan" is the monument. + +Farther down is the province of Anhwei which takes its name from +its chief two cities, Anking and Weichou. In general resembling +Kiangsi, it has two flourishing ports on the river, Anking, the +capital, and Wuhu. Of the people nothing noteworthy is to be observed, +save that they are unusually turbulent, and their lawless spirit +has not been curbed by any strong hand like that of the viceroy +at Wuchang.[*] The province is distinguished for its production +of great men, of whom Li Hung Chang was one. + +[Footnote *: This was written before the Nanchang riot of March, +1906.] + + + + +[Page 50] +CHAPTER X + +PROVINCES OF THE UPPER YANG-TSE + +_A Perilous Passage--Szechuen--Kweichau, the Poorest Province +in China--Yünnan--Tribes of Aborigines_ + +Thus far our voyage of exploration, like one of Cook's tours, has +been personally conducted. From this point, however, I must depend +upon the experience of others: the guide himself must seek a guide +to conduct him through the remaining portions of the empire. + +We enter the Upper Yang-tse by a long and tortuous passage through +which the "Great River" rushes with a force and a roar like the +cataracts of the Rhine, only on a vastly greater scale. In some +bygone age volcanic forces tore asunder a mountain range, and the +waters of the great stream furrowed out a channel; but the obstructing +rocks, so far from being worn away, remain as permanent obstacles +to steam navigation and are a cause of frequent shipwrecks. Yet, +undeterred by dangers that eclipse Scylla and Charybdis, the laborious +Chinese have for centuries past carried on an immense traffic through +this perilous passage. In making the ascent their junks are drawn +against the current by teams of coolies, tens or hundreds of the +latter being harnessed to the tow-lines of one boat and driven +like a bullock train in South Africa. Slow +[Page 51] +and difficult is the ascent, but swift and perilous the downward +passage. + +No doubt engineering may succeed in removing some of the obstacles +and in minifying the dangers of this passage. Steam, too, may supply +another mode of traction to take the place of these teams of men. +A still revolution is in prospect, namely a ship canal or railway. +The latter, perhaps, might be made to lift the junks bodily out of +the water and transport them beyond the rapids. Two cities, however, +would suffer somewhat by this change in the mode of navigation, +namely, Ichang at the foot and Chungking at the head of the rapids. +The latter is the chief river port of Szechuen, a province having +four times the average area. + +The great province of Szechuen, if it only had the advantages of +a seacoast, would take the lead in importance. As it is, it is +deemed sufficiently important, like Chihli, to have a viceroy of +its own. The name signifies the "four rivers," and the province has +as many ranges of mountains. One of them, the Omeshan, is celebrated +for its beauty and majesty. The mountains give the province a great +variety of climate, and the rivers supply means of transportation +and irrigation. Its people, too, are more uniform in language and +character than those of most other regions. Their language partakes +of the Northern mandarin. Near the end of the Ming dynasty the +whole population is said to have been destroyed in the fratricidal +wars of that sanguinary period. The population accordingly is +comparatively sparse, and the cities are said to present a new and +prosperous aspect. Above Szechuen +[Page 52] +lie the two provinces of Kweichau and Yünnan, forming one viceroyalty +under the name of Yünkwei. + +Kweichau has the reputation of being the poorest province in China, +with a very sparse population, nearly one-half of whom are aborigines, +called _shans_, _lolos_, and _miaotzes_. + +Yünnan (signifying not "cloudy south," but "south of the cloudy +mountains") is next in area to Szechuen. Its resources are as yet +undeveloped, and it certainly has a great future. Its climate, +if it may be said to have one, is reputed to be unhealthful, and +among its hills are many deep gorges which the Chinese say are +full of _chang chi_, "poisonous gases" which are fatal to men +and animals--like the Grotto del Cane in Italy. But these gorges +and cliffs abound in better things also. They are rich in unexploited +coal measures and they contain also many mines of the purest copper +ore. The river that washes its borders here bears the name of Kinsha, +the river of "golden sands." Some of its rivers have the curious +peculiarity of flowing the reverse way, that is, to the west and +south instead of toward the eastern sea. The Chinese accordingly +call the province "Tiensheng" the country of the "converse streams." + +Within the borders of Yünnan there are said to be more than a hundred +tribes of aborigines all more or less akin to those of Kweichau +and Burma, but each under its own separate chief. Some of them +are fine-looking, vigorous people; but the Chinese describe them +as living in a state of utter savagery. Missionaries, however, +have recently begun work for them; and we may hope that, as for +the Karens of +[Page 53] +Burma, a better day will soon dawn on the Yünnan aborigines. + +The French, having colonies on the border, are naturally desirous +of exploiting the provinces of this southern belt, and China is +intensely suspicious of encroachment from that quarter. + + + + +[Page 54] +CHAPTER XI + +NORTHWESTERN PROVINCES + +_Shansi--Shensi--Earliest Known Home of the Chinese--Kansuh_ + +Of the three northwestern provinces, the richest is Shansi. More +favoured in climate and soil than the other members of the group, its +population is more dense. Divided from Chihli by a range of hills, +its whole surface is hilly, but not mountainous. The highlands give +variety to its temperature--condensing the moisture and supplying +water for irrigation. The valleys are extremely fertile, and of +them it may be said in the words of Job, "As for the earth, out of +it cometh bread: and underneath it is turned up as it were fire." +Not only do the fields yield fine crops of wheat and millet, but +there are extensive coal measures of excellent quality. Iron ore +also is found in great abundance. Mining enterprises have accordingly +been carried on from ancient times, and they have now, with the +advent of steam, acquired a fresh impetus. It follows, of course, +that the province is prolific of bankers. Shansi bankers monopolise +the business of finance in all the adjacent provinces. + +Next on the west comes the province of Shensi, from _shen_, a +"strait or pass" (not _shan_ a "hill"), and _si_, "west." + +[Page 55] +Here was the earliest home of the Chinese race of which there is +any record. On the Yellow River, which here forms the boundary of +two provinces, stands the city of Si-ngan where the Chou dynasty +set up its throne in the twelfth century B. C. Since that date +many dynasties have made it the seat of empire. Their palaces have +disappeared; but most of them have left monumental inscriptions +from which a connected history might be extracted. To us the most +interesting monument is a stone, erected about 800 A. D. to commemorate +the introduction of Christianity by some Nestorian missionaries +from western Asia. + +The province of Kansuh is comparatively barren. Its boundaries +extend far out into regions peopled by Mongol tribes; and the +neighbourhood of great deserts gives it an arid climate unfavourable +to agriculture. Many of its inhabitants are immigrants from Central +Asia and profess the Mohammedan faith. It is almost surrounded by +the Yellow River, like a picture set in a gilded frame, reminding +one of that river of paradise which "encompasseth the whole land +of Havilah where there is gold." Whether there is gold in Kansuh +we have yet to learn; but no doubt some grains of the precious +metal might be picked up amongst its shifting sands. + + + + +[Page 56] +CHAPTER XII + +OUTLYING TERRITORIES + +_Manchuria--Mongolia--Turkestan--Tibet, the Roof of the World--Journey +of Huc and Gabet._ + +Beyond the eastern extremity of the Great Wall, bounded on the +west by Mongolia, on the north by the Amur, on the east by the +Russian seaboard, and on the south by Korea and the Gulf of Pechili, +lies the home of the Manchus--the race now dominant in the Chinese +Empire. China claims it, just as Great Britain claimed Normandy, +because her conquerors came from that region; and now that two +of her neighbours have exhausted themselves in fighting for it, +she will take good care that neither of them shall filch the jewel +from her crown. + +That remarkable achievement, the conquest of China by a few thousand +semi-civilised Tartars, is treated in the second part of this work. + +Manchuria consists of three regions now denominated provinces, +Shengking, Kairin, and Helungkiang. They are all under one +governor-general whose seat is at Mukden, a city sacred in the +eyes of every Manchu, because there are the tombs of the fathers +of the dynasty. + +The native population of Manchuria having been drafted off to garrison +and colonise the conquered +[Page 57] +country, their deserted districts were thrown open to Chinese settlers. +The population of the three provinces is mainly Chinese, and, +assimilated in government to those of China, they are reckoned +as completing the number of twenty-one. Opulent in grain-fields, +forests, and minerals, with every facility for commerce, no part of +the empire has a brighter future. So thinly peopled is its northern +portion that it continues to be a vast hunting-ground which supplies +the Chinese market with sables and tiger-skins besides other peltries. +The tiger-skins are particularly valuable as having longer and +richer fur than those of Bengal. + +Of the Manchus as a people, I shall speak later on.[*] Those remaining +in their original habitat are extremely rude and ignorant; yet +even these hitherto neglected regions are now coming under the +enlightening influence of a system of government schools. + +[Footnote *: Part II. page 140 and 142; part III, pages 267-280] + +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, if not of the Empire, +is scarcely better known than the mountain regions of Tibet, a +large portion of its area being covered with deserts as uninviting +and as seldom visited as the African Sahara. One route, however, +has been well trodden by Russian travellers, namely, that lying +between Kiachta and Peking. + +In the reign of Kanghi the Russians were granted the privilege of +establishing an ecclesiastical mission to minister to a Cossack +garrison which the Emperor had captured at Albazin trespassing on +his grounds. Like another Nebuchadnezzar, he transplanted them +to the soil of China. He also permitted the Russians +[Page 58] +to bring tribute to the "Son of Heaven" once in ten years. That +implied a right to trade, so that the Russians, like other envoys, +in Chinese phrase "came lean and went away fat." But they were +not allowed to leave the beaten track: they were merchants, not +travellers. Not till the removal of the taboo within the last +half-century have these outlying dependencies been explored by +men like Richthofen and Sven Hedin. Formerly the makers of maps +garnished those unknown regions + + "With caravans for want of towns." + +Sooth to say, there are no towns, except Urga, a shrine for pilgrimage, +the residence of a living Buddha, and Kiachta and Kalgan, terminal +points of the caravan route already referred to. + +Kiachta is a double town--one-half of it on each side of the +Russo-Chinese boundary--presenting in striking contrast the magnificence +of a Russian city and the poverty and filth of a Tartar encampment. +The whole country is called in Chinese "the land of grass." Its +inhabitants have sheepfolds and cattle ranches, but neither fields +nor houses, unless tents and temporary huts may be so designated. +To this day, nomadic in their habits, they migrate from place to +place with their flocks and herds as the exigencies of water and +pasturage may require. + +Lines of demarcation exist for large tracts belonging to a tribe, +but no minor divisions such as individual holdings. The members of +a clan all enjoy their grazing range in common, and hold themselves +ready to fight for the rights of their chieftain. Bloody feuds +lasting for generations, such as would rival those of +[Page 59] +the Scottish clans, are not of infrequent occurrence. Their Manchu +overlord treats these tribal conflicts with sublime indifference, +as he does the village wars in China. + +The Mongolian chiefs, or "princes" as they are called, are forty-eight +in number. The "forty-eight princes" is a phrase as familiar to +the Chinese ear as the "eighteen provinces" is to ours. Like the +Manchus they are arranged in groups under eight banners. Some of +them took part in the conquest, but the Manchus are too suspicious +to permit them to do garrison duty in the Middle Kingdom, lest the +memories of Kublai Khan and his glory should be awakened. They +are, however, held liable to military service. Seng Ko Lin Sin +("Sam Collinson" as the British dubbed him), a Lama prince, headed +the northern armies against the Tai-ping rebels and afterwards +suffered defeat at the hands of the British and French before the +gates of Peking. + +In the winter the Mongol princes come with their clansmen to revel +in the delights of Cambalu, the city of the great Khan, as they +have continued to call Peking ever since the days of Kublai, whose +magnificence has been celebrated by Marco Polo. Their camping-ground +is the Mongolian Square which is crowded with tabernacles built +of bamboo and covered with felt. In a sort of bazaar may be seen +pyramids of butter and cheese, two commodities that are abominations +to the Chinese of the south, but are much appreciated by Chinese +in Peking as well as by the Manchus. One may see also mountains +of venison perfectly fresh; the frozen carcasses of "yellow sheep" +[Page 60] +(really not sheep, but antelopes); then come wild boars in profusion, +along with badgers, hares, and troops of live dogs--the latter only +needing to be wild to make them edible. This will give some faint +idea of Mongolia's contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis. +Devout Buddhist as he is, the average Mongol deems abstinence from +animal food a degree of sanctity unattainable by him. + +Mongols of the common classes are clad in dirty sheepskins. Their +gentry and priesthood dress themselves in the spoils of wolf or +fox--more costly but not more clean. Furs, felt, and woollen fabrics +of the coarsest texture may also be noticed. Raiment of camel's +hair, strapped with a leathern girdle after the manner of John +the Baptist, may be seen any day, and the wearers are not regarded +as objects of commiseration. + +Their camel, too, is wonderfully adapted to its habitat. Provided +with two humps, it carries a natural saddle; and, clothed in long +wool, yellow, brown or black, it looks in winter a lordly beast. +Its fleece is never shorn, but is shed in summer. At that season +the poor naked animal is the most pitiable of creatures. In the +absence of railways and carriage roads, it fills the place of the +ship of the desert and performs the heaviest tasks, such as the +transporting of coals and salt. Most docile of slaves, at a word +from its master it kneels down and quietly accepts its burden. + +At Peking there is a lamasary where four hundred Mongol monks are +maintained in idleness at the expense of the Emperor. Their manners +are those of highwaymen. They have been known to lay rough +[Page 61] +hands on visitors in order to extort a charitable dole; and, if +rumour may be trusted, their morals are far from exemplary. + +My knowledge of the Mongols is derived chiefly from what I have +seen of them in Peking. I have also had a glimpse of their country +at Kalgan, beyond the Great Wall. A few lines from a caravan song +by the Rev. Mark Williams give a picture of a long journey by those +slow coaches: + + "Inching along, we are inching along, + At the pace of a snail, we are inching along, + Our horses are hardy, our camels are strong, + We all shall reach Urga by inching along. + + "The things that are common, all men will despise; + But these in the desert we most highly prize. + For water is worth more than huge bags of gold + And argols than diamonds of value untold." + --_A Flight for Life_, Pilgrim Press, Boston. + +Politically Turkestan is not Mongolia, but Tamerlane, though born +there, was a Mongol. His descendants were the Moguls of India. At +different epochs peoples called Turks and Huns have wandered over +the Mongolian plateau, and Mongols have swept over Turkestan. To +draw a line of demarcation is neither easy nor important. In the +Turkestan of to-day the majority of the people follow the prophet +of Mecca. Russia has absorbed most of the khanates, and has tried +more than once to encroach on portions belonging to China. In one +instance she was foiled and compelled to disgorge by the courage of +Viceroy Chang, a story which I reserve for the sequel. The coveted +region was Ili, and Russia's pretext for crossing the +[Page 62] +boundary was the chronic state of warfare in which the inhabitants +existed. + +Tibet is the land of the Grand Lama. Is it merely tributary or +is it a portion of the Chinese Empire? This is a question that +has been warmly agitated during the last two years--brought to +the front by Colonel Younghusband's expedition and by a treaty +made in Lhasa. Instead of laying their complaints before the court +of Peking, the Indian Government chose to settle matters on the +spot, ignoring the authority of China. Naturally China has been +provoked to instruct her resident at Lhasa to maintain her rights. + +A presumptive claim might be based on the fact, that the Grand Lama +took refuge at Urga, where he remained until the Empress Dowager +ordered him to return to his abandoned post. China has always had +a representative at his court; but his function would appear to +be that of a political spy rather than an overseer, governor, or +even adviser. Chinese influence in Tibet is nearly _nil_. +For China to assert authority by interference and to make herself +responsible for Tibet's shortcomings would be a questionable policy, +against which two wars ought to be a sufficient warning. She was +involved with France by her interference in Tongking and with Japan +by interference in Korea. Too much intermeddling in Tibet might +easily embroil her with Great Britain. + +In one sense the Buddhist pope may justly claim to be the highest of +earthly potentates. No other sits on a throne at an equal elevation +above the level of the sea. Like Melchizedeck, he is without father +or mother--each occupant of the throne being a fresh +[Page 63] +incarnation of Buddha. The signs of Buddhaship are known only to +the initiated; but they are supposed to consist in the recognition +of places, persons, and apparel. These lamas never die of old age. + +While in other parts of the Empire polygamy prevails for those +who can afford it, in Tibet polyandry crops up. Which is the more +offensive to good morals we need not decide; but is it not evident +that Confucianism shows its weakness on one side as Buddhism does +on the other? A people that tolerates either or both hardly deserves +to be regarded as civilised. + +The Chinese call Tibet the "roof of the world," and most of it is +as barren as the roof of a house. Still the roof, though producing +nothing, collects water to irrigate a garden. Tibet is the mother +of great rivers, and she feeds them from her eternal snows. On her +highlands is a lake or cluster of lakes which the Chinese describe +as _Sing Su Hai_, the "sea of stars." From this the Yellow +River takes its rise and perhaps the Yang-tse Kiang. A Chinese +legend says that Chang Chien poled a raft up to the source of the +Yellow River and found himself in the Milky Way, _Tienho_, +the "River of Heaven." + +Fifty years ago two intrepid French missionaries, Huc and Gabet, +made their way to Lhasa, but they were not allowed to remain there. +The Chinese residents made them prisoners, under pretext of giving +them protection, and sent them to the seacoast through the heart +of the empire. They were thus enabled to see the vast interior +at a time when it was barred alike to traveller and missionary. +Of this adventurous +[Page 64] +journey Huc's published "Travels" is the immortal monument. + +We have thus gone over China and glanced at most of her outlying +dependencies. The further exploration of Tibet we may postpone +until she has made good her claims to dominion in that mountain +region. The vastness of the Chinese Empire and the immensity of +its population awaken in the mind a multitude of questions to which +nothing but history can give an adequate reply. We come therefore +to the oracle whose responses may perhaps be less dubious than +those of Delphi. + + + + +[Page 65] +PART II + +HISTORY IN OUTLINE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + + + +[Page 67] +CHAPTER XIII + +ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE + +_Parent Stock a Migratory People--They Invade China from the +Northwest and Colonise the Banks of the Yellow River and of the +Han--Their Conflicts with the Aborigines--Native Tribes Absorbed +by Conquerors_ + +That the parent stock in which the Chinese nation had its origin +was a small migratory people, like the tribes of Israel, and that +they entered the land of promise from the northwest is tolerably +certain; but to trace their previous wanderings back to Shinar, +India, or Persia would be a waste of time, as the necessary data +are lacking. Even within their appointed domain the accounts of +their early history are too obscure to be accepted as to any extent +reliable. + +They appear to have begun their career of conquest by colonising +the banks of the Yellow River and those of the Han. By slow stages +they moved eastward to the central plain and southward to the Yang-tse +Kiang. At that early epoch, between 3000 and 2000 B. C., they found the +country already occupied by various wild tribes whom they considered +as savages. In their early traditions they describe these tribes +respectively by four words: those of the south are called _Man_ +(a word with the silk radical); those on the east, _Yi_ (with +[Page 68] +the bow radical); those on the north, _Tih_ (represented by +a dog and fire); and those on the west, _Jung_ ("war-like, +fierce," the symbol for their ideograph being a spear). Each of +these names points to something distinctive. Some of these tribes +were, perhaps, spinners of silk; some, hunters; and all of them, +formidable enemies. + +The earliest book of history opens with conflicts with aborigines. +There can be no question that the slow progress made by the invaders +in following the course of those streams on which the most ancient +capitals of the Chinese were subsequently located was owing to the +necessity of fighting their way. Shun, the second sovereign of +whose reign there is record (2200 B. c.), is said to have waged +war with San Miao, three tribes of _miaotze_ or aborigines, +a term still applied to the independent tribes of the southwest. +Beaten in the field, or at least suffering a temporary check, he +betook himself to the rites of religion, making offerings and praying +to Shang-ti, the supreme ruler. "After forty days," it is stated, +"the natives submitted." + +In the absence of any explanation it may be concluded that during +the suspension of hostilities negotiations were proceeding which +resulted not in the destruction of the natives, but in their +incorporation with their more civilised neighbours. This first +recorded amalgamation of the kind was doubtless an instance of +a process of growth that continued for many centuries, resulting +in the absorption of all the native tribes on the north of the +Yang-tse and of most of those on the south. The expanding state +was eventually composed of a vast body of natives who submitted +[Page 69] +to their civilised conquerors, much as the people of Mexico and +Peru consented to be ruled by a handful of Spaniards.[*] + +[Footnote *: To this day, the bulk of the people in those countries +show but small traces of Spanish blood. Juarez, the famous dictator, +was a pure Indian.] + +As late as the Christian era any authentic account of permanent +conquests in China to the south of the "Great River" is still wanting, +though warlike expeditions in that direction were not infrequent. The +people of the northern provinces called themselves _Han-jin_, +"men of Han" or "sons of Han," while those of the south styled +themselves _T'ang-jin_, "men of T'ang." Does not this indicate +that, while the former were moulded into unity by the great dynasty +which took its name from the river Han (206 B. c.), the latter +did not become Chinese until the brilliant period of the T'angs, +nearly a thousand years later? Further confirmation need not be +adduced to show that the empire of the Far East contemporary with, +and superior in civilisation to, ancient Rome, embraced less than +the eighteen provinces of China Proper. Of the nine districts into +which it was divided by Ta-yü, 2100 B. C. not one was south of +the "Great River." + + + + +[Page 70] +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MYTHICAL PERIOD + +_Account of Creation--P'an-ku, the Ancient Founder--The Three +Sovereigns--The Five Rulers, the Beginnings of Human Civilisation--The +Golden Age--Yau, the Unselfish Monarch--Shun, the Paragon of Domestic +Virtues--Story of Ta-yü--Rise of Hereditary Monarchy_ + +Unlike the Greeks and Hindoos, the Chinese are deficient in the sort +of imagination that breeds a poetical mythology. They are not, however, +wanting in that pride of race which is prone to lay claim to the past +as well as to the future. They have accordingly constructed, not a +mythology, but a fictitious history which begins with the creation of +the world. + +How men and animals were made they do not say; but they assert that +heaven and earth were united in a state of chaos until a divine man, +whom they call P'an-ku, the "ancient founder," rent them asunder. +Pictures show him wielding his sledge-hammer and disengaging sun +and moon from overlying hills--a grotesque conception in strong +contrast with the simple and sublime statement, "God said, 'Let +there be light' and there was light." P'an-ku was followed by a +divine being named Nü-wa, in regard to whom it +[Page 71] +is doubtful whether to speak in the feminine or in the masculine +gender. Designated queen more frequently than king, it is said +of her that, a portion of the sky having fallen down (probably +owing to the defective work of her predecessor), she rebuilt it +with precious stones of many colours. _Lien shih pu tien_, +"to patch the sky with precious stones," is a set phrase by which +the Chinese indicate that which is fabulous and absurd. + +Instead of filling the long interval between the creation of the +world and the birth of history with gods and fairies, the Chinese +cover that period by three sovereigns whom they call after their +favourite triad, heaven, earth, and man, giving them the respective +titles Tién-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang. Each of these reigned +eighteen thousand years; but what they reigned over is not apparent. +At all events they seem to have contributed little to the comfort +of their people; for at the close of that long period the wretched +inhabitants of the empire--the only country then known to exist +on earth--had no houses, no clothes, no laws, and no letters. + +Now come five personages who, in accordance with Chinese historical +propriety, are likewise invested with imperial dignity and are +called Wu-ti, "the five rulers." Collectively they represent the +first appearance of the useful arts, the rude beginnings of human +civilisation. One of these rulers, noticing that birds constructed +nests, taught his people to build huts, from which he is called the +"nest builder." Another was the Prometheus of his day and obtained +fire, not, however, by stealing it from the sun, but by +[Page 72] +honestly working for it with two pieces of wood which he rubbed +together. The third of these rulers, named Fuhi, appears to have been +the teacher of his people in the art of rearing domestic animals; +in other words, the initiator of pastoral life, and possibly the +originator of sacrificial offerings. The fourth in order introduced +husbandry. As has been stated in a previous chapter (see page 36), +he has no name except Shin-nung, "divine husbandman"; and under +that title he continues to be worshipped at the present day as +the Ceres of China. The Emperor every spring repairs to his temple +to plough a few furrows by way of encouragement to his people. The +last of the five personages is called the "yellow ruler," whether +from the colour of his robes, or as ruler of the yellow race, is +left in doubt. He is credited with the invention of letters and +the cycle of sixty years, the foundation of Chinese chronology +(2700 B. C.). + +Unlike the long twilight which precedes the dawn in high latitudes, +the semi-mythical age was brief, covering no more than two reigns, +those of Yao and Shun. Confucius regarded these as included in +the "five rulers." To make room for them, he omits the first two; +and he seldom refers to the others, but appears to accept them as +real personages. He is no critic; but he has shown good sense in +drawing the line no further back. He has made the epoch of these +last a golden age (2356-2206) which is not the creation of a poet, +but the conception of a philosopher who wished to have an open space +on which to build up his political theories. He found, moreover, +in these primitive times some features by which he was +[Page 73] +greatly fascinated. The simplicity and freedom which appeared to +prevail in those far-off days were to him very attractive. + +It is related that Yao, the type of an unselfish monarch, while +on a tour of inspection in the disguise of a peasant, heard an +old man singing this song to the notes of his guitar: + + "I plough my ground and eat my own bread, + I dig my well and drink my own water: + What use have I for king or court?" + +Yao returned to his palace, rejoicing that the state of his country +was such that his people were able to forget him. + +Another feature which the Chinese hold up in bold relief is the fact +that in those days the occupancy of the throne was not hereditary. +Yao is said to have reigned a hundred years. When he was growing old +he saw with grief that his son showed no signs of being a worthy +successor. Setting him aside, therefore, he asked his ministers +to recommend someone as his heir. They all agreed in nominating +Shun. "What are his merits?" asked the King. "Filial piety and +fraternal kindness," they replied. "By these virtues he has wrought +a reform in a family noted for perverseness." The King desiring +to know the facts, they related the following story: + +"Shun's father is an ill-natured, blind man. He has a cruel stepmother +and a selfish, petulant younger brother. This boy, the pet of his +parents, treated Shun with insolence; and the father and mother +joined in persecuting the elder son. Shun, without showing resentment, +cried aloud to Heaven and obtained +[Page 74] +patience to bear their harshness. By duty and affection he has won +the hearts of all three." "Bring him before me," said the King; "I +have yet another trial by which to test his virtues." Yao made him +his son-in-law, giving him his two daughters at once. He wished to +see whether the good son and brother would also be a good husband and +father--an example for his people in all their domestic relations. +Shun accepted the test with becoming resignation and comported +himself to the satisfaction of the old king, who raised him to the +throne. After a reign of fifty years, partly as Yao's associate, +Shun followed the example of his father-in-law. Passing by his +own son, he left the throne to Ta-yü or Yü, a man who had been +subjected to trials far more serious than that of having to live +in the same house with a pair of pretty princesses. + +A question discussed in the school of Mencius, many centuries later, +may be cited here for the light it throws on the use made by Chinese +schoolmen of the examples of this period. "Suppose," said one of +his students, "that Shun's father had killed a man, would Shun, +being king, have allowed him to be condemned?" "No," replied the +master; "he would have renounced the throne and, taking his father +on his shoulders, he would have fled away to the seaside, rejoicing +in the consciousness of having performed the duty of a filial son." +Shun continues to be cited as the paragon of domestic virtues, +occupying the first place in a list of twenty-four who are noted +for filial piety. + +The trial by which the virtues of Ta-yü were proved +[Page 75] +was an extraordinary feat of engineering--nothing less than the +subduing of the waters of a deluge. "The waters," said the King, +"embosom the high hills and insolently menace heaven itself. Who +will find us a man to take them in hand and keep them in place?" +His ministers recommended one Kun. Kun failed to accomplish the +task, and Shun, who in this case hardly serves for the model of a +just ruler, put him to death. Then the task was imposed on Ta-yü, the +son of the man who had been executed. After nine years of incredible +hardships he brought the work to a successful termination. During this +time he extended his care to the rivers of more than one province, +dredging, ditching, and diking. Three times he passed his own door +and, though he heard the cries of his infant son, he did not once +enter his house. The son of a criminal who had suffered death, +a throne was the meed of his diligence and ability. + +A temple in Hanyang, at the confluence of two rivers, commemorates +Ta-yü's exploit, which certainly throws the labours of Hercules +completely into the shade. On the opposite side of the river stands +a pillar, inscribed in antique hieroglyphics, which professes to +record this great achievement. It is a copy of one which stands +on Mount Hang; and the characters, in the tadpole style, are so +ancient that doubts as to their actual meaning exist among scholars +of the present day. Each letter is accordingly accompanied by its +equivalent in modern Chinese. The stone purports to have been erected +by Ta-yü himself--good ground for suspicion--but it has been +[Page 76] +proved to be a fabrication of a later age, though still very ancient.[*] + +[Footnote *: Dr. Hänisch of Berlin has taken great pains to expose +the imposture.] + +In the two preceding reigns the sovereign had always consulted +the public good rather than family interest--a form of monarchy +which the Chinese call elective, but which has never been followed, +save that the Emperor exercises the right of choice among his sons +irrespective of primogeniture. The man who bears the odium of having +departed from the unselfish policy of Yao and Shun is this same +Ta-yü. He left the throne to his son and, as the Chinese say, "made +of the empire a family estate." + +This narrative comes from the _Shu-King_ or "Book of History," +the most venerated of the Five Classics edited by Confucius; but +the reader will readily perceive that it is no more historical +than the stories of Codrus or Numa Pompilius. + +In the reign of Yao we have an account of astronomical observations +made with a view to fixing the length of the year. The King tells +one man to go to the east and another to the west, to observe the +culmination and transit of certain stars. As a result he says they +will find that the year consists of 366 days, a close approximation +for that epoch. The absurdity of this style, which attributes +omniscience to the prince and leaves to his agents nothing but +the task of verification, should not be allowed to detract from +the credit due to their observations. The result arrived at was +about the same as that reached by the Babylonians at the same date +(2356 B. c.) + +Other rulers who are credited with great inventions +[Page 77] +probably made them in the same way. Whether under Fuhi or Hwang-ti, +Ts'ang-kié is recognised as the Cadmus of China, the author of its +written characters; and Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, is admitted +to be the author of the cycle of sixty. Both of those emperors +may be imagined as calling up their ministers and saying to one, +"Go and invent the art of writing," and to the other, "Work out +a system of chronology." + +In the same way, the inception of the culture of the silkworm and the +discovery of the magnetic needle are attributed to the predecessors +of Yao, probably on the principle that treasure-trove was the property +of the King and that if no claimant for the honour could be found +it must be attributed to some ancient monarch. The production of +silk, as woman's work, they profess to assign to the consort of one +of those worthies--a thing improbable if not impossible, her place +of residence being in the north of China. Their picture-writing tells +a different tale. Their word for a southern barbarian, compounded of +"silk" and "worm," points to the south as the source of that useful +industry, much as our word "silk," derived from _sericum_, +points to China as its origin. + + + + +[Page 78] +CHAPTER XV + +THE THREE DYNASTIES + +_The House of Hia--Ta-yu's Consideration for His Subjects--Kié's +Excesses--The House of Shang--Shang-tang, the Founder, Offers Himself +as a Sacrificial Victim, and Brings Rain--Chou-sin Sets Fire to +His Own Palace and Perishes in the Flames--The House of Chou_ + +The Hia, Shang and Chou dynasties together extend over the twenty-two +centuries preceding the Christian Era. The first occupies 440 years; +the second, 644; and the last, in the midst of turmoil and anarchy, +drags out a miserable existence of 874 years. They are grouped +together as the San Tai or San Wang, "the Three Houses of Kings," +because that title was employed by the founder of each. Some of +their successors were called _Ti_; but _Hwang-ti_, the +term for "emperor" now in use, was never employed until it was +assumed by the builder of the Great Wall on the overthrow of the +feudal states and the consolidation of the empire, 240 B. C. + + + THE HOUSE OF HIA, 2205-1766 B. C. + (17 kings, 2 usurpers) + +Unlike most founders of royal houses, who come to the throne through +a deluge of blood, Ta-yü, as has been shown in the last chapter, +climbed to that eminence +[Page 79] +through a deluge of water. Like Noah, the hero of an earlier deluge, +he seems to have indulged, for once at least, too freely in the use +of wine. A chapter in the "Book of History," entitled "A Warning +Against Wine," informs us that one Yiti having made wine presented +it to his prince. Ta-yü was delighted with it, but discontinued its +use, saying that in time to come kings would lose their thrones +through a fondness for the beverage. In China "wine" is a common +name for all intoxicating drinks. That referred to in this passage +was doubtless a distillation from rice or millet. + +In the discharge of his public duties Ta-yü showed himself no less +diligent than in contending with the waters. He hung at his door a +bell which the poorest of his subjects might ring and thus obtain +immediate attention. It is said that when taking a bath, if he heard +the bell he sometimes rushed out without adjusting his raiment +and that while partaking of a meal, if the bell rang he did not +allow himself time to swallow his rice. + +Prior to laying down his toilsome dignity Ta-yü caused to be cast +nine brazen tripods, each bearing an outline map or a description +of one of the provinces of the empire. In later ages these were +deemed preeminently the patent of imperial power. On one occasion a +feudal prince asked the question, "How heavy are these tripods?" A +minister of state, suspecting an intention to remove them and usurp +the power, replied in a long speech, proving the divine commission +of his master, and asked in conclusion, "Why then should you inquire +the weight of these tripods?" + +[Page 80] +Of the subsequent reigns nothing worth repetition is recorded except +the fall of the dynasty. This, however, is due more to the meagreness +of the language of that day than to the insignificance of the seventeen +kings. Is it not probable that they were occupied in making good +their claim to the nine provinces emblazoned on the tripods? + +Kié, the last king, is said to have fallen under the fascination +of a beautiful woman and to have spent his time in undignified +carousals. He built a mountain of flesh and filled a tank with +wine, and to amuse her he caused 3,000 of his courtiers to go on +all fours and drink from the tank like so many cows. + + + THE SHANG DYNASTY, 1766-1122 B. C. + (28 kings) + +The founder of this dynasty was Shang-tang, or Cheng-tang, who to +great valour added the virtues of humanity and justice. Pitying +the oppressions of the people, he came to them as a deliverer; +and the frivolous tyrant was compelled to retire into obscurity. +A more remarkable exhibition of public spirit was the offering +of himself as a victim to propitiate the wrath of Heaven. In a +prolonged famine, his prayers having failed to bring rain, the +soothsayers said that a human victim was required. "It shall be +myself," he replied; and, stripping off his regal robes, he laid +himself on the altar. A copious shower was the response to this +act of devotion. + +The successor of Shang-tang was his grandson T'ai-kia, who was under +the tutelage of a wise minister +[Page 81] +named I-yin. Observing the indolence and pleasure-loving disposition +of the young man, the minister sent him into retirement for three +years that he might acquire habits of sobriety and diligence. The +circumstance that makes this incident worth recording is that the +minister, instead of retaining the power in his own family, restored +the throne to its rightful occupant. + +Another king of this house, by name P'an-keng, has no claim to +distinction other than that of having moved his capital five times. +As we are not told that he was pursued by vindictive enemies, we +are left to the conjecture that he was escaping from disastrous +floods, or, perhaps under the influence of a silly superstition, +was in quest of some luckier site. + +Things went from bad to worse, and finally Chou-sin surpassed in +evil excesses the man who had brought ruin upon the House of Hia. +The House of Shang of course suffered the same fate. An ambitious +but kind-hearted prince came forward to succour the people, and +was welcomed by them as a deliverer. The tyrant, seeing that all +was lost, arrayed himself in festal robes, set fire to his own +palace, and, like another Sardanapalus, perished in the flames. + +He and Kié make a couple who are held up to everlasting execration +as a warning to tyrannical princes. Like his remote predecessor, +Chou-sin is reputed to have been led into his evil courses by a +wicked woman, named Ta-ki. One suspects that neither one nor the +other stood in need of such prompting. According to history, bad +kings are generally worse than bad queens. In China, however, a +woman is considered out of place +[Page 82] +when she lays her hand on the helm of state. Hence the tendency +to blacken the names of those famous court beauties. + +If Mencius may be believed, the tyrants themselves were not quite +so profligate as the story makes them. He says, "Dirty water has +a tendency to accumulate in the lowest sinks"; and he warns the +princes of his time not to put themselves in a position in which +future ages will continue to heap opprobrium on their memory. + +Of the wise founders of this dynasty it is said that they "made +religion the basis of education," as did the Romans, who prided +themselves on devotion to their gods. In both cases natural religion +degenerated into gross superstition. In the number of their gods +the Chinese have exceeded the Romans; and they refer the worship +of many of them to the Shang dynasty. + +The following dynasty, that of Chou (35 sovereigns, 1122-249 B. +C.) merits a separate chapter. + + + + +[Page 83] +CHAPTER XVI + +HOUSE OF CHOU + +_Wen-wang, the founder--Rise and Progress of Culture--Communistic +Land Tenure--Origin of the term "Middle Kingdom"--Duke Chou and +Cheng wang, "The Completer"--A Royal Traveller--Li and Yu, two +bad kings_ + +The merciful conqueror who at this time rescued the people from +oppression was Wu-wang, the martial king. He found, it is said, the +people "hanging with their heads downward" and set them on their +feet. On the eve of the decisive battle he harangued his troops, +appealing to the Deity as the arbiter, and expressing confidence in +the result. "The tyrant," he said, "has ten myriads of soldiers, +and I have but one myriad. His soldiers, however, have ten myriads +of hearts, while my army has but one heart." + +When the battle had been fought and won he turned his war-horses +out to pasture and ordained that they should be forever free from +yoke and saddle. Could he have been less humane in the treatment +of his new subjects? + +The credit of his victory he gave to ten wise counsellors, one +of whom was his mother. History, however, ascribes it in a large +degree to his father, Wen-wang, +[Page 84] +who was then dead, but who had prepared the way for his son's triumph. + +Wen-wang, the Beauclerc of the Chous, is one of the most notable +figures in the ancient history of China. A vassal prince, by wise +management rather than by military prowess he succeeded in enlarging +his dominions so that he became possessor of two-thirds of the +empire. He is applauded for his wisdom in still paying homage to +his feeble chief. The latter, however, must have regarded him with +no little suspicion, as Wen-wang was thrown into prison, and only +regained his liberty at the cost of a heavy ransom. Wen-wang apparently +anticipated a mortal struggle; for it is related that, seeing an +old man fishing, he detected in him an able general who had fled +the service of the tyrant. "You," said he, "are the very man I +have been looking for"; and, taking him up into his chariot, as +Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the assurance of coming victory. +The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung, the ancestor of the royal House +of Ts'i in Shantung. Though eighty-one years of age he took command +of the cavalry and presided in the councils of his new master. + +Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-wang should be the real +founder of the new dynasty; for now for the first time those pictured +symbols become living blossoms from which the fruits of learning and +philosophy are to be gathered. The rise and progress of a generous +culture is the chief characteristic of the House of Chou. Besides +encouraging letters Wen-wang contributed much to the new literature. +He is known as a commentator in the _Yih-King_, "Book of Changes," +[Page 85] +pronounced by Confucius the profoundest of the ancient classics--a +book which he never understood. + +In theory there was under this and the preceding dynasty no private +ownership of land. The arable ground was laid out in plots of nine +squares, thus: + + ----------- +| | | | +| | | | +|---|---|---| +| | | | +| | | | +|---|---|---| +| | | | +| | | | + ----------- + +Eight of these were assigned to the people to cultivate for themselves; +and the middle square was reserved for the government and tilled +by the joint labour of all. The simple-hearted souls of that day +are said to have prayed that the rains might first descend on the +public field and then visit their private grounds. + +In later years this communistic scheme was found not to work perfectly, +owing, it is said, to the decay of public virtue. A statesman, named +Shangyang, converted the tenure of land into fee simple--a natural +evolution which was, however, regarded as quite too revolutionary +and earned for him the execrations of the populace. + +The charming simplicity of the above little diagram would seem +to have suggested the arrangement of fiefs in the state, in which +the irregular feudality of former times became moulded into a +symmetrical system. The sovereign state was in the centre; and those +of the feudal barons were ranged on the four sides in successive +rows. The central portion was designated _Chung Kwoh_, "Middle +Kingdom," a title which has come to be applied to the whole empire, +implying, of course, that all the nations of the earth are its +vassals. + +Laid out with the order of a camp and ruled with martial vigour, +the new state prospered for a few reigns. +[Page 86] +At length, however, smitten with a disease of the heart the members +no longer obeyed the behests of the head. Decay and anarchy are +written on the last pages of the history of the House of Chou. + +The martial king died young, leaving his infant heir under the +regency of his brother, the Duke of Chou. The latter, who inherited +the tastes and talents of Wen-wang, was avowedly the character which +the great Sage took for his pattern. With fidelity and ability he +completed the pacification of the state. The credit of that achievement +inured to his ward, who received the title of _Cheng-wang_, +"The Completer." + +Accused of scheming to usurp the throne, the Duke resigned his +powers and withdrew from the court. The young prince, opening a +golden casket, found in it a prayer of his uncle, made and sealed +up during a serious illness of the King, imploring Heaven to accept +his life as a ransom for his royal ward. This touching proof of +devotion dispelled all doubt; and the faithful duke was recalled +to the side of the now full-grown monarch. + +Even during the minority of his nephew the Duke never entered his +presence in other than full court costume. On one occasion the +youthful king, playing with a younger brother, handed him a palm +leaf saying, "This shall be your patent of nobility. I make you +duke of such and such a place." The regent remonstrated, whereupon +the King excused himself by saying, "I was only in sport." The +Duke replied, "A king has no right to indulge in such sports," and +insisted that the younger lad receive the investiture and +[Page 87] +emoluments. He was also, it is said, so careful of the sacred person +that he never left on it the mark of his rod. When the little king +deserved chastisement, the guardian always called up his own son, +Pechin, and thrashed him soundly. One pities the poor fellow who +was the innocent substitute more than one admires the scrupulous +and severe regent. The Chinese have a proverb which runs, "Whip +an ass and let a horse see it." + +What shall be said of the successors of Cheng-wang? To account +for the meagre chronicles of previous dynasties one may invoke +the poverty of a language not yet sufficiently mature for the +requirements of history; but for the seeming insignificance of +the long line of Chous, who lived in the early bloom, if not the +rich fruitage, of the classic period, no such apology is admissible. + +Some there were, doubtless, who failed to achieve distinction because +they had no foreign foe to oppose, no internal rebellion to suppress. +Others, again, were so hampered by system that they had nothing +better to do than to receive the homage of vassals. So wearied +was one among them, Mu-wang, the fifth in succession, with those +monotonous ceremonies that he betook himself to foreign travel +as a relief from ennui, or perhaps impelled by an innate love of +adventure. He delighted in horses; and, yoking eight fine steeds +to his chariot, he set off to see the world. A book full of fables +professes to record the narrative of his travels. He had, it says, +a magic whip which possessed the property of compressing the surface +of the earth into a small space. To-day Chinese envoys, with steam and +[Page 88] +electricity at command, are frequently heard to exclaim: "Now at +last we have got the swift steeds and the magic whip of Mu-wang." + +Two other kings, Li and Yu, are pointed at with the finger of scorn +as examples of what a king ought not to be. The latter set aside +his queen and her son in favour of a concubine and her son; and +so offended was high heaven by this unkingly conduct that the sun +hid his face in a total eclipse. This happened 775 B. C.; and it +furnishes the starting-point for a reliable chronology. For her +amusement the king caused the signal-fires to be lighted. She laughed +heartily to see the great barons rush to the rescue and find it was +a false alarm; but she did not smile when, not long after this, +the capital was attacked by a real foe, the father of her injured +rival. The signal-fires were again lighted; but the barons, having +once been deceived by the cry of "Wolf," took care not to expose +themselves again to derision. + +The other king has not been lifted into the fierce light that beats +upon a throne by anything so tragic as a burning palace; but his +name is coupled with that of the former as a synonym of all that +is weak and contemptible. + +The story of the House of Chou is not to be disposed of in a few +paragraphs, like the accounts of the preceding dynasties, because +it was preëminently the formative period of ancient China; the age +of her greatest sages, and the birthday of poetry and philosophy. +I shall therefore devote a chapter to the sages and another to the +reign of anarchy before closing the Book of Chou. + + + + +[Page 89] +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SAGES OF CHINA + +_Confucius--Describes Himself as Editor, not Author--"Model Teacher +of All Ages"--Mencius--More Eloquent than his Great Master--Lao-tse, +the Founder of Taoism_ + +I shall not introduce the reader to all who justly bear the august +title of sage; for China has had more and wiser sages than any other +ancient country. Some of them may be referred to in the sequel; but +this chapter I shall devote chiefly to the two who by universal +consent have no equals in the history of the Empire--Confucius and +Mencius. These great men owe much of their fame to the learned +Jesuits who first brought them on the stage, clad in the Roman toga, +and made them citizens of the world by giving them the euphonious +names by which they are popularly known. Stripped of their disguise +they appear respectively as K'ung Fu-tse and Meng-tse. Exchanging +the _ore rotunda_ of Rome for the sibillation of China, they +never could have been naturalised as they are now. + + +CONFUCIUS + +Born in the year 549 B. C., Confucius was contemporaneous with +Isaiah and Socrates. Of a respectable but not opulent family he +had to struggle for his +[Page 90] +education--a fact which in after years he was so far from concealing +that he ascribed to it much of his success in life. To one who +asked him, "How comes it that you are able to do so many things," +he replied, "I was born poor and had to learn." His schoolmasters +are unknown; and it might be asked of him, as it was of a greater +than Confucius, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" + +Of his self-education, which continued through life, he gives the +following concise account: "At fifteen I entered on a life of study; +at thirty I took my stand as a scholar; at forty my opinions were +fixed; at fifty I knew how to judge and select; at sixty I never +relapsed into a known fault; at seventy I could follow my inclinations +without going wrong." Note how each stage marks an advance towards +moral excellence. Mark also that this passage gives an outline +of self-discipline. It says nothing of his books or of his work +as a statesman and a reformer. + +He is said to have had, first and last, three thousand disciples. +Those longest under instruction numbered twelve. They studied, not +with lectures and textbooks, as in modern schools, but by following +his footsteps and taking the impress of his character, much as +Peter and John followed the steps and studied the life of Christ. +Some of them followed Confucius when, bent on effecting a political +as well as an ethical reform, he travelled from court to court +among the petty principalities. They have placed it on record that +once, when exposed to great peril, he comforted them by saying, +"If Heaven has made me the depositary of these teachings, what +can my enemies do against +[Page 91] +me?" Nobly conscious of a more than human mission, so pure were +his teachings that, though he taught morals, not religion, he might +fairly, with Socrates, be allowed to claim a sort of inspiration. + +The one God, of whom he knew little, he called Heaven, and he always +spoke of Heaven with the profoundest reverence. When neglected or +misunderstood he consoled himself by saying, "Heaven knows me." +During a serious illness a disciple inquired if he should pray for +him, meaning the making of offerings at some temple. Confucius +answered, "I have long prayed," or "I have long been in the habit +of praying." + +In letters he described himself as an "editor, not an author," +meaning that he had revised the works of the ancients, but had +published nothing of his own. Out of their poetry he culled three +hundred odes and declared that "purity of thought" might be stamped on +the whole collection. Into a confused mass of traditional ceremonies +be brought something like order, making the Chinese (if a trifle too +ceremonious) the politest people on earth. Out of their myths and +chronicles he extracted a trustworthy history, and by his treatment +of vice he made princes tremble, lest their heads should be exposed +on the gibbet of history. He gave much time to editing the music +of the ancients, but his work in that line has perished. This, +however, cannot be regarded as a very great loss, in view of the rude +condition in which Chinese music is still found. However deficient +his knowledge of the art, his passion for music was extraordinary. +After hearing a fine performance "he was unable for +[Page 92] +three months to enjoy his food." A fifth task was the editing of +the _Yih-King_,[*] the book of divination compiled by Wen-wang. +How thoroughly he believed in it is apparent from his saying, "Should +it please Heaven to grant me five or ten years to study this book, +I would not be in danger of falling into great errors." He meant +that he would then be able to shape his conduct by the calculation +of chances. + +[Footnote *: This and the preceding are the Five Classics, which, +like the five books of Moses, lie at the root of a nation's religion +and learning.] + +Great as were his labours in laying the foundation of literary +culture, the impression made by his personal intercourse and by +his collected sayings has been ten-fold more influential. They form +the substance of the Four Books which, from a similar numerical +coincidence, the Chinese are fond of comparing with our Four Gospels. +Confucius certainly gives the Golden Rule as the essence of his +teaching. True, he puts it in a negative form, "Do not unto others +what you would not have them do to you"; but he also says, "My +doctrine is comprehended in two words, _chung_ and _shu_." +The former denotes fidelity; the latter signifies putting oneself +in the place of another, but it falls short of that active charity +which has changed the face of the world. + +It were easy to point out Confucius' limitations and mistakes; yet +on the whole his merits were such that his people can hardly be +blamed for the exaggerated honours which they show to his memory. +They style him the "model teacher of all ages," but they do not +invoke him as a tutelary deity, nor do they represent +[Page 93] +him by an image. Excessively honorific, their worship of Confucius +is not idolatry. + + +MENCIUS + +A hundred years later Mencius was born, and received his doctrine +through the grandson of the Sage. More eloquent than his great +master, more bold in rebuking the vices of princes, he was less +original. One specimen of his teaching must suffice. One of the +princes asking him, "How do you know that I have it in me to become +a good ruler?" he replied, "I am told that, seeing the extreme +terror of an ox that was being led to the altar, you released it +and commanded a sheep to be offered in its stead. The ox was before +your eyes and you pitied it; the sheep was not before your eyes +and you had no pity on it. Now with such a heart if you would only +think of your people, so as to bring them before your eyes, you +might become the best of rulers." + +Mencius lost his father in his infancy, but his mother showed rare +good sense in the bringing up of her only child. Living near a +butcher, she noticed that the boy mimicked the cries of the pigs. +She then removed to the gate of a cemetery; but, noticing that the +child changed his tune and mocked the wailing of mourners, she +struck her tent and took up her abode near a high school. There +she observed with joy that he learned the manners and acquired the +tastes of a student. Perceiving, however, that he was in danger +of becoming lazy and dilatory, she cut the warp of her web and +said, "My son, this is what you are doing with the web of life." + +[Page 94] +The tomb of each of these sages is in the keeping of one of his +descendants, who enjoys the emoluments of a hereditary noble. Mencius +himself says of the master whom he never saw, "Since men were born +on earth there has been no man like Confucius." + + +LAO-TSE + +I cannot close this chapter without a word or two on Lao-tse, the +founder of Taoism. He bore the family name of _Li_, "plum-tree," +either from the fact that his cottage was in a garden or possibly +because, like the Academics, he placed his school in a grove of +plum-trees. The name by which he is now known signifies "old master," +probably because he was older than Confucius. The latter is said +to have paid him a visit to inquire about rites and ceremonies; +but Lao-tse, with his love of solitude and abstract speculation, +seems not to have exerted much influence on the mind of the rising +philosopher. In allusion to him, Confucius said, "Away from men +there is no philosophy--no _tao_." + +Less honoured by the official class, Lao-tse's influence with the +masses of China has been scarcely less than that of his younger +rival. Like the other two sages he, too, has to-day a representative, +who enjoys an official status as high priest of the Taoist sect. +Chang Tien-shi dwells in a stately palace on the summit of the +Tiger and Dragon Mountain, in Kiangsi, as the head of one of the +three religions. But, alas! the sublime teachings of the founder +of Taoism have degenerated into a contemptible mixture of jugglery +and witchcraft. + +[Page 95] +Not till five centuries later did Buddhism enter China and complete +the triad of religions--a triad strangely inharmonious; indeed one +can scarcely conceive of three creeds more radically antagonistic. + + + + +[Page 96] +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE WARRING STATES + +_Five Dictators--Diplomacy and Strategy--A Brave Envoy--Heroes +Reconciled--Ts'in Extinguishes the House of Chou_ + +In the first half of the Chou dynasty the machinery moved with +such regularity that Confucius could think of no form of government +more admirable, saying, "The policy of the future may be foretold +for a hundred generations--it will be to follow the House of Chou." +The latter half was a period of misrule and anarchy. + +Ambitions and jealousies led to petty wars. The King being too +feeble to repress them, these petty wars grew into vast combinations +like the leagues of modern Europe. Five of the states acquired at +different times such a preponderance that their rulers are styled +_Wu Pa_, the "five dictators." One of these, Duke Hwan of +western Shantung, is famous for having nine times convoked the +States-General. The dictator always presided at such meetings and +he was recognised as the real sovereign--as were the mayors of +the palace in France in the Merovingian epoch, or the shoguns in +Japan during the long period in which the Mikado was called the +"spiritual emperor." + +The legitimate sovereign still sat on his throne +[Page 97] +in the central state; but he complained that his only function was +to offer sacrifices. The Chinese dictatorship was not hereditary, +or the world might have witnessed an exact parallel to the duplicate +sovereignty in Japan, where one held the power and the other retained +the title for seven hundred years. + +In China the shifting of power from hand to hand made those four +centuries an age of diplomacy. Whenever some great baron was suspected +of aspiring to the leadership, combinations were formed to curb his +ambitions; embassies sped from court to court; and armies were +marshalled in the field. Envoys became noted for courage and cunning, +and generals acquired fame by their skill in handling large bodies +of soldiers. Diplomacy became an art, and war a science. + +An international code to control the intercourse of states began to +take shape; but the diplomat was not embarrassed by a multiplicity +of rules. In negotiations individual character counted for more than +it does at the present day; nor must it be supposed that in the +absence of our modern artillery there was no room for generalship. +On the contrary, as battles were not decided by the weight of metal, +there was more demand for strategy. + +All this was going on in Greece at this very epoch: and, as Plutarch +indulges in parallels, we might point to compeers of Themistocles +and Epaminondas. The cause which in the two countries led to this +state of things was the existence of a family of states with a +common language and similar institutions; but in the Asiatic empire +the theatre was vastly more extensive, +[Page 98] +and the operations in politics and war on a grander scale. + +To the honour of the Chinese it must be admitted that they showed +themselves more civilised than the Greeks. The Persian invasion +was provoked by the murder of ambassadors by the Athenians. Of +such an act there is no recorded instance among the warring states +of China. It was reserved for our own day to witness in Peking that +exhibition of Tartar ferocity. The following two typical incidents +from the voluminous chronicles of those times may be appropriately +presented here: + + +A BRAVE ENVOY + +The Prince of Ts'in, a semi-barbarous state in the northwest, answering +to Macedonia in Greece, had offered to give fifteen cities for +a kohinoor, a jewel belonging to the Prince of Chao (not Chou). +Lin Sian Ju was sent to deliver the jewel and to complete the +transaction. The conditions not being complied with, he boldly +put the jewel into his bosom and returned to his own state. That +he was allowed to do so--does it not speak as much for the morality +of Ts'in as for the courage of Lin? The latter is the accepted +type of a brave and faithful envoy. + + +HEROES RECONCILED + +Jealous of his fame, Lien P'o, a general of Chao, announced that he +would kill Lin at sight. The latter took pains to avoid a meeting. +Lien P'o, taxing him with cowardice, sent him a challenge, to which +Lin responded, "You and I are the pillars of our +[Page 99] +state. If either falls, our country is lost. This is why I have +shunned an encounter." So impressed was the general with the spirit +of this reply that he took a rod in his hand and presented himself +at the door of his rival, not to thrash the latter, but to beg +that he himself might be castigated. Forgetting their feud the two +joined hands to build up their native state much as Aristides and +Themistocles buried their enmity in view of the war with Persia. + +As the Athenian orators thundered against Macedon so the statesmen +of China formed leagues and counterplots for and against the rising +power of the northwest. The type of patient, shrewd diplomacy is Su +Ts'in who, at the cost of incredible hardships in journeying from +court to court, succeeded in bringing six of the leading states +into line to bar the southward movement of their common foe. His +machinations were all in vain, however; for not only was his ultimate +success thwarted by the counterplots of Chang Yee, an equally able +diplomatist, but his reputation, like that of Parnell in our own +times, was ruined by his own passions. The rising power of Ts'in, +like a glacier, was advancing by slow degrees to universal sway. In +the next generation it absorbed all the feudal states. Chau-siang +subjugated Tung-chou-Kiun, the last monarch of the Chou dynasty, and +the House of Chou was exterminated by Chwang-siang, who, however, +enjoyed the supreme power for only three years (249-246 B. C). + + + + +[Page 100] +CHAPTER XIX + +THE HOUSE OF TS'IN, 246-206 B. C. + +(2 Emperors) + +_Ts'in Shi-hwang-ti, "Emperor First"--The Great Wall--The Centralised +Monarchy--The title Hwang-ti--Origin of the name China--Burning +of the Books--Expedition to Japan--Revolution Places the House +of Han on the Throne_ + +"Viewed in the light of philosophy," says Schiller, "Cain killed +Abel because Abel's sheep trespassed on Cain's cornfield." From +that day to this farmers and shepherds have not been able to live +together in peace. A monument of that eternal conflict is the Great +Wall of China. Like the Roman Wall in North Britain, to compare +great things with small, its object was not to keep out the Tartars +but to reënforce the vigilance of the military pickets. That end +it seems to have accomplished for a long time. It was, the Chinese +say, the destruction of one generation and the salvation of many. +We shall soon see how it came to be a mere geographical expression. +For our present purpose it may also be regarded as a chronological +landmark, dividing ancient from mediæval China. + +With the House of Chou the old feudal divisions disappeared forever. +The whole country was brought +[Page 101] +under the direct sway of one emperor who, for the first time in +the history of the people, had built up a dominion worthy of that +august title. This was the achievement of Yin Cheng, the Prince +of Ts'in. He thereupon assumed the new style of Hwang-ti. Hwangs +and Tis were no novelty; but the combination made it a new coinage +and justified the additional appellation of "the First," or +Shi-hwang-ti. Four imperishable monuments perpetuate his memory: +the Great Wall, the centralised monarchy, the title _Hwang-ti_, +and the name of China itself--the last derived from a principality +which under him expanded to embrace the empire. Where is there +another conqueror in the annals of the world who has such solid +claims to everlasting renown? Alexander overthrew many nations; +but he set up nothing permanent. Julius Cæsar instituted the Roman +Empire; but its duration was ephemeral in comparison with that +of the empire founded by Shi-hwang-ti, the builder of the Wall. + +Though Shi-hwang-ti completed it, the wall was not the work of +his reign alone. Similarly the triumphs of his arms and arts were +due in large measure to his predecessors, who for centuries had +aspired to universal sway. Conscious of inferiority in culture, +they welcomed the aid and rewarded the services of men of talent +from every quarter. Some came as penniless adventurers from rival +or hostile states and were raised to the highest honours. + +Six great chancellors stand conspicuous as having introduced law +and order into a rude society, and paved the way for final success. +Every one of these was a "foreigner." The princes whom they served +[Page 102] +deserve no small praise for having the good sense to appreciate them +and the courage to follow their advice. Of some of these it might +be said, as Voltaire remarked of Peter the Great, "They civilised +their people, but themselves were savages." The world forgets how +much the great czar was indebted for education and guidance to Le +Fort, a Genevese soldier of fortune. Pondering that history one +is able to gauge the merits of those foreign chancellors, perhaps +also to understand what foreigners have done for the rulers of +China in our day. + +Shi-hwang-ti was the real founder of the Chinese Empire. He is one +of the heroes of history; yet no man in the long list of dynasties +is so abused and misrepresented by Chinese writers. They make him +a bastard, a debauchee, and a fool. To this day he is the object +of undying hatred to every one who can hold a pen. Why? it may +be asked. Simply because he burned the books and persecuted the +disciples of Confucius. Those two things, well-nigh incredible +to us, are to the Chinese utterly incomprehensible. + +Li-Sze, a native of Yen, was his chancellor, a genius more daring +and far-sighted than any of the other five. The welding together +of the feudal states into a compact unity was his darling scheme, +as it was that of his master. "Never," he said, "can you be sure +that those warring states will not reappear, so long as the books +of Confucius are studied in the schools; for in them feudalism is +consecrated as a divine institution." "Then let them be burned," +said the tyrant. + +The adherents of the Sage were ejected from the +[Page 103] +schools, and their teachings proscribed. This harsh treatment and +the search for their books naturally gave rise to counterplots. +"Put them to death," said the tyrant; and they went to the block, +not like Christian marytrs for religious convictions, but like the +Girondists of France for political principles. Their followers +offer the silly explanation that the books were destroyed that the +world might never know that there had been other dynasties, and +the scholars slaughtered or buried alive to prevent the reproduction +of the books. + +The First Hwang-ti did not confine his ambition to China. He sent +a fleet to Japan; and those isles of the Orient came to view for +the first time in the history of the world. The fleet carried, +it is said, a crew of three thousand lads and lasses. It never +returned; but the traditions of Japan affirm that it arrived, and +the islanders ascribe their initiation into Chinese literature +to their invasion by that festive company--a company not unlike +that with which Bacchus was represented as making the conquest +of India. Their further acquaintance with China and its sages was +obtained through Korea, which was long a middle point of communication +between the two countries. It was, in fact, from the Shantung +promontory, near to Korea, that this flotilla of videttes was +dispatched. + +What was the real object of that strange expedition? Chinese authors +assert that it was sent in search of the "elixir of life," but do +they not distort everything in the history of the First Hwang-ti? +The great monarch was, in fact, a devout believer in the fables +of Taoism, among which were stories of the Islands of +[Page 104] +the Blest, and of a fountain of immortality, such as eighteen centuries +later stimulated the researches of Ponce de Leon. The study of +alchemy was in full blast among the Chinese at that time. It probably +sprang from Taoism; but, in my opinion, the ambitious potentate, +sighing for other worlds to conquer, sent that jolly troop as the +vanguard of an army. + +In spite, however, of elixirs of life and fountains of youth, death +put an end to his conquests when he had enjoyed the full glories of +imperial power for only twelve years. His son reigned two years; +and the first of the imperial dynasties came to an end--overturned +by a revolution which placed the House of Han on the vacant throne. + + + + +[Page 105] +CHAPTER XX + +THE HOUSE OF HAN, 206--B. C.--220 A. D. + +(24 Emperors, 2 Usurpers) + +_Liu-pang Founds Illustrious Dynasty--Restoration of the Books--A +Female Reign--The Three Religions--Revival of Letters--Sze-ma Ts'ien, +the Herodotus of China--Conquests of the Hans_ + +The burning of the books and the slaughter of the scholars had +filled the public mind with horror. The oppressions occasioned by +the building of the Great Wall had excited a widespread discontent; +and Liu-pang, a rough soldier of Central China, took advantage of +this state of things to dispossess the feeble heir of the tyrant. +He founded a dynasty which is reckoned among the most illustrious +in the annals of the Empire. It takes the name of Han from the +river on the banks of which it rose to power. When Liu-pang was +securely seated on the throne one of his ministers proposed that he +should open schools and encourage learning. "Learning," exclaimed +the Emperor, "I have none of it myself, nor do I feel the need +of it. I got the empire on horseback." "But can you govern the +empire on horseback? That is the question," replied the minister. To +conciliate the favour of the learned, the Emperor not only rescinded +the persecuting edicts, but caused search to be made for +[Page 106] +the lost books, and instituted sacrificial rites in honour of the +Sage. + +Old men were still living who had committed those books to memory +in boyhood. One such, Fu-seng by name, was noted for his erudition; +and from his capacious memory a large portion of the sacred canon +was reproduced, being written from his dictation. The copies thus +obtained were of course not free from error. Happily a somewhat +completer copy, engraved on bamboo tablets, was discovered in the +wall of a house belonging to the Confucian family. Yet down to +the present day the Chinese classics bear traces of the tyrant's +fire. Portions are wanting and the lacunæ are always ascribed to +the "fires of Ts'in." The first chapter of the Great Study closes +with the pregnant words, "The source of knowledge is in the study +of things." Not a syllable is added on that prolific text. A note +informs the reader that there was a chapter on the subject, but that +it has been lost. Chinese scholars, when taxed with the barrenness +of later ages in every branch of science, are wont to make the +naïve reply, "Yes, and no wonder--how could it be otherwise when +the Sage's chapter on that subject has been lost?" + +After the second reign, that of Hwei-ti, we have the first instance +in Chinese history of a woman seizing the reins of government. +The Empress Lu made herself supreme, and such were her talents +that she held the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years. +Like Jezebel she "destroyed all the seed royal," and filled the +various offices with her kindred and favourites. At her death they +were butchered without +[Page 107] +mercy, and a male heir to the throne was proclaimed. His posthumous +title _Wen-ti_, meaning the "learned" or "patron of letters," +marks the progress made by the revival of learning. + +One might imagine that these literary emperors would have been +satisfied with the recovery of the Confucian classics; but no, a +rumour reached them that "there are sages in the West." The West +was India. An embassy was sent, 66 A. D., by Ming-ti to import +books and bonzes. The triad of religions was thus completed. + +Totally diverse in spirit and essence, the three religions could +hardly be expected to harmonise or combine. Confucianism exalts +letters, and lays stress on ethics to the neglect of the spiritual +world. Taoism inculcates physical discipline; but in practice it +has become the mother of degrading superstition--dealing in magic +and necromancy. Buddhism saps the foundations of the family and +enjoins celibacy as the road to virtue. Metempsychosis is its leading +doctrine, and to "think on nothing" its mental discipline. It forbids +a flesh diet and deprecates scholarship. Through imperial patronage +it acquired a footing in China, but it was long before it felt at +home there. As late as the eighth century Han Yu, the greatest +writer of the age, ridiculed the relics of Buddha and called on +his people to "burn their books, close their temples, and make +laity of their monks." + +Yet Buddhism seems to have met a want. It has fostered a sympathy +for animal life, and served as a protest against the Sadducean tenets +of the lettered class. It long ago became so rooted in the minds of +[Page 108] +the illiterate, who form nine-tenths of the population, that China +may be truly described as the leading Buddhist country of the globe.[*] + +[Footnote *: THE APOTHEOSIS OF MERCY + +A LEGEND OF KUANYIN PUSA--IN NORTHERN BUDDHISM + + Two images adorn this mountain shrine, + Not marble chiselled out by Grecian art, + But carved from wood with Oriental skill. + In days of yore adored by pilgrim throngs, + They languish now without a worshipper. + + High up a winding flight of stony steps + See Gautama upon his lotus throne! + More near the gate, her lovely face downcast, + Sits Mercy's Goddess, pity in her eye, + To greet the weary climbers and to hear + Their many-coloured tales of woe and want. + + The Buddha, in sublime repose, sees not + His prostrate worshippers; and they to him + No prayer address, save hymns of grateful praise.[1] + 'Twas he who for a blinded world sought out + The secret of escape from misery; + The splendour of a royal court resigned, + He found in poverty a higher realm! + Yet greater far the victory, when he broke + The chain of Fate and spurned the wheel of change. + To suffering humanity he says, + "Tread in my steps: You, too, may find release." + +[Footnote 1: Such as _Om mani padmi hum_ ("O the jewel in the lotus")] + + Like him, the Pusa was of princely birth, + But not like him did she forsake a throne, + Nor yet like him did she consent to see + Nirvana's pearly gates behind her close. + A field for charity her regal state. + Her path with ever-blooming flowers she strewed, + Her sympathy to joy a relish gave, + To sorrows manifold it brought relief, + Forgetting self she lived for others' weal + Till higher than Meru her merit rose.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Mt. Meru, the Indian Olympus.] + + At length a Voice celestial smote her ear. + "Nirvana's portal to thee open stands, + The crown of Buddhaship is thine by right. + No wave of care that shore can ever reach, + No cry of pain again thine ear assail; + But fixed in solitary bliss thou'lt see + The circling ages rolling at thy feet!" + + "Shall I then have no tidings of mankind? + Such heaven a throne of glittering ice would be. + That changeless bliss to others thou may'st give. + Happiest am I th' unhappy to upraise. + Oh for a thousand hands[3] the task to ply! + To succour and relieve be mine," she said, + "Bought though it be by share of suffering. + Turn then the wheel,[4] and back to earth again." + +[Footnote 3: She is often so represented, as the symbol of present +Providence.] + +[Footnote 4: _Lunhui_, the wheel of destiny, within which birth +and death succeed without end or interval.] + + From out the blue came down the Voice once more: + "Thy great refusal wins a higher prize; + A kingdom new thy charity hath gained.[5] + And there shalt thou, the Queen of Mercy, reign, + Aloof from pain or weakness of thine own, + With quickened sense to hear and power to save." + +[Footnote 5: She escapes the wheel, but remains on the border of +Nirvana, where, as her name signifies, she "hears the prayers of +men."] + + Fair image thou! Almost I worship thee, + Frail shadow of a Christ that hears and feels! + + W. A. P. M. + +PEARL GROTTO, NEAR PEKING, August 8, 1906.] + +Buddhist monasteries are to be seen on every hand. They are often +subsidised by the state; and even at the tomb of Confucius a temple was +erected called the "Hall of the Three Religions." In it the image of +[Page 109] +Buddha is said to have occupied the seat of honour, but prior to +the date of my visit it had been demolished. + +Each of these religions has a hierarchy: that of Confucius with +a lineal descendant of the Sage at its head; that of Lao-tse with +Chang Tien-shi, the arch-magician, as its high priest; and, higher +than all, that of Buddha with the Grand Lama of Tibet. + +Under the house of Han a beginning was made in the institution +of civil service examinations--a system which has continued to +dominate the Chinese intellect down to our time; but it was not +fully developed until the dynasty of T'ang. Belles-lettres made +a marked advance. The poetry of the period is more finished +[Page 110] +than that of the Chous. Prose composition, too, is vigorous and +lucid. The muse of history claims the place of honour. Sze-ma Ts'ien, +the Herodotus of China, was born in this period. A glory to his +country, the treatment Sze-ma Ts'ien received at the hands of his +people exposes their barbarism. He had recommended Li Ling as a +suitable commander to lead an expedition against the Mongols. Li +Ling surrendered to the enemy, and Sze-ma Ts'ien, as his sponsor, was +liable to suffer death in his stead. Being allowed an alternative, +he chose to submit to the disgrace of emasculation, in order that he +might live to complete his monumental work--a memorial better than +sons and daughters. A pathetic letter of the unfortunate general, +who never dared to return to China, is preserved amongst the choice +specimens of prose composition. + +Not content with the Great Wall for their northern limit nor with +the "Great River" for their southern boundary, the Hans attempted to +advance their frontiers in both directions. In the north they added +the province of Kansuh, and in the other direction they extended +their operations as far south as the borders of Annam; but they +did not make good the possession of the whole of the conquered +territory. Szechuen and Hunan were, however, added to their domain. +The latter seems to have served as a penal colony rather than an +integral portion of the Empire. A poem by Kiayi, an exiled statesman +(200 B. c.), is dated from Changsha, its capital.[*] + +[Footnote *: See "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +Martin.] + +In the south the savage tribes by which the Chinese +[Page 111] +were opposed made a deep impression on the character of the people, +but left no record in history. Not so with the powerful foe encountered +in the north. Under the title of Shanyu, he was a forerunner of +the Grand Khan of Tartary--claiming equality with the emperors of +China and exchanging embassies on equal terms. His people, known +as the Hiunghu, are supposed to have been ancestors of the Huns. + + + + +[Page 112] +CHAPTER XXI + +THE THREE KINGDOMS, THE NAN-PEH CHAO, AND THE SUI DYNASTY, 214-618 +A. D. + +_The States of Wei, Wu, and Shuh--A Popular Historical +Romance--Chu-koh Liang, an Inventive Genius--The "three P's," Pen, +Paper, Printing--The Sui Dynasty_ + +After four centuries of undisputed sway, the sceptre is seen ready +to fall from the nerveless hands of feeble monarchs. Eunuchs usurp +authority, and the hydra of rebellion raises its many heads. Minor +aspirants are easily extinguished; but three of them survive a +conflict of twenty years, and lay the foundation of short-lived +dynasties. + +The noble structure erected by the Ts'ins and consolidated by the +Hans began to crumble at the beginning of its fifth century of +existence. In 221 A. D. its fragments were removed to three cities, +each of which claimed to be the seat of empire. The state of Wei +was founded by Tsao Tsao, with its capital at Lo-yang, the seat +of the Hans. He had the further advantage, as mayor of the palace, +of holding in his power the feeble emperor Hwan-ti, the last of the +house of Han. The state of Wu, embracing the provinces of Kiangsu, +Kiangsi, and Chehkiang, was established by Siun Kien, a man of +distinguished ability +[Page 113] +who secured his full share of the patrimony. The third state was +founded by Liu Pi, a scion of the imperial house whose capital +was at Chingtu-fu in Szechuen. The historian is here confronted +by a problem like that of settling the apostolic succession of +the three popes, and he has decided in favour of the last, whom +he designates the "Later Han," mainly on the ground of blood +relationship. + +Authority for this is found in the dynastic history; but reference +may also be made to a romance which deals with the wars of those +three states. Composed by Lo Kwan-chung and annotated by Kin Sheng +Tan, it is the most popular historical novel in the whole range +of Chinese literature. Taking the place of a national epic, its +heroes are not of one type or all on one side, but its favourites +are found among the adherents of Liu Pi. It opens with a scene +in which Liu, Kwan, and Chang, like the three Tells on Grütli, +meet in a peach-garden and take vows of brotherhood--drinking of a +loving-cup tinged with the blood of each and swearing fidelity to +their common cause. Of the three brothers the first, Liu Pi, after +a long struggle, succeeds in founding a state in western China. The +second, Kwan Yü, is the beau-ideal of patriotic courage. In 1594 he +was canonised as the god of war. The gifted author has, therefore, +the distinction, beyond that of any epic poet of the West, of having +created for his countrymen their most popular deity. Chang-fi, the +youngest of the three brothers, is the inseparable henchman of +the Chinese Mars. He wields a spear eighteen feet in length with +a dash and impetuosity which no enemy is able to withstand. + +[Page 114] +Other characters are equally fixed in the public mind. Tsao Tsao, +the chief antagonist of Liu Pi, is not merely a usurper: he is a +curious compound of genius, fraud, and cruelty. Another conspicuous +actor is Lü Pu, an archer able to split a reed at a hundred paces, +and a horseman who performs prodigies on the field of battle. He +begins his career by shooting his adopted father, like Brutus perhaps, +not because he loved Tung Choh less, but China more. + +All these and others too numerous to mention may be seen any day +on the boards of the theatre, an institution which, in China at +least, serves as a school for the illiterate.[*] + +[Footnote *: The stage is usually a platform on the open street +where an actor may be seen changing his rôle with his costume, +now wearing the mask of one and then of another of the contending +chieftains, and changing his voice, always in a falsetto key, to +produce something like variety.] + +Liu Pi succeeds, after a struggle of twenty years, in establishing +himself in the province of Szechuen; but he enjoys undisturbed dominion +in his limited realm for three years only, and then transmits his +crown to a youthful son whom he commends to the care of a faithful +minister. The youth when an infant has been rescued from a burning +palace by the brave Chang-fi, who, wrapping the sleeping child in +his cloak and mounting a fleet charger, cut his way through the +enemy. On reaching a distant point the child was still asleep. +The witty annotator adds the remark, "He continued to sleep for +thirty years." + +The minister to whom the boy had been confided, Chu-koh Liang, +is the most versatile and inventive genius of Chinese antiquity. +As the founder of the house of Chou discovered in an old fisherman a +[Page 115] +counsellor of state who paved his way to the throne, so Liu Pi +found this man in a humble cottage where he was hiding himself in +the garb of a peasant, _San Ku Mao Lu_, say the Chinese. He +"three times visited that thatched hovel" before he succeeded in +persuading its occupant to commit himself to his uncertain fortunes. +From that moment Chu-koh Liang served him as eyes and ears, teeth +and claws, with a skill and fidelity which have won the applause +of all succeeding ages. Among other things, he did for Liu Pi what +Archimedes did for Dionysius. He constructed military engines that +appeared so wonderful that, as tradition has it "he made horses +and oxen out of wood." + +Entrusted by his dying master with the education of the young prince, +he has left two papers full of wise counsels which afford no little +help in drawing the line between fact and fiction. Unquestionably +Chu-koh Liang was the first man of his age in intellect and in such +arts and sciences as were known to his times. Yet no one invention +can be pointed to as having been certainly derived from Chu-koh +Liang. The author of the above-mentioned romance, who lived as +late as the end of the thirteenth century, constantly speaks of +his use of gunpowder either to terrify the enemy or to serve for +signals; but it is never used to throw a cannon-ball. It probably was +known to the Chinese of that date, as the Arab speaks of gunpowder +under the designation of "Chinese snow," meaning doubtless the +saltpetre which forms a leading ingredient. The Chinese had been +dabbling in alchemy for many centuries, and it is scarcely possible +that they +[Page 116] +should have failed to hit on some such explosive. It is, however, +believed on good authority that they never made use of cannon in +war until the beginning of the fifteenth century. + +There are, however, three other inventions or improvements of the +known arts, which deserve notice in this connection, namely, the +"three Ps"--pen, paper and printing--all preëminently instruments +of peaceful culture. The pen in China is a hair pencil resembling +a paint-brush. It was invented by Mung-tien in the third century +B. c. Paper was invented by Tsai Lun, 100 B. c., and printing by +Fungtao in the tenth century of the present era. What is meant +by printing in this case is, however, merely the substitution of +wood for stone, the Chinese having been for ages in the habit of +taking rubbings from stone inscriptions. It was not long before they +divided the slab into movable characters and earned for themselves +the honour of having anticipated Gutenberg and Faust. Their divisible +types were never in general use, however, and block printing continues +in vogue; but Western methods are rapidly supplanting both. + +The three states were reunited under the Tsin dynasty, 265 A. D. +This lasted for a century and a half and then, after a succession +of fifteen emperors, went down in a sea of anarchy, from the froth +of which arose more than half a score of contending factions, among +which four were sufficiently prominent to make for themselves a +place in history. Their period is described as that of the Nan-peh +Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms." The names of the principals +were Sung, Wei, Liang and Chin. The first +[Page 117] +only was Chinese, the others belonging to various branches of the +Tartar race. The chiefs of the Liang family were of Tibetan origin--a +circumstance which may perhaps account for their predilection for +Buddhism. The second emperor of that house, Wu Ti, became a Buddhist +monk and retired to a monastery where he lectured on the philosophy of +Buddhism. He reminds one of Charles the Fifth, who in his retirement +amused himself less rationally by repairing watches and striving, +in vain, to make a number of them keep identical time. + +It may be noted that behind these warring factions there is in +progress a war of races also. The Tartars are forever encroaching +on the Flowery Land. Repulsed or expelled, they return with augmented +force; and even at this early epoch the shadow of their coming +conquest is plainly visible. + +In the confused strife of North and South the preponderance is +greatly on the side of the Tartars. The pendulum of destiny then +begins to swing in the other direction. Yan Kien, a Chinese general +in the service of a Tartar principality, took advantage of their +divisions to rally a strong body of his countrymen by whose aid +he cut them off in detail and set up the Sui dynasty, The Tartars +have always made use of Chinese in the invasion of China; and if +the Chinese were always faithful to their own country no invader +would succeed in conquering them. + +Though the Sui dynasty lasted less than thirty years (589-618, +three reigns), it makes a conspicuous figure on account of two events: +(1) a victorious expedition in the north which reached the borders of +[Page 118] +Turkestan, and (2) the opening of canals between the Yellow River +and the Yang-tse Kiang. The latter enterprise only hastened the +fall of the house. It was effected by forced labour; and the +discontented people were made to believe, as their historians continue +to assert, that its chief object was to enable a luxurious emperor +to display his grandeur to the people of many provinces. We shall +see how the extension of those canals precipitated the overthrow +of the Mongols as we have already seen how the completion of the +Great Wall caused the downfall of the house of Ts'in. + +Yang-ti, the second emperor of the Sui dynasty, though not wanting +in energy, is notorious for his excesses in display and debauch. +He is reported to have hastened his accession to the throne by +the murder of his father. A peaceful end to such a reign would +have been out of keeping with the course of human events. Li Yuen, +one of his generals, rose against him, and he was assassinated +in Nanking. + +By wisdom and courage Li Yuen succeeded in setting up a new dynasty +which he called _T'ang_ (618 A. D.): After a long period of +unrest, it brought to the distracted provinces an era of unwonted +prosperity; it held the field for nearly three hundred years, and +surpassed all its predecessors in splendour. + + + + +[Page 119] +CHAPTER XXII + +THE T'ANG DYNASTY, 618-907 A. D. +(20 Emperors) + +_An Augustan Age--A Pair of Poets--The Coming of Christianity--The +Empress Wu--System of Examinations_ + +I have seen a river plunge into a chasm and disappear. After a +subterranean course of many miles it rose to the surface fuller, +stronger than before. No man saw from whence it drew its increment +of force, but the fact was undeniable. This is just what took place +in China at this epoch. + +It is comforting to know that during those centuries of turmoil the +Chinese were not wholly engrossed with war and rapine. The T'ang +dynasty is conspicuously the Augustan Age. Literature reappears +in a more perfect form than under the preceding reigns. The prose +writers of that period are to the present day studied as models +of composition, which cannot be affirmed of the writers of any +earlier epoch. Poetry, too, shone forth with dazzling splendour. +A galaxy of poets made their appearance, among whom two particular +stars were Tufu and Lipai, the Dryden and Pope of Chinese literature. + +The following specimen from Lipai who is deemed the highest poetical +genius in the annals of China, may +[Page 120] +show, even in its Western dress, something of his peculiar talent: + + ON DRINKING ALONE BY MOONLIGHT[*] + + Here are flowers and here is wine, + But where's a friend with me to join + Hand in hand and heart to heart + In one full cup before we part? + + Rather than to drink alone, + I'll make bold to ask the moon + To condescend to lend her face + The hour and the scene to grace. + + Lo, she answers, and she brings + My shadow on her silver wings; + That makes three, and we shall be. + I ween, a merry company + + The modest moon declines the cup, + But shadow promptly takes it up, + And when I dance my shadow fleet + Keeps measure with my flying feet. + + But though the moon declines to tipple + She dances in yon shining ripple, + And when I sing, my festive song, + The echoes of the moon prolong. + + Say, when shall we next meet together? + Surely not in cloudy weather, + For you my boon companions dear + Come only when the sky is clear. + +[Footnote *: From "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +MARTIN.] + +The second emperor, Tai-tsung, made good his claims by killing +two of his brothers who were plotting against him. Notwithstanding +this inauspicious beginning +[Page 121] +he became an able and illustrious sovereign. The twenty-three years +during which he occupied the throne were the most brilliant of +that famous dynasty. + +At Si-ngan in Shensi, the capital of the T'angs, is a stone monument +which records the introduction of Christianity by Nestorians from +Syria. Favoured by the Emperor the new faith made considerable +headway. For five hundred years the Nestorian churches held up +the banner of the Cross; but eventually, through ignorance and +impurity, they sank to the level of heathenism and disappeared. +It is sad to think that this early effort to evangelise China has +left nothing but a monumental stone. + +At the funeral of Tai-tsung his successor, Kao-tsung, saw Wu, one +of his father's concubines, who pleased him so much that, contrary +to law, he took her into his own harem. Raised to the rank of empress +and left mother of an infant son, she swayed the sceptre after +Kao-tsung's death for twenty-one years. Beginning as regent she +made herself absolute. + +A system of civil service examinations which had sprung up with +the revival of learning under the Hans was now brought to maturity. +For good or for evil it has dominated the mind of the Empire for +twelve centuries. Now, however, the leaders of thought have begun +to suspect that it is out of date. The new education requires new +tests; but what is to hinder their incorporation in the old system? +To abolish it would be fraught with danger, and to modify it is +a delicate task for the government of the present day. + +That the scholar should hold himself in readiness +[Page 122] +to serve the state no less than the soldier was an acknowledged +principle. It was reserved for the statesmen of T'ang to make it +the mainspring of the government. To them belongs the honour of +constructing a system which would stimulate literary culture and +skim the cream of the national talent for the use of the state. +It had the further merit of occupying the minds of ambitious youth +with studies of absorbing interest, thus diverting them from the +dangerous path of political conspiracy. + +Never was a more effective patronage given to letters. Without +founding or endowing schools the state said: "If you acquire the +necessary qualifications, we shall see that your exertions are +duly rewarded. Look up to those shining heights--see the gates +that are open to welcome you, the garlands that wait to crown your +triumphant course!" + +Annual examinations were held in every country; and the degree +of S. T. (_Siu-tsai_), equivalent to A. B., was conferred on +3 per cent. of the candidates. To fail was no disgrace; to have +entered the lists was a title to respect. Once in three years the +budding talent of the province convened in its chief city to compete +for the second degree. This was H. L. (_Hiao Lien_, "Filial +and Honest"), showing how ethical ideas continued to dominate the +literary tribunals. It is now _Chu-jin_, and denotes nothing +but promotion or prize man. The prize, a degree answering to A. +M., poetically described as a sprig of the _Olea fragrans_, +was the more coveted as the competitors were all honour men of the +first grade, and it was limited to one in a hundred. Its immediate +effect is such social +[Page 123] +distinction that it is said poor bachelors are common, but poor +masters are rare. + +If the competition stopped here it would be an Olympic game on a +grander scale. But there are loftier heights to be climbed. The +new-made masters from all the provinces proceed to the imperial +capital to try their strength against the assembled scholars of +the Empire. Here the prizes are three in a hundred. The successful +student comes forth a Literary Doctor--a _Tsin-shi_, "fit for +office." To all such is assured a footing, high or low, on the +official ladder. + +But another trial remains by which those who are good at the high +leap may at a single bound place themselves very near the top. +This final contest takes place in the palace--nominally in the +presence of the Emperor, and the questions are actually issued +by him. Its object is to select the brightest of the doctors for +chairs in the Hanlin Academy--an institution in which the humblest +seat is one of exalted dignity. How dazzling the first name on +that list! The _Chuang Yuen_ or senior wrangler takes rank +with governors and viceroys. An unfading halo rests on the place +of his birth. Sometimes in travelling I have seen a triumphal arch +proclaiming that "Here was born the laureate of the Empire." Such +an advertisement raises the value of real estate; and good families +congregate in a place on which the sun shines so auspiciously. +A laureate who lived near me married his daughter to a viceroy, +and her daughter became consort to the Emperor Tungchi. + +What then are the objections to a regulation which is so democratic +that it makes a nobleman of every +[Page 124] +successful scholar and gives to all the inspiration of equal +opportunity? They are, in a word, that it has failed to expand +with the growing wants of the people. The old curriculum laid down +by Confucius, "Begin with poetry; make etiquette your strong point; +and finish off with music," was not bad for his day, but is utterly +inadequate for ours, unless it be for a young ladies seminary. The +Sage's chapter on experiment as the source of knowledge--a chapter +which might have anticipated the _Novum Organum_--having been +lost, the statesmen of the T'ang period fell into the error of +leaving in their scheme no place for original research. This it +was that made the mind of China barren of discoveries for twelve +centuries. It was like putting a hood on the keen-eyed hawk and +permitting him to fly at only such game as pleased his master. + +The chief requirement was superficial polish in prose and verse. +The themes were taken exclusively from books, the newest of which +was at that time over a thousand years old. To broach a theory +not found there was fatal; and to raise a question in physical +science was preposterous. Had anyone come forward with a new machine +he might have been rewarded; but no such inventor ever came because +the best minds in the Empire were trained to trot blindfold on +a tread-mill in which there was no possibility of progress. Had +the mind of the nation been left free and encouraged to exert its +force, who can doubt that the country that produced the mariner's +compass might have given birth to a Newton or an Edison? + +After Wu none of the monarchs of this dynasty +[Page 125] +calls for notice. The last emperor was compelled to abdicate; and +thus, after a career of nearly three centuries bright with the +light of genius and prolific of usages good and bad that set the +fashion for after ages, this great house was extinguished. + + + + +[Page 126] +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE SUNG DYNASTY, 960-1280 A. D. +(18 Emperors) + +_The Five Philosophers--Wang Ngan-shi, Economist--The Kin Tartars--The +Southern Sungs--Aid of Mongols Invoked to Drive Out the Kins--Mongols +Exterminate Sungs_ + +On the fall of the house of T'ang, a score of factions contended for +the succession. During the fifty-three years preceding the establishment +of the Sungs, no less than five of them rose to temporary prominence +sufficient to admit of being dubbed a "dynasty." Collectively they +are spoken of as the "Five Dynasties" (907-960). + +Their names are without exception a repetition of those of former +dynasties, Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, Chou with the prefix +"Later"--suggesting that each claimed to be a lineal successor +of some previous imperial family. Their struggles for power, not +more instructive than a conflict of gladiators, are so devoid of +interest that the half-century covered by them may be passed over +as a blank. It may, however, be worth while to remind the reader +that as the House of Han was followed by the wars of the "Three +Kingdoms," and that of Ts'in by a struggle of North and South under +four states, so the House of T'ang was now +[Page 127] +succeeded by five short-lived "dynasties," with a mean duration of +scarcely more than ten years. The numerical progression is curious; +but it is more important to notice a historical law which native +Chinese writers deduce from those scenes of confusion. They state +it in this form: "After long union the empire is sure to be divided; +after long disruption it is sure to be reunited." + +So deep an impression has this historical generalisation made on +the public mind that if the empire were now to be divided between +foreign nations, as it has been more than once, the people would +confidently expect it to be reintegrated under rulers of their +own race. + +The undivided Sung dynasty held sway from 960 to 1127; that of +the southern Sungs from 1127 to 1280. The founder of the house was +Chao-kwang-yun, an able leader of soldiers and an astute politician. +So popular was he with his troops that they called him to the throne +by acclamation. He was drunk, it is said, when his new dignity was +announced, and he had no alternative but to wear the yellow robe +that was thrown on his shoulders. Undignified as was his debut, +his reign was one continued triumph. After a tenure of seventeen +years, he left his successor in possession of nearly the whole of +China Proper together with a fatal legacy of lands on the north. + +The two main features of the Sung period are the rise of a great +school of philosophy and the constant encroachment of the Tartars. The +two Chengs being brothers, the names of the five leading philosophers +fall into an alliterative line of four syllables, _Cheo, +[Page 128] +Cheng, Chang, Chu_. Acute in speculation and patient in research, +they succeeded in fixing the interpretation of the sacred books, +and in establishing a theory of nature and man from which it is +heresy to dissent. The rise of their school marks an intellectual +advance as compared with the lettered age of the T'angs. It was an +age of daring speculation; but, as constantly happens in China, +the authority of these great men was converted into a bondage for +posterity. The century in which they flourished (1020-1120) is +unique in the history of their country as the age of philosophy. +In Europe it was a part of the Dark Ages; and at that time the +Western world was convulsed by the Crusades. + +The most eminent of the five philosophers was Chu Fu-tse. Not the +most original, he collected the best thoughts of all into a system; +and his erudition was such that the whole range of literature was +his domain. Chu Hi, the Coryphæus of mediæval China, stands next +in honour after that incomparable pair, Confucius and Mencius. +Contemporary with the earlier members of this coterie appeared Wang +Ngan-shi, an economist, of rare originality. His leading principle +was the absorption by the state of all industrial enterprises--state +ownership of land, and in general a paternal system to supersede +private initiative. So charming was the picture presented in his +book "The Secret of Peace" (still extant) that the Emperor gave him +_carte blanche_ to put his theory into practice. In practical +life however it was a failure--perhaps because he failed to allow +for the strength or weakness of materials and instruments. His +book is a Chinese +[Page 129] +Utopia, nearly akin to those of Plato and Sir John More. + +In the northeast beyond the Wall were two Tartar kingdoms, one +of which was the Kin or "Golden Horde"--remote ancestors of the +Manchu dynasty. A constant menace to the settled population of the +"inner land," they obtained possession of Peking in 1118. For a +time they were kept at bay by a money payment which reminds one of +the _Danegeld_ paid by our forefathers to the sea-robbers of +northern Europe. Payments not being punctual, the Tartars occupied +portions of the northern provinces, and pushed their way as far south +as K'ai-fung-fu, the capital of the Empire. The Emperor retired +to Nanking, leaving in command his son, who, unable to resist the +Tartars, made a disgraceful peace. A heavy ransom was paid to avert +the sacking of the city; and all the region on the north of the +Yellow River passed under Tartar sway. + +Repenting of their hard bargain, the Chinese provoked a renewal +of hostilities, which resulted in a heavier downfall. The capital +surrendered after a severe siege, and the Emperor with his court +was carried into captivity. The next emperor acknowledged himself +a vassal of the Tartars; but peace on such conditions could not +be of long duration. An intermittent warfare was kept up for more +than a century, in the course of which Nanking was pillaged, and +the court fell back successively on Hangchow and Wenchow. When +there was no longer a place of safety on the mainland the wretched +fugitives sought refuge on an island. Fitting out a fleet the Tartars +continued the +[Page 130] +pursuit; but more used to horses than ships, the fleet was annihilated, +and the expiring dynasty obtained a new lease of life. + +This was about 1228. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors +had carried everything before them in the northwest. Thirsting for +revenge, the Chinese appealed for aid to this new power--and the +Mongols found an opportunity to bag two birds instead of one. As +a Chinese fable puts it: "A sea-bird failing to make a breakfast +on a shellfish was held in its grip until a fisherman captured +both." + +The Kins were driven back into Manchuria; and the Chinese without +asking leave of their allies reoccupied their old capital. But +the revival of the Sungs was no part of the Mongol programme. The +Sungs declining to evacuate K'ai-fung-fu and to cede to the Mongols +the northern half of the empire, the latter resolved on a war of +extermination. After a bitter struggle of fifteen years, the infant +emperor and his guardians again committed their fortunes to the sea. +The Mongols, more lucky than the other Tartars, were victorious +on water as well as on land; and the last scion of the imperial +house drowned himself to escape their fury (1280). + + + + +[Page 131] +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE YUEN OR MONGOL DYNASTY, 1280-1368 +(10 Emperors) + +_Kublai Khan--First Intercourse of China with Europe--Marco Polo--The +Grand Canal_ + +Parts of China had been frequently overrun by foreign conquerors; +but the Mongols were the first to extend their sway over the whole +country. The subjugation of China was the work of Kublai, grandson +of Genghis, who came to the throne in 1260, inheriting an empire +more extensive than Alexander or Cæsar had dreamed of. In 1264 +the new khan fixed his court at Peking and proceeded to reduce the +provinces to subjection. Exhausted and disunited as they were the +task was not difficult, though it took fifteen years to complete. +Ambition alone would have been sufficient motive for the conquest, +but his hostility was provoked by perfidy--especially by the murder +of envoys sent to announce his accession. "Without good faith," +says Confucius, "no nation can exist." + +By the absorption of China the dominions of Kublai were made richer, +if not greater in extent, than those of his grandfather, while the +splendour of his court quite eclipsed that of Genghis Khan. + +Unknown to the ancient Romans, China was revealed to their mediæval +successors by the Mongol +[Page 132] +conquest. In 1261 two Venetian merchants, Nicolo and Matteo Polo, +made their way to Bokhara, whence, joining an embassy from India, +they proceeded to Kublai's capital at Xanadu (or Shangtu) near +the site of Peking. They were the first white men the Grand Khan +had ever seen, and he seems to have perceived at once that, if not +of superior race, they were at least more advanced in civilisation +than his own people; for, besides intrusting them with letters to +the Pope, he gave them a commission to bring out a hundred Europeans +to instruct the Mongols in the arts and sciences of the West. + +In 1275 they returned to Peking without other Europeans, but accompanied +by Marco Polo, the son of Nicolo. They were received with more +honour than on their first visit, and the young man was appointed +to several positions of trust in the service of the monarch. After +a sojourn of seventeen years, the three Polos obtained permission +to join the escort of a Mongol princess who was going to the court +of Persia. In Persia they heard of the death of their illustrious +patron, and, instead of returning to China, turned their faces +homeward, arriving at Venice in 1295. + +Having been captured by the Genoese, Marco Polo while in prison +dictated his wonderful story. At first it was looked on as a romance +and caused its author to receive the sobriquet of "Messer Millione"; +but its general accuracy has been fully vindicated. + +The chief effect of that narrative was to fire the imagination +of another Italian and lead him by steering to the west to seek +a short cut to the Eldorado. +[Page 133] +How strange the occult connection of sublunary things! The Mongol +Kublai must be invoked to account for the discovery of America! +The same story kindled the fancy of Coleridge, in the following +exquisite fragment, which he says came to him in a vision of the +night: + + "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan + A stately pleasure-dome decree: + Where Alph, the sacred river, ran + Through caverns measureless to man, + Down to a sunless sea." + --_Kubla Khan._ + +Still another Italian claims mention as having made some impression +on the court of Kublai. This was Corvino, a missionary sent by the +Pope; but of his church, his schools, and his convents, there were +left no more traces than of his predecessors, the Nestorians. + +The glory of Kublai was not of long duration. The hardy tribes of +the north became enervated by the luxury and ease of their rich +patrimony. "Capua captured Hannibal." Nine of the founder's descendants +followed him, not one of whom displayed either vigour or statesmanship. + +Their power ebbed more suddenly than it rose. Shun-ti, the last +of the house, took refuge behind the Great Wall from the rising +tide of Chinese patriotism; and after a tenure of ninety years, +or of two centuries of fluctuating dominion, reckoning from the +rise of Genghis Khan, the Yuen dynasty came to an untimely end. + +The magnificent waterway, the Grand Canal, remains an imperishable +monument of the Mongol +[Page 134] +sway. As an "alimentary canal" it was needed for the support of +the armies that held the people in subjection; and the Mongols +only completed a work which other dynasties had undertaken. A +description of it from personal observation is given in Part I of +this work (page 31). It remains to be said that the construction +of the Canal, like that of the Great Wall, was a leading cause of +the downfall of its builders. Forced labour and aggravated taxation +gave birth to discontent; rebellion became rife, and the Mongols +were too effeminate to take active measures for its suppression. + + + + +[Page 135] +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MING DYNASTY, 1368-1644 A. D. +(16 Emperors) + +_Humble Origin of the Founder--Nanking and Peking as Capital--First +Arrival of European Ships--Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch +Traders--Arrival of Missionaries--Tragic End of the Last of the +Mings_ + +Humble as was the origin of the founder of the House of Han, spoken +of as _Pu-i_, "A peasant clothed in homespun," that of the +Father of the Mings was still more obscure. A novice or servant +(_sacrificulus_) in a Buddhist monastery, Chu Yuen Chang felt +called to deliver his people from oppression. At first regarded as +a robber chief, one of many, his rivals submitted to his leadership +and the people accepted his protection. Securing possession of +Nanking, a city of illustrious memories and strong natural defences, +he boldly proclaimed his purpose. After twenty years of blood and +strategy, he succeeded in placing the Great Wall between him and +the retreating Mongols. Proud of his victory he assumed for the +title of his reign _Hungwu_, "Great Warrior," and chose +_Ming_, "Luminous," for that of his dynasty. + +Leaving his son, the Prince of Yen, at Peking, to hold the Tartars +in check, Hungwu spent the remaining +[Page 136] +years of his reign at his original capital, and then left the sceptre +to his grandson. The Prince of Yen, uncle of the youthful emperor, +feeling the slight implied in his father's choice, raised an army +and captured Nanking. A charred corpse being shown to him as that +of the emperor, he caused it to be interred with becoming rites, +and at once assumed the imperial dignity, choosing for his reigning +title _Yungloh_, "Perpetual Joy." He also removed the seat of +government to Peking, where it has remained for five centuries. The +"Thesaurus of Yungloh," a digest of Chinese literature so extensive +as to form a library in itself, remains a monument to his patronage +of letters. + +A tragic episode in the history of the Mings was the capture of the +next emperor by the Mongols, who, however, failed to take Peking. +It was easier to make a new emperor than to ransom the captive. +His brother having been proclaimed, the Tartars sent their captive +back, hoping that a war between the brothers would weaken their +enemy. Retiring into private life he appeared to renounce his claim; +but after the death of his brother he once more occupied the throne. +What a theme for a romance! + +Great Britain was described by a Roman as "almost cut off from the +whole world" because it was not accessible by land. China had long +been cut off from the Western world because it was not accessible +by sea. The way to India was opened by Diaz and Gama in 1498; and +the first Portuguese ships appeared at Canton in 1511. Well-treated +at first, others came in greater numbers. Their armaments were so +formidable as to excite suspicion; and their +[Page 137] +acts of violence kindled resentment. Under these combined motives +a massacre of the foreign traders was perpetrated, and Andrade, a +sort of envoy at Peking, was thrown into prison and beheaded. The +trading-posts were abolished except at Macao, where the Portuguese +obtained a footing by paying an annual rent. + +After the Portuguese came the Spaniards, who appear to have been +satisfied with the Philippine archipelago, rather than provoke a +conflict with the Portuguese. The Chinese they had little reason +to dread, as the superiority of their arms would have enabled them +to seize portions of the seacoast, though not to conquer the Empire +as easily as they did the Mexicans and Peruvians. Perhaps, too, +they were debarred by the same authority which divided the Western +continent between the two Iberian powers. The Chinese becoming too +numerous at Manila, the Spaniards slaughtered them without mercy, +as if in retaliation for the blood of their cousins, or taking a +hint from the policy of China. + +In 1622 the Dutch endeavoured to open trade with China, but their +advances being rejected, doubtless through secret opposition from +the Portuguese, they seized the Pescadores, and later established +themselves on Formosa, whence they were eventually expelled by +Koxinga, a Chinese freebooter. + +The church founded by Corvino at Peking perished in the overthrow +of the Mongols. The Portuguese traders disapproved of missions, +as tending to impose restraint on their profligacy and to impart +to China the strength that comes from knowledge. The narrow +[Page 138] +policy of the Mings, moreover, closed the door against the introduction +of a foreign creed. Yet it is strange that half a century elapsed +before any serious attempt was made to give the Gospel to China. +In 1552 St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, arrived +at Macao. He and his fellow Jesuits were indirect fruits of the +Protestant Reformation--belonging to an order organised for the +purpose of upholding and extending the power of the Holy See. After +wonderful success in India, the Straits, and Japan, Xavier appeared +in Chinese waters, but he was not allowed to land. He expired on +the island of Shang-chuen or St. John's, exclaiming "O rock, rock, +when wilt thou open?" + +Ricci, who came in 1580, met with better success: but it cost him +twenty years of unceasing effort to effect an entrance to Peking. +Careful to avoid giving offence, and courtly in manners, his science +proved to be the master-key. Among the eminent men who favoured +his mission was Sü of Shanghai, whom he baptised by the name of +Paul. Not only did he help Ricci to translate Euclid for a people +ignorant of the first elements of geometry, but he boldly came to +the defence of missionaries when it was proposed to expel them. +His memorial in their favour is one of the best documents in the +defence of Christianity. Among the converts to the Christian faith +there are no brighter names than Paul Sü and his daughter Candida. + +The Ming dynasty compares favourably in point of duration with +most of the imperial houses that preceded it; but long before the +middle of its third century it began to show signs of decay. In Korea +[Page 139] +it came into collision with the Japanese, and emerged with more +credit than did its successor from a war with the same foe, which +began on the same ground three centuries later. In the northeast +the Mings were able to hold the Manchus at bay, notwithstanding +an occasional foray; but a disease of the heart was sapping the +vigour of the dynasty and hastening its doom. Rebellion became +rife; and two of the aspirants to the throne made themselves masters +of whole provinces. One depopulated Szechuen; the other ravaged +Shansi and advanced on Peking. Chungchen, the last of the Mings, +realising that all was lost, hanged himself in his garden on the +Palatine Hill, after stabbing his daughter, as a last proof of +paternal affection (1643). + + + + +[Page 140] +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE TA-TS'ING DYNASTY, 1644-- + +_The Manchus, Invited to Aid in Restoring Order, Seat their Own +Princes on the Throne--the Traitor, General Wu San-kwei--Reigns of +Shunchi and Kanghi--Spread of Christianity--A Papal Blunder--Yung-cheng +Succeeded by Kieñlung, who Abdicates Rather than Reign Longer than +his Grandfather--Era of Transformation_ + +The Manchus had been preparing for some generations for a descent +on China. They had never forgotten that half the Empire had once +been in the possession of their forefathers, the Kin Tartars; and +after one or two abortive attempts to recover their heritage they +settled themselves at Mukden and watched their opportunity. It +came with the fall of the Mings. + +Wu San-kwei, a Chinese general whose duty it was to keep them in +bounds, threw open the gate of the Great Wall and invoked their +assistance to expel the successful rebel. His family had been +slaughtered in the fall of the capital; he thirsted for revenge, +and without doubt indulged the hope of founding a dynasty. The +Manchus agreed to his terms, and, combining their forces with his, +advanced on Peking. Feeling himself unable to hold the city, the +rebel chief burnt +[Page 141] +his palace and retreated, after enjoying the imperial dignity ten +days. + +General Wu offered to pay off his mercenaries and asked them to +retire beyond the Wall. Smiling at his simplicity, they coolly +replied that it was for him to retire or to enter their service. +It was the old story of the ass and the stag. An ass easily drove +a stag from his pasture-ground by taking a man on his back; but the +man remained in the saddle. Forced to submit, the General employed +his forces to bring his people into subjection to their hereditary +enemy. Rewarded with princely rank, and shielded by the reigning +house, he has escaped the infamy which he deserved at the hands of +the historians. A traitor to his country, he was also a traitor to +his new masters. He died in a vain attempt at counter-revolution. + +The new dynasty began with Shunchi, a child of six years, his uncle +the Prince Hwai acting as regent. Able and devoted, this great +man, whom the Manchus call Amawang, acquitted himself of his task +in a manner worthy of the model regent, the Duke of Chou. His task +was not an easy one. He had to suppress contending factions, to +conciliate a hostile populace, and to capture many cities which +refused to submit. In seven years he effected the subjugation of +the eighteen provinces, everywhere imposing the tonsure and the +"pigtail" as badges of subjection. Many a myriad of the Chinese +forfeited their heads by refusing to sacrifice their glossy locks; +but the conquest was speedy, and possession secure. + +The success of the Manchus was largely due to the fact that they +found the empire exhausted by internal +[Page 142] +strife and came as deliverers. The odium of overturning the Ming +dynasty did not rest on them. While at Mukden they had cultivated +the language and letters of the "Inner land" and they had before +them, for guidance or warning, the history of former conquests. + +They have improved on their predecessors, whether Kins or Mongols; +and with all their faults they have given to China a better government +than any of her native dynasties. + +Shunchi (1644-1662) passed off the stage at the age of twenty-four +and left the throne to a son, Kanghi (1662-1723), who became the +greatest monarch in the history of the Empire. During his long reign +of sixty-one years, Kanghi maintained order in his wide domain, +corrected abuses in administration, and promoted education for both +nationalities. It is notable that the most complete dictionary +of the Chinese language bears the imprimatur of Kanghi, a Tartar +sovereign. + +For his fame in the foreign world, Kanghi is largely indebted to +the learned missionaries who enjoyed his patronage, though he took +care to distinguish between them and their religion. The latter had +been proscribed by the regents, who exercised supreme power during +his minority. Their decree was never revoked; and persecution went on +in the provinces, without the least interference from the Emperor. +Still his patronage of missionaries was not without influence on +the status of Christianity in his dominions. It gained ground, and +before the close of his reign it had a following of over three hundred +thousand converts. Near the close of his reign he pointedly condemned +[Page 143] +the foreign faith, and commanded the expulsion of its propagators, +except a few, who were required in the Board of Astronomy. + +The favourable impression made by Ricci had been deepened by Schaal +and Verbiest. The former under Shunchi reformed the calendar and +obtained the presidency of the Astronomical Board. He also cast +cannon to aid the Manchu conquest. The latter did both for Kanghi, +and filled the same high post. Schaal employed his influence to +procure the building of two churches in Peking. Verbiest made use of +his to spread the faith in the provinces. The Church might perhaps +have gained a complete victory, had not dissensions arisen within her +own ranks. Dominicans and Franciscans entering the field denounced +their forerunners for having tolerated heathen rites and accepted +heathen names for God. After prolonged discussions and contradictory +decrees the final verdict went against the Jesuits. In this decision +the Holy See seems not to have been guided by infallible wisdom. + +Kanghi, whose opinion had been requested by the Jesuits, asserted +that by _Tien_ and _Shang-ti_ the Chinese mean the Ruler +of the Universe, and that the worship of Confucius and of ancestors +is not idolatry, but a state or family ceremony. By deciding against +his views, the Pope committed the blunder of alienating a great +monarch, who might have been won by a liberal policy. The prohibition +of the cult of ancestors--less objectionable in itself than the +worship of saints--had the effect of arming every household against +a faith that aimed to subvert their family altars. The dethronement +of _Shang-ti_ (a name accepted by +[Page 144] +most Protestant missionaries) and the substitution of _Tien Chu_, +could not fail to shock the best feelings of devout people. _Tien +Chu_, if not a new coinage, was given by papal fiat an artificial +value, equivalent to "Lord of all"--whereas it had previously headed +a list of divisional deities, such as Lord of Heaven, Lord of Earth, +Lord of the Sea, etc. + +What wonder that for two centuries Christianity continued to be a +prohibited creed! The ground thus lost by a papal blunder it has +never regained. The acceptance of _Tien_ and _Shang-ti_ +by Protestants might perhaps do something to retrieve the situation, +if backed by some form of respect for ancestors. + +Kanghi was succeeded by his son Yungcheng (1722-1736), who was +followed by Kienlung (1736-1796), during whose reign the dynasty +reached the acme of splendour. Under Kienlung, Turkestan was added to +the empire. The Grand Lama of Tibet was also enrolled as a feudatory; +but he never accepted the laws of China, and no doubt considered +himself repaid by spiritual homage. No territory has since been +added, and none lost, if we except the cession of Formosa to Japan +and of Hong Kong to Great Britain. The cessions of seaports to +other powers are considered as temporary leases. + +After a magnificent reign of sixty years, Kienlung abdicated in +favour of his fifth son, Kiak'ing, for the whimsical reason that +he did not wish to reign longer than his grandfather. In Chinese +eyes this was sublime. Why did they not enact a law that no man +should surpass the longevity of his father? + +As to Kiak'ing, who occupied the throne for twenty-four +[Page 145] +years, weak and dissolute is a summary of his character. + +The next four reigns came under the influence of new forces. They +belong to the era of transformation, and may properly be reserved +for Part III. + + + + +[Page 147] +PART III + +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION + + + + +[Page 149] +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE OPENING OF CHINA, A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS--GOD IN HISTORY + +_Prologue--Act 1, the Opium War--(Note on the Taiping Rebellion)--Act +2, the "Arrow" War--Act 3, War with France--Act 4, War with Japan--Act +5, the Boxer War_ + +PROLOGUE + +If one were asked to name the most important three events that took +place in Asia in the last century, he could have no hesitation in +pointing to the extension of the Indian Empire and the renovation +of Japan as two of them. But where would he look for the third? +Possibly to some upheaval in Turkey, Persia, or Asiatic Russia. +In my opinion, however, China is the only country whose history +supplies the solution of the problem. The opening of that colossal +empire to unrestricted intercourse with other countries was not +a gradual evolution from within--it was the result of a series +of collisions between the conservatism of the extreme Orient and +the progressive spirit of the Western world. + +Each of those collisions culminated in a war, giving rise to a +cloud of ephemeral literature, in which a student might easily lose +his way, and which it would +[Page 150] +require the lifetime of an antediluvian to exhaust. I think, therefore, +that I shall do my readers a service if I set before them a concise +outline of each of those wars, together with an account of its causes +and consequences. Not only will this put them on their guard against +misleading statements; it will also furnish them with a syllabus of +the modern history of China in relation to her intercourse with +other nations. + +During the past seven decades the Chinese Empire has been no less +than five times in conflict with foreign powers; and on each occasion +her policy has undergone a modification more or less extensive. +Taking these five conflicts seriatim--without touching on those +internal commotions whose rise and fall resembles the tides of +the ocean--I shall ask my readers to think of the Flowery Land as +a stage on which, within the memory of men now living, a tragedy +in five acts has been performed. Its subject was the Opening of +China; and its first act was the so-called Opium War (1839-42). +Prior to 1839 the Central Empire, as the Chinese proudly call their +country, with a population nearly equal to that of Europe and America +combined, was hermetically sealed against foreign intercourse, +except at one point, viz., the "Factories" at Canton. + +This state of things is depicted with a few masterstrokes in a popular +work in Chinese entitled "Strange Stories of an Idle Student." The +first of these tales describes a traveller meeting in the mountains +an old man, in the costume of a former dynasty, whose family had +there sought a refuge from the anarchy that preceded the fall of +the imperial house. This +[Page 151] +old fellow had not even heard of the accession of the Manchu conquerors; +and though he was eager for information, he disappeared without +giving any clue to the Sleepy Hollow in which he was hiding. The +author no doubt intended a quiet satire on the seclusion of China, +that had nothing to ask of the outside world but to be let alone. + +Another of the sketches, which is no satire, but a cautionary +hint--perhaps an unconscious prophecy--is entitled "The Magic Carpet +of the Red-haired," a vulgar designation for Europeans, in contrast +with the Chinese, who style themselves the "Black-haired race." +During the former dynasty, it says, a ship arrived from some unknown +country, and those aboard desired to engage in commerce. Their +request was refused; but when they asked permission to dry their +goods on shore, requiring for that purpose no more ground than +they could cover with a carpet, their petition was readily granted. +The carpet was spread, and the goods were exposed to the sun; then, +taking the carpet by its four corners, they stretched it so that +it covered several acres. A large body of armed men then planted +themselves on it, and striking out in every direction took possession +of the country. This elastic carpet reminds one of Dido's bull's +hide, which covered space enough for the foundation of Carthage. + + +ACT 1. THE OPIUM WAR, 1839-1842 + +The Tartars, who began their conquest in 1644, were naturally suspicious +of other foreigners who had secured a foothold in India, where the +Great Mogul, a scion +[Page 152] +of their own race, still held nominal sway. The trading-posts, +which the Chinese emperors had permitted foreigners to open as +far north as Ningpo, were closed, and only one point of tangency +was allowed to remain--the above-mentioned Factories at Canton, a +spot, as we shall see, large enough to admit of the spreading of +a "magic carpet." Foreign trade was at that time insignificant, in +comparison with the enormous expansion which it has now attained. +It was mainly in the hands of the British, as it still continues to +be; and no small part of it consisted in opium from the poppy-fields +of India. Though under the ban of prohibition, this drug was smuggled +into every bay and inlet, with scarcely a pretence of concealment. +With the introduction of the vicious opium habit the British had +nothing to do; but they contrived to turn it to good account. + +The Emperor Tao Kwang, moved, it is said, by the unhappy fate of +one of his sons who had fallen a victim to the seductive poison, +resolved at all hazards to put a stop to a traffic so ruinous to +his people. Commissioner Lin, a native of Foochow, was transferred +from the viceroyalty of Wuchang to that of Canton and clothed with +plenary powers for the execution of this decree. To understand the +manner in which he undertook to execute the will of his master +it must be remembered that diplomatic intercourse had as yet no +existence in China, because she considered herself as sustaining +to foreign nations no other relation than that of a suzerain to +a vassal. Her mandarins scorned to hold direct communication with +any of the superintendents of foreign commerce--receiving +[Page 153] +petitions and sending mandates through the hong merchants, thirteen +native firms which had purchased a monopoly of foreign trade. + +In 1834 Lord Napier was appointed to the humble position of +superintendent of British trade in China, He arrived at Macao on +July 15 of that year, and announced his appointment by a letter to +the prefect, which was handed for transmission to the commander of +the city gate of Canton--a barrier which no foreigner was permitted +to pass. The letter was returned through the brokers without any +answer other than a line on the cover informing the "barbarian +eye" (consul) that the document was "tossed back" because it was +not superscribed with the character _pin_ (or _ping_), +which signifies a "humble petition." + +This was the beginning of sorrows for China as well as for poor +Napier, who, failing in his efforts to communicate with the mandarins +on equal terms, retired to the Portuguese settlement of Macao and +died of disappointment. The eminent American statesman, John Quincy +Adams, speaking in later years of the war that ensued, declared +that its cause was not opium but a _pin_, i. e., an insolent +assumption of superiority on the part of China. + +The irrepressible conflict provoked by these indignities was +precipitated in 1839 by the action of the new viceroy, who undertook +to effect a summary suppression of the traffic in opium. One morning +shortly after his arrival, the foreigners at Canton, who were always +locked up at night for their own safety, awoke to find themselves +surrounded by a body of soldiers and threatened with indiscriminate +[Page 154] +slaughter unless they surrendered the obnoxious drug, stored on +their opium hulks, at an anchorage outside the harbour. + +While they were debating as to what action to take, Captain Charles +Elliot, the new superintendent, came up from Macao and bravely insisted +on sharing the duress of his countrymen. Calling the merchants +together he requested them to surrender their opium to him, to be +used in the service of the Queen as a ransom for the lives of her +subjects, assuring them that Her Majesty's Government would take +care that they should be properly indemnified. Twenty thousand +chests of opium were handed over to the viceroy (who destroyed the +drug by mixing it with quicklime in huge vats); and the prisoners +were set at liberty. + +The viceroy fondly imagined that the incident was closed, and flattered +himself that he had gained an easier victory than he could have done +by sending his junks against the armed ships of the smugglers. +Little did he suspect that he had lighted a slow-match, that would +blow up the walls of his own fortress and place the throne itself +at the mercy of the "barbarian." + +A strong force was despatched to China to exact an indemnity, for +which the honour of the Crown had been pledged, and to punish the +Chinese for the cut-throat fashion in which they had sought to +suppress a prohibited trade. The proud city of Canton averted a +bombardment by paying a ransom of $6,000,000; islands and seaports +were occupied by British troops as far north as the River Yang-tse; and +Nanking, the ancient capital, was only saved from falling into their +[Page 155] +hands by the acceptance of such conditions of peace as Sir Henry +Pottinger saw fit to impose. + +Those conditions were astonishingly moderate for a conqueror who, +unembarrassed by the interests of other powers, might have taken +the whole empire. They were, besides payment for the destroyed +drug, the opening of five ports to British trade, and the cession +to Great Britain of Hong Kong, a rocky islet which was then the +abode of fishermen and pirates, but which to-day claims to outrank +all the seaports of the world in the amount of its tonnage. Not +a word, be it noted, about opening up the vast interior, not a +syllable in favour of legalising the opium traffic, or tolerating +Christianity. + +So much for the charge that this war, which bears a malodorous +name, was waged for the purpose of compelling China to submit to the +continuance of an immoral traffic. That a smuggling trade would go +on with impunity was no doubt foreseen and reckoned on by interested +parties; but it is morally certain that if the Chinese had understood +how to deal with it they might have rid themselves of the incubus +without provoking the discharge of another shot. + +Here ends the first act, in 1842; and in it I may claim a personal +interest from the fact that my attention was first turned to China +as a mission field by the boom of British cannon in the Opium War. + +China was not opened; but five gates were set ajar against her +will. For that she has to thank the pride and ignorance of emperor +and viceroy which betrayed them into the blunder of dealing with +British merchants as a policeman deals with pickpockets. For the first +[Page 156] +time in her history she was made aware of the existence of nations +with which she would have to communicate on a footing of equality. + +The moderation and forbearance of Pottinger in refraining from +demanding larger concessions, and in leaving the full consequences +of this war to be unfolded by the progress of time, may fairly +challenge comparison with the politic procedure of Commodore Perry +in dealing with Japan in 1854. One may ask, too, would Japan have +come to terms so readily if she had not seen her huge neighbour +bowing to superior force? + + * * * * * + +An important consequence of the Opium War was the outbreak of rebellions +in different parts of the Empire. The prestige of the Tartars was +in the dust. Hitherto deemed invincible, they had been beaten by a +handful of foreigners. Was not this a sure sign that their divine +commission had been withdrawn by the Court of Heaven? If so, might +it not be possible to wrest the sceptre from their feeble grasp, +and emancipate the Chinese race? + +Private ambition was kindled at the prospect, and patriotism was +invoked to induce the people to make common cause. Three parties +entered the field: the Tai-pings of the South, the "Red-haired" on +the seacoast, and the Nienfi in the north. Neither of the latter +two deserves notice; but the first-named made for themselves a +place in history which one is +[Page 157] +not at liberty to ignore, even if their story were less romantic +than it is. It will be convenient to introduce here the following +note on the Tai-ping rebellion. + + +THE TAI-PING REBELLION + +In 1847 a young man of good education and pleasing manners, named +Hung Siu-tsuen, presented himself at the American Baptist mission in +Canton, saying he had seen their sacred book and desired instruction. +This he received from the Rev. Issachar Roberts; and he was duly +enrolled as a catechumen. Without receiving the sealing ordinance, +or taking his instructor into confidence, Siu-tsuen returned to his +home at Hwa-hien and began to propagate his new creed. His talents +and zeal won adherents, whom he organised into a society called +_Shang-ti-hwui_, "the Church of the supreme God." Persecution +transformed it into a political party, to which multitudes were +attracted by a variety of motives. + +Following the early Church, in the absence of any modern model, his +converts expected and received spiritual gifts. Shall we describe +such manifestations as hysteria, hypnotism, or hypocrisy? Their +fanaticism was contagious, especially after their flight to the +mountains of Kwangsi. There Siu-tsuen boldly raised the flag of +rebellion and proclaimed that he had a divine call to restore the +throne to the Chinese race, and to deliver the people from the curse +of idolatry. In this twofold crusade he was ably seconded by one +Yang, who possessed all the qualities of a successful hierophant. +Shrewd and calculating, Yang was able +[Page 158] +at will to bring on cataleptic fits, during which his utterances +passed for the words of the Holy Ghost. + +The new empire which they were trying to establish, they called +_Tai-ping Tien-kwoh_, "The Kingdom of Heaven and the reign +of peace." Hung was emperor, to be saluted with _Wansue!_ +(Japanese, _Banzai!_) "10,000 years!" Yang as prince-premier +was saluted with "9,000 years," nine-tenths of a banzai. He was +the medium of communication with the Court of Heaven; and all their +greater movements were made by command of Shang-ti, the Supreme +Ruler. + +On one occasion Yang went into a trance and declared that Shang-ti +was displeased by something done by his chief, and required the +latter to receive a castigation on his naked shoulders. The chief +submitted, whether from credulity or from policy it might not be +easy to say; but thereby the faith of his followers seems to have +been confirmed rather than shaken. Nor did Yang take advantage +of his chief's disgrace to usurp his place or to treat him as a +puppet. + +Through Yang it was revealed that they were to leave their mountain +fortress and strike for Nanking, which had been made the capital on +the expulsion of the Mongols, and which was destined to enjoy the +same dignity on the overthrow of the Manchus. That programme, one of +unexampled daring, was promptly put into execution. Descending into +the plains of Hunan, like a mountain torrent they swept everything +before them and began their march towards the central stronghold +fifteen hundred miles distant. Striking the "Great River" at Hankow, +they pillaged +[Page 159] +the three rich cities Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankow, and, seizing +all the junks, committed themselves to its current without a doubt +as to the issue of their voyage. + +Nanking was carried by assault despite the alleged impregnability +of its ramparts, and despite also a garrison of 25,000 Manchus. +These last must have fought with the fury of despair; for they +well knew what fate awaited them. Not one was spared to tell the +tale--this was in 1853. There the Tai-pings held their ground for +ten years; and it is safe to affirm that without the aid of foreign +missionaries they never would have been dislodged. + +The second part of their enterprise--the expulsion of the Manchus +from Peking--ended in defeat. A strong detachment was sent north +by way of the Grand Canal. At first they met with great success--no +town or city was able to check their progress, which resembled +Napoleon's invasion of Russia. At the beginning of winter they +were met by a strong force under the Mongol prince Sengkolinsin; +then came the more dreaded generals--January and February. Unable +to make headway, they went into winter quarters, and committed +the blunder of dividing themselves between two towns, where they +were besieged and cut off in detail. + +In the meantime the eyes of the world were turned toward Nanking. +Ships of war were sent to reconnoitre and Consul T. T. Meadows, +who accompanied the _Hermes_, made a report full of sympathy; +but the failure of their expedition to the north deterred the nation +from any formal recognition of the Tai-ping government. + +[Page 160] +Missionaries were attracted by their profession of Christianity. +Among others, I made an unsuccessful attempt to reach them. Unable +to induce my boatmen to run the blockade, I returned home and took +up the pen in their defence. My letters were well received, but they +did not prevent soldiers of fortune, like the American Frederick +G. Ward and Colonel Gordon of the British army, throwing their +swords into the scale. + +Two Sabbatarians hearing that the rebels observed Saturday for +their day of rest, posted off to confirm them in that ancient usage. +Learning at an outpost that the seeming agreement with their own +practice grew out of a mistake in reckoning, they did not continue +their journey. + +A missionary who actually penetrated to the rebel headquarters +was the Rev. Issachar Roberts, the first instructor of the rebel +chief. The latter had sent him a message inviting him to court. +His stay was not long. He found that his quondam disciple had +substituted a new mode of baptism, neither sprinkling nor immersion, +but washing the pit of the stomach with a towel dipped in warm +water! Who says the Chinese are not original? It is probable that +Roberts's dispute lay deeper than a mere ceremony. Professing a +New Testament creed, the rebel chief shaped his practice on Old +Testament examples--killing men as ruthlessly as David, and, like +Solomon, filling his harem with women. A remonstrance on either +head was certain to bring danger; it was said indeed that Roberts's +life was threatened. + +Some queer titles were adopted by the Tai-pings. +[Page 161] +As stated above, the premier was styled "Father of 9,000 years"; +other princes had to content themselves with 7,000, 6,000, etc.--or +seven-tenths and six-tenths of a "Live forever!" Christ was the +"Heavenly Elder Brother"; and the chief called himself "Younger +Brother of Jesus Christ." These designations might excite a smile; +but when he called Yang, his adviser, the "Holy Ghost," one felt +like stopping one's ears, as did the Hebrews of old. The loose morals +of the Tai-pings and their travesty of sacred things horrified the +Christian world; and Gordon no doubt felt that he was doing God +a service in breaking up a horde of blasphemers and blackguards. + +Gordon's victory won an earldom for Li Hung Chang; but the Chinese +conferred no posthumous honours on Gordon as they did on Ward, +who has a temple and is reckoned among the gods of the empire. + +The Tai-pings were commonly called Changmao, "long-haired" rebels, +because they rejected the tonsure and "pigtail" as marks of subjection. +They printed at Nanking, by what they called "Imperial authority," +an edition of the Holy Scriptures. At one time Lord Elgin, disgusted +by the conduct of the Peking Government, proposed to make terms with +the court at Nanking. The French minister refused to coöperate, partly +because the rebels had not been careful to distinguish between the +images in Roman Catholic chapels and those in pagan temples, but +chiefly from an objection to the ascendency of Protestant influence, +coupled with a fear of losing the power that comes from a protectorate +of Roman Catholic missions. How different would have been +[Page 162] +the future of China had the allied powers backed up the Tai-pings +against the Manchus! + + * * * * * + + +ACT 2. THE "ARROW" WAR, 1857-1860 + +Of the second act in this grand drama on the world's wide stage, +a vessel, named the _Arrow_, was, like opium in the former +conflict, the occasion, not the cause. The cause was, as before, +pride and ignorance on the part of the Chinese, though the British +are not to be altogether exonerated. Their flag was compromised; +and they sought to protect it. Fifteen years of profitable commerce +had passed, during which China had been a double gainer, receiving +light and experience in addition to less valuable commodities, +when Viceroy Yeh seized the lorcha _Arrow_, on a charge of +piracy. Though owned by Chinese, she was registered in Hong Kong, +and sailed under the British flag. Had the viceroy handed her over +to a British court for trial, justice would no doubt have been +done to the delinquents, and the two nations would not have been +embroiled; but, haughty as well as hasty, the viceroy declined to +admit that the British Government had any right to interfere with +his proceedings. Unfortunately (or fortunately) British interests +at Canton were in the hands of Consul Parkes, afterward Sir Harry +Parkes, the renowned plenipotentiary at Peking and Tokio. + +Sir John Bowring was governor of Hong Kong, with the oversight of +British interests in the Empire. A gifted poet, and an enthusiastic +advocate of universal peace, he was a man who might be counted on, if in +[Page 163] +the power of man, to hold the dogs of war in leash. But he, too, +had been consul at Canton and he knew by experience the quagmire +in which the best intentions were liable to be swamped. + +Parkes, whom I came to know as Her Britannic Majesty's minister in +Peking, was the soul of honour, as upright as any man who walked +the earth. But with all his rectitude, he, like the Viceroy Yeh, +was irascible and unyielding. When the viceroy refused his demand +for the rendition of the _Arrow_ and her crew, he menaced him +with the weight of the lion's paw. Alarmed, but not cowed, the +viceroy sent the prisoners in fetters to the consulate, instead of +replacing them on board their ship; nor did he vouchsafe a word of +courtesy or apology. Parkes, too fiery to overlook such contemptuous +informality, sent them back, much as a football is kicked from +one to another; and the viceroy, incensed beyond measure, ordered +their heads to be chopped off without a trial. + +Here was a Gordian knot, which nothing but the sword could loose. +War was provoked as before by the rashness of a viceroy. The +peace-loving governor did not choose to swallow the affront to +his country, nor did the occupant of the Dragon Throne deign to +interfere; looking on the situation with the same sublime indifference +with which the King of Persia regarded the warlike preparations of +the younger Cyrus, when he supposed, as Xenophon tells us, that +he was only going to fight out a feud with a neighbouring satrap. +How could China be opened; how was a stable equilibrium possible +so long as foreign powers were kept at a distance from the capital +of the Empire? + +[Page 164] +In three months the haughty viceroy was a prisoner in India, never +to return, and his provincial capital was held by a garrison of +British troops. On this occasion the old blunder of admitting the +city to ransom was not repeated, else Canton might have continued +to be a hotbed of seditious plots and anti-foreign hostilities. +Parkes knew the people, and he knew their rulers also. He was +accordingly allowed to have his own way in dealing with them. The +viceroy being out of the way, he proposed to Pehkwei, the Manchu +governor, to take his place and carry on the provincial government +as if the two nations were at peace. Strange to say, the governor +did not decline the task. That he did not was due to the fact that +he disapproved the policy of the viceroy, and that he put faith +in the assurance that Great Britain harboured no design against +the reigning house or its territorial domain. + +To the surprise of the Chinese, who in their native histories find +that an Asiatic conqueror always takes possession of as much territory +as he is able to hold, it soon became evident that the Queen of +England did not make war in the spirit of conquest. Her premier, +Lord Palmerston, invited the coöperation of France, Russia, and +the United States, in a movement which was expected to issue +advantageously to all, especially to China. France, at that time +under an ambitious successor of the great Napoleon, seized the +opportunity to contribute a strong contingent, with the view of +checkmating England and of obtaining for herself a free hand in +Indo-China, possibly in China Proper also. For assuming a hostile +[Page 165] +attitude towards China, she found a pretext in the judicial murder of a +missionary in Kwangsi, just as Germany found two of her missionaries +similarly useful as an excuse for the occupation of Kiao-Chao in +1897. No wonder the Chinese have grown cautious how they molest a +missionary; but they needed practical teaching before they learned +the lesson. + +Unable to take a morsel of China as long as his powerful ally abstained +from territorial aggrandisement, Louis Napoleon subsequently employed +his troops to enlarge the borders of a small state which the French +claimed in Annam, laying the foundation of a dominion which goes +far to console them for the loss of India. America and Russia, +having no wrongs to redress, declined to send troops, but consented +to give moral support to a movement for placing foreign relations +with China on a satisfactory basis. + +In the spring of 1858, the representatives of the four powers met +at the mouth of the Peiho, coöperating in a loose sort of concert +which permitted each one to carryon negotiations on his own account. +As interpreter to the Hon. W. B. Reed, the American minister, I +enjoyed the best of opportunities for observing what went on behind +the scenes, besides being a spectator of more than one battle. + +The neutrals, arriving in advance of the belligerents, opened +negotiations with the Viceroy of Chihli, which might have added +supplementary articles, but must have left the old treaties +substantially unchanged. The other envoys coming on the stage insisted +that the viceroy should wear the title and be clothed with the +powers of a plenipotentiary. When that was +[Page 166] +refused, as being "incompatible with the absolute sovereignty of +the Emperor," they stormed the forts and proceeded to Tientsin +where they were met by men whose credentials were made out in due +form, though it is doubtful if their powers exceeded those of the +crestfallen viceroy. A pitiful artifice to maintain their affectation +of superiority was the placing of the names of foreign countries +one space lower than that of China in the despatch announcing their +appointment. When this covert insult was pointed out they apologised +for a clerical error, and had the despatches rectified. + +The allies were able to dictate their own terms; and they got all +they asked for, though, as will be seen, they did not ask enough. +The rest of us got the same, though we had struck no blow and shed +no blood. One article, known as "the most-favoured-nation clause" +(already in the treaty of 1844), was all that we required to enable +us to pick up the fruit when others shook the tree. + +Four additional seaports were opened, but Tienstin, where the treaties +were drawn up, was not one of them. I remember hearing Lord Elgin, +whose will was absolute, say that he was not willing to have it +thrown open to commerce, because in that case it would be used +to overawe the capital--just as if _overaweing_ were not the +very thing needed to make a bigoted government enter on the path of +progress. Never did a man in repute for statesmanship show himself +more shortsighted. His blunder led to the renewal of the war, and +its continuance for two more years. + +[Page 167] +The next year when the envoys came to the mouth of the river, on +their way to Peking to exchange ratified copies of their treaties, +they found the forts rebuilt, the river closed, and access to the +capital by way of Tientsin bluntly refused. In taking this action, +the Chinese were not chargeable with a breach of faith; but the +allies, feeling insulted at having the door shut in their faces, +decided to force it open. They had a strong squadron; but their +gunboats were no match for the forts. Some were sunk; others were +beached; and the day ended in disastrous defeat. Though taking no +part in the conflict the Americans were not indifferent spectators. +Hearing that the British admiral was wounded, their commodore, the +brave old Tatnall, went through a shower of bullets to express +his sympathy, getting his boat shattered and losing a man on the +way. When requested to lend a helping hand, he exclaimed "Blood +is thicker than water;" and, throwing neutrality to the winds, +he proceeded to tow up a flotilla of British barges. His words +have echoed around the world; and his act, though impolitic from +the viewpoint of diplomacy, had the effect of knitting closer the +ties of two kindred nations. + +Seeing the repulse of the allies, the American minister, the Hon. +J. E. Ward, resolved to accept an offer which they had declined, +namely, to proceed to the capital by land under a Chinese escort. +His country was pledged in the treaty, of which he was the bearer, +to use her good offices on the occurrence of difficulties with +other powers. Without cavilling at the prescribed route or mode +of conveyance, he felt it his duty to present himself before the +Throne as speedily +[Page 168] +as possible in the hope of averting a threatened calamity. For +him, it was an opportunity to do something great and good; for +China, it was the last chance to ward off a crushing blow. But +so elated were the Chinese by their unexpected success that they +were in no mood to accept the services of a mediator. The Emperor +insisted that he should go on his knees like the tribute-bearer +from a vassal state. "Tell them," said Mr. Ward, "that I go on +my knees only to God and woman"--a speech brave and chivalrous, +but undignified for a minister and unintelligible to the Chinese. +With this he quitted the capital and left China to her fate. He +was not the first envoy to meet a rude rebuff at the Chinese court. +In 1816 Lord Amherst was not allowed to see the "Dragon's Face" +because he refused to kneel. At that date England was not in a +position to punish the insult; but it had something to do with the +war of 1839. In 1859 it was pitiful to see a power whose existence +was hanging in the scales alienate a friend by unseemly insolence. + +The following year (1860) saw the combined forces of two empires +at the gates of Peking. The summer palace was laid in ashes to +punish the murder of a company of men and officers under a flag +of truce; and it continues to be an unsightly ruin. The Emperor +fled to Tartary to find a grave; and throne and capital were for +the first time at the mercy of an Occidental army. On the accession +of Hien-feng, in 1850, an old counsellor advised him to make it +his duty to "restore the restrictions all along the coast." His +attempt to do this was one source of his misfortunes. Supplementary +articles were signed within the walls, +[Page 169] +by which China relinquished her absurd pretensions, abandoned her +long seclusion, and, at the instance of France, threw open the +whole empire to the labours of Christian missions. They had been +admitted by rescript to the Five Ports, but no further. + +Thus ends the second act of the drama; and a spectator must be +sadly deficient in spiritual insight if he does not perceive the +hand of God overruling the strife of nations and the blunders of +statesmen. + + +ACT 3. WAR WITH FRANCE + +The curtain rises on the third act of the drama in 1885. Peking was +open to residence, and I had charge of a college for the training +of diplomatic agents. + +I was at Pearl Grotto, my summer refuge near Peking, when I was +called to town by a messenger from the Board of Foreign Affairs. +The ministers informed me that the French had destroyed their fleet +and seized their arsenal at Foochow. "This," they said, "is war. We +desire to know how the non-combatants of the enemy are to be treated +according to the rules of international law." I wrote out a brief +statement culled from text-books, which I had myself translated +for the use of the Chinese Government; but before I had finished +writing a clerk came to say that the Grand Council wished to have +it as soon as possible, as they were going to draw up a decree on +the subject. The next day an imperial decree proclaimed a state +of war and assured French people in China that if they refrained +from taking part in any hostile act they might remain in their +places, and count on full protection. Nobly did the government of +the day redeem its pledge. +[Page 170] +Not a missionary was molested in the interior; and two French professors +belonging to my own faculty were permitted to go on with the instruction +of their classes. + +There was not much fighting. The French seized Formosa; and both +parties were preparing for a trial of strength, when a seemingly +unimportant occurrence led them to come to an understanding. A small +steamer belonging to the customs service, employed in supplying the +wants of lighthouses, having been taken by the French, Sir Robert +Hart applied to the French premier, Jules Ferry, for its release. +This was readily granted; and an intimation was at the same time +given that the French would welcome overtures for a settlement +of the quarrel. Terms were easily agreed upon and the two parties +resumed the _status quo ante bellum_. + +So far as the stipulations were concerned neither party had gained +or lost anything, yet as a matter of fact France had scored a +substantial victory. She was henceforward left in quiet possession +of Tongking, a principality which China had regarded as a vassal +and endeavoured to protect. + + +ACT 4. WAR WITH JAPAN + +China had not thoroughly learned the lesson suggested by this +experience; for ten years later a fourth act in the drama grew out +of her unwise attempt to protect another vassal. + +In 1894 the Japanese, provoked by China's interference with their +enterprises in Korea, boldly drew the sword and won for themselves +a place among the great powers. I was in Japan when the war broke +[Page 171] +out, and, being asked by a company of foreigners what I thought +of Japan's chances, answered, "The swordfish can kill the whale." + +Not merely did the islanders expel the Chinese from the Korean +peninsula, but they took possession of those very districts in +Manchuria from which they have but yesterday ousted the Russians. +Peking itself was in danger when Li Hung Chang was sent to the +Mikado to sue for peace. Luckily for China a Japanese assassin +lodged a bullet in the head of her ambassador; and the Mikado, +ashamed of that cowardly act, granted peace on easy conditions. +China's greatest statesman carried that bullet in his _dura mater_ +to the end of his days, proud to have made himself an offering for +his country, and rejoicing that one little ball had silenced the +batteries of two empires. + +By the terms of the treaty, Japan was to be left in possession +of Port Arthur and Liao-tung. But this arrangement was in fatal +opposition to the policy of a great power which had already cast +covetous eyes on the rich provinces of Manchuria. Securing the +support of France and Germany, Russia compelled the Japanese to +withdraw; and in the course of three years she herself occupied +those very positions, kindling in the bosom of Japan the fires +of revenge, and sowing the seeds of another war.[*] + +[Footnote *: The Russo-Japanese war lies outside of our present +programme because China was not a party to it, though it involved +her interests and even her existence. The subject will be treated +in another chapter.] + +The effect of China's defeat at the hands of her despised neighbour, +was, if possible, more profound than that of her humiliation by +the English and +[Page 172] +French in 1860. She saw how the adoption of Western methods had +clothed a small Oriental people with irresistible might; and her +wisest statesmen set themselves to work a similar transformation +in their antiquated empire. The young Emperor showed himself an +apt pupil, issuing a series of reformatory edicts, which alarmed +the conservatives and provoked a reaction that constitutes the +last act in this tremendous drama. + + +ACT 5. THE BOXER WAR + +The fifth act opens with the _coup d'état_ of the Empress +Dowager, and terminates with the capture of Peking by the combined +forces of the civilised world. + +Instead of attempting, even in outline, a narrative of events, it +will be more useful to direct attention to the springs of action. +It should be borne in mind that the late Emperor was the adopted son +of the Dowager Empress. After the death of her own son, Tung-chi, +who occupied the throne for eleven years under a joint regency +of two empresses, his mother cast about for some one to adopt in +his stead. With motives not difficult to divine she chose among +her nephews an infant of three summers, and gave him the title +_Kwangsu_, "Illustrious Successor." When he was old enough +to be entrusted with the reins of government, she made a feint +of laying down her power, in deference to custom. Yet she exacted +of the imperial youth that he visit her at her country palace and +throw himself at her feet once in five days--proof enough that +she kept her hand on the helm, though she +[Page 173] +mitted her nephew to pose as steersman. She herself was noted for +progressive ideas; and it was not strange that the young man, under +the influence of Kang Yuwei, backed by enlightened viceroys, should +go beyond his adoptive mother. Within three years from the close +of the war he had proclaimed a succession of new measures which +amounted to a reversal of the old policy; nor is it likely that +she disapproved of any of them, until the six ministers of the +Board of Rites, the guardians of a sort of Levitical law, besought +her to save the empire from the horrors of a revolution. + +For her to command was to be obeyed. The viceroys were her appointees; +and she knew they would stand by her to a man. The Emperor, though +nominally independent, was not emancipated from the obligations of +filial duty, which were the more binding as having been created +by her voluntary choice. There was no likelihood that he would +offer serious resistance; and it was certain that he would not +be supported if he did. Coming from behind the veil, she snatched +the sceptre from his inexperienced hand, as a mother takes a deadly +weapon from a half-grown boy. Submitting to the inevitable he made +a formal surrender of his autocratic powers and, confessing his +errors, implored her "to teach him how to govern." This was in +September, 1898. + +Stripped of every vestige of authority, the unhappy prince was +confined, a prisoner of state, in a secluded palace where it was +thought he would soon receive the present of a silken scarf as a hint +to make way for a worthier successor. That his life was spared was no +[Page 174] +doubt due to a certain respect for the public sentiment of the +world, to which China is not altogether insensible. He having no +direct heir, the son of Prince Tuan was adopted by the Dowager +as heir-apparent, evidently in expectation of a vacancy soon to +be filled. Prince Tuan, hitherto unknown in the politics of the +state, became, from that moment, the leader of a reactionary party. +Believing that his son would soon be called to the throne by the +demise of the Emperor, he put on all the airs of a _Tai-shang +Hwang_, or "Father of an Emperor." + +Here again the _patria potestas_ comes in as a factor; and +in the brief career of the father of the heir-apparent, it shows +itself in its most exaggerated form. Under the influence of the +reactionary clique, of which he was acknowledged chief, the Empress +Dowager in her new regency was induced to repeal almost everything +the Emperor had done in the way of reform. In her edict she said +cynically: "It does not follow that we are to stop eating, because +we have been choked!" Dislike to foreign methods engendered an +ill-concealed hatred of foreigners; and just at this epoch occurred +a series of aggressions by foreign powers, which had the effect +of fanning that hatred into a flame. + +In the fall of 1897 Germany demanded the cession of Kiao-Chao, +calling it a lease for 99 years. The next spring Russia under the +form of a lease for 25 years obtained Port Arthur for the terminus +of her long railway. England and France followed suit: one taking +a _lease_ of Wei-hai-wei; the other, of Kwang-chou-wan. Though +in every case the word "lease" +[Page 175] +was employed, the Chinese knew the transfer meant permanent alienation. + +A hue and cry was raised against what they described as the "slicing +of the melon," and in Shantung, where the first act of spoliation +had taken place, the Boxers, a turbulent society of long standing, +were encouraged to wage open war against native Christians, foreigners +and foreign products, including railways, telegraphs, and all sorts +of merchandise. + +Not until those predatory bands had entered the metropolitan province, +with the avowed object of pushing their way to Peking[*] did the +legations take steps to strengthen their guards. A small reinforcement +of 207 men luckily reached Peking a few days before the railway +was wrecked. + +[Footnote *: On March 30, 1900, the following Boxer manifesto in +jingling rhyme, was thrown into the London Mission, at Tientsin. It +is here given in a prose version, taken from "A Flight for Life," +by the Rev. J. H. Roberts, Pilgrim Press, Boston. + +"We Boxers have come to Tientsin to kill an foreign devils, and +protect the Manchu dynasty. Above, there is the Empress Dowager +on our side, and below there is Junglu. The soldiers of Yulu and +Yuhien [governors of Shantung and Chihli] are an our men. When +we have finished killing in Tientsin, we shall go to Peking. All +the officials high and low will welcome us. Whoever is afraid let +him quickly escape for his life."] + +With a view to protect the foreign settlement at Tientsin, then +threatened by Boxers, the combined naval forces stormed the forts +at the mouth of the river, and advanced to that rich emporium. The +Court denounced this as an act of war, and ordered all foreigners +to leave the capital within twenty-four hours. That meant slaughter +at the hands of the Boxers. The foreign ministers protested, and +[Page 176] +endeavoured by prolonged negotiation to avoid compliance with the +cruel order. + +On June 20, the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, was on his +way to the Foreign Office to obtain an extension of time, when he +was shot dead in the street by a man in the uniform of a soldier. +His secretary, though wounded, gave the alarm; and all the legations, +with all their respective countrymen, took refuge in the British +Legation, with the exception of Bishop Favier and his people who, +with the aid of forty marines, bravely defended themselves in the +new cathedral. + +In the evening we were fired on by the Government troops, and from +that time we were closely besieged and exposed to murderous attacks +day and night for eight weeks, when a combined force under the +flags of eight nations carried the walls by storm, just in time +to prevent such a massacre as the world has never seen. Massacres +on a larger scale have not been a rare spectacle; but never before +in the history of the world had any government been seen attempting +to destroy an entire diplomatic body, every member of whom is made +sacred by the law of nations.[*] + +[Footnote *: AN APPEAL FROM THE LION'S DEN + +(Written four weeks before the end of the siege, this appeal failed +to reach the outside world. It is now printed for the first time. +Nothing that I could now write would show the situation with half +such vividness. It reveals the scene as with a lightning flash.) + + "British Legation, July 16, 1900. + +"TO THE CHRISTIAN WORLD + +"On the 19th ult. the Chinese declared war on account of the attack +on the forts at Taku. Since then we have been shut up in the British +Legation and others adjacent, and bombarded day and night with shot +and shell. The defence has been magnificent. About 1,000 foreigners +(of both sexes) have held their ground against the forces of the +Empire. Some thousands of Chinese converts are dependent on us for +protection. The City Wall near the legations is held by our men, +but the Chinese are forcing them back and driving in our outposts. +The mortality in our ranks is very great; and unless relief comes +soon we must all perish. Our men have fought bravely, and our women +have shown sublime courage. May this terrible sacrifice prove not +to be in vain! We are the victims of pagan fanaticism. Let this +pagan empire be partitioned among Christian powers, and may a new +order of things open on China with a new century! + +"The chief asylum for native Christians is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, +where Bishop Favier aided by forty marines gives protection to four +or five thousand. The perils of the siege have obliterated the lines +of creed and nation, making a unity, not merely of Christians, but +bringing the Japanese into brotherhood with us. To them the siege +is a step toward Christianity." + +"(Signed) DR. W. A. P. MARTIN."] + +[Page 177] +On August 14 Gen. Gaseles and his contingent entered the British +Legation. The Court, conscious of guilt, fled to the northwest, +leaving the city once more at the mercy of the hated foreigner; +and so the curtain falls on the closing scene. + +What feats of heroism were performed in the course of those eventful +weeks; how delicate women rose to the height of the occasion in +patient endurance and helpful charity; how international jealousies +were merged in the one feeling of devotion to the common good--all +this and more I should like to relate for the honour of human nature. + +How an unseen power appeared to hold our enemies in check and to +sustain the courage of the besieged, I would also like to place on +record, to the glory of the Most High; but space fails for dealing +with anything but general principles.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See the author's "The Siege in Peking," New York: Fleming +H. Revell Company.] + +On the day following our rescue, at a thanksgiving meeting, which +was largely attended, Dr. Arthur +[Page 178] +Smith pointed out ten instances--most of us agreed that he might +have made the number ten times ten--in which the providence of +God had intervened on our behalf. + +It was a role of an ancient critic that a god should not be brought +on the stage unless the occasion were such as to require the presence +of a more than human power. _Nec deus intersit nisi dignus vindice +nodus._ How many such occasions we have had to notice in the +course of this narrative! What a theodicæa we have in the result +of all this tribulation! We see at last, a government convinced +of the folly of a policy which brought on such a succession of +disastrous wars. We see missionaries and native Christians fairly +well protected throughout the whole extent of the Empire. We see, +moreover, a national movement in the direction of educational reform, +which, along with the Gospel of Christ, promises to impart new +life to that ancient people. + +The following incident may serve to show the state of uncertainty +in which we lived during the interregnum preceding the return of +the Court. + +While waiting for an opportunity to get my "train (the university) +on the track," I spent the summer of 1901 at Pearl Grotto, my usual +retreat, on the top of a hill over a thousand feet high, overlooking +the capital. "The Boxers are coming!" cried my writer and servants +one evening about twilight. "Haste--hide in the rocks--they will +soon be on us!" "I shall not hide," I replied; and seizing my rifle +I rested it on a wall which commanded the approach. They soon became +visible at the distance of a hundred yards, +[Page 179] +waving flambeaux, and yelling like a troop of devils. Happily I +reserved my fire for closer range; for leaving the path at that +point they betook themselves to the top of another hill where they +waved their torches and shouted like madmen. We were safe for the +night; and in the morning I reported the occurrence to Mr. O'Conor, +the British chargé d'affaires, who was at a large temple at the +foot of the hills. "They were not Boxers," he remarked, "but a +party we sent out _to look for a lost student_." + + +POSTSCRIPT + +It is the fashion to speak slightingly of the Boxer troubles, and +to blink the fact that the movement which led to the second capture +of Peking and the flight of the Court was a serious war. The southern +viceroys had undertaken to maintain order in the south. Operations were +therefore localised somewhat, as they were in the Russo-Japanese War. +It is even said that the combined forces were under the impression +that they were coming to the rescue of a helpless government which +was doing all in its power to protect foreigners. Whether this was +the effect of diplomatic dust thrown in their eyes or not, _it +was a fiction_. + +How bitterly the Empress Dowager was bent on exterminating the +foreigner, may be inferred from her decree ordering the massacre of +foreigners and their adherents--a savage edict which the southern +satraps refused to obey. A similar inference may be drawn from the +summary execution of four ministers of state for remonstrating against +throwing in the fortunes of the empire with the Boxer party. China +[Page 180] +should be made to do penance on her knees for those shocking displays +of barbarism. At Taiyuan-fu, forty-five missionaries were murdered +by the governor, and sixteen at Paoting-fu. Such atrocities are +only possible among a _half-civilised people_. + + + + +[Page 181] +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR + +_Russia's Schemes for Conquest--Conflicting Interests in +Korea--Hostilities Begin--The First Battles--The Blockade--Dispersion +of the Russian Fleet--Battle of Liao-yang--Fall of Port Arthur--Battle +of Mukden--The Armada--Battle of Tsushima--The Peace of Portsmouth--The +Effect on China_ + +To the Chinese the retrospect of these five wars left little room +for those pompous pretensions which appeared to be their vital +breath. + +Beaten by Western powers and by the new power of the East, their +capital taken a second time after forty years' opportunity to fortify +it, and their fugitive court recalled a second time to reign on +sufferance or during good behaviour, what had they left to boast +of except the antiquity of their country and the number of their +people? Dazed and paralysed, most of them gave way to a sullen +resignation that differed little from despair. + +There were, indeed, a few who, before things came to the worst, +saw that China's misfortunes were due to folly, not fate. Ignorant +conservatism had made her weak; vigorous reform might make her +strong. But another war was required to turn the feeling of the +few into a conviction of the many. This change was +[Page 182] +accomplished by a war waged within their borders but to which they +were not a party--a war which was not an act in their national +drama, but a spectacle for which they furnished the stage. That +spectacle calls for notice in the present work on account of its +influence on the destinies of China. + +For the springs of action it will be necessary to go back three +centuries, to the time when Yermak crossed the Ural Mountains and +made Russia an Asiatic power. The conquest of Siberia was not to +end in Siberia. Russia saw in it a chance to enrich herself at +the expense of weaker neighbours. What but that motive led her, in +1858, to demand the Manchurian seacoast as the price of neutrality? +What but that led her to construct the longest railway in the world? +What but that impelled her to seek for it a second terminus on +the Gulf of Pechili? + +The occupation of Port Arthur and Liao-tung by the Japanese, in +1895, was a checkmate to Russia's little game; and, supported by +France and Germany, she gave her notice to quit. During the Boxer +War of 1900, Russia increased her forces in Manchuria to provide +for the eventualities of a probable break-up, and after the peace +her delay in fulfilling her promise of evacuation was tantamount +to a refusal. + +Had the Russians confined their attention to Manchuria they might +have continued to remain in possession; but another feeble state +offered itself as a tempting prize. They set greedy eyes on Korea, +made interest with an impoverished court, and obtained the privilege +of navigating the Yalu and cutting +[Page 183] +timber on its banks. This proceeding, though explained by the +requirements of railway construction, aroused the suspicion and +jealousy of the Japanese. They knew it meant more than seeking +an outlet for a lumber industry. They knew it portended vassalage +for Korea and ejection for themselves. Had they not made war on +China ten years before because they could brook no rival in the +peninsula? How could they tolerate the intrusion of Russia? Not +merely were their interests in Korea at stake; every advance of +Russia in that quarter, with Korea for vassal or ally, was a menace +to the existence of Japan. + +The Japanese lost no time in entering a protest. Russia resorted +to the Fabian policy of delay as before; but she was dealing with +a people whose pride and patriotism were not to be trifled with. +After protracted negotiations Japan sent an ultimatum in which she +proposed to recognise Manchuria as Russia's sphere of influence, +provided Russia would recognise Japanese influence as paramount +in Korea. For a fortnight or more the Czar vouchsafed no reply. +Accustomed to being waited on, he put the paper in his pocket and +kept it there while every train on the railway was pouring fresh +troops into Manchuria. Without waiting for a formal reply, or deigning +to discuss modifications intended to gain time, the Japanese heard +the hour strike and cleared for action. + +They are reproached for opening hostilities without first formally +declaring war. In the age of chivalry a declaration of war was a +solemn ceremony. A herald standing on the border read or recited his +[Page 184] +master's complaint and then hurled a spear across the boundary +as an act of defiance. In later times nothing more than a formal +announcement is required, except for the information of neutrals +and the belligerents' own people. The rupture of relations leaves +both parties free to choose their line of action. Japan, the newest +of nations, naturally adopted the most modern method. + +Recalling her ambassador on February 6, 1904, Japan was ready to +strike simultaneous blows at two points. On February 8, Admiral +Uriu challenged two Russian cruisers at Chemulpo to come out and +fight, otherwise he would attack them in the harbour. Steaming +out they fired the first shots of the war, and both were captured +or destroyed. A little later on the same day Admiral Togo opened +his broadsides on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, and resumed +the attack the following morning. Without challenge or notification +of any kind, his attack had the effect of a genuine surprise. The +Russians, whether from confidence in their position or contempt +for their enemy, were unprepared and replied feebly. They had seven +battleships to Togo's six, but the big ships of Japan were supported +by a flotilla of torpedo-boats which outnumbered those of Russia. +These alert little craft did great execution. Creeping into the +harbour while the bombardment kept the enemy occupied they sank +two battleships and one armoured cruiser. Other Russian vessels +were badly damaged; but, according to Togo's report, on the side +of Japan not one vessel was incapacitated for actual service. + +Land forces, fully equipped and waiting for this +[Page 185] +special service, commenced operations without delay and began to +cut off communication from the land side while Togo's squadron +corked up every inlet from the sea. Alexieff, whose title of viceroy +revealed the intentions of Russia in regard to Manchuria, taking +alarm at the prospect of a siege, escaped to Harbin near the Siberian +frontier--a safer place for headquarters. To screen his flight he made +unwarrantable use of an ambulance train of the Red Cross Society. +Disagreeing with General Kuropatkin as to the plan of campaign, +he resigned the command of the army in April, and Kuropatkin was +promoted to the vacant place. Beaten in several engagements on +the Liao-tung peninsula, the Russians began to fall back, followed +by the Japanese under Field-Marshal Oyama; and the siege of the +fortress was prosecuted with unremitting vigour. + +By July the Japanese had secured possession of the outer line of +forts, and, planting heavy guns on the top of a high hill, they were +able to throw plunging shot into the bosom of the harbour. No longer +safe at their inner anchorage, the Russian naval officers resolved +to attempt to reach Vladivostok, where the combined squadrons might +assume the offensive or at least be secure from blockade. Scarcely +had they gained the open sea when (on August 10) the Japanese fell on +them like a whirlwind and scattered their ships in all directions. +A few reëntered the harbour to await their doom; two or three found +their way to Vladivostok; two sought refuge at the German port of +Tsing-tao; two put into Shanghai; and one continued its flight +as far south as Saigon. + +[Page 186] +One gunboat sought shelter at Chefoo, where I was passing my summer +vacation. The Japanese, in hot pursuit, showed no more respect to +the neutrality of China than they had shown to Korea. Boarding +the fugitive vessel, they summoned the captain to surrender. He +replied by seizing the Japanese officer in his arms and throwing +himself into the sea. They were rescued; and the Japanese then +carried off the boat under the guns of a Chinese admiral. Of this +incident in its main features I was an eye-witness. I may add that +we were near enough to bear witness to the fact of the siege; for, +in the words of Helen Sterling: + + "We heard the boom of guns by day + And saw their flash by night, + And almost thought, tho' miles away, + That we were in the fight. + +The Chinese admiral, feeling the affront to the Dragon flag and +fearing that he would be called to account, promptly tendered his +resignation. He was told to keep his place; and, by way of consoling +him for his inaction, the Minister of Marine added, "You are not +to blame for not firing on the Japanese. They are fighting our +battles--we can't do anything against them." So much for Chinese +neutrality in theory and in practice. + +Kuropatkin, like the Parthian, "most dreaded when in flight," renouncing +any further attempt to break through the cordon which the Japanese +had drawn around the doomed fortress, intrenched his forces in +and around Liaoyang. His position was strong by +[Page 187] +nature, and he strengthened it by every device known to a military +engineer; yet he was driven from it in a battle which lasted nine +days. + +The Japanese, though not slow to close around his outposts, were +too cautious to deliver their main attack until they could be certain +of success. The combat thickened till, on August 24, cannon thundered +along a line of forty miles. Outflanked by his assailants, the +Russian general, perceiving that he must secure his communications +on the north or sustain a siege, abandoned his ground and fell +back on Mukden. + +In this, the greatest battle of the campaign thus far, 400,000 +men were engaged, the Japanese, as usual, having a considerable +majority. The loss of life was appalling. The Russian losses were +reported at 22,000; and those of Japan could not have been less. +Yet Liaoyang with all its horrors was only a prelude to a more +obstinate conflict on a more extended arena. + +Without hope of succour by land, and without a fleet to bring relief +by sea, the Russians defended their fortress with the courage of +despair. Ten years before this date the Japanese under Field-marshal +Oyama had carried this same stronghold almost by assault. Taking +it in the rear, a move which the Chinese thought so contrary to +the rules of war that they had neglected their landward defences, +they were masters of the place on the morning of the third day. + +How different their reception on the present occasion! How changed +the aspect! The hills, range after range, were now crowned with +forts. Fifty thousand of Russia's best soldiers were behind those +batteries, many of which were provided with casemates impenetrable +[Page 188] +to any ordinary projectile. General Stoessel, a man of science, +courage and experience, was in command; and he held General Nogi +with a force of sixty or seventy thousand at bay for eleven months. +Prodigies of valour were performed on both sides, some of the more +commanding positions being taken and retaken three or four times. + +When, in September, the besiegers got possession of Wolf Hill, and +with plunging shot smashed the remnant of the fleet, they offered +generous terms to the defenders. General Stoessel declined the +offer, resolving to emulate Thermopylæ, or believing, perhaps, in +the possibility of rescue. When, however, he saw the "203 Metre +Hill" in their hands and knew his casemates would soon be riddled +by heavy shot, in sheer despair he was forced to capitulate. This +was on the first day of the new year (1905). His force had been +reduced to half its original numbers, and of these no fewer than +14,000 were in hospital. + +General Stoessel has been censured for not holding out until the +arrival of the armada; but what could the armada have done had it +appeared in the offing? It certainly could not have penetrated the +harbour, for in addition to fixed or floating mines it would have +had to run the gauntlet of Togo's fleet and its doom would have +been precipitated. One critic of distinction denounced Stoessel's +surrender as "shameful"; but is it not a complete vindication that +his enemies applaud his gallant defence, and that his own government +was satisfied that he had done his duty.[*] + +[Footnote *: Since writing this I have read the finding of the +court-martial. It has the air of an attempt to diminish the national +disgrace by throwing blame on a brave commander.] + +[Page 189] +The Russian commander had marked out a new camp at Mukden, the +chief city of the province and the cradle of the Manchu dynasty. +There he was allowed once more to intrench himself. Was this because +the Japanese were confident of their ability to compel him again +to retire, or were they occupied with the task of filling up their +depleted ranks? If the latter was the cause, the Russians were +doing the same; but near to their base and with full command of +the sea, the Japanese were able to do it more expeditiously than +their enemy. Yet with all their facilities they were not ready to +move on his works until winter imposed a suspension of hostilities. + +On October 2 Kuropatkin published a boastful manifesto expressing +confidence in the issue of the coming conflict--trusting no doubt +to the help of the three generals, December, January, and February. +Five months later, on March 8, 1905, he sent two telegrams to the +Czar: the first said "I am surrounded;" the second, a few hours +later, conveyed the comforting intelligence "the army has escaped." + +The Japanese, not choosing to encounter the rigours of a Manchurian +winter, waited till the advent of spring. The air was mild and the +streams spanned by bridges of ice. The manoeuvres need not be +described here in detail. After more than ten days of continuous +fighting on a line of battle nearly two hundred miles long, with +scarcely less than a million of men engaged (Japanese in majority +as before), the great Russian strategist broke camp and retired +in good order. His army had escaped, but it had lost in killed +and wounded 150,000. The losses of Japan amounted to 50,000. + +[Page 190] +The greatest battle of this latest war, the Battle of Mukden was +in some respects the greatest in modern history. In length of line, +in numbers engaged, and in the resulting casualties its figures +are double those of Waterloo. Once more by masterly strategy a +rout was converted into a retreat; and the Russian army withdrew +to the northwest. + +Weary of crawfish tactics the Czar appointed General Lineivitch +to the chief command; and the ablest of the Russian generals was +relieved of the duty of contriving ways of "escape." To cover the +rear of a defeated force is always reckoned a post of honour; but +it is not the sort of distinction that satisfies the ambition of +a great commander. + +By dint of efforts and sacrifices an enormous fleet was assembled +for the relief of Port Arthur. It sailed from Cronstadt on August 11, +1905, leaving the Baltic seaports unprotected save by the benevolent +neutrality of the German Kaiser, who granted passage through his +ship canal, although he knew the fleet was going to wage war on +one of his friends. + +Part of the fleet proceeded via Suez, and part went round the Cape +of Good Hope--to them a name of mockery. The ships moved leisurely, +their commanders not doubting that Stoessel would be able to hold +his ground; but scarcely had they reached a rendezvous which, by +the favour of France, they had fixed in the waters adjacent to +Madagascar, when they heard of the fall of Port Arthur. Of the +annihilation of the fleet attached to the fortress, and of the +destruction of a squadron coming to the rescue from the north they +had previously learned. With what dismay did they +[Page 191] +now hear that the key of the ocean was lost. Almost at the same +moment the last of Job's messengers arrived with the heavier tidings +that Mukden, the key of the province, had been abandoned by a defeated +army--stunning intelligence for a forlorn hope! Should they turn +back or push ahead? Anxious question this for Admiral Rozhesvenski +and his officers. Too late for Port Arthur, might they not reënforce +Vladivostok and save it from a like fate? The signal to "steam +ahead" was displayed on the flagship. + +Slowly and painfully, its propellers clogged by seaweed, its keels +overgrown with barnacles, the grand armada crossed the Indian Ocean +and headed northward for the China Sea. On May 27, steering for +the Korean channel, it fell into a snare which a blind man ought +to have been able to foresee. Togo's fleet had the freedom of the +seas. Where could it be, if not in that very channel? Yet on the +Russians went: + + "Unmindful of the whirlwind's sway + That hushed in grim repose + Expects his evening prey." + +The struggle was short and decisive--finished, it is said, in less +than one hour. While Togo's battleships, fresh and in good condition, +poured shot and shell into the wayworn strangers, his torpedo-boats, +greatly increased in number, glided almost unobservedly among the +enemy and launched their thunderbolts with fatal effect. Battleships +and cruisers went down with all on board. The Russian flagship was +disabled, and the admiral, severely wounded, was transferred +[Page 192] +to the hold of a destroyer. Without signals from their commander +the vessels of the whole fleet fought or fled or perished separately; +of 18,000 men, 1,000 escaped and 3,000 were made prisoners. What +of the other 14,000? + + "Ask of the winds that far around + With fragments strewed the sea." + +The much vaunted armada was a thing of the past; and Tsushima or, +as Togo officially named it, the Battle of the Sea of Japan, has +taken its place along with Trafalgar and Salamis. + +Tired of a spectacle that had grown somewhat monotonous, the world +was clamorous for peace. The belligerents, hitherto deaf to every +suggestion of the kind, now accepted an invitation from President +Roosevelt and appointed commissioners to arrange the terms of a +treaty. They met in August, 1905, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and +after a good deal of diplomatic fencing the sword was sheathed. In +the treaty, since ratified, Russia acknowledges Japan's exceptional +position in Korea, transfers to Japan her rights in Port Arthur +and Liao-tung, and hands over to Japan her railways in Manchuria. +Both parties agree to evacuate Manchuria within eighteen months. + +Japan was obliged to waive her claim to a war indemnity and to +allow Russia to retain half the island of Saghalien. Neither nation +was satisfied with the terms, but both perceived that peace was +preferable to the renewal of the struggle with all its horrors +and uncertainties. For tendering the olive branch +[Page 193] +and smoothing the way for its acceptance, President Roosevelt merits +the thanks of mankind.[*] Besides other advantages Japan has assured +her position as the leading power of the Orient; but the greatest +gainer will be Russia, if her defeat in the field should lead her +to the adoption of a liberal government at home. + +[Footnote *: Since this was written a Nobel Peace Prize has justly +been awarded to the President.] + + "Peace hath her victories, + No less renowned than war." + +The Czar signified his satisfaction by making Witte the head of +a reconstruction ministry and by conferring upon him the title +of Count; and the Mikado showed his entire confidence in Baron +Komura, notwithstanding some expressions of disappointment among +the people, by assigning him the delicate task of negotiating a +treaty with China. + +Though the attitude of China had been as unheroic as would have +been Menelaus' had the latter declared neutrality in the Trojan +war, the issue has done much to rouse the spirit of the Chinese +people. Other wars made them feel their weakness: this one begot +a belief in their latent strength. When they witnessed a series +of victories on land and sea gained by the Japanese over one of +the most formidable powers of the West, they exclaimed, "If our +neighbour can do this, why may we not do the same? We certainly +can if, like them, we break with the effete systems of the past. +Let us take these island heroes for our schoolmasters." + +[Page 194] +That war was one of the most momentous in the annals of history. +It unsettled the balance of power, and opened a vista of untold +possibilities for the yellow race. + +Not slow to act on their new convictions, the Chinese have sent a +small army of ten thousand students to Japan--of whom over eight +thousand are there now, while they have imported from the island +a host of instructors whose numbers can only be conjectured. The +earliest to come were in the military sphere, to rehabilitate army +and navy. Then came professors of every sort, engaged by public +or private institutions to help on educational reform. Even in +agriculture, on which they have hitherto prided themselves, the +Chinese have put themselves under the teaching of the Japanese, +while with good reason they have taken them as teachers in forestry +also. Crowds of Japanese artificers in every handicraft find ready +employment in China. Nor will it be long before pupils and apprentices +in these home schools will assume the rôle of teacher, while Chinese +graduates returning from Japan will be welcomed as professors of a +higher grade. This Japanning process, as it is derisively styled, may +be somewhat superficial; but it has the recommendation of cheapness +and rapidity in comparison with depending on teachers from the +West. It has, moreover, the immense advantage of racial kinship and +example. Of course the few students who go to the fountain-heads +of science--in the West--must when they return home take rank as +China's leading teachers. + +All this inclines one to conclude that a rapid transformation in +this ancient empire is to be counted on. +[Page 195] +The Chinese will soon do for themselves what they are now getting +the Japanese to do for them. Japanese ideas will be permanent; but +the direct agency of the Japanese people will certainly become +less conspicuous than it now is. + +To the honour of the Japanese Government, the world is bound to +acknowledge that the island nation has not abused its victories to +wring concessions from China. In fact to the eye of an unprejudiced +observer it appears that in unreservedly restoring Manchuria Japan +has allowed an interested neutral to reap a disproportionate share +of the profits. + + + + +[Page 196] +CHAPTER XXIX + +REFORM IN CHINA + +_Reforms under the Empress Dowager--The Eclectic Commission--Recent +Reforms--Naval Abortion--Merchant Marine--Army Reform--Mining +Enterprises--Railways--The Telegraph--The Post Office--The Customs--Sir +Robert Hart--Educational Reform--The Tung-Wen College--The Imperial +University--Diplomatic Intercourse--Progressive Viceroys--New Tests +for Honours--Legal Reform--Newspapers--Social Reforms--Reading +Rooms--Reform in Writing--Anti-foot-binding Society--The Streets._ + +"When I returned from England," said Marquis Ito, "my chief, the +Prince of Chosin, asked me if I thought anything needed to be changed +in Japan. I answered, 'Everything.'" These words were addressed in my +hearing, as I have elsewhere recorded, to three Chinese statesmen, +of whom Li Hung Chang was one. The object of the speaker was to +emphasise the importance of reform in China. He was unfortunate in +the time of his visit--it was just after the _coup d'état_, +in 1898. His hearers were men of light and leading, in sympathy +with his views; but reform was on the ebb; a ruinous recoil was +to follow; and nothing came of his suggestions. + +[Page 197] +The Emperor had indeed shown himself inclined to "change everything," +but at that moment his power was paralyzed. What vicissitudes he +has passed through since that date! Should he come again to power, +as now seems probable, may he not, sobered by years and prudent +from experience, still carry into effect his grand scheme for the +renovation of China. To him a golden dream, will it ever be a reality +to his people? + +Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her +life and her throne, the Dowager became a convert to the policy +of progress. She had, in fact, outstripped her nephew. "Long may +she live!" "Late may he rule us!" During her lifetime she could be +counted on to carry forward the cause she had so ardently espoused. +She grasped the reins with a firm hand; and her courage was such +that she did not hesitate to drive the chariot of state over many +a new and untried road. She knew she could rely on the support +of her viceroys--men of her own appointment. She knew too that +the spirit of reform was abroad in the land, and that the heart +of the people was with her. + +The best embodiment of this new spirit was the High Commission +sent out in 1905 to study the institutions of civilized countries +east and west, and to report on the adoption of such as they deemed +advisable. The mere sending forth of such an embassy was enough +to make her reign illustrious. The only analogous mission in the +history of China, is that which was despatched to India, in 66 A. +D., in quest of a better faith, by Ming-ti, "The Luminous." The +earlier embassy +[Page 198] +borrowed a few sparks to rekindle the altars of their country; +the present embassy propose to introduce new elements in the way +of political reform. Their first recommendation, if not their first +report, reaches me while I write, and in itself is amply sufficient +to prove that this High Commission is not a sham designed to dazzle +or deceive. The Court _Gazette_, according to the _China +Times_, gives the following on the subject: + + +"The five commissioners have sent in a joint memorial dealing with +what they have seen in foreign countries during the last three +months. They report that the wealthiest and strongest nations in +the world to-day are governed by constitutional government. They +mention the proclamation of constitutional government in Russia, and +remark that China is the only great country that has not adopted that +principle. As they have carefully studied the systems of England, +the United States, Japan, etc., they earnestly request the Throne +to issue a decree fixing on five years as the limit within which +'China will adopt a constitutional form of government.' + +"A rescript submits this recommendation to a council of state to +advise on the action to be taken." + + +If that venerable body, consisting of old men who hold office for +life, does not take umbrage at the prospect of another tribunal +infringing on their domain, we shall have at least the promise of +a parliament. And five years hence, if the _congé d'elire_ +goes forth, it will rend the veil of ages. It implies the conferment +on the people of power hitherto unknown in their history. What a +commotion will the ballot-box excite! How suddenly will it arouse +the dormant +[Page 199] +intellect of a brainy race! But it is premature to speculate. + +In 1868 the Mikado granted his subjects a charter of rights, the +first article of which guarantees freedom of discussion, and engages +that he will be guided by the will of the people. In China does +not the coming of a parliament involve the previous issue of a +Magna Charta? + +It is little more than eight years since the restoration, as the +return of the Court in January, 1902, may be termed. In this period, +it is safe te assert that more sweeping reforms have been decreed +in China than were ever enacted in a half-century by any other +country, if one except Japan, whose example the Chinese profess to +follow, and France, in the Revolution, of which Macaulay remarks +that "they changed everything--from the rites of religion to the +fashion of a shoe-buckle." + +Reference will here be made to a few of the more important innovations +or ameliorations which, taken together, made the reign of the Empress +Dowager the most brilliant in the history of the Empire. The last +eight years have been uncommonly prolific of reforms; but the tide +began to turn after the peace of Peking in 1860. Since that date +every step in the adoption of modern methods was taken during the +reign or regency of that remarkable woman, which dated from 1861 +to 1908. + +As late as 1863 the Chinese Government did not possess a single +fighting ship propelled by steam. Steamers belonging to Chinese +merchants were sometimes employed to chase pirates; but they were not +[Page 200] +the property of the state. The first state-owned steamers, at least +the first owned by the Central Government, was a flotilla of gunboats +purchased that year in England by Mr. Lay, Inspector-General of +Maritime Customs. Dissatisfied with the terms he had made with the +commander, whom he had bound not to act on any orders but such as +the Inspector should approve, the Government dismissed the Inspector +and sold the ships. + +In the next thirty years a sufficient naval force was raised to +justify the appointment of an admiral; but in 1895 the whole fleet +was destroyed by the Japanese, and Admiral Ting committed suicide. +At present there is a squadron under each viceroy; but all combined +would hardly form the nucleus of a navy. That the Government intend +to create a navy may be inferred from the establishment of a Naval +Board. In view of the naval exploits of Japan, and under the guidance +of Japanese, they are certain to develop this feeble plant and to +make it formidable to somebody--perhaps to themselves. + +Their merchant marine is more respectable. With a fleet of fifty +or more good ships the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company +are able by the aid of subsidies and special privileges to compete +for a share in the coasting trade; but as yet they have no line +trading to foreign ports. + +In 1860 a wild horde with matchlocks, bows, and spears, the land +army is now supplied in large part with repeating rifles, trained +in Western drill, and dressed in uniform of the Western type. The +manoeuvres that took place near Peking in 1905 made +[Page 201] +a gala day for the Imperial Court, which expressed itself as more +than satisfied with the splendour of the spectacle. The contingent +belonging to this province is 40,000, and the total thus drilled +and armed is not less than five times that number. In 1907 the +troops of five provinces met in Honan. Thanks to railways, something +like concentration is coming within the range of possibility. Not +deficient in courage, what these raw battalions require to make +them effective is confidence in themselves and in their commanders. +Lacking in the lively patriotism that makes heroes of the Japanese, +these fine big fellows are not machines, but animals. To the mistaken +efforts recently made to instil that sentiment at the expense of the +foreigner, I shall refer in another chapter. A less objectionable +phase of the sentiment is provincialism, which makes it easy for an +invader to employ the troops of one province to conquer another. +In history these provinces appear as kingdoms, and their mutual +wars form the staple subject. What feeling of unity can exist so +long as the people are divided by a babel of dialects? More than +once have Tartars employed Chinese to conquer China; and in 1900 a +fine regiment from Wei-hai-wei helped the British to storm Peking. +It may be added they repaid themselves by treating the inhabitants +as conquered foes. Everywhere they were conspicuous for acts of +lawless violence. + +Three great arsenals, not to speak of minor establishments, are +kept busy turning out artillery and small arms for the national +army, and the Board of Army Reform has the supervision of those +forces, with +[Page 202] +the duty of making them not provincial, but national. Efforts of +this kind, however, are no proof of a reform spirit. Are not the +same to be seen all the way from Afghanistan to Dahomey? "To be weak +is to be miserable"; and the Chinese are right in making military +reorganisation the starting-point of a new policy. Yet the mere +proposal of a parliament is a better indication of the spirit of +reform than all these armaments. + +In the mind of China, wealth is the correlative of strength. The +two ideas are combined in the word _Fuchiang_, which expresses +national prosperity. Hence the treasures hidden in the earth could +not be neglected, when they had given up the follies of geomancy +and saw foreigners prospecting and applying for concessions to work +mines. At first such applications were met by a puerile quibble +as to the effect of boring on the "pulse of the Dragon"--in their +eyes not the guardian of a precious deposit, but the personification +of "good luck." To find lucky locations, and to decide what might +help or harm, were the functions of a learned body of professors of +_Fungshui_, a false science which held the people in bondage +and kept the mines sealed up until our own day. Gradually the Chinese +are shaking off the incubus and, reckless of the Dragon, are forming +companies for the exploitation of all sorts of minerals. The Government +has framed elaborate regulations limiting the shares of foreigners, +and encouraging their own people to engage in mining enterprises. + + "Give up your _Fungshui_; + It keeps your wealth locked up," + +says a verse of Viceroy Chang. + +[Page 203] +A similar change has taken place in sentiment as regards railways. +At first dreaded as an instrument of foreign aggression, they are +now understood to be the best of auxiliaries for national defence. +It has further dawned on the mind of a grasping mandarinate that +they may be utilised as a source of revenue. If stocks pay well, +why should not the Government hold them? "Your railways pay 10 +per cent.--that's the sort of railway we want in China," said one +of the commissioners at a banquet in England. + +It would not be strange if the nationalisation of railways decided +on this spring in Japan should lead to a similar movement in China. +In a country like America, with 300,000 miles of track, the purchase +would be _ultra vires_ in more senses than one, but with only +1 per cent. of that mileage, the purchase would not be difficult, +though it might not be so easy to secure an honest administration. + +Trains from Peking now reach Hankow (600 miles) in thirty-six hours. +When the grand trunk is completed, through trains from the capital +will reach Canton in three days. Set this over against the three +months' sea voyage of former times (a voyage made only once a year), +or against the ten days now required for the trip by steamer! What +a potent factor is the railroad in the progress of a great country! + +The new enterprises in this field would be burdensome to enumerate. +Shanghai is to be connected by rail with Tientsin (which means +Peking), and with Nanking and Suchow. Lines to penetrate the western +provinces are already mapped out; and even in Mongolia it is proposed +to supersede the camel by the iron +[Page 204] +horse on the caravan route to Russia. "Alas! the age of golden +leisure is gone--the iron age of hurry-skurry is upon us!" This +is the lament of old slow-going China. + +When China purchased the Shanghai-Woosung railway in 1876, she +was thought to be going ahead. What did we think when she tore up +the track and dumped it in the river? An æon seems to have passed +since that day of darkness. + +The advent of railways has been slow in comparison with the telegraph. +The provinces are covered with wires. Governors and captains consult +with each other by wire, in preference to a tardy exchange of written +correspondence. The people, too, appreciate the advantage of +communicating by a flash with distant members of their families, +and of settling questions of business at remote places without +stirring from their own doors. To have their thunder god bottled +up and brought down to be their courier was to them the wonder of +wonders; yet they have now become so accustomed to this startling +innovation, that they cease to marvel. + +The wireless telegraph is also at work--a little manual, translated +by a native Christian, tells people how to use it. + +Over forty years ago, when I exhibited the Morse system to the +astonished dignitaries of Peking, those old men, though heads of +departments, chuckled like children when, touching a button, they +heard a bell ring; or when wrapping a wire round their bodies, +they saw the lightning leap from point to point. "It's wonderful," +they exclaimed, "but we can't use it in +[Page 205] +our country. The people would steal the wires." Electric bells +are now common appliances in the houses of Chinese who live in +foreign settlements. Electric trolleys are soon to be running at +Shanghai and Tientsin. Telephones, both private and public, are +a convenience much appreciated. Accustomed as the Chinese are to +the instantaneous transmission of thought and speech, they have +yet to see the _telodyne_--electricity as a transmitter of +force. But will they not see it when the trolleys run? The advent +of electric power will mark an epoch. + +China's weakness is not due wholly to backwardness in the arts +and sciences. It is to be equally ascribed to defective connection +of parts and to a lack of communication between places. Hence a +sense of solidarity is wanting, and instead there is a predominance +of local over national interests. For this disease the remedy is +forthcoming--rail and wire are rapidly welding the disjointed members +of the Empire into a solid unity. The post office contributes to +the same result. + +A postal system China has long possessed: mounted couriers for +official despatches, and foot messengers for private parties, the +Government providing the former, and merchant companies the latter. +The modernised post office, now operating in every province, provides +for both. To most of the large towns the mails are carried by steamboat +or railroad--a marvellous gain in time, compared with horse or +foot. The old method was slow and uncertain; the new is safe and +expeditious. + +That the people appreciate the change is shown by +[Page 206] +the following figures: In 1904 stamps to the amount of $400,000 +(Mexican) were sold; in 1905 the sale rose to $600,000--an advance +of 50 per cent. in one year. What may we not expect when the women +learn to read, and when education becomes more general among men? + +Sir Robert Hart, from whom I had this statement, is the father +of China's postal system. Overcoming opposition with patience and +prudence, he has given the post office a thorough organisation and +has secured for it the confidence of princes and people. Already +does the Government look to it as a prospective source of revenue. + +To the maritime customs service, Sir Robert has been a foster-father. +Provided for by treaty, it was in operation before he took charge, +in 1863; but to him belongs the honour of having nursed the infant +up to vigorous maturity by the unwearied exertions of nearly half +a century. While the post office is a new development, the maritime +customs have long been looked upon as the most reliable branch of +the revenue service. China's debts to foreign countries, whether +for loans or indemnities, are invariably paid from the customs +revenue. The Government, though disinclined to have such large +concerns administered by foreign agents, is reconciled to the +arrangement in the case of the customs by finding it a source of +growing income. The receipts for 1905 amounted to 35,111,000 taels += £5,281,000. In volume of trade this shows a gain of 11-1/2 per +cent. on 1904; but, owing to a favouring gale from the happy isles +of high finance, in sterling value the gain is actually 17 per +cent. + +[Page 207] +To a thoughtful mind, native or foreign, the maritime customs are +not to be estimated by a money standard. They rank high among the +agencies working for the renovation of China. They furnish an +object-lesson in official integrity, showing how men brought up +under the influence of Christian morals can collect large sums and +pay them over without a particle sticking to their fingers. While +the local commissioners have carried liberal ideas into mandarin +circles all along the seacoast and up the great rivers into the +interior, the Inspector-General (the "I. G." as Sir Robert is usually +called) has been the zealous advocate of every step in the way of +reform at headquarters. + +Another man in his position might have been contented to be a mere +fiscal agent, but Sir Robert Hart's fertile brain has been unceasingly +active for nearly half a century in devising schemes for the good of +China. All the honours and wealth that China has heaped on her trusted +adviser are far from being sufficient to cancel her obligations. +It was he who prompted a timid, groping government to take the +first steps in the way of diplomatic intercourse. It was he who +led them to raise their school of interpreters to the rank of a +diplomatic college. He it was who made peace in the war with France; +and in 1900, after the flight of the Court, he it was who acted +as intermediary between the foreign powers and Prince Ching. To +some of these notable services I shall refer elsewhere. I speak +of them here for the purpose of emphasising my disapproval of an +intrigue designed to oust Sir Robert and to overturn +[Page 208] +the lofty structure which he has made into a light-house for China. + +In May, 1906, two ministers were appointed by the Throne to take +charge of the entire customs service, with plenary powers to reform +or modify _ad libitum_. Sir Robert was not consulted, nor was +he mentioned in the decree. He was not dismissed, but was virtually +superseded. Britain, America, and other powers took alarm for the +safety of interests involved, and united in a protest. The Government +explained that it was merely substituting one tribunal for another, +creating a dual headship for the customs service instead of leaving +it under the Board of Foreign Affairs, a body already overburdened +with responsibilities. They gave a solemn promise that while Sir +Robert Hart remained there should be no change in his status or +powers; and so the matter stands. The protest saved the situation +for the present. Explanation and promise were accepted; but the +Government (or rather the two men who got themselves appointed +to a fat office) remain under the reproach of discourtesy and +ingratitude. The two men are Tieliang, a Manchu, and Tang Shao-yi, +a Chinese. The latter, I am told on good authority, is to have +£30,000 per annum. The other will not have less. This enormous salary +is paid to secure honesty. + +In China every official has his salary paid in two parts: one called +the "regular stipend," the other, a "solatium to encourage honesty." +The former is counted by hundreds of taels; the latter, by thousands, +especially where there is a temptation to peculate. What a rottenness +at the core is here betrayed! + +[Page 209] +A new development worthy of all praise is the opening, by imperial +command, of a school for the training of officials for the customs +service. It is a measure which Sir Robert Hart with all his public +spirit, never ventured to recommend, because it implies the speedy +replacement of the foreign staff by trained natives. + +Filling the sky with a glow of hope not unlike the approach of +sunshine after an arctic winter, the reform in the field of education +throws all others into the shade. By all parties is recognised +its supremacy. Its beginning was feeble and unwelcome, implying +on the part of China nothing but a few drops of oil to relieve +the friction at a few points of contact with the outside world. + +The new treaties found China unprovided with interpreters capable +of translating documents in foreign languages. Foreign nations +agreed to accompany their despatches with a Chinese version, until +a competent staff of interpreters should be provided. With a view to +meeting this initial want, a school was opened in 1862, in connection +with the Foreign Office, and placed under the direction of the +Inspector-General of Maritime Customs, by whom I was recommended +for the presidency. Professors of English, French, and Russian +were engaged; and later on German took a place alongside of the +three leading languages of the Western world. + +At first no science was taught or expected, but gradually we succeeded +in obtaining the consent of the Chinese ministers to enlarge our +faculty so as to include chairs of astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, +and physics. International law was taught by the +[Page 210] +president; and by him also the Chinese were supplied with their +first text-books on the law of nations. What use had they for books +on that subject, so long as they held no intercourse on equal terms +with foreign countries? The students trained in that school of +diplomacy had to shiver in the cold for many a year before the +Government recognised their merits and rewarded them with official +appointments. The minister recently returned from London, the ministers +now in Germany and Japan, and a minister formerly in France, not to +speak of secretaries of legation and consuls, were all graduates +of our earlier classes. + +In 1898 the young Emperor, taught by defeat at the hands of the +Japanese, resolved on a thorough reform in the system of national +education. It would never do to confine the knowledge of Western +science to a handful of interpreters and attachés. The highest +scholars of the Empire must be allowed access to the fountain of +national strength. A university was created with a capital of five +million taels, and the writer was made president by an imperial +decree which conferred on him the highest but one of the nine grades +of the mandarinate. + +Two or three hundred students were enrolled, among whom were bachelors, +masters, and doctors of the civil service examinations. It was +launched with a favouring breeze; but the wind changed with the +_coup d'état_ of the Empress Dowager, and two years later the +university went down in the Boxer cyclone. A professor, a tutor, +and a student lost their lives. How the cause of educational reform +rose stronger after the storm, I relate in a special +[Page 211] +chapter. It is a far cry from a university for the _élite_ +to that elaborate system of national education which is destined +to plant its schools in every town and hamlet in the Empire. The +new education was in fact still regarded with suspicion by the +honour men of the old system. They looked on it, as they did on +the railway, as a source of danger, a perilous experiment. + +As yet the intercourse was one-sided: envoys came; but none were +sent. Embassies were no novelty; but they had always moved on an +inclined plane, either coming up laden with tribute, or going down +bearing commands. Where there was no tribute and no command, why +send them? Why send to the very people who had robbed China of her +supremacy! It was a bitter pill, and she long refused to swallow +it. Hart gilded the dose and she took it. Obtaining leave to go +home to get married, he proposed that he should be accompanied by +his teacher, Pinchun, a learned Manchu, as unofficial envoy--with +the agreeable duty to see and report. It was a travelling commission, +not like that of 1905-06, to seek light, but to ascertain whether +the representative of a power so humbled and insulted would be +treated with common decency. + +The old pundit was a poet. All Chinese pundits are poets; but Pinchun +had real gifts, and the flow of champagne kindled his inspiration. +Everywhere wined and dined, though accredited to no court, he was +in raptures at the magnificence of the nations of the West. He +lauded their wealth, culture, and scenery in faultless verse; and +if he indulged in satire, +[Page 212] +it was not for the public eye. He was attended by several of our +students, to whom the travelling commission was an education. They +were destined, after long waiting as I have said, to revisit the +Western world, clothed with higher powers. + +The impression made on both sides was favourable, and the way was +prepared for a genuine embassy. The United States minister, Anson +Burlingame, a man of keen penetration and broad sympathies, had made +himself exceedingly acceptable to the Foreign Office at Peking. When +he was taking leave to return home, in 1867, the Chinese ministers +begged his good offices with the United States Government and with +other governments as occasion might offer--"In short, you will +be our ambassador," they said, with hearty good-will. + +Burlingame, who grasped the possibilities of the situation, called at +the Customs on his way to the Legation. Hart seized the psychological +moment, and, hastening to the _Yamên_, induced the ministers +to turn a pleasantry into a reality. The Dowagers (for there were +two) assented to the proposal of Prince Kung, to invest Burlingame +with a roving commission to all the Treaty powers, and to associate +with him a Manchu and a Chinese with the rank of minister. An +"oecumenical embassy" was the result. Some of our students were +again attached to the suite; reciprocal intercourse had begun; and +Burlingame has the glory of initiating it". + +In the work of reform three viceroys stand pre-eminent, viz., Li +Hung Chang, Yuen Shi Kai and Chang Chitung. Li, besides organising +an army and +[Page 213] +a navy (both demolished by the Japanese in 1895), founded a university +at Tienstin, and placed Dr. Tenney at the head of it. Yuen, coming +to the same viceroyalty with the lesson of the Boxer War before +his eyes, has made the army and education objects of special care. +In the latter field he had had the able assistance of Dr. Tenney, +and succeeded in making the schools of the province of Chihli an +example for the Empire. + +Viceroy Chang has the distinction of being the first man (with +the exception of Kang Yuwei) to start the emperor on the path of +reform. Holding that, to be rich, China must have the industrial +arts of the West, and to be strong she must have the sciences of +the West, he has taken the lead in advocating and introducing both. +Having been called, after the suspension of the Imperial University, +to assist this enlightened satrap in his great enterprise, I cannot +better illustrate the progress of reform than by devoting a separate +chapter to him and to my observations during three years in Central +China. + +Tests of scholarship and qualifications for office have undergone +a complete change. The regulation essay, for centuries supreme in +the examinations for the civil service, is abolished; and more +solid acquirements have taken its place. It takes time to adjust such +an ancient system to new conditions. That this will be accomplished +is sufficiently indicated by the fact that in May, 1906, degrees +answering to A. M. and Ph. D. were conferred on quite a number of +students who had completed their studies at universities in foreign +countries. As a result there is certain +[Page 214] +to be a rush of students to Europe and America, the fountain-heads +of science. Forty young men selected by Viceroy Yuen from the advanced +classes of his schools were in 1906 despatched under the superintendence +of Dr. Tenney to pursue professional studies in the United States. +That promising mission was partly due to the relaxation of the +rigour of the exclusion laws. + +The Chinese assessor of the Mixed Court in Shanghai was dismissed +the same year because he had condemned criminals to be beaten with +rods--a favourite punishment, in which there is a way to alleviate +the blows. Slicing, branding, and other horrible punishments with +torture to extort confessions have been forbidden by imperial decree. +Conscious of the contempt excited by such barbarities, and desirous +of removing an obstacle to admission to the comity of nations, the +Government has undertaken to revise its penal code. Wu-ting-fang, +so well known as minister at Washington, has borne a chief part in +this honourable task. The code is not yet published; but magistrates +are required to act on its general principles. When completed it will +no doubt provide for a jury, a thing hitherto unknown in China. +The commissioners on legal reform have already sent up a memorial, +explaining the functions of a jury; and, to render its adoption +palatable, they declare that it is an ancient institution, having +been in use in China three thousand years ago. They leave the Throne +to infer that Westerners borrowed it from China. + +The fact is that each magistrate is a petty tyrant, embodying in +his person the functions of local governor, +[Page 215] +judge, and jury, though there are limits to his discretion and +room for appeal or complaint. It is to be hoped that lawyers and +legal education will find a place in the administration of justice. + +Formerly clinging to a foreign flagstaff, the editor of a Chinese +journal cautiously hinted the need for some kinds of reform. Within +this _lustrum mirabile_ the daily press has taken the Empire +by storm. Some twenty or more journals have sprung up under the +shadow of the throne, and they are not gagged. They go to the length +of their tether in discussing affairs of state--notwithstanding +cautionary hints. Refraining from open attack, they indulge in +covert criticism of the Government and its agents. + +Social reforms open to ambitious editors a wide field and make amends +for exclusion from the political arena. One of the most influential +recently deplored the want of vitality in the old religions of +the country, and, regarding their reformation as hopeless, openly +advocated the adoption of Christianity. To be independent of the +foreigner it must, he said, be made a state church, with one of +the princes for a figurehead, if not for pilot. + +Another deals with the subject of marriage. Many improvements, +he says, are to be made in the legal status of woman. The total +abolition of polygamy might be premature; but that is to be kept +in view. In another issue he expresses a regret that the Western +usage of personal courtship cannot safely be introduced. Those who +are to be companions for life cannot as yet be allowed to see each +other, as disorders might result from excess of freedom. Such liberty +[Page 216] +in social relations is impracticable "except in a highly refined +and well-ordered state of society." The same or another writer +proposes, by way of enlarging woman's world, that she shall not +be confined to the house, but be allowed to circulate as freely +as Western women but she must hide her charms behind a veil. + +Reporting an altercation between a policeman and the driver of +one of Prince Ching's carts, who insisted on driving on tracks +forbidden to common people, an editor suggests with mild sarcasm +that a notice be posted in such cases stating that only "noblemen's +carts are allowed to pass." Do not these specimens show a laudable +attempt to simulate a free press? Free it is by sufferance, though +not by law. + +Reading-rooms are a new institution full of promise. They are not +libraries, but places for reading and expounding newspapers for the +benefit of those who are unable to read for themselves. Numerous +rooms may be seen at the street corners, where men are reciting +the contents of a paper to an eager crowd. They have the air of +wayside chapels; and this mode of enlightening the ignorant was +confessedly borrowed from the missionary. How urgent the need, +where among the men only one in twenty can read; and among women +not one in a hundred! + +Reform in writing is a genuine novelty, Chinese writing being a +development of hieroglyphics, in which the sound is no index to +the sense, and in which each pictorial form must be separately made +familiar to the eye. Dr. Medhurst wittily calls it "an occulage, +not a language." Without the introduction of alphabetic +[Page 217] +writing, the art of reading can never become general. To meet this +want a new alphabet of fifty letters has been invented, and a society +organised to push the system, so that the common people, also women, +may soon be able to read the papers for themselves. The author of +the system is Wang Chao, mentioned above as having given occasion +for the _coup d'état_ by which the Dowager Empress was restored +to power in 1898. + +I close this formidable list of reforms with a few words on a society +for the abolition of a usage which makes Chinese women the +laughing-stock of the world, namely, the binding of their feet. +With the minds of her daughters cramped by ignorance, and their +feet crippled by the tyranny of an absurd fashion, China suffers an +immense loss, social and economic. Happily there are now indications +that the proposed enfranchisement will meet with general favour. +Lately I heard mandarins of high rank advocate this cause in the +hearing of a large concourse at Shanghai. They have given a pledge +that there shall be no more foot-binding in their families; and the +Dowager Empress came to the support of the cause with a hortatory +edict. As in this matter she dared not prohibit, she was limited to +persuasion and example. Tartar women have their powers of locomotion +unimpaired. Viceroy Chang denounced the fashion as tending to sap the +vigour of China's mothers; and he is reported to have suggested a +tax on small feet--in inverse proportion to their size, of course. +The leader in this movement, which bids fair to become national, +is Mrs. Archibald Little. + +[Page 218] +The streets are patrolled by a well-dressed and well-armed police +force, in strong contrast with the ragged, negligent watchmen of +yore. The Chinese, it seems, are in earnest about mending their +ways. Their streets, in Peking and other cities, are undergoing +thorough repair--so that broughams and rickshaws are beginning to +take the place of carts and palanquins. A foreign style of building +is winning favour; and the adoption of foreign dress is talked of. +When these changes come, what will be left of this queer antique? + + + + +[Page 219] +CHAPTER XXX + +VICEROY CHANG-A LEADER OF REFORM + +_His Origin--Course as a Student--In the Censorate--He Floors a +Magnate--The First to Wake Up--As a Leader of Reform--The Awakening +of the Giant_ + +If I were writing of Chang, the Chinese giant, who overtopped the +tallest of his fellow-men by head and shoulders, I should be sure +of readers. Physical phenomena attract attention more than mental +or moral grandeur. Is it not because greatness in these higher +realms requires patient thought for due appreciation? + +Chang, the viceroy of Hukwang, a giant in intellect and a hero in +achievement, is not a commonplace character. If my readers will +follow me, while I trace his rise and progress, not only will they +discover that he stands head and shoulders above most officials +of his rank, but they will gain important side-lights on great +events in recent history. + +During my forty years' residence in the capital I had become well +acquainted with Chang's brilliant career; but it is only within +the last three or four years that I have had an opportunity to +study him in personal intercourse, having been called to preside +over his university and to aid him in other educational enterprises. + +[Page 220] +Whatever may be thought of the rank and file of China's mandarins, +her viceroys are nearly always men of exceptional ability. They +are never novices, but as a rule old in years and veterans in +experience. Promoted for executive talent or for signal services, +their office is too high to be in the market; nor is it probable +that money can do much to recommend a candidate. A governor of +Kwangsi was recently dismissed for incompetence, or for ill-success +against a body of rebels. Being a rich man, he made a free use +of that argument which commonly proves effective at Peking. But, +so far from being advanced to the viceroyalty, he was not even +reinstated in his original rank. The most he was able to obtain by +a lavish expenditure was the inspectorship of a college at Wuchang, +to put his foot on one of the lower rounds of the official ladder. + +Chang was never rich enough to buy official honours, even in the +lower grades; and it is one of his chief glories that, after a +score of years in the exercise of viceregal power, he continues +to be relatively poor. + +His name in full is Chang Chi-tung, meaning "Longbow of the Cavern," +an allusion to a tradition that one of his ancestors was born in +a cave and famed for archery. This was far back in the age of the +troglodytes. Now, for many generations, the family has been devoted +to the peaceful pursuit of letters. As for Chang himself, it will +be seen with what deadly effect he has been able to use the pen, in +his hands a more formidable weapon than the longbow of his ancestor. + +Chang was born at Nanpi, in the metropolitan +[Page 221] +province of Chihli, not quite seventy years ago; and that circumstance +debarred him from holding the highest viceroyalty in the Empire, +as no man is permitted to hold office in his native place. He has +climbed to his present eminence without the extraneous aids of +wealth and family influence. This implies talents of no ordinary +grade; but how could those talents have found a fit arena without +that admirable system of literary competition which for so many +centuries has served the double purpose of extending patronage +to letters and of securing the fittest men for the service of the +state. + +Crowned with the laurel of A. B., or budding genius, before he +was out of his teens, three years later he won the honour of A. +M., or, as the Chinese say, he plucked a sprig of the _olea +fragrans_ in a contest with his fellow-provincials in which +only one in a hundred gained a prize. Proceeding to the imperial +capital he entered the lists against the picked scholars of all +the provinces. The prizes were 3 per cent. of the whole number +of competitors, and he gained the doctorate in letters, which, as +the Chinese title indicates, assures its possessor of an official +appointment. Had he been content to wait for some obscure position +he might have gone home to sleep on his laurels. But his restless +spirit saw fresh battle-fields beckoning him to fresh triumphs. +The three hundred new-made doctors were summoned to the palace to +write on themes assigned by the Emperor, that His Majesty might +select a score of them for places in the Hanlin Academy. Here again +fortune favoured young Chang; the elegance of his penmanship and +his skill in composing +[Page 222] +mechanical verse were so remarkable that he secured a seat on the +literary Olympus of the Empire. + +His conflicts were not yet ended. A conspicuous advantage of his +high position was that it qualified him as a candidate for membership +of the Board of Censors. Nor did fortune desert her favourite in +this instance. After writing several papers to show his knowledge +of law, history, and politics, he came forth clothed with powers +that made him formidable to the highest officers of the state--powers +somewhat analogous to the combined functions of censor and tribune +in ancient Rome. + +Before I proceed to show how our "knight of the longbow" employed +his new authority, a few words on the constitution of that august +tribunal, the Board of Censors, may prove interesting to the reader. +Its members are not judges, but prosecuting attorneys for the state. +They are accorded a freedom of speech which extends even to pointing +out the shortcomings of majesty. How important such a tribunal for +a country in which a newspaper press with its argus eyes has as +yet no existence! There is indeed a court _Gazette_, which +has been called the oldest newspaper in the world; but its contents +are strictly limited to decrees, memorials, and appointments. Free +discussion and general news have no place in its columns; so that +in the modern sense it is not a newspaper. + +The court--even the occupant of the Dragon Throne--needs watch-dogs. +Such is the theory; but as a matter of fact these guardians of official +morals find it safer to occupy themselves with the aberrations of +satellites than to discover spots on the sun. About +[Page 223] +thirty years ago one of them, Wukotu, resolved to denounce the +Empress Dowager for having adopted the late emperor as her son +instead of making him her grandson. He accordingly immolated himself +at the tomb of the late emperor by way of protesting against the +impropriety of leaving him without a direct heir to worship his +manes. It is doubtful whether the Western mind is capable of following +Wukotu's subtle reasoning; but is it not plain that he felt that +he was provoking an ignominious death, and chose rather to die +as a hero--the champion of his deceased master? + +If a censor succeeds in convicting a single high functionary of +gross misconduct his fortune is made. He is rewarded by appointment +to some respectable post, possibly the same from which his victim has +been evicted. Practical advantage carries the day against abstract +notions of æsthetic fitness. Sublime it might be to see the guardians +of the common weal striking down the unworthy, with a public spirit +untainted by self-interest; but in China (and in some other countries) +such machinery requires self-interest for its motive force. Wanting +that, it would be like a windmill without wind, merely a fine object +in the landscape. + +As an illustration of the actual procedure take the case in which +Chang first achieved a national reputation. Chunghau, a Manchu of +noble family and high in favour at court, had been sent to Russia +in 1880 to demand the restoration of Ili, a province of Chinese +Turkestan, which the Russians had occupied on pretext of quelling +its chronic disorders. Scarcely had he reported the success of +his mission, which had +[Page 224] +resulted in recovering two-thirds of the disputed territory, when +Chang came forward and denounced it as worse than a failure. He +had, as Chang proved, permitted the Russians to retain certain +strategic points, and had given them fertile districts in exchange +for rugged mountains or arid plains. To such a settlement no envoy +could be induced to consent, unless chargeable with corruption +or incompetence. + +The unlucky envoy was thrown into prison and condemned to death +(but reprieved), and his accuser rose in the official scale as +rapidly as if he had won a great battle on land or sea. His victory +was not unlike that of those British orators who made a reputation +out of the impeachment of Lord Clive or Warren Hastings, save that +with him a trenchant pen took the place of an eloquent tongue. I +knew Chunghau both before and after his disgrace. In 1859, when +an American embassy for the first time entered the gates of Peking, +it was Chunghau who was appointed to escort the minister to the +capital and back again to the seacoast--a pretty long journey in +those days when there was neither steamboat nor railway. During +that time, acting as interpreter, I had occasion to see him every +day, and I felt strongly attracted by his generous and gentlemanly +bearing. The poor fellow came out of prison stripped of all his +honours, and with his prospects blighted forever. In a few months +he died of sheer chagrin. + +The war with Japan in 1894-1895 found Chang established in the +viceroyalty of Hukwang, two provinces in Central China, with a +prosperous population of over fifty millions, on a great highway +of internal +[Page 225] +traffic rivalling the Mississippi, and with Hankow, the hub of +the Empire, for its commercial centre. When he saw the Chinese +forces scattered like chaff by the battalions of those despised +islanders he was not slow to grasp the explanation. Kang Yuwei, a +Canton man, also grasped it, and urged on the Emperor the necessity +for reform with such vigour as to prompt him to issue a meteoric +shower of reformatory edicts, filling one party with hope and the +other with dismay. + +Chang had held office at Canton; and his keen intellect had taken +in the changed relations of West and East. He perceived that a +new sort of sunshine shed its beams on the Western world. He did +not fully apprehend the spiritual elements of our civilisation; +but he saw that it was clothed with a power unknown to the sages +of his country, the forces of nature being brought into subjection +through science and popular education. He felt that China must +conform to the new order of things, or perish--even if that new +order was in contradiction to her ancient traditions as much as +the change of sunrise to the west. He saw and felt that knowledge +is power, a maxim laid down by Confucius before the days of Bacon; +and he set about inculcating his new ideas by issuing a series +of lectures for the instruction of his subordinates. Collected +into a volume under the title of "Exhortations to Learn,"[*] they +were put into the hands of the young Emperor and by his command +distributed among the viceroys and governors of the Empire. + +[Footnote *: Translated by Dr. Woodbridge as "China's Only Hope." +Kelly & Walsh, Shanghai.] + +[Page 226] +What a harvest might have sprung from the sowing of such seed in +such soil by an imperial husbandman! But there were some who viewed +it as the sowing of dragons' teeth. Those reactionaries induced the +Dowager Empress to come out from her retirement and to reassume +her abdicated power in order to save the Empire from a threatening +conflagration. It was the fable of Phaëton enacted in real life. +The young charioteer was struck down and the sun brought back to +his proper course instead of rising in the west. The progressive +legislation of the two previous years 1897-98 was repealed and +then followed two years of a narrow, benighted policy, controlled +by the reactionaries under the lead of Prince Tuan, father of the +heir-apparent, with a junta of Manchu princes as blind and corrupt +as Russian grand dukes. That disastrous recoil resulted in war, +not against a single power, but against the whole civilised world, +as has been set forth in the account of the Boxer War (see page +172). + +Affairs were drifting into this desperate predicament when Chang +of the Cavern became in a sense the saviour of his country. This +he effected by two actions which called for uncommon intelligence +and moral force: (1) By assuring the British Government that he +would at all costs maintain peace in Central China; (2) by refusing +to obey an inhuman decree from Peking, commanding the viceroys to +massacre all foreigners within their jurisdiction--a decree which +would be incredible were it not known that at the same moment the +walls of the capital were placarded with proclamations offering +rewards of 50, 30 and 20 +[Page 227] +taels respectively for the heads of foreign men, women, and children. + +It is barely possible that Chang was helped to a decision by a +friendly visit from a British man-of-war, whose captain, in answer +to a question about his artillery, informed Chang that he had the +bearings of his official residence, and could drop a shell into +it with unerring precision at a distance of three miles. He was +also aided by the influence of Mr. Fraser, a wide-awake British +consul. Fraser modestly disclaims any special merit in the matter, +but British missionaries at Hankow give him the credit. They say +that, learning from them the state of feeling among the people, he +induced the viceroy to take prompt measures to prevent an outbreak. +At one time a Boxer army from the south was about to cross the +river and destroy the foreign settlement. Chang, when appealed +to, frankly confessed that his troops were in sympathy with the +Boxers, and that being in arrears of pay they were on the verge +of revolt. Fraser found him the money by the help of the Hong Kong +Bank; the troops were paid; and the Boxers dispersed. + +The same problem confronted Liu, the viceroy of Nanking; and it +was solved by him in the same way. Both viceroys acted in concert; +but to which belongs the honour of that wise initiative can never +be decided with certainty. The foreign consuls at Nanking claim it +for Liu. Mr. Sundius, now British consul at Wuhu, assures me that +as Liu read the barbarous decree he exclaimed, "I shall repudiate +this as a forgery," adding "I shall not obey, if I have to die for +it." His words have a heroic ring; and +[Page 228] +suggest that his policy was not taken at second-hand. + +A similar claim has been put forward for Li Hung Chang, who was at +that time viceroy at Canton. Is it not probable that the same view +of the situation flashed on the minds of all three simultaneously? +They were not, like the Peking princes, ignorant Tartars, but Chinese +scholars of the highest type. They could not fail to see that compliance +with that bloody edict would seal their own doom as well as that +of the Empire. + +Speaking of Chang, Mr. Fraser says: "He had the wit to see that +any other course meant ruin." Chang certainly does not hesitate +to blow his own trumpet; but I do not suspect him of "drawing the +longbow." Having the advantage of being an expert rhymer, he has +put his own pretensions into verses which all the school-children +in a population of fifty millions are obliged to commit to memory. +They run somewhat like this: + + "In Kengtse (1900) the Boxer robbers went mad, + And Peking became for the third time the prey of fire and sword; + But the banks of the Great River and the province of Hupei + Remained in tranquillity." + +He adds in a tone of exultation: + + "The province of Hupei was accordingly exempted + From the payment of an indemnity tax, + And allowed to spend the amount thus saved + In the erection of schoolhouses." + +In these lines there is not much poetry; but the fact which they +commemorate adds one more wreath to +[Page 229] +a brow already crowned with many laurels, showing how much the viceroy's +heart was set on the education of his people. + +In the interest of the educational movement, I was called to Chang's +assistance in 1902. The Imperial University was destroyed in the +Boxer War, and, seeing no prospect of its reëstablishment I was +on the way to my home in America when, on reaching Vancouver, I +found a telegram from Viceroy Chang, asking me to be president +of a university which he proposed to open, and to instruct his +junior officials in international law. I engaged for three years; +and I now look back on my recent campaign in Central China as one +of the most interesting passages in a life of over half a century +in the Far East. + +Besides instructing his mandarins in the law of nations, I had to +give them some notion of geography and history, the two coördinates +of time and place, without which they might, like some of their +writers, mistake Rhode Island for the Island of Rhodes, and Rome, +New York, for the City of the Seven Hills. A book on the Intercourse +of Nations and a translation of Dudley Field's "International Code," +remain as tangible results of those lectures. But the university +failed to materialise. + +Within a month after my arrival the viceroy was ordered to remove +to Nanking to take up a post rendered vacant by the death of his +eminent colleague, Liu. Calling at my house on the eve of embarking +he said, "I asked you to come here to be president of a university +for two provinces. If you will go with me to Nanking, I will make +you president of a university +[Page 230] +for five provinces," meaning that he would combine the educational +interests of the two viceroyalties, and showing how the university +scheme had expanded in his fertile brain. + +Before he had been a month at that higher post he learned to his +intense disappointment that he was only to hold the place for another +appointee. After nearly a year at Nanking, he was summoned to Peking, +where he spent another year in complete uncertainty as to his future +destination. In the meantime the university existed only on paper. +In justice to the viceroy I ought to say that nothing could exceed +the courtesy and punctuality with which he discharged his obligations +to me. The despatch which once a month brought me my stipend was +always addressed to me as president of the Wuchang University, +though as a matter of fact I might as well have been styled president +of the University of Weissnichtwo. In one point he went beyond his +agreement, viz., in giving me free of charge a furnished house +of two stories, with ten rooms and a garden. It was on the bank +of the "Great River" with the picturesque hills of Hanyang nearly +opposite, a site which I preferred to any other in the city. I there +enjoyed the purest air with a minimum of inconvenience from narrow, +dirty streets. To these exceptional advantages it is doubtless due +that my health held out, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, +which, the locality being far inland and in lat. 30° 30', was that +of a fiery furnace. On the night of the autumnal equinox, my first +in Wuchang, the mercury stood in my bedroom at 102°. I was the +guest of the Rev. Arnold Foster of the London Missionary +[Page 231] +Society, whose hospitality was warm in more ways than one. + +The viceroy returned from Peking, broken in health; the little +strength he had left was given to military preparation for the +contingencies of the Russo-Japanese War; and his university was +consigned to the limbo of forgotten dreams. + +Viceroy Chang has been derided, not quite justly, as possessing a +superabundance of initiative along with a rather scant measure of +finality, taking up and throwing down his new schemes as a child +does its playthings. In these enterprises the paucity of results +was due to the shortcomings of the agents to whom he entrusted +their management. The same reproach and the same apology might be +made for the Empress Dowager who, like the Roman Sybil, committed +her progressive decrees to the mercy of the winds without seeming +to care what became of them. + +Next after the education of his people the development of their +material resources has been with Chang a leading object. To this +end he has opened cotton-mills, silk-filatures, glass-works and +iron-works, all on an extensive scale, with foreign machinery and +foreign experts. For miles outside of the gates of Wuchang the +banks of the river are lined with these vast establishments. Do +they not announce more clearly than the batteries which command +the waterway the coming of a new China? Some of them he has kept +going at an annual loss. The cotton-mill, for example, was standing +idle when I arrived, because in the hands of his mandarins he could +not make it pay expenses. A Canton merchant leased it on easy terms, +and made it +[Page 232] +such a conspicuous success that he is now growing rich. It is an +axiom in China that no manufacturing or mercantile enterprise can +be profitably conducted by a deputation of mandarins. + +Chang is rapidly changing the aspect of his capital by erecting +in all parts of it handsome school-buildings in foreign style, +literally proclaiming from the house-tops his gospel of education. +The youth in these schools are mostly clad in foreign dress; his +street police and the soldiers in his barracks are all in foreign +uniform; and many of the latter have cut off their cues as a sign +of breaking with the old régime. In talking with their officers I +applauded the prudence of the measure as making them less liable +to be captured while running away. + +Chang's soldiers are taught to march to the cadence of his own +war-songs--which, though lacking the fire of Tyrtæus or Körner, +are not ill-suited to arouse patriotic sentiment. Take these lines +as a sample: + + "Foreigners laugh at our impotence, + And talk of dividing our country like a watermelon, + But are we not 400 million strong? + If we of the Yellow Race only stand together, + What foreign power will dare to molest us? + Just look at India, great in extent + But sunk in hopeless bondage. + Look, too, at the Jews, famous in ancient times, + Now scattered on the face of the earth. + Then look at Japan with her three small islands, + Think how she got the better of this great nation, + And won the admiration of the world. + What I admire in the Japanese + Is not their skill in using ship or gun + But their single-hearted love of country." + +[Page 233] +Viceroy Chang's mode of dealing with his own malady might be taken +as a picture of the shifting policy of a half-enlightened country. + +The first doctor he consulted was a Chinese of the old school. Besides +administering pills composed of + + "Eye of newt, and toe of frog, + Wool of bat, and tongue of dog," + +the doctor suggested that one thing was still required to put the +patient in harmony with the course of Nature. Pointing to a fine +chain of hills that stretches in a waving line across the wide city, +he said: "The root of your trouble lies there. That carriage-road +that you have opened has wounded the spinal column of the serpent. +Restore the hill to its former condition and you will soon get +well." + +The viceroy filled the gap incontinently, but found himself no +better. He then sent for English and American doctors--dismissing +them in turn to make way for a Japanese who had him in charge when +I left Wuchang. For a paragon of intelligence and courage, how +pitiful this relapse into superstition! Did not China after a trial +of European methods also relapse during the Boxer craze into her old +superstitions? And is she not at this moment taking the medicine +of Japan? To Japan she looks for guidance in the conduct of her +public schools as well as for the training of her army and navy. +To Japan she is sending her sons and daughters in growing numbers. +No fewer than eight thousand of her young men, and, what is more +significant, one or two hundred of her young women from the best +families are now in those islands inhaling the breath of a new +life. + +[Page 234] +Some writers have sounded a note of alarm in consequence of this +wholesale surrender on the part of China. But for my part I have +no fear of any sinister tendency in the teachings of Japan, whether +political or educational. On a memorable occasion twelve years ago, +when Marquis Ito was entertained at a banquet in Peking by the +governor of the city and the chancellor of the Imperial University, I +congratulated him on the fact that "Japan exerts a stronger influence +on China than any Western power--just as the moon raises a higher +tide than the more distant sun"--implying, what the Japanese are +ready enough to admit, that their country shines by borrowed light. + +After all, the renovating effect, for which I look to them, will +not come so much from their teaching as from their example. "What +is to hinder us from doing what those islanders have done?" is an +argument oft reiterated by Viceroy Chang in his appeals to his drowsy +countrymen. It was, as I have said, largely under his influence that +the Emperor was led to adopt a new educational programme twelve +years ago. Nor can there be a doubt that by his influence more than +that of any other man, the Empress Dowager was induced to reenact +and to enlarge that programme. + +To show what is going on in this very decade: On September 3, 1905, +an edict was issued "abolishing the literary competitive examinations +of the old style," and ordering that "hereafter exclusive attention +shall be given to the establishment of schools of modern learning +throughout the Empire in lieu thereof." The next day a supplementary +decree ordained that +[Page 235] +the provincial chancellors or examiners who, like Othello, found their +occupation gone, should have the duty of examining and inspecting the +schools in their several provinces; and, to give the new arrangement +greater weight, it was required that they "discharge this duty in +conjunction with the viceroy or governor of the province." + +An item of news that came along with these decrees seemed to indicate +that a hitherto frivolous court has at length become thoroughly in +earnest on the subject of education. A sum of 300,000 taels appeared +in the national budget as the annual expense of a theatrical troupe +in attendance on the Court. At the instance of two ministers (Viceroy +Yuan and General Tieliang) Her Majesty reduced this to one-third of +that amount, ordering that theatricals should be performed twice +a week instead of daily; and that the 200,000 taels thus economised +shall be set apart for _the use of schools_. How much this +resembles the policy of Viceroy Chang who, exempted from raising +a war indemnity, set apart an equal amount for the building of +schoolhouses! An empire that builds schoolhouses is more certain +to make a figure in the world than one that spends its money on +batteries and forts. + +In addition to adopting the new education there are three items +which Chang proclaims as essential to a renovation of Chinese society. +In the little book, already cited, he says: + +[Page 236] + The crippling of women makes their offspring weak; + The superstition of _Fungshui_ prevents the opening of mines, + And keeps China poor." + +How could the man who wrote this fall back into the folly of +_Fungshui?_ Is it not possible that he closed that new road +in deference to the superstitions of his people? In either case +it would be a deplorable weakness; but his country, thanks to his +efforts, is now fully committed to progress. She moves, however, in +that direction much as her noble rivers move toward the sea--with +many a backward bend, many a refluent eddy. + + +POSTSCRIPT NO. I + +In taking leave of this eminent man, who represents the best class +of his countrymen, there are two or three incidents, which I mention +by way of supplement. In his telegram to Vancouver, besides engaging +me to assume the office of president of the proposed university, he +asked me to act as his legal and political adviser. In the agreement +formally made through the consul in New York, in place of these +last-named functions was substituted the duty of instructing his +junior mandarins in international law. The reason assigned for +the change was that the Peking Government declined to allow _any +foreigner_ to hold the post of adviser. The objection was represented +as resting on general policy, not on personal grounds. If, however, +the Peking officials had read my book on the Siege, in which I +denounce the treachery of Manchu government and favour the +[Page 237] +position of China, it is quite conceivable that their objection +might have a tinge of personality. + +When Viceroy Chang was starting for Peking, I called to see him +on board his steamer. He held in his hand a printed report of my +opening lecture at the beginning of a new term, and expressed regret +that in the hurry of departure he had been unable to find time to +attend in person. On that occasion (the previous day) several of +his higher officials, including the treasurer, judge, and prefect, +after giving me tiffin at the Mandarin Institute, brought sixty +junior officials to make their salaam to their instructor. This +ceremony performed, I bowed to Their Excellencies, and requested +them to leave me with my students. "No," they replied, "we too +are desirous of hearing you"; and they took seats in front of the +platform. + +Viceroy Chang seems to have manifested some jealousy of Sir Robert +Hart, in criticising the Inspector-General's proposal for a single +tax. He likewise criticised unfavourably the scheme of Professor +Jenckes for unifying the currency of the Empire--influenced, perhaps, +by the fear that such an _innovation_ might impair the usefulness +of a costly plant which he has recently erected for minting both +silver and copper coin. For the same reason perhaps he objects, as +I hear he does, to the proposed engagement of a Cornell professor +by the Board of Revenue in the capacity of financial adviser. + +With all his foibles, however, he is a true patriot; and his influence +has done much to move China in the right direction. O for more men +like Chang, the "Longbow of the Cavern!" + +[Page 238] +I append a weighty document that is not the less interesting for +being somewhat veiled in mystery. I regret that I am not at liberty +to disclose its authorship. The report is to be taken as anonymous, +being an unpublished document of the secret service. To the reader +it is left to divine the nationality and personality of its author. +Valuable for the light it throws on a great character in a trying +situation, the report gains piquancy and interest from the fact that +the veil of official secrecy has to be treated with due respect. +My unnamed friend has my thanks and deserves those of my readers. + + +OFFICIAL INTERVIEWS WITH VICEROY CHANG DURING THE CRISIS OF 1900 + +"At our interview of 17th June, described at length in my despatch +to you of 18th June, the Viceroy explained his determination to +maintain order and to afford the protection due under treaty; he +also emphasised his desire to be on friendly terms with England. + +"Early in June, the three cities of Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankow had +been full of rumours of the kidnapping of children and even grown +persons by means of hypnotism; and though a concise notification by +the Viceroy, that persons spreading such tales would be executed, +checked its prevalence here, the scare spread to the country districts +and inflamed the minds of the people against foreigners and, in +consequence, against converts and missions. + +"On the 25th June, the Viceroy, as reported in a separate despatch +of 28th June, to Lord Salisbury, sent a special envoy to assure me +that H. E. would not accept or act upon any anti-foreign decrees +from Peking. At the same time he communicated copy of a telegraphic +memorial from himself and seven other high provincial officers +insisting on the suppression of the +[Page 239] +Boxers and the maintenance of peace. This advice H. E. gave me +to understand led to the recall of Li Hung Chang to the north as +negotiator. + +"Distorted accounts of the capture of the Taku forts and the hostilities +of the north caused some excitement, but the Viceroy's proclamation +of 2nd July, copy of which was forwarded in my despatch of 3rd +July to the Foreign Office, and the vigorous police measures taken +by His Excellency soon restored calm which, despite occasional +rumours, continued until the recent plot and scare reported in my +despatch to you of 23rd of August. In the same despatch I described +how, in compliance with my wish, H. E. took the unprecedented step +of tearing down his proclamation embodying an Imperial Decree which +had been taken to imply license to harry converts. To foreigners +during the past two months the question of interest has been whether +the Viceroy could and would keep his troops in order. The Viceroy +himself seemed to be in some doubt until the return of his trusted +officers, who were attending the Japanese manoeuvres when the +northern troubles began. Every now and then reports of disaffection +have been industriously circulated, but the drilled troops have +never shown any sign of disloyalty. + +"A point of H. E.'s policy which has caused considerable suspicion +is the despatch of troops northward, At the end of June some 2,000 +or 3,000 men passed through Hankow bound for Nyanking where the +Governor was said to want a body-guard. They were unarmed and did +no mischief beyond invading the Customs and China Merchants' Steam +Navigation Company's premises. During July some 5,000 troops, of +whom perhaps half were drilled men, went from Hukeang provinces +overland to Honan and on to Chihli. They were led by the anti-foreign +Treasurer of Hunan; and their despatch was explained by the +constitutional duty of succouring the Emperor. Since July I have +not heard of any further detachments leaving, though it was said +that the total would reach 10,000. Possibly the Viceroy sent the +men because he did not feel strong enough to defy Peking altogether, +because failure to help the court would +[Page 240] +have excited popular reprobation, and also in order to get rid of +a considerable part of the dangerous 'loafer' class. + +"About the 20th July there was a persistent report that the Viceroy +was secretly placing guns on the opposite banks of the river. The +German military instructors assured me that the report was baseless; +and Lieutenant Brandon, H. M. S. _Pique_, thoroughly searched +the bank for a distance of three miles in length and breadth, without +discovering a trace of a cannon. The only guns in position are the +two 5-inch Armstrong M. L. within the walls of Wuchang, and they +have been there for a long time and are used 'merely for training +purposes.' + +"So early as our interview of June 17th, the Viceroy expressed +anxiety as to missionaries at remote points in the interior; and I +had about that time suggested to the various missions that women and +children would be better at a treaty port. The missions themselves +preferred to recall all their members, and at the Viceroy's request +supplied lists of the stations thus left to the care of the local +authorities. Since then, even in Hupeh, there have been a few cases +of plundering, especially in the large district of Sin Chan on the +Hunan border, while at Hangchow-fu, in Hunan, the London Mission +premises were wrecked early in July and for a time throughout the +whole province it appeared probable that the Missions would be +destroyed. The chief cause of this, as of the riots in Hupeh, was +the dissemination of an alleged decree of 26th June praising the +Boxers and ordering the authorities to imitate the north in +exterminating foreigners. This decree seems to have reached local +authorities direct; and those hostile to foreigners acted upon +it or let its existence be known to the gentry and people. The +chapels in Hunan were all sealed up; and it was understood that +all mission and convert property would be confiscated. Towards the +end of July, however, the Viceroy and the Hunan Governor issued +a satisfactory proclamation, and I have heard no more complaints +from that province, the western part of which seems tranquil. + +"Besides safeguarding foreign life and property in his own province +the Viceroy has frequently been asked to aid missionaries retiring +from Kansuh, Shensi, Shansi, and Honan. In +[Page 241] +every case H. E. has readily consented. Detailed telegrams have +been sent again and again not only to his frontier officers, but to +the governors of other provinces with whom H. E. has expostulated, +when necessary, in strong terms. Thus, when Honan seemed likely +to turn against us, the Viceroy insisted on the publication of +favourable decrees, and even went so far as to send his men to +establish a permanent escort depot at Ching Tzu Kuan, an important +post in Honan where travellers from the north and northwest have +to change from cart to boat. Happily the acting Governor of Shensi +has coöperated nobly. But the refugees who testify invariably to the +marvellous feeling of security engendered by reaching Hupeh, will, +I doubt not, agree that they owe their lives to Chang Chi-tung's +efforts; for simple inaction on his part would have encouraged the +many hostile officers to treat them as Shansi has treated its +missionaries. + +"At times during the past two anxious months the Viceroy's action +in sending troops north, the occurrence of riots at various points, +H. E.'s communication of decrees in which the Peking Government +sought to gloss over the northern uprising, and his eagerness to +make out that the Empress Dowager had not incited the outbreak and +had no hostile feeling against foreigners have inevitably made one +uneasy. But on looking back one appreciates the skill and constancy +with which H. E. has met a most serious crisis and done his duty to +Chinese and foreigners alike. It is no small thing for a Chinese +statesman and scholar to risk popularity, position, and even life +in a far-seeing resistance to the apparent decrees of a court to +which his whole training enforces blind loyalty and obedience. +His desire to secure the personal safety of the Empress Dowager on +account of her long services to the Empire is natural enough; nor +need he be blamed for supplying some military aid to his sovereign, +even though he may have guessed that it would be used against those +foreign nations with whom he himself steadfastly maintains friendship +and against whose possible attack he has not mounted an extra gun." + + +[Page 242] +POSTSCRIPT NO.2 + +TUAN FANG OF THE HIGH COMMISSION + +During Chang's long absence, Tuan Fang, Governor of Hupeh, held the +seals and exercised the functions of viceroy. He was a Manchu--one +of those specimens, admirable but not rare, who, in acquiring the +refinement of Chinese culture, lose nothing of the vigour of their +own race. "Of their own race," I say, because in language and habits +the Manchus are strongly differentiated from their Chinese subjects. + +In the Boxer War Governor Tuan established an excellent record. +Acting as governor in Shensi, instead of killing missionaries, as +did the Manchu governor of the next province, he protected them +effectually and sent them safely to Hankow. One day when I was at +his house a missionary came to thank him for kindness shown on +that occasion. + +Mentioning one of my books I once asked him if he had read it. "You +never wrote a book that I have not read," was his emphatic reply. +He was a pretty frequent visitor at my house, punctually returning +all my calls; and when he was transferred to the governorship of +Hunan he appeared pleased to have the Yale Mission commended to +his patronage. He has a son at school in the United States; and +his wife and daughters have taken lessons in English from ladies +of the American Episcopal Mission. + +Governor Tuan (now viceroy) is a leading member of a commission +recently sent abroad to study and report on the institutions of +the Western world. Its +[Page 243] +departure was delayed by the explosion of a bomb in one of the +carriages just as the commission was leaving Peking. The would-be +assassin was "hoist with his own petard," leaving the public mystified +as to the motive of the outrage. + + + + +[Page 244] +CHAPTER XXXI + +ANTI-FOREIGN AGITATION + +_American Influence in the Far East--Officials and the +Boycott--Interview with President Roosevelt--Riot in a British +Concession--Ex-territoriality--Two Ways to an End--A Grave Mistake--The +Nan-chang Tragedy--Dangers from Superstition_ + +So far from being new, an anti-foreign spirit is the normal state +of the Chinese mind. Yet during the year past it has taken on new +forms, directed itself against new objects, and employed new methods. +It deserves therefore a conspicuous place among the new developments +in the China of the twentieth century. + +Where everything is changing, the temper of the people has undergone +a change. They have become restless as the sea and fickle as a +weather-vane, The friends of yesterday are the enemies of to-day; +and a slight or petty annoyance is enough to make them transfer +man or country from one to the other category. Murderous outbreaks, +rare in the past, have now become alarmingly frequent, so much so +that the last year might be described as a year of anti-foreign +riots. The past nine months have witnessed four such outbreaks, +In four widely separated provinces, venting their fury pretty +impartially on people of four nationalities and of all professions, +they were actuated by a +[Page 245] +common hate and indicated a common purpose. That purpose--if they +had a purpose--was to compel a readjustment of treaty relations. + +America has the distinction of being the target for the first assaults. +In treating the subject I accordingly begin with America and the +boycott, as set forth in a long extract from an address before +the Publishers' League of New York, November 8, 1905, on + + +AMERICAN INFLUENCE IN THE FAR EAST + +"Mr. President and Gentlemen: + +"If I were asked to find a _pou sto_, a fulcrum, on which +to erect a machine to move the world, I should choose this league +of publishers; and the machine would be no other than the power +press! I have accepted your invitation not merely from pleasant +recollections of your former hospitality, but because new occurrences +have taken place which appeal to the patriotism of every good citizen. +They are issues that rise above party; they involve our national +character and the well-being of another people whom we owe the +sacred duties of justice and humanity. + +"When I agreed to speak to you of American influence in the Far +East, I was not aware that we should have with us a representative +of Japan, and I expected to spread myself thinly over two empires. +Happy I am to resign one of these empires to Mr. Stevens. + +"I shall accordingly say no more about Japan than to advert to +the fact that the wise forbearance of Commodore Perry, which, in +1854, induced the Shogun to open his ports without firing a gun, +has won the gratitude of the Japanese people; so that in many ways +they testify a preference for us and our country. For instance, they +call the English language 'Americano,' etc. They were disappointed +that their claims against Russia were not backed up by the United +States. That, however, caused only a momentary cloud. Beyond this, +nothing has ever occurred to mar the harmony of the two peoples who +[Page 246] +face each other on the shores of the Pacific. Perry's wise initiative +was followed by the equal wisdom of Townsend Harris, who, before +any other consul or minister had arrived, was invited to Yedda +to give advice to the government of the Shogun. + +"American influence thus inaugurated has been fostered by a noble +army of ministers, consuls, and missionaries. The total absence +of massacres and murders[*] makes the history of our intercourse +with Japan tame in contrast with the tragic story from China. It +speaks the reign of law. + +[Footnote *: The only missionary killed in the last fifty years +was stabbed while grappling with a burglar.] + +"My acquaintance with Japan dates back forty-six years; and in the +meantime I have had pleasant relations with most of the ministers +she has sent to China. One of her officials recently gave me a +beautiful scarf-pin that speaks volumes for American influence, +showing as it does the two flags in friendly union on one flagstaff. +I gave him in return the following lines: + + "'To sun and stars divided sway! + Remote but kindred suns are they, + In friendly concord here they twine + To form a new celestial sign. + + "'Thou, Orient sun, still higher rise + To fill with light the Eastern skies! + And you, ye stars and stripes, unfurled + Shed glory on the Western world! + + "'Our starry flag first woke the dawn + In the empire of the Rising Sun. + May no ill chance e'er break the tie, + And so we shout our loud _banzai!_' + +"I now turn to the less cheering theme of American influence in +China. It reminds me of the naturalist who took for the +[Page 247] +heading of a chapter 'Snakes in Iceland,' and whose entire chapter +consisted of the words 'There are no snakes in Iceland.' Though +formerly blazing like a constellation in the Milky Way, American +influence has vanished so completely that you can hardly see it with +a microscope. What influence can we presume on when our commodities +are shut out, not by legislative action but as a result of popular +resentment? + + +THE BOYCOTT + +"True, the latest advices are to the effect that the boycott has +broken down. I foresaw and foretold more than two months ago that +it could not in the nature of the case be of long duration, that +it was a mere _ballon d'essai_--an encouraging proof that +Orientals are learning to apply our methods. But is there not a +deplorable difference between the conditions under which it is +used in the two countries? In one the people all read, and the +newspaper is in everybody's hand. The moment a strike or boycott +is declared off all hands fall into their places and things go on +as usual. In the other the readers are less than one in twenty. +Newspapers, away from the open ports, are scarcely known, or if +they exist they are subject to the tyranny of the mandarins or +the terrorism of the mob. Hence a war may be waged in one province +and people in another may scarcely hear of it. Chevaux-de-frise may +bar out goods from one port, while they are more or less openly +admitted in other ports. Not only so, the hostile feeling engendered +by such conflict of interest is not dissipated by sunshine, but +rankles and spreads like an epidemic over vast regions unenlightened +by newspapers or by contact with foreign commerce. + +"Witness the massacre of American missionaries at Lienchow in the +Canton province. I am not going to enter into the details of that +shocking atrocity, nor to dwell on it further than to point out +that although the boycott was ended on September 14, the people +in that district were in such a state of exasperation that the +missionaries felt themselves in danger fourteen days after that +date. In the New York _Sun_ of November 5 I find part of a +letter from one of the victims, the Reverend Mr. +[Page 248] +Peale, written exactly one month before the tragedy. Allow me to +read it along with an introductory paragraph. + + +"'PRINCETON, N. J., Nov. 4.--A. Lee Wilson, a student in the Princeton +Theological Seminary, received a letter a few days ago from John R. +Peale, the missionary who, with his wife, was killed in Lienchow, +China, on October 28. The letter was dated September 28, and reached +America at the time that Peale and his wife were murdered. It gives +a clue to the troubles which led to the death of Peale. The letter +says in part: + +"'"The interest in the boycott is vital to the missionaries. Heretofore +the Americans always enjoyed special favour, and to fly the American +flag meant protection; but it is different now. No personal violence +has been attempted, but the people are less cordial and more suspicious. +People in China are not asking that their coolies be allowed entrance +into the States, but they only ask that the Americans cease treating +the Chinese with contempt and allow their merchants and students +the same privileges that other foreigners receive." + +"'Peale graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary last May. + + +"Is it not evident that whatever spark caused the explosion, the +nitro-glycerin that made it possible came from the boycott? + +"Not only do they boycott ponderables such as figure at the +custom-house, but they extend the taboo to things of the head and +heart. The leader of the whole movement was formerly an active +supporter of the International Institute, an institution which +proposes to open gratuitous courses of lectures and to place Chinese +men of intelligence on common ground with scholars of the West, +He now opposes the International Institute because, forsooth, it +is originated and conducted by Dr. Reid, a large-minded American. + +"After this, will you be surprised to hear that your own publications, +the best text-books for the schools of the Far East, have been put +on the _index expurgatorius?_ A number of such books were +lately returned with the excuse that they were forbidden because +they bore the stamp of an American press. + +[Page 249] +"If I should go on to say that government officials, high and low, +look with satisfaction on this assertion of something like national +feeling, you might reply, 'National feeling! Yes, it is a duty to +cultivate that.' But do we not know how it has been fostered in +China? Has not hatred of the foreigner been mistaken for patriotism, +and been secretly instigated as a safeguard against foreign aggression? +In this instance, however, there is no room to suspect such a motive. +The movement is purely a result of provocation on our part; and it +is fostered with a view to coercing our government into modifying +or repealing our offensive exclusion laws. The Viceroy of Central +China, with whom I have spent the last three years, is known as +a pioneer of reform--a man who has done more than any other to +instruct his people in their duties as well as their rights. When, +on the expiration of my engagement, I was about to leave for home, +the prefect of Wuchang, a Canton man, addressed me a letter begging +me to plead the cause of his people with the President of the United +States. That letter was referred to in an interview by the viceroy, +and the request which it contained reiterated by him. He gave me +a parting banquet, attended by many of his mandarins, and on that +occasion the subject came up again and the same request was renewed +and pressed on me from all sides. While I promised to exert myself +on their behalf, let me give you a specimen of the kind of oil +which I poured on their wounded feelings. + +"Said I, 'Under the exasperating effect of these petty grievances +your people forget what they owe to the United States. They lose +sight of the danger of alienating their best friend. In the Boxer +War, when Peking was captured by a combined force of eight foreign +powers, who but America was the first to introduce a self-denying +ordinance forbidding any power to take any portion of the Chinese +territory? In this she was backed up by Great Britain; the other +powers fell into line and the integrity of the Empire was assured. +Again, when China was in danger of being drawn into the vortex +of the Russo-Japanese war, who but America secured for her the +privileges of neutrality--thus a second time protecting her national +life? And now you turn +[Page 250] +against us! Is not such conduct condemned by your ancient poet who +says: + + "_'Ki wo siao yuen, wang wo ta teh', etc._ + + (How many acts of kindness done + One small offence wipes out, + As motes obscure the shining sun + And shut his lustre out.') + +"If the cause of offence be taken away there is reason to hope +that the beneficent action of our country, on those two occasions +so big with destiny, will be remembered, and will lead China to +look to our flag as an ægis under which she may find protection +in time of need. Not till then will our influence, now reduced +to the vanishing-point, be integrated to its full value. + + +PROVOCATIONS TO A BOYCOTT + +"The injuries inflicted, though trifling in comparison with the +benefits conferred, are such as no self-respecting people should +either perpetrate or endure. Take one example, where I could give +you twenty. Two young men, both Christians, one rich, the other +poor, came to the United States for education. They were detained +in a prison-shed for three months, One of them, falling sick, was +removed to a hospital; the other obtaining permission to visit +him, they made their escape to Canada and thence back to China. + +"What wonder no more students come to us and that over 8,000 are +now pursuing their studies in Japan![*] + +[Footnote *: The conciliatory policy of President Roosevelt is +bearing fruit Forty students are about to start to the United States +(May, 1906).] + +"The present irritation is, we are assured by the agitators, provoked +by the outrageous treatment of the _privileged classes_ (merchants, +travellers, and students) and not by the exclusion of labourers, to +which their government has given its assent. Yet in the growing +intelligence of the Chinese a time has come when their rulers feel +such discrimination as a stigma. It is not merely +[Page 251] +a just application of existing laws that Viceroy Chang and his +mandarins demand. They call for the rescinding of those disgraceful +prohibitions and the right to compete on equal terms with immigrants +from Europe. If we show a disposition to treat the Chinese fairly, +their country and their hearts will be open to us as never before. +Our commerce with China will expand to vast proportions; and our +flag will stand highest among those that overarch and protect the +integrity of that empire." + +On November 16, I was received by President Roosevelt. Running +his eye over the documents (see below) which I placed in his hands +he expressed himself on each point. The grievances arising from +the Exclusion Laws he acknowledged to be real. He promised that +they should be mitigated or removed by improvements in the mode +of administration; but he held out no hope of their repeal. "We +have one race problem on our hands and we don't want another," he +said with emphasis. The boycott which the Chinese have resorted +to as a mode of coercion he condemned as an aggravation of existing +difficulties. The interruption of trade and the killing of American +missionaries to which it had led made it impossible, he said, to +turn over to China the surplus indemnity, as he had intended. + +This response is what I expected; but it will by no means satisfy +the ruling classes in China, who aim at nothing short of repeal. +When I assured him the newspapers were wrong in representing the +agitation as confined to labourers and merchants, adding that the +highest mandarins, while formally condemning it, really give it +countenance, he replied that he believed that to be the case, and +reiterated the declaration that +[Page 252] +nothing is to be gained by such violent measures on the part of +China. + +From the Executive Mansion, I proceeded to the Chinese Legation, +where I talked over the matter with the minister, Sir Chentung +Liang. He was not surprised at the attitude of the President. He +said the state of feeling towards China in Congress and in the +entire country is improving, but that, in his opinion, it will +require ten years to bring about the repeal of the Exclusion Laws. + +The present hitch in negotiations comes in part from Peking, but +he hoped a temporary settlement would soon be arrived at. + +The papers referred to above are here appended. + + + LETTERS REQUESTING GOOD OFFICES + (_Translation_) + +"To the Hon. Dr. Martin. + +"Sir: + +"During the last three years we have often exchanged views on the +subject of education and other topics of the day; and to me it +is a joy to reflect that no discordant note has ever marred our +intercourse. + +"In view of your learning and your long residence of forty years +at our capital, besides fifteen years in other parts of China, you +are regarded by us with profound respect. When we hear your words +we ponder them and treasure them up as things not to be forgotten. +It is by your scholarship and by your personal character that you +have been able to associate with the officers and scholars of the +Central Empire in harmony like this. + +"Now, sir, there is a matter which we wish to bring to your attention--a +matter that calls for the efforts of wise men like yourself. I refer +to the exclusion of Chinese labourers. It affects our mercantile +as well as our labouring population very deeply. + +[Page 253] +"We beg you to bear in mind your fifty-five years' sojourn in China +and to speak a good word on our behalf to the President of the +United States so as to secure the welfare of both classes. + +"If through your persuasion the prohibitory regulations should be +withdrawn the gratitude of our Chinese people will know no bounds; +your fifty-five years of devotion to the good of China will have +a fitting consummation in one day's achievement; and your name +will be handed down to coming generations. + +"Being old friends, I write as frankly as if we were speaking face +to face. + + "(Signed) LIANG TING FEN, + "Director of the Normal College for the Two Lake + "Provinces, Intendant of Circuit (_Taotai_), etc. etc. +"Wuchang, July 8, 1905." + +The foregoing translation was made by me, and the original is attached +to the copy presented to the President, for the satisfaction of +any official interpreter who may desire to see it. + +This letter may be regarded as expressing the sentiments of the +higher officials of the Chinese Empire. It was written on the eve +of my embarkation for home by a man who more than any other has +a right to be looked on as spokesman for Viceroy Chang; and the +following day the request was repeated by the viceroy himself. These +circumstances make it a document of more than ordinary importance. + +The outrageous treatment to which the privileged classes (merchants, +students, and travellers) have been subjected, under cover of enforcing +the Exclusion Laws, has caused a deep-rooted resentment, of which +the boycott is only a superficial manifestation. That movement may +not be of long duration, but it has already lasted long enough +to do us no little damage. + +[Page 254] +Besides occasioning embarrassment to our trade, it has excited a +feeling of hostility which it will require years of conciliatory +policy to eradicate. + +The letter makes no direct reference to the boycott, neither does +it allude to coming negotiations; yet there can be little doubt +that, in making this appeal, the writer had both in view. The viceroy +and his officials are right in regarding the present as a grave +crisis in the intercourse of the two countries. + +Their amicable relations have never been interrupted except during +a fanatical outbreak known as the "Boxer Troubles," which aimed +at the expulsion of all foreigners. The leading part taken by our +country in the subsequent settlement, especially in warding off the +threatened dismemberment of China, added immensely to our influence. +Again, on the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese conflict, which was +waged mainly on Chinese territory, it was American diplomacy that +secured for China the advantage of neutrality, and once more warded +off a danger that menaced her existence. + +Yet every spark of gratitude for these transcendent services is +liable to be extinguished by the irritation caused by discrimination +against her labourers and the consequent ill-treatment of other +classes of her people. No argument is required to show how important +it is to remove all grounds of complaint in the interest of our +growing commerce. + +That any sweeping alteration will be made in our existing laws, I +have given my mandarin friends no reason to expect. Self-preservation +stands on a higher plane than the amenities of intercourse. For +many years these laws served as a bulwark without which the +[Page 255] +sparse population of our Western States would have been swamped by +the influx of Asiatics. In early days it was easier for the Chinese +to cross the ocean than for the people of our Eastern States to cross +the Continent. Now, however, the completion of railroads has reduced +the continental transit to five or six days, in lieu of many months; +and the population of our Pacific Coast is so considerable that +there is no longer any danger of its being overrun by immigrants +from the Far East. Is it not therefore a fair question whether the +maintenance of these old restrictions is desirable or politic? +Swaddling bands, necessary for the protection of an infant, are an +impediment to a growing boy. That question can perhaps be best +decided by ascertaining the general sentiment of our Pacific States. +My impression is that, with the exception of the fruit-growers of +California and some others, they are strongly opposed to what they +call "letting down the bars." + +The most feasible way of meeting the difficulty would be, as it +appears to me, the enactment of regulations to provide against +abuses in the enforcement of our Exclusion Laws. The President +has already spoken forcibly in condemnation of such abuses. The +"privileged classes" might be construed in a more liberal sense. +Provision might be made to mitigate the hardships of detention and +repatriation; and a better class of inspectors might be appointed +with a general superintendent, whose duty it should be to see that +the laws are enforced humanely as well as faithfully. + +On December 18, less than three months after the attack on Americans +at Lienchow, an attempt +[Page 256] +was made to destroy the British settlement in Shanghai. + +A woman arrested on a charge of kidnapping was sent to the foreign +jail to await trial. The Chinese assessor insisted, not without +reason, that she ought to be kept in a native jail. No attention +being given to his protest, though supported by the _taotai_ +or local governor, a mob of riff-raff from beyond the limits burst +into the settlement, put the foreign police to flight, and began to +burn and pillage. Happily a body of marines with gatling guns and +fire-engines succeeded in quelling the flames and suppressing the +insurrection. A few hours' delay must have seen that rich emporium +converted into a heap of ashes. Forty of the rioters were killed +and many wounded. Though on ground granted to Great Britain, the +settlement is called international and is governed by a municipal +council elected by the foreign ratepayers. The Chinese residents, +numbering half a million, are allowed no voice in the council; and +that also is felt as a grievance. They are, however, protected +against the rapacity of their own officials; and it is said they +took no part in the riot. In fact had it not been promptly suppressed +they must have suffered all the horrors of sack and pillage. After it +was over they took occasion to demand recognition in the municipal +government; promising to be satisfied if allowed to appoint a permanent +committee, with whom the council should consult before deciding on +any question affecting their interests. + +Modest as this request was, it was rejected by an almost unanimous +vote of the foreign ratepayers. They knew that such committee, +however elected, +[Page 257] +was certain to be manipulated by the governor to extend his +jurisdiction. Their decision was quietly accepted by the Chinese +residents, who appreciate the protection which they enjoy in that +strange republic. The question is certain to come up again, and +their claim to be heard will be pressed with more insistence as +they become more acquainted with the principles of representative +government. + +The existence of an _imperium in imperio_ which comes between +them and their people is of course distasteful to the mandarins; +and they are bent on curtailing its privileges. If its franchises +were surrendered, "Ichabod" might be inscribed on the gates of +the model settlement. + +The practice of marking out a special quarter for each nationality +is an old one in China, adopted for convenience. When, after the +first war, the British exacted the opening of ports, they required +the grant of a concession in each, within which their consuls should +have chief, if not exclusive authority. Other nations made the +same demands; and China made the grants, not as to the British +from necessity, but apparently from choice--the foreign consul +being bound to keep his people in order. Now, however, the influx +of natives into the foreign settlements, and the enormous growth +of those mixed communities in wealth and population, have led the +Chinese Government to look on the ready compliance of its predecessors +as a blunder. Accordingly, in opening new ports in the interior it +marks out a foreign quarter, but makes no "concession." It does not +as before waive the exercise of jurisdiction within those limits. + +[Page 258] +The above question relates solely to the government of Chinese +residing in the foreign "concessions." But there is a larger question +now looming on the political sky, viz., how to recover the right +of control over foreigners, wherever they may be in the Empire. +If it were in their power, the Chinese would cancel not merely +the franchises of foreign settlements, but the treaty right of +exemption from control by the local government. This is a franchise +of vital interest to the foreigner, whose life and property would +not be safe were they dependent on the native tribunals as these +are at present constituted. + +Such exemption is customary in Turkey and other Moslem countries, +not to say among the Negroes of Africa. It was recognised by treaty +in Japan; and the Japanese, in proportion as they advanced in the +path of reform, felt galled by an exception which fixed on them the +stigma of barbarism. When they had proved their right to a place +in the comity of nations, with good laws administered, foreign +powers cheerfully consented to allow them the exercise of all the +prerogatives of sovereignty. + +How does her period of probation compare with that of her neighbour? +Japan resolved on national renovation on Western lines in 1868. +China came to no such resolution until the collapse of her attempt +to exterminate the foreigner in 1900. With her the age of reform +dates from the return of the Court in 1902--as compared with Japan +four years to thirty! Then what a contrast in the animus of the +two countries! The one characterised by law and order, the other +[Page 259] +by mob violence, unrestrained, if not instigated, by the authorities! + +When the north wind tried to compel a traveller to take off his +cloak, the cloak was wrapped the closer and held the tighter. When +the sun came out with his warm beams, the traveller stripped it +off of his own accord. + +The sunrise empire has exemplified the latter method; China prefers +the former. Is it not to be feared that the apparent success of +the boycott will encourage her to persist in the policy of the +traveller in the north wind. She ought to be notified that she +is on probation, and that the only way to recover the exercise of +her sovereign rights is to show herself worthy of confidence. The +Boxer outbreak postponed by many years the withdrawal of the cloak +of ex-territoriality, and every fresh exhibition of mob violence +defers that event to a more distant date. + +To confound "stranger" with "enemy" is the error of Bedouin or +Afghan. Does not China do the same when she mistakes hostility to +foreigners for patriotism? By this blunder she runs the risk of +alienating her best friends, England and America. A farmer attempting +to rope up a shaky barrel in which a hen was sitting on a nest full +of eggs, the silly fowl mistook him for an enemy and flew in his +face. Is not China in danger of being left to the fate which her +friends have sought to avert? + +In April a magistrate went by invitation to the French Catholic +Mission to settle a long-standing dispute, and he settled it by +committing suicide--in China the most dreaded form of revenge. Carried +[Page 260] +out gasping but speechless, he intimated that he was the victim of a +murderous attack by the senior priest. His wounds were photographed; +and the pictures were circulated with a view to exciting the mob. +Gentry and populace held meetings for the purpose of screwing their +courage up to the required pitch--governor and mandarins kept carefully +in the background--and on the fifth day the mission buildings were +destroyed and the priests killed. An English missionary, his wife +and daughter, living not far away, were set upon and slain, not +because they were not known to belong to another nation and another +creed, but because an infuriated mob does not care to discriminate. + +English and French officials proceeded to the scene in gunboats to +examine the case and arrange a settlement. The case of the English +family was settled without difficulty; but that of the French mission +was more complicated. Among the French demands were two items which +the Chinese Government found embarrassing. It had accepted the +theory of murder and hastily conferred posthumous honours on the +deceased magistrate. The French demanded the retraction of those +honors, and a public admission of suicide. To pay a money indemnity +and cashier a governor was no great hardship, but how could the +court submit to the humiliation of dancing to the tune of a French +piper? An English surgeon declared, in a sealed report of autopsy, +that the wounds must have been self-inflicted, as their position +made it impossible for them to have been inflicted by an assailant. +But + +[Note from PG proofer: two lines of text missing here.] + +[Page 261] +In 1870 France accepted a money payment for the atrocious massacre at +Tientsin, because the Second Empire was entering on a life-and-death +struggle with Germany. If she makes things easy for China this time, +will it not be because the Republic is engaged in mortal combat +with the Roman Church? + +China's constant friction and frequent collisions with France spring +chiefly from two sources; (1) the French protectorate over the Roman +missions, and (2) the menacing attitude of France in Indo-China. +It was to avenge the judicial murder of a missionary that Louis +Napoleon sent troops to China in 1857-60. From this last date the +long-persecuted Church assumed an imperious tone. The restitution +of confiscated property was a source of endless trouble; and the +certainty of being backed up by Church and State emboldened native +converts not only to insist on their own rights, but to mix in +disputes with which they had no necessary connection--a practice +which more than anything else has tended to bring the Holy Faith +into disrepute among the Chinese people. + +Yet, on the other side, there are more fruitful sources of difficulty +in the ignorance of the people and in the unfair treatment of converts +by the Chinese Government. While the Government, having no conception +of religious freedom, extends to Christians of all creeds a compulsory +toleration and views them as traitors to their country, is it not +natural for their pagan neighbours to treat them with dislike and +suspicion? + +In this state of mind they, like the pagans of ancient Rome, charge +them with horrible crimes, and seize the slightest occasion for +murderous attack. A church +[Page 262] +spire is said to disturb the good luck of a neighbourhood--the +people burn the building. A rumour is started that babies in a +foundling hospital have their eyes taken out to make into photographic +medicine--the hospital is demolished and the Sisters of Charity +killed. A skeleton found in the house of a physician is paraded +on the street as proof of diabolical acts--instantly an angry mob +wrecks the building and murders every foreigner within its reach. +One of these instances was seen in the Tientsin massacre of 1869, +the other in the Lienchow massacre of 1905. Nor are these isolated +cases. Two American ladies doing hospital work in Canton were set +upon by a mob, who accused them of killing a man whose life they +were trying to save, and they narrowly escaped murder. But why +extend the gruesome list? In view of their mad fury, so fatal to +their benefactors, one is tempted to exclaim: _Unglaube du bist +nicht so viel ein ungeheuer als aberglaube du!_ "Of the twin +monsters, unbelief and superstition, the more to be dreaded is +the last!" + +In China if a man falls in the street, the priest and Levite consult +their own safety by keeping at a distance; and if a good Samaritan +stoops to pick him up it is at his peril. In treating the sick a +medical man requires as much courage and tact as if he were dealing +with lunatics! These dark shadows, so harmful to the good name of +China, are certain to be dissipated by the numerous agencies now +employed to diffuse intelligence. But what of the feeling towards +religious missions? + +Medical missions are recognised as a potent agency in overcoming +prejudice. They reach the heart of +[Page 263] +the people by ministering to their bodily infirmities; high officials +are among their supporters; and the Empress Dowager latterly showed a +disposition to give them her patronage. But how about the preaching +missionary and the teaching missionary? Are the Chinese hostile +to these branches of missionary work? + +Unlike Mohammedan or Brahman, the Chinese are not strongly attached +to any form of religious faith. They take no umbrage at the offer +of a new creed, particularly if it have the advantage of being +akin to that of their ancient sages. What they object to is not +the creed, but the foreigner who brings it. Their newspapers are in +fact beginning to agitate the question of accepting the Christian +faith and propagating it in their own way, without aid from the +foreigner. That they would be glad to see merchant and missionary +leave them in peace, no one can doubt. Yet the influence of missions +is steadily on the increase; and their influence for good is +acknowledged by the leading minds of the Empire. + +Said the High Commissioner Tuan Fang, in an address to the Mission +Boards at New York, February 2,1906: + +"We take pleasure this evening in bearing testimony to the part +taken by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the +Chinese people. They have borne the light of Western civilisation into +every nook and corner of the Empire. They have rendered inestimable +service to China by the laborious task of translating into the Chinese +language religious and scientific works of the West. They help us +to bring happiness and comfort to the poor and the suffering by +the establishment +[Page 264] +of hospitals and schools. The awakening of China which now seems +to be at hand may be traced in no small measure to the hand of the +missionary. For this service you will find China not ungrateful." + +Mission stations, now counted by hundreds, have generally high +schools or colleges. Not only is the science taught in them up-to-date, +but the conscientious manner in which they are conducted makes +them an object-lesson to those officials who are charged with the +supervision of government schools. To name only a few: + +Here in Peking is a university of the American Methodist Episcopal +Church which is not unworthy of the name it bears. At Tungchow, a +suburb of the capital, is a noble college of the American Board +(Congregationalist) which is in every point a worthy compeer. These +coöperate with each other and with a Union Medical College which +under the London Mission has won the favour of the Empress Dowager. + +The American Presbyterian Mission has a high school and a theological +seminary, and coöperates to a certain extent with the three societies +above named. A quadrilateral union like this speaks volumes as +to the spirit in which the work of Christian education is being +carried forward. The Atlantic is bridged and two nations unite; +denominational differences are forgotten in view of the mighty +enterprise of converting an empire. In the economy of their teaching +force they already experience the truth of the maxim "Union is +Strength." + +In Shantung, at Weihien, there is a fine college in +[Page 265] +which English Baptists unite with American Presbyterians. The original +plant of the latter was a college at Tengchow, which under Dr. +Mateer afforded conclusive proof that an education deep and broad +may be given through the medium of the Chinese language. In most +of these schools the English language is now claiming a prominent +place, not as the sole medium for instruction, but as a key to the +world's literature, and a preparation for intercourse with foreign +nations. + +At Shanghai, which takes the lead in education as in commerce, +there is an admirable institution called St. John's College which +makes English the basis of instruction. Numberless other schools +make it a leading branch of study to meet the wants of a centre +of foreign trade. + +One of the best known institutions of Shanghai is a Roman Catholic +College at Siccawei, which preserves the traditions of Matteo Ricci, +and his famous convert Paul Sü. In connection with it are an +astronomical observatory and a weather bureau, which are much +appreciated by foreigners in China, and ought to be better known +throughout the Empire. + +Passing down a coast on which colleges are more numerous than +lighthouses, one comes to Canton, where, near the "Great City" +and beautifully conspicuous, rises the Canton Christian College. + +These are mentioned by way of example, to show what missionaries are +doing for the education of China. It is a narrow view of education +that confines it to teaching in schools. Missionaries led the way +in Chinese journalism and in the preparation of textbooks in all +branches of science. The Society for the +[Page 266] +Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is spreading broadcast the seeds of +secular and religious truth. + +Gratitude for the good they have already done, as well as for benefits +to come, ought to lead the Chinese Government to accord a generous +recognition to all these institutions. At the opening of the Union +Medical College, Mr. Rockhill, the American minister, in a remarkable +address, proposed the recognition of their degrees by the Government; +and as a representative of the Empress Dowager was in the chair on +that occasion, there is reason to hope that his suggestion will +not be overlooked. + + + + +[Page 267] +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE MANCHUS, THE NORMANS OF CHINA + +_The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty--The Empress Dowager--Her Origin--Her +First Regency--Her Personality--Other Types--Two Manchu Princes--Two +Manchu Ministers--The Nation's Choice--Conclusions_ + +In a wide survey of the history of the world, we discover a law +which appears to govern the movements of nations. Those of the +north show a tendency to encroach on those of the south. The former +are nomads, hunters, or fishers, made bold by a constant struggle +with the infelicities of their environment. The latter are occupied +with the settled industries of civilised life. + +The Goths and Vandals of Rome, and the Tartars under Genghis and +Tamerlane all conform to this law and seem to be actuated by a +common impulse. In the east and west of the Eastern hemisphere +may be noted two examples of this general movement, which afford +a curious parallel: I refer to the Normans of Great Britain and +the Manchus of China. Both empires are under the sway of dynasties +which originated in the north; for the royal house of Britain, +though under another title, has always been proud of its Norman +blood. + +The Normans who conquered Britain had first +[Page 268] +settled in France and there acquired the arts of civilised life. +The Manchus coming from the banks of the Amur settled in Liao-tung, +a region somewhat similarly situated with reference to China. There +they learned something of the civilisation of China, and watched +for an opportunity to obtain possession of the empire. In Britain a +kindred branch of the Norman family was on the throne, and William +the Conqueror contrived to give his invasion a colour of right, by +claiming the throne under an alleged bequest of Edward the Confessor. +The Manchus, though not invoking such artificial sanction, aspired +to the dominion of China because their ancestors of the Golden +Horde had ruled over the northern half of the empire. The Norman +conquest, growing out of a family quarrel, was decided by a single +battle. The Manchus' conquest of a country more than ten times the +extent of Britain was not so easy to effect. Yet they achieved +it with unexampled rapidity, because they came by invitation and +they brought peace to a people exhausted by long wars. Their task +was comparatively easy in the north, where the traditions of the +Kin Tartars still survived; but it was prolonged and bloody in +the south. + +Both houses treated their new subjects as a conquered people. Each +imposed the burden of foreign garrisons and a new nobility. Each +introduced a foreign language, which they tried to perpetuate as +the speech of the court, if not of the people. In each case the +language of the people asserted itself. In Britain it absorbed +and assimilated the alien tongue; in China, where the absence of +common elements made amalgamation +[Page 269] +impossible, it superseded that of the conquerors, not merely for +writing purposes, but as the spoken dialect of the court. + +Both conquerors found it necessary to conciliate the subject race +by liberal and timely concessions; but here begins a contrast. +In Britain no external badge of subjection was ever imposed; in +process of time all special privileges of the ruling caste were +abolished; and no trace of race antipathy ever displays itself +anywhere--if we except Ireland. In China the cue remains as a badge +of subjection. Habit has reconciled the people to its use; but it +still offers a tempting grip to revolutionary agitators. Every +party that raises the standard of revolt abolishes the cue; would +it not be wise for the Manchu Government to make the wearing of +that appendage a matter of option, especially as it is beginning +to disappear from their soldiers' uniform? + +The extension of reform in dress from camp to court and from court +to people (to them as a matter of option) would remove a danger. +It would also remove a barrier in the way of China's admission +into the congress of nations. The abolition of the cue implies +the abandonment of those long robes which make such an impression +of barbaric pomp. Already the Chinese are tacitly permitted to +adopt foreign dress; and in every case they have to dispense with +the cue. The Japanese never did a wiser thing than to adopt our +Western costume. Their example tends to encourage a reform of the +same kind in China. A new costume means a new era. + +Another point is required to complete the parallel: +[Page 270] +each victor has given the conquered country a better government +than any in its previous history. To Confucius feudalism was a +beau-ideal, and he beautifully compares the sovereign to the North +Star which sits in state on the pole of the heavens while all the +constellations revolve around it, and pay it homage. Yet was the +centralised government of the First Hwang-ti an immense improvement +on the loose agglomeration of the Chous. The great dynasties have all +adopted the principle of centralisation; but not one has applied it +with such success, nor is there one which shows so large a proportion +of respectable rulers as the house of Ta-ts'ing. Of the first six +some account has been given in Part II. As to the next two it is +too soon to have the verdict of history. One died after a brief +reign of two years and three months, too short to show character. +The other now sits at the foot of the throne, while his adoptive +mother sways the sceptre. Both have been overshadowed by the Empress +Dowager and controlled by her masterful spirit. + +China has had female rulers that make figures in history, such as +Lu of the Han and Wu of the T'ang dynasties, but she has no law +providing for the succession of a female under any conditions. A +female reign is abnormal, and the ruler a monstrosity. Her character +is always blackened so as to make it difficult to delineate. Yet in +every instance those women have possessed rare talent; for without +uncommon gifts it must have been impossible to seize a sceptre +in the face of such prejudices, and to sway it over a submissive +people. Usually they are described much as the Jewish chronicler +sketches the character of Jezebel +[Page 271] +or Athaliah. Cruel, licentious, and implacable, they "destroy the +seed royal," they murder the prophets and they make the ears of +the nation tingle with stories of shameless immorality. + +Among these we shall not seek a parallel for the famous Empress +Dowager, so well known to the readers of magazine literature. In +tragic vicissitudes, if not in length of reign, she stood without +a rival in the history of the world. She also stood alone in the +fact that her destinies were interwoven with the tangle of foreign +invasion. Twice she fled from the gates of a fallen capital; and +twice did the foreign conqueror permit her to return. Without the +foreigner and his self-imposed restraint, there could have been no +Empress Dowager in China. Did she hate the foreigner for driving +her away, or did she thank him for her repeated restoration? + +The daughter of Duke Chou (the slave-girl story is a myth), she +became a secondary wife of Hienfung in 1853 or 1854; and her sister +somewhat later became consort of the Emperor's youngest brother. +Having the happiness to present her lord with a son, she was raised +to the rank of Empress and began to exert no little influence in the +character of mother to an heir-apparent. Had she not been protected +by her new rank her childless rival might have driven her from +court and appropriated the boy. She had instead to admit a joint +motherhood, which in a few years led to a joint regency. + +Scarcely had the young Empress become accustomed to her new dignity, +when the fall of Taku and Tientsin, in 1860, warned the Emperor +of what he might +[Page 272] +expect. Taking the two imperial ladies and their infant son, he +retired to Jeho, on the borders of Tartary, in time to escape capture. +There he heard of the burning of his summer palace and the surrender +of his capital. Whether he succumbed to disease or whether a proud +nature refused to survive his disgrace, is not known. What we do +know is, that on his death, in 1861, two princes, Sushun and Tuanhwa, +organised a regency and brought the court back to the capital about +a year after the treaty of peace had been signed by Prince Kung as +the Emperor's representative. Prince Kung was not included in the +council of regency; and he knew that he was marked for destruction. +Resolving to be beforehand, he found means to consult with the +Empresses, who looked to him to rescue them from the tyranny of +the Council of Eight. On December 2 the blow was struck: all the +members of the council were seized; the leader was put to death in +the market-place; some committed suicide; and others were condemned +to exile. A new regency was formed, consisting of the two Empresses +and Prince Kung, the latter having the title of "joint regent." + +What part the Empress Mother had taken in this her first _coup +d'état_, is left to conjecture. Penetrating and ambitious she +was not content to be a tool in the hands of the Eight. The senior +Empress yielded to the ascendency of a superior mind, as she continued +to do for twenty years. + +There was another actor whom it would be wrong to overlook, namely, +Kweiliang, the good secretary, who had signed the treaties at Tientsin. +His daughter +[Page 273] +was Prince Kung's principal wife, and though too old to take a +leading part in the Court revolutions, it was he who prompted Prince +Kung, who was young and inexperienced, to strike for his life. + +The reigning title of the infant Emperor was changed from +_Kisiang_, "good luck," to _Tung-chi_, "joint government"; +and the Empire acquiesced in the new régime. + +One person there was, however, who was not quite satisfied with +the arrangement. This was the restless, ambitious young Dowager. +The Empire was quiet; and things went on in their new course for +years, Prince Kung all the time growing in power and dignity. His +growing influence gave her umbrage; and one morning a decree from +the two Dowagers stripped him of power, and confined him a prisoner +in his palace. His alleged offence was want of respect to their +Majesties; he threw himself at their feet and implored forgiveness. + +The ladies were not implacable; he was restored to favour and clothed +with all his former dignities, except one. The title of +_Icheng-wang_, "joint regent," never reappeared. + +In 1881 the death of the senior Dowager left the second Dowager +alone in her glory. So harmoniously had they coöperated during +their joint regency, and so submissive had the former been to the +will of the latter, that there was no ground for suspicion of foul +play, yet such suspicions are always on the wing, like bats in +the twilight of an Oriental court. + +On the death of Tung-chi, the adroit selection of a nephew of three +summers to succeed to the throne as her adopted son, gave the Dowager +the prospect of another long regency. Recalled to power by the +[Page 274] +reactionaries, in 1898, after a brief retirement, the Empress Dowager +dethroned her puppet by a second _coup-d'état_. + +During the ruinous recoil that followed she had the doubtful +satisfaction of feeling herself sole aristocrat of the Chinese +Empire. Was it not the satisfaction of a gladiator who seated himself +on the throne of the Cæsars in a burning amphitheatre? Was she +not made sensible that she, too, was a creature of circumstances, +when her ill-judged policy compelled her a second time to seek +safety in flight? A helpless fugitive, how could she conceive that +fortune held in reserve for her brighter days than she had ever +experienced? + +Accepting the situation and returning with the Emperor, the Empire +and the world accepted her, and, taught by experience, she engaged +in the congenial task of renovating the Chinese people. Advancing +years, consciousness of power, and willing conformity to the freer +usages of European courts, all conspired to lead her to throw aside +the veil and to appear openly as the chief actor on this imperial +stage. + +Six years ago her seventieth birthday was celebrated with great +pomp, although she had forbidden her people to be too lavish in +their loyalty. At Wuchang, Tuan Fang, who was acting viceroy, gave +a banquet at which he asked me to make a speech in the Dowager's +honor. The task was a delicate one for a man who had borne the +hardships of a siege in 1900; but I accepted it, and excused the +Dowager on the principle of British law, that "The king can do no +[Page 275] +wrong." Throwing the blame on her ministers, I pronounced a eulogy +on her talents and her public services. + +The question arises, did we know her in person and character? Have +we not seen her in that splendid portrait executed by Miss Carl, +and exhibited at St. Louis? If we suspect the artist of flattery, +have we not a gallery of photographs, in which she shows herself +in many a majestic pose? Is flattery possible to a sunbeam? We +certainly see her as truly as we see ourselves in a mirror! + +As to character, it is too soon to express an opinion. _Varium +et mutabile semper femina_. + +To pencil and sunbeam add word-pictures by men and women from whose +critical eyes she did not conceal herself; and we may confidently +affirm that we knew her personal appearance as well as we knew that +of any lady who occupies or shares a European throne. A trifle +under the average height of European ladies, so perfect were her +proportions and so graceful her carriage that she seemed to need +nothing to add to her majesty. Her features were vivacious and +pleasing rather than beautiful; her complexion, not yellow, but +subolive, and her face illuminated by orbs of jet, half-hidden +by dark lashes, behind which lurked the smiles of favour or the +lightning of anger. No one would take her to be over forty. She +carried tablets on which, even during conversation, she jotted +down memoranda. Her pencil was the support of her sceptre. With it +she sent out her autograph commands; and with it, too, she inscribed +those pictured characters which were worn as the proudest decorations +[Page 276] +of her ministers. I have seen them in gilded frames in the hall +of a viceroy. + +The elegance of her culture excited sincere admiration in a country +where women are illiterate; and the breadth of her understanding +was such as to take in the details of government. She chose her +agents with rare judgment, and shifted them from pillar to post, +so that they might not forget their dependence on her will. Without +a parallel in her own country, she has been sometimes compared +with Catherine II. of Russia. She had the advantage in the decency +of her private life; for though she is said to have had favourites +they have never dared to boast of her favours, nor was a curious +public ever able to identify them. + +Her full name, including honorific epithets added by the Academy, +was Tse Hi Tuanyin Kangyi Chaoyu Chuangcheng Shoukung Chinhien +Chunghi. A few hours before her death, which occurred on the day +after the Emperor's, she named his nephew as successor, and the +present ruler, Hsuan-Tung, who was born in 1903, began to reign +November 14, 1908. + +Let the Dowager be taken as a type of the Manchu woman. The late +Emperor, though handsome and intelligent, was too small for a +representative of a robust race. Tuan Fang, the High Commissioner, +is a more favourable specimen. The Manchus are in general taller +than the Chinese, and both in physical and intellectual qualities +they prove that their branch of the family is far from effete. + +Prince Kung, who for fifteen years presided over the imperial cabinet, +was tall, handsome and urbane. +[Page 277] +Despite the disadvantages of an education in a narrow-minded court, +he displayed a breadth and capacity of a high order. Prince Ching, +who succeeded him in 1875, though less attractive in person, is not +deficient in that sort of astuteness that passes for statesmanship. +What better evidence than that he has kept himself on top of a +rolling log for thirty years? To keep his position through the +dethronement of the Emperor and the convulsions of the Boxer War +required agility and adaptability of no mean order. Personally I +have seen much of both princes. They are abler men than one would +expect to find among the offshoots of an Oriental court. + +Wensiang, who from the opening of Peking to his death in 1875 bore +the leading part in the conduct of foreign affairs, showed great +ability in piloting the state through rocks and breakers. His mental +power greatly impressed all foreigners, while it secured him an easy +ascendency among his countrymen. Such men are sure to be overloaded +with official duties in a country like China. Physically he was not +strong; and on one occasion when he came into the room wheezing +with asthma he said to me: "You see I am like a small donkey, with +a tight collar and a heavy load." The success of Prince Kung's +administration was largely due to Wensiang. Paochuin, minister +of finance, and member of the Inner Council, was distinguished +as a literary genius. Prince Kung delighted on festive occasions +to call him and Tungsuin to a contest in extempore verse. To enter +the lists with a noted scholar and poet like Tung, showed how the +Manchus have come to vie with the Chinese in the +[Page 278] +refinements of literary culture. I remember him as a dignified +greybeard, genial and jocose. On the fall of the Kung ministry, +he doffed his honours in three stanzas, which contain more truth +than poetry: + + "Through life, as in a pleasing dream, + Unconscious of my years, + In Fortune's smile to bask I seem; + Perennial, Spring appears. + + "Alas! Leviathan to take + Defies the fisher's art; + From dreams of glory I awake,-- + My youth and power depart. + + "That loss is often gain's disguise + May us for loss console. + My fellow-sufferers, take advice + And keep your reason whole." + +In more than one crisis, the heart of the nation has cleaved to +the Manchu house as the embodiment of law and order. The people +chose to adhere to a tolerably good government rather than take +the chance of a better one emerging from the strife of factions. + +Three things are required to confirm their loyalty: (1) the abolition +of tonsure and pigtail, (2) the abandonment of all privileges in +examinations and in the distribution of offices, (3) the removal +of all impediments in the way of intermarriage. + +This last has been recently authorised by proclamation. It is not +so easy for those who are in possession of the loaves and fishes to +admit others to an equal share. If to these were added the abolition +of a degrading +[Page 279] +badge, the Manchu dynasty might hope to be perpetual, because the +Manchus would cease to exist as a people. + + +CONCLUSIONS + +1. More than once I have demanded the expulsion of the Manchus, +and the partition of China. That they deserved it no one who knows +the story of 1900 will venture to deny. It was not without reason +that _Mene tekel_ and _Ichabod_ were engraved on the +medal commemorating the siege in Peking. If I seem to recant, it +is in view of the hopeful change that has come over the spirit of +the Manchu Government. Under the leadership of Dowager Empress +and Emperor, the people were more likely to make peaceful progress +than under a new dynasty or under the Polish policy of division. + +2. The prospect of admission to the full privileges of a member of +the brotherhood of nations will act as an incentive to improvement. +But the subjection of foreigners to Chinese jurisdiction ought +not to be conceded without a probation as long and thorough as +that through which Japan had to pass. In view of the treachery +and barbarism so conspicuous in 1900--head-hunting and edicts to +massacre foreigners--a probation of thirty years would not be too +long. During that time the reforms in law and justice should be +fully tested, and the Central Government should be held responsible +for the repression of every tendency to anti-foreign riots. + +A government that encourages Boxers and other rioters as patriots +does not merit an equal place in the +[Page 280] +congress of nations. The alternative is the "gunboat policy," according +to which foreign powers will administer local punishment. If the +mother of the house will not chastise her unruly children, she +must allow her neighbours to do it. + +3. Prior to legal reform, and at the root of it, the adoption of a +constitution ought to be insisted on. In such constitution a leading +article ought to be not toleration, but freedom of conscience. As +long as China looks on native Christians as people who have abjured +their nationality, so long will they be objects of persecution; +self-defence and reprisals will keep the populace in a ferment, and +peace will be impossible. If China is sincere in her professions +of reform, she will follow the example of Japan and make her people +equal in the eye of the law without distinction of creed. + +4. All kinds of reform are involved in the new education, and to that +China is irrevocably committed. Reënforced by railroad, telegraph, +and newspaper, the schoolmaster will dispel the stagnation of remote +districts, giving to the whole people a horizon wider than their +hamlet, and thoughts higher than their hearthstone. Animated by +sound science and true religion, it will not be many generations +before the Chinese people will take their place among the leading +nations of the earth. + + + + +[Page 281] +APPENDIX + +I. + +THE AGENCY OF MISSIONARIES IN THE DIFFUSION OF SECULAR KNOWLEDGE +IN CHINA[*] + +[Footnote *: This paper was originally written for Dr. Dennis's +well-known work on The Secular Benefits of Christian Missions. +As it now appears it is not a mere reprint, it having been much +enlarged and brought down to date.] + +While the primary motive of missionaries in going to China is, as +in going to other countries, the hope of bringing the people to +Christ, the incidental results of their labours in the diffusion +of secular knowledge have been such as to confer inestimable benefit +on the world at large and on the Chinese people in particular. +This is admitted by the recent High Commission.[**] + +[Footnote **: See page 263.] + +It was in the character of apostles of science that Roman Catholic +missionaries obtained a footing in Peking three centuries ago, +and were enabled to plant their faith throughout the provinces. +Armed with telescope and sextant they effected the reform of the +Chinese calendar, and secured for their religion the respect and +adherence of some of the highest minds in the Empire. So firmly +was it rooted that churches of their planting were able to survive +a century and a half of persecution. Their achievements, recorded +in detail by Abbé Huc and others, fill some of the +[Page 282] +brightest pages in the history of missions. I shall not enlarge +on them in this place, as my present task is to draw attention +to the work of Protestant missions. + + +A CENTURY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS. + +It is not too much to claim for these last that for a century past +they have been active intermediaries, especially between the +English-speaking nations and the Far East. On one hand, they have +supplied such information in regard to China as was indispensable +for commercial and national intercourse, while on the other they +have brought the growing science of the Western world to bear on +the mind of China. Not only did Dr. Morrison, who led the way in +1807, give the Chinese the first translation of our Holy Scriptures; +he was the very first to compile a Chinese dictionary in the English +language. + + +THE PIONEER OF AMERICAN MISSIONS + +It was not until 1838 that America sent her pioneer missionary +in the person of Dr. Bridgman. Besides coöperating with others in +the revision of Morrison's Bible, or, more properly, in making a +new version, Bridgman won immortality by originating and conducting +the _Chinese Repository_, a monthly magazine which became a +thesaurus of information in regard to the Chinese Empire. + + +THE PRESS--A MISSIONARY FRANKLIN + +The American Board showed their enlightened policy by establishing +a printing-press at Canton, and +[Page 283] +in sending S. Wells Williams to take charge of it, in 1833. John +R. Morrison, son of the missionary, had, indeed, made a similar +attempt; but from various causes he had felt compelled to relinquish +the enterprise. From the arrival of Williams to the present day the +printing-press has shown itself a growing power--a lever which, +planted on a narrow fulcrum in the suburb of a single port, has +succeeded in moving the Eastern world. + +The art of printing was not new to the Chinese. They had discovered +it before it was dreamed of in Europe; but with their hereditary +tendency to run in ruts, they had continued to engrave their characters +on wooden blocks in the form of stereotype plates. With divisible +types (mostly on wood) they had indeed made some experiments; but +that improved method never obtained currency among the people. It +was reserved for Christian missions to confer on them the priceless +boon of the power press and metallic types. What Williams began at +Canton was perfected at Shanghai by Gamble of the Presbyterian +Board, who multiplied the fonts and introduced the process of +electrotyping. + +Shut up in the purlieus of Canton, it is astonishing how much Dr. +Williams was able to effect in the way of making China known to the +Western world. His book on "The Middle Kingdom," first published in +1848, continues to be, after the lapse of half a century, the highest +of a long list of authorities on the Chinese Empire. Beginning like +Benjamin Franklin as a printer, like Franklin he came to perform a +brilliant part in the diplomacy of our country, aiding in the +[Page 284] +negotiation of a new treaty and filling more than once the post +of chargé d'affaires. + + +EXPANSION OF THE WORK + +The next period of missionary activity dates from the treaty of +Nanking, which put an end to the Opium War, in 1842. The opening +of five great seaports to foreign residence was a vast enlargement +in comparison with a small suburb of Canton; and the withdrawal +of prohibitory interdicts, first obtained by the French minister +Lagrené, invited the efforts of missionary societies in all lands. +In this connection it is only fair to say that, in 1860, when the +Peking expedition removed the remaining barriers, it was again +to the French that our missionaries were indebted for access to +the interior. + + +MEDICAL WORK + +From the earliest dawn of our mission work it may be affirmed that +no sooner did a chapel open its doors than a hospital was opened +by its side for the relief of bodily ailments with which the rude +quackery of the Chinese was incompetent to deal. Nor is there at +this day a mission station in any part of China that does not in +this way set forth the practical charity of the Good Samaritan. +This glorious crusade against disease and death began, so far as +Protestants are concerned, with the Ophthalmic Hospital opened +by Dr. Peter Parker at Canton in 1834. + + +MEDICAL TEACHING + +The training of native physicians began at the same date; and those +who have gone forth to bless their +[Page 285] +people by their newly acquired medical skill may now be counted +by hundreds. In strong contrast with the occult methods of native +practitioners, neither they nor their foreign teachers have hidden +their light under a bushel. Witness the Union Medical College, a +noble institution recently opened in Peking under the sanction +and patronage of the Imperial Government. A formal despatch of the +Board of Education (in July, 1906) grants the power of conferring +degrees, and guarantees their recognition by the state. For many +years to come this great school is likely to be the leading source +of a new faculty. + + +THE SEEDS OF A NEW EDUCATION + +Not less imperative, though not so early, was the establishment of +Christian schools. Those for girls have the merit of being the first +to shed light on the shaded hemisphere of Chinese society. Those for +boys were intended to reach all grades of life; but their prime +object was to raise up a native ministry, not merely to coöperate +with foreign missions, but eventually to take the place of the +foreign missionary. + + +THE EARLIEST UNION COLLEGE + +One of the earliest and most successful of these lighthouses was +the Tengchow College founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer. It was there +that young Chinese were most thoroughly instructed in mathematics, +physics, and chemistry. So conspicuous was the success of that +institution that when the Government opened a university in Peking, +and more recently in Shantung, +[Page 286] +it was in each case to Tengchow that they had recourse for native +teachers of science. From that school they obtained text-books, +and from the same place they secured (in Dr. Hayes) a president +for the first provincial university organised in China. + + +METHODIST EPISCOPAL UNIVERSITY IN PEKING + +The missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church have of late taken +up the cause of education and carried it forward with great vigour. +Not to speak of high schools for both sexes in Fukien, they have a +flourishing college in Shanghai, and a university in the imperial +capital under the presidency of H. H. Lowry. Destroyed by the Boxers +in 1900, that institution has now risen phoenix-like from its ashes +with every prospect of a more brilliant future than its most sanguine +friends ever ventured to anticipate. + + +AMERICAN BOARD COLLEGE AT TUNGCHOW + +A fine college of the American Board at Tungchow, near the capital, +met the same fate and rose again with similar expansion. Dr. Sheffield, +its president, has made valuable contributions to the list of +educational text-books. + +These great schools, together with the Medical College of the London +Mission, above referred to, and a high school of the United States +Presbyterians, have formed a system of cöoperation which greatly +augments the efficiency of each. Of this educational union the +chief cornerstone is the Medical College. + +A similar coöperative union between the English +[Page 287] +Baptists and American Presbyterians is doing a great work at Weihien, in +Shantung. I speak of these because of that most notable feature--union +international and interdenominational. Space would fail to enumerate +a tithe of the flourishing schools that are aiding in the educational +movement; but St. John's College, at Shanghai (U. S. Episcopal), +though already mentioned, claims further notice because, as we +now learn, it has been given by the Chinese Government the status +of a university. + + +PREPARATION OF TEXT-BOOKS + +Schools require text-books; and the utter absence of anything of +the kind, except in the department of classical Chinese, gave rise +to early and persistent efforts to supply the want. Manuals in +geography and history were among the first produced. Those in +mathematics and physics followed; and almanacs were sent forth +yearly containing scientific information in a shape adapted to +the taste of Chinese readers--alongside of religious truths. Such +an annual issued by the late Dr. McCartee, was much sought for. +A complete series of text-books in mathematics was translated by +Mr. Wylie, of the London Mission; and text-books on other subjects, +including geology, were prepared by Messrs. Muirhead, Edkins, and +Williamson. At length the task of providing text-books was taken +in hand by a special committee, and later on by the Society for +the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, now under the direction of the +Rev. Dr. Richard. + +[Page 288] +So deeply was the want of text-books felt by some of the more +progressive mandarins that a corps of translators was early formed +in connection with one of the government arsenals--a work in which +Dr. John Fryer has gained merited renown. Those translators naturally +gave prominence to books on the art of war, and on the politics +of Western nations, the one-sided tendency of their publications +serving to emphasise the demand for such books as were prepared +by missionaries. + +Text-books on international law and political economy were made +accessible to Chinese literature by Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who, having +acted as interpreter to two of the American embassies, was deeply +impressed by the ignorance of those vital subjects among Chinese +mandarins. + +On going to reside in Peking, in 1863, Dr. Martin carried with him +a translation of Wheaton, and it was welcomed by the Chinese Foreign +Office as a timely guide in their new situation. He followed this +up by versions of Woolsey, Bluntschli and Hall. He also gave them +a popular work on natural philosophy--not a translation--together +with a more extended work on mathematical physics. Not only has +the former appeared in many editions from the Chinese press, but +it has been often reprinted in Japan; and to this day maintains +its place in the favour of both empires. To this he has lately +added a text-book on mental philosophy. + +A book on the evidences of Christianity, by the same author, has +been widely circulated both in China and in Japan. Though distinctly +religious in aim, it +[Page 289] +appeals to the reader's taste for scientific knowledge, seeking to +win the heathen from idolatry by exhibiting the unity and beauty +of nature, while it attempts to show the reasonableness of our +revealed religion. + + +THREE PRESIDENTS OF GOVERNMENT COLLEGES + +It is not without significance that the Chinese have sought presidents +for their highest schools among the ranks of Protestant missionaries. +Dr. Ferguson of the Methodist Episcopal Mission was called to the +presidency of the Nanyang College at Shanghai; Dr. Hayes, to be +head of a new university in Shantung; and Dr. Martin, after serving +for twenty-five years as head of the Diplomatic College in Peking, +was, in 1898, made president of the new Imperial University. His +appointment was by decree from the Throne, published in the Government +_Gazette_; and mandarin rank next to the highest was conferred +on him. On terminating his connection with that institution, after +it was broken up by Boxers, he was recalled to China to take charge +of a university for the two provinces of Hupeh and Hunan. + + +CREATORS OF CHINESE JOURNALISM + +In the movement of modern society, no force is more conspicuous +than journalism. In this our missionaries have from the first taken +a leading part, as it was they who introduced it to China. At every +central station for the last half-century periodicals have been +issued by them in the Chinese language. +[Page 290] +The man who has done most in this line is Dr. Y. J. Allen, of the +Methodist Episcopal Church South. He has devoted a lifetime to +it, besides translating numerous books. + +Formerly the Chinese had only one newspaper in the empire--the +_Peking Gazette_, the oldest journal in the world. They now +have, in imitation of foreigners, some scores of dailies, in which +they give foreign news, and which they print in foreign type. The +highest mandarins wince under their stinging criticisms. + + +THEY LEAD A VERNACULAR REVOLUTION + +It is one of the triumphs of Christianity to have given a written +form to the language of modern Europe. It is doing the same for +heathen nations in all parts of the earth. Nor does China offer +an exception. The culture for which her learned classes are noted +is wholly confined to a classic language that is read everywhere, +and spoken nowhere, somewhat as Latin was in the West in the Middle +Ages, save that Latin was really a tongue capable of being employed +in speech, whereas the classical language of China is not addressed +to the ear but to the eye, being, as Dr. Medhurst said, "an occulage, +not a language." + +The mandarin or spoken language of the north was, indeed, reduced +to writing by the Chinese themselves; and a similar beginning was +made with some of the southern dialects. In all these efforts the +Chinese ideographs have been employed; but so numerous and disjointed +are they that the labour of years is required to get a command of +them even for reading in a vernacular +[Page 291] +dialect. In all parts of China our missionaries have rendered the +Scriptures into the local dialects. so that they may be understood +when read aloud, and that every man "may hear in his own tongue the +wonderful works of God." In some places they have printed them in +the vernacular by the use of Chinese characters. Yet those characters +are clumsy instruments for the expression of sounds; and in several +provinces our missionaries have tried to write Chinese with Roman +letters. + +The experiment has proved successful beyond a doubt. Old women +and young children have in this way come to read the Scriptures +and other books in a few days. This revolution must go forward +with the spread of Christianity; nor is it too much to expect that +in the lapse of ages, the hieroglyphs of the learned language will +for popular use be superseded by the use of the Roman alphabet, or +by a new alphabet recently invented and propagated by officials +in Peking. + +In conclusion: Our missionaries have made our merchants acquainted +with China; and they have made foreign nations known to the Chinese. +They have aided our envoys in their negotiations; and they have +conferred on the Chinese the priceless boon of scientific text-books. +Also along with schools for modern education, they have introduced +hospitals for the relief of bodily suffering. + + W. A. P. M. + +PEKING, + Aug. 4. 1906. + + + + +[Page 292] +II. + +UNMENTIONED REFORMS[*] + +[Footnote *: Written by the author for the _North-China Daily +News_.] + +The return of the Mission of Inquiry has quickened our curiosity +as to its results in proposition and in enactment. All well-wishers +of China are delighted to learn that the creation of a parliament +and the substitution of constitutional for autocratic government are +to have the first place in the making of a New China. The reports +of the High Commissioners are not yet before the public, but it +is understood that they made good use of their time in studying +the institutions of the West, and that they have shown a wise +discrimination in the selection of those which they recommend for +adoption. There are, however, three reforms of vital importance, +which have scarcely been mentioned at all, which China requires +for full admission to the comity of nations. + + +1. A CHANGE OF COSTUME + +During their tour no one suggested that the Chinese costume should +be changed nor would it have been polite or politic to do so. But I +do not admire either the taste or the wisdom of those orators who, +in welcoming the distinguished visitors; applauded them for their +graceful dress and stately carriage. If that indiscreet flattery +had any effect it merely tended +[Page 293] +to postpone a change which is now in progress. All the soldiers +of the Empire will ere long wear a Western uniform, and all the +school children are rapidly adopting a similar uniform. To me few +spectacles that I have witnessed are so full of hope for China as +the display on an imperial birthday, when the military exhibit +their skilful evolutions and their Occidental uniform, and when +thousands of school children appear in a new costume, which is +both becoming and convenient. But the Court and the mandarins cling +to their antiquated attire. If the peacock wishes to soar with +the eagle, he must first get rid of his cumbersome tail. + +This subject, though it savours of the tailor shop, is not unworthy +the attention of the grand council of China's statesmen. Has not +Carlyle shown in his "Sartor Resartus" how the Philosophy of Clothes +is fundamental to the history of civilisation? The Japanese with +wonderful foresight settled that question at the very time when +they adopted their new form of government. + +When Mr. Low was U. S. Minister in Peking some thirty years ago, +he said to the writer "Just look at this tomfoolery!" holding up +the fashion plates representing the new dress for the diplomatic +service of Japan. Time has proved that he was wrong, and that the +Japanese were right in adopting a new uniform, when they wished to +fall in line with nations of the West. With their old shuffling +habiliments and the cringing manners inseparable from them, they +never could have been admitted to intercourse on easy terms with +Western society. + +[Page 294] +The mandarin costume of China, though more imposing, is not less +barbaric than that of Japan; and the etiquette that accompanies +it is wholly irreconcilable with the usages of the Western world. +Imagine a mandarin doffing his gaudy cap, gay with tassels, feathers, +and ruby button, on meeting a friend, or pushing back his long +sleeves to shake hands! Such frippery we have learned to leave +to the ladies; and etiquette does not require them to lay aside +their hats. + +Quakers, like the mandarins, keep their hats on in public meetings; +and the oddity of their manners has kept them out of society and +made their following very exiguous. Do our Chinese friends wish +to be looked on as Quakers, or do they desire to fraternise freely +with the people of the great West? + +Their cap of ceremony hides a shaven pate and dangling cue, and +here lies the chief obstacle in the way of the proposed reform +in style and manners. Those badges of subjection will have to be +dispensed with either formally or tacitly before the cap that conceals +them can give way to the dress hat of European society. Neither +graceful nor convenient, that dress hat is not to be recommended +on its own merits, but as part of a costume common to all nations +which conform to the usages of our modern civilisation. + +It must have struck the High Commissioners that, wherever they +went, they encountered in good society only one general type of +costume. Nor would it be possible for them to advise the adoption +of the costume of this or that nationality--a general conformity +is all that seems feasible or desirable. Will the Chinese +[Page 295] +cling to their cap and robes with a death grip like that of the +Korean who jumped from a railway train to save his high hat and +lost his life? As they are taking passage on the great railway of +the world's progress, will they not take pains to adapt themselves +in every way to the requirements of a new era? + + +2. POLYGAMY + +We have as yet no intimation what the Reform Government intends +to do with this superannuated institution. Will they persist in +burning incense before it to disguise its ill-odour, or will they +bury it out of sight at once and for ever? + +The Travelling Commissioners, whose breadth and acumen are equally +conspicuous, surely did not fail to inquire for it in the countries +which they visited. Of course, they did not find it there; but, as +with the question of costume, the good breeding of their hosts would +restrain them from offering any suggestion touching the domestic +life of the Chinese. + +The Commissioners had the honour of presentation to the Queen-Empress +Alexandra. Fancy them asking how many subordinate wives she has +to aid her in sustaining the dignity of the King-Emperor! They +would learn with surprise that no European sovereign, however lax +in morals, has ever had a palace full of concubines as a regular +appendage to his regal menage; that for prince and people the ideal +is monogamy; and that, although the conduct of the rich and great +is often such as to make us blush for our Christian civilisation, +it is true this day that the crowned heads of Europe are in general +setting a worthy example of +[Page 296] +domestic morals. "Admirable!" respond the Commissioners; "our ancient +sovereigns were like that, and our sages taught that there should +be '_Ne Wu Yuen Nu, Wai wu Kwang-tu_' (in the harem no pining +beauty, outside no man without a mate). It is the luxury of later +ages that keeps a multitude of women in seclusion for the pleasure +of a few men, and leaves the common man without a wife. We heartily +approve the practice of Europe, but what of Africa?" + +"There the royal courts consider a multitude of wives essential to +their grandeur, and the nobles reckon their wealth by the number +of their wives and cows. The glory of a prince is that of a cock +in a barn-yard or of a bull at the head of a herd. Such is their +ideal from the King of Dahomey with his bodyguard of Amazons to +the Sultan of Morocco and the Khedive of Egypt. Not only do the +Mahommedans of Asia continue the practice--they have tried to transplant +their ideal paradise into Europe. Turkey, decayed and rotten, with +its black eunuchs and its Circassian slave girls, stands as an +object-lesson to the whole world." + +"We beg your pardon, we know enough about Asia; but what of +America--does polygamy flourish there?" + +"It did exist among the Peruvians and Aztecs before the Spanish +conquest, but it is now under ban in every country from pole to +pole. Witness the Mormons of Utah! They were refused admission +into the American Union as long as they adhered to the Oriental +type of plural marriage." + +"Ah! We perceive you are pointing to the Mormons as a warning to +us. You mean that we shall not be admitted into the society of +the more civilised nations +[Page 297] +as long as we hold to polygamy. Well! Our own sages have condemned +it. It has a long and shameful record; but its days are numbered. +It will do doubt be suppressed by our new code of laws." + +This imaginary conversation is so nearly a transcript of what must +have taken place, that I feel tempted to throw the following paragraphs +into the form of a dialogue. The dialogue, however, is unavoidably +prolix, and I hasten to wind up the discussion. + +With reference to the Mormons I may add that at the conference +on International Arbitration held at Lake Mohonk last July, there +were present Jews, Quakers, Protestants and Roman Catholics, but +no Mormons and no Turks. Creeds were not required as credentials, +but Turk and Mormon did not think it worth while to knock at the +door. Both are objects of contempt, and no nation whose family +life is formed on the same model can hope to be admitted to full +fraternity with Western peoples. + +The abominations associated with such a type of society are inconsistent +with any but a low grade of civilisation--they are eunuchs, slavery, +unnatural vice, and, more than all, a general debasement of the female +sex. In Chinese society, woman occupies a shaded hemisphere--not +inaptly represented by the dark portion in their national symbol the +_Yinyang-tse_ or Diagram of the Dual principles. So completely +has she hitherto been excluded from the benefits of education that +a young man in a native high school recently began an essay with +the exclamation--"I am glad I am not a Chinese woman. Scarcely +one in a thousand is able to read!" + +[Page 298] +If "Knowledge is power," as Bacon said, and Confucius before him, +what a source of weakness has this neglect of woman been to China. +Happily she is not excluded from the new system of national education, +and there is reason to believe that with the reign of ignorance +polygamy will also disappear as a state of things repugnant to +the right feeling of an intelligent woman. But would it not hasten +the enfranchisement of the sex, and rouse the fair daughters of +the East to a nobler conception of human life if the rulers would +issue a decree placing concubinage under the ban of law? Nothing +would do more to secure for China the respect of the Western world. + + +3. DOMESTIC SLAVERY + +Since writing the first part of this paper, I have learned that +some of the Commissioners have expressed themselves in favour of +a change of costume. I have also learned that the regulation of +slavery is to have a place in the revised statutes, though not +referred to by the Commissioners. Had this information reached +me earlier, it might have led me to omit the word "unmentioned" +from my general title, but it would not have altered a syllable +in my treatment of the subject. + +Cheering it is to the well-wishers of China to see that she has +a government strong enough and bold enough to deal with social +questions of this class. How urgent is the slave question may be +seen from the daily items in your own columns. What, for example, +was the lady from Szechuen doing but carrying on a customary +[Page 299] +form of the slave traffic? What was the case of those singing girls +under the age of fifteen, of whom you spoke last week, but a form +of slavery? Again, by way of climax, what will the Western world +think of a country that permits a mistress to beat a slave girl +to death for eating a piece of watermelon--as reported by your +correspondent from Hankow? The triviality of the provocation reminds +us of the divorce of a wife for offering her mother-in-law a dish +of half-cooked pears. The latter, which is a classic instance, is +excused on the ground of filial duty, but I have too much respect +for the author of the "Hiaoking," to accept a tradition which does a +grievous wrong to one of the best men of ancient times. The tradition, +however unfounded, may serve as a guide to public opinion. It suggests +another subject, which we might (but will not) reserve for another +section, viz., the regulation of divorce and the limitation of +marital power. It is indeed intimately connected with my present +topic, for what is wife or concubine but a slave, as long as a +husband has power to divorce or sell her at will--with or without +provocation? + +Last week an atrocious instance, not of divorce, but of wife-murder, +occurred within bow-shot of my house. A man engaged in a coal-shop +had left his wife with an aunt in the country. The aunt complained +of her as being too stupid and clumsy to earn a living. Her brutal +husband thereon took the poor girl to a lonely spot, where he killed +her, and left her unburied. Returning to the coal-shop, he sent +word to his aunt that he was ready to answer for what he had done, +if called to account. "Has he been called to account?" +[Page 300] +I enquired this morning of one of his neighbours. "Oh no! was the +reply; it's all settled; the woman is buried, and no inquiry is +called for." Is not woman a slave, though called a wife, in a society +where such things are allowed to go with impunity? Will not the new +laws, from which so much is expected, limit the marriage relation +to one woman, and make the man, to whom she is bound, a husband, +not a master? + +Confucius, we are told, resigned office in his native state when +the prince accepted a bevy of singing girls sent from a neighbouring +principality. The girls were slaves bought and trained for their +shameful profession, and the traffic in girls for the same service +constitutes the leading form of domestic slavery at this day--so +little has been the progress in morals, so little advance toward +a legislation that protects the life and virtue of the helpless! + +But the slave traffic is not confined to women; any man may sell +his son; and classes of both sexes are found in all the houses of +the rich. Prædial servitude was practised in ancient times, as it +was in Europe in the Middle Ages, and in Russia till a recent day. +We read of lands and labourers being conferred on court favourites. +How the system came to disappear we need not pause to inquire. It +is certain, however, that no grand act of emancipation ever took +place in China like that which cost Lincoln his life, or that for +which the good Czar Alexander II. had to pay the same forfeit. +Russia is to-day eating the bitter fruits of ages of serfdom; and +the greatest peril ever encountered by the United States was a +war brought on by negro slavery. + +[Page 301] +The form of slavery prevailing in China is not one that threatens +war or revolutions; but in its social aspects it is worse than +negro slavery. It depraves morals and corrupts the family, and +as long as it exists, it carries the brand of barbarism. China +has great men, who for the honour of their country would not be +afraid to take the matter in hand. They would, if necessary, imitate +Lincoln and the Czar Alexander to effect the removal of such a +blot. + +It is proposed, we are told, to limit slavery to minors--freedom +ensuing on the attainment of majority. This would greatly ameliorate +the evil, but the evil is so crying that it demands not amelioration, +but extinction. Let the legislators of China take for their model +the provisions of British law, which make it possible to boast that +"as soon as a slave touches British soil his fetters fall." Let +them also follow that lofty legislation which defines the rights +and provides for the well-being of the humblest subject. Let the +old system be uprooted before a new one is inaugurated, otherwise +there is danger that the limiting of slavery to minors will leave +those helpless creatures exposed to most of the wrongs that accompany +a lifelong servitude. + +The number and extent of the reforms decreed or effected are such +as to make the present reign the most illustrious in the history +of the Empire. May we not hope that in dealing with polygamy and +domestic slavery, the action of China will be such as to lift her +out of the class of Turkey and Morocco into full companionship +with the most enlightened nations of Europe and America. + + + + +[Page 302] +III. + +A NEW OPIUM WAR + +The fiat has gone forth--war is declared against an insidious enemy +that has long been exhausting the resources of China and sapping +the strength of her people. She has resolved to rid herself at +once and forever of the curse of opium. The home production of +the drug, and all the ramifications of the vice stand condemned +by a decree from the throne, followed by a code of regulations +designed not to limit, but to extirpate the monster evil. + +In this bold stroke for social reform there can be no doubt that +the Government is supported by the best sentiment of the whole +country. Most Chinese look upon opium as the beginning of their +national sorrows. In 1839 it involved them in their first war with +the West; and that opened the way for a series of wars which issued +in their capital being twice occupied by foreign forces. + +Their first effort to shake off the incubus was accompanied by +such displays of pride, ignorance and unlawful violence that Great +Britain was forced to make war--not to protect an illegal traffic, +but to redress an outrage and to humble a haughty empire. In this +renewed onslaught the Chinese have exhibited so much good sense +and moderation as to show that they have learned much from foreign +intercourse during the sixty-seven years that have intervened. + +[Page 303] +Without making any appeal to the foreigner, they courageously resolved +to deal with the evil in its domestic aspects. Most of the mandarins +are infected by it; and the licensed culture of the poppy has made +the drug so cheap that even the poor are tempted to indulge. + +The prohibitory edict asserts that of the adult population 30 or +40 per cent. are under the influence of the seductive poison. This, +by the way, gives an enormous total, far beyond any of the estimates +of foreign writers. + +Appalled by the signs of social decadence the more patriotic of +China's statesmen were not slow to perceive that all attempts at +reform in education, army, and laws must prove abortive if opium +were allowed to sap the vigour of the nation. "You can't carve a +piece of rotten wood," says Confucius. Every scheme for national +renovation must have for its basis a sound and energetic people. It +was this depraved taste that first made a market for the drug; if +that taste can be eradicated the trade and the vice must disappear +together, with or without the concurrence of Great Britain. + +Great Britain was not, however, to be ignored. Besides her overshadowing +influence and her commercial interests vast and varied, is she not +mistress of India, whose poppy-fields formerly supplied China and +are still sending to the Chinese market fifty thousand chests per +annum? No longer an illegal traffic, this importation is regulated +by treaty. Concerted action might prevent complications and tend +to insure success. The new British Government was approached on the +[Page 304] +subject. Fortunately, the Liberals being in power, it was not bound +by old traditions. + +A general resolution passed the House of Commons without a dissentient +voice, expressing sympathy with China and a willingness to adopt +similar measures in India. "When asked in the House what steps had +been taken to carry out the resolution for the abolition of the +opium traffic between India and China, Mr. Morley replied, that +he understood that China was contemplating the issue of regulations +restricting the importation, cultivation, and consumption of opium. He +had received no communication from China; but as soon as proposals were +submitted he was prepared to consider them in a sympathetic spirit. +H. B. M.'s minister in Peking had been instructed to communicate +with the Chinese Government to that effect." + +The telegram containing these words is dated London, October 30. +The imperial edict, which initiated what many call "the new crusade," +was issued barely forty days before that date (viz., on September +20). Let it also be noted that near the end of August a memorial +of the Anti-Opium League, suggesting action on the part of the +Government, was sent up through the Nanking viceroy. It was signed +by 1,200 missionaries of different nations and churches. Is it +not probable that their representations, backed by the viceroy, +moved the hand that sways the sceptre? + +The decree runs as follows: + +"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China +has been flooded with the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted +their time, neglected their employment, ruined their constitutions, +and impoverished their households. Thus for several decades China +has presented a +[Page 305] +spectacle of increasing poverty and weakness. It rouses our indignation +to speak of the matter. The Court is now determined to make China +powerful; and it is our duty to urge our people to reformation +in this respect. + +"We decree, therefore, that within a limit of ten years this harmful +muck be fully and entirely wiped away. We further command the Council +of State to consider means for the strict prohibition both of +opium-smoking and of poppy-growing." + +Among the regulations drawn up by the Council of State are these: + +That all smokers of opium be required to report themselves and to +take out licenses. + +Smokers holding office are divided into two classes. Those of the +junior class are to cleanse themselves in six months. For the seniors +no limit of time is fixed. Both classes while under medical treatment +are to pay for approved deputies, by whom their duties shall be +discharged. + +All opium dens are to be closed after six months. These are places +where smokers dream away the night in company with the idle and +the vicious. + +No opium lamps or pipes are to be made or sold after six months. +Shops for the sale of the drug are not to be closed until the tenth +year. + +The Government provides medicines for the cure of the habit. + +The formation of anti-opium societies is encouraged; but the members +are cautioned not to discuss political questions. + + +The question no doubt arises in the mind of the reader, Will China +succeed in freeing herself from bondage to this hateful vice? It +is easy for an autocrat to issue a decree, but not easy to secure +obedience. It +[Page 306] +is encouraging to know that this decisive action is favoured by +all the viceroys--Yuan, the youngest and most powerful, has already +taken steps to put the new law in force in the metropolitan province. +A flutter of excitement has also shown itself in the ranks of Indian +traders--Parsees, Jews, and Mohammedans--who have presented a claim +for damages to their respectable traffic. + +On the whole we are inclined to believe in the good faith of the +Chinese Government in adopting this measure, and to augur well +for its success. Next after the change of basis in education, this +brave effort to suppress a national vice ranks as the most brilliant +in a long series of reformatory movements. + + W. A. P. M. + PEKING, January, 1907. + + + + +[Page 307] +INDEX + + + + +[Page 309] +INDEX + +Adams, John Quincy, on the Opium War, 153 +Albazin, Cossack garrison captured at, 57 +Alphabet, a new, invented by Wang Chao, 217 +Amherst, Lord, declines to kneel to Emperor, 168 +Amoy, seaport in Fukien province, 14 + its grass cloth and peculiar sort of black tea, 15 +Anhwei, province of, home of Li Hung Chang, 49 +Anti-foot-binding Society, supported by Dowager Empress in an edict, 217 +Anti-foreign Agitation, 244-266 + American influence in the Far East and, 245-251 +"Appeal from the Lion's Den," 176 +Army, the Chinese, 200-202 +_Arrow_ War, the, 162-169 + allied troops at Peking, 168 + Canton occupied by British troops, 164 + China abandons her long seclusion, 169 + crew of the _Arrow_ executed without trial, 163 + negotiations of the four powers with China, 165 + seizure of the lorcha _Arrow_, 162 + +Bamboo tablets, writings of Confucius engraved on, 106 +Battle of the Sea of Japan, 191-192 +Bell-tower, boy's soul supposed to be hovering in, 21 +Black-haired race, Chinese style themselves the, 151 +Bowring, Sir John, Governor of Hong Kong, and the _Arrow_ case, + 162-163 +Boxer War, the, 172-180 + a Boxer manifesto, 175 +Boycott, the, 247, 252, 253, 259 +Bridges, 16, 41, 42 +Bridgman, Dr., pioneer missionary to China, 282 + founds the Chinese Repository, 282 +Buddhism, introduction of, into China, 95 + "Apotheosis of Mercy," a legend of Northern Buddhism, 108 + number of Buddhist monasteries, 108 + rooted in the minds of the illiterate, 108 +Burden, Bishop, of the English Church Mission. Hang-chow, 23 +Burlingame, Hon. Anson, U. S. Minister to China, 212 + +Cambalu, Mongol name for Peking, 59 +[Page 310] +Camöens, tomb of, at Macao, 9 +Canton, the most populous city of the Empire, 9-12 + American trade suffers most in Canton from boycott of 1905, 13 + averts bombardment by payment of $6,000,000 ransom, 154 + Christian college, 10 + cock-fighting the popular amusement, 10 + crowds of beggars, 12 + excellence of tea and silk produced in the vicinity, 13 + "flower-boats," 9 + historical enigma contests, 11 + narrowness of streets, 12 + passion for gambling, 11 +Canton (Kwangtung), province of, 7-13 + Viceroy of, has also Kwangsi under his jurisdiction, 13 +Caravan Song, 61 +Chang Chien, legend of, 63 +Chang-fi, rescues son of Liu Pi from burning palace, 114 +Chang Tien-shi, arch-magician of Taoism, 109 +Chang Chi-tung, Viceroy of Hukwang, his life and public career, 219-241 + first to start the Emperor on the path of reform 213 + case of Chunghau, 223-224 + his commercial developments at Wuchang, 231 + official interviews with, 238-241 +Chang Yee, an able diplomatist of the Chou period, 99 +Chao, Prince of, is offered fifteen cities for a Kohinoor belonging to + him, 98 +Chau-siang subjugates Tung-chou-Kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, 99 +Chefoo (Chifu), port in Shantung province, 32 +Chéhkiang, province of, smallest of the eighteen provinces, 17-24 +Cheng-wang, "the completer," a ruler of the Chou dynasty, 86-87 + his successors, 87-88 +Chentung, Liang, Sir, interview with Dr. Martin with reference to the + Exclusion Laws and the boycott, 252 +Chin, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 117 +China, probable derivation of name, 101 + agency of missionaries in diffusing secular knowledge in, 281-291 + American exclusion laws, 253 + anti-opium edict, 304-305 + boycott, 247, 252, 253, 259 + condition after five wars, 181 + displays of barbarity during the Boxer War, 180 + effect of her defeat by Japan, 171 + effects of Russo-Japanese War, 193 + eighteen provinces, 6 +[Page 311] + five grand divisions, 3 + Grand Canal, 31 + Great Wall, 4, 31, 32, 101 + interference in Tongking, 62 + interference in Korea, 62 + physiographical features, 4 + reforms in, 196-218 + rivers, 19, 15, 18, 25, 41, 52 + sincerity of reformatory movements, 306 +China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, 200 +Chingtu-fu, capital of the state of Shuh, 113 +Chinhai, city at the mouth of the Ningpo, 18 +Chosin, Prince of, 196 +Chou dynasty, founded by Wen-wang, 84 + annals of, 84-88, 96, 99 + form of government praised by Confucius, 96 + term _Chung Kwoh_, "Middle Kingdom," originates in, 85 +Chou-sin, brings ruin on the house of Shang, sets fire to his own palace, + and perishes in the flames, 81 +Christians, attitude of Chinese Government towards, 261 + newspapers and the Christian faith, 263 +Chu Fu-tse, the philosopher, 128 +Chu Hi, the Coryphæus of Mediæval China, 128 +Chu-koh Liang, a peasant who became minister to Liu Pi, 114-115 +_Chuang Yuen_, Chinese term for senior wrangler; his importance + and privileges 123 +Chungchen, last of the Mings, hangs himself after stabbing his daughter, + 139 +Chunghau and the restoration of Ili, 223 + accused by Chang Chi-tung, 224 +Chunking, city on the Yangtse, 51 +Chusan, Archipelago and Island, 17 +Chu Yuen Chang, Father of the Mings, 135 +Chwan-siang, exterminates the house of Chou, 99 +Confucius, birth and parentage of 89, 90 + account of his education, 90 + describes himself as "editor, not author," 91 + edits the Five Classics, 92 + Golden Rule the essence of his teaching, 92 + number of his disciples, 90 + passion for music, 91 + search for lost books by Liu-Pang, 106 + tomb of, 30-31 + worshipped by his people, 92-93 + writings burned and disciples persecuted by Shi-hwang-ti, 102-103 +Control of Chinese over foreigners throughout Empire, 258 +_Corvée_, myriads of labourers drafted by, for construction of + the Grand Canal, 32 +[Page 312] +Corvino, missionary, 133 + his church at Peking perishes in the overthrow of the Mongols, 137 +Cotton produced in all the provinces, 3 +Cue, abolition of, requisite to confirm loyalty to Manchus, 278 + +Degrees, literary, 122-123 +Diaz and da Gama, voyage to India, 136 +Diplomacy, becomes an art under the Chou dynasty, 97 +Diplomatic College, 209 + Dr. Martin president of, 209 +"Drinking Alone by Moonlight," poem by Lipai, 120 + +Eclectic Commission, the, 197-198 +Educational reforms, 210 + the Imperial University, 210 +Elgin, Lord, and the Tai-pings, 161, 166 +Elliott, Captain Charles, and the Opium War, 154 +Empress Dowager, and the Boxer War, 172-174, 179-180 + celebrates her seventieth birthday with great pomp, 274 + convert to the policy of progress, 197 + _coup d'état_, 272 + full name, 276 + parentage, 271 + personal description of, 275 + reactionary clique and, 174 + type of the Manchu woman, 276 +England takes lease of Wei-hai-wei, 174 +Eunuchism, 112, 297 +Examinations, system of civil service, instituted by the Hans, 109 + continued for twelve centuries, 121 + details of, 122-124 + developed under the T'angs, 121 + reforms in, 213 +Exclusion laws, the, Chinese resentment of, 253 + most feasible way to deal with, 255 + President Roosevelt on, 251 + +Factories, the, at Canton, 150,152 +Favier, Bishop, defends his people in the French Cathedral, Peking, 176 +Fishing, queer methods of, 19 +Five dynasties, the, factions contending for the succession on the fall + of the house of T'ang, 126 + the later Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, and Chou are united after fifty-three + years in the Sung dynasty, 126-127 +Foochow (Fuchau), on the River Min, 15 + fine wall and "bridge of ten thousand years," 16 + Kushan, its sacred mountain, 15 + Manchu colony, 16 +[Page 313] +Formosa, Island of, colonised by people of Fukien, 14 +France takes lease of Kwang-chou-wan, 174 +France, war with, 169 + allowed to retain Tong-king, 170 + French seize Formosa, 170 +Fraser, Consul, and Viceroy Chang in the Boxer War, 227 +Fuchau (Foochow), province of Fukien, 15 + large and prosperous missions in, 16 +Fuhi, mythical ruler, teaches his people to rear domestic animals, 72 +Fukien (Fuhkien), province of, 14-16 + derivation of name, 15 + dialect, 14 + inhabitants bold navigators, 14 +Fungshui, a false science, 202 +Fungtao, inventor of printing, 116 + +Gabet and Huc, French missionaries, reach Lhasa in Tibet, 63 +Gama, da, voyage to India, 136 +Gaselee, General, and his contingent relieve the British Legation, + Peking, 177 +Genghis Khan, splendour of his court eclipsed by that of his grandson, + Kublai Khan, 131 +Gods, the numerous, of the Chinese, 82 + worship of many of them referred to the Shang dynasty, 82 +Gordon, General, victorious over the Tai-pings, 161 +Grand Canal, journey down from Tsi-ning, 31 + as useful to-day as six hundred years ago, 31 + constructed by Kublai Khan, 31-32 + its object, 32 +Grand Lama, the Buddhist pope, 62, 109 +Great Wall, the, origin of, 4 + an effete relic, 31 + built by Ts'in, 101 + its construction overthrows house of its builder, 32 +Gunpowder, early known to the Chinese, but not used with cannon, 115 + spoken of by Arabs as "Chinese snow," 115 + +Han dynasty, founded by Liu-pang, 105 + annals, 105-111 + civil service examinations inaugurated, 109 + marked advance in belles-lettres, 109 +Hangchow, capital of Chéh-kiang province, its streets first trodden + by white men in 1855, 22 + its "bore", 24 + its magnificent West Lake, 22 + "The Japanese are coming," 23 +Hanlin Academy, contest before the Emperor for seats in, 123 +[Page 314] +Han Yu, eminent writer of the eighth century, ridicules the relics of + Buddha, 107 +Hart, Sir Robert, his opportune services in the war with France, 170 + development of the maritime customs, 206-208 + father of the postal system, 206 + many honours of, 207 +Hayes, Dr., president of first provincial university in China, 286 +Helungkiang, province of Manchuria, 56 +Hia dynasty, founded by Ta-Yü, 78 + together with the Shang and Chou dynasties, known as the San Tai + or San Wang, 78 +Hien-feng, Emperor, escapes to Tartary and dies there, 168 +Himalayas, a bulwark to China, 4 +_Hiao Lien_, literary degree, now _Chu-jin_, equivalent to + A. M., 122 +Hiunghu, supposed ancestors of the Huns, 111 +Honan province of, 41-44 + agricultural resources, 42 + bridge over the Hwang Ho,41 +Hong Kong, "the Gibraltar of the Orient," ceded to Great Britain, 7 + British make it chief emporium of Eastern seas, 8 + rapid development of, 8 +Huc and Gabet, French missionaries, make their way to Lhasa, 63 +Hung Siu-tsuen, leader of the Tai-pings, 157 + his aid Yang, 158 + invites his first instructor, Rev. Issachar Roberts, to visit his + court, 160 + new method of baptism 160 + raises the flag of rebellion in Kwangsi, 157 +Huns, supposed ancestors were the Hiunghu, 111 +Hupeh, province of, 45-49 + Hankow, Hupeh province, a Shanghai on a smaller scale, 45 + Hanyang, Hupeh province, a busy industrial centre, 46 + Wuchang, capital of Hupeh, 45 +Hwai, Prince, regent during minority of Shunchi, 141 + called Amawang by the Manchus, 141 + effects the subjugation of the eighteen provinces, and imposes the + tonsure and "pigtail," 141 +Hwan, Duke, of western Shan-tung, convokes the States-General nine + times, 96 +_Hwang-ti_, term for "Emperor," first used by the builder of the + Great Wall, 78 +Hwei-ti, a ruler of the Han dynasty, 106 + +Ichang, city on the Yang-tse, 15 +[Page 315] +Ili, Chunghau and the restoration of, 223-224 Ito, Marquis, 196 +I-yin, a wise minister who had charge of the young ruler T'ai-kia, +80-81 + +Japan, war with, provoked by China's interference in Korea, 170 + Japanese expel Chinese from Korea, and take part of Manchuria, 171 + Japan left in possession of Port Arthur and Liao-tung, 171 + Russia is envious and compels her to withdraw, 171 + having defeated Russia unreservedly restores Manchuria to China, 195 +Jews, of K'ai-fung-fu, 43 + ancestors of, reach China by way of India, 43 + Shanghai, help their K'ai-fung-fu brethren, 44 +Jin-hwang, Tién-hwang, and Ti-hwang, three mythical rulers, 71 + +K'ai-fung-fu, formerly the capital under Chou and Sung dynasties, 42 + visit to the Jews of, 43 +Kairin, province of Manchuria, 56 +Kalgan, Mongolia, a caravan terminal, 58, 61 +Kanghi, the greatest monarch in the history of the Empire, 142 + alienated by the pope, 144 + patron of missionaries, 142 +Kanghi, progress of Christianity during his reign, 143 +Kang Yuwei, urges reform on the Emperor, 213 +Kansuh, province of, comparatively barren, and climate unfavourable to + agriculture, 55 +Kao-tsung, son of Tai-tsung, raises Wu, one of his father's concubines, + to the rank of empress, 121 +Ketteler, Baron von, killed during siege in Peking, 176 +Kiachta, a double town in Manchuria, 58 +Kiak'ing, succeeds on the abdication of his father, Kienlung, 144 + a weak and dissolute monarch, 145 +Kiangsu province, 25-29 + derivation of name, 25 +Kiao-Chao (Kiau-Chau), port occupied by Germans, 30, 165 +Kiayi, an exiled statesman, dates a poem from Changsha, 110 +Kié, last king of the Hia dynasty, his excesses, 80 +Kien Lung, emperor poet, lines inscribed by him on rock at Patachu, 35 + abdicates, after a reign of sixty years, for the reason that he did + not wish to reign longer than his grandfather, 144 + adds Turkestan to the empire, 144 + dynasty reaches the acme of splendour in his reign, 144 +[Page 316] +Kin Tartars, obtain possession of Peking, and push their way to + K'ai-fung-fu, the Emperor retiring to Nanking, 129 +Kin Tartars, the, 140 +Kingdoms, the three, Wei, Wu, and Shuh, 112-113 +King Sheng Tau, annotator of popular historical novel, 113 +Kinsha, "River of Golden Sands," 52 +Komura, Baron, and Portsmouth treaty, 193 +Korea, the bone of contention between Japan and Russia, 182, 183, 186, 192 +Kuanyin Pusa, a legend of, "The Apotheosis of Mercy," 108 +Kublai Khan, absorbs China, 131 +Kung, Prince, and the Empress Dowager, 273 + disgraced and confined in his palace, 273 + personal characteristics, 277 + restored to favour but not to joint regency, 273 +Kuropatkin, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 185-192 +Kwangsi, province of, subordinate to Canton, 13 + in an almost chronic state of rebellion, 13 +Kwangsu, Emperor, and the Empress Dowager, 172, 173 + his desire for reforms, 197 + imprisoned in a secluded palace, 173, 174 + influenced by Kang Yuwei 173 +Kwangtung (Canton), province of, 7-13 +Kweichau, province of, the poorest province of China, 52 + one-half its population aborigines, 52 +Kweilang, secretary to the Empress, 272 + prompts Prince Kung to strike for his life, 273 + +Lao-Tse, founder of Taoism, his life and influence, 94 +Lhasa, treaty of, 62 +Li and Yu, two bad kings of the house of Chou, 88 +Liang, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Liang Ting Fen, letter to Dr. Martin requesting his good offices with + President Roosevelt, 252-253 +Liaoyang, battle of, 187 +Lienchow, attack on Americans at, 248, 255 +Lien P'o, a general of Chao, who threatens to kill the envoy Lin at + sight, 98 + makes friends with his adversary, 99 +Li Hung Chang, a native of Anhwei, 49 + preëminent in the work of reform, 212 + sent to Japan to sue for peace he is shot by an assassin, 171 + wins earldom through Gordon's victory, 161 +[Page 317] +Li Ling, a commander for whom Sze-ma Ts'ien stood sponsor, and who + surrendered to the enemy, 110 +Lin, Commissioner, and the opium traffic, 152 +Lin Sian Ju, a brave envoy, 98 +Lineivitch, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 190-192 +Lipai, the Pope of Chinese literature, 119 +Li-Sze, chancellor of Shi-hwang-ti, denounces the works of Confucius to + that ruler, and causes them to be burned, 102 +Little, Mrs. Archibald, and the Anti-foot-binding Society, 217 +Liu-pang founds the Han dynasty, 105 +Liu Pi founds the state of Shuh, 113 +Li Yuen, assassinates Yang-ti and sets up the T'ang dynasty, 118 +Lo Kwan-chung, author of a popular historical novel, 113 +Lo-yang, capital of the state of Wei, 112 +Lu, Empress, holds the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years, 106 + +Macao, Portuguese town of, 8 + burial place of Camöens and Robert Morrison, 8 +McCartee, Dr., annual issued by, 287 +Manchuria, 3 + consists of three regions or provinces under one governor-general, 56 + home of the Manchus, 56 + ignorance of Manchus in their original habitat, 57 + Japan takes possession of parts of, 171 + population and products, 57 + restored by Japan to China, 195 + Russia occupies the very positions from which she compelled Japan to + withdraw, 171 + sacred city of Mukden, 56 +Manchus, the, ignorance of those remaining in Manchuria, 57 + give to China a better government than any of her native dynasties, 142 + the Normans of China, 267-280 + they settle at Mukden and await an opportunity to descend on China, 140 +Marco Polo. See Polo +Maritime customs, the, 206-208 + Sir Robert Hart's long and valuable services, 206-209 +Martin, Dr. W. A. P., head of the Tung-wen College, 209 + in siege at Peking, 176, 177 + president of the Imperial University, 210 +Mateer, Dr. C. W., founds Teng-chow College, 285 +[Page 318] +Meadows, Consul T. T., reports in favour of the Tai-pings, 159 +Medhurst, Dr., his description of the Chinese Classical language, 290 +Mencius, more eloquent but less original than Confucius, 93 + his tribute to Confucius, 94 + owed much to his mother's training, 93 +Merchant marine, the, 200 +Mings, last of, stabs daughter and hangs himself, 139 +Ming-ti, sends embassy to India to import Buddhist books and bonzes, 107 +Mining enterprises, 202 +Min River, 15 +Missions, development of, 264 + Minister Rockhill's address upon, 266 +Missionaries, attacks on, 40, 180, 248, 260, 261, 262 + agency of, in the diffusion of secular knowledge, 263-291 + apostles of science, 263 + creators of Chinese journalism 290 + medical work, 284 + lead a vernacular revolution, 290 + preparation of text-books, 287 + presidents of government colleges, 289 + teaching and preaching, 263 +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, 57, 61 + contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis, 50 + inhabitants nomadic, 58 + has only three towns, 58 + Russians "came lean and went away fat," 58 + Russians granted privilege of establishing an ecclesiastical mission, 57 +Mongols, liable to military service, but prohibited from doing garrison + duty in China, 59 + dress, 60 + forty-eight Mongolian princes, 59 + Mongol monks at Peking, 60 + nomadic wanderings, 58 + princes visit Cambalu (Peking), in winter, 59 + their camel, 60 + victorious over the Sungs, 130 + Yuen or Mongol dynasty, 131-134 +Morrison, John R., son of Dr. Morrison the missionary, attempts to + establish a printing-press, 283 +Morrison, Robert, pioneer of Protestant missions to China, tomb of, at + Macao, 9, 282 +Moule, Bishop, makes Hang-chow seat of his diocese, 23 +Mukden, city of, sacred to every Manchu, 56 + battle of, 189 +Mu-wang, a Chou ruler, who seeks relief from ennui in foreign travel, 87 + +[Page 319] +Nanking, chief city of Kiangsu province, 25, 26 + called _Kiangning_ by the Manchus, 26 + pillaged by Tartars, 129 +Nanking, treaty of, 7 +Nan-peh Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms" four factions arising on + the fall of the Tsin dynasty, 116 +Napier, Lord, appointed superintendent of British trade in China, 153 + arrives at Macao and announces his appointment by letter to the prefect + of Canton, who "tosses it back," 153 + dies of chagrin at Macao, 153 +Napoleon, Louis, and Annam, 165 +Navy, the Chinese, 199-200 +"Nest-builder, The," 71 +Nevius, Rev. J. L., missionary at Hangchow, 23 + at Chefoo, where he plants a church and a fruit garden, 32 +Nevius, Mrs., at Chefoo, 32 +Newspapers, reforms in, 215 + covertly criticise Government and its agents, 215 +Ningpo, province of Chéhkiang, 19 + its handsome people and their literary and commercial prominence, 20 + residence of the author for ten years, 20 +Ningpo River, 18 +Nogi, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 188-192 + +O'Connor, Mr., British chargé d'affaires, 179 +Omesham Mountains, 51 +Opening of China, the, a drama in five acts, 149 + result of collisions between Oriental conservatism and Occidental + progress, 149, 150 +Opium, extent of trade in, 303 + 20,000 chests destroyed at request of Captain Charles Elliott, 154 +Opium traffic, Commissioner Lin directed by Emperor Tao Kwang to abolish + it, 152 + attitude of British Government, 304 + decree ordering its total abolition, 304 + regulations of Council of State, 305 +Opium War, the, its causes, precipitation, and effects, 150-162 +Oyama, Field-marshal, in the Russo-Japanese War, 187-192 + +P's, the three--pen, paper, and printing, invention of, 116 +Palmerston, Lord, invites cooperation of France, Russia and the United + States concerning the _Arrow_ case, 164 +P'an-keng, of the house of Shang, moves his capital five times, 81 +P'anku, the "ancient founder," 71 +[Page 320] +Paoting-fu, in Chihli province, scene of martyrdom of missionaries, 40 +Parker, Dr. Peter, missionary at Canton, 284 +Parkes, Consul and the _Arrow_ case, 162, 163, 164 +Patachu, summer resort near Peking, 34-35 + its eight Buddhist temples, 35 +Pearl River, 9 +Peking, northern capital of China, 34 + approaches to new foreign quarter fortified, 37 + Byron's lines on Lisbon applied to Peking, 39 + climate and low death-rate, 38 + Empress Dowager's summer residence, 34 + "Forbidden City," 37 + French Cathedral defended by Bishop Favier and marines, 176 + Legation Street, 36 + Prospect or Palatine Hill, 38 + siege of legations, 175 + summer palaces, 34 + Tai-ping expedition against, 159 + Tartar and Chinese cities, 35 + Temples of Agriculture, Heaven and Earth, 35, 36 +Peking Gazette, the, oldest journal in the world, 290 +Philosophers of the Sung period, Cheo, Cheng, Chang, and Chu, 127-128 +Philosophers: + Chu Hi, 128 + Wang Ngan-shi, economist, 128 +Pirates, attacks of, on Mr. Russell and the author, 18 + Rev. Walter Lowrie is drowned by, 18 +Police, reforms in, 218 +Polo, Marco, Mattei, and Nicolo, 132 + sojourn in China, 132 +Port Arthur and Liao-tung, 171, 174, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191, 192 +Ports, five, opened to great Britain at close of the Opium War, 155 +Portsmouth (N. H.), treaty of, 192 +Portuguese, first ships of the, appear at Canton, 136 + disapprove missions, 137 + obtain a footing at Macao, 137 + secretly oppose Dutch traders, 137 +Postal system, 206 +Pottinger, Sir Henry, moderate conditions imposed by, at close of Opium + War, 155, 156 + his action compared with that of Commodore Perry, 156 +Psychology, Chinese, its recognition of three souls, 22 +Punishments, barbarous, abolished, 214 +Putu, the sacred island of, 18 + its monasteries, 18 + prevalence of piracy in adjacent waters, 18 + +[Page 321] +Railways, King-Ran road completed to Hankow, 39 + first grand trunk road, 39 + good work of Belgian constructors, 39 + influence of, on people and government, 40 + questionable action of American company, 40 + reforms in, 203 +Rankin, Rev. Henry, with the author, the first white man to enter + Hang-chow, 22 +Reading-rooms (not libraries, but places for reading) a new + institution, 216 +Red-haired, the, a vulgar designation for Europeans, 151 +Reed, Hon, W. B., American Minister to China, and the _Arrow_ + case, 165 +Reforms in China, 196-218 + Anti-foot-binding Society, 217 + army, 201 + customs, 206 + educational, 213 + Hart, Sir Robert, and, 206 + legal, 204 + merchant marine, 200 + mining enterprises, 202 + newspapers, 215 + post office, 205 + railways, 203 + streets, 218 + telegraph, 214 + Tung-wen College and The Imperial University, 209-210 + writing, 216 +Reforms, unmentioned, 292, 301 + a change of costume, 292 + domestic slavery, 298 + polygamy, 295 +Religions, the three, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, their + characteristic features, 107 + each religion has a hierarchy, 109 + "Hall of the Three Religions," 108 +Ricci, after twenty years of effort, effects an entrance to Peking, 138 +Rice, grown in all the provinces, 3 +Richard, Dr. and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 287 +Richthofen, explorer, 58 +River traffic, junks drawn by hundreds of coolies, 50 +Rivers, the Yang-tse Kiang, 25 + Hwang Ho, 41 + Hingpo, 18 + Pearl, 9 + Kinsha, the "river of golden sands," 52 + Min, 15 +Roberts, Rev. Issachar, and the leader of the Tai-pings, 160 + is invited to visit their court, 160 +Rockhill, Mr., the American Minister, and missionary institutions, 266 +Roman Catholic missionaries, dissensions in the ranks of, 143 +Roosevelt, President, his efforts to end Russo-Japanese War, 193 +[Page 322] + awarded Nobel peace prize, 193 + interview with Dr. Martin on the subject of the Exclusion Laws and the + boycott, 251 +Rozhesvenski, Admiral, and the relief squadron for Port Arthur, 190-192 +Russell, Mr., and the author captured by pirates, 18 +Russia, compels Japan to evacuate Manchuria and occupies the same districts + herself, 171 + designs on Korea, 182 + increases her forces in Manchuria during Boxer War, 182 + obtains lease of Port Arthur, 174 + schemes for conquest, 182, 183 + surprised by Japan's commencement of the war, 184 +Russo-Japanese War, the, 181-195 + +Sages of China, the, Confucius, 89-93 + Lao-tse, 94 + Mencius, 93-94 +Saghalien, Island of, Japan and Russia to divide possession of, 192 +Schaal, Father, is president of Astronomical Board, casts cannon, and + builds churches in Peking, 143 +Sea of Japan, Battle of, 191-192 +Seng Ko Lin Sin (nicknamed "Sam Collinson" by British), Lama prince who + heads northern armies against Tai-ping rebels, 59, 159 + defeated by British and French before Peking, 59 +Shang dynasty, founded by Shang-tang, 80 + annals of, 80, 82 + "made religion the basis of education," 82 +Shanghai, one of the five treaty ports, 26 + colleges and schools, newspapers and translation bureaux, 28 + foreign Concessions, opulent business houses, and luxurious mansions, 27 + leading commercial emporium, 26 +_Shang-ti_ and _Tien_, Roman Catholics and the terms, 143 +Shangyang, a statesman of the Chou dynasty, converts the tenure of land + into fee simple, 85 +Shansi, province of, 54 + prolific of bankers, 54 + rich in agricultural and mineral resources, 54 +Shantung, province of, 30-32 + apples, pears, and peaches grown, 30 + railway built by Germans from the sea to Tsinan-fu,30 +Shanyu, a forerunner of the Grand Khan of Tartary, 111 +[Page 323] +Shaohing, city, in Chéhkiang province noted for its rice wine and + lawyers, 23 +Sheffield, Dr., president of Tung-chow College, 286 +Shengking, province of Manchuria, 56 +Shensi, province of, earliest home of the Chinese, 55 + monument at Si-ngan commemorating the introduction of Christianity by + Nestorians, 55 +Shi-hwang-ti, real founder of the Chinese Empire, 102 + devout believer in Taoism, 104 + sends a consignment of lads and lasses to Japan, 103 + though one of the heroes of history he is execrated for burning the + writings of Confucius, 102 +Shin-nung, "divine husbandman," mythical ruler, worshipped as the Ceres + of China, 72 +_Shu-king_, the, or "Book of History," one of the Five Classics edited + by Confucius, 76 +Shun, successor of Yao, rejects his own son and leaves throne to Ta-yü, 74 +Shunteh-fu, American mission at, 40 +Shun-ti, last monarch of the Yuen dynasty, 133 +Si-ngan, city in Shensi, 55 + capital of the Chous, 55 + capital of the T'angs, 121 + Empress Dowager takes refuge there, 42 + monument commemorating the introduction of Christianity by Nestonans, 121 +_Sing Su Hai_, "Sea of Stars," cluster of lakes in Tibet, 63 +Siun Kien founds the state of Wu, 112 +_Siu-tsai_, literary degree equivalent to A. B., 122 +Smith, Dr. Arthur, and thanksgiving service at raising of siege of British + Legation, Peking, 178 +Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 266 +Solatium to encourage honesty in public officials, 208 +Spaniards, the, trade and relations with China, 137 +St. John's College, Shanghai, 287 +Stoessel, General, and his defence of Port Arthur, 188 +"Strange Stories of an Idle Student," a popular work in Chinese depicting + conditions prior to Opium War, 150-151 +Streets, improvement in construction and protection of, 218 +Sü of Shanghai, baptised by the name of Paul by Ricci, 138 + his daughter Candida also baptised, 138 +Suchow, in Kiangsu, the Paris of the Far East, 25 + musical dialect, of, 26 +Su Ts'in, the patient diplomat, whose reputation is ruined by his own + passions, 99 +[Page 324] +Sui dynasty, the, founded by Yan Kien, lasts less than thirty years, 117 +Sundius, Mr., British consul at Wuhu, 227 +Sung, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Sung dynasty, founded by Chao-kwang-yun, 127 + annals, 127-128 + encroachment of the Tartars, 127 + rise of a great school of philosophy, 127-129 + Southern Sungs, 127 +Superstitions of the Chinese, concerning wandering spirits, 21 +Sven Hedin, explorer, 58 +Swatow, Canton province, American Baptists' Mission at, 15 +Szechuen, province of, 50-51 + fratricidal wars under Ming dynasty, 51 + great variety of climate, 51 +Szema Ts'ien, the Herodotus of China, 110 + barbarously treated by his people, 110 + +T'ai-kia, successor of Shang-tang, 80 +Tai-ping Rebellion, the, a result of the Opium War, 156 + details of, 157-162 +Tai-pings, the, try to establish a new empire, the _Tai-ping + Tien-kwoh_, 158 + commonly called "Chang-mao," long-haired rebels, owing to their rejection + of the tonsure and cue, 161 + defeated by Gordon, 161 + descend into the plains of Hunan, pillage three cities, and capture + Nanking, massacring its garrison of 25,000 Manchus, 158-159 + go into winter quarters, and, dividing their forces, are cut off in + detail, 159 + hold Nanking for ten years, 159 + loose morals and travesty of sacred things horrify Christian world, 161 + missionaries attracted by their profession of Christianity, 160 + queer titles adopted by, 161 + sympathy for their cause by Consul Meadows, 159 + unsuccessfully attempt to drive the Manchus from Peking, 159 +Tai-tsung, second emperor of the T'ang dynasty, 120 +Taiyuan-fu, missionaries murdered at by the governor, 180 +Ta-Ki, a wicked woman by whom Chou-sin is said to have been led into his + evil courses, 81 +_Ta Kiang_, "Great River," the Chinese name for the Yang-tse Kiang, 28 +Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, 33 + capture of forts by British and French, repulse of allied forces in + following year, 33 +[Page 325] +Tamerlane, Mongolian origin of, 61 + born in Turkestan, 61 +Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, author of the cycle of sixty, 77 +T'ang dynasty, founded by Li Yuen, 118 + an Augustan age, 119 + annals, 119-125 +Tang Shao-yi, a Chinese, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of + the entire customs service, 208 +Tao Kwang, Emperor, resolves to put a stop to opium traffic, 152 +Tartars, encroach on the Flowery Land, 117 + suspicious of other foreigners, 151 +Tartary, Grand Khan of, 111 +Tatnall, Commodore, his kind action at Taku, 167 +Ta-ts'ing dynasty, the, its annals, 140-145 +Ta-yü, or Yu the Great, early emperor, subdues the waters of a deluge, 75 + casts 9 brazen tripods, 79 + departs from practice of his predecessors and leaves throne to his + son, 76 + devotes nine years to the dredging and diking of rivers, 75 + his acts and reign, 78-79 + monuments commemorating his labours, 75 +Telegraph and telephone, introduction of, 204-205 +Temples of Heaven, Earth and Agriculture, 36 +Teng-chow College, founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer, 285 +Tenney, Dr., and the University of Tientsin, 213 +Text-books, prepared by missionaries--Edkins, Martin, Muirhead, Williamson + and Wylie, 287-288 +Theatre, the Chinese, 114 +Three Kingdoms, the, states of Wei, Wu and Shuh, 112 + Lo Kwan-chung, author of a historical novel, 113 +Tibet, the land of the Grand Lama, 62 + called by the Chinese "the roof of the world," 63 + Chinese influence in is nearly _nil_, 62 + explored by Huc and Gabet, 63 + mother of great rivers, 63 + polyandry prevalent, 63 +Tieliang, a Manchu, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of the + entire customs service, 208 +_Tien_ and _Shang-ti_, question among Catholics concerning the + terms, 143 +_Tien Chu_, substitution of, for _Shang-ti_ repulsive to pious + Chinese, 144 +_Tien Ho_, "River of Heaven," Chinese term for the Milky Way, 63 +Tién-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang, three mythical rulers who reigned + eighteen thousand years each, 71 +[Page 326] +_Tiensheng_, Chinese name for province of Yünnan 52 +Tientsin, province of Chihli, rises anew from its half-ruined condition, 33 + ranks as third of treaty ports, 34 + treaties of, 166 +Ti-hwang, Jin-hwang, and Tién-hwang, three mythical rulers, 71 +Togo, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, 184, 185, 188, 191, 192 +Tongking, French left in possession of, 170 +Translators, corps of, Dr. John Fryer's prominent connection with, 288 +Tsao Tsao founds the state of Wei, 112 +Tsai Lun, inventor of paper 116 +Ts'ang-Kié, the Cadmus of China, author of its written characters, 77 +Ts'in dynasty, Yin Cheng brings the whole country under his sway and + assumes title of _Shi-Hwang-ti_ "Emperor First," 101 + annals of, 101-104 + builds Great Wall, 101 + lasts for a century and a half, 116 +Ts'in, Prince of, offers fifteen cities for a kohinoor, 98 +Tsinan-fu, railway from the sea to, built by the Germans, 30 +_Tsin-shi_, "Literary Doctor," degree of, 123 +Tsungming, Island of, formed by the waters of the Yang-tse Kiang, 28 + and Tunking coupled in popular proverb, 28 +Tsushima, Battle of, 191-192 +Tuan Fang, governor of Hupeh, 242-243 + favourable specimen of a Manchu, 276 +Tuan, Prince, father of the heir apparent, 174 +Tufu, poet of the T'ang dynasty, 119 +Tung-chi, Emperor, death of, 273 +Tung-chou-kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, 99 +Turkestan, 3, 61 + majority of the inhabitants Mohammedans, 61 + most of the khanates absorbed by Russia, 61 + +Union Medical College, Peking, 285 +Urga, Mongolia, a shrine for pilgrimage, 58 +Uriu, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, 184 + +Verbiest, the Jesuit, made president of Board of Astronomy, 143 + +Wall, Great, see Great Wall Wang Chao, invents new alphabet, 217 +Ward, Frederick G., the American, and the Tai-ping rebellion, 160 +Ward, Hon. J. E., American minister, proceeds to Peking by land, 167 +[Page 327] + declines to kneel to Emperor, 168 +Wei, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Weihien, in Shantung, destined to become a railway centre, 30 +Weihwei-fu, city on the border of Chihli and Honan, 41 +Wensiang, success of Prince Kung's administration largely due to him, 277 + contests with Tungsuin in extemporaneous verse, 277 +Wen-ti, "patron of letters," a ruler of the house of Han, 107 +Wen-wang, the real founder of the Chou dynasty, 84 + encourages letters, 84 + known as a commentator in the _Yih-king_, 84 +Whales, the river near Hang-chow a trap for, 23 +Wheat, produced in all the provinces, 3 +Williams, Dr. S. Wells, takes charge of American Board printing press at + Canton, 283 + labours, 283 + "The Middle Kingdom," 283 +Witte, Count, and Portsmouth treaty, 193 +Women in China, considered out of place in attempting to govern, 82 +Writing, reform in, 216 + new alphabet invented, 217 +Wu, Empress, succeeds Kao-tsung and reigns for twenty-one years, 121 +Wu Pa, the five dictators, 96 +Wu San-kwei, a traitorous Chinese general, makes terms with the + Manchus, 140-141 +Wu Ti, Liang emperor, who became a Buddhist monk, 117 +Wu-ti, "the five rulers," 71 +Wu-ting-fang, Chinese minister at Washington, and legal reforms, 214 +Wu-wang, the martial king, rescues the people from the oppression of the + Shangs, 83 + +Xavier, St. Francis, arrives at Macao, is not allowed to land, and dies + on the Island of St. John, 138 + +Yang, chief supporter of the leader of the Tai-pings, 157-158 +Yang Chia Kow, called by foreign sailors "Yankee Cow," at the mouth of + the Yellow River, 29 +Yang-tse Kiang, possible Tibetan source of, 63 + new islands made by, 28 +Yan Kien, a Chinese general sets up the Sui dynasty, 117 +Yao, type of an unselfish monarch, 73 + astronomical observations, 76 + passes by son in naming his successor, 73 +Yeh, Viceroy, and the _Arrow_ War, 162 +[Page 328] +Yellow River, source of, 63 + forsakes its old bed, 29 +"Yellow ruler, the," reputed inventor of letters and the cycle of sixty + years, 72 +Yellow Sea, why so called, 28 +Yermak, 182 +Yu and Li, two bad kings of the house of Chou, 88 +Yuen or Mongol dynasty 131-134 +Yuen Shi Kai, Viceroy, preeminent in the work of reform, 212 +Yungcheng, succeeds Kanghi and reigns fourteen years, 144 +Yungloh, emperor of the Ming dynasty, 136 + "Thesaurus of," 136 +Yünkwei, viceregal district of, 15, 52 +Yünnan, province of, 52, 53 + coal measures and copper mines, 52 + hundred tribes of aborigines within its borders, 52 + unhealthful climate, 52 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 15125-0.txt or 15125-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/2/15125/ + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/15125-0.zip b/15125-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d902d11 --- /dev/null +++ b/15125-0.zip diff --git a/15125-h.zip b/15125-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..204530d --- /dev/null +++ b/15125-h.zip diff --git a/15125-h/15125-h.htm b/15125-h/15125-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1d9f74 --- /dev/null +++ b/15125-h/15125-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13930 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> + <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin</title> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> + <meta name="keywords" content="china"> + <meta name="author" content="W. A. P. Martin"> + <meta name="rating" content="General"> + <meta name="robots" content="all"> + <style type="text/css"> + + BODY { background: white; + margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + P.indent { text-indent: 3mm; text-align: justify; } + P.summary { text-align: justify; text-indent: -1em; + margin-left: 1em; } + P.footnote { font-size: smaller; } + P.subtitle { text-align: center; font-size: large; } + P.center { text-align: center; } + P.right { text-align: right; } + P.title { text-align: center; font-size: x-large; + font-weight: bold; line-height: 200%; } + P.bquote { margin-left: 4em; } + P.index { text-indent: -1em; text-align: justify; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; font-size: smaller; } + H1 { text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; } + H2 { text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; } + H3 { text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; } + H4 { text-align: center; } + TABLE.center { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } + TD.right { text-align: right; } + TD.upright { text-align: right; vertical-align: top; + width: 8em; } + SPAN.page { position: absolute; left: 90%; right: auto; + text-align: right; text-indent: 0em; + color: gray; font-size: 9pt; font-weight: normal; } + + </style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Awakening of China + +Author: W.A.P. Martin + +Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15125] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>The Awakening of China</h1> + +<p class="subtitle"> +By W. A. P. MARTIN, D.D., LL.D +</p> + +<p class="center"> +Formerly President of the Chinese Imperial University +</p> + +<p class="center"> +Author of "A Cycle of Cathay," "The Siege +<br /> +in Peking," "The Lore of Cathay," etc. +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_v"><span class="page">Page v</span></a> +PREFACE +</h2> + +<p class="indent"> +China is the theatre of the greatest movement now taking place +on the face of the globe. In comparison with it, the agitation +in Russia shrinks to insignificance; for it is not political, but +social. Its object is not a changed dynasty, nor a revolution in +the form of government; but, with higher aim and deeper motive, it +promises nothing short of the complete renovation of the oldest, +most populous, and most conservative of empires. Is there a people +in either hemisphere that can afford to look on with indifference? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When, some thirty years ago, Japan adopted the outward forms of +Western civilisation, her action was regarded by many as a stage +trick—a sort of travesty employed for a temporary purpose. +But what do they think now, when they see cabinets and chambers of +commerce compelled to reckon with the British of the North Pacific? +The awakening of Japan's huge neighbour promises to yield results +equally startling and on a vastly extended scale. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Political agitation, whether periodic like the tides or unforeseen +like the hurricane, is in general superficial and temporary; but +the social movement in China has its origin in subterranean forces +such as raise continents from the bosom of the deep. To explain +those forces is the object of the present work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is the fascination of this grand spectacle that has +<a name="page_vi"><span class="page">Page vi</span></a> +brought me back to China, after a short visit to my native +land—and to this capital, after a sojourn of some years in +the central provinces. Had the people continued to be as inert +and immobile as they appeared to be half a century ago, I might +have been tempted to despair of their future. But when I see them, +as they are to-day, united in a firm resolve to break with the +past, and to seek new life by adopting the essentials of Western +civilisation, I feel that my hopes as to their future are more +than half realised; and I rejoice to help their cause with voice +and pen. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their patriotism may indeed be tinged with hostility to foreigners; +but will it not gain in breadth with growing intelligence, and will +they not come to perceive that their interests are inseparable from +those of the great family into which they are seeking admission? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Every day adds its testimony to the depth and genuineness of the +movement in the direction of reform. Yesterday the autumn +manœuvres of the grand army came to a close. They have shown +that by the aid of her railways China is able to assemble a body +of trained troops numbering 100,000 men. Not content with this +formidable land force, the Government has ordered the construction +of the nucleus of a navy, to consist of eight armoured cruisers +and two battleships. Five of these and three naval stations are +to be equipped with the wireless telegraph. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not less significant than this rehabilitation of army and navy is +the fact that a few days ago a number of students, who had completed +their studies at foreign universities, were admitted to the third +degree (or +<a name="page_vii"><span class="page">Page vii</span></a> +D. C. L.) in the scale of literary honours, which means appointment +to some important post in the active mandarinate. If the booming +of cannon at the grand review proclaimed that the age of bows and +arrows is past, does not this other fact announce that, in the +field of education, rhyming and caligraphy have given place to +science and languages? Henceforth thousands of ambitious youth +will flock to the universities of Japan, and growing multitudes +will seek knowledge at its fountain-head beyond the seas. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Still more surprising are the steps taken toward the intellectual +emancipation of woman in China. One of the leading ministers of +education assured me the other day that he was pushing the establishment +of schools for girls. The shaded hemisphere of Chinese life will thus +be brought into the sunshine, and in years to come the education +of Chinese youth will begin at the mother's knee. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The daily deliberations of the Council of State prove that the +reform proposals of the High Commission are not to be consigned to +the limbo of abortions. Tuan Fang, one of the leaders, has just been +appointed to the viceroyalty of Nanking, with <i>carte blanche</i> +to carry out his progressive ideas; and the metropolitan viceroy, +Yuan, on taking leave of the Empress Dowager before proceeding to +the manœuvres, besought her not to listen to reactionary +counsels such as those which had produced the disasters of 1900. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In view of these facts, what wonder that Chinese newspapers are +discussing the question of a national religion? The fires of the +old altars are well-nigh extinct; and, among those who have come +forward to +<a name="page_viii"><span class="page">Page viii</span></a> +advocate the adoption of Christianity as the only faith that meets +the wants of an enlightened people, one of the most prominent is +a priest of Buddha. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +May we not look forward with confidence to a time when China shall +be found in the brotherhood of Christian nations? +</p> + +<p class="right"> +W. A. P. M. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<i>Peking, October 30, 1906.</i> +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_ix"><span class="page">Page ix</span></a> +INTRODUCTION +</h2> + +<p class="indent"> +How varied are the geological formations of different countries, +and what countless ages do they represent! Scarcely less diversified +are the human beings that occupy the surface of the globe, and not +much shorter the period of their evolution. To trace the stages +of their growth and decay, to explain the vicissitudes through +which they have passed, is the office of a philosophic historian. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If the life history of a silkworm, whose threefold existence is +rounded off in a few months, is replete with interest, how much +more interesting is that of societies of men emerging from barbarism +and expanding through thousands of years. Next in interest to the +history of our own branch of the human family is that of the yellow +race confronting us on the opposite shore of the Pacific; even +more fascinating, it may be, owing to the strangeness of manners +and environment, as well as from the contrast or coincidence of +experience and sentiment. So different from ours (the author writes +as an American) are many phases of their social life that one is +tempted to suspect that the same law, which placed their feet opposite +to ours, of necessity turned their heads the other way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To pursue this study is not to delve in a necropolis like Nineveh +or Babylon; for China is not, like western Asia, the grave of dead +empires, but the home of a people +<a name="page_x"><span class="page">Page x</span></a> +endowed with inexhaustible vitality. Her present greatness and her +future prospects alike challenge admiration. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If the inhabitants of other worlds could look down on us, as we +look up at the moon, there are only five empires on the globe of +sufficient extent to make a figure on their map: one of these is +China. With more than three times the population of Russia, and an +almost equal area, in natural advantages she is without a rival, +if one excepts the United States. Imagination revels in picturing +her future, when she shall have adopted Christian civilisation, +and when steam and electricity shall have knit together all the +members of her gigantic frame. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was by the absorption of small states that the Chinese people +grew to greatness. The present work will trace their history as +they emerge, like a rivulet, from the highlands of central Asia +and, increasing in volume, flow, like a stately river, toward the +eastern ocean. Revolutions many and startling are to be recorded: +some, like that in the epoch of the Great Wall, which stamped the +impress of unity upon the entire people; others, like the Manchu +conquest of 1644, by which, in whole or in part, they were brought +under the sway of a foreign dynasty. Finally, contemporary history +will be treated at some length, as its importance demands; and +the transformation now going on in the Empire will be faithfully +depicted in its relations to Western influences in the fields of +religion, commerce and arms. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As no people can be understood or properly studied apart from their +environment, a bird's-eye view of the country is given. +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_xi"><span class="page">Page xi</span></a> +CONTENTS +</h2> + +<p> +PREFACE<br> +INTRODUCTION +</p> + +<p class="center"> +PART I +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE +</p> + +<table border="0"> +<tr> + <td class="upright">I.</td> + <td>China Proper</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">II.</td> + <td>A Journey Through the Provinces—Kwangtung and Kwangsi</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">III.</td> + <td>Fukien</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">IV.</td> + <td>Chéhkiang</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">V.</td> + <td>Kiangsu</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">VI.</td> + <td>Shantung</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">VII.</td> + <td>Chihli</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">VIII.</td> + <td>Honan</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">IX.</td> + <td>The River Provinces—Hupeh, Hunan, Anhwei, Kiangsi</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">X.</td> + <td>Provinces of the Upper Yang-tse—Szechuen, Kweichau, Yunnan</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XI.</td> + <td>Northwestern Provinces—Shansi, Shensi, Kansuh</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XII.</td> + <td>Outlying Territories—Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, Tibet</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"> +<a name="page_xii"><span class="page">Page xii</span></a> +PART II +</p> + +<p class="center"> +HISTORY IN OUTLINE, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY +</p> + +<table border="0"> +<tr> + <td class="upright">XIII.</td> + <td>Origin of the Chinese</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XIV.</td> + <td>The Mythical Period</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XV.</td> + <td>The Three Dynasties</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XVI.</td> + <td>House of Chou</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XVII.</td> + <td>The Sages of China</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XVIII.</td> + <td>The Warring States</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XIX.</td> + <td>House of Ts'in</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XX.</td> + <td>House of Han</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXI.</td> + <td>The Three Kingdoms</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXII.</td> + <td>The Tang Dynasty</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXIII.</td> + <td>The Sung Dynasty</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXIV.</td> + <td>The Yuen Dynasty</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXV.</td> + <td>The Ming Dynasty</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXVI.</td> + <td>The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"> +PART III +</p> + +<p class="center"> +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION +</p> + +<table border="0"> +<tr> + <td class="upright">XXVII.</td> + <td>The Opening of China, a Drama in Five Acts—God in + History—Prologue<br /> + ACT 1—The Opium War<br /> + (Note on the Tai-ping Rebellion)<br /> + ACT 2—The "Arrow" War<br /> + ACT 3—War with France<br /> + ACT 4—War with Japan<br /> + ACT 5—The Boxer War<br /> +<a name="page_xiii"><span class="page">Page xiii</span></a> + </td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXVIII.</td> + <td>The Russo-Japanese War</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXIX.</td> + <td>Reform in China</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXX.</td> + <td>Viceroy Chang</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXXI.</td> + <td>Anti-foreign Agitation</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">XXXII.</td> + <td>The Manchus, the Normans of China</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"> +APPENDIX +</p> + +<table border="0"> +<tr> + <td class="upright">I.</td> + <td>The Agency of Missionaries in the Diffusion of Secular + Knowledge in China</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">II.</td> + <td>Unmentioned Reforms</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="upright">III.</td> + <td>A New Opium War</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> +INDEX +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_1"><span class="page">Page 1</span></a> +PART I +</h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE +</p> + +<p class="title"> +<a name="page_3"><span class="page">Page 3</span></a> +THE AWAKENING OF CHINA +</p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER I +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +CHINA PROPER +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Five Grand Divisions—Climate—Area and +Population—The Eighteen Provinces</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The empire consists of five grand divisions: China Proper, Manchuria, +Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. In treating of this huge conglomerate +it will be most convenient to begin with the portion that gives +name and character to the whole. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of China Proper it may be affirmed that the sun shines nowhere on +an equal area which combines so many of the conditions requisite +for the support of an opulent and prosperous people. Lying between +18° and 49° north latitude, her climate is alike exempt +from the fierce heat of the torrid zone and the killing cold of +the frigid regions. There is not one of her provinces in which +wheat, rice, and cotton, the three staples of food and clothing, +may not be cultivated with more or less success; but in the southern +half wheat gives place to rice, while in the north cotton yields +to silk and hemp. In the south cotton is king and rice is queen +of the fields. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Traversed in every direction by mountain ranges of moderate elevation +whose sides are cultivated in +<a name="page_4"><span class="page">Page 4</span></a> +terraces to such a height as to present the appearance of hanging +gardens, China possesses fertile valleys in fair proportion, together +with vast plains that compare in extent with those of our American +prairie states. Furrowed by great rivers whose innumerable affluents +supply means of irrigation and transport, her barren tracts are +few and small. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A coast-line of three thousand miles indented with gulfs, bays, +and inlets affords countless harbours for shipping, so that few +countries can compare with her in facilities for ocean commerce. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As to her boundaries, on the east six of her eighteen provinces +bathe their feet in the waters of the Pacific; on the south she +clasps hands with Indo-China and with British Burma; and on the +west the foothills of the Himalayas form a bulwark more secure +than the wall that marks her boundary on the north. Greatest of +the works of man, the Great Wall serves at present no other purpose +than that of a mere geographical expression. Built to protect the +fertile fields of the "Flowery Land" from the incursions of northern +nomads, it may have been useful for some generations; but it can +hardly be pronounced an unqualified success, since China in whole +or in part has passed more than half of the twenty-two subsequent +centuries under the domination of Tartars. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With an area of about 1,500,000 square miles, or one-half that of +Europe, China has a busy population of about four hundred millions; +yet, so far from being exhausted, there can be no doubt that with +improved methods in agriculture, manufactures, mining, and +transportation, she might very +<a name="page_5"><span class="page">Page 5</span></a> +easily sustain double the present number of her thrifty children. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Within this favoured domain the products of nature and of human industry +vie with each other in extent and variety. A bare enumeration would +read like a page of a gazetteer and possibly make no more impression +than a column of figures. To form an estimate of the marvellous +fecundity of the country and to realise its picturesqueness, one +ought to visit the provinces in succession and spend a year in +the exploration of each. If one is precluded from such leisurely +observation, undoubtedly the next best thing is to see them through +the eyes of those who have travelled in and have made a special +study of those regions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To more than half of the provinces I can offer myself as a guide. +I spent ten years at Ningpo, and one year at Shanghai, both on the +southern seacoast. At the northern capital I spent forty years; +and I have recently passed three years at Wuchang on the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang, a special coign of vantage for the study +of central China. While residing in the above-mentioned foci it +was my privilege to visit six other provinces (some of them more +than once), thus gaining a personal acquaintance with ten out of +the eighteen and being enabled to gather valuable information at +first hand. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A glance at the subjoined table (from the report of the China Inland +Mission for 1905) will exhibit the magnitude of the field of +investigation before us. The average province corresponds in extent +to the average state of the American Union; and the whole exceeds +<a name="page_6"><span class="page">Page 6</span></a> +that portion of the United States which lies east of the Mississippi. +</p> + +<p class="subtitle"> +CHINA PROPER +</p> + +<table border="0" class="center"> +<tr> + <th>PROVINCES</th> + <th>AREA<br />SQ.<br />MILES</th> + <th>POPULATION</th> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Kwangtung (Canton)</td> + <td class="right">99,970</td> + <td class="right">31,865,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Kwangsi</td> + <td class="right">77,200</td> + <td class="right">5,142,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Fukien</td> + <td class="right">46,320</td> + <td class="right">22,876,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Chéhkiang</td> + <td class="right">36,670</td> + <td class="right">11,580,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Kiangsu</td> + <td class="right">38,600</td> + <td class="right">13,980,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Shantung</td> + <td class="right">55,970</td> + <td class="right">38,248,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Chihli</td> + <td class="right">115,800</td> + <td class="right">20,937,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Shansi</td> + <td class="right">81,830</td> + <td class="right">12,200,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Shensi</td> + <td class="right">75,270</td> + <td class="right">8,450,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Kansuh</td> + <td class="right">125,450</td> + <td class="right">10,385,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Honan</td> + <td class="right">67,940</td> + <td class="right">35,316,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Hupeh</td> + <td class="right">71,410</td> + <td class="right">35,280,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Hunan</td> + <td class="right">83,380</td> + <td class="right">22,170,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Nganhwei(Anhwei)</td> + <td class="right">54,810</td> + <td class="right">23,670,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Yünnan</td> + <td class="right">146,680</td> + <td class="right">12,325,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Szechuen</td> + <td class="right">218,480</td> + <td class="right">68,725,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Kiangsi</td> + <td class="right">69,480</td> + <td class="right">26,532,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Kweichau</td> + <td class="right">67,160</td> + <td class="right">7,650,000</td> + +</tr><tr> + <td>Totals</td> + <td class="right">1,532,420</td> + <td class="right">407,331,000</td> + +</tr> +</table> + +<h3> +<a name="page_7"><span class="page">Page 7</span></a> +CHAPTER II +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +A JOURNEY THROUGH THE PROVINCES—KWANGTUNG AND KWANGSI +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Hong Kong—A Trip to Canton—Macao—Scenes on +Pearl River—Canton Christian College—Passion for +Gambling—A Typical City—A Chief Source of Emigration</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Let us take an imaginary journey through the provinces and begin +at Hong Kong, where, in 1850, I began my actual experience of life +in China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the deck of the good ship <i>Lantao</i>, which had brought me +from Boston around the Cape in one hundred and thirty-four days, +I gazed with admiration on the Gibraltar of the Orient. Before me +was a land-locked harbour in which all the navies of the world +might ride in safety. Around me rose a noble chain of hills, their +slopes adorned with fine residences, their valleys a chessboard +of busy streets, with here and there a British battery perched +on a commanding rock. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Under Chinese rule Hong Kong had been an insignificant fishing +village, in fact a nest of pirates. In 1841 the island was ceded +by China to Great Britain, and the cession was confirmed by the +treaty of Nanking in August, 1842. The transformation effected in +less than a decade had been magical; yet that was only the bloom +<a name="page_8"><span class="page">Page 8</span></a> +of babyhood, compared with the rich maturity of the, present day. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A daily steamer then sufficed for its trade with Canton; a weekly +packet connected it with Shanghai; and the bulk of its merchandise +was still carried in sailing ships or Chinese junks. How astounding +the progress that has marked the last half-century! The streets that +meandered, as it were, among the valleys, or fringed the water's +edge, now girdle the hills like rows of seats in a huge amphitheatre; +a railway lifts the passenger to the mountain top; and other railways +whirl him from hill to hill along the dizzy height. I Trade, too, +has multiplied twenty fold. In a commercial report for the year +ending June, 1905, it is stated that in amount of tonnage Hong +Kong has become the banner port of the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Though politically Hong Kong is not China, more than 212,000 of +its busy population (about 221,000) are Chinese; and it is +preëminently the gate of China. By a wise and liberal policy +the British Government has made it the chief emporium of the Eastern +seas. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We now take a trip to Canton and cross a bay studded with islands. +These are clothed with copious verdure, but, like all others on the +China coast, lack the crowning beauty of trees. In passing we get +a glimpse of Macao, a pretty town under the flag of the Portuguese, +the pioneers of Eastern trade. The oldest foreign settlement in +China, it dates from 1544—not quite a half-century after +the discovery of the route to India, an achievement whose fourth +centenary was celebrated in 1898. If it could be ascertained on what +<a name="page_9"><span class="page">Page 9</span></a> +day some adventurous argonaut pushed the quest of the Golden Fleece +to Farther India, as China was then designated, that exploit might +with equal appropriateness be commemorated also. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The city of Macao stands a monument of Lusitanian enterprise. +Beautifully situated on a projecting spur of an island, it is a +favourite summer resort of foreign residents in the metropolis. It +has a population of about 70,000, mostly Chinese, and contains two +tombs that make it sacred in my eyes; namely, that of Camöens, +author of "The Lusiad" and poet of Gama's voyage, and that of Robert +Morrison, the pioneer of Protestant missions, the centennial of +whose arrival had in 1907 a brilliant celebration. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Entering the Pearl River, a fine stream 500 miles in length, whose +affluents spread like a fan over two provinces, we come to the +viceregal capital, as Canton deserves to be called, though the +viceroy actually resides in another city. The river is alive with +steamboats, large and small, mostly under the British flag; but +native craft of the old style have not yet been put to flight. +Propelled by sail or oar, the latter creep along the shore; and at +Pagoda Anchorage near the city they form a floating town in which +families are born and die without ever having a home on <i>terra +firma</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Big-footed women are seen earning an honest living by plying the +oar, or swinging on the scull-beam with babies strapped on their +backs. One may notice also the so-called "flower-boats," embellished +like the palaces of water fairies. Moored in one locality, they +are a well-known resort of the vicious. In the fields are +<a name="page_10"><span class="page">Page 10</span></a> +the tillers of the soil wading barefoot and bareheaded in mud and +water, holding plough or harrow drawn by an amphibious creature +called a carabao or water-buffalo, burying by hand in the mire +the roots of young rice plants, or applying as a fertiliser the +ordure and garbage of the city. Such unpoetic toils never could +have inspired the georgic muse of Vergil or Thomson. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most picturesque structure that strikes the eye as one approaches +the city is a Christian college—showing how times have changed. +In 1850 the foreign quarter was in a suburb near one of the gates. +There I dined with Sir John Bowring at the British Consulate, having +a letter of introduction from his American cousin, Miss Maylin, a +gifted lady of Philadelphia. There, too, I lodged with Dr. Happer, +who by the tireless exertions of many years succeeded in laying +the foundations of that same Christian college. For him it is a +monument more lasting than brass; for China it is only one of many +lighthouses now rising at commanding points on the seacoast and +in the interior. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In passing the Fati, a recreation-ground near the city, a view +is obtained of the amusements of the rich and the profligate. We +see a multitude seated around a cockpit intent on a cock-fight; but +the cocks are quails, not barnyard fowls. Here, too, is a smaller +and more exclusive circle stooping over a pair of crickets engaged +in deadly combat. Insects of other sorts or pugnacious birds are +sometimes substituted; and it might be supposed that the people +must be warlike in their disposition, to enjoy such spectacles. +The fact is, they are fond of fighting by proxy. What attracts them +<a name="page_11"><span class="page">Page 11</span></a> +most, however, is the chance of winning or losing a wager. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A more intellectual entertainment to be seen in many places is the +solving of historical enigmas. Some ancient celebrity is represented +by an animal in a rhyming couplet; and the man who detects the hero +under this disguise wins a considerable sum. Such is the native +passion for gambling that bets are even made on the result of the +metropolitan examinations, particularly on the province to which will +fall the honour of the first prize, that of the scholar-laureateship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Officials in all parts and benevolent societies take advantage of +this passion for gambling in opening lotteries to raise funds for +worthy objects—a policy which is unwise if not immoral. It +should not be forgotten, however, that our own forefathers sometimes +had recourse to lotteries to build churches. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The foreign settlement now stands on Shamien, a pretty islet in +the river, in splendid contrast with the squalor of the native +streets. The city wall is not conspicuous, if indeed it is visible +beyond the houses of a crowded suburb. Yet one may be sure that it +is there; for every large town must have a wall for protection, +and the whole empire counts no fewer than 1,553 walled cities. +What an index to the insecurity resulting from an ill-regulated +police! The Chinese are surprised to hear that in all the United +States there is nothing which they would call a city, because the +American cities are destitute of walls. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Canton with its suburbs contains over two million people; it is +therefore the most populous city in the empire. In general the +houses are low, dark, and +<a name="page_12"><span class="page">Page 12</span></a> +dirty, and the streets are for the most part too narrow for anything +broader than a sedan or a "rickshaw" (jinriksha). Yet in city and +suburbs the eye is dazzled by the richness of the shops, especially +of those dealing in silks and embroideries. In strong contrast with +this luxurious profusion may be seen crowds of beggars displaying +their loathsome sores at the doors of the rich in order to extort +thereby a penny from those who might not be disposed to give from +motives of charity. The narrow streets are thronged with coolies +in quality of beasts of burden, having their loads suspended from +each end of an elastic pole balanced on the shoulder, or carrying +their betters in sedan chairs, two bearers for a commoner, four +for a "swell," and six or eight for a magnate. High officials borne +in these luxurious vehicles are accompanied by lictors on horse or +foot. Bridegrooms and brides are allowed to pose for the nonce as +grandees; and the bridal chair, whose drapery blends the rainbow +and the butterfly, is heralded by a band of music, the blowing of +horns, and the clashing of cymbals. The block and jam thus occasioned +are such as no people except the patient Chinese would tolerate. +They bow to custom and smile at inconvenience. Of horse-cars or +carriages there are none except in new streets. Rickshaws and +wheelbarrows push their way in the narrowest alleys, and compete +with sedans for a share of the passenger traffic. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In those blue hills that hang like clouds on the verge of the horizon +and bear the poetical name of White Cloud, there are gardens that +combine in rich variety the fruits of both the torrid and the temperate +zones. Tea and silk are grown in many other +<a name="page_13"><span class="page">Page 13</span></a> +parts of China; but here they are produced of a superior quality. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Enterprising and intelligent, the people of this province have +overflowed into the islands of the Pacific from Singapore to Honolulu. +Touching at Java in 1850, I found refreshments at the shop of a +Canton man who showed a manifest superiority to the natives of the +island. Is it not to be regretted that the Chinese are excluded +from the Philippines? Would not the future of that archipelago +be brighter if the shiftless native were replaced by the thrifty +Chinaman? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was in Canton that American trade suffered most from the boycott +of 1905, because there the ill-treatment of Chinese in America was +most deeply felt, the Chinese in California being almost exclusively +from the province of Canton. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy of Canton has also the province of Kwangsi under his +jurisdiction. Mountainous and thinly peopled, it is regarded by +its associate as a burden, being in an almost chronic state of +rebellion and requiring large armies to keep its turbulent inhabitants +in order. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_14"><span class="page">Page 14</span></a> +CHAPTER III +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +PROVINCE OF FUKIEN +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Amoy—Bold Navigators—Foochow—Mountain of +Kushan—The Bridge of Ten Thousand Years</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Following the coast to the north some three hundred miles we come +to Amoy, the first important seaport in the adjacent province of +Fukien. The aspect of the country has undergone a change. Hills +attain the altitude of mountains, and the alluvial plains, so +conspicuous about Canton, become contracted to narrow valleys. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The people, too, are changed in speech and feature. Taller, coarser +in physiognomy, with high cheek-bones and harsh voices, their dialect +is totally unintelligible to people of the neighbouring province. +As an example of the diversity of dialects in China, may be cited +the Chinese word for man. In some parts of Fukien it is <i>long</i>; +in Canton, <i>yan</i> or <i>yin</i>; at Ningpo, <i>ning</i>; and +at Peking, <i>jin</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One is left in doubt whether the people or the mountains which +they inhabit were the most prominent factors in determining the +dividing line that separates them from their neighbours on the +south and west. In enterprise and energy they rival the Cantonese. +They are bold navigators; the grand island of Formosa, now ceded +to Japan, was colonised by them; and by +<a name="page_15"><span class="page">Page 15</span></a> +them also the savage aborigines were driven over to the east coast. +A peculiar sort of black tea is grown on these mountains, and, along +with grass cloth, forms a staple in the trade of Amoy. The harbour +is not wanting in beauty; and a view from one of the hill-tops, from +which hundreds of villages are visible, is highly picturesque. +Of the town of Amoy with its 200,000 people there is not much to +be said except that several missions, British and American, which +opened stations there soon after the first war with Great Britain, +have met with encouraging success. At Swatow, a district in Canton +Province beyond the boundary, the American Baptists have a flourishing +mission. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Entering the Formosan Channel we proceed to the mouth of the Min, +a fine river which leads up to Foochow (Fuchau), some thirty miles +inland. We do not stop to explore the Island of Formosa because, +having been ceded to Japan, it no longer forms a part of the Chinese +Empire. From the river the whole province is sometimes described +as "the country of Min"; but its official name is Fukien. This +name does not signify "happily established," as stated in most +books, but is compounded of the names of its two chief cities by +taking the first syllable of each, somewhat as the pioneer settlers +of Arkansas formed the name of the boundary town of Texarkana. +The names of some other provinces of China are formed in the same +way; e.g. Kiangsu, Kansuh, and that of the viceregal district of +Yünkwei. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kushan, a mountain on the bank of the river, is famed for its scenery; +and, as with mountains everywhere else in China, it has been made +the seat of a +<a name="page_16"><span class="page">Page 16</span></a> +Buddhist monastery, with some scores of monks passing their time +not in contemplation, but in idleness. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The city of Foochow is imposing with its fine wall of stone, and +a long stone bridge called Wansuik'iao "the bridge of ten thousand +years." It has a population of about 650,000. To add to its importance +it has a garrison or colony of Manchus who from the date of the +conquest in 1644 have lived apart from the Chinese and have not +diminished in numbers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The American Board and the Methodist Episcopal Board have large and +prosperous missions at this great centre, and from this base they +have ramified through the surrounding mountains, mostly following +the tributaries of the Min up to their sources. In 1850 I was +entertained at Foochow by the Rev. Dr. C. C. Baldwin, who, I am +glad to say, still lives after the lapse of fifty-five years; but +he is no longer in the mission field. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_17"><span class="page">Page 17</span></a> +CHAPTER IV +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +PROVINCE OF CHÉHKIANG +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Chusan Archipelago—Putu and Pirates—Queer Fishers +and Queer Boats—Ningpo—A Literary Triumph—Search +for a Soul—Chinese Psychology—Hangchow—The Great +Bore</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chéhkiang, the next province to the north, and the smallest +of the eighteen, is a portion of the highlands mentioned in the +last chapter. It is about as large as Indiana, while some of the +provinces have four or five times that area. There is no apparent +reason why it should have a distinct provincial government save that +its waters flow to the north, or perhaps because the principality +of Yuih (1100 B.C.) had such a boundary, or, again, perhaps because +the language of the people is akin to that of the Great Plain in +which its chief river finds an outlet. How often does a conqueror +sever regions which form a natural unit, merely to provide a +principality for some favourite! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lying off its coast is the Chusan archipelago, in which two islands +are worthy of notice. The largest, which gives the archipelago +its name, is about half the length of Long Island, N. Y., and is +so called from a fancied resemblance to a junk, it having a high +promontory at either end. It contains eighteen valleys—a +division not connected with the eighteen provinces, but +<a name="page_18"><span class="page">Page 18</span></a> +perpetuated in a popular rhyme which reflects severely on the morals +of its inhabitants. Shielded by the sea, and near enough to the +land to strike with ease at any point of the neighbouring coast, +the British forces found here a secure camping-ground in their +first war. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To the eastward lies the sacred Isle of Putu, the Iona of the China +coast. With a noble landscape, and so little land as to offer no +temptation to the worldly, it was inevitable that the Buddhists +should fix on it as a natural cloister. For many centuries it has been +famous for its monasteries, some of which are built of timbers taken +from imperial palaces. Formerly the missionaries from neighbouring +seaports found at Putu refuge from the summer heat, but it is now +abandoned, since it afforded no shelter from the petty piracy at +all times so rife in these waters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1855 Mr. (afterward Bishop) Russell and myself were captured by +pirates while on our way to Putu. The most gentlemanly freebooters +I ever heard of, they invited us to share their breakfast on the +deck of our own junk; but they took possession of all our provisions +and our junk too, sending us to our destination in a small boat, +and promising to pay us a friendly visit on the island. One of +them, who had taken my friend's watch, came to the owner to ask him +how to wind it. The Rev. Walter Lowrie, founder of the Presbyterian +Mission at Ningpo, was not so fortunate. Attacked by pirates nearly +on the same spot, he was thrown into the sea and drowned. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Passing these islands we come to the Ningpo River, with Chinhai, +a small city, at its mouth, and Ningpo, +<a name="page_19"><span class="page">Page 19</span></a> +a great emporium, some twelve miles inland. This curious arrangement, +so different from what one would expect, confronts one in China with +the regularity of a natural law: Canton, Shanghai, Foochow, and +Tientsin, all conform to it. The small city stands at the anchorage +for heavy shipping; but the great city, renouncing this advantage, +is located some distance inland, to be safe from sea-robbers and +foreign foes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As we ascend the river we are struck with more than one peculiar +mode of taking fish. We see a number of cormorants perched on the +sides of a boat. Now and then a bird dives into the water and comes +up with a fish in its beak. If the fish be a small one, the bird +swallows it as a reward for its services; but a fish of considerable +size is hindered in its descent by a ring around the bird's neck +and becomes the booty of the fisherman. The birds appear to be +well-trained; and their sharp eyes penetrate the depths of the +water. Another novelty in fishing is a contrivance by which fish +are made to catch themselves—not by running into a net or by +swallowing a hook, but by leaping over a white board and falling +into a boat. More strange than all are men who, like the cormorants, +dive into the water and emerge with fish—sometimes with one +in either hand. These fishermen when in the water always have their +feet on the ground and grope along the shore. The first time I +saw this method in practice I ran to the brink of the river to +save, as I thought, the life of a poor man. He no sooner raised +his head out of the water, however, than down it went again; and +I was laughed at for my want of discernment by a crowd of people +who shouted <i>Ko-ng, Ko-ng</i>, "he's catching fish." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_20"><span class="page">Page 20</span></a> +The natives have a peculiar mode of propelling a boat. Sitting +in the stern the boatman holds the helm with one hand, while with +the other he grasps a long pipe which he smokes at leisure. Without +mast or sail, he makes speed against wind or current by making +use of his feet to drive the oar. He thus gains the advantage of +weight and of his strong sartorial muscles. These little craft +are the swiftest boats on the river. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the forks of the river, in a broad plain dotted with villages, +rise the stone walls of Ningpo, six miles in circuit, enclosing +a network of streets better built than those of the majority of +Chinese cities. The foreign settlement is on the north bank of +the main stream; but a few missionaries live within the walls, and +there I passed the first years of my life in China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Above the walls, conspicuous at a distance, appears the pinnacle +of a lofty pagoda, a structure like most of those bearing the name, +with eight corners and nine stories. Originally designed for the +mere purposes of look-outs, these airy edifices have degenerated +into appliances of superstition to attract good influences and +to ward off evil. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not only has this section of the province a dialect of its own, +of the mandarin type, but its people possess a finer physique than +those of the south. Taller, with eyes less angular and faces of +faultless symmetry, they are a handsome people, famed alike for +literary talent and for commercial enterprise. During my residence +there the whole city was once thrown into excitement by the news +that one of her sons had won the first prize in prose and verse +in competition, before the emperor, with the assembled scholars +of the empire—an +<a name="page_21"><span class="page">Page 21</span></a> +an honour comparable to that of poet laureate or of a victor in +the Olympic games. When that distinction falls to a city, it is +believed that, in order to equalise matters, the event is sure +to be followed by three years of dearth. In this instance, the +highest mandarins escorted the wife of the literary athlete to +the top of the wall, where she scattered a few handfuls of rice +to avert the impending famine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My house was attached to a new church which was surmounted by a +bell-tower. In a place where nothing of the sort had previously +existed, that accessory attracted many visitors even before the bell +was in position to invite them. One day a weeping mother, attended +by an anxious retinue, presented herself and asked permission to +climb the tower, which request of course was not refused. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Uncovering a bundle, she said: "This is my boy's clothing. Yesterday +he was up in the tower and, taking fright at the height of the +building, his little soul forsook his body and he had to go home +without it. He is now delirious with fever. We think the soul is +hovering about in this huge edifice and that it will recognise +these clothes and, taking possession of them, will return home with +us." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When a bird escapes from its cage the Chinese sometimes hang the +cage on the branch of a tree and the bird returns to its house +again. They believe they can capture a fugitive soul in the same +way. Sometimes, too, a man may be seen standing on a housetop at +night waving a lantern and chanting in dismal tones an invitation +to some wandering spirit to return to its abode. Whether in the +case just mentioned the poor +<a name="page_22"><span class="page">Page 22</span></a> +woman's hopes were fulfilled and whether the <i>animula vagula +blandula</i> returned from its wanderings I never learned, but I +mention the incident as exhibiting another picturesque superstition. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chinese psychology recognises three souls, viz., the animal, the +spiritual, and the intellectual. The absence of one of the three +does not, therefore, involve immediate death, as does the departure +of the soul in our dual system. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But I tarry too long at my old home. We have practically an empire +still before us, and will, therefore, steer west for Hangchow. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the thirteenth century this was the residence of an imperial +court; and the provincial capital still retains many signs of imperial +magnificence. The West Lake with its pavilions and its lilies, +a pleasance fit for an emperor; the vast circuit of the city's +walls enclosing hill and vale; and its commanding site on the bank +of a great river at the head of a broad bay—all combine to +invest it with dignity. Well do I recall the day in 1855 when white +men first trod its streets. They were the Rev. Henry Rankin and +myself. Though not permitted by treaty to penetrate even the rind of +the "melon," as the Chinese call their empire, to a distance farther +than admitted of our returning to sleep at home, we nevertheless +broke bounds and set out for the old capital of the Sungs. On the way +we made a halt at the city of Shaohing; and as we were preaching +to a numerous and respectful audience in the public square, a +well-dressed man pressed through the crowd and invited us to do him +the honour of taking tea at his house. His mansion exhibited every +<a name="page_23"><span class="page">Page 23</span></a> +evidence of affluence; and he, a scholar by profession, aspiring +to the honours of the mandarinate, explained, as he ordered for +us an ample repast, that he would have felt ashamed if scholars +from the West had been allowed to pass through his city without +anyone offering them hospitality. What courtesy! Could Hebrew or +Arab hospitality surpass it? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Two things for which the city of Shaohing is widely celebrated +are (1) a sort of rice wine used throughout the Empire as being +indispensable at mandarin feasts, and (2) clever lawyers who are +deemed indispensable as legal advisers to mandarins. They are the +"Philadelphia lawyers" of China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As we entered Hangchow the boys shouted <i>Wo tsei lai liao</i>, +"the Japanese are coming "—never having seen a European, and +having heard their fathers speak of the Japanese as sea-robbers, +a terror to the Chinese coast. Up to this date, Japan had no treaty +with China, and it had never carried on any sort of regular commerce +with or acknowledged the superiority of China. Before many years +had passed, these youths became accustomed to Western garb and +features; and I never heard that any foreigner suffered insult or +injury at their hands. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1860 the Rev. J. L. Nevius, one of my colleagues, took possession +of the place in the name of Christ. He was soon followed by Bishop +Burden, of the English Church Mission, whose apostolic successor, +Bishop Moule, now makes it the seat of his immense diocese. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another claim to distinction not to be overlooked is that its river +is a trap for whales. Seven or eight years ago a cetaceous monster +was stranded near the +<a name="page_24"><span class="page">Page 24</span></a> +river's mouth. The Rev. Dr. Judson, president of the Hangchow Mission +College, went to see it and sent me an account of his observations. +He estimated the length of the whale at 100 feet; the tail had been +removed by the natives. To explain the incident it is necessary +to say that, the bay being funnel-shaped, the tides rise to an +extraordinary height. Twice a month, at the full and the change of +the moon, the attractions of sun and moon combine, and the water +rushes in with a roar like that of a tidal wave. The bore of Hangchow +is not surpassed by that of the Hooghly or of the Bay of Fundy. +Vessels are wrecked by it; and even the monsters of the deep are +unable to contend with the fury of its irresistible advance. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_25"><span class="page">Page 25</span></a> +CHAPTER V +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +PROVINCE OF KIANGSU +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Nanking—Shanghai—The Yang-tse Kiang—The Yellow +River</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bordering on the sea, traversed by the Grand Canal and the Yang-tse +Kiang, the chief river of the Empire, rich in agriculture, fisheries, +and commerce, Kiangsu is the undisputed queen of the eighteen provinces. +In 1905 it was represented to the throne as too heavy a burden for +one set of officers. The northern section was therefore detached +and erected into a separate province; but before the new government +was organised the Empress Dowager yielded to remonstrances and +rescinded her hasty decree—showing how reluctant she is to +contravene the wishes of her people. What China requires above +all things is the ballot box, by which the people may make their +wishes known. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The name of the province is derived from its two chief cities, +Suchow and Nanking. Suchow, the Paris of the Far East, is coupled +with Hangchow in a popular rhyme, which represents the two as paragon +cities: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +<i>"Shang yu t'ien t'ang hia yu Su-Hang."</i> +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Su and Hang, so rich and fair,<br> +May well with Paradise compare." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_26"><span class="page">Page 26</span></a> +The local dialect is so soft and musical that strolling players from +Suchow are much sought for in the adjacent provinces. A well-known +couplet says: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"I'd rather hear men wrangle in Suchow's dulcet tones<br> +Than hear that mountain jargon, composed of sighs and groans." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Farther inland, near the banks of the "Great River," stands Nanking, +the old capital of the Ming dynasty. The Manchus, unwilling to +call it a <i>king</i>, <i>i.e.</i> seat of empire, changed its +name to Kiangning; but the old title survives in spite of official +jealousy. As it will figure prominently in our history we shall +not pause there at present, but proceed to Shanghai, a place which +more than any other controls the destinies of the State. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Formerly an insignificant town of the third order (provincial capitals +and prefectural towns ranking respectively first and second), some +sapient Englishman with an eye to commerce perceived the advantage +of the site; and in the dictation of the terms of peace in 1842 it +was made one of the five ports. It has come to overshadow Canton; +and more than all the other ports it displays to the Chinese the +marvels of Western skill, knowledge, and enterprise. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On a broad estuary near the mouth of the main artery that penetrates +the heart of China, it has become a leading emporium of the world's +commerce. The native city still hides its squalor behind low walls +of brick, but outside the North Gate lies a tract of land known +as the "Foreign Concessions." There a beautiful city styled the +"model settlement" has sprung up like a gorgeous pond-lily from +the muddy, +<a name="page_27"><span class="page">Page 27</span></a> +paddy-fields. Having spent a year there, I regard it with a sort +of affection as one of my Oriental homes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Shanghai presents a spectacle rare amongst the seaports of the +world. Its broad streets, well kept and soon to be provided with +electric trolleys, extend for miles along the banks of two rivers, +lined with opulent business houses and luxurious mansions, most of +the latter being surrounded by gardens and embowered in groves of +flowering trees. Nor do these magazines and dwelling-houses stand +merely for taste and opulence. Within the bounds of the Concessions +is the reign of law—not, as elsewhere in China, the arbitrary +will of a magistrate, but the offspring of freedom and justice. +Foreigners live everywhere under the protection of their own national +flags: and within the Concessions. Chinese accused of crimes are +tried by a mixed court which serves as an object-lesson in justice +and humanity. Had one time to peep into a native <i>yamên</i>, +one might see bundles of bamboos, large and small, prepared for +the bastinado; one might see, also, thumb-screws, wooden boots, +wooden collars, and other instruments of torture, some of them +intended to make mince-meat of the human body. The use of these +has now been forbidden.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: In another city a farmer having extorted a sum of money +from a tailor living within the Concession, the latter appealed +to the British consul for Justice. The consul, an inexperienced +young man, observing that the case concerned only the Chinese, +referred it to the city magistrate, who instantly ordered the tailor +to receive a hundred blows for having applied to a foreign court.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In Shanghai there are schools of all grades, some under the foreign +municipal government, others under missionary societies. St. John's +College (U. S. +<a name="page_28"><span class="page">Page 28</span></a> +Episcopal) and the Anglo-Chinese College (American M. E.) bear the +palm in the line of education so long borne by the Roman Catholics +of Siccawei. Added to these, newspapers foreign and native—the +latter exercising a freedom of opinion impossible beyond the limits of +this city of refuge—the Society for the Diffusion of Christian +Knowledge and other translation bureaux, foreign and native, turning +out books by the thousand with the aid of steam presses, form a +combination of forces to which China is no longer insensible. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Resuming our imaginary voyage we proceed northward, and in the +space of an hour find ourselves at the mouth of the Yang-tse Kiang, +or Ta Kiang, the "Great River," as the Chinese call it. The width +of its embouchure suggests an Asiatic rival of the Amazon and La +Plata. We now see why this part of the ocean is sometimes described +as the Yellow Sea. A river whose volume, it is said, equals that of +two hundred and forty-four such rivulets as Father Thames, pours +into it its muddy waters, making new islands and advancing the +shore far into the domain of Neptune. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Notice on the left those long rows of trees that appear to spring +from the bosom of the river. They are the life-belt of the Island +of Tsungming which six centuries ago rose like the fabled Delos +from the surface of the turbid waters. Accepted as the river's +tribute to the Dragon Throne, it now forms a district of the province +with a population of over half a million. About the same time, +a large tract of land was carried into the sea by the Hwang Ho, +the "Yellow River," which gave rise to the popular proverb, "If +we lose in Tungking we gain in Tsungming." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_29"><span class="page">Page 29</span></a> +The former river comes with its mouth full of pearls; the latter +yawns to engulf the adjacent land. At present, however, the Yellow +River is dry and thirsty, the unruly stream, the opposite of Horace's +<i>uxorius amnis</i>, having about forty years ago forsaken its +old bed and rushed away to the Gulf of Pechili (Peh-chihli). This +produced as much consternation as the Mississippi would occasion +if it should plough its way across the state that bears its name +and enter the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay. The same phenomenon +has occurred at long intervals in times past. The wilful stream +has oscillated with something like periodical regularity from side +to side of the Shantung promontory, and sometimes it has flowed +with a divided current, converting that territory into an island. +Now, however, the river seems to have settled itself in its new +channel, entering the gulf at Yang Chia Kow—a place which +foreign sailors describe as "Yankee cow"—and making a portentous +alteration in the geography of the globe. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_30"><span class="page">Page 30</span></a> +CHAPTER VI +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +PROVINCE OF SHANTUNG +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Kiao-Chao—Visit to Confucius's Tomb—Expedition to +the Jews of K'ai-fung-fu—The Grand Canal—Chefoo</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In Shantung the people appear to be much more robust than their +neighbours to the south. Wheat and millet rather than rice are +their staple food. In their orchards apples, pears and peaches take +the place of oranges. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Kiao-chao (Kiau-Chau) the Germans, who occupied that port in +1897, have built a beautiful town opposite the Island of Tsingtao, +presenting a fine model for imitation, which, however, the Chinese +are not in haste to copy. They have constructed also a railway from +the sea to Tsinan-fu, very nearly bisecting the province. Weihien +is destined to become a railroad centre; and several missionary +societies are erecting colleges there to teach the people truths +that Confucius never knew. More than half a century ago, when a +missionary distributed Christian books in that region, the people +brought them back saying, "We have the works of our Sage, and they +are sufficient for us." Will not the new arts and sciences of the +West convince them that their Sage was not omniscient? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1866 I earned the honours of a <i>hadji</i> by visiting the +tomb of Confucius—a magnificent mausoleum surrounded by his +descendants of the seventieth generation, +<a name="page_31"><span class="page">Page 31</span></a> +one of whom in quality of high priest to China's greatest teacher +enjoys the rank of a hereditary duke. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On that occasion, I had come up from a visit to the Jews in Honan. +Having profited by a winter vacation to make an expedition to +K'ai-fung-fu, I had the intention of pushing on athwart the province +to Hankow. The interior, however, as I learned to my intense +disappointment, was convulsed with rebellion. No cart driver was +willing to venture his neck, his steed, and his vehicle by going +in that direction. I accordingly steered for the Mecca of Shantung, +and, having paid my respects to the memory of China's greatest sage, +struck the Grand Canal and proceeded to Shanghai. From K'ai-fung-fu +I had come by land slowly, painfully, and not without danger. From +Tsi-ning I drifted down with luxurious ease in a well-appointed +house-boat, meditating poetic terms in which to describe the contrast. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The canal deserves the name of "grand" as the wall on the north +deserves the name of "great." Memorials of ancient times, they both +still stand unrivalled by anything the Western world has to show, +if one except the Siberian Railway. The Great Wan is an effete relic +no longer of use; and it appears to be satire on human foresight +that the Grand Canal should have been built by the very people +whom the Great Wall was intended to exclude from China. The canal +is as useful to-day as it was six centuries ago, and remains the +chief glory of the Mongol dynasty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kublai having set up his throne in the north, and completed the +conquest of the eighteen provinces, ordered the construction of +this magnificent waterway, +<a name="page_32"><span class="page">Page 32</span></a> +which extends 800 miles from Peking to Hangchow and connects with +other waterways which put the northern capital in roundabout +communication with provinces of the extreme south. His object was +to tap the rice-fields of Central China and obtain a food supply +which could not be interfered with by those daring sea-robbers, +the redoubtable Japanese, who had destroyed his fleets and rendered +abortive his attempt at conquest. Of the Great Wall, it may be said +that the oppression inseparable from its construction hastened the +overthrow of the house of its builder. The same is probably true of +the Grand Canal. The myriads of unpaid labourers who were drafted +by <i>corvée</i> from among the Chinese people subsequently +enlisted, they or their children, under the revolutionary banner +which expelled the oppressive Mongols. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another port in this province which we cannot pass without an admiring +glance, is Chefoo (Chifu). On a fine hill rising from the sea wave the +flags of several nations; in the harbour is a cluster of islands; and +above the settlement another noble hill rears its head crowned with +a temple and groves of trees. On its sides and near the seashore are +the residences of missionaries. There I have more than once found +a refuge from the summer heat, under the hospitable roof of Mrs. +Nevius, the widow of my friend Dr. J. L. Nevius, who, after opening +a mission in Hangchow, became one of the pioneers of Shantung. In +Chefoo he planted not only a church, but a fruit garden. To the +Chinese eye this garden was a striking symbol of what his gospel +proposed to effect for the people. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_33"><span class="page">Page 33</span></a> +CHAPTER VII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +PROVINCE OF CHIHLI +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Taku—Tientsin—Peking—The Summer +Palace—Patachu—Temples of Heaven, Earth, and +Agriculture—Foreign Quarter—The Forbidden +City—King-Han Railway—Paoting-fu</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Crossing the gulf we reach Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, and, +passing the dismantled forts, ascend the river to Tientsin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1858 I spent two months at Taku and Tientsin in connection with +the tedious negotiations of that year. At the latter place I became +familiar with the dusty road to the treaty temple; and at the former +witnessed the capture of the forts by the combined squadrons of +Great Britain and France. The next year on the same ground I saw +the allied forces repulsed with heavy loss—a defeat avenged +by the capture of Peking in 1860. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the Boxer War the relief force met with formidable opposition +at Tientsin. The place has, however, risen with new splendour from +its half-ruined condition, and now poses as the principal residence +of the most powerful of the viceroys. Connected by the river with +the seaboard, by the Grand Canal with several provinces to the south, +and by rail with Peking, Hankow and Manchuria, Tientsin commands +the chief lines of +<a name="page_34"><span class="page">Page 34</span></a> +communication in northern China. In point of trade it ranks as the +third in importance of the treaty ports. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Three hours by rail bring us to the gates of Peking, the northern +capital. Formerly it took another hour to get within the city. +Superstition or suspicion kept the railway station at a distance; +now, however, it is at the Great Central Gate. Unlike Nanking, +Peking has nothing picturesque or commanding in its location. On +the west and north, at a distance of ten to twenty miles, ranges +of blue hills form a feature in the landscape. Within these limits +the eye rests on nothing but flat fields, interspersed with clumps +of trees overshadowing some family cemetery or the grave of some +grandee. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Between the city and the hills are the Yuen Ming Yuen, the Emperor's +summer palace, burnt in 1860 and still an unsightly ruin, and the +Eho Yuen, the summer residence of the Empress Dowager. Enclosing +two or three pretty hills and near to a lofty range, the latter +occupies a site of rare beauty. It also possesses mountain water +in rich abundance. No fewer than twenty-four springs gush from +the base of one of its hills, feeding a pretty lake and numberless +canals. Partly destroyed in 1860, this palace was for many years +as silent as the halls of Palmyra. I have often wandered through +its neglected grounds. Now, every prominent rock is crowned with +pagoda or pavilion. There are, however, some things which the slave +of the lamp is unable to produce even at the command of an +empress—there are no venerable oaks or tall pines to lend +their majesty to the scene. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Patachu, in the adjacent hills, used to be a favourite +<a name="page_35"><span class="page">Page 35</span></a> +summer resort for the legations and other foreigners before the +seaside became accessible by rail. Its name, signifying the "eight +great places," denotes that number of Buddhist temples, built one +above another in a winding gorge on the hillside. In the highest, +called Pearl Grotto, 1,200 feet above the sea, I have found repose +for many a summer. I am there now (June, 1906), and there I expect +to write the closing chapters of this work. These temples are at my +feet; the great city is in full view. To that shrine the emperors +sometimes made excursions to obtain a distant prospect of the world. +One of them, Kien Lung, somewhat noted as a poet, has left, inscribed +on a rock, a few lines commemorative of his visit: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Why have I scaled this dizzy height?<br> +Why sought this mountain den?<br> +I tread as on enchanted ground,<br> +Unlike the abode of men. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Beneath my feet my realm I see<br> +As in a map unrolled,<br> +Above my head a canopy<br> +Adorned with clouds of gold." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The capital consists of two parts: the Tartar city, a square of +four miles; and the Chinese city, measuring five miles by three. +They are separated by imposing walls with lofty towers, the outer +wall being twenty-one miles in circuit. At present the subject +people are permitted to mingle freely with their conquerors; but +most of the business is done in the Chinese city. Resembling other +Chinese towns in its unsavoury condition, this section contains +two imperial temples of great sanctity. One of these, the Temple +of Heaven, +<a name="page_36"><span class="page">Page 36</span></a> +has a circular altar of fine white marble with an azure dome in +its centre in imitation of the celestial vault. Here the Emperor +announces his accession, prays for rain, and offers an ox as a +burnt sacrifice at the winter solstice—addressing himself +to Shang-ti, the supreme ruler, "by whom kings reign and princes +decree justice." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Temple of Agriculture, which stands at a short distance from +that just mentioned, was erected in honour of the first man who +cultivated the earth. In Chinese, he has no name, his title, Shin-nung +signifying the "divine husbandman"—a masculine Ceres. Might +we not call the place the Temple of Cain? There the Emperor does +honour to husbandry by ploughing a few furrows at the vernal equinox. +His example no doubt tends to encourage and comfort his toiling +subjects. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another temple associated with these is that of Mother Earth, the +personified consort of Heaven; but it is not in this locality. +The eternal fitness of things requires that it should be outside +of the walls and on the north. It has a square altar, because the +earth is supposed to have "four corners." "Heaven is round and +Earth square," is the first line of a school reader for boys. The +Tartar city is laid out with perfect regularity, and its streets +and alleys are all of convenient width. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Passing from the Chinese city through the Great Central Gate we +enter Legation Street, so called because most of the legations +are situated on or near it. Architecturally they make no show, +being of one story, or at most two stories, in height and hidden +<a name="page_37"><span class="page">Page 37</span></a> +behind high walls. So high and strong are the walls of the British +Legation that in the Boxer War of 1900 it served the whole community +for a fortress, wherein we sustained a siege of eight weeks. A +marble obelisk near the Legation gate commemorates the siege, and +a marble gateway on a neighbouring street marks the spot where +Baron Ketteler was shot. Since that war a foreign quarter has been +marked out, the approaches to which have been partially fortified. +The streets are now greatly improved; ruined buildings have been +repaired; and the general appearance of the old city has been altered +for the better. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Two more walled enclosures have to be passed before we arrive at +the palace. One of them forms a protected barrack or camping-ground +for the palace guards and other officials attendant on the court. The +other is a sacred precinct shielded from vulgar eyes and intrusive +feet, and bears the name "Forbidden City." In the year following the +flight of the court these palaces were guarded by foreign troops, +and were thrown open to foreign visitors. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Marble bridges, balustrades, and stairways bewilder a stranger. +Dragons, phœnixes and other imaginary monsters carved on +doorways and pillars warn him that he is treading on sacred ground. +The ground, though paved with granite, is far from clean; and the +costly carvings within remind one of the saying of an Oriental +monarch, "The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in kings' +houses." None of the buildings has more than one story, but the +throne-rooms and great halls are so lofty as to suggest the dome +of a cathedral. The roofs are all covered with tiles of a +<a name="page_38"><span class="page">Page 38</span></a> +yellow hue, a colour which even princes are not permitted to use. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Separated from the palace by a moat and a wall is Prospect Hill, +a charming elevation which serves as an imperial garden. On the +fall of the city in 1643 the last of the Mings hanged himself +there—after having stabbed his daughter, like another Virginius, +as a last proof of paternal affection. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the gate of the Forbidden City to the palace officials high +and low must go on foot, unless His Majesty by special favour confers +the privilege of riding on horseback, a distinction which is always +announced in the <i>Gazette</i> by the statement that His Majesty +has "given a horse" to So-and-So. No trolleys are to be seen in +the streets, and four-wheeled carriages are rare and recent. Carts, +camels, wheel-barrows, and the ubiquitous rickshaw are the means +of transport and locomotion. The canals are open sewers never used +for boats. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not lacking in barbaric splendour, as regards the convenience of +living this famous capital will not compare with a country village of +the Western world. On the same parallel as Philadelphia, but dryer, +hotter, and colder, the climate is so superb that the city, though +lacking a system of sanitation, has a remarkably low death-rate. +In 1859 I first entered its gates. In 1863 I came here to reside. +More than any other place on earth it has been to me a home; and +here I am not unlikely to close my pilgrimage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On my first visit, I made use of Byron's lines on Lisbon to express my +impressions of Peking. Though there are now some signs of improvement +in the city +<a name="page_39"><span class="page">Page 39</span></a> +the quotation can hardly be considered as inapplicable at the present +time. Here it is for the convenience of the next traveller: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"...Whoso entereth within this town,<br> +That, sheening far, celestial seems to be,<br> +Disconsolate will wander up and down,<br> +'Mid many things unsightly to strange ee:<br> +For hut and palace show like filthily:<br> +The dingy denizens are rear'd in dirt;<br> +Ne personage of high or mean degree<br> +Doth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt..."<br> + (<i>Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the +First</i>, st. xvii.) +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Returning to the station we face about for the south and take tickets +for Paoting-fu. We are on the first grand trunk railway of this +empire. It might indeed be described as a vertebral column from +which iron roads will ere long be extended laterally on either side, +like ribs, to support and bind together the huge frame. Undertaken +about twelve years ago it has only recently been completed as far +as Hankow, about six hundred miles. The last spike in the bridge +across the Yellow River was driven in August, 1905, and since that +time through trains have been running from the capital to the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This portion has been constructed by a Belgian syndicate, and their +task has been admirably performed. I wish I could say as much of +the other half (from Hankow to Canton), the contract for which +was given to an American company. After a preliminary survey this +company did no work, but, under pretext of waiting for tranquil +times, watched the fluctuations of the share market. The whole +enterprise was eventually +<a name="page_40"><span class="page">Page 40</span></a> +taken over by a native company opposed to foreign ownership—at +an advance of 300 per cent. It was a clever deal; but the Americans +sacrificed the credit and the influence of their country, and a +grand opportunity was lost through cupidity and want of patriotism. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This iron highway is destined in the near future to exert a mighty +influence on people and government. It will bring the provinces +together and make them feel their unity. It will also insure that +communication between the north and the south shall not be interrupted +as it might be were it dependent on sea or canal. These advantages +must have been so patent as to overcome an inbred hostility to +development. Instead of being a danger, these railways are bound +to become a source of incalculable strength. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Paoting-fu was the scene of a sad tragedy in 1900, and when avenging +troops appeared on the scene, and saw the charred bones of missionaries +among the ashes of their dwellings, they were bent on destroying +the whole city, but a missionary who served as guide begged them +to spare the place. So grateful were the inhabitants for his kindly +intervention that they bestowed on the mission a large plot of +ground—showing that, however easily wrought up, they were +not altogether destitute of the better feelings of humanity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Continuing our journey through half a dozen considerable cities, +at one of which, Shunteh-fu, an American mission has recently been +opened, we reach the borders of the province of Honan. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_41"><span class="page">Page 41</span></a> +CHAPTER VIII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +PROVINCE OF HONAN +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>A Great Bridge—K'ai-fung-fu—Yellow Jews</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Passing the border city of Weihwei-fu, we find ourselves arrested +by the Hwang Ho—not that we experience any difficulty in +reaching the other bank; but we wish to indulge our curiosity in +inspecting the means of transit. It is a bridge, and such a bridge +as has no parallel on earth. Five miles in length, it is longer +than any other bridge built for the passage of a river. It is not, +however, as has been said, the longest bridge in the world; the +elevated railway of New York is a bridge of much greater length. +So are some of the bridges that carry railways across swamp-lands +on the Pacific Coast. Bridges of that sort, however, are of +comparatively easy construction. They have no rebellious stream +or treacherous quicksands to contend with. Cæsar's bridge +over the Rhine was an achievement worthy to be recorded among the +victories of his Gallic wars; but it was a child's plaything in +comparison with the bridge over the Yellow River. Cæsar's +bridge rested on sesquipedalian beams of solid timber. The Belgian +bridge is supported on tubular piles of steel of sesquipedalian +diameter driven by steam or screwed down into the sand to a depth +of fifty feet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There have been other bridges near this very spot +<a name="page_42"><span class="page">Page 42</span></a> +with which it might be compared. One of them was called Ta-liang, +the "Great Bridge," and gave name to a city. Another was Pien-liang, +"The Bridge of Pien," one of the names of the present city of +K'ai-fung-fu. That bridge has long since disappeared; but the name +adheres to the city. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What an unstable foundation on which to erect a seat of empire! +Yet the capital has been located in this vicinity more than once +or twice within the last twenty-five centuries. The first occasion +was during the dynasty of Chou (1100 B. c.), when the king, to be +more central, or perhaps dreading the incursions of the Tartars, +forsook his capital in Shensi and followed the stream down almost +to the sea, braving the quicksands and the floods rather than face +those terrible foes. Again, in the Sung period, it was the seat +of government for a century and a half. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The safest refuge for a fugitive court which, once established +there, has no reason to fear attack by sea or river, it is somewhat +strange that in 1900 the Empress Dowager did not direct her steps +toward K'ai-fung-fu, instead of escaping to Si-ngan. Being, however, +herself a Tartar, she might have been expected to act in a way +contrary to precedents set by Chinese dynasties. Obviously, she +chose the latter as a place of refuge because it lay near the borders +of Tartary. It is noteworthy that a loyal governor of Honan at that +very time prepared a palace for her accommodation in K'ai-fung-fu, +and when the court was invited to return to Peking, he implored +her not to risk herself in the northern capital. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Honan is a province rich in agricultural, and probably +<a name="page_43"><span class="page">Page 43</span></a> +in mineral, resources, but it has no outlet in the way of trade. +What a boon this railway is destined to be, as a channel of +communication with neighbouring provinces! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I crossed the Yellow River in 1866, but there was then no bridge +of any kind. Two-thirds of a mile in width, with a furious current, +the management of the ferry-boat was no easy task. On that occasion +an object which presented stronger attractions than this wonderful +bridge had drawn me to K'ai-fung-fu—a colony of Jews, a fragment +of the Lost Tribes of Israel. As mentioned in a previous chapter, I +had come by land over the very track now followed by the railroad, +but under conditions in strong contrast with the luxuries of a +railway carriage—"Alone, unfriended, solitary, slow," I had +made my way painfully, shifting from horse to cart, and sometimes +compelled by the narrowness of a path to descend to a wheelbarrow. +How I longed for the advent of the iron horse. Now I have with +me a jovial company; and we may enjoy the mental stimulus of an +uninterrupted session of the Oriental Society, while making more +distance in an hour than I then made in a day. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of the condition of the Jews of K'ai-fung-fu, as I found them, +I have given a detailed account elsewhere.[*] Suffice it to say +here that the so-called colony consisted of about four hundred +persons, belonging to seven families or clans. Undermined by a +flood of the Yellow River, their synagogue had become ruinous, +and, being unable to repair it, they had disposed of its timbers +to relieve the pressure of their dire poverty. +<a name="page_44"><span class="page">Page 44</span></a> +Nothing remained but the vacant space, marked by a single stone +recording the varying fortunes of these forlorn Israelites. It +avers that their remoter ancestors arrived in China by way of India +in the Han dynasty, before the Christian era, and that the founders +of this particular colony found their way to K'ai-fung-fu in the +T'ang dynasty about 800 A. D. It also gives an outline of their +Holy Faith, showing that, in all their wanderings, they had not +forsaken the God of their fathers. They still possessed some rolls +of the Law, written in Hebrew, on sheepskins, but they no longer +had a rabbi to expound them. They had forgotten the sacred tongue, +and some of them had wandered into the fold of Mohammed, whose +creed resembled their own. Some too had embraced the religion of +Buddha. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: See "Cycle of Cathay." Revell & Co., New York.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My report was listened to with much interest by the rich Jews of +Shanghai, but not one of them put his hand in his pocket to rebuild +the ruined synagogue; and without that for a rallying-place the +colony must ere long fade away, and be absorbed in the surrounding +heathenism, or be led to embrace Christianity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I now learn that the Jews of Shanghai have manifested enough interest +to bring a few of their youth to that port for instruction in the +Hebrew language. Also that some of these K'ai-fung-fu Jews are +frequent attendants in Christian chapels, which have now been opened +in that city. To my view, the resuscitation of that ancient colony +would be as much of a miracle as the return from captivity in the +days of Cyrus. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_45"><span class="page">Page 45</span></a> +CHAPTER IX +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE RIVER PROVINCES +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Hupeh—Hankow—Hanyang Iron Works—A Centre of +Missionary Activity—Hunan—Kiangsi—Anhwei—Native +Province of Li Hung Chang</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By the term "river provinces" are to be understood those provinces +of central and western China which are made accessible to intercourse +and trade by means of the Yang-tse Kiang. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Pursuing our journey, in twelve hours by rail we reach the frontier +of Hupeh. At that point we see above us a fortification perched on +the side of a lofty hill which stands beyond the line. At a height +more than double that of this crenelated wall is a summer resort of +foreigners from Hankow and other parts of the interior. I visited +this place in 1905. In Chinese, the plateau on which it stands is +called, from a projecting rock, the "Rooster's Crest"; shortened +into the more expressive name, the "Roost," it is suggestive of the +repose of summer. It presents a magnificent prospect, extending +over a broad belt of both provinces. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Six hours more and we arrive in Hankow, which is one of three cities +built at the junction of the Han and the Yang-tse, the Tripolis of +China, a tripod of empire, the hub of the universe, as the Chinese +fondly regard it. The other two cities are Wuchang, the capital +<a name="page_46"><span class="page">Page 46</span></a> +of the viceroyalty, and Hanyang, on the opposite bank of the river. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In Hankow one beholds a Shanghai on a smaller scale, and in the +other two cities the eye is struck by indications of the change +which is coming over the externals of Chinese life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Hanyang, which is reached by a bridge, may be seen an extensive and +well-appointed system of iron-works, daily turning out large quantities +of steel rails for the continuation of the railway. It also produces +large quantities of iron ordnance for the contingencies of war. This +is the pet enterprise of the enlightened Viceroy Chang Chi-tung; but +on the other side of the Yang-tse we have cheering evidence that he +has not confined his reforms to transportation and the army. There, +on the south bank, you may see the long walls and tall chimneys of +numerous manufacturing establishments—cotton-mills, silk +filatures, rope-walks, glass-works, tile-works, powder-works—all +designed to introduce the arts of the West, and to wage an industrial +war with the powers of Christendom. There, too, in a pretty house +overlooking the Great River, I spent three years as aid to the viceroy +in educational work. In the heart of China, it was a watch-tower from +which I could look up and down the river and study the condition +of these inland provinces. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This great centre was early preëmpted by the pioneers of missionary +enterprise. Here Griffith John set up the banner of the cross forty +years ago and by indefatigable and not unfruitful labours earned +for himself the name of "the Apostle of Central China." +<a name="page_47"><span class="page">Page 47</span></a> +In addition he has founded a college for the training of native +preachers. The year 1905 was the jubilee of his arrival in the +empire. Here, too, came David Hill, a saintly man combining the +characters of St. Paul and of John Howard, as one of the pioneers +of the churches of Great Britain. These leaders have been followed +by a host who, if less distinguished, have perhaps accomplished +more for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. Without the +coöperation of such agencies all reformatory movements like +those initiated by the viceroy must fall short of elevating the +people to the level of Christian civilisation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The London Mission, the English Wesleyans, and the American +Episcopalians, all have flourishing stations at Wuchang. The Boone +school, under the auspices of the last-named society, is an admirable +institution, and takes rank with the best colleges in China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Hankow the China Inland Mission is represented by a superintendent +and a home for missionaries in transit. At that home the Rev. J. +Hudson Taylor, the founder of that great society, whom I call the +Loyola of Protestant missions, spent a few days in 1906; and there +Dr. John and I sat with him for a group of the "Three Senior +Missionaries" in China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The river provinces may be divided into lower and upper, the +dividing-line being at Ichang near the gorges of the Yang-tse. Hupeh +and Hunan, Kiangsi and Anhwei occupy the lower reach; Szechuen, +Kweichau, and Yünnan, the upper one. The first two form one +viceregal district, with a population exceeding that of any European +country excepting Russia. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_48"><span class="page">Page 48</span></a> +Hupeh signifies "north of the lake"; Hunan, "south of the +lake"—the great lake of Tungting lying between the two. Hupeh +has been open to trade and residence for over forty years; but the +sister province was long hermetically sealed against the footprints +of the white man. Twenty or even ten years ago to venture within its +limits would have cost a European his life. Its capital, Changsha, +was the seat of an anti-foreign propaganda from which issued masses +of foul literature; but the lawless hostility of the people has been +held in check by the judicious firmness of the present viceroy, +and that city is now the seat of numerous mission bodies which +are vying with each other in their efforts to diffuse light and +knowledge. It is also open to commerce as a port of trade. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the greatest distinctions of the province is its production +of brave men, one of the bravest of whom was the first Marquis Tseng +who, at the head of a patriotic force from his native province, +recaptured the city of Nanking and put an end to the chaotic government +of the Taiping rebels—a service which has ever since been +recognised by the Chinese Government in conferring the viceroyalty +of Nanking on a native of Hunan. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lying to the south of the river, is the province of Kiangsi, containing +the Poyang Lake, next in size to the Tungting. Above its entrance +at Kiukiang rises a lone mountain which bears the name of Kuling. +Beautifully situated, and commanding a wide view of lake and river, +its sides are dotted with pretty cottages, erected as summer resorts +for people from all the inland ports. Here may be seen the flags of many +<a name="page_49"><span class="page">Page 49</span></a> +nations, and here the hard-worked missionary finds rest and recreation, +without idleness; for he finds clubs for the discussion of politics +and philosophy, and libraries which more than supply the absence of +his own. Just opposite the entrance to the lake stands the "Little +Orphan," a vine-clad rock 200 feet in height, with a small temple +on the top. It looks like a fragment torn from the mountain-side and +planted in the bosom of the stream. Fancy fails to picture the +convulsion of which the "Little Orphan" is the monument. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Farther down is the province of Anhwei which takes its name from +its chief two cities, Anking and Weichou. In general resembling +Kiangsi, it has two flourishing ports on the river, Anking, the +capital, and Wuhu. Of the people nothing noteworthy is to be observed, +save that they are unusually turbulent, and their lawless spirit +has not been curbed by any strong hand like that of the viceroy +at Wuchang.[*] The province is distinguished for its production +of great men, of whom Li Hung Chang was one. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: This was written before the Nanchang riot of March, +1906.] +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_50"><span class="page">Page 50</span></a> +CHAPTER X +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +PROVINCES OF THE UPPER YANG-TSE +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>A Perilous Passage—Szechuen—Kweichau, the Poorest +Province in China—Yünnan—Tribes of Aborigines</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Thus far our voyage of exploration, like one of Cook's tours, has +been personally conducted. From this point, however, I must depend +upon the experience of others: the guide himself must seek a guide +to conduct him through the remaining portions of the empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We enter the Upper Yang-tse by a long and tortuous passage through +which the "Great River" rushes with a force and a roar like the +cataracts of the Rhine, only on a vastly greater scale. In some +bygone age volcanic forces tore asunder a mountain range, and the +waters of the great stream furrowed out a channel; but the obstructing +rocks, so far from being worn away, remain as permanent obstacles +to steam navigation and are a cause of frequent shipwrecks. Yet, +undeterred by dangers that eclipse Scylla and Charybdis, the laborious +Chinese have for centuries past carried on an immense traffic through +this perilous passage. In making the ascent their junks are drawn +against the current by teams of coolies, tens or hundreds of the +latter being harnessed to the tow-lines of one boat and driven +like a bullock train in South Africa. Slow +<a name="page_51"><span class="page">Page 51</span></a> +and difficult is the ascent, but swift and perilous the downward +passage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No doubt engineering may succeed in removing some of the obstacles +and in minifying the dangers of this passage. Steam, too, may supply +another mode of traction to take the place of these teams of men. +A still revolution is in prospect, namely a ship canal or railway. +The latter, perhaps, might be made to lift the junks bodily out of +the water and transport them beyond the rapids. Two cities, however, +would suffer somewhat by this change in the mode of navigation, +namely, Ichang at the foot and Chungking at the head of the rapids. +The latter is the chief river port of Szechuen, a province having +four times the average area. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The great province of Szechuen, if it only had the advantages of +a seacoast, would take the lead in importance. As it is, it is +deemed sufficiently important, like Chihli, to have a viceroy of +its own. The name signifies the "four rivers," and the province has +as many ranges of mountains. One of them, the Omeshan, is celebrated +for its beauty and majesty. The mountains give the province a great +variety of climate, and the rivers supply means of transportation +and irrigation. Its people, too, are more uniform in language and +character than those of most other regions. Their language partakes +of the Northern mandarin. Near the end of the Ming dynasty the +whole population is said to have been destroyed in the fratricidal +wars of that sanguinary period. The population accordingly is +comparatively sparse, and the cities are said to present a new and +prosperous aspect. Above Szechuen +<a name="page_52"><span class="page">Page 52</span></a> +lie the two provinces of Kweichau and Yünnan, forming one +viceroyalty under the name of Yünkwei. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kweichau has the reputation of being the poorest province in China, +with a very sparse population, nearly one-half of whom are aborigines, +called <i>shans</i>, <i>lolos</i>, and <i>miaotzes</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Yünnan (signifying not "cloudy south," but "south of the cloudy +mountains") is next in area to Szechuen. Its resources are as yet +undeveloped, and it certainly has a great future. Its climate, +if it may be said to have one, is reputed to be unhealthful, and +among its hills are many deep gorges which the Chinese say are +full of <i>chang chi</i>, "poisonous gases" which are fatal to +men and animals—like the Grotto del Cane in Italy. But these +gorges and cliffs abound in better things also. They are rich in +unexploited coal measures and they contain also many mines of the +purest copper ore. The river that washes its borders here bears +the name of Kinsha, the river of "golden sands." Some of its rivers +have the curious peculiarity of flowing the reverse way, that is, to +the west and south instead of toward the eastern sea. The Chinese +accordingly call the province "Tiensheng" the country of the "converse +streams." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Within the borders of Yünnan there are said to be more than +a hundred tribes of aborigines all more or less akin to those of +Kweichau and Burma, but each under its own separate chief. Some of +them are fine-looking, vigorous people; but the Chinese describe +them as living in a state of utter savagery. Missionaries, however, +have recently begun work for them; and we may hope that, as for +the Karens of +<a name="page_53"><span class="page">Page 53</span></a> +Burma, a better day will soon dawn on the Yünnan aborigines. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The French, having colonies on the border, are naturally desirous +of exploiting the provinces of this southern belt, and China is +intensely suspicious of encroachment from that quarter. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_54"><span class="page">Page 54</span></a> +CHAPTER XI +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +NORTHWESTERN PROVINCES +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Shansi—Shensi—Earliest Known Home of the +Chinese—Kansuh</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of the three northwestern provinces, the richest is Shansi. More +favoured in climate and soil than the other members of the group, +its population is more dense. Divided from Chihli by a range of +hills, its whole surface is hilly, but not mountainous. The highlands +give variety to its temperature—condensing the moisture and +supplying water for irrigation. The valleys are extremely fertile, +and of them it may be said in the words of Job, "As for the earth, +out of it cometh bread: and underneath it is turned up as it were +fire." Not only do the fields yield fine crops of wheat and millet, +but there are extensive coal measures of excellent quality. Iron +ore also is found in great abundance. Mining enterprises have +accordingly been carried on from ancient times, and they have now, +with the advent of steam, acquired a fresh impetus. It follows, of +course, that the province is prolific of bankers. Shansi bankers +monopolise the business of finance in all the adjacent provinces. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Next on the west comes the province of Shensi, from <i>shen</i>, a +"strait or pass" (not <i>shan</i> a "hill"), and <i>si</i>, "west." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_55"><span class="page">Page 55</span></a> +Here was the earliest home of the Chinese race of which there is +any record. On the Yellow River, which here forms the boundary of +two provinces, stands the city of Si-ngan where the Chou dynasty +set up its throne in the twelfth century B. C. Since that date +many dynasties have made it the seat of empire. Their palaces have +disappeared; but most of them have left monumental inscriptions +from which a connected history might be extracted. To us the most +interesting monument is a stone, erected about 800 A. D. to commemorate +the introduction of Christianity by some Nestorian missionaries +from western Asia. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The province of Kansuh is comparatively barren. Its boundaries +extend far out into regions peopled by Mongol tribes; and the +neighbourhood of great deserts gives it an arid climate unfavourable +to agriculture. Many of its inhabitants are immigrants from Central +Asia and profess the Mohammedan faith. It is almost surrounded by +the Yellow River, like a picture set in a gilded frame, reminding +one of that river of paradise which "encompasseth the whole land +of Havilah where there is gold." Whether there is gold in Kansuh +we have yet to learn; but no doubt some grains of the precious +metal might be picked up amongst its shifting sands. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_56"><span class="page">Page 56</span></a> +CHAPTER XII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +OUTLYING TERRITORIES +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Manchuria—Mongolia—Turkestan—Tibet, the Roof +of the World—Journey of Huc and Gabet.</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Beyond the eastern extremity of the Great Wall, bounded on the +west by Mongolia, on the north by the Amur, on the east by the +Russian seaboard, and on the south by Korea and the Gulf of Pechili, +lies the home of the Manchus—the race now dominant in the +Chinese Empire. China claims it, just as Great Britain claimed +Normandy, because her conquerors came from that region; and now +that two of her neighbours have exhausted themselves in fighting +for it, she will take good care that neither of them shall filch +the jewel from her crown. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That remarkable achievement, the conquest of China by a few thousand +semi-civilised Tartars, is treated in the second part of this work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Manchuria consists of three regions now denominated provinces, +Shengking, Kairin, and Helungkiang. They are all under one +governor-general whose seat is at Mukden, a city sacred in the +eyes of every Manchu, because there are the tombs of the fathers +of the dynasty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The native population of Manchuria having been drafted off to garrison +and colonise the conquered +<a name="page_57"><span class="page">Page 57</span></a> +country, their deserted districts were thrown open to Chinese settlers. +The population of the three provinces is mainly Chinese, and, +assimilated in government to those of China, they are reckoned +as completing the number of twenty-one. Opulent in grain-fields, +forests, and minerals, with every facility for commerce, no part of +the empire has a brighter future. So thinly peopled is its northern +portion that it continues to be a vast hunting-ground which supplies +the Chinese market with sables and tiger-skins besides other peltries. +The tiger-skins are particularly valuable as having longer and +richer fur than those of Bengal. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of the Manchus as a people, I shall speak later on.[*] Those remaining +in their original habitat are extremely rude and ignorant; yet +even these hitherto neglected regions are now coming under the +enlightening influence of a system of government schools. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: Part II. page <a href="#page_140">140</a> and +<a href="#page_142">142</a>; part III, pages +<a href="#page_267">267-280</a>] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, if not of the Empire, +is scarcely better known than the mountain regions of Tibet, a +large portion of its area being covered with deserts as uninviting +and as seldom visited as the African Sahara. One route, however, +has been well trodden by Russian travellers, namely, that lying +between Kiachta and Peking. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the reign of Kanghi the Russians were granted the privilege of +establishing an ecclesiastical mission to minister to a Cossack +garrison which the Emperor had captured at Albazin trespassing on +his grounds. Like another Nebuchadnezzar, he transplanted them +to the soil of China. He also permitted the Russians +<a name="page_58"><span class="page">Page 58</span></a> +to bring tribute to the "Son of Heaven" once in ten years. That +implied a right to trade, so that the Russians, like other envoys, +in Chinese phrase "came lean and went away fat." But they were +not allowed to leave the beaten track: they were merchants, not +travellers. Not till the removal of the taboo within the last +half-century have these outlying dependencies been explored by +men like Richthofen and Sven Hedin. Formerly the makers of maps +garnished those unknown regions +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"With caravans for want of towns." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sooth to say, there are no towns, except Urga, a shrine for pilgrimage, +the residence of a living Buddha, and Kiachta and Kalgan, terminal +points of the caravan route already referred to. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kiachta is a double town—one-half of it on each side of the +Russo-Chinese boundary—presenting in striking contrast the +magnificence of a Russian city and the poverty and filth of a Tartar +encampment. The whole country is called in Chinese "the land of +grass." Its inhabitants have sheepfolds and cattle ranches, but +neither fields nor houses, unless tents and temporary huts may be +so designated. To this day, nomadic in their habits, they migrate +from place to place with their flocks and herds as the exigencies +of water and pasturage may require. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lines of demarcation exist for large tracts belonging to a tribe, +but no minor divisions such as individual holdings. The members of +a clan all enjoy their grazing range in common, and hold themselves +ready to fight for the rights of their chieftain. Bloody feuds +lasting for generations, such as would rival those of +<a name="page_59"><span class="page">Page 59</span></a> +the Scottish clans, are not of infrequent occurrence. Their Manchu +overlord treats these tribal conflicts with sublime indifference, +as he does the village wars in China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Mongolian chiefs, or "princes" as they are called, are forty-eight +in number. The "forty-eight princes" is a phrase as familiar to +the Chinese ear as the "eighteen provinces" is to ours. Like the +Manchus they are arranged in groups under eight banners. Some of +them took part in the conquest, but the Manchus are too suspicious +to permit them to do garrison duty in the Middle Kingdom, lest the +memories of Kublai Khan and his glory should be awakened. They +are, however, held liable to military service. Seng Ko Lin Sin +("Sam Collinson" as the British dubbed him), a Lama prince, headed +the northern armies against the Tai-ping rebels and afterwards +suffered defeat at the hands of the British and French before the +gates of Peking. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the winter the Mongol princes come with their clansmen to revel +in the delights of Cambalu, the city of the great Khan, as they +have continued to call Peking ever since the days of Kublai, whose +magnificence has been celebrated by Marco Polo. Their camping-ground +is the Mongolian Square which is crowded with tabernacles built +of bamboo and covered with felt. In a sort of bazaar may be seen +pyramids of butter and cheese, two commodities that are abominations +to the Chinese of the south, but are much appreciated by Chinese +in Peking as well as by the Manchus. One may see also mountains +of venison perfectly fresh; the frozen carcasses of "yellow sheep" +<a name="page_60"><span class="page">Page 60</span></a> +(really not sheep, but antelopes); then come wild boars in profusion, +along with badgers, hares, and troops of live dogs—the latter +only needing to be wild to make them edible. This will give some faint +idea of Mongolia's contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis. +Devout Buddhist as he is, the average Mongol deems abstinence from +animal food a degree of sanctity unattainable by him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mongols of the common classes are clad in dirty sheepskins. Their +gentry and priesthood dress themselves in the spoils of wolf or +fox—more costly but not more clean. Furs, felt, and woollen +fabrics of the coarsest texture may also be noticed. Raiment of +camel's hair, strapped with a leathern girdle after the manner +of John the Baptist, may be seen any day, and the wearers are not +regarded as objects of commiseration. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their camel, too, is wonderfully adapted to its habitat. Provided +with two humps, it carries a natural saddle; and, clothed in long +wool, yellow, brown or black, it looks in winter a lordly beast. +Its fleece is never shorn, but is shed in summer. At that season +the poor naked animal is the most pitiable of creatures. In the +absence of railways and carriage roads, it fills the place of the +ship of the desert and performs the heaviest tasks, such as the +transporting of coals and salt. Most docile of slaves, at a word +from its master it kneels down and quietly accepts its burden. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Peking there is a lamasary where four hundred Mongol monks are +maintained in idleness at the expense of the Emperor. Their manners +are those of highwaymen. They have been known to lay rough +<a name="page_61"><span class="page">Page 61</span></a> +hands on visitors in order to extort a charitable dole; and, if +rumour may be trusted, their morals are far from exemplary. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My knowledge of the Mongols is derived chiefly from what I have +seen of them in Peking. I have also had a glimpse of their country +at Kalgan, beyond the Great Wall. A few lines from a caravan song +by the Rev. Mark Williams give a picture of a long journey by those +slow coaches: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Inching along, we are inching along,<br> +At the pace of a snail, we are inching along,<br> +Our horses are hardy, our camels are strong,<br> +We all shall reach Urga by inching along. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"The things that are common, all men will despise;<br> +But these in the desert we most highly prize.<br> +For water is worth more than huge bags of gold<br> +And argols than diamonds of value untold."<br> + —<i>A Flight for Life</i>, Pilgrim +Press, Boston. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Politically Turkestan is not Mongolia, but Tamerlane, though born +there, was a Mongol. His descendants were the Moguls of India. At +different epochs peoples called Turks and Huns have wandered over +the Mongolian plateau, and Mongols have swept over Turkestan. To +draw a line of demarcation is neither easy nor important. In the +Turkestan of to-day the majority of the people follow the prophet +of Mecca. Russia has absorbed most of the khanates, and has tried +more than once to encroach on portions belonging to China. In one +instance she was foiled and compelled to disgorge by the courage of +Viceroy Chang, a story which I reserve for the sequel. The coveted +region was Ili, and Russia's pretext for crossing the +<a name="page_62"><span class="page">Page 62</span></a> +boundary was the chronic state of warfare in which the inhabitants +existed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Tibet is the land of the Grand Lama. Is it merely tributary or +is it a portion of the Chinese Empire? This is a question that +has been warmly agitated during the last two years—brought +to the front by Colonel Younghusband's expedition and by a treaty +made in Lhasa. Instead of laying their complaints before the court +of Peking, the Indian Government chose to settle matters on the +spot, ignoring the authority of China. Naturally China has been +provoked to instruct her resident at Lhasa to maintain her rights. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A presumptive claim might be based on the fact, that the Grand Lama +took refuge at Urga, where he remained until the Empress Dowager +ordered him to return to his abandoned post. China has always had +a representative at his court; but his function would appear to +be that of a political spy rather than an overseer, governor, or +even adviser. Chinese influence in Tibet is nearly <i>nil</i>. +For China to assert authority by interference and to make herself +responsible for Tibet's shortcomings would be a questionable policy, +against which two wars ought to be a sufficient warning. She was +involved with France by her interference in Tongking and with Japan +by interference in Korea. Too much intermeddling in Tibet might +easily embroil her with Great Britain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In one sense the Buddhist pope may justly claim to be the highest of +earthly potentates. No other sits on a throne at an equal elevation +above the level of the sea. Like Melchizedeck, he is without father +or mother—each occupant of the throne being a fresh +<a name="page_63"><span class="page">Page 63</span></a> +incarnation of Buddha. The signs of Buddhaship are known only to +the initiated; but they are supposed to consist in the recognition +of places, persons, and apparel. These lamas never die of old age. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While in other parts of the Empire polygamy prevails for those +who can afford it, in Tibet polyandry crops up. Which is the more +offensive to good morals we need not decide; but is it not evident +that Confucianism shows its weakness on one side as Buddhism does +on the other? A people that tolerates either or both hardly deserves +to be regarded as civilised. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Chinese call Tibet the "roof of the world," and most of it is +as barren as the roof of a house. Still the roof, though producing +nothing, collects water to irrigate a garden. Tibet is the mother +of great rivers, and she feeds them from her eternal snows. On her +highlands is a lake or cluster of lakes which the Chinese describe +as <i>Sing Su Hai</i>, the "sea of stars." From this the Yellow +River takes its rise and perhaps the Yang-tse Kiang. A Chinese +legend says that Chang Chien poled a raft up to the source of the +Yellow River and found himself in the Milky Way, <i>Tienho</i>, +the "River of Heaven." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Fifty years ago two intrepid French missionaries, Huc and Gabet, +made their way to Lhasa, but they were not allowed to remain there. +The Chinese residents made them prisoners, under pretext of giving +them protection, and sent them to the seacoast through the heart +of the empire. They were thus enabled to see the vast interior +at a time when it was barred alike to traveller and missionary. +Of this adventurous +<a name="page_64"><span class="page">Page 64</span></a> +journey Huc's published "Travels" is the immortal monument. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We have thus gone over China and glanced at most of her outlying +dependencies. The further exploration of Tibet we may postpone +until she has made good her claims to dominion in that mountain +region. The vastness of the Chinese Empire and the immensity of +its population awaken in the mind a multitude of questions to which +nothing but history can give an adequate reply. We come therefore +to the oracle whose responses may perhaps be less dubious than +those of Delphi. +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_65"><span class="page">Page 65</span></a> +PART II +</h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +HISTORY IN OUTLINE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_67"><span class="page">Page 67</span></a> +CHAPTER XIII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Parent Stock a Migratory People—They Invade China from +the Northwest and Colonise the Banks of the Yellow River and of +the Han—Their Conflicts with the Aborigines—Native +Tribes Absorbed by Conquerors</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That the parent stock in which the Chinese nation had its origin +was a small migratory people, like the tribes of Israel, and that +they entered the land of promise from the northwest is tolerably +certain; but to trace their previous wanderings back to Shinar, +India, or Persia would be a waste of time, as the necessary data +are lacking. Even within their appointed domain the accounts of +their early history are too obscure to be accepted as to any extent +reliable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They appear to have begun their career of conquest by colonising +the banks of the Yellow River and those of the Han. By slow stages +they moved eastward to the central plain and southward to the Yang-tse +Kiang. At that early epoch, between 3000 and 2000 B. C., they found the +country already occupied by various wild tribes whom they considered +as savages. In their early traditions they describe these tribes +respectively by four words: those of the south are called <i>Man</i> +(a word with the silk radical); those on the east, <i>Yi</i> (with +<a name="page_68"><span class="page">Page 68</span></a> +the bow radical); those on the north, <i>Tih</i> (represented by +a dog and fire); and those on the west, <i>Jung</i> ("war-like, +fierce," the symbol for their ideograph being a spear). Each of +these names points to something distinctive. Some of these tribes +were, perhaps, spinners of silk; some, hunters; and all of them, +formidable enemies. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The earliest book of history opens with conflicts with aborigines. +There can be no question that the slow progress made by the invaders +in following the course of those streams on which the most ancient +capitals of the Chinese were subsequently located was owing to the +necessity of fighting their way. Shun, the second sovereign of +whose reign there is record (2200 B. c.), is said to have waged +war with San Miao, three tribes of <i>miaotze</i> or aborigines, +a term still applied to the independent tribes of the southwest. +Beaten in the field, or at least suffering a temporary check, he +betook himself to the rites of religion, making offerings and praying +to Shang-ti, the supreme ruler. "After forty days," it is stated, +"the natives submitted." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the absence of any explanation it may be concluded that during +the suspension of hostilities negotiations were proceeding which +resulted not in the destruction of the natives, but in their +incorporation with their more civilised neighbours. This first +recorded amalgamation of the kind was doubtless an instance of +a process of growth that continued for many centuries, resulting +in the absorption of all the native tribes on the north of the +Yang-tse and of most of those on the south. The expanding state +was eventually composed of a vast body of natives who submitted +<a name="page_69"><span class="page">Page 69</span></a> +to their civilised conquerors, much as the people of Mexico and +Peru consented to be ruled by a handful of Spaniards.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: To this day, the bulk of the people in those countries +show but small traces of Spanish blood. Juarez, the famous dictator, +was a pure Indian.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As late as the Christian era any authentic account of permanent +conquests in China to the south of the "Great River" is still wanting, +though warlike expeditions in that direction were not infrequent. The +people of the northern provinces called themselves <i>Han-jin</i>, +"men of Han" or "sons of Han," while those of the south styled +themselves <i>T'ang-jin</i>, "men of T'ang." Does not this indicate +that, while the former were moulded into unity by the great dynasty +which took its name from the river Han (206 B. c.), the latter +did not become Chinese until the brilliant period of the T'angs, +nearly a thousand years later? Further confirmation need not be +adduced to show that the empire of the Far East contemporary with, +and superior in civilisation to, ancient Rome, embraced less than +the eighteen provinces of China Proper. Of the nine districts into +which it was divided by Ta-yü, 2100 B. C. not one was south +of the "Great River." +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_70"><span class="page">Page 70</span></a> +CHAPTER XIV +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE MYTHICAL PERIOD +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Account of Creation—P'an-ku, the Ancient Founder—The +Three Sovereigns—The Five Rulers, the Beginnings of Human +Civilisation—The Golden Age—Yau, the Unselfish +Monarch—Shun, the Paragon of Domestic Virtues—Story +of Ta-yü—Rise of Hereditary Monarchy</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unlike the Greeks and Hindoos, the Chinese are deficient in the +sort of imagination that breeds a poetical mythology. They are +not, however, wanting in that pride of race which is prone to lay +claim to the past as well as to the future. They have accordingly +constructed, not a mythology, but a fictitious history which begins +with the creation of the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +How men and animals were made they do not say; but they assert that +heaven and earth were united in a state of chaos until a divine man, +whom they call P'an-ku, the "ancient founder," rent them asunder. +Pictures show him wielding his sledge-hammer and disengaging sun and +moon from overlying hills—a grotesque conception in strong +contrast with the simple and sublime statement, "God said, 'Let +there be light' and there was light." P'an-ku was followed by a +divine being named Nü-wa, in regard to whom it +<a name="page_71"><span class="page">Page 71</span></a> +is doubtful whether to speak in the feminine or in the masculine +gender. Designated queen more frequently than king, it is said +of her that, a portion of the sky having fallen down (probably +owing to the defective work of her predecessor), she rebuilt it +with precious stones of many colours. <i>Lien shih pu tien</i>, +"to patch the sky with precious stones," is a set phrase by which +the Chinese indicate that which is fabulous and absurd. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Instead of filling the long interval between the creation of the +world and the birth of history with gods and fairies, the Chinese +cover that period by three sovereigns whom they call after their +favourite triad, heaven, earth, and man, giving them the respective +titles Tién-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang. Each of these +reigned eighteen thousand years; but what they reigned over is not +apparent. At all events they seem to have contributed little to +the comfort of their people; for at the close of that long period +the wretched inhabitants of the empire—the only country then +known to exist on earth—had no houses, no clothes, no laws, +and no letters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Now come five personages who, in accordance with Chinese historical +propriety, are likewise invested with imperial dignity and are +called Wu-ti, "the five rulers." Collectively they represent the +first appearance of the useful arts, the rude beginnings of human +civilisation. One of these rulers, noticing that birds constructed +nests, taught his people to build huts, from which he is called the +"nest builder." Another was the Prometheus of his day and obtained +fire, not, however, by stealing it from the sun, but by +<a name="page_72"><span class="page">Page 72</span></a> +honestly working for it with two pieces of wood which he rubbed +together. The third of these rulers, named Fuhi, appears to have been +the teacher of his people in the art of rearing domestic animals; +in other words, the initiator of pastoral life, and possibly the +originator of sacrificial offerings. The fourth in order introduced +husbandry. As has been stated in a previous chapter (see +<a href="#page_36">page 36</a>), +he has no name except Shin-nung, "divine husbandman"; and under +that title he continues to be worshipped at the present day as +the Ceres of China. The Emperor every spring repairs to his temple +to plough a few furrows by way of encouragement to his people. The +last of the five personages is called the "yellow ruler," whether +from the colour of his robes, or as ruler of the yellow race, is +left in doubt. He is credited with the invention of letters and +the cycle of sixty years, the foundation of Chinese chronology +(2700 B. C.). +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unlike the long twilight which precedes the dawn in high latitudes, +the semi-mythical age was brief, covering no more than two reigns, +those of Yao and Shun. Confucius regarded these as included in +the "five rulers." To make room for them, he omits the first two; +and he seldom refers to the others, but appears to accept them as +real personages. He is no critic; but he has shown good sense in +drawing the line no further back. He has made the epoch of these +last a golden age (2356-2206) which is not the creation of a poet, +but the conception of a philosopher who wished to have an open space +on which to build up his political theories. He found, moreover, +in these primitive times some features by which he was +<a name="page_73"><span class="page">Page 73</span></a> +greatly fascinated. The simplicity and freedom which appeared to +prevail in those far-off days were to him very attractive. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is related that Yao, the type of an unselfish monarch, while +on a tour of inspection in the disguise of a peasant, heard an +old man singing this song to the notes of his guitar: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"I plough my ground and eat my own bread,<br> +I dig my well and drink my own water:<br> +What use have I for king or court?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Yao returned to his palace, rejoicing that the state of his country +was such that his people were able to forget him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another feature which the Chinese hold up in bold relief is the fact +that in those days the occupancy of the throne was not hereditary. +Yao is said to have reigned a hundred years. When he was growing old +he saw with grief that his son showed no signs of being a worthy +successor. Setting him aside, therefore, he asked his ministers +to recommend someone as his heir. They all agreed in nominating +Shun. "What are his merits?" asked the King. "Filial piety and +fraternal kindness," they replied. "By these virtues he has wrought +a reform in a family noted for perverseness." The King desiring +to know the facts, they related the following story: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Shun's father is an ill-natured, blind man. He has a cruel stepmother +and a selfish, petulant younger brother. This boy, the pet of his +parents, treated Shun with insolence; and the father and mother +joined in persecuting the elder son. Shun, without showing resentment, +cried aloud to Heaven and obtained +<a name="page_74"><span class="page">Page 74</span></a> +patience to bear their harshness. By duty and affection he has won +the hearts of all three." "Bring him before me," said the King; +"I have yet another trial by which to test his virtues." Yao made +him his son-in-law, giving him his two daughters at once. He wished +to see whether the good son and brother would also be a good husband +and father—an example for his people in all their domestic +relations. Shun accepted the test with becoming resignation and +comported himself to the satisfaction of the old king, who raised +him to the throne. After a reign of fifty years, partly as Yao's +associate, Shun followed the example of his father-in-law. Passing +by his own son, he left the throne to Ta-yü or Yü, a man +who had been subjected to trials far more serious than that of +having to live in the same house with a pair of pretty princesses. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A question discussed in the school of Mencius, many centuries later, +may be cited here for the light it throws on the use made by Chinese +schoolmen of the examples of this period. "Suppose," said one of +his students, "that Shun's father had killed a man, would Shun, +being king, have allowed him to be condemned?" "No," replied the +master; "he would have renounced the throne and, taking his father +on his shoulders, he would have fled away to the seaside, rejoicing +in the consciousness of having performed the duty of a filial son." +Shun continues to be cited as the paragon of domestic virtues, +occupying the first place in a list of twenty-four who are noted +for filial piety. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The trial by which the virtues of Ta-yü were proved +<a name="page_75"><span class="page">Page 75</span></a> +was an extraordinary feat of engineering—nothing less than +the subduing of the waters of a deluge. "The waters," said the King, +"embosom the high hills and insolently menace heaven itself. Who +will find us a man to take them in hand and keep them in place?" His +ministers recommended one Kun. Kun failed to accomplish the task, and +Shun, who in this case hardly serves for the model of a just ruler, +put him to death. Then the task was imposed on Ta-yü, the son +of the man who had been executed. After nine years of incredible +hardships he brought the work to a successful termination. During this +time he extended his care to the rivers of more than one province, +dredging, ditching, and diking. Three times he passed his own door +and, though he heard the cries of his infant son, he did not once +enter his house. The son of a criminal who had suffered death, +a throne was the meed of his diligence and ability. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A temple in Hanyang, at the confluence of two rivers, commemorates +Ta-yü's exploit, which certainly throws the labours of Hercules +completely into the shade. On the opposite side of the river stands +a pillar, inscribed in antique hieroglyphics, which professes to +record this great achievement. It is a copy of one which stands +on Mount Hang; and the characters, in the tadpole style, are so +ancient that doubts as to their actual meaning exist among scholars +of the present day. Each letter is accordingly accompanied by its +equivalent in modern Chinese. The stone purports to have been erected +by Ta-yü himself—good ground for suspicion—but +it has been +<a name="page_76"><span class="page">Page 76</span></a> +proved to be a fabrication of a later age, though still very ancient.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: Dr. Hänisch of Berlin has taken great pains to +expose the imposture.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the two preceding reigns the sovereign had always consulted the +public good rather than family interest—a form of monarchy +which the Chinese call elective, but which has never been followed, +save that the Emperor exercises the right of choice among his sons +irrespective of primogeniture. The man who bears the odium of having +departed from the unselfish policy of Yao and Shun is this same +Ta-yü. He left the throne to his son and, as the Chinese say, +"made of the empire a family estate." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This narrative comes from the <i>Shu-King</i> or "Book of History," +the most venerated of the Five Classics edited by Confucius; but +the reader will readily perceive that it is no more historical +than the stories of Codrus or Numa Pompilius. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the reign of Yao we have an account of astronomical observations +made with a view to fixing the length of the year. The King tells +one man to go to the east and another to the west, to observe the +culmination and transit of certain stars. As a result he says they +will find that the year consists of 366 days, a close approximation +for that epoch. The absurdity of this style, which attributes +omniscience to the prince and leaves to his agents nothing but +the task of verification, should not be allowed to detract from +the credit due to their observations. The result arrived at was +about the same as that reached by the Babylonians at the same date +(2356 B. c.) +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Other rulers who are credited with great inventions +<a name="page_77"><span class="page">Page 77</span></a> +probably made them in the same way. Whether under Fuhi or Hwang-ti, +Ts'ang-kié is recognised as the Cadmus of China, the author +of its written characters; and Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, is +admitted to be the author of the cycle of sixty. Both of those +emperors may be imagined as calling up their ministers and saying +to one, "Go and invent the art of writing," and to the other, "Work +out a system of chronology." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the same way, the inception of the culture of the silkworm and the +discovery of the magnetic needle are attributed to the predecessors +of Yao, probably on the principle that treasure-trove was the property +of the King and that if no claimant for the honour could be found +it must be attributed to some ancient monarch. The production of +silk, as woman's work, they profess to assign to the consort of +one of those worthies—a thing improbable if not impossible, +her place of residence being in the north of China. Their +picture-writing tells a different tale. Their word for a southern +barbarian, compounded of "silk" and "worm," points to the south +as the source of that useful industry, much as our word "silk," +derived from <i>sericum</i>, points to China as its origin. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_78"><span class="page">Page 78</span></a> +CHAPTER XV +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE THREE DYNASTIES +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>The House of Hia—Ta-yu's Consideration for His +Subjects—Kié's Excesses—The House of +Shang—Shang-tang, the Founder, Offers Himself as a Sacrificial +Victim, and Brings Rain—Chou-sin Sets Fire to His Own Palace +and Perishes in the Flames—The House of Chou</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Hia, Shang and Chou dynasties together extend over the twenty-two +centuries preceding the Christian Era. The first occupies 440 years; +the second, 644; and the last, in the midst of turmoil and anarchy, +drags out a miserable existence of 874 years. They are grouped +together as the San Tai or San Wang, "the Three Houses of Kings," +because that title was employed by the founder of each. Some of +their successors were called <i>Ti</i>; but <i>Hwang-ti</i>, the +term for "emperor" now in use, was never employed until it was +assumed by the builder of the Great Wall on the overthrow of the +feudal states and the consolidation of the empire, 240 B. C. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE HOUSE OF HIA, 2205-1766 B. C.<br> +(17 kings, 2 usurpers) +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unlike most founders of royal houses, who come to the throne through +a deluge of blood, Ta-yü, as has been shown in the last chapter, +climbed to that eminence +<a name="page_79"><span class="page">Page 79</span></a> +through a deluge of water. Like Noah, the hero of an earlier deluge, +he seems to have indulged, for once at least, too freely in the use +of wine. A chapter in the "Book of History," entitled "A Warning +Against Wine," informs us that one Yiti having made wine presented +it to his prince. Ta-yü was delighted with it, but discontinued +its use, saying that in time to come kings would lose their thrones +through a fondness for the beverage. In China "wine" is a common +name for all intoxicating drinks. That referred to in this passage +was doubtless a distillation from rice or millet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the discharge of his public duties Ta-yü showed himself +no less diligent than in contending with the waters. He hung at +his door a bell which the poorest of his subjects might ring and +thus obtain immediate attention. It is said that when taking a +bath, if he heard the bell he sometimes rushed out without adjusting +his raiment and that while partaking of a meal, if the bell rang +he did not allow himself time to swallow his rice. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Prior to laying down his toilsome dignity Ta-yü caused to +be cast nine brazen tripods, each bearing an outline map or a +description of one of the provinces of the empire. In later ages +these were deemed preeminently the patent of imperial power. On +one occasion a feudal prince asked the question, "How heavy are +these tripods?" A minister of state, suspecting an intention to +remove them and usurp the power, replied in a long speech, proving +the divine commission of his master, and asked in conclusion, "Why +then should you inquire the weight of these tripods?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_80"><span class="page">Page 80</span></a> +Of the subsequent reigns nothing worth repetition is recorded except +the fall of the dynasty. This, however, is due more to the meagreness +of the language of that day than to the insignificance of the seventeen +kings. Is it not probable that they were occupied in making good +their claim to the nine provinces emblazoned on the tripods? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kié, the last king, is said to have fallen under the fascination +of a beautiful woman and to have spent his time in undignified +carousals. He built a mountain of flesh and filled a tank with +wine, and to amuse her he caused 3,000 of his courtiers to go on +all fours and drink from the tank like so many cows. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE SHANG DYNASTY, 1766-1122 B. C.<br> +(28 kings) +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The founder of this dynasty was Shang-tang, or Cheng-tang, who to +great valour added the virtues of humanity and justice. Pitying +the oppressions of the people, he came to them as a deliverer; +and the frivolous tyrant was compelled to retire into obscurity. +A more remarkable exhibition of public spirit was the offering +of himself as a victim to propitiate the wrath of Heaven. In a +prolonged famine, his prayers having failed to bring rain, the +soothsayers said that a human victim was required. "It shall be +myself," he replied; and, stripping off his regal robes, he laid +himself on the altar. A copious shower was the response to this +act of devotion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The successor of Shang-tang was his grandson T'ai-kia, who was under +the tutelage of a wise minister +<a name="page_81"><span class="page">Page 81</span></a> +named I-yin. Observing the indolence and pleasure-loving disposition +of the young man, the minister sent him into retirement for three +years that he might acquire habits of sobriety and diligence. The +circumstance that makes this incident worth recording is that the +minister, instead of retaining the power in his own family, restored +the throne to its rightful occupant. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another king of this house, by name P'an-keng, has no claim to +distinction other than that of having moved his capital five times. +As we are not told that he was pursued by vindictive enemies, we +are left to the conjecture that he was escaping from disastrous +floods, or, perhaps under the influence of a silly superstition, +was in quest of some luckier site. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Things went from bad to worse, and finally Chou-sin surpassed in +evil excesses the man who had brought ruin upon the House of Hia. +The House of Shang of course suffered the same fate. An ambitious +but kind-hearted prince came forward to succour the people, and +was welcomed by them as a deliverer. The tyrant, seeing that all +was lost, arrayed himself in festal robes, set fire to his own +palace, and, like another Sardanapalus, perished in the flames. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He and Kié make a couple who are held up to everlasting +execration as a warning to tyrannical princes. Like his remote +predecessor, Chou-sin is reputed to have been led into his evil +courses by a wicked woman, named Ta-ki. One suspects that neither +one nor the other stood in need of such prompting. According to +history, bad kings are generally worse than bad queens. In China, +however, a woman is considered out of place +<a name="page_82"><span class="page">Page 82</span></a> +when she lays her hand on the helm of state. Hence the tendency +to blacken the names of those famous court beauties. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If Mencius may be believed, the tyrants themselves were not quite +so profligate as the story makes them. He says, "Dirty water has +a tendency to accumulate in the lowest sinks"; and he warns the +princes of his time not to put themselves in a position in which +future ages will continue to heap opprobrium on their memory. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of the wise founders of this dynasty it is said that they "made +religion the basis of education," as did the Romans, who prided +themselves on devotion to their gods. In both cases natural religion +degenerated into gross superstition. In the number of their gods +the Chinese have exceeded the Romans; and they refer the worship +of many of them to the Shang dynasty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following dynasty, that of Chou (35 sovereigns, 1122-249 B. +C.) merits a separate chapter. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_83"><span class="page">Page 83</span></a> +CHAPTER XVI +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +HOUSE OF CHOU +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Wen-wang, the founder—Rise and Progress of +Culture—Communistic Land Tenure—Origin of the term "Middle +Kingdom"—Duke Chou and Cheng wang, "The Completer"—A +Royal Traveller—Li and Yu, two bad kings</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The merciful conqueror who at this time rescued the people from +oppression was Wu-wang, the martial king. He found, it is said, the +people "hanging with their heads downward" and set them on their +feet. On the eve of the decisive battle he harangued his troops, +appealing to the Deity as the arbiter, and expressing confidence in +the result. "The tyrant," he said, "has ten myriads of soldiers, +and I have but one myriad. His soldiers, however, have ten myriads +of hearts, while my army has but one heart." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When the battle had been fought and won he turned his war-horses +out to pasture and ordained that they should be forever free from +yoke and saddle. Could he have been less humane in the treatment +of his new subjects? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The credit of his victory he gave to ten wise counsellors, one +of whom was his mother. History, however, ascribes it in a large +degree to his father, Wen-wang, +<a name="page_84"><span class="page">Page 84</span></a> +who was then dead, but who had prepared the way for his son's triumph. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Wen-wang, the Beauclerc of the Chous, is one of the most notable +figures in the ancient history of China. A vassal prince, by wise +management rather than by military prowess he succeeded in enlarging +his dominions so that he became possessor of two-thirds of the +empire. He is applauded for his wisdom in still paying homage to +his feeble chief. The latter, however, must have regarded him with +no little suspicion, as Wen-wang was thrown into prison, and only +regained his liberty at the cost of a heavy ransom. Wen-wang apparently +anticipated a mortal struggle; for it is related that, seeing an +old man fishing, he detected in him an able general who had fled +the service of the tyrant. "You," said he, "are the very man I +have been looking for"; and, taking him up into his chariot, as +Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the assurance of coming victory. +The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung, the ancestor of the royal House +of Ts'i in Shantung. Though eighty-one years of age he took command +of the cavalry and presided in the councils of his new master. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-wang should be the real +founder of the new dynasty; for now for the first time those pictured +symbols become living blossoms from which the fruits of learning and +philosophy are to be gathered. The rise and progress of a generous +culture is the chief characteristic of the House of Chou. Besides +encouraging letters Wen-wang contributed much to the new literature. +He is known as a commentator in the <i>Yih-King</i>, "Book of Changes," +<a name="page_85"><span class="page">Page 85</span></a> +pronounced by Confucius the profoundest of the ancient classics—a +book which he never understood. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In theory there was under this and the preceding dynasty no private +ownership of land. The arable ground was laid out in plots of nine +squares, thus: +</p> + +<table border="1" cellspacing="0"> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr><tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr><tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="indent"> +Eight of these were assigned to the people to cultivate for themselves; +and the middle square was reserved for the government and tilled +by the joint labour of all. The simple-hearted souls of that day +are said to have prayed that the rains might first descend on the +public field and then visit their private grounds. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In later years this communistic scheme was found not to work perfectly, +owing, it is said, to the decay of public virtue. A statesman, named +Shangyang, converted the tenure of land into fee simple—a natural +evolution which was, however, regarded as quite too revolutionary +and earned for him the execrations of the populace. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The charming simplicity of the above little diagram would seem +to have suggested the arrangement of fiefs in the state, in which +the irregular feudality of former times became moulded into a +symmetrical system. The sovereign state was in the centre; and those +of the feudal barons were ranged on the four sides in successive +rows. The central portion was designated <i>Chung Kwoh</i>, "Middle +Kingdom," a title which has come to be applied to the whole empire, +implying, of course, that all the nations of the earth are its +vassals. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Laid out with the order of a camp and ruled with martial vigour, +the new state prospered for a few reigns. +<a name="page_86"><span class="page">Page 86</span></a> +At length, however, smitten with a disease of the heart the members +no longer obeyed the behests of the head. Decay and anarchy are +written on the last pages of the history of the House of Chou. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The martial king died young, leaving his infant heir under the +regency of his brother, the Duke of Chou. The latter, who inherited +the tastes and talents of Wen-wang, was avowedly the character which +the great Sage took for his pattern. With fidelity and ability he +completed the pacification of the state. The credit of that achievement +inured to his ward, who received the title of <i>Cheng-wang</i>, +"The Completer." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Accused of scheming to usurp the throne, the Duke resigned his +powers and withdrew from the court. The young prince, opening a +golden casket, found in it a prayer of his uncle, made and sealed +up during a serious illness of the King, imploring Heaven to accept +his life as a ransom for his royal ward. This touching proof of +devotion dispelled all doubt; and the faithful duke was recalled +to the side of the now full-grown monarch. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Even during the minority of his nephew the Duke never entered his +presence in other than full court costume. On one occasion the +youthful king, playing with a younger brother, handed him a palm +leaf saying, "This shall be your patent of nobility. I make you +duke of such and such a place." The regent remonstrated, whereupon +the King excused himself by saying, "I was only in sport." The +Duke replied, "A king has no right to indulge in such sports," and +insisted that the younger lad receive the investiture and +<a name="page_87"><span class="page">Page 87</span></a> +emoluments. He was also, it is said, so careful of the sacred person +that he never left on it the mark of his rod. When the little king +deserved chastisement, the guardian always called up his own son, +Pechin, and thrashed him soundly. One pities the poor fellow who +was the innocent substitute more than one admires the scrupulous +and severe regent. The Chinese have a proverb which runs, "Whip +an ass and let a horse see it." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What shall be said of the successors of Cheng-wang? To account +for the meagre chronicles of previous dynasties one may invoke +the poverty of a language not yet sufficiently mature for the +requirements of history; but for the seeming insignificance of +the long line of Chous, who lived in the early bloom, if not the +rich fruitage, of the classic period, no such apology is admissible. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Some there were, doubtless, who failed to achieve distinction because +they had no foreign foe to oppose, no internal rebellion to suppress. +Others, again, were so hampered by system that they had nothing +better to do than to receive the homage of vassals. So wearied +was one among them, Mu-wang, the fifth in succession, with those +monotonous ceremonies that he betook himself to foreign travel +as a relief from ennui, or perhaps impelled by an innate love of +adventure. He delighted in horses; and, yoking eight fine steeds +to his chariot, he set off to see the world. A book full of fables +professes to record the narrative of his travels. He had, it says, +a magic whip which possessed the property of compressing the surface +of the earth into a small space. To-day Chinese envoys, with steam and +<a name="page_88"><span class="page">Page 88</span></a> +electricity at command, are frequently heard to exclaim: "Now at +last we have got the swift steeds and the magic whip of Mu-wang." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Two other kings, Li and Yu, are pointed at with the finger of scorn +as examples of what a king ought not to be. The latter set aside +his queen and her son in favour of a concubine and her son; and +so offended was high heaven by this unkingly conduct that the sun +hid his face in a total eclipse. This happened 775 B. C.; and it +furnishes the starting-point for a reliable chronology. For her +amusement the king caused the signal-fires to be lighted. She laughed +heartily to see the great barons rush to the rescue and find it was +a false alarm; but she did not smile when, not long after this, +the capital was attacked by a real foe, the father of her injured +rival. The signal-fires were again lighted; but the barons, having +once been deceived by the cry of "Wolf," took care not to expose +themselves again to derision. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The other king has not been lifted into the fierce light that beats +upon a throne by anything so tragic as a burning palace; but his +name is coupled with that of the former as a synonym of all that +is weak and contemptible. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The story of the House of Chou is not to be disposed of in a few +paragraphs, like the accounts of the preceding dynasties, because +it was preëminently the formative period of ancient China; +the age of her greatest sages, and the birthday of poetry and +philosophy. I shall therefore devote a chapter to the sages and +another to the reign of anarchy before closing the Book of Chou. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_89"><span class="page">Page 89</span></a> +CHAPTER XVII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE SAGES OF CHINA +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Confucius—Describes Himself as Editor, not Author—"Model +Teacher of All Ages"—Mencius—More Eloquent than his +Great Master—Lao-tse, the Founder of Taoism</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I shall not introduce the reader to all who justly bear the august +title of sage; for China has had more and wiser sages than any other +ancient country. Some of them may be referred to in the sequel; but +this chapter I shall devote chiefly to the two who by universal +consent have no equals in the history of the Empire—Confucius +and Mencius. These great men owe much of their fame to the learned +Jesuits who first brought them on the stage, clad in the Roman toga, +and made them citizens of the world by giving them the euphonious +names by which they are popularly known. Stripped of their disguise +they appear respectively as K'ung Fu-tse and Meng-tse. Exchanging +the <i>ore rotunda</i> of Rome for the sibillation of China, they +never could have been naturalised as they are now. +</p> + +<h4> +CONFUCIUS +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +Born in the year 549 B. C., Confucius was contemporaneous with +Isaiah and Socrates. Of a respectable but not opulent family he +had to struggle for his +<a name="page_90"><span class="page">Page 90</span></a> +education—a fact which in after years he was so far from +concealing that he ascribed to it much of his success in life. +To one who asked him, "How comes it that you are able to do so +many things," he replied, "I was born poor and had to learn." His +schoolmasters are unknown; and it might be asked of him, as it +was of a greater than Confucius, "How knoweth this man letters, +having never learned?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of his self-education, which continued through life, he gives the +following concise account: "At fifteen I entered on a life of study; +at thirty I took my stand as a scholar; at forty my opinions were +fixed; at fifty I knew how to judge and select; at sixty I never +relapsed into a known fault; at seventy I could follow my inclinations +without going wrong." Note how each stage marks an advance towards +moral excellence. Mark also that this passage gives an outline +of self-discipline. It says nothing of his books or of his work +as a statesman and a reformer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He is said to have had, first and last, three thousand disciples. +Those longest under instruction numbered twelve. They studied, not +with lectures and textbooks, as in modern schools, but by following +his footsteps and taking the impress of his character, much as +Peter and John followed the steps and studied the life of Christ. +Some of them followed Confucius when, bent on effecting a political +as well as an ethical reform, he travelled from court to court +among the petty principalities. They have placed it on record that +once, when exposed to great peril, he comforted them by saying, +"If Heaven has made me the depositary of these teachings, what +can my enemies do against +<a name="page_91"><span class="page">Page 91</span></a> +me?" Nobly conscious of a more than human mission, so pure were +his teachings that, though he taught morals, not religion, he might +fairly, with Socrates, be allowed to claim a sort of inspiration. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The one God, of whom he knew little, he called Heaven, and he always +spoke of Heaven with the profoundest reverence. When neglected or +misunderstood he consoled himself by saying, "Heaven knows me." +During a serious illness a disciple inquired if he should pray for +him, meaning the making of offerings at some temple. Confucius +answered, "I have long prayed," or "I have long been in the habit +of praying." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In letters he described himself as an "editor, not an author," +meaning that he had revised the works of the ancients, but had +published nothing of his own. Out of their poetry he culled three +hundred odes and declared that "purity of thought" might be stamped on +the whole collection. Into a confused mass of traditional ceremonies +be brought something like order, making the Chinese (if a trifle too +ceremonious) the politest people on earth. Out of their myths and +chronicles he extracted a trustworthy history, and by his treatment +of vice he made princes tremble, lest their heads should be exposed +on the gibbet of history. He gave much time to editing the music +of the ancients, but his work in that line has perished. This, +however, cannot be regarded as a very great loss, in view of the rude +condition in which Chinese music is still found. However deficient +his knowledge of the art, his passion for music was extraordinary. +After hearing a fine performance "he was unable for +<a name="page_92"><span class="page">Page 92</span></a> +three months to enjoy his food." A fifth task was the editing of +the <i>Yih-King</i>,[*] the book of divination compiled by Wen-wang. +How thoroughly he believed in it is apparent from his saying, "Should +it please Heaven to grant me five or ten years to study this book, +I would not be in danger of falling into great errors." He meant +that he would then be able to shape his conduct by the calculation +of chances. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: This and the preceding are the Five Classics, which, +like the five books of Moses, lie at the root of a nation's religion +and learning.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Great as were his labours in laying the foundation of literary +culture, the impression made by his personal intercourse and by +his collected sayings has been ten-fold more influential. They form +the substance of the Four Books which, from a similar numerical +coincidence, the Chinese are fond of comparing with our Four Gospels. +Confucius certainly gives the Golden Rule as the essence of his +teaching. True, he puts it in a negative form, "Do not unto others +what you would not have them do to you"; but he also says, "My +doctrine is comprehended in two words, <i>chung</i> and <i>shu</i>." +The former denotes fidelity; the latter signifies putting oneself +in the place of another, but it falls short of that active charity +which has changed the face of the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It were easy to point out Confucius' limitations and mistakes; yet +on the whole his merits were such that his people can hardly be +blamed for the exaggerated honours which they show to his memory. +They style him the "model teacher of all ages," but they do not +invoke him as a tutelary deity, nor do they represent +<a name="page_93"><span class="page">Page 93</span></a> +him by an image. Excessively honorific, their worship of Confucius +is not idolatry. +</p> + +<h4> +MENCIUS +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +A hundred years later Mencius was born, and received his doctrine +through the grandson of the Sage. More eloquent than his great +master, more bold in rebuking the vices of princes, he was less +original. One specimen of his teaching must suffice. One of the +princes asking him, "How do you know that I have it in me to become +a good ruler?" he replied, "I am told that, seeing the extreme +terror of an ox that was being led to the altar, you released it +and commanded a sheep to be offered in its stead. The ox was before +your eyes and you pitied it; the sheep was not before your eyes +and you had no pity on it. Now with such a heart if you would only +think of your people, so as to bring them before your eyes, you +might become the best of rulers." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mencius lost his father in his infancy, but his mother showed rare +good sense in the bringing up of her only child. Living near a +butcher, she noticed that the boy mimicked the cries of the pigs. +She then removed to the gate of a cemetery; but, noticing that the +child changed his tune and mocked the wailing of mourners, she +struck her tent and took up her abode near a high school. There +she observed with joy that he learned the manners and acquired the +tastes of a student. Perceiving, however, that he was in danger +of becoming lazy and dilatory, she cut the warp of her web and +said, "My son, this is what you are doing with the web of life." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_94"><span class="page">Page 94</span></a> +The tomb of each of these sages is in the keeping of one of his +descendants, who enjoys the emoluments of a hereditary noble. Mencius +himself says of the master whom he never saw, "Since men were born +on earth there has been no man like Confucius." +</p> + +<h4> +LAO-TSE +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +I cannot close this chapter without a word or two on Lao-tse, the +founder of Taoism. He bore the family name of <i>Li</i>, "plum-tree," +either from the fact that his cottage was in a garden or possibly +because, like the Academics, he placed his school in a grove of +plum-trees. The name by which he is now known signifies "old master," +probably because he was older than Confucius. The latter is said +to have paid him a visit to inquire about rites and ceremonies; +but Lao-tse, with his love of solitude and abstract speculation, +seems not to have exerted much influence on the mind of the rising +philosopher. In allusion to him, Confucius said, "Away from men +there is no philosophy—no <i>tao</i>." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Less honoured by the official class, Lao-tse's influence with the +masses of China has been scarcely less than that of his younger +rival. Like the other two sages he, too, has to-day a representative, +who enjoys an official status as high priest of the Taoist sect. +Chang Tien-shi dwells in a stately palace on the summit of the +Tiger and Dragon Mountain, in Kiangsi, as the head of one of the +three religions. But, alas! the sublime teachings of the founder +of Taoism have degenerated into a contemptible mixture of jugglery +and witchcraft. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_95"><span class="page">Page 95</span></a> +Not till five centuries later did Buddhism enter China and complete +the triad of religions—a triad strangely inharmonious; indeed +one can scarcely conceive of three creeds more radically antagonistic. +</p> + +<h4> +<a name="page_96"><span class="page">Page 96</span></a> +CHAPTER XVIII +</h4> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE WARRING STATES +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Five Dictators—Diplomacy and Strategy—A Brave +Envoy—Heroes Reconciled—Ts'in Extinguishes the House +of Chou</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the first half of the Chou dynasty the machinery moved with +such regularity that Confucius could think of no form of government +more admirable, saying, "The policy of the future may be foretold +for a hundred generations—it will be to follow the House +of Chou." The latter half was a period of misrule and anarchy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ambitions and jealousies led to petty wars. The King being too +feeble to repress them, these petty wars grew into vast combinations +like the leagues of modern Europe. Five of the states acquired at +different times such a preponderance that their rulers are styled +<i>Wu Pa</i>, the "five dictators." One of these, Duke Hwan of +western Shantung, is famous for having nine times convoked the +States-General. The dictator always presided at such meetings and +he was recognised as the real sovereign—as were the mayors +of the palace in France in the Merovingian epoch, or the shoguns +in Japan during the long period in which the Mikado was called +the "spiritual emperor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The legitimate sovereign still sat on his throne +<a name="page_97"><span class="page">Page 97</span></a> +in the central state; but he complained that his only function was +to offer sacrifices. The Chinese dictatorship was not hereditary, +or the world might have witnessed an exact parallel to the duplicate +sovereignty in Japan, where one held the power and the other retained +the title for seven hundred years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In China the shifting of power from hand to hand made those four +centuries an age of diplomacy. Whenever some great baron was suspected +of aspiring to the leadership, combinations were formed to curb his +ambitions; embassies sped from court to court; and armies were +marshalled in the field. Envoys became noted for courage and cunning, +and generals acquired fame by their skill in handling large bodies +of soldiers. Diplomacy became an art, and war a science. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +An international code to control the intercourse of states began to +take shape; but the diplomat was not embarrassed by a multiplicity +of rules. In negotiations individual character counted for more than +it does at the present day; nor must it be supposed that in the +absence of our modern artillery there was no room for generalship. +On the contrary, as battles were not decided by the weight of metal, +there was more demand for strategy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All this was going on in Greece at this very epoch: and, as Plutarch +indulges in parallels, we might point to compeers of Themistocles +and Epaminondas. The cause which in the two countries led to this +state of things was the existence of a family of states with a +common language and similar institutions; but in the Asiatic empire +the theatre was vastly more extensive, +<a name="page_98"><span class="page">Page 98</span></a> +and the operations in politics and war on a grander scale. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To the honour of the Chinese it must be admitted that they showed +themselves more civilised than the Greeks. The Persian invasion +was provoked by the murder of ambassadors by the Athenians. Of +such an act there is no recorded instance among the warring states +of China. It was reserved for our own day to witness in Peking that +exhibition of Tartar ferocity. The following two typical incidents +from the voluminous chronicles of those times may be appropriately +presented here: +</p> + +<h4> +A BRAVE ENVOY +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +The Prince of Ts'in, a semi-barbarous state in the northwest, answering +to Macedonia in Greece, had offered to give fifteen cities for +a kohinoor, a jewel belonging to the Prince of Chao (not Chou). +Lin Sian Ju was sent to deliver the jewel and to complete the +transaction. The conditions not being complied with, he boldly +put the jewel into his bosom and returned to his own state. That +he was allowed to do so—does it not speak as much for the +morality of Ts'in as for the courage of Lin? The latter is the +accepted type of a brave and faithful envoy. +</p> + +<h4> +HEROES RECONCILED +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +Jealous of his fame, Lien P'o, a general of Chao, announced that he +would kill Lin at sight. The latter took pains to avoid a meeting. +Lien P'o, taxing him with cowardice, sent him a challenge, to which +Lin responded, "You and I are the pillars of our +<a name="page_99"><span class="page">Page 99</span></a> +state. If either falls, our country is lost. This is why I have +shunned an encounter." So impressed was the general with the spirit +of this reply that he took a rod in his hand and presented himself +at the door of his rival, not to thrash the latter, but to beg +that he himself might be castigated. Forgetting their feud the two +joined hands to build up their native state much as Aristides and +Themistocles buried their enmity in view of the war with Persia. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As the Athenian orators thundered against Macedon so the statesmen +of China formed leagues and counterplots for and against the rising +power of the northwest. The type of patient, shrewd diplomacy is Su +Ts'in who, at the cost of incredible hardships in journeying from +court to court, succeeded in bringing six of the leading states +into line to bar the southward movement of their common foe. His +machinations were all in vain, however; for not only was his ultimate +success thwarted by the counterplots of Chang Yee, an equally able +diplomatist, but his reputation, like that of Parnell in our own +times, was ruined by his own passions. The rising power of Ts'in, +like a glacier, was advancing by slow degrees to universal sway. In +the next generation it absorbed all the feudal states. Chau-siang +subjugated Tung-chou-Kiun, the last monarch of the Chou dynasty, and +the House of Chou was exterminated by Chwang-siang, who, however, +enjoyed the supreme power for only three years (249-246 B. C). +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_100"><span class="page">Page 100</span></a> +CHAPTER XIX +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE HOUSE OF TS'IN, 246-206 B. C.<br /> +(2 Emperors) +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Ts'in Shi-hwang-ti, "Emperor First"—The Great Wall—The +Centralised Monarchy—The title Hwang-ti—Origin of the +name China—Burning of the Books—Expedition to +Japan—Revolution Places the House of Han on the Throne</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Viewed in the light of philosophy," says Schiller, "Cain killed +Abel because Abel's sheep trespassed on Cain's cornfield." From +that day to this farmers and shepherds have not been able to live +together in peace. A monument of that eternal conflict is the Great +Wall of China. Like the Roman Wall in North Britain, to compare +great things with small, its object was not to keep out the Tartars +but to reënforce the vigilance of the military pickets. That +end it seems to have accomplished for a long time. It was, the +Chinese say, the destruction of one generation and the salvation +of many. We shall soon see how it came to be a mere geographical +expression. For our present purpose it may also be regarded as a +chronological landmark, dividing ancient from mediæval China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With the House of Chou the old feudal divisions disappeared forever. +The whole country was brought +<a name="page_101"><span class="page">Page 101</span></a> +under the direct sway of one emperor who, for the first time in +the history of the people, had built up a dominion worthy of that +august title. This was the achievement of Yin Cheng, the Prince of +Ts'in. He thereupon assumed the new style of Hwang-ti. Hwangs and +Tis were no novelty; but the combination made it a new coinage and +justified the additional appellation of "the First," or Shi-hwang-ti. +Four imperishable monuments perpetuate his memory: the Great Wall, +the centralised monarchy, the title <i>Hwang-ti</i>, and the name +of China itself—the last derived from a principality which +under him expanded to embrace the empire. Where is there another +conqueror in the annals of the world who has such solid claims to +everlasting renown? Alexander overthrew many nations; but he set up +nothing permanent. Julius Cæsar instituted the Roman Empire; +but its duration was ephemeral in comparison with that of the empire +founded by Shi-hwang-ti, the builder of the Wall. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Though Shi-hwang-ti completed it, the wall was not the work of +his reign alone. Similarly the triumphs of his arms and arts were +due in large measure to his predecessors, who for centuries had +aspired to universal sway. Conscious of inferiority in culture, +they welcomed the aid and rewarded the services of men of talent +from every quarter. Some came as penniless adventurers from rival +or hostile states and were raised to the highest honours. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Six great chancellors stand conspicuous as having introduced law +and order into a rude society, and paved the way for final success. +Every one of these was a "foreigner." The princes whom they served +<a name="page_102"><span class="page">Page 102</span></a> +deserve no small praise for having the good sense to appreciate them +and the courage to follow their advice. Of some of these it might +be said, as Voltaire remarked of Peter the Great, "They civilised +their people, but themselves were savages." The world forgets how +much the great czar was indebted for education and guidance to Le +Fort, a Genevese soldier of fortune. Pondering that history one +is able to gauge the merits of those foreign chancellors, perhaps +also to understand what foreigners have done for the rulers of +China in our day. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Shi-hwang-ti was the real founder of the Chinese Empire. He is one +of the heroes of history; yet no man in the long list of dynasties +is so abused and misrepresented by Chinese writers. They make him +a bastard, a debauchee, and a fool. To this day he is the object +of undying hatred to every one who can hold a pen. Why? it may +be asked. Simply because he burned the books and persecuted the +disciples of Confucius. Those two things, well-nigh incredible +to us, are to the Chinese utterly incomprehensible. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Li-Sze, a native of Yen, was his chancellor, a genius more daring +and far-sighted than any of the other five. The welding together +of the feudal states into a compact unity was his darling scheme, +as it was that of his master. "Never," he said, "can you be sure +that those warring states will not reappear, so long as the books +of Confucius are studied in the schools; for in them feudalism is +consecrated as a divine institution." "Then let them be burned," +said the tyrant. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The adherents of the Sage were ejected from the +<a name="page_103"><span class="page">Page 103</span></a> +schools, and their teachings proscribed. This harsh treatment and +the search for their books naturally gave rise to counterplots. +"Put them to death," said the tyrant; and they went to the block, +not like Christian marytrs for religious convictions, but like the +Girondists of France for political principles. Their followers +offer the silly explanation that the books were destroyed that the +world might never know that there had been other dynasties, and +the scholars slaughtered or buried alive to prevent the reproduction +of the books. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The First Hwang-ti did not confine his ambition to China. He sent +a fleet to Japan; and those isles of the Orient came to view for +the first time in the history of the world. The fleet carried, +it is said, a crew of three thousand lads and lasses. It never +returned; but the traditions of Japan affirm that it arrived, and +the islanders ascribe their initiation into Chinese literature to +their invasion by that festive company—a company not unlike +that with which Bacchus was represented as making the conquest of +India. Their further acquaintance with China and its sages was +obtained through Korea, which was long a middle point of communication +between the two countries. It was, in fact, from the Shantung +promontory, near to Korea, that this flotilla of videttes was +dispatched. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What was the real object of that strange expedition? Chinese authors +assert that it was sent in search of the "elixir of life," but do +they not distort everything in the history of the First Hwang-ti? +The great monarch was, in fact, a devout believer in the fables +of Taoism, among which were stories of the Islands of +<a name="page_104"><span class="page">Page 104</span></a> +the Blest, and of a fountain of immortality, such as eighteen centuries +later stimulated the researches of Ponce de Leon. The study of +alchemy was in full blast among the Chinese at that time. It probably +sprang from Taoism; but, in my opinion, the ambitious potentate, +sighing for other worlds to conquer, sent that jolly troop as the +vanguard of an army. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In spite, however, of elixirs of life and fountains of youth, death +put an end to his conquests when he had enjoyed the full glories of +imperial power for only twelve years. His son reigned two years; and +the first of the imperial dynasties came to an end—overturned +by a revolution which placed the House of Han on the vacant throne. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_105"><span class="page">Page 105</span></a> +CHAPTER XX +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE HOUSE OF HAN, 206—B. C.—220 A. D.<br /> +(24 Emperors, 2 Usurpers) +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Liu-pang Founds Illustrious Dynasty—Restoration of the +Books—A Female Reign—The Three Religions—Revival +of Letters—Sze-ma Ts'ien, the Herodotus of China—Conquests +of the Hans</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The burning of the books and the slaughter of the scholars had +filled the public mind with horror. The oppressions occasioned by +the building of the Great Wall had excited a widespread discontent; +and Liu-pang, a rough soldier of Central China, took advantage of +this state of things to dispossess the feeble heir of the tyrant. +He founded a dynasty which is reckoned among the most illustrious +in the annals of the Empire. It takes the name of Han from the +river on the banks of which it rose to power. When Liu-pang was +securely seated on the throne one of his ministers proposed that he +should open schools and encourage learning. "Learning," exclaimed +the Emperor, "I have none of it myself, nor do I feel the need +of it. I got the empire on horseback." "But can you govern the +empire on horseback? That is the question," replied the minister. To +conciliate the favour of the learned, the Emperor not only rescinded +the persecuting edicts, but caused search to be made for the +<a name="page_106"><span class="page">Page 106</span></a> +lost books, and instituted sacrificial rites in honour of the Sage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Old men were still living who had committed those books to memory +in boyhood. One such, Fu-seng by name, was noted for his erudition; +and from his capacious memory a large portion of the sacred canon +was reproduced, being written from his dictation. The copies thus +obtained were of course not free from error. Happily a somewhat +completer copy, engraved on bamboo tablets, was discovered in the +wall of a house belonging to the Confucian family. Yet down to the +present day the Chinese classics bear traces of the tyrant's fire. +Portions are wanting and the lacunæ are always ascribed to +the "fires of Ts'in." The first chapter of the Great Study closes +with the pregnant words, "The source of knowledge is in the study +of things." Not a syllable is added on that prolific text. A note +informs the reader that there was a chapter on the subject, but that +it has been lost. Chinese scholars, when taxed with the barrenness +of later ages in every branch of science, are wont to make the +naïve reply, "Yes, and no wonder—how could it be otherwise +when the Sage's chapter on that subject has been lost?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After the second reign, that of Hwei-ti, we have the first instance +in Chinese history of a woman seizing the reins of government. +The Empress Lu made herself supreme, and such were her talents +that she held the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years. +Like Jezebel she "destroyed all the seed royal," and filled the +various offices with her kindred and favourites. At her death they +were butchered without +<a name="page_107"><span class="page">Page 107</span></a> +mercy, and a male heir to the throne was proclaimed. His posthumous +title <i>Wen-ti</i>, meaning the "learned" or "patron of letters," +marks the progress made by the revival of learning. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One might imagine that these literary emperors would have been +satisfied with the recovery of the Confucian classics; but no, a +rumour reached them that "there are sages in the West." The West +was India. An embassy was sent, 66 A. D., by Ming-ti to import +books and bonzes. The triad of religions was thus completed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Totally diverse in spirit and essence, the three religions could +hardly be expected to harmonise or combine. Confucianism exalts +letters, and lays stress on ethics to the neglect of the spiritual +world. Taoism inculcates physical discipline; but in practice it +has become the mother of degrading superstition—dealing in +magic and necromancy. Buddhism saps the foundations of the family +and enjoins celibacy as the road to virtue. Metempsychosis is its +leading doctrine, and to "think on nothing" its mental discipline. +It forbids a flesh diet and deprecates scholarship. Through imperial +patronage it acquired a footing in China, but it was long before +it felt at home there. As late as the eighth century Han Yu, the +greatest writer of the age, ridiculed the relics of Buddha and +called on his people to "burn their books, close their temples, +and make laity of their monks." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Yet Buddhism seems to have met a want. It has fostered a sympathy for +animal life, and served as a protest against the Sadducean tenets of +the lettered class. It long ago became so rooted in the minds of +<a name="page_108"><span class="page">Page 108</span></a> +the illiterate, who form nine-tenths of the population, that China +may be truly described as the leading Buddhist country of the globe.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: THE APOTHEOSIS OF MERCY +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +A LEGEND OF KUANYIN PUSA—IN NORTHERN BUDDHISM +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +Two images adorn this mountain shrine,<br> +Not marble chiselled out by Grecian art,<br> +But carved from wood with Oriental skill.<br> +In days of yore adored by pilgrim throngs,<br> +They languish now without a worshipper. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +High up a winding flight of stony steps<br> +See Gautama upon his lotus throne!<br> +More near the gate, her lovely face downcast,<br> +Sits Mercy's Goddess, pity in her eye,<br> +To greet the weary climbers and to hear<br> +Their many-coloured tales of woe and want. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +The Buddha, in sublime repose, sees not<br> +His prostrate worshippers; and they to him<br> +No prayer address, save hymns of grateful praise.[1]<br> +'Twas he who for a blinded world sought out<br> +The secret of escape from misery;<br> +The splendour of a royal court resigned,<br> +He found in poverty a higher realm!<br> +Yet greater far the victory, when he broke<br> +The chain of Fate and spurned the wheel of change.<br> +To suffering humanity he says,<br> +"Tread in my steps: You, too, may find release." +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote 1: Such as <i>Om mani padmi hum</i> ("O the jewel in the lotus")] +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +Like him, the Pusa was of princely birth,<br> +But not like him did she forsake a throne,<br> +Nor yet like him did she consent to see<br> +Nirvana's pearly gates behind her close.<br> +A field for charity her regal state.<br> +Her path with ever-blooming flowers she strewed,<br> +Her sympathy to joy a relish gave,<br> +To sorrows manifold it brought relief,<br> +Forgetting self she lived for others' weal<br> +Till higher than Meru her merit rose.[2] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote 2: Mt. Meru, the Indian Olympus.] +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +At length a Voice celestial smote her ear.<br> +"Nirvana's portal to thee open stands,<br> +The crown of Buddhaship is thine by right.<br> +No wave of care that shore can ever reach,<br> +No cry of pain again thine ear assail;<br> +But fixed in solitary bliss thou'lt see<br> +The circling ages rolling at thy feet!" +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Shall I then have no tidings of mankind?<br> +Such heaven a throne of glittering ice would be.<br> +That changeless bliss to others thou may'st give.<br> +Happiest am I th' unhappy to upraise.<br> +Oh for a thousand hands[3] the task to ply!<br> +To succour and relieve be mine," she said,<br> +"Bought though it be by share of suffering.<br> +Turn then the wheel,[4] and back to earth again." +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote 3: She is often so represented, as the symbol of present +Providence.] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote 4: <i>Lunhui</i>, the wheel of destiny, within which birth +and death succeed without end or interval.] +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +From out the blue came down the Voice once more:<br> +"Thy great refusal wins a higher prize;<br> +A kingdom new thy charity hath gained.[5]<br> +And there shalt thou, the Queen of Mercy, reign,<br> +Aloof from pain or weakness of thine own,<br> +With quickened sense to hear and power to save." +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote 5: She escapes the wheel, but remains on the border of +Nirvana, where, as her name signifies, she "hears the prayers of +men."] +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +Fair image thou! Almost I worship thee,<br> +Frail shadow of a Christ that hears and feels! +</p> + +<p class="right"> +W. A. P. M. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +PEARL GROTTO, NEAR PEKING, August 8, 1906.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Buddhist monasteries are to be seen on every hand. They are often +subsidised by the state; and even at the tomb of Confucius a temple +was erected called the "Hall of the Three Religions." In it the +<a name="page_109"><span class="page">Page 109</span></a> +image of Buddha is said to have occupied the seat of honour, but +prior to the date of my visit it had been demolished. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Each of these religions has a hierarchy: that of Confucius with +a lineal descendant of the Sage at its head; that of Lao-tse with +Chang Tien-shi, the arch-magician, as its high priest; and, higher +than all, that of Buddha with the Grand Lama of Tibet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Under the house of Han a beginning was made in the institution +of civil service examinations—a system which has continued +to dominate the Chinese intellect down to our time; but it was +not fully developed until the dynasty of T'ang. Belles-lettres +made a marked advance. The poetry of the period is more finished +<a name="page_110"><span class="page">Page 110</span></a> +than that of the Chous. Prose composition, too, is vigorous and +lucid. The muse of history claims the place of honour. Sze-ma Ts'ien, +the Herodotus of China, was born in this period. A glory to his +country, the treatment Sze-ma Ts'ien received at the hands of his +people exposes their barbarism. He had recommended Li Ling as a +suitable commander to lead an expedition against the Mongols. Li +Ling surrendered to the enemy, and Sze-ma Ts'ien, as his sponsor, was +liable to suffer death in his stead. Being allowed an alternative, +he chose to submit to the disgrace of emasculation, in order that +he might live to complete his monumental work—a memorial +better than sons and daughters. A pathetic letter of the unfortunate +general, who never dared to return to China, is preserved amongst +the choice specimens of prose composition. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not content with the Great Wall for their northern limit nor with +the "Great River" for their southern boundary, the Hans attempted to +advance their frontiers in both directions. In the north they added +the province of Kansuh, and in the other direction they extended +their operations as far south as the borders of Annam; but they +did not make good the possession of the whole of the conquered +territory. Szechuen and Hunan were, however, added to their domain. +The latter seems to have served as a penal colony rather than an +integral portion of the Empire. A poem by Kiayi, an exiled statesman +(200 B. c.), is dated from Changsha, its capital.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: See "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +Martin.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the south the savage tribes by which the Chinese +<a name="page_111"><span class="page">Page 111</span></a> +were opposed made a deep impression on the character of the people, +but left no record in history. Not so with the powerful foe encountered +in the north. Under the title of Shanyu, he was a forerunner of the +Grand Khan of Tartary—claiming equality with the emperors +of China and exchanging embassies on equal terms. His people, known +as the Hiunghu, are supposed to have been ancestors of the Huns. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_112"><span class="page">Page 112</span></a> +CHAPTER XXI +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE THREE KINGDOMS, THE NAN-PEH CHAO, AND THE SUI DYNASTY, 214-618 +A. D. +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>The States of Wei, Wu, and Shuh—A Popular Historical +Romance—Chu-koh Liang, an Inventive Genius—The "three +P's," Pen, Paper, Printing—The Sui Dynasty</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After four centuries of undisputed sway, the sceptre is seen ready +to fall from the nerveless hands of feeble monarchs. Eunuchs usurp +authority, and the hydra of rebellion raises its many heads. Minor +aspirants are easily extinguished; but three of them survive a +conflict of twenty years, and lay the foundation of short-lived +dynasties. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The noble structure erected by the Ts'ins and consolidated by the +Hans began to crumble at the beginning of its fifth century of +existence. In 221 A. D. its fragments were removed to three cities, +each of which claimed to be the seat of empire. The state of Wei +was founded by Tsao Tsao, with its capital at Lo-yang, the seat +of the Hans. He had the further advantage, as mayor of the palace, +of holding in his power the feeble emperor Hwan-ti, the last of the +house of Han. The state of Wu, embracing the provinces of Kiangsu, +Kiangsi, and Chehkiang, was established by Siun Kien, a man of +distinguished ability +<a name="page_113"><span class="page">Page 113</span></a> +who secured his full share of the patrimony. The third state was +founded by Liu Pi, a scion of the imperial house whose capital +was at Chingtu-fu in Szechuen. The historian is here confronted +by a problem like that of settling the apostolic succession of +the three popes, and he has decided in favour of the last, whom +he designates the "Later Han," mainly on the ground of blood +relationship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Authority for this is found in the dynastic history; but reference +may also be made to a romance which deals with the wars of those +three states. Composed by Lo Kwan-chung and annotated by Kin Sheng +Tan, it is the most popular historical novel in the whole range +of Chinese literature. Taking the place of a national epic, its +heroes are not of one type or all on one side, but its favourites +are found among the adherents of Liu Pi. It opens with a scene in +which Liu, Kwan, and Chang, like the three Tells on Grütli, +meet in a peach-garden and take vows of brotherhood—drinking +of a loving-cup tinged with the blood of each and swearing fidelity +to their common cause. Of the three brothers the first, Liu Pi, +after a long struggle, succeeds in founding a state in western +China. The second, Kwan Yü, is the beau-ideal of patriotic +courage. In 1594 he was canonised as the god of war. The gifted +author has, therefore, the distinction, beyond that of any epic +poet of the West, of having created for his countrymen their most +popular deity. Chang-fi, the youngest of the three brothers, is +the inseparable henchman of the Chinese Mars. He wields a spear +eighteen feet in length with a dash and impetuosity which no enemy +is able to withstand. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_114"><span class="page">Page 114</span></a> +Other characters are equally fixed in the public mind. Tsao Tsao, +the chief antagonist of Liu Pi, is not merely a usurper: he is a +curious compound of genius, fraud, and cruelty. Another conspicuous +actor is Lü Pu, an archer able to split a reed at a hundred +paces, and a horseman who performs prodigies on the field of battle. +He begins his career by shooting his adopted father, like Brutus +perhaps, not because he loved Tung Choh less, but China more. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All these and others too numerous to mention may be seen any day +on the boards of the theatre, an institution which, in China at +least, serves as a school for the illiterate.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: The stage is usually a platform on the open street +where an actor may be seen changing his rôle with his costume, +now wearing the mask of one and then of another of the contending +chieftains, and changing his voice, always in a falsetto key, to +produce something like variety.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Liu Pi succeeds, after a struggle of twenty years, in establishing +himself in the province of Szechuen; but he enjoys undisturbed dominion +in his limited realm for three years only, and then transmits his +crown to a youthful son whom he commends to the care of a faithful +minister. The youth when an infant has been rescued from a burning +palace by the brave Chang-fi, who, wrapping the sleeping child in +his cloak and mounting a fleet charger, cut his way through the +enemy. On reaching a distant point the child was still asleep. +The witty annotator adds the remark, "He continued to sleep for +thirty years." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The minister to whom the boy had been confided, Chu-koh Liang, +is the most versatile and inventive genius of Chinese antiquity. +As the founder of the house of Chou discovered in an old fisherman +<a name="page_115"><span class="page">Page 115</span></a> +a counsellor of state who paved his way to the throne, so Liu Pi +found this man in a humble cottage where he was hiding himself in +the garb of a peasant, <i>San Ku Mao Lu</i>, say the Chinese. He +"three times visited that thatched hovel" before he succeeded in +persuading its occupant to commit himself to his uncertain fortunes. +From that moment Chu-koh Liang served him as eyes and ears, teeth +and claws, with a skill and fidelity which have won the applause +of all succeeding ages. Among other things, he did for Liu Pi what +Archimedes did for Dionysius. He constructed military engines that +appeared so wonderful that, as tradition has it "he made horses +and oxen out of wood." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Entrusted by his dying master with the education of the young prince, +he has left two papers full of wise counsels which afford no little +help in drawing the line between fact and fiction. Unquestionably +Chu-koh Liang was the first man of his age in intellect and in such +arts and sciences as were known to his times. Yet no one invention +can be pointed to as having been certainly derived from Chu-koh +Liang. The author of the above-mentioned romance, who lived as +late as the end of the thirteenth century, constantly speaks of +his use of gunpowder either to terrify the enemy or to serve for +signals; but it is never used to throw a cannon-ball. It probably was +known to the Chinese of that date, as the Arab speaks of gunpowder +under the designation of "Chinese snow," meaning doubtless the +saltpetre which forms a leading ingredient. The Chinese had been +dabbling in alchemy for many centuries, and it is scarcely possible +that they +<a name="page_116"><span class="page">Page 116</span></a> +should have failed to hit on some such explosive. It is, however, +believed on good authority that they never made use of cannon in +war until the beginning of the fifteenth century. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are, however, three other inventions or improvements of the +known arts, which deserve notice in this connection, namely, the +"three Ps"—pen, paper and printing—all preëminently +instruments of peaceful culture. The pen in China is a hair pencil +resembling a paint-brush. It was invented by Mung-tien in the third +century B. c. Paper was invented by Tsai Lun, 100 B. c., and printing +by Fungtao in the tenth century of the present era. What is meant +by printing in this case is, however, merely the substitution of +wood for stone, the Chinese having been for ages in the habit of +taking rubbings from stone inscriptions. It was not long before they +divided the slab into movable characters and earned for themselves +the honour of having anticipated Gutenberg and Faust. Their divisible +types were never in general use, however, and block printing continues +in vogue; but Western methods are rapidly supplanting both. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The three states were reunited under the Tsin dynasty, 265 A. D. +This lasted for a century and a half and then, after a succession +of fifteen emperors, went down in a sea of anarchy, from the froth +of which arose more than half a score of contending factions, among +which four were sufficiently prominent to make for themselves a +place in history. Their period is described as that of the Nan-peh +Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms." The names of the principals +were Sung, Wei, Liang and Chin. The first +<a name="page_117"><span class="page">Page 117</span></a> +only was Chinese, the others belonging to various branches of the +Tartar race. The chiefs of the Liang family were of Tibetan +origin—a circumstance which may perhaps account for their +predilection for Buddhism. The second emperor of that house, Wu +Ti, became a Buddhist monk and retired to a monastery where he +lectured on the philosophy of Buddhism. He reminds one of Charles +the Fifth, who in his retirement amused himself less rationally +by repairing watches and striving, in vain, to make a number of +them keep identical time. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It may be noted that behind these warring factions there is in +progress a war of races also. The Tartars are forever encroaching +on the Flowery Land. Repulsed or expelled, they return with augmented +force; and even at this early epoch the shadow of their coming +conquest is plainly visible. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the confused strife of North and South the preponderance is +greatly on the side of the Tartars. The pendulum of destiny then +begins to swing in the other direction. Yan Kien, a Chinese general +in the service of a Tartar principality, took advantage of their +divisions to rally a strong body of his countrymen by whose aid +he cut them off in detail and set up the Sui dynasty, The Tartars +have always made use of Chinese in the invasion of China; and if +the Chinese were always faithful to their own country no invader +would succeed in conquering them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Though the Sui dynasty lasted less than thirty years (589-618, +three reigns), it makes a conspicuous figure on account of two +events: (1) a victorious expedition in the north which reached the +borders of +<a name="page_118"><span class="page">Page 118</span></a> +Turkestan, and (2) the opening of canals between the Yellow River +and the Yang-tse Kiang. The latter enterprise only hastened the +fall of the house. It was effected by forced labour; and the +discontented people were made to believe, as their historians continue +to assert, that its chief object was to enable a luxurious emperor +to display his grandeur to the people of many provinces. We shall +see how the extension of those canals precipitated the overthrow +of the Mongols as we have already seen how the completion of the +Great Wall caused the downfall of the house of Ts'in. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Yang-ti, the second emperor of the Sui dynasty, though not wanting +in energy, is notorious for his excesses in display and debauch. +He is reported to have hastened his accession to the throne by +the murder of his father. A peaceful end to such a reign would +have been out of keeping with the course of human events. Li Yuen, +one of his generals, rose against him, and he was assassinated +in Nanking. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By wisdom and courage Li Yuen succeeded in setting up a new dynasty +which he called <i>T'ang</i> (618 A. D.): After a long period of +unrest, it brought to the distracted provinces an era of unwonted +prosperity; it held the field for nearly three hundred years, and +surpassed all its predecessors in splendour. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_119"><span class="page">Page 119</span></a> +CHAPTER XXII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE T'ANG DYNASTY, 618-907 A. D.<br /> +(20 Emperors) +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>An Augustan Age—A Pair of Poets—The Coming of +Christianity—The Empress Wu—System of Examinations</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I have seen a river plunge into a chasm and disappear. After a +subterranean course of many miles it rose to the surface fuller, +stronger than before. No man saw from whence it drew its increment +of force, but the fact was undeniable. This is just what took place +in China at this epoch. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is comforting to know that during those centuries of turmoil the +Chinese were not wholly engrossed with war and rapine. The T'ang +dynasty is conspicuously the Augustan Age. Literature reappears +in a more perfect form than under the preceding reigns. The prose +writers of that period are to the present day studied as models +of composition, which cannot be affirmed of the writers of any +earlier epoch. Poetry, too, shone forth with dazzling splendour. +A galaxy of poets made their appearance, among whom two particular +stars were Tufu and Lipai, the Dryden and Pope of Chinese literature. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following specimen from Lipai who is deemed the highest poetical +genius in the annals of China, may +<a name="page_120"><span class="page">Page 120</span></a> +show, even in its Western dress, something of his peculiar talent: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +ON DRINKING ALONE BY MOONLIGHT[*] +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +Here are flowers and here is wine,<br> +But where's a friend with me to join<br> +Hand in hand and heart to heart<br> +In one full cup before we part? +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +Rather than to drink alone,<br> +I'll make bold to ask the moon<br> +To condescend to lend her face<br> +The hour and the scene to grace. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +Lo, she answers, and she brings<br> +My shadow on her silver wings;<br> +That makes three, and we shall be.<br> +I ween, a merry company +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +The modest moon declines the cup,<br> +But shadow promptly takes it up,<br> +And when I dance my shadow fleet<br> +Keeps measure with my flying feet. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +But though the moon declines to tipple<br> +She dances in yon shining ripple,<br> +And when I sing, my festive song,<br> +The echoes of the moon prolong. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +Say, when shall we next meet together?<br> +Surely not in cloudy weather,<br> +For you my boon companions dear<br> +Come only when the sky is clear. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: From "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +MARTIN.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The second emperor, Tai-tsung, made good his claims by killing +two of his brothers who were plotting against him. Notwithstanding +this inauspicious beginning +<a name="page_121"><span class="page">Page 121</span></a> +he became an able and illustrious sovereign. The twenty-three years +during which he occupied the throne were the most brilliant of +that famous dynasty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Si-ngan in Shensi, the capital of the T'angs, is a stone monument +which records the introduction of Christianity by Nestorians from +Syria. Favoured by the Emperor the new faith made considerable +headway. For five hundred years the Nestorian churches held up +the banner of the Cross; but eventually, through ignorance and +impurity, they sank to the level of heathenism and disappeared. +It is sad to think that this early effort to evangelise China has +left nothing but a monumental stone. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the funeral of Tai-tsung his successor, Kao-tsung, saw Wu, one +of his father's concubines, who pleased him so much that, contrary +to law, he took her into his own harem. Raised to the rank of empress +and left mother of an infant son, she swayed the sceptre after +Kao-tsung's death for twenty-one years. Beginning as regent she +made herself absolute. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A system of civil service examinations which had sprung up with +the revival of learning under the Hans was now brought to maturity. +For good or for evil it has dominated the mind of the Empire for +twelve centuries. Now, however, the leaders of thought have begun +to suspect that it is out of date. The new education requires new +tests; but what is to hinder their incorporation in the old system? +To abolish it would be fraught with danger, and to modify it is +a delicate task for the government of the present day. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That the scholar should hold himself in readiness +<a name="page_122"><span class="page">Page 122</span></a> +to serve the state no less than the soldier was an acknowledged +principle. It was reserved for the statesmen of T'ang to make it +the mainspring of the government. To them belongs the honour of +constructing a system which would stimulate literary culture and +skim the cream of the national talent for the use of the state. +It had the further merit of occupying the minds of ambitious youth +with studies of absorbing interest, thus diverting them from the +dangerous path of political conspiracy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Never was a more effective patronage given to letters. Without +founding or endowing schools the state said: "If you acquire the +necessary qualifications, we shall see that your exertions are +duly rewarded. Look up to those shining heights—see the gates +that are open to welcome you, the garlands that wait to crown your +triumphant course!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Annual examinations were held in every country; and the degree +of S. T. (<i>Siu-tsai</i>), equivalent to A. B., was conferred on +3 per cent. of the candidates. To fail was no disgrace; to have +entered the lists was a title to respect. Once in three years the +budding talent of the province convened in its chief city to compete +for the second degree. This was H. L. (<i>Hiao Lien</i>, "Filial +and Honest"), showing how ethical ideas continued to dominate the +literary tribunals. It is now <i>Chu-jin</i>, and denotes nothing +but promotion or prize man. The prize, a degree answering to A. +M., poetically described as a sprig of the <i>Olea fragrans</i>, +was the more coveted as the competitors were all honour men of the +first grade, and it was limited to one in a hundred. Its immediate +effect is such social +<a name="page_123"><span class="page">Page 123</span></a> +distinction that it is said poor bachelors are common, but poor +masters are rare. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If the competition stopped here it would be an Olympic game on a +grander scale. But there are loftier heights to be climbed. The +new-made masters from all the provinces proceed to the imperial +capital to try their strength against the assembled scholars of +the Empire. Here the prizes are three in a hundred. The successful +student comes forth a Literary Doctor—a <i>Tsin-shi</i>, +"fit for office." To all such is assured a footing, high or low, +on the official ladder. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But another trial remains by which those who are good at the high +leap may at a single bound place themselves very near the top. +This final contest takes place in the palace—nominally in +the presence of the Emperor, and the questions are actually issued +by him. Its object is to select the brightest of the doctors for +chairs in the Hanlin Academy—an institution in which the +humblest seat is one of exalted dignity. How dazzling the first +name on that list! The <i>Chuang Yuen</i> or senior wrangler takes +rank with governors and viceroys. An unfading halo rests on the place +of his birth. Sometimes in travelling I have seen a triumphal arch +proclaiming that "Here was born the laureate of the Empire." Such an +advertisement raises the value of real estate; and good families +congregate in a place on which the sun shines so auspiciously. A +laureate who lived near me married his daughter to a viceroy, and +her daughter became consort to the Emperor Tungchi. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What then are the objections to a regulation which is so democratic +that it makes a nobleman of every +<a name="page_124"><span class="page">Page 124</span></a> +successful scholar and gives to all the inspiration of equal +opportunity? They are, in a word, that it has failed to expand +with the growing wants of the people. The old curriculum laid down +by Confucius, "Begin with poetry; make etiquette your strong point; +and finish off with music," was not bad for his day, but is utterly +inadequate for ours, unless it be for a young ladies seminary. The +Sage's chapter on experiment as the source of knowledge—a chapter +which might have anticipated the <i>Novum Organum</i>—having +been lost, the statesmen of the T'ang period fell into the error +of leaving in their scheme no place for original research. This it +was that made the mind of China barren of discoveries for twelve +centuries. It was like putting a hood on the keen-eyed hawk and +permitting him to fly at only such game as pleased his master. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The chief requirement was superficial polish in prose and verse. +The themes were taken exclusively from books, the newest of which +was at that time over a thousand years old. To broach a theory +not found there was fatal; and to raise a question in physical +science was preposterous. Had anyone come forward with a new machine +he might have been rewarded; but no such inventor ever came because +the best minds in the Empire were trained to trot blindfold on +a tread-mill in which there was no possibility of progress. Had +the mind of the nation been left free and encouraged to exert its +force, who can doubt that the country that produced the mariner's +compass might have given birth to a Newton or an Edison? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After Wu none of the monarchs of this dynasty +<a name="page_125"><span class="page">Page 125</span></a> +calls for notice. The last emperor was compelled to abdicate; and +thus, after a career of nearly three centuries bright with the +light of genius and prolific of usages good and bad that set the +fashion for after ages, this great house was extinguished. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_126"><span class="page">Page 126</span></a> +CHAPTER XXIII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE SUNG DYNASTY, 960-1280 A. D.<br /> +(18 Emperors) +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>The Five Philosophers—Wang Ngan-shi, Economist—The +Kin Tartars—The Southern Sungs—Aid of Mongols Invoked +to Drive Out the Kins—Mongols Exterminate Sungs</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the fall of the house of T'ang, a score of factions contended for +the succession. During the fifty-three years preceding the establishment +of the Sungs, no less than five of them rose to temporary prominence +sufficient to admit of being dubbed a "dynasty." Collectively they +are spoken of as the "Five Dynasties" (907-960). +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their names are without exception a repetition of those of former +dynasties, Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, Chou with the prefix +"Later"—suggesting that each claimed to be a lineal successor +of some previous imperial family. Their struggles for power, not +more instructive than a conflict of gladiators, are so devoid of +interest that the half-century covered by them may be passed over +as a blank. It may, however, be worth while to remind the reader +that as the House of Han was followed by the wars of the "Three +Kingdoms," and that of Ts'in by a struggle of North and South under +four states, so the House of T'ang was now +<a name="page_127"><span class="page">Page 127</span></a> +succeeded by five short-lived "dynasties," with a mean duration of +scarcely more than ten years. The numerical progression is curious; +but it is more important to notice a historical law which native +Chinese writers deduce from those scenes of confusion. They state +it in this form: "After long union the empire is sure to be divided; +after long disruption it is sure to be reunited." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +So deep an impression has this historical generalisation made on +the public mind that if the empire were now to be divided between +foreign nations, as it has been more than once, the people would +confidently expect it to be reintegrated under rulers of their +own race. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The undivided Sung dynasty held sway from 960 to 1127; that of +the southern Sungs from 1127 to 1280. The founder of the house was +Chao-kwang-yun, an able leader of soldiers and an astute politician. +So popular was he with his troops that they called him to the throne +by acclamation. He was drunk, it is said, when his new dignity was +announced, and he had no alternative but to wear the yellow robe +that was thrown on his shoulders. Undignified as was his debut, +his reign was one continued triumph. After a tenure of seventeen +years, he left his successor in possession of nearly the whole of +China Proper together with a fatal legacy of lands on the north. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The two main features of the Sung period are the rise of a great +school of philosophy and the constant encroachment of the Tartars. The +two Chengs being brothers, the names of the five leading philosophers +fall into an alliterative line of four syllables, <i>Cheo, +<a name="page_128"><span class="page">Page 128</span></a> +Cheng, Chang, Chu</i>. Acute in speculation and patient in research, +they succeeded in fixing the interpretation of the sacred books, +and in establishing a theory of nature and man from which it is +heresy to dissent. The rise of their school marks an intellectual +advance as compared with the lettered age of the T'angs. It was an +age of daring speculation; but, as constantly happens in China, +the authority of these great men was converted into a bondage for +posterity. The century in which they flourished (1020-1120) is +unique in the history of their country as the age of philosophy. +In Europe it was a part of the Dark Ages; and at that time the +Western world was convulsed by the Crusades. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most eminent of the five philosophers was Chu Fu-tse. Not the +most original, he collected the best thoughts of all into a system; +and his erudition was such that the whole range of literature was +his domain. Chu Hi, the Coryphæus of mediæval China, +stands next in honour after that incomparable pair, Confucius and +Mencius. Contemporary with the earlier members of this coterie +appeared Wang Ngan-shi, an economist, of rare originality. His +leading principle was the absorption by the state of all industrial +enterprises—state ownership of land, and in general a paternal +system to supersede private initiative. So charming was the picture +presented in his book "The Secret of Peace" (still extant) that +the Emperor gave him <i>carte blanche</i> to put his theory into +practice. In practical life however it was a failure—perhaps +because he failed to allow for the strength or weakness of materials +and instruments. His book is a Chinese +<a name="page_129"><span class="page">Page 129</span></a> +Utopia, nearly akin to those of Plato and Sir John More. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the northeast beyond the Wall were two Tartar kingdoms, one +of which was the Kin or "Golden Horde"—remote ancestors of +the Manchu dynasty. A constant menace to the settled population of +the "inner land," they obtained possession of Peking in 1118. For +a time they were kept at bay by a money payment which reminds one +of the <i>Danegeld</i> paid by our forefathers to the sea-robbers +of northern Europe. Payments not being punctual, the Tartars occupied +portions of the northern provinces, and pushed their way as far south +as K'ai-fung-fu, the capital of the Empire. The Emperor retired +to Nanking, leaving in command his son, who, unable to resist the +Tartars, made a disgraceful peace. A heavy ransom was paid to avert +the sacking of the city; and all the region on the north of the +Yellow River passed under Tartar sway. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Repenting of their hard bargain, the Chinese provoked a renewal +of hostilities, which resulted in a heavier downfall. The capital +surrendered after a severe siege, and the Emperor with his court +was carried into captivity. The next emperor acknowledged himself +a vassal of the Tartars; but peace on such conditions could not +be of long duration. An intermittent warfare was kept up for more +than a century, in the course of which Nanking was pillaged, and +the court fell back successively on Hangchow and Wenchow. When +there was no longer a place of safety on the mainland the wretched +fugitives sought refuge on an island. Fitting out a fleet the Tartars +continued the +<a name="page_130"><span class="page">Page 130</span></a> +pursuit; but more used to horses than ships, the fleet was annihilated, +and the expiring dynasty obtained a new lease of life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This was about 1228. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors +had carried everything before them in the northwest. Thirsting for +revenge, the Chinese appealed for aid to this new power—and +the Mongols found an opportunity to bag two birds instead of one. +As a Chinese fable puts it: "A sea-bird failing to make a breakfast +on a shellfish was held in its grip until a fisherman captured +both." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Kins were driven back into Manchuria; and the Chinese without +asking leave of their allies reoccupied their old capital. But +the revival of the Sungs was no part of the Mongol programme. The +Sungs declining to evacuate K'ai-fung-fu and to cede to the Mongols +the northern half of the empire, the latter resolved on a war of +extermination. After a bitter struggle of fifteen years, the infant +emperor and his guardians again committed their fortunes to the sea. +The Mongols, more lucky than the other Tartars, were victorious +on water as well as on land; and the last scion of the imperial +house drowned himself to escape their fury (1280). +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_131"><span class="page">Page 131</span></a> +CHAPTER XXIV +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE YUEN OR MONGOL DYNASTY, 1280-1368<br /> +(10 Emperors) +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Kublai Khan—First Intercourse of China with Europe—Marco +Polo—The Grand Canal</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Parts of China had been frequently overrun by foreign conquerors; +but the Mongols were the first to extend their sway over the whole +country. The subjugation of China was the work of Kublai, grandson +of Genghis, who came to the throne in 1260, inheriting an empire +more extensive than Alexander or Cæsar had dreamed of. In +1264 the new khan fixed his court at Peking and proceeded to reduce +the provinces to subjection. Exhausted and disunited as they were +the task was not difficult, though it took fifteen years to complete. +Ambition alone would have been sufficient motive for the conquest, +but his hostility was provoked by perfidy—especially by the +murder of envoys sent to announce his accession. "Without good +faith," says Confucius, "no nation can exist." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By the absorption of China the dominions of Kublai were made richer, +if not greater in extent, than those of his grandfather, while the +splendour of his court quite eclipsed that of Genghis Khan. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unknown to the ancient Romans, China was revealed to their +mediæval successors by the Mongol +<a name="page_132"><span class="page">Page 132</span></a> +conquest. In 1261 two Venetian merchants, Nicolo and Matteo Polo, +made their way to Bokhara, whence, joining an embassy from India, +they proceeded to Kublai's capital at Xanadu (or Shangtu) near +the site of Peking. They were the first white men the Grand Khan +had ever seen, and he seems to have perceived at once that, if not +of superior race, they were at least more advanced in civilisation +than his own people; for, besides intrusting them with letters to +the Pope, he gave them a commission to bring out a hundred Europeans +to instruct the Mongols in the arts and sciences of the West. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1275 they returned to Peking without other Europeans, but accompanied +by Marco Polo, the son of Nicolo. They were received with more +honour than on their first visit, and the young man was appointed +to several positions of trust in the service of the monarch. After +a sojourn of seventeen years, the three Polos obtained permission +to join the escort of a Mongol princess who was going to the court +of Persia. In Persia they heard of the death of their illustrious +patron, and, instead of returning to China, turned their faces +homeward, arriving at Venice in 1295. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Having been captured by the Genoese, Marco Polo while in prison +dictated his wonderful story. At first it was looked on as a romance +and caused its author to receive the sobriquet of "Messer Millione"; +but its general accuracy has been fully vindicated. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The chief effect of that narrative was to fire the imagination +of another Italian and lead him by steering to the west to seek +a short cut to the Eldorado. +<a name="page_133"><span class="page">Page 133</span></a> +How strange the occult connection of sublunary things! The Mongol +Kublai must be invoked to account for the discovery of America! +The same story kindled the fancy of Coleridge, in the following +exquisite fragment, which he says came to him in a vision of the +night: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan<br> + A stately pleasure-dome decree:<br> + Where Alph, the sacred river, ran<br> + Through caverns measureless to man,<br> + Down to a sunless sea."<br> + —<i>Kubla Khan.</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Still another Italian claims mention as having made some impression +on the court of Kublai. This was Corvino, a missionary sent by the +Pope; but of his church, his schools, and his convents, there were +left no more traces than of his predecessors, the Nestorians. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The glory of Kublai was not of long duration. The hardy tribes of +the north became enervated by the luxury and ease of their rich +patrimony. "Capua captured Hannibal." Nine of the founder's descendants +followed him, not one of whom displayed either vigour or statesmanship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their power ebbed more suddenly than it rose. Shun-ti, the last +of the house, took refuge behind the Great Wall from the rising +tide of Chinese patriotism; and after a tenure of ninety years, +or of two centuries of fluctuating dominion, reckoning from the +rise of Genghis Khan, the Yuen dynasty came to an untimely end. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The magnificent waterway, the Grand Canal, remains an imperishable +monument of the Mongol +<a name="page_134"><span class="page">Page 134</span></a> +sway. As an "alimentary canal" it was needed for the support of +the armies that held the people in subjection; and the Mongols +only completed a work which other dynasties had undertaken. A +description of it from personal observation is given in Part I of +this work (<a href="#page_31">page 31</a>). It remains to be said +that the construction of the Canal, like that of the Great Wall, +was a leading cause of the downfall of its builders. Forced labour +and aggravated taxation gave birth to discontent; rebellion became +rife, and the Mongols were too effeminate to take active measures +for its suppression. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_135"><span class="page">Page 135</span></a> +CHAPTER XXV +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE MING DYNASTY, 1368-1644 A. D.<br /> +(16 Emperors) +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Humble Origin of the Founder—Nanking and Peking as +Capital—First Arrival of European Ships—Portuguese, +Spaniards, and Dutch Traders—Arrival of Missionaries—Tragic +End of the Last of the Mings</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Humble as was the origin of the founder of the House of Han, spoken +of as <i>Pu-i</i>, "A peasant clothed in homespun," that of the +Father of the Mings was still more obscure. A novice or servant +(<i>sacrificulus</i>) in a Buddhist monastery, Chu Yuen Chang felt +called to deliver his people from oppression. At first regarded as +a robber chief, one of many, his rivals submitted to his leadership +and the people accepted his protection. Securing possession of +Nanking, a city of illustrious memories and strong natural defences, +he boldly proclaimed his purpose. After twenty years of blood and +strategy, he succeeded in placing the Great Wall between him and +the retreating Mongols. Proud of his victory he assumed for the +title of his reign <i>Hungwu</i>, "Great Warrior," and chose +<i>Ming</i>, "Luminous," for that of his dynasty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Leaving his son, the Prince of Yen, at Peking, to hold the Tartars +in check, Hungwu spent the remaining +<a name="page_136"><span class="page">Page 136</span></a> +years of his reign at his original capital, and then left the sceptre +to his grandson. The Prince of Yen, uncle of the youthful emperor, +feeling the slight implied in his father's choice, raised an army +and captured Nanking. A charred corpse being shown to him as that +of the emperor, he caused it to be interred with becoming rites, +and at once assumed the imperial dignity, choosing for his reigning +title <i>Yungloh</i>, "Perpetual Joy." He also removed the seat of +government to Peking, where it has remained for five centuries. The +"Thesaurus of Yungloh," a digest of Chinese literature so extensive +as to form a library in itself, remains a monument to his patronage +of letters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A tragic episode in the history of the Mings was the capture of the +next emperor by the Mongols, who, however, failed to take Peking. +It was easier to make a new emperor than to ransom the captive. +His brother having been proclaimed, the Tartars sent their captive +back, hoping that a war between the brothers would weaken their +enemy. Retiring into private life he appeared to renounce his claim; +but after the death of his brother he once more occupied the throne. +What a theme for a romance! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Great Britain was described by a Roman as "almost cut off from the +whole world" because it was not accessible by land. China had long +been cut off from the Western world because it was not accessible +by sea. The way to India was opened by Diaz and Gama in 1498; and +the first Portuguese ships appeared at Canton in 1511. Well-treated +at first, others came in greater numbers. Their armaments were so +formidable as to excite suspicion; and their +<a name="page_137"><span class="page">Page 137</span></a> +acts of violence kindled resentment. Under these combined motives +a massacre of the foreign traders was perpetrated, and Andrade, a +sort of envoy at Peking, was thrown into prison and beheaded. The +trading-posts were abolished except at Macao, where the Portuguese +obtained a footing by paying an annual rent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After the Portuguese came the Spaniards, who appear to have been +satisfied with the Philippine archipelago, rather than provoke a +conflict with the Portuguese. The Chinese they had little reason +to dread, as the superiority of their arms would have enabled them +to seize portions of the seacoast, though not to conquer the Empire +as easily as they did the Mexicans and Peruvians. Perhaps, too, +they were debarred by the same authority which divided the Western +continent between the two Iberian powers. The Chinese becoming too +numerous at Manila, the Spaniards slaughtered them without mercy, +as if in retaliation for the blood of their cousins, or taking a +hint from the policy of China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1622 the Dutch endeavoured to open trade with China, but their +advances being rejected, doubtless through secret opposition from +the Portuguese, they seized the Pescadores, and later established +themselves on Formosa, whence they were eventually expelled by +Koxinga, a Chinese freebooter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The church founded by Corvino at Peking perished in the overthrow +of the Mongols. The Portuguese traders disapproved of missions, +as tending to impose restraint on their profligacy and to impart +to China the strength that comes from knowledge. The narrow +<a name="page_138"><span class="page">Page 138</span></a> +policy of the Mings, moreover, closed the door against the introduction +of a foreign creed. Yet it is strange that half a century elapsed +before any serious attempt was made to give the Gospel to China. +In 1552 St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, arrived +at Macao. He and his fellow Jesuits were indirect fruits of the +Protestant Reformation—belonging to an order organised for +the purpose of upholding and extending the power of the Holy See. +After wonderful success in India, the Straits, and Japan, Xavier +appeared in Chinese waters, but he was not allowed to land. He +expired on the island of Shang-chuen or St. John's, exclaiming "O +rock, rock, when wilt thou open?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ricci, who came in 1580, met with better success: but it cost him +twenty years of unceasing effort to effect an entrance to Peking. +Careful to avoid giving offence, and courtly in manners, his science +proved to be the master-key. Among the eminent men who favoured his +mission was Sü of Shanghai, whom he baptised by the name of +Paul. Not only did he help Ricci to translate Euclid for a people +ignorant of the first elements of geometry, but he boldly came to +the defence of missionaries when it was proposed to expel them. +His memorial in their favour is one of the best documents in the +defence of Christianity. Among the converts to the Christian faith +there are no brighter names than Paul Sü and his daughter +Candida. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Ming dynasty compares favourably in point of duration with +most of the imperial houses that preceded it; but long before the +middle of its third century it began to show signs of decay. In Korea +<a name="page_139"><span class="page">Page 139</span></a> +it came into collision with the Japanese, and emerged with more +credit than did its successor from a war with the same foe, which +began on the same ground three centuries later. In the northeast +the Mings were able to hold the Manchus at bay, notwithstanding +an occasional foray; but a disease of the heart was sapping the +vigour of the dynasty and hastening its doom. Rebellion became +rife; and two of the aspirants to the throne made themselves masters +of whole provinces. One depopulated Szechuen; the other ravaged +Shansi and advanced on Peking. Chungchen, the last of the Mings, +realising that all was lost, hanged himself in his garden on the +Palatine Hill, after stabbing his daughter, as a last proof of +paternal affection (1643). +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_140"><span class="page">Page 140</span></a> +CHAPTER XXVI +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE TA-TS'ING DYNASTY, 1644— +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>The Manchus, Invited to Aid in Restoring Order, Seat their Own +Princes on the Throne—the Traitor, General Wu +San-kwei—Reigns of Shunchi and Kanghi—Spread of +Christianity—A Papal Blunder—Yung-cheng Succeeded by +Kieñlung, who Abdicates Rather than Reign Longer than his +Grandfather—Era of Transformation</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Manchus had been preparing for some generations for a descent +on China. They had never forgotten that half the Empire had once +been in the possession of their forefathers, the Kin Tartars; and +after one or two abortive attempts to recover their heritage they +settled themselves at Mukden and watched their opportunity. It +came with the fall of the Mings. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Wu San-kwei, a Chinese general whose duty it was to keep them in +bounds, threw open the gate of the Great Wall and invoked their +assistance to expel the successful rebel. His family had been +slaughtered in the fall of the capital; he thirsted for revenge, +and without doubt indulged the hope of founding a dynasty. The +Manchus agreed to his terms, and, combining their forces with his, +advanced on Peking. Feeling himself unable to hold the city, the +<a name="page_141"><span class="page">Page 141</span></a> +rebel chief burnt his palace and retreated, after enjoying the +imperial dignity ten days. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +General Wu offered to pay off his mercenaries and asked them to +retire beyond the Wall. Smiling at his simplicity, they coolly +replied that it was for him to retire or to enter their service. +It was the old story of the ass and the stag. An ass easily drove +a stag from his pasture-ground by taking a man on his back; but the +man remained in the saddle. Forced to submit, the General employed +his forces to bring his people into subjection to their hereditary +enemy. Rewarded with princely rank, and shielded by the reigning +house, he has escaped the infamy which he deserved at the hands of +the historians. A traitor to his country, he was also a traitor to +his new masters. He died in a vain attempt at counter-revolution. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The new dynasty began with Shunchi, a child of six years, his uncle +the Prince Hwai acting as regent. Able and devoted, this great +man, whom the Manchus call Amawang, acquitted himself of his task +in a manner worthy of the model regent, the Duke of Chou. His task +was not an easy one. He had to suppress contending factions, to +conciliate a hostile populace, and to capture many cities which +refused to submit. In seven years he effected the subjugation of +the eighteen provinces, everywhere imposing the tonsure and the +"pigtail" as badges of subjection. Many a myriad of the Chinese +forfeited their heads by refusing to sacrifice their glossy locks; +but the conquest was speedy, and possession secure. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The success of the Manchus was largely due to the fact that they +found the empire exhausted by internal +<a name="page_142"><span class="page">Page 142</span></a> +strife and came as deliverers. The odium of overturning the Ming +dynasty did not rest on them. While at Mukden they had cultivated +the language and letters of the "Inner land" and they had before +them, for guidance or warning, the history of former conquests. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They have improved on their predecessors, whether Kins or Mongols; +and with all their faults they have given to China a better government +than any of her native dynasties. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Shunchi (1644-1662) passed off the stage at the age of twenty-four +and left the throne to a son, Kanghi (1662-1723), who became the +greatest monarch in the history of the Empire. During his long reign +of sixty-one years, Kanghi maintained order in his wide domain, +corrected abuses in administration, and promoted education for both +nationalities. It is notable that the most complete dictionary +of the Chinese language bears the imprimatur of Kanghi, a Tartar +sovereign. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For his fame in the foreign world, Kanghi is largely indebted to +the learned missionaries who enjoyed his patronage, though he took +care to distinguish between them and their religion. The latter had +been proscribed by the regents, who exercised supreme power during +his minority. Their decree was never revoked; and persecution went on +in the provinces, without the least interference from the Emperor. +Still his patronage of missionaries was not without influence on +the status of Christianity in his dominions. It gained ground, +and before the close of his reign it had a following of over three +hundred thousand converts. Near the close of his reign he pointedly +<a name="page_143"><span class="page">Page 143</span></a> +condemned the foreign faith, and commanded the expulsion of its +propagators, except a few, who were required in the Board of +Astronomy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The favourable impression made by Ricci had been deepened by Schaal +and Verbiest. The former under Shunchi reformed the calendar and +obtained the presidency of the Astronomical Board. He also cast +cannon to aid the Manchu conquest. The latter did both for Kanghi, +and filled the same high post. Schaal employed his influence to +procure the building of two churches in Peking. Verbiest made use of +his to spread the faith in the provinces. The Church might perhaps +have gained a complete victory, had not dissensions arisen within her +own ranks. Dominicans and Franciscans entering the field denounced +their forerunners for having tolerated heathen rites and accepted +heathen names for God. After prolonged discussions and contradictory +decrees the final verdict went against the Jesuits. In this decision +the Holy See seems not to have been guided by infallible wisdom. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kanghi, whose opinion had been requested by the Jesuits, asserted +that by <i>Tien</i> and <i>Shang-ti</i> the Chinese mean the Ruler +of the Universe, and that the worship of Confucius and of ancestors +is not idolatry, but a state or family ceremony. By deciding against +his views, the Pope committed the blunder of alienating a great +monarch, who might have been won by a liberal policy. The prohibition +of the cult of ancestors—less objectionable in itself than the +worship of saints—had the effect of arming every household +against a faith that aimed to subvert their family altars. The +dethronement of <i>Shang-ti</i> (a name accepted by +<a name="page_144"><span class="page">Page 144</span></a> +most Protestant missionaries) and the substitution of <i>Tien Chu</i>, +could not fail to shock the best feelings of devout people. <i>Tien +Chu</i>, if not a new coinage, was given by papal fiat an artificial +value, equivalent to "Lord of all"—whereas it had previously +headed a list of divisional deities, such as Lord of Heaven, Lord +of Earth, Lord of the Sea, etc. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What wonder that for two centuries Christianity continued to be a +prohibited creed! The ground thus lost by a papal blunder it has +never regained. The acceptance of <i>Tien</i> and <i>Shang-ti</i> +by Protestants might perhaps do something to retrieve the situation, +if backed by some form of respect for ancestors. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kanghi was succeeded by his son Yungcheng (1722-1736), who was +followed by Kienlung (1736-1796), during whose reign the dynasty +reached the acme of splendour. Under Kienlung, Turkestan was added to +the empire. The Grand Lama of Tibet was also enrolled as a feudatory; +but he never accepted the laws of China, and no doubt considered +himself repaid by spiritual homage. No territory has since been +added, and none lost, if we except the cession of Formosa to Japan +and of Hong Kong to Great Britain. The cessions of seaports to +other powers are considered as temporary leases. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After a magnificent reign of sixty years, Kienlung abdicated in +favour of his fifth son, Kiak'ing, for the whimsical reason that +he did not wish to reign longer than his grandfather. In Chinese +eyes this was sublime. Why did they not enact a law that no man +should surpass the longevity of his father? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As to Kiak'ing, who occupied the throne for twenty-four +<a name="page_145"><span class="page">Page 145</span></a> +years, weak and dissolute is a summary of his character. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The next four reigns came under the influence of new forces. They +belong to the era of transformation, and may properly be reserved +for Part III. +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_147"><span class="page">Page 147</span></a> +PART III +</h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_149"><span class="page">Page 149</span></a> +CHAPTER XXVII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE OPENING OF CHINA, A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS—GOD IN HISTORY +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Prologue—Act 1, the Opium War—(Note on the Taiping +Rebellion)—Act 2, the "Arrow" War—Act 3, War with +France—Act 4, War with Japan—Act 5, the Boxer War</i> +</p> + +<h4> +PROLOGUE +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +If one were asked to name the most important three events that took +place in Asia in the last century, he could have no hesitation in +pointing to the extension of the Indian Empire and the renovation +of Japan as two of them. But where would he look for the third? +Possibly to some upheaval in Turkey, Persia, or Asiatic Russia. +In my opinion, however, China is the only country whose history +supplies the solution of the problem. The opening of that colossal +empire to unrestricted intercourse with other countries was not a +gradual evolution from within—it was the result of a series +of collisions between the conservatism of the extreme Orient and +the progressive spirit of the Western world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Each of those collisions culminated in a war, giving rise to a +cloud of ephemeral literature, in which a student might easily lose +his way, and which it would +<a name="page_150"><span class="page">Page 150</span></a> +require the lifetime of an antediluvian to exhaust. I think, therefore, +that I shall do my readers a service if I set before them a concise +outline of each of those wars, together with an account of its causes +and consequences. Not only will this put them on their guard against +misleading statements; it will also furnish them with a syllabus of +the modern history of China in relation to her intercourse with +other nations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During the past seven decades the Chinese Empire has been no less +than five times in conflict with foreign powers; and on each occasion +her policy has undergone a modification more or less extensive. +Taking these five conflicts seriatim—without touching on +those internal commotions whose rise and fall resembles the tides +of the ocean—I shall ask my readers to think of the Flowery +Land as a stage on which, within the memory of men now living, +a tragedy in five acts has been performed. Its subject was the +Opening of China; and its first act was the so-called Opium War +(1839-42). Prior to 1839 the Central Empire, as the Chinese proudly +call their country, with a population nearly equal to that of Europe +and America combined, was hermetically sealed against foreign +intercourse, except at one point, viz., the "Factories" at Canton. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This state of things is depicted with a few masterstrokes in a popular +work in Chinese entitled "Strange Stories of an Idle Student." The +first of these tales describes a traveller meeting in the mountains +an old man, in the costume of a former dynasty, whose family had +there sought a refuge from the anarchy that preceded the fall of +the imperial house. This +<a name="page_151"><span class="page">Page 151</span></a> +old fellow had not even heard of the accession of the Manchu conquerors; +and though he was eager for information, he disappeared without +giving any clue to the Sleepy Hollow in which he was hiding. The +author no doubt intended a quiet satire on the seclusion of China, +that had nothing to ask of the outside world but to be let alone. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another of the sketches, which is no satire, but a cautionary +hint—perhaps an unconscious prophecy—is entitled "The +Magic Carpet of the Red-haired," a vulgar designation for Europeans, +in contrast with the Chinese, who style themselves the "Black-haired +race." During the former dynasty, it says, a ship arrived from some +unknown country, and those aboard desired to engage in commerce. +Their request was refused; but when they asked permission to dry +their goods on shore, requiring for that purpose no more ground +than they could cover with a carpet, their petition was readily +granted. The carpet was spread, and the goods were exposed to the +sun; then, taking the carpet by its four corners, they stretched +it so that it covered several acres. A large body of armed men +then planted themselves on it, and striking out in every direction +took possession of the country. This elastic carpet reminds one of +Dido's bull's hide, which covered space enough for the foundation +of Carthage. +</p> + +<h4> +ACT 1. THE OPIUM WAR, 1839-1842 +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +The Tartars, who began their conquest in 1644, were naturally suspicious +of other foreigners who had secured a foothold in India, where the +Great Mogul, a scion +<a name="page_152"><span class="page">Page 152</span></a> +of their own race, still held nominal sway. The trading-posts, +which the Chinese emperors had permitted foreigners to open as far +north as Ningpo, were closed, and only one point of tangency was +allowed to remain—the above-mentioned Factories at Canton, +a spot, as we shall see, large enough to admit of the spreading of +a "magic carpet." Foreign trade was at that time insignificant, in +comparison with the enormous expansion which it has now attained. +It was mainly in the hands of the British, as it still continues to +be; and no small part of it consisted in opium from the poppy-fields +of India. Though under the ban of prohibition, this drug was smuggled +into every bay and inlet, with scarcely a pretence of concealment. +With the introduction of the vicious opium habit the British had +nothing to do; but they contrived to turn it to good account. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Emperor Tao Kwang, moved, it is said, by the unhappy fate of +one of his sons who had fallen a victim to the seductive poison, +resolved at all hazards to put a stop to a traffic so ruinous to +his people. Commissioner Lin, a native of Foochow, was transferred +from the viceroyalty of Wuchang to that of Canton and clothed with +plenary powers for the execution of this decree. To understand the +manner in which he undertook to execute the will of his master +it must be remembered that diplomatic intercourse had as yet no +existence in China, because she considered herself as sustaining +to foreign nations no other relation than that of a suzerain to +a vassal. Her mandarins scorned to hold direct communication with +any of the superintendents of foreign commerce—receiving +<a name="page_153"><span class="page">Page 153</span></a> +petitions and sending mandates through the hong merchants, thirteen +native firms which had purchased a monopoly of foreign trade. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1834 Lord Napier was appointed to the humble position of +superintendent of British trade in China, He arrived at Macao on +July 15 of that year, and announced his appointment by a letter +to the prefect, which was handed for transmission to the commander +of the city gate of Canton—a barrier which no foreigner was +permitted to pass. The letter was returned through the brokers without +any answer other than a line on the cover informing the "barbarian +eye" (consul) that the document was "tossed back" because it was +not superscribed with the character <i>pin</i> (or <i>ping</i>), +which signifies a "humble petition." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This was the beginning of sorrows for China as well as for poor +Napier, who, failing in his efforts to communicate with the mandarins +on equal terms, retired to the Portuguese settlement of Macao and +died of disappointment. The eminent American statesman, John Quincy +Adams, speaking in later years of the war that ensued, declared +that its cause was not opium but a <i>pin</i>, i. e., an insolent +assumption of superiority on the part of China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The irrepressible conflict provoked by these indignities was +precipitated in 1839 by the action of the new viceroy, who undertook +to effect a summary suppression of the traffic in opium. One morning +shortly after his arrival, the foreigners at Canton, who were always +locked up at night for their own safety, awoke to find themselves +surrounded by a body of soldiers and threatened with indiscriminate +<a name="page_154"><span class="page">Page 154</span></a> +slaughter unless they surrendered the obnoxious drug, stored on +their opium hulks, at an anchorage outside the harbour. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While they were debating as to what action to take, Captain Charles +Elliot, the new superintendent, came up from Macao and bravely insisted +on sharing the duress of his countrymen. Calling the merchants +together he requested them to surrender their opium to him, to be +used in the service of the Queen as a ransom for the lives of her +subjects, assuring them that Her Majesty's Government would take +care that they should be properly indemnified. Twenty thousand +chests of opium were handed over to the viceroy (who destroyed the +drug by mixing it with quicklime in huge vats); and the prisoners +were set at liberty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy fondly imagined that the incident was closed, and flattered +himself that he had gained an easier victory than he could have done +by sending his junks against the armed ships of the smugglers. +Little did he suspect that he had lighted a slow-match, that would +blow up the walls of his own fortress and place the throne itself +at the mercy of the "barbarian." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A strong force was despatched to China to exact an indemnity, for +which the honour of the Crown had been pledged, and to punish the +Chinese for the cut-throat fashion in which they had sought to +suppress a prohibited trade. The proud city of Canton averted a +bombardment by paying a ransom of $6,000,000; islands and seaports +were occupied by British troops as far north as the River Yang-tse; +and Nanking, the ancient capital, was only saved from falling into +<a name="page_155"><span class="page">Page 155</span></a> +their hands by the acceptance of such conditions of peace as Sir +Henry Pottinger saw fit to impose. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Those conditions were astonishingly moderate for a conqueror who, +unembarrassed by the interests of other powers, might have taken +the whole empire. They were, besides payment for the destroyed +drug, the opening of five ports to British trade, and the cession +to Great Britain of Hong Kong, a rocky islet which was then the +abode of fishermen and pirates, but which to-day claims to outrank +all the seaports of the world in the amount of its tonnage. Not +a word, be it noted, about opening up the vast interior, not a +syllable in favour of legalising the opium traffic, or tolerating +Christianity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +So much for the charge that this war, which bears a malodorous +name, was waged for the purpose of compelling China to submit to the +continuance of an immoral traffic. That a smuggling trade would go +on with impunity was no doubt foreseen and reckoned on by interested +parties; but it is morally certain that if the Chinese had understood +how to deal with it they might have rid themselves of the incubus +without provoking the discharge of another shot. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here ends the first act, in 1842; and in it I may claim a personal +interest from the fact that my attention was first turned to China +as a mission field by the boom of British cannon in the Opium War. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +China was not opened; but five gates were set ajar against her +will. For that she has to thank the pride and ignorance of emperor +and viceroy which betrayed them into the blunder of dealing with +British merchants as a policeman deals with pickpockets. For the +<a name="page_156"><span class="page">Page 156</span></a> +first time in her history she was made aware of the existence of +nations with which she would have to communicate on a footing of +equality. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The moderation and forbearance of Pottinger in refraining from +demanding larger concessions, and in leaving the full consequences +of this war to be unfolded by the progress of time, may fairly +challenge comparison with the politic procedure of Commodore Perry +in dealing with Japan in 1854. One may ask, too, would Japan have +come to terms so readily if she had not seen her huge neighbour +bowing to superior force? +</p> + +<hr> + +<p class="indent"> +An important consequence of the Opium War was the outbreak of rebellions +in different parts of the Empire. The prestige of the Tartars was +in the dust. Hitherto deemed invincible, they had been beaten by a +handful of foreigners. Was not this a sure sign that their divine +commission had been withdrawn by the Court of Heaven? If so, might +it not be possible to wrest the sceptre from their feeble grasp, +and emancipate the Chinese race? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Private ambition was kindled at the prospect, and patriotism was +invoked to induce the people to make common cause. Three parties +entered the field: the Tai-pings of the South, the "Red-haired" on +the seacoast, and the Nienfi in the north. Neither of the latter +two deserves notice; but the first-named made for themselves a +place in history which one is +<a name="page_157"><span class="page">Page 157</span></a> +not at liberty to ignore, even if their story were less romantic +than it is. It will be convenient to introduce here the following +note on the Tai-ping rebellion. +</p> + +<h4> +THE TAI-PING REBELLION +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1847 a young man of good education and pleasing manners, named +Hung Siu-tsuen, presented himself at the American Baptist mission in +Canton, saying he had seen their sacred book and desired instruction. +This he received from the Rev. Issachar Roberts; and he was duly +enrolled as a catechumen. Without receiving the sealing ordinance, +or taking his instructor into confidence, Siu-tsuen returned to his +home at Hwa-hien and began to propagate his new creed. His talents +and zeal won adherents, whom he organised into a society called +<i>Shang-ti-hwui</i>, "the Church of the supreme God." Persecution +transformed it into a political party, to which multitudes were +attracted by a variety of motives. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Following the early Church, in the absence of any modern model, his +converts expected and received spiritual gifts. Shall we describe +such manifestations as hysteria, hypnotism, or hypocrisy? Their +fanaticism was contagious, especially after their flight to the +mountains of Kwangsi. There Siu-tsuen boldly raised the flag of +rebellion and proclaimed that he had a divine call to restore the +throne to the Chinese race, and to deliver the people from the curse +of idolatry. In this twofold crusade he was ably seconded by one +Yang, who possessed all the qualities of a successful hierophant. +Shrewd and calculating, Yang was able +<a name="page_158"><span class="page">Page 158</span></a> +at will to bring on cataleptic fits, during which his utterances +passed for the words of the Holy Ghost. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The new empire which they were trying to establish, they called +<i>Tai-ping Tien-kwoh</i>, "The Kingdom of Heaven and the reign +of peace." Hung was emperor, to be saluted with <i>Wansue!</i> +(Japanese, <i>Banzai!</i>) "10,000 years!" Yang as prince-premier +was saluted with "9,000 years," nine-tenths of a banzai. He was +the medium of communication with the Court of Heaven; and all their +greater movements were made by command of Shang-ti, the Supreme +Ruler. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On one occasion Yang went into a trance and declared that Shang-ti +was displeased by something done by his chief, and required the +latter to receive a castigation on his naked shoulders. The chief +submitted, whether from credulity or from policy it might not be +easy to say; but thereby the faith of his followers seems to have +been confirmed rather than shaken. Nor did Yang take advantage +of his chief's disgrace to usurp his place or to treat him as a +puppet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Through Yang it was revealed that they were to leave their mountain +fortress and strike for Nanking, which had been made the capital on +the expulsion of the Mongols, and which was destined to enjoy the +same dignity on the overthrow of the Manchus. That programme, one of +unexampled daring, was promptly put into execution. Descending into +the plains of Hunan, like a mountain torrent they swept everything +before them and began their march towards the central stronghold +fifteen hundred miles distant. Striking the "Great River" at Hankow, +they pillaged +<a name="page_159"><span class="page">Page 159</span></a> +the three rich cities Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankow, and, seizing +all the junks, committed themselves to its current without a doubt +as to the issue of their voyage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nanking was carried by assault despite the alleged impregnability +of its ramparts, and despite also a garrison of 25,000 Manchus. +These last must have fought with the fury of despair; for they +well knew what fate awaited them. Not one was spared to tell the +tale—this was in 1853. There the Tai-pings held their ground +for ten years; and it is safe to affirm that without the aid of +foreign missionaries they never would have been dislodged. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The second part of their enterprise—the expulsion of the +Manchus from Peking—ended in defeat. A strong detachment was +sent north by way of the Grand Canal. At first they met with great +success—no town or city was able to check their progress, +which resembled Napoleon's invasion of Russia. At the beginning of +winter they were met by a strong force under the Mongol prince +Sengkolinsin; then came the more dreaded generals—January and +February. Unable to make headway, they went into winter quarters, +and committed the blunder of dividing themselves between two towns, +where they were besieged and cut off in detail. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the meantime the eyes of the world were turned toward Nanking. +Ships of war were sent to reconnoitre and Consul T. T. Meadows, +who accompanied the <i>Hermes</i>, made a report full of sympathy; +but the failure of their expedition to the north deterred the nation +from any formal recognition of the Tai-ping government. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_160"><span class="page">Page 160</span></a> +Missionaries were attracted by their profession of Christianity. +Among others, I made an unsuccessful attempt to reach them. Unable +to induce my boatmen to run the blockade, I returned home and took +up the pen in their defence. My letters were well received, but they +did not prevent soldiers of fortune, like the American Frederick +G. Ward and Colonel Gordon of the British army, throwing their +swords into the scale. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Two Sabbatarians hearing that the rebels observed Saturday for +their day of rest, posted off to confirm them in that ancient usage. +Learning at an outpost that the seeming agreement with their own +practice grew out of a mistake in reckoning, they did not continue +their journey. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A missionary who actually penetrated to the rebel headquarters +was the Rev. Issachar Roberts, the first instructor of the rebel +chief. The latter had sent him a message inviting him to court. +His stay was not long. He found that his quondam disciple had +substituted a new mode of baptism, neither sprinkling nor immersion, +but washing the pit of the stomach with a towel dipped in warm +water! Who says the Chinese are not original? It is probable that +Roberts's dispute lay deeper than a mere ceremony. Professing a +New Testament creed, the rebel chief shaped his practice on Old +Testament examples—killing men as ruthlessly as David, and, +like Solomon, filling his harem with women. A remonstrance on either +head was certain to bring danger; it was said indeed that Roberts's +life was threatened. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Some queer titles were adopted by the Tai-pings. +<a name="page_161"><span class="page">Page 161</span></a> +As stated above, the premier was styled "Father of 9,000 years"; other +princes had to content themselves with 7,000, 6,000, etc.—or +seven-tenths and six-tenths of a "Live forever!" Christ was the +"Heavenly Elder Brother"; and the chief called himself "Younger +Brother of Jesus Christ." These designations might excite a smile; +but when he called Yang, his adviser, the "Holy Ghost," one felt +like stopping one's ears, as did the Hebrews of old. The loose morals +of the Tai-pings and their travesty of sacred things horrified the +Christian world; and Gordon no doubt felt that he was doing God +a service in breaking up a horde of blasphemers and blackguards. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Gordon's victory won an earldom for Li Hung Chang; but the Chinese +conferred no posthumous honours on Gordon as they did on Ward, +who has a temple and is reckoned among the gods of the empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Tai-pings were commonly called Changmao, "long-haired" rebels, +because they rejected the tonsure and "pigtail" as marks of subjection. +They printed at Nanking, by what they called "Imperial authority," +an edition of the Holy Scriptures. At one time Lord Elgin, disgusted +by the conduct of the Peking Government, proposed to make terms +with the court at Nanking. The French minister refused to +coöperate, partly because the rebels had not been careful to +distinguish between the images in Roman Catholic chapels and those +in pagan temples, but chiefly from an objection to the ascendency +of Protestant influence, coupled with a fear of losing the power +that comes from a protectorate of Roman Catholic missions. How +different would have been +<a name="page_162"><span class="page">Page 162</span></a> +the future of China had the allied powers backed up the Tai-pings +against the Manchus! +</p> + +<h4> +ACT 2. THE "ARROW" WAR, 1857-1860 +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +Of the second act in this grand drama on the world's wide stage, +a vessel, named the <i>Arrow</i>, was, like opium in the former +conflict, the occasion, not the cause. The cause was, as before, +pride and ignorance on the part of the Chinese, though the British +are not to be altogether exonerated. Their flag was compromised; +and they sought to protect it. Fifteen years of profitable commerce +had passed, during which China had been a double gainer, receiving +light and experience in addition to less valuable commodities, +when Viceroy Yeh seized the lorcha <i>Arrow</i>, on a charge of +piracy. Though owned by Chinese, she was registered in Hong Kong, +and sailed under the British flag. Had the viceroy handed her over +to a British court for trial, justice would no doubt have been +done to the delinquents, and the two nations would not have been +embroiled; but, haughty as well as hasty, the viceroy declined to +admit that the British Government had any right to interfere with +his proceedings. Unfortunately (or fortunately) British interests +at Canton were in the hands of Consul Parkes, afterward Sir Harry +Parkes, the renowned plenipotentiary at Peking and Tokio. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir John Bowring was governor of Hong Kong, with the oversight of +British interests in the Empire. A gifted poet, and an enthusiastic +advocate of universal peace, he was a man who might be counted on, +<a name="page_163"><span class="page">Page 163</span></a> +if in the power of man, to hold the dogs of war in leash. But he, +too, had been consul at Canton and he knew by experience the quagmire +in which the best intentions were liable to be swamped. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Parkes, whom I came to know as Her Britannic Majesty's minister in +Peking, was the soul of honour, as upright as any man who walked +the earth. But with all his rectitude, he, like the Viceroy Yeh, +was irascible and unyielding. When the viceroy refused his demand +for the rendition of the <i>Arrow</i> and her crew, he menaced him +with the weight of the lion's paw. Alarmed, but not cowed, the +viceroy sent the prisoners in fetters to the consulate, instead of +replacing them on board their ship; nor did he vouchsafe a word of +courtesy or apology. Parkes, too fiery to overlook such contemptuous +informality, sent them back, much as a football is kicked from +one to another; and the viceroy, incensed beyond measure, ordered +their heads to be chopped off without a trial. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here was a Gordian knot, which nothing but the sword could loose. +War was provoked as before by the rashness of a viceroy. The +peace-loving governor did not choose to swallow the affront to +his country, nor did the occupant of the Dragon Throne deign to +interfere; looking on the situation with the same sublime indifference +with which the King of Persia regarded the warlike preparations of +the younger Cyrus, when he supposed, as Xenophon tells us, that +he was only going to fight out a feud with a neighbouring satrap. +How could China be opened; how was a stable equilibrium possible +so long as foreign powers were kept at a distance from the capital +of the Empire? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_164"><span class="page">Page 164</span></a> +In three months the haughty viceroy was a prisoner in India, never +to return, and his provincial capital was held by a garrison of +British troops. On this occasion the old blunder of admitting the +city to ransom was not repeated, else Canton might have continued +to be a hotbed of seditious plots and anti-foreign hostilities. +Parkes knew the people, and he knew their rulers also. He was +accordingly allowed to have his own way in dealing with them. The +viceroy being out of the way, he proposed to Pehkwei, the Manchu +governor, to take his place and carry on the provincial government +as if the two nations were at peace. Strange to say, the governor +did not decline the task. That he did not was due to the fact that +he disapproved the policy of the viceroy, and that he put faith +in the assurance that Great Britain harboured no design against +the reigning house or its territorial domain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To the surprise of the Chinese, who in their native histories find +that an Asiatic conqueror always takes possession of as much territory +as he is able to hold, it soon became evident that the Queen of +England did not make war in the spirit of conquest. Her premier, +Lord Palmerston, invited the coöperation of France, Russia, +and the United States, in a movement which was expected to issue +advantageously to all, especially to China. France, at that time +under an ambitious successor of the great Napoleon, seized the +opportunity to contribute a strong contingent, with the view of +checkmating England and of obtaining for herself a free hand in +Indo-China, possibly in China Proper also. For assuming a hostile +<a name="page_165"><span class="page">Page 165</span></a> +attitude towards China, she found a pretext in the judicial murder of +a missionary in Kwangsi, just as Germany found two of her missionaries +similarly useful as an excuse for the occupation of Kiao-Chao in +1897. No wonder the Chinese have grown cautious how they molest a +missionary; but they needed practical teaching before they learned +the lesson. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unable to take a morsel of China as long as his powerful ally abstained +from territorial aggrandisement, Louis Napoleon subsequently employed +his troops to enlarge the borders of a small state which the French +claimed in Annam, laying the foundation of a dominion which goes +far to console them for the loss of India. America and Russia, +having no wrongs to redress, declined to send troops, but consented +to give moral support to a movement for placing foreign relations +with China on a satisfactory basis. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the spring of 1858, the representatives of the four powers met +at the mouth of the Peiho, coöperating in a loose sort of +concert which permitted each one to carryon negotiations on his +own account. As interpreter to the Hon. W. B. Reed, the American +minister, I enjoyed the best of opportunities for observing what +went on behind the scenes, besides being a spectator of more than +one battle. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The neutrals, arriving in advance of the belligerents, opened +negotiations with the Viceroy of Chihli, which might have added +supplementary articles, but must have left the old treaties +substantially unchanged. The other envoys coming on the stage insisted +that the viceroy should wear the title and be clothed with the +powers of a plenipotentiary. When that was +<a name="page_166"><span class="page">Page 166</span></a> +refused, as being "incompatible with the absolute sovereignty of +the Emperor," they stormed the forts and proceeded to Tientsin +where they were met by men whose credentials were made out in due +form, though it is doubtful if their powers exceeded those of the +crestfallen viceroy. A pitiful artifice to maintain their affectation +of superiority was the placing of the names of foreign countries +one space lower than that of China in the despatch announcing their +appointment. When this covert insult was pointed out they apologised +for a clerical error, and had the despatches rectified. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The allies were able to dictate their own terms; and they got all +they asked for, though, as will be seen, they did not ask enough. +The rest of us got the same, though we had struck no blow and shed +no blood. One article, known as "the most-favoured-nation clause" +(already in the treaty of 1844), was all that we required to enable +us to pick up the fruit when others shook the tree. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Four additional seaports were opened, but Tienstin, where the treaties +were drawn up, was not one of them. I remember hearing Lord Elgin, +whose will was absolute, say that he was not willing to have it +thrown open to commerce, because in that case it would be used +to overawe the capital—just as if <i>overaweing</i> were +not the very thing needed to make a bigoted government enter on +the path of progress. Never did a man in repute for statesmanship +show himself more shortsighted. His blunder led to the renewal +of the war, and its continuance for two more years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_167"><span class="page">Page 167</span></a> +The next year when the envoys came to the mouth of the river, on +their way to Peking to exchange ratified copies of their treaties, +they found the forts rebuilt, the river closed, and access to the +capital by way of Tientsin bluntly refused. In taking this action, +the Chinese were not chargeable with a breach of faith; but the +allies, feeling insulted at having the door shut in their faces, +decided to force it open. They had a strong squadron; but their +gunboats were no match for the forts. Some were sunk; others were +beached; and the day ended in disastrous defeat. Though taking no +part in the conflict the Americans were not indifferent spectators. +Hearing that the British admiral was wounded, their commodore, the +brave old Tatnall, went through a shower of bullets to express +his sympathy, getting his boat shattered and losing a man on the +way. When requested to lend a helping hand, he exclaimed "Blood +is thicker than water;" and, throwing neutrality to the winds, +he proceeded to tow up a flotilla of British barges. His words +have echoed around the world; and his act, though impolitic from +the viewpoint of diplomacy, had the effect of knitting closer the +ties of two kindred nations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Seeing the repulse of the allies, the American minister, the Hon. +J. E. Ward, resolved to accept an offer which they had declined, +namely, to proceed to the capital by land under a Chinese escort. +His country was pledged in the treaty, of which he was the bearer, +to use her good offices on the occurrence of difficulties with +other powers. Without cavilling at the prescribed route or mode +of conveyance, he felt it his duty to present himself before the +Throne as speedily +<a name="page_168"><span class="page">Page 168</span></a> +as possible in the hope of averting a threatened calamity. For +him, it was an opportunity to do something great and good; for +China, it was the last chance to ward off a crushing blow. But +so elated were the Chinese by their unexpected success that they +were in no mood to accept the services of a mediator. The Emperor +insisted that he should go on his knees like the tribute-bearer +from a vassal state. "Tell them," said Mr. Ward, "that I go on my +knees only to God and woman"—a speech brave and chivalrous, +but undignified for a minister and unintelligible to the Chinese. +With this he quitted the capital and left China to her fate. He +was not the first envoy to meet a rude rebuff at the Chinese court. +In 1816 Lord Amherst was not allowed to see the "Dragon's Face" +because he refused to kneel. At that date England was not in a +position to punish the insult; but it had something to do with the +war of 1839. In 1859 it was pitiful to see a power whose existence +was hanging in the scales alienate a friend by unseemly insolence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following year (1860) saw the combined forces of two empires +at the gates of Peking. The summer palace was laid in ashes to +punish the murder of a company of men and officers under a flag +of truce; and it continues to be an unsightly ruin. The Emperor +fled to Tartary to find a grave; and throne and capital were for +the first time at the mercy of an Occidental army. On the accession +of Hien-feng, in 1850, an old counsellor advised him to make it +his duty to "restore the restrictions all along the coast." His +attempt to do this was one source of his misfortunes. Supplementary +articles were signed within the walls, +<a name="page_169"><span class="page">Page 169</span></a> +by which China relinquished her absurd pretensions, abandoned her +long seclusion, and, at the instance of France, threw open the +whole empire to the labours of Christian missions. They had been +admitted by rescript to the Five Ports, but no further. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Thus ends the second act of the drama; and a spectator must be +sadly deficient in spiritual insight if he does not perceive the +hand of God overruling the strife of nations and the blunders of +statesmen. +</p> + +<h3> +ACT 3. WAR WITH FRANCE +</h3> + +<p class="indent"> +The curtain rises on the third act of the drama in 1885. Peking was +open to residence, and I had charge of a college for the training +of diplomatic agents. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I was at Pearl Grotto, my summer refuge near Peking, when I was +called to town by a messenger from the Board of Foreign Affairs. +The ministers informed me that the French had destroyed their fleet +and seized their arsenal at Foochow. "This," they said, "is war. We +desire to know how the non-combatants of the enemy are to be treated +according to the rules of international law." I wrote out a brief +statement culled from text-books, which I had myself translated +for the use of the Chinese Government; but before I had finished +writing a clerk came to say that the Grand Council wished to have +it as soon as possible, as they were going to draw up a decree on +the subject. The next day an imperial decree proclaimed a state +of war and assured French people in China that if they refrained +from taking part in any hostile act they might remain in their +places, and count on full protection. Nobly did the government of +the day redeem its pledge. +<a name="page_170"><span class="page">Page 170</span></a> +Not a missionary was molested in the interior; and two French professors +belonging to my own faculty were permitted to go on with the instruction +of their classes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There was not much fighting. The French seized Formosa; and both +parties were preparing for a trial of strength, when a seemingly +unimportant occurrence led them to come to an understanding. A small +steamer belonging to the customs service, employed in supplying the +wants of lighthouses, having been taken by the French, Sir Robert +Hart applied to the French premier, Jules Ferry, for its release. +This was readily granted; and an intimation was at the same time +given that the French would welcome overtures for a settlement +of the quarrel. Terms were easily agreed upon and the two parties +resumed the <i>status quo ante bellum</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +So far as the stipulations were concerned neither party had gained +or lost anything, yet as a matter of fact France had scored a +substantial victory. She was henceforward left in quiet possession +of Tongking, a principality which China had regarded as a vassal +and endeavoured to protect. +</p> + +<h4> +ACT 4. WAR WITH JAPAN +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +China had not thoroughly learned the lesson suggested by this +experience; for ten years later a fourth act in the drama grew out +of her unwise attempt to protect another vassal. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1894 the Japanese, provoked by China's interference with their +enterprises in Korea, boldly drew the sword and won for themselves +a place among the great powers. I was in Japan when the war broke +<a name="page_171"><span class="page">Page 171</span></a> +out, and, being asked by a company of foreigners what I thought +of Japan's chances, answered, "The swordfish can kill the whale." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not merely did the islanders expel the Chinese from the Korean +peninsula, but they took possession of those very districts in +Manchuria from which they have but yesterday ousted the Russians. +Peking itself was in danger when Li Hung Chang was sent to the +Mikado to sue for peace. Luckily for China a Japanese assassin +lodged a bullet in the head of her ambassador; and the Mikado, +ashamed of that cowardly act, granted peace on easy conditions. +China's greatest statesman carried that bullet in his <i>dura mater</i> +to the end of his days, proud to have made himself an offering for +his country, and rejoicing that one little ball had silenced the +batteries of two empires. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By the terms of the treaty, Japan was to be left in possession +of Port Arthur and Liao-tung. But this arrangement was in fatal +opposition to the policy of a great power which had already cast +covetous eyes on the rich provinces of Manchuria. Securing the +support of France and Germany, Russia compelled the Japanese to +withdraw; and in the course of three years she herself occupied +those very positions, kindling in the bosom of Japan the fires +of revenge, and sowing the seeds of another war.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: The Russo-Japanese war lies outside of our present +programme because China was not a party to it, though it involved +her interests and even her existence. The subject will be treated +in another chapter.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The effect of China's defeat at the hands of her despised neighbour, +was, if possible, more profound than that of her humiliation by +the English and +<a name="page_172"><span class="page">Page 172</span></a> +French in 1860. She saw how the adoption of Western methods had +clothed a small Oriental people with irresistible might; and her +wisest statesmen set themselves to work a similar transformation +in their antiquated empire. The young Emperor showed himself an +apt pupil, issuing a series of reformatory edicts, which alarmed +the conservatives and provoked a reaction that constitutes the +last act in this tremendous drama. +</p> + +<h4> +ACT 5. THE BOXER WAR +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +The fifth act opens with the <i>coup d'état</i> of the Empress +Dowager, and terminates with the capture of Peking by the combined +forces of the civilised world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Instead of attempting, even in outline, a narrative of events, it +will be more useful to direct attention to the springs of action. +It should be borne in mind that the late Emperor was the adopted son +of the Dowager Empress. After the death of her own son, Tung-chi, +who occupied the throne for eleven years under a joint regency +of two empresses, his mother cast about for some one to adopt in +his stead. With motives not difficult to divine she chose among +her nephews an infant of three summers, and gave him the title +<i>Kwangsu</i>, "Illustrious Successor." When he was old enough +to be entrusted with the reins of government, she made a feint +of laying down her power, in deference to custom. Yet she exacted +of the imperial youth that he visit her at her country palace and +throw himself at her feet once in five days—proof enough +that she kept her hand on the helm, though she +<a name="page_173"><span class="page">Page 173</span></a> +mitted her nephew to pose as steersman. She herself was noted for +progressive ideas; and it was not strange that the young man, under +the influence of Kang Yuwei, backed by enlightened viceroys, should +go beyond his adoptive mother. Within three years from the close +of the war he had proclaimed a succession of new measures which +amounted to a reversal of the old policy; nor is it likely that +she disapproved of any of them, until the six ministers of the +Board of Rites, the guardians of a sort of Levitical law, besought +her to save the empire from the horrors of a revolution. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For her to command was to be obeyed. The viceroys were her appointees; +and she knew they would stand by her to a man. The Emperor, though +nominally independent, was not emancipated from the obligations of +filial duty, which were the more binding as having been created +by her voluntary choice. There was no likelihood that he would +offer serious resistance; and it was certain that he would not +be supported if he did. Coming from behind the veil, she snatched +the sceptre from his inexperienced hand, as a mother takes a deadly +weapon from a half-grown boy. Submitting to the inevitable he made +a formal surrender of his autocratic powers and, confessing his +errors, implored her "to teach him how to govern." This was in +September, 1898. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Stripped of every vestige of authority, the unhappy prince was +confined, a prisoner of state, in a secluded palace where it was +thought he would soon receive the present of a silken scarf as a +hint to make way for a worthier successor. That his life was spared +<a name="page_174"><span class="page">Page 174</span></a> +was no doubt due to a certain respect for the public sentiment of +the world, to which China is not altogether insensible. He having +no direct heir, the son of Prince Tuan was adopted by the Dowager +as heir-apparent, evidently in expectation of a vacancy soon to +be filled. Prince Tuan, hitherto unknown in the politics of the +state, became, from that moment, the leader of a reactionary party. +Believing that his son would soon be called to the throne by the +demise of the Emperor, he put on all the airs of a <i>Tai-shang +Hwang</i>, or "Father of an Emperor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here again the <i>patria potestas</i> comes in as a factor; and +in the brief career of the father of the heir-apparent, it shows +itself in its most exaggerated form. Under the influence of the +reactionary clique, of which he was acknowledged chief, the Empress +Dowager in her new regency was induced to repeal almost everything +the Emperor had done in the way of reform. In her edict she said +cynically: "It does not follow that we are to stop eating, because +we have been choked!" Dislike to foreign methods engendered an +ill-concealed hatred of foreigners; and just at this epoch occurred +a series of aggressions by foreign powers, which had the effect +of fanning that hatred into a flame. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the fall of 1897 Germany demanded the cession of Kiao-Chao, +calling it a lease for 99 years. The next spring Russia under the +form of a lease for 25 years obtained Port Arthur for the terminus +of her long railway. England and France followed suit: one taking +a <i>lease</i> of Wei-hai-wei; the other, of Kwang-chou-wan. Though +in every case the word "lease" +<a name="page_175"><span class="page">Page 175</span></a> +was employed, the Chinese knew the transfer meant permanent alienation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A hue and cry was raised against what they described as the "slicing +of the melon," and in Shantung, where the first act of spoliation +had taken place, the Boxers, a turbulent society of long standing, +were encouraged to wage open war against native Christians, foreigners +and foreign products, including railways, telegraphs, and all sorts +of merchandise. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not until those predatory bands had entered the metropolitan province, +with the avowed object of pushing their way to Peking[*] did the +legations take steps to strengthen their guards. A small reinforcement +of 207 men luckily reached Peking a few days before the railway +was wrecked. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: On March 30, 1900, the following Boxer manifesto in +jingling rhyme, was thrown into the London Mission, at Tientsin. It +is here given in a prose version, taken from "A Flight for Life," +by the Rev. J. H. Roberts, Pilgrim Press, Boston. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We Boxers have come to Tientsin to kill an foreign devils, and +protect the Manchu dynasty. Above, there is the Empress Dowager +on our side, and below there is Junglu. The soldiers of Yulu and +Yuhien [governors of Shantung and Chihli] are an our men. When +we have finished killing in Tientsin, we shall go to Peking. All +the officials high and low will welcome us. Whoever is afraid let +him quickly escape for his life."] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With a view to protect the foreign settlement at Tientsin, then +threatened by Boxers, the combined naval forces stormed the forts +at the mouth of the river, and advanced to that rich emporium. The +Court denounced this as an act of war, and ordered all foreigners +to leave the capital within twenty-four hours. That meant slaughter +at the hands of the Boxers. The foreign ministers protested, and +<a name="page_176"><span class="page">Page 176</span></a> +endeavoured by prolonged negotiation to avoid compliance with the +cruel order. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On June 20, the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, was on his +way to the Foreign Office to obtain an extension of time, when he +was shot dead in the street by a man in the uniform of a soldier. +His secretary, though wounded, gave the alarm; and all the legations, +with all their respective countrymen, took refuge in the British +Legation, with the exception of Bishop Favier and his people who, +with the aid of forty marines, bravely defended themselves in the +new cathedral. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the evening we were fired on by the Government troops, and from +that time we were closely besieged and exposed to murderous attacks +day and night for eight weeks, when a combined force under the +flags of eight nations carried the walls by storm, just in time +to prevent such a massacre as the world has never seen. Massacres +on a larger scale have not been a rare spectacle; but never before +in the history of the world had any government been seen attempting +to destroy an entire diplomatic body, every member of whom is made +sacred by the law of nations.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: AN APPEAL FROM THE LION'S DEN +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +(Written four weeks before the end of the siege, this appeal failed +to reach the outside world. It is now printed for the first time. +Nothing that I could now write would show the situation with half +such vividness. It reveals the scene as with a lightning flash.) +</p> + +<p class="right"> +"British Legation, July 16, 1900. +</p> + +<p> +"TO THE CHRISTIAN WORLD +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"On the 19th ult. the Chinese declared war on account of the attack +on the forts at Taku. Since then we have been shut up in the British +Legation and others adjacent, and bombarded day and night with shot +and shell. The defence has been magnificent. About 1,000 foreigners +(of both sexes) have held their ground against the forces of the +Empire. Some thousands of Chinese converts are dependent on us for +protection. The City Wall near the legations is held by our men, +but the Chinese are forcing them back and driving in our outposts. +The mortality in our ranks is very great; and unless relief comes +soon we must all perish. Our men have fought bravely, and our women +have shown sublime courage. May this terrible sacrifice prove not +to be in vain! We are the victims of pagan fanaticism. Let this +pagan empire be partitioned among Christian powers, and may a new +order of things open on China with a new century! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The chief asylum for native Christians is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, +where Bishop Favier aided by forty marines gives protection to four +or five thousand. The perils of the siege have obliterated the lines +of creed and nation, making a unity, not merely of Christians, but +bringing the Japanese into brotherhood with us. To them the siege +is a step toward Christianity." +</p> + +<p class="right"> +"(Signed) DR. W. A. P. MARTIN."] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_177"><span class="page">Page 177</span></a> +On August 14 Gen. Gaseles and his contingent entered the British +Legation. The Court, conscious of guilt, fled to the northwest, +leaving the city once more at the mercy of the hated foreigner; +and so the curtain falls on the closing scene. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What feats of heroism were performed in the course of those eventful +weeks; how delicate women rose to the height of the occasion in +patient endurance and helpful charity; how international jealousies +were merged in the one feeling of devotion to the common good—all +this and more I should like to relate for the honour of human nature. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +How an unseen power appeared to hold our enemies in check and to +sustain the courage of the besieged, I would also like to place on +record, to the glory of the Most High; but space fails for dealing +with anything but general principles.[1] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote 1: See the author's "The Siege in Peking," New York: Fleming +H. Revell Company.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the day following our rescue, at a thanksgiving meeting, which +was largely attended, Dr. Arthur +<a name="page_178"><span class="page">Page 178</span></a> +Smith pointed out ten instances—most of us agreed that he +might have made the number ten times ten—in which the providence +of God had intervened on our behalf. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was a role of an ancient critic that a god should not be brought +on the stage unless the occasion were such as to require the presence +of a more than human power. <i>Nec deus intersit nisi dignus vindice +nodus.</i> How many such occasions we have had to notice in the +course of this narrative! What a theodicæa we have in the +result of all this tribulation! We see at last, a government convinced +of the folly of a policy which brought on such a succession of +disastrous wars. We see missionaries and native Christians fairly +well protected throughout the whole extent of the Empire. We see, +moreover, a national movement in the direction of educational reform, +which, along with the Gospel of Christ, promises to impart new +life to that ancient people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following incident may serve to show the state of uncertainty +in which we lived during the interregnum preceding the return of +the Court. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While waiting for an opportunity to get my "train (the university) +on the track," I spent the summer of 1901 at Pearl Grotto, my usual +retreat, on the top of a hill over a thousand feet high, overlooking +the capital. "The Boxers are coming!" cried my writer and servants +one evening about twilight. "Haste—hide in the rocks—they +will soon be on us!" "I shall not hide," I replied; and seizing my +rifle I rested it on a wall which commanded the approach. They +soon became visible at the distance of a hundred yards, +<a name="page_179"><span class="page">Page 179</span></a> +waving flambeaux, and yelling like a troop of devils. Happily I +reserved my fire for closer range; for leaving the path at that +point they betook themselves to the top of another hill where they +waved their torches and shouted like madmen. We were safe for the +night; and in the morning I reported the occurrence to Mr. O'Conor, +the British chargé d'affaires, who was at a large temple +at the foot of the hills. "They were not Boxers," he remarked, +"but a party we sent out <i>to look for a lost student</i>." +</p> + +<h4> +POSTSCRIPT +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +It is the fashion to speak slightingly of the Boxer troubles, and +to blink the fact that the movement which led to the second capture +of Peking and the flight of the Court was a serious war. The southern +viceroys had undertaken to maintain order in the south. Operations were +therefore localised somewhat, as they were in the Russo-Japanese War. +It is even said that the combined forces were under the impression +that they were coming to the rescue of a helpless government which +was doing all in its power to protect foreigners. Whether this was +the effect of diplomatic dust thrown in their eyes or not, <i>it +was a fiction</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +How bitterly the Empress Dowager was bent on exterminating the +foreigner, may be inferred from her decree ordering the massacre +of foreigners and their adherents—a savage edict which the +southern satraps refused to obey. A similar inference may be drawn +from the summary execution of four ministers of state for remonstrating +against throwing in the fortunes of the empire with the Boxer party. +<a name="page_180"><span class="page">Page 180</span></a> +China should be made to do penance on her knees for those shocking +displays of barbarism. At Taiyuan-fu, forty-five missionaries were +murdered by the governor, and sixteen at Paoting-fu. Such atrocities +are only possible among a <i>half-civilised people</i>. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_181"><span class="page">Page 181</span></a> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Russia's Schemes for Conquest—Conflicting Interests in +Korea—Hostilities Begin—The First Battles—The +Blockade—Dispersion of the Russian Fleet—Battle of +Liao-yang—Fall of Port Arthur—Battle of Mukden—The +Armada—Battle of Tsushima—The Peace of Portsmouth—The +Effect on China</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To the Chinese the retrospect of these five wars left little room +for those pompous pretensions which appeared to be their vital +breath. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Beaten by Western powers and by the new power of the East, their +capital taken a second time after forty years' opportunity to fortify +it, and their fugitive court recalled a second time to reign on +sufferance or during good behaviour, what had they left to boast +of except the antiquity of their country and the number of their +people? Dazed and paralysed, most of them gave way to a sullen +resignation that differed little from despair. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There were, indeed, a few who, before things came to the worst, +saw that China's misfortunes were due to folly, not fate. Ignorant +conservatism had made her weak; vigorous reform might make her +strong. But another war was required to turn the feeling of the +few into a conviction of the many. This change was +<a name="page_182"><span class="page">Page 182</span></a> +accomplished by a war waged within their borders but to which they +were not a party—a war which was not an act in their national +drama, but a spectacle for which they furnished the stage. That +spectacle calls for notice in the present work on account of its +influence on the destinies of China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For the springs of action it will be necessary to go back three +centuries, to the time when Yermak crossed the Ural Mountains and +made Russia an Asiatic power. The conquest of Siberia was not to +end in Siberia. Russia saw in it a chance to enrich herself at +the expense of weaker neighbours. What but that motive led her, in +1858, to demand the Manchurian seacoast as the price of neutrality? +What but that led her to construct the longest railway in the world? +What but that impelled her to seek for it a second terminus on +the Gulf of Pechili? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The occupation of Port Arthur and Liao-tung by the Japanese, in +1895, was a checkmate to Russia's little game; and, supported by +France and Germany, she gave her notice to quit. During the Boxer +War of 1900, Russia increased her forces in Manchuria to provide +for the eventualities of a probable break-up, and after the peace +her delay in fulfilling her promise of evacuation was tantamount +to a refusal. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Had the Russians confined their attention to Manchuria they might +have continued to remain in possession; but another feeble state +offered itself as a tempting prize. They set greedy eyes on Korea, +made interest with an impoverished court, and obtained the privilege +of navigating the Yalu and cutting +<a name="page_183"><span class="page">Page 183</span></a> +timber on its banks. This proceeding, though explained by the +requirements of railway construction, aroused the suspicion and +jealousy of the Japanese. They knew it meant more than seeking +an outlet for a lumber industry. They knew it portended vassalage +for Korea and ejection for themselves. Had they not made war on +China ten years before because they could brook no rival in the +peninsula? How could they tolerate the intrusion of Russia? Not +merely were their interests in Korea at stake; every advance of +Russia in that quarter, with Korea for vassal or ally, was a menace +to the existence of Japan. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Japanese lost no time in entering a protest. Russia resorted +to the Fabian policy of delay as before; but she was dealing with +a people whose pride and patriotism were not to be trifled with. +After protracted negotiations Japan sent an ultimatum in which she +proposed to recognise Manchuria as Russia's sphere of influence, +provided Russia would recognise Japanese influence as paramount +in Korea. For a fortnight or more the Czar vouchsafed no reply. +Accustomed to being waited on, he put the paper in his pocket and +kept it there while every train on the railway was pouring fresh +troops into Manchuria. Without waiting for a formal reply, or deigning +to discuss modifications intended to gain time, the Japanese heard +the hour strike and cleared for action. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They are reproached for opening hostilities without first formally +declaring war. In the age of chivalry a declaration of war was a +solemn ceremony. A herald standing on the border read or recited his +<a name="page_184"><span class="page">Page 184</span></a> +master's complaint and then hurled a spear across the boundary +as an act of defiance. In later times nothing more than a formal +announcement is required, except for the information of neutrals +and the belligerents' own people. The rupture of relations leaves +both parties free to choose their line of action. Japan, the newest +of nations, naturally adopted the most modern method. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Recalling her ambassador on February 6, 1904, Japan was ready to +strike simultaneous blows at two points. On February 8, Admiral +Uriu challenged two Russian cruisers at Chemulpo to come out and +fight, otherwise he would attack them in the harbour. Steaming +out they fired the first shots of the war, and both were captured +or destroyed. A little later on the same day Admiral Togo opened +his broadsides on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, and resumed +the attack the following morning. Without challenge or notification +of any kind, his attack had the effect of a genuine surprise. The +Russians, whether from confidence in their position or contempt +for their enemy, were unprepared and replied feebly. They had seven +battleships to Togo's six, but the big ships of Japan were supported +by a flotilla of torpedo-boats which outnumbered those of Russia. +These alert little craft did great execution. Creeping into the +harbour while the bombardment kept the enemy occupied they sank +two battleships and one armoured cruiser. Other Russian vessels +were badly damaged; but, according to Togo's report, on the side +of Japan not one vessel was incapacitated for actual service. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Land forces, fully equipped and waiting for this +<a name="page_185"><span class="page">Page 185</span></a> +special service, commenced operations without delay and began to +cut off communication from the land side while Togo's squadron +corked up every inlet from the sea. Alexieff, whose title of viceroy +revealed the intentions of Russia in regard to Manchuria, taking +alarm at the prospect of a siege, escaped to Harbin near the Siberian +frontier—a safer place for headquarters. To screen his flight +he made unwarrantable use of an ambulance train of the Red Cross +Society. Disagreeing with General Kuropatkin as to the plan of +campaign, he resigned the command of the army in April, and Kuropatkin +was promoted to the vacant place. Beaten in several engagements on +the Liao-tung peninsula, the Russians began to fall back, followed +by the Japanese under Field-Marshal Oyama; and the siege of the +fortress was prosecuted with unremitting vigour. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By July the Japanese had secured possession of the outer line of +forts, and, planting heavy guns on the top of a high hill, they +were able to throw plunging shot into the bosom of the harbour. No +longer safe at their inner anchorage, the Russian naval officers +resolved to attempt to reach Vladivostok, where the combined squadrons +might assume the offensive or at least be secure from blockade. +Scarcely had they gained the open sea when (on August 10) the Japanese +fell on them like a whirlwind and scattered their ships in all +directions. A few reëntered the harbour to await their doom; +two or three found their way to Vladivostok; two sought refuge +at the German port of Tsing-tao; two put into Shanghai; and one +continued its flight as far south as Saigon. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_186"><span class="page">Page 186</span></a> +One gunboat sought shelter at Chefoo, where I was passing my summer +vacation. The Japanese, in hot pursuit, showed no more respect to +the neutrality of China than they had shown to Korea. Boarding +the fugitive vessel, they summoned the captain to surrender. He +replied by seizing the Japanese officer in his arms and throwing +himself into the sea. They were rescued; and the Japanese then +carried off the boat under the guns of a Chinese admiral. Of this +incident in its main features I was an eye-witness. I may add that +we were near enough to bear witness to the fact of the siege; for, +in the words of Helen Sterling: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"We heard the boom of guns by day<br> +And saw their flash by night,<br> +And almost thought, tho' miles away,<br> +That we were in the fight. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Chinese admiral, feeling the affront to the Dragon flag and +fearing that he would be called to account, promptly tendered his +resignation. He was told to keep his place; and, by way of consoling +him for his inaction, the Minister of Marine added, "You are not +to blame for not firing on the Japanese. They are fighting our +battles—we can't do anything against them." So much for Chinese +neutrality in theory and in practice. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Kuropatkin, like the Parthian, "most dreaded when in flight," renouncing +any further attempt to break through the cordon which the Japanese +had drawn around the doomed fortress, intrenched his forces in +and around Liaoyang. His position was strong by +<a name="page_187"><span class="page">Page 187</span></a> +nature, and he strengthened it by every device known to a military +engineer; yet he was driven from it in a battle which lasted nine +days. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Japanese, though not slow to close around his outposts, were +too cautious to deliver their main attack until they could be certain +of success. The combat thickened till, on August 24, cannon thundered +along a line of forty miles. Outflanked by his assailants, the +Russian general, perceiving that he must secure his communications +on the north or sustain a siege, abandoned his ground and fell +back on Mukden. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In this, the greatest battle of the campaign thus far, 400,000 +men were engaged, the Japanese, as usual, having a considerable +majority. The loss of life was appalling. The Russian losses were +reported at 22,000; and those of Japan could not have been less. +Yet Liaoyang with all its horrors was only a prelude to a more +obstinate conflict on a more extended arena. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Without hope of succour by land, and without a fleet to bring relief +by sea, the Russians defended their fortress with the courage of +despair. Ten years before this date the Japanese under Field-marshal +Oyama had carried this same stronghold almost by assault. Taking +it in the rear, a move which the Chinese thought so contrary to +the rules of war that they had neglected their landward defences, +they were masters of the place on the morning of the third day. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +How different their reception on the present occasion! How changed +the aspect! The hills, range after range, were now crowned with +forts. Fifty thousand of Russia's best soldiers were behind those +batteries, many of which were provided with casemates impenetrable +<a name="page_188"><span class="page">Page 188</span></a> +to any ordinary projectile. General Stoessel, a man of science, +courage and experience, was in command; and he held General Nogi +with a force of sixty or seventy thousand at bay for eleven months. +Prodigies of valour were performed on both sides, some of the more +commanding positions being taken and retaken three or four times. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When, in September, the besiegers got possession of Wolf Hill, and +with plunging shot smashed the remnant of the fleet, they offered +generous terms to the defenders. General Stoessel declined the +offer, resolving to emulate Thermopylæ, or believing, perhaps, +in the possibility of rescue. When, however, he saw the "203 Metre +Hill" in their hands and knew his casemates would soon be riddled +by heavy shot, in sheer despair he was forced to capitulate. This +was on the first day of the new year (1905). His force had been +reduced to half its original numbers, and of these no fewer than +14,000 were in hospital. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +General Stoessel has been censured for not holding out until the +arrival of the armada; but what could the armada have done had it +appeared in the offing? It certainly could not have penetrated the +harbour, for in addition to fixed or floating mines it would have +had to run the gauntlet of Togo's fleet and its doom would have +been precipitated. One critic of distinction denounced Stoessel's +surrender as "shameful"; but is it not a complete vindication that +his enemies applaud his gallant defence, and that his own government +was satisfied that he had done his duty.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: Since writing this I have read the finding of the +court-martial. It has the air of an attempt to diminish the national +disgrace by throwing blame on a brave commander.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_189"><span class="page">Page 189</span></a> +The Russian commander had marked out a new camp at Mukden, the +chief city of the province and the cradle of the Manchu dynasty. +There he was allowed once more to intrench himself. Was this because +the Japanese were confident of their ability to compel him again +to retire, or were they occupied with the task of filling up their +depleted ranks? If the latter was the cause, the Russians were +doing the same; but near to their base and with full command of +the sea, the Japanese were able to do it more expeditiously than +their enemy. Yet with all their facilities they were not ready to +move on his works until winter imposed a suspension of hostilities. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On October 2 Kuropatkin published a boastful manifesto expressing +confidence in the issue of the coming conflict—trusting no +doubt to the help of the three generals, December, January, and +February. Five months later, on March 8, 1905, he sent two telegrams +to the Czar: the first said "I am surrounded;" the second, a few +hours later, conveyed the comforting intelligence "the army has +escaped." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Japanese, not choosing to encounter the rigours of a Manchurian +winter, waited till the advent of spring. The air was mild and the +streams spanned by bridges of ice. The manœuvres need not +be described here in detail. After more than ten days of continuous +fighting on a line of battle nearly two hundred miles long, with +scarcely less than a million of men engaged (Japanese in majority +as before), the great Russian strategist broke camp and retired +in good order. His army had escaped, but it had lost in killed +and wounded 150,000. The losses of Japan amounted to 50,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_190"><span class="page">Page 190</span></a> +The greatest battle of this latest war, the Battle of Mukden was +in some respects the greatest in modern history. In length of line, +in numbers engaged, and in the resulting casualties its figures +are double those of Waterloo. Once more by masterly strategy a +rout was converted into a retreat; and the Russian army withdrew +to the northwest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Weary of crawfish tactics the Czar appointed General Lineivitch +to the chief command; and the ablest of the Russian generals was +relieved of the duty of contriving ways of "escape." To cover the +rear of a defeated force is always reckoned a post of honour; but +it is not the sort of distinction that satisfies the ambition of +a great commander. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By dint of efforts and sacrifices an enormous fleet was assembled +for the relief of Port Arthur. It sailed from Cronstadt on August 11, +1905, leaving the Baltic seaports unprotected save by the benevolent +neutrality of the German Kaiser, who granted passage through his +ship canal, although he knew the fleet was going to wage war on +one of his friends. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Part of the fleet proceeded via Suez, and part went round the Cape of +Good Hope—to them a name of mockery. The ships moved leisurely, +their commanders not doubting that Stoessel would be able to hold +his ground; but scarcely had they reached a rendezvous which, by +the favour of France, they had fixed in the waters adjacent to +Madagascar, when they heard of the fall of Port Arthur. Of the +annihilation of the fleet attached to the fortress, and of the +destruction of a squadron coming to the rescue from the north they +had previously learned. With what dismay did they +<a name="page_191"><span class="page">Page 191</span></a> +now hear that the key of the ocean was lost. Almost at the same +moment the last of Job's messengers arrived with the heavier tidings +that Mukden, the key of the province, had been abandoned by a defeated +army—stunning intelligence for a forlorn hope! Should they turn +back or push ahead? Anxious question this for Admiral Rozhesvenski and +his officers. Too late for Port Arthur, might they not reënforce +Vladivostok and save it from a like fate? The signal to "steam +ahead" was displayed on the flagship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Slowly and painfully, its propellers clogged by seaweed, its keels +overgrown with barnacles, the grand armada crossed the Indian Ocean +and headed northward for the China Sea. On May 27, steering for +the Korean channel, it fell into a snare which a blind man ought +to have been able to foresee. Togo's fleet had the freedom of the +seas. Where could it be, if not in that very channel? Yet on the +Russians went: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Unmindful of the whirlwind's sway<br> +That hushed in grim repose<br> +Expects his evening prey." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The struggle was short and decisive—finished, it is said, +in less than one hour. While Togo's battleships, fresh and in good +condition, poured shot and shell into the wayworn strangers, his +torpedo-boats, greatly increased in number, glided almost unobservedly +among the enemy and launched their thunderbolts with fatal effect. +Battleships and cruisers went down with all on board. The Russian +flagship was disabled, and the admiral, severely wounded, was +<a name="page_192"><span class="page">Page 192</span></a> +transferred to the hold of a destroyer. Without signals from their +commander the vessels of the whole fleet fought or fled or perished +separately; of 18,000 men, 1,000 escaped and 3,000 were made +prisoners. What of the other 14,000? +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Ask of the winds that far around<br> +With fragments strewed the sea." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The much vaunted armada was a thing of the past; and Tsushima or, +as Togo officially named it, the Battle of the Sea of Japan, has +taken its place along with Trafalgar and Salamis. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Tired of a spectacle that had grown somewhat monotonous, the world +was clamorous for peace. The belligerents, hitherto deaf to every +suggestion of the kind, now accepted an invitation from President +Roosevelt and appointed commissioners to arrange the terms of a +treaty. They met in August, 1905, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and +after a good deal of diplomatic fencing the sword was sheathed. In +the treaty, since ratified, Russia acknowledges Japan's exceptional +position in Korea, transfers to Japan her rights in Port Arthur +and Liao-tung, and hands over to Japan her railways in Manchuria. +Both parties agree to evacuate Manchuria within eighteen months. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Japan was obliged to waive her claim to a war indemnity and to +allow Russia to retain half the island of Saghalien. Neither nation +was satisfied with the terms, but both perceived that peace was +preferable to the renewal of the struggle with all its horrors +and uncertainties. For tendering the olive branch +<a name="page_193"><span class="page">Page 193</span></a> +and smoothing the way for its acceptance, President Roosevelt merits +the thanks of mankind.[*] Besides other advantages Japan has assured +her position as the leading power of the Orient; but the greatest +gainer will be Russia, if her defeat in the field should lead her +to the adoption of a liberal government at home. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: Since this was written a Nobel Peace Prize has justly +been awarded to the President.] +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Peace hath her victories,<br> +No less renowned than war." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Czar signified his satisfaction by making Witte the head of +a reconstruction ministry and by conferring upon him the title +of Count; and the Mikado showed his entire confidence in Baron +Komura, notwithstanding some expressions of disappointment among +the people, by assigning him the delicate task of negotiating a +treaty with China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Though the attitude of China had been as unheroic as would have +been Menelaus' had the latter declared neutrality in the Trojan +war, the issue has done much to rouse the spirit of the Chinese +people. Other wars made them feel their weakness: this one begot +a belief in their latent strength. When they witnessed a series +of victories on land and sea gained by the Japanese over one of +the most formidable powers of the West, they exclaimed, "If our +neighbour can do this, why may we not do the same? We certainly +can if, like them, we break with the effete systems of the past. +Let us take these island heroes for our schoolmasters." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_194"><span class="page">Page 194</span></a> +That war was one of the most momentous in the annals of history. +It unsettled the balance of power, and opened a vista of untold +possibilities for the yellow race. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not slow to act on their new convictions, the Chinese have sent +a small army of ten thousand students to Japan—of whom over +eight thousand are there now, while they have imported from the +island a host of instructors whose numbers can only be conjectured. +The earliest to come were in the military sphere, to rehabilitate +army and navy. Then came professors of every sort, engaged by public +or private institutions to help on educational reform. Even in +agriculture, on which they have hitherto prided themselves, the +Chinese have put themselves under the teaching of the Japanese, +while with good reason they have taken them as teachers in forestry +also. Crowds of Japanese artificers in every handicraft find ready +employment in China. Nor will it be long before pupils and apprentices +in these home schools will assume the rôle of teacher, while +Chinese graduates returning from Japan will be welcomed as professors +of a higher grade. This Japanning process, as it is derisively +styled, may be somewhat superficial; but it has the recommendation +of cheapness and rapidity in comparison with depending on teachers +from the West. It has, moreover, the immense advantage of racial +kinship and example. Of course the few students who go to the +fountain-heads of science—in the West—must when they +return home take rank as China's leading teachers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All this inclines one to conclude that a rapid transformation in +this ancient empire is to be counted on. +<a name="page_195"><span class="page">Page 195</span></a> +The Chinese will soon do for themselves what they are now getting +the Japanese to do for them. Japanese ideas will be permanent; but +the direct agency of the Japanese people will certainly become +less conspicuous than it now is. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To the honour of the Japanese Government, the world is bound to +acknowledge that the island nation has not abused its victories to +wring concessions from China. In fact to the eye of an unprejudiced +observer it appears that in unreservedly restoring Manchuria Japan +has allowed an interested neutral to reap a disproportionate share +of the profits. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_196"><span class="page">Page 196</span></a> +CHAPTER XXIX +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +REFORM IN CHINA +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>Reforms under the Empress Dowager—The Eclectic +Commission—Recent Reforms—Naval Abortion—Merchant +Marine—Army Reform—Mining +Enterprises—Railways—The Telegraph—The Post +Office—The Customs—Sir Robert Hart—Educational +Reform—The Tung-Wen College—The Imperial +University—Diplomatic Intercourse—Progressive +Viceroys—New Tests for Honours—Legal +Reform—Newspapers—Social Reforms—Reading +Rooms—Reform in Writing—Anti-foot-binding Society—The +Streets.</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"When I returned from England," said Marquis Ito, "my chief, the +Prince of Chosin, asked me if I thought anything needed to be changed +in Japan. I answered, 'Everything.'" These words were addressed in my +hearing, as I have elsewhere recorded, to three Chinese statesmen, +of whom Li Hung Chang was one. The object of the speaker was to +emphasise the importance of reform in China. He was unfortunate +in the time of his visit—it was just after the <i>coup +d'état</i>, in 1898. His hearers were men of light and leading, +in sympathy with his views; but reform was on the ebb; a ruinous +recoil was to follow; and nothing came of his suggestions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_197"><span class="page">Page 197</span></a> +The Emperor had indeed shown himself inclined to "change everything," +but at that moment his power was paralyzed. What vicissitudes he +has passed through since that date! Should he come again to power, +as now seems probable, may he not, sobered by years and prudent +from experience, still carry into effect his grand scheme for the +renovation of China. To him a golden dream, will it ever be a reality +to his people? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her +life and her throne, the Dowager became a convert to the policy +of progress. She had, in fact, outstripped her nephew. "Long may +she live!" "Late may he rule us!" During her lifetime she could be +counted on to carry forward the cause she had so ardently espoused. +She grasped the reins with a firm hand; and her courage was such +that she did not hesitate to drive the chariot of state over many +a new and untried road. She knew she could rely on the support of +her viceroys—men of her own appointment. She knew too that +the spirit of reform was abroad in the land, and that the heart +of the people was with her. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The best embodiment of this new spirit was the High Commission +sent out in 1905 to study the institutions of civilized countries +east and west, and to report on the adoption of such as they deemed +advisable. The mere sending forth of such an embassy was enough +to make her reign illustrious. The only analogous mission in the +history of China, is that which was despatched to India, in 66 A. +D., in quest of a better faith, by Ming-ti, "The Luminous." The +earlier embassy +<a name="page_198"><span class="page">Page 198</span></a> +borrowed a few sparks to rekindle the altars of their country; +the present embassy propose to introduce new elements in the way +of political reform. Their first recommendation, if not their first +report, reaches me while I write, and in itself is amply sufficient +to prove that this High Commission is not a sham designed to dazzle +or deceive. The Court <i>Gazette</i>, according to the <i>China +Times</i>, gives the following on the subject: +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The five commissioners have sent in a joint memorial dealing with +what they have seen in foreign countries during the last three +months. They report that the wealthiest and strongest nations in +the world to-day are governed by constitutional government. They +mention the proclamation of constitutional government in Russia, and +remark that China is the only great country that has not adopted that +principle. As they have carefully studied the systems of England, +the United States, Japan, etc., they earnestly request the Throne +to issue a decree fixing on five years as the limit within which +'China will adopt a constitutional form of government.' +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"A rescript submits this recommendation to a council of state to +advise on the action to be taken." +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="indent"> +If that venerable body, consisting of old men who hold office for +life, does not take umbrage at the prospect of another tribunal +infringing on their domain, we shall have at least the promise +of a parliament. And five years hence, if the <i>congé +d'elire</i> goes forth, it will rend the veil of ages. It implies +the conferment on the people of power hitherto unknown in their +history. What a commotion will the ballot-box excite! How suddenly +will it arouse the dormant +<a name="page_199"><span class="page">Page 199</span></a> +intellect of a brainy race! But it is premature to speculate. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1868 the Mikado granted his subjects a charter of rights, the +first article of which guarantees freedom of discussion, and engages +that he will be guided by the will of the people. In China does +not the coming of a parliament involve the previous issue of a +Magna Charta? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is little more than eight years since the restoration, as the +return of the Court in January, 1902, may be termed. In this period, +it is safe te assert that more sweeping reforms have been decreed +in China than were ever enacted in a half-century by any other +country, if one except Japan, whose example the Chinese profess to +follow, and France, in the Revolution, of which Macaulay remarks +that "they changed everything—from the rites of religion to +the fashion of a shoe-buckle." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Reference will here be made to a few of the more important innovations +or ameliorations which, taken together, made the reign of the Empress +Dowager the most brilliant in the history of the Empire. The last +eight years have been uncommonly prolific of reforms; but the tide +began to turn after the peace of Peking in 1860. Since that date +every step in the adoption of modern methods was taken during the +reign or regency of that remarkable woman, which dated from 1861 +to 1908. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As late as 1863 the Chinese Government did not possess a single +fighting ship propelled by steam. Steamers belonging to Chinese +merchants were sometimes employed to chase pirates; but they were +<a name="page_200"><span class="page">Page 200</span></a> +not the property of the state. The first state-owned steamers, at least +the first owned by the Central Government, was a flotilla of gunboats +purchased that year in England by Mr. Lay, Inspector-General of +Maritime Customs. Dissatisfied with the terms he had made with the +commander, whom he had bound not to act on any orders but such as +the Inspector should approve, the Government dismissed the Inspector +and sold the ships. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the next thirty years a sufficient naval force was raised to +justify the appointment of an admiral; but in 1895 the whole fleet +was destroyed by the Japanese, and Admiral Ting committed suicide. +At present there is a squadron under each viceroy; but all combined +would hardly form the nucleus of a navy. That the Government intend +to create a navy may be inferred from the establishment of a Naval +Board. In view of the naval exploits of Japan, and under the guidance +of Japanese, they are certain to develop this feeble plant and to +make it formidable to somebody—perhaps to themselves. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their merchant marine is more respectable. With a fleet of fifty +or more good ships the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company +are able by the aid of subsidies and special privileges to compete +for a share in the coasting trade; but as yet they have no line +trading to foreign ports. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1860 a wild horde with matchlocks, bows, and spears, the land +army is now supplied in large part with repeating rifles, trained +in Western drill, and dressed in uniform of the Western type. The +manœuvres that took place near Peking in 1905 made +<a name="page_201"><span class="page">Page 201</span></a> +a gala day for the Imperial Court, which expressed itself as more +than satisfied with the splendour of the spectacle. The contingent +belonging to this province is 40,000, and the total thus drilled +and armed is not less than five times that number. In 1907 the +troops of five provinces met in Honan. Thanks to railways, something +like concentration is coming within the range of possibility. Not +deficient in courage, what these raw battalions require to make +them effective is confidence in themselves and in their commanders. +Lacking in the lively patriotism that makes heroes of the Japanese, +these fine big fellows are not machines, but animals. To the mistaken +efforts recently made to instil that sentiment at the expense of the +foreigner, I shall refer in another chapter. A less objectionable +phase of the sentiment is provincialism, which makes it easy for an +invader to employ the troops of one province to conquer another. +In history these provinces appear as kingdoms, and their mutual +wars form the staple subject. What feeling of unity can exist so +long as the people are divided by a babel of dialects? More than +once have Tartars employed Chinese to conquer China; and in 1900 a +fine regiment from Wei-hai-wei helped the British to storm Peking. +It may be added they repaid themselves by treating the inhabitants +as conquered foes. Everywhere they were conspicuous for acts of +lawless violence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Three great arsenals, not to speak of minor establishments, are kept +busy turning out artillery and small arms for the national army, and +the Board of Army Reform has the supervision of those forces, with +<a name="page_202"><span class="page">Page 202</span></a> +the duty of making them not provincial, but national. Efforts of +this kind, however, are no proof of a reform spirit. Are not the +same to be seen all the way from Afghanistan to Dahomey? "To be weak +is to be miserable"; and the Chinese are right in making military +reorganisation the starting-point of a new policy. Yet the mere +proposal of a parliament is a better indication of the spirit of +reform than all these armaments. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the mind of China, wealth is the correlative of strength. The +two ideas are combined in the word <i>Fuchiang</i>, which expresses +national prosperity. Hence the treasures hidden in the earth could +not be neglected, when they had given up the follies of geomancy +and saw foreigners prospecting and applying for concessions to work +mines. At first such applications were met by a puerile quibble +as to the effect of boring on the "pulse of the Dragon"—in +their eyes not the guardian of a precious deposit, but the +personification of "good luck." To find lucky locations, and to +decide what might help or harm, were the functions of a learned +body of professors of <i>Fungshui</i>, a false science which held +the people in bondage and kept the mines sealed up until our own +day. Gradually the Chinese are shaking off the incubus and, reckless +of the Dragon, are forming companies for the exploitation of all +sorts of minerals. The Government has framed elaborate regulations +limiting the shares of foreigners, and encouraging their own people +to engage in mining enterprises. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Give up your <i>Fungshui</i>;<br> +It keeps your wealth locked up," +</p> + +<p> +says a verse of Viceroy Chang. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_203"><span class="page">Page 203</span></a> +A similar change has taken place in sentiment as regards railways. +At first dreaded as an instrument of foreign aggression, they are +now understood to be the best of auxiliaries for national defence. +It has further dawned on the mind of a grasping mandarinate that +they may be utilised as a source of revenue. If stocks pay well, +why should not the Government hold them? "Your railways pay 10 +per cent.—that's the sort of railway we want in China," said +one of the commissioners at a banquet in England. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It would not be strange if the nationalisation of railways decided +on this spring in Japan should lead to a similar movement in China. +In a country like America, with 300,000 miles of track, the purchase +would be <i>ultra vires</i> in more senses than one, but with only +1 per cent. of that mileage, the purchase would not be difficult, +though it might not be so easy to secure an honest administration. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Trains from Peking now reach Hankow (600 miles) in thirty-six hours. +When the grand trunk is completed, through trains from the capital +will reach Canton in three days. Set this over against the three +months' sea voyage of former times (a voyage made only once a year), +or against the ten days now required for the trip by steamer! What +a potent factor is the railroad in the progress of a great country! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The new enterprises in this field would be burdensome to enumerate. +Shanghai is to be connected by rail with Tientsin (which means +Peking), and with Nanking and Suchow. Lines to penetrate the western +provinces are already mapped out; and even in Mongolia it is proposed +to supersede the camel by the iron +<a name="page_204"><span class="page">Page 204</span></a> +horse on the caravan route to Russia. "Alas! the age of golden +leisure is gone—the iron age of hurry-skurry is upon us!" +This is the lament of old slow-going China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When China purchased the Shanghai-Woosung railway in 1876, she +was thought to be going ahead. What did we think when she tore up +the track and dumped it in the river? An æon seems to have +passed since that day of darkness. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The advent of railways has been slow in comparison with the telegraph. +The provinces are covered with wires. Governors and captains consult +with each other by wire, in preference to a tardy exchange of written +correspondence. The people, too, appreciate the advantage of +communicating by a flash with distant members of their families, +and of settling questions of business at remote places without +stirring from their own doors. To have their thunder god bottled +up and brought down to be their courier was to them the wonder of +wonders; yet they have now become so accustomed to this startling +innovation, that they cease to marvel. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The wireless telegraph is also at work—a little manual, translated +by a native Christian, tells people how to use it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Over forty years ago, when I exhibited the Morse system to the +astonished dignitaries of Peking, those old men, though heads of +departments, chuckled like children when, touching a button, they +heard a bell ring; or when wrapping a wire round their bodies, +they saw the lightning leap from point to point. "It's wonderful," +they exclaimed, "but we can't use it in +<a name="page_205"><span class="page">Page 205</span></a> +our country. The people would steal the wires." Electric bells +are now common appliances in the houses of Chinese who live in +foreign settlements. Electric trolleys are soon to be running at +Shanghai and Tientsin. Telephones, both private and public, are +a convenience much appreciated. Accustomed as the Chinese are to +the instantaneous transmission of thought and speech, they have yet +to see the <i>telodyne</i>—electricity as a transmitter of +force. But will they not see it when the trolleys run? The advent +of electric power will mark an epoch. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +China's weakness is not due wholly to backwardness in the arts +and sciences. It is to be equally ascribed to defective connection +of parts and to a lack of communication between places. Hence a +sense of solidarity is wanting, and instead there is a predominance +of local over national interests. For this disease the remedy is +forthcoming—rail and wire are rapidly welding the disjointed +members of the Empire into a solid unity. The post office contributes +to the same result. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A postal system China has long possessed: mounted couriers for +official despatches, and foot messengers for private parties, the +Government providing the former, and merchant companies the latter. +The modernised post office, now operating in every province, provides +for both. To most of the large towns the mails are carried by steamboat +or railroad—a marvellous gain in time, compared with horse +or foot. The old method was slow and uncertain; the new is safe +and expeditious. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That the people appreciate the change is shown by +<a name="page_206"><span class="page">Page 206</span></a> +the following figures: In 1904 stamps to the amount of $400,000 +(Mexican) were sold; in 1905 the sale rose to $600,000—an +advance of 50 per cent. in one year. What may we not expect when +the women learn to read, and when education becomes more general +among men? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir Robert Hart, from whom I had this statement, is the father +of China's postal system. Overcoming opposition with patience and +prudence, he has given the post office a thorough organisation and +has secured for it the confidence of princes and people. Already +does the Government look to it as a prospective source of revenue. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To the maritime customs service, Sir Robert has been a foster-father. +Provided for by treaty, it was in operation before he took charge, +in 1863; but to him belongs the honour of having nursed the infant +up to vigorous maturity by the unwearied exertions of nearly half +a century. While the post office is a new development, the maritime +customs have long been looked upon as the most reliable branch of +the revenue service. China's debts to foreign countries, whether +for loans or indemnities, are invariably paid from the customs +revenue. The Government, though disinclined to have such large +concerns administered by foreign agents, is reconciled to the +arrangement in the case of the customs by finding it a source of +growing income. The receipts for 1905 amounted to 35,111,000 taels += £5,281,000. In volume of trade this shows a gain of 11-1/2 +per cent. on 1904; but, owing to a favouring gale from the happy +isles of high finance, in sterling value the gain is actually 17 +per cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_207"><span class="page">Page 207</span></a> +To a thoughtful mind, native or foreign, the maritime customs are +not to be estimated by a money standard. They rank high among the +agencies working for the renovation of China. They furnish an +object-lesson in official integrity, showing how men brought up +under the influence of Christian morals can collect large sums and +pay them over without a particle sticking to their fingers. While +the local commissioners have carried liberal ideas into mandarin +circles all along the seacoast and up the great rivers into the +interior, the Inspector-General (the "I. G." as Sir Robert is usually +called) has been the zealous advocate of every step in the way of +reform at headquarters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another man in his position might have been contented to be a mere +fiscal agent, but Sir Robert Hart's fertile brain has been unceasingly +active for nearly half a century in devising schemes for the good of +China. All the honours and wealth that China has heaped on her trusted +adviser are far from being sufficient to cancel her obligations. +It was he who prompted a timid, groping government to take the +first steps in the way of diplomatic intercourse. It was he who +led them to raise their school of interpreters to the rank of a +diplomatic college. He it was who made peace in the war with France; +and in 1900, after the flight of the Court, he it was who acted +as intermediary between the foreign powers and Prince Ching. To +some of these notable services I shall refer elsewhere. I speak +of them here for the purpose of emphasising my disapproval of an +intrigue designed to oust Sir Robert and to overturn +<a name="page_208"><span class="page">Page 208</span></a> +the lofty structure which he has made into a light-house for China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In May, 1906, two ministers were appointed by the Throne to take +charge of the entire customs service, with plenary powers to reform +or modify <i>ad libitum</i>. Sir Robert was not consulted, nor was +he mentioned in the decree. He was not dismissed, but was virtually +superseded. Britain, America, and other powers took alarm for the +safety of interests involved, and united in a protest. The Government +explained that it was merely substituting one tribunal for another, +creating a dual headship for the customs service instead of leaving +it under the Board of Foreign Affairs, a body already overburdened +with responsibilities. They gave a solemn promise that while Sir +Robert Hart remained there should be no change in his status or +powers; and so the matter stands. The protest saved the situation +for the present. Explanation and promise were accepted; but the +Government (or rather the two men who got themselves appointed +to a fat office) remain under the reproach of discourtesy and +ingratitude. The two men are Tieliang, a Manchu, and Tang Shao-yi, +a Chinese. The latter, I am told on good authority, is to have +£30,000 per annum. The other will not have less. This enormous +salary is paid to secure honesty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In China every official has his salary paid in two parts: one called +the "regular stipend," the other, a "solatium to encourage honesty." +The former is counted by hundreds of taels; the latter, by thousands, +especially where there is a temptation to peculate. What a rottenness +at the core is here betrayed! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_209"><span class="page">Page 209</span></a> +A new development worthy of all praise is the opening, by imperial +command, of a school for the training of officials for the customs +service. It is a measure which Sir Robert Hart with all his public +spirit, never ventured to recommend, because it implies the speedy +replacement of the foreign staff by trained natives. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Filling the sky with a glow of hope not unlike the approach of +sunshine after an arctic winter, the reform in the field of education +throws all others into the shade. By all parties is recognised +its supremacy. Its beginning was feeble and unwelcome, implying +on the part of China nothing but a few drops of oil to relieve +the friction at a few points of contact with the outside world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The new treaties found China unprovided with interpreters capable +of translating documents in foreign languages. Foreign nations +agreed to accompany their despatches with a Chinese version, until +a competent staff of interpreters should be provided. With a view to +meeting this initial want, a school was opened in 1862, in connection +with the Foreign Office, and placed under the direction of the +Inspector-General of Maritime Customs, by whom I was recommended +for the presidency. Professors of English, French, and Russian +were engaged; and later on German took a place alongside of the +three leading languages of the Western world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At first no science was taught or expected, but gradually we succeeded +in obtaining the consent of the Chinese ministers to enlarge our +faculty so as to include chairs of astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, +and physics. International law was taught by the +<a name="page_210"><span class="page">Page 210</span></a> +president; and by him also the Chinese were supplied with their +first text-books on the law of nations. What use had they for books +on that subject, so long as they held no intercourse on equal terms +with foreign countries? The students trained in that school of +diplomacy had to shiver in the cold for many a year before the +Government recognised their merits and rewarded them with official +appointments. The minister recently returned from London, the ministers +now in Germany and Japan, and a minister formerly in France, not to +speak of secretaries of legation and consuls, were all graduates +of our earlier classes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1898 the young Emperor, taught by defeat at the hands of the +Japanese, resolved on a thorough reform in the system of national +education. It would never do to confine the knowledge of Western +science to a handful of interpreters and attachés. The highest +scholars of the Empire must be allowed access to the fountain of +national strength. A university was created with a capital of five +million taels, and the writer was made president by an imperial +decree which conferred on him the highest but one of the nine grades +of the mandarinate. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Two or three hundred students were enrolled, among whom were bachelors, +masters, and doctors of the civil service examinations. It was +launched with a favouring breeze; but the wind changed with the +<i>coup d'état</i> of the Empress Dowager, and two years +later the university went down in the Boxer cyclone. A professor, a +tutor, and a student lost their lives. How the cause of educational +reform rose stronger after the storm, I relate in a special +<a name="page_211"><span class="page">Page 211</span></a> +chapter. It is a far cry from a university for the <i>élite</i> +to that elaborate system of national education which is destined +to plant its schools in every town and hamlet in the Empire. The +new education was in fact still regarded with suspicion by the +honour men of the old system. They looked on it, as they did on +the railway, as a source of danger, a perilous experiment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As yet the intercourse was one-sided: envoys came; but none were +sent. Embassies were no novelty; but they had always moved on an +inclined plane, either coming up laden with tribute, or going down +bearing commands. Where there was no tribute and no command, why +send them? Why send to the very people who had robbed China of her +supremacy! It was a bitter pill, and she long refused to swallow +it. Hart gilded the dose and she took it. Obtaining leave to go home +to get married, he proposed that he should be accompanied by his +teacher, Pinchun, a learned Manchu, as unofficial envoy—with +the agreeable duty to see and report. It was a travelling commission, +not like that of 1905-06, to seek light, but to ascertain whether +the representative of a power so humbled and insulted would be +treated with common decency. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The old pundit was a poet. All Chinese pundits are poets; but Pinchun +had real gifts, and the flow of champagne kindled his inspiration. +Everywhere wined and dined, though accredited to no court, he was +in raptures at the magnificence of the nations of the West. He +lauded their wealth, culture, and scenery in faultless verse; and +if he indulged in satire, +<a name="page_212"><span class="page">Page 212</span></a> +it was not for the public eye. He was attended by several of our +students, to whom the travelling commission was an education. They +were destined, after long waiting as I have said, to revisit the +Western world, clothed with higher powers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The impression made on both sides was favourable, and the way was +prepared for a genuine embassy. The United States minister, Anson +Burlingame, a man of keen penetration and broad sympathies, had made +himself exceedingly acceptable to the Foreign Office at Peking. When +he was taking leave to return home, in 1867, the Chinese ministers +begged his good offices with the United States Government and with +other governments as occasion might offer—"In short, you +will be our ambassador," they said, with hearty good-will. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Burlingame, who grasped the possibilities of the situation, called at +the Customs on his way to the Legation. Hart seized the psychological +moment, and, hastening to the <i>Yamên</i>, induced the ministers +to turn a pleasantry into a reality. The Dowagers (for there were +two) assented to the proposal of Prince Kung, to invest Burlingame +with a roving commission to all the Treaty powers, and to associate +with him a Manchu and a Chinese with the rank of minister. An +"œcumenical embassy" was the result. Some of our students +were again attached to the suite; reciprocal intercourse had begun; +and Burlingame has the glory of initiating it". +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the work of reform three viceroys stand pre-eminent, viz., Li +Hung Chang, Yuen Shi Kai and Chang Chitung. Li, besides organising +an army and +<a name="page_213"><span class="page">Page 213</span></a> +a navy (both demolished by the Japanese in 1895), founded a university +at Tienstin, and placed Dr. Tenney at the head of it. Yuen, coming +to the same viceroyalty with the lesson of the Boxer War before +his eyes, has made the army and education objects of special care. +In the latter field he had had the able assistance of Dr. Tenney, +and succeeded in making the schools of the province of Chihli an +example for the Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Viceroy Chang has the distinction of being the first man (with +the exception of Kang Yuwei) to start the emperor on the path of +reform. Holding that, to be rich, China must have the industrial +arts of the West, and to be strong she must have the sciences of +the West, he has taken the lead in advocating and introducing both. +Having been called, after the suspension of the Imperial University, +to assist this enlightened satrap in his great enterprise, I cannot +better illustrate the progress of reform than by devoting a separate +chapter to him and to my observations during three years in Central +China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Tests of scholarship and qualifications for office have undergone +a complete change. The regulation essay, for centuries supreme in +the examinations for the civil service, is abolished; and more +solid acquirements have taken its place. It takes time to adjust such +an ancient system to new conditions. That this will be accomplished +is sufficiently indicated by the fact that in May, 1906, degrees +answering to A. M. and Ph. D. were conferred on quite a number of +students who had completed their studies at universities in foreign +countries. As a result there is certain +<a name="page_214"><span class="page">Page 214</span></a> +to be a rush of students to Europe and America, the fountain-heads +of science. Forty young men selected by Viceroy Yuen from the advanced +classes of his schools were in 1906 despatched under the superintendence +of Dr. Tenney to pursue professional studies in the United States. +That promising mission was partly due to the relaxation of the +rigour of the exclusion laws. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Chinese assessor of the Mixed Court in Shanghai was dismissed +the same year because he had condemned criminals to be beaten with +rods—a favourite punishment, in which there is a way to alleviate +the blows. Slicing, branding, and other horrible punishments with +torture to extort confessions have been forbidden by imperial decree. +Conscious of the contempt excited by such barbarities, and desirous +of removing an obstacle to admission to the comity of nations, the +Government has undertaken to revise its penal code. Wu-ting-fang, +so well known as minister at Washington, has borne a chief part in +this honourable task. The code is not yet published; but magistrates +are required to act on its general principles. When completed it will +no doubt provide for a jury, a thing hitherto unknown in China. +The commissioners on legal reform have already sent up a memorial, +explaining the functions of a jury; and, to render its adoption +palatable, they declare that it is an ancient institution, having +been in use in China three thousand years ago. They leave the Throne +to infer that Westerners borrowed it from China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The fact is that each magistrate is a petty tyrant, embodying in +his person the functions of local governor, +<a name="page_215"><span class="page">Page 215</span></a> +judge, and jury, though there are limits to his discretion and +room for appeal or complaint. It is to be hoped that lawyers and +legal education will find a place in the administration of justice. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Formerly clinging to a foreign flagstaff, the editor of a Chinese +journal cautiously hinted the need for some kinds of reform. Within +this <i>lustrum mirabile</i> the daily press has taken the Empire +by storm. Some twenty or more journals have sprung up under the +shadow of the throne, and they are not gagged. They go to the length +of their tether in discussing affairs of state—notwithstanding +cautionary hints. Refraining from open attack, they indulge in +covert criticism of the Government and its agents. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Social reforms open to ambitious editors a wide field and make amends +for exclusion from the political arena. One of the most influential +recently deplored the want of vitality in the old religions of +the country, and, regarding their reformation as hopeless, openly +advocated the adoption of Christianity. To be independent of the +foreigner it must, he said, be made a state church, with one of +the princes for a figurehead, if not for pilot. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another deals with the subject of marriage. Many improvements, +he says, are to be made in the legal status of woman. The total +abolition of polygamy might be premature; but that is to be kept +in view. In another issue he expresses a regret that the Western +usage of personal courtship cannot safely be introduced. Those who +are to be companions for life cannot as yet be allowed to see each +other, as disorders might result from excess of freedom. Such liberty +<a name="page_216"><span class="page">Page 216</span></a> +in social relations is impracticable "except in a highly refined +and well-ordered state of society." The same or another writer +proposes, by way of enlarging woman's world, that she shall not +be confined to the house, but be allowed to circulate as freely +as Western women but she must hide her charms behind a veil. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Reporting an altercation between a policeman and the driver of +one of Prince Ching's carts, who insisted on driving on tracks +forbidden to common people, an editor suggests with mild sarcasm +that a notice be posted in such cases stating that only "noblemen's +carts are allowed to pass." Do not these specimens show a laudable +attempt to simulate a free press? Free it is by sufferance, though +not by law. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Reading-rooms are a new institution full of promise. They are not +libraries, but places for reading and expounding newspapers for the +benefit of those who are unable to read for themselves. Numerous +rooms may be seen at the street corners, where men are reciting +the contents of a paper to an eager crowd. They have the air of +wayside chapels; and this mode of enlightening the ignorant was +confessedly borrowed from the missionary. How urgent the need, +where among the men only one in twenty can read; and among women +not one in a hundred! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Reform in writing is a genuine novelty, Chinese writing being a +development of hieroglyphics, in which the sound is no index to +the sense, and in which each pictorial form must be separately made +familiar to the eye. Dr. Medhurst wittily calls it "an occulage, +not a language." Without the introduction of alphabetic +<a name="page_217"><span class="page">Page 217</span></a> +writing, the art of reading can never become general. To meet this +want a new alphabet of fifty letters has been invented, and a society +organised to push the system, so that the common people, also women, +may soon be able to read the papers for themselves. The author of +the system is Wang Chao, mentioned above as having given occasion +for the <i>coup d'état</i> by which the Dowager Empress +was restored to power in 1898. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I close this formidable list of reforms with a few words on a society +for the abolition of a usage which makes Chinese women the +laughing-stock of the world, namely, the binding of their feet. +With the minds of her daughters cramped by ignorance, and their +feet crippled by the tyranny of an absurd fashion, China suffers an +immense loss, social and economic. Happily there are now indications +that the proposed enfranchisement will meet with general favour. +Lately I heard mandarins of high rank advocate this cause in the +hearing of a large concourse at Shanghai. They have given a pledge +that there shall be no more foot-binding in their families; and the +Dowager Empress came to the support of the cause with a hortatory +edict. As in this matter she dared not prohibit, she was limited to +persuasion and example. Tartar women have their powers of locomotion +unimpaired. Viceroy Chang denounced the fashion as tending to sap +the vigour of China's mothers; and he is reported to have suggested +a tax on small feet—in inverse proportion to their size, of +course. The leader in this movement, which bids fair to become +national, is Mrs. Archibald Little. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_218"><span class="page">Page 218</span></a> +The streets are patrolled by a well-dressed and well-armed police +force, in strong contrast with the ragged, negligent watchmen of +yore. The Chinese, it seems, are in earnest about mending their +ways. Their streets, in Peking and other cities, are undergoing +thorough repair—so that broughams and rickshaws are beginning +to take the place of carts and palanquins. A foreign style of building +is winning favour; and the adoption of foreign dress is talked of. +When these changes come, what will be left of this queer antique? +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_219"><span class="page">Page 219</span></a> +CHAPTER XXX +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +VICEROY CHANG-A LEADER OF REFORM +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>His Origin—Course as a Student—In the Censorate—He +Floors a Magnate—The First to Wake Up—As a Leader of +Reform—The Awakening of the Giant</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If I were writing of Chang, the Chinese giant, who overtopped the +tallest of his fellow-men by head and shoulders, I should be sure +of readers. Physical phenomena attract attention more than mental +or moral grandeur. Is it not because greatness in these higher +realms requires patient thought for due appreciation? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chang, the viceroy of Hukwang, a giant in intellect and a hero in +achievement, is not a commonplace character. If my readers will +follow me, while I trace his rise and progress, not only will they +discover that he stands head and shoulders above most officials +of his rank, but they will gain important side-lights on great +events in recent history. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During my forty years' residence in the capital I had become well +acquainted with Chang's brilliant career; but it is only within +the last three or four years that I have had an opportunity to +study him in personal intercourse, having been called to preside +over his university and to aid him in other educational enterprises. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_220"><span class="page">Page 220</span></a> +Whatever may be thought of the rank and file of China's mandarins, +her viceroys are nearly always men of exceptional ability. They +are never novices, but as a rule old in years and veterans in +experience. Promoted for executive talent or for signal services, +their office is too high to be in the market; nor is it probable +that money can do much to recommend a candidate. A governor of +Kwangsi was recently dismissed for incompetence, or for ill-success +against a body of rebels. Being a rich man, he made a free use +of that argument which commonly proves effective at Peking. But, +so far from being advanced to the viceroyalty, he was not even +reinstated in his original rank. The most he was able to obtain by +a lavish expenditure was the inspectorship of a college at Wuchang, +to put his foot on one of the lower rounds of the official ladder. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chang was never rich enough to buy official honours, even in the +lower grades; and it is one of his chief glories that, after a +score of years in the exercise of viceregal power, he continues +to be relatively poor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +His name in full is Chang Chi-tung, meaning "Longbow of the Cavern," +an allusion to a tradition that one of his ancestors was born in +a cave and famed for archery. This was far back in the age of the +troglodytes. Now, for many generations, the family has been devoted +to the peaceful pursuit of letters. As for Chang himself, it will +be seen with what deadly effect he has been able to use the pen, in +his hands a more formidable weapon than the longbow of his ancestor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chang was born at Nanpi, in the metropolitan +<a name="page_221"><span class="page">Page 221</span></a> +province of Chihli, not quite seventy years ago; and that circumstance +debarred him from holding the highest viceroyalty in the Empire, +as no man is permitted to hold office in his native place. He has +climbed to his present eminence without the extraneous aids of +wealth and family influence. This implies talents of no ordinary +grade; but how could those talents have found a fit arena without +that admirable system of literary competition which for so many +centuries has served the double purpose of extending patronage +to letters and of securing the fittest men for the service of the +state. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Crowned with the laurel of A. B., or budding genius, before he +was out of his teens, three years later he won the honour of A. +M., or, as the Chinese say, he plucked a sprig of the <i>olea +fragrans</i> in a contest with his fellow-provincials in which +only one in a hundred gained a prize. Proceeding to the imperial +capital he entered the lists against the picked scholars of all +the provinces. The prizes were 3 per cent. of the whole number +of competitors, and he gained the doctorate in letters, which, as +the Chinese title indicates, assures its possessor of an official +appointment. Had he been content to wait for some obscure position +he might have gone home to sleep on his laurels. But his restless +spirit saw fresh battle-fields beckoning him to fresh triumphs. +The three hundred new-made doctors were summoned to the palace to +write on themes assigned by the Emperor, that His Majesty might +select a score of them for places in the Hanlin Academy. Here again +fortune favoured young Chang; the elegance of his penmanship and +his skill in composing +<a name="page_222"><span class="page">Page 222</span></a> +mechanical verse were so remarkable that he secured a seat on the +literary Olympus of the Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +His conflicts were not yet ended. A conspicuous advantage of his +high position was that it qualified him as a candidate for membership +of the Board of Censors. Nor did fortune desert her favourite in +this instance. After writing several papers to show his knowledge of +law, history, and politics, he came forth clothed with powers that +made him formidable to the highest officers of the state—powers +somewhat analogous to the combined functions of censor and tribune +in ancient Rome. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Before I proceed to show how our "knight of the longbow" employed +his new authority, a few words on the constitution of that august +tribunal, the Board of Censors, may prove interesting to the reader. +Its members are not judges, but prosecuting attorneys for the state. +They are accorded a freedom of speech which extends even to pointing +out the shortcomings of majesty. How important such a tribunal for +a country in which a newspaper press with its argus eyes has as +yet no existence! There is indeed a court <i>Gazette</i>, which +has been called the oldest newspaper in the world; but its contents +are strictly limited to decrees, memorials, and appointments. Free +discussion and general news have no place in its columns; so that +in the modern sense it is not a newspaper. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The court—even the occupant of the Dragon Throne—needs +watch-dogs. Such is the theory; but as a matter of fact these guardians +of official morals find it safer to occupy themselves with the +aberrations of satellites than to discover spots on the sun. About +<a name="page_223"><span class="page">Page 223</span></a> +thirty years ago one of them, Wukotu, resolved to denounce the +Empress Dowager for having adopted the late emperor as her son +instead of making him her grandson. He accordingly immolated himself +at the tomb of the late emperor by way of protesting against the +impropriety of leaving him without a direct heir to worship his +manes. It is doubtful whether the Western mind is capable of following +Wukotu's subtle reasoning; but is it not plain that he felt that +he was provoking an ignominious death, and chose rather to die +as a hero—the champion of his deceased master? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If a censor succeeds in convicting a single high functionary of +gross misconduct his fortune is made. He is rewarded by appointment +to some respectable post, possibly the same from which his victim has +been evicted. Practical advantage carries the day against abstract +notions of æsthetic fitness. Sublime it might be to see the +guardians of the common weal striking down the unworthy, with a +public spirit untainted by self-interest; but in China (and in +some other countries) such machinery requires self-interest for +its motive force. Wanting that, it would be like a windmill without +wind, merely a fine object in the landscape. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As an illustration of the actual procedure take the case in which +Chang first achieved a national reputation. Chunghau, a Manchu of +noble family and high in favour at court, had been sent to Russia +in 1880 to demand the restoration of Ili, a province of Chinese +Turkestan, which the Russians had occupied on pretext of quelling +its chronic disorders. Scarcely had he reported the success of +his mission, which had +<a name="page_224"><span class="page">Page 224</span></a> +resulted in recovering two-thirds of the disputed territory, when +Chang came forward and denounced it as worse than a failure. He +had, as Chang proved, permitted the Russians to retain certain +strategic points, and had given them fertile districts in exchange +for rugged mountains or arid plains. To such a settlement no envoy +could be induced to consent, unless chargeable with corruption +or incompetence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The unlucky envoy was thrown into prison and condemned to death +(but reprieved), and his accuser rose in the official scale as +rapidly as if he had won a great battle on land or sea. His victory +was not unlike that of those British orators who made a reputation +out of the impeachment of Lord Clive or Warren Hastings, save that +with him a trenchant pen took the place of an eloquent tongue. I +knew Chunghau both before and after his disgrace. In 1859, when +an American embassy for the first time entered the gates of Peking, +it was Chunghau who was appointed to escort the minister to the +capital and back again to the seacoast—a pretty long journey +in those days when there was neither steamboat nor railway. During +that time, acting as interpreter, I had occasion to see him every +day, and I felt strongly attracted by his generous and gentlemanly +bearing. The poor fellow came out of prison stripped of all his +honours, and with his prospects blighted forever. In a few months +he died of sheer chagrin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The war with Japan in 1894-1895 found Chang established in the +viceroyalty of Hukwang, two provinces in Central China, with a +prosperous population of over fifty millions, on a great highway +of internal +<a name="page_225"><span class="page">Page 225</span></a> +traffic rivalling the Mississippi, and with Hankow, the hub of +the Empire, for its commercial centre. When he saw the Chinese +forces scattered like chaff by the battalions of those despised +islanders he was not slow to grasp the explanation. Kang Yuwei, a +Canton man, also grasped it, and urged on the Emperor the necessity +for reform with such vigour as to prompt him to issue a meteoric +shower of reformatory edicts, filling one party with hope and the +other with dismay. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chang had held office at Canton; and his keen intellect had taken +in the changed relations of West and East. He perceived that a +new sort of sunshine shed its beams on the Western world. He did +not fully apprehend the spiritual elements of our civilisation; +but he saw that it was clothed with a power unknown to the sages +of his country, the forces of nature being brought into subjection +through science and popular education. He felt that China must +conform to the new order of things, or perish—even if that +new order was in contradiction to her ancient traditions as much as +the change of sunrise to the west. He saw and felt that knowledge +is power, a maxim laid down by Confucius before the days of Bacon; +and he set about inculcating his new ideas by issuing a series +of lectures for the instruction of his subordinates. Collected +into a volume under the title of "Exhortations to Learn,"[*] they +were put into the hands of the young Emperor and by his command +distributed among the viceroys and governors of the Empire. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: Translated by Dr. Woodbridge as "China's Only Hope." +Kelly & Walsh, Shanghai.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_226"><span class="page">Page 226</span></a> +What a harvest might have sprung from the sowing of such seed in +such soil by an imperial husbandman! But there were some who viewed +it as the sowing of dragons' teeth. Those reactionaries induced the +Dowager Empress to come out from her retirement and to reassume +her abdicated power in order to save the Empire from a threatening +conflagration. It was the fable of Phaëton enacted in real +life. The young charioteer was struck down and the sun brought back +to his proper course instead of rising in the west. The progressive +legislation of the two previous years 1897-98 was repealed and then +followed two years of a narrow, benighted policy, controlled by +the reactionaries under the lead of Prince Tuan, father of the +heir-apparent, with a junta of Manchu princes as blind and corrupt +as Russian grand dukes. That disastrous recoil resulted in war, +not against a single power, but against the whole civilised world, +as has been set forth in the account of the Boxer War (see +<a href="#page_172">page 172</a>). +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Affairs were drifting into this desperate predicament when Chang +of the Cavern became in a sense the saviour of his country. This +he effected by two actions which called for uncommon intelligence +and moral force: (1) By assuring the British Government that he +would at all costs maintain peace in Central China; (2) by refusing +to obey an inhuman decree from Peking, commanding the viceroys to +massacre all foreigners within their jurisdiction—a decree +which would be incredible were it not known that at the same moment +the walls of the capital were placarded with proclamations offering +rewards of 50, 30 and 20 +<a name="page_227"><span class="page">Page 227</span></a> +taels respectively for the heads of foreign men, women, and children. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is barely possible that Chang was helped to a decision by a +friendly visit from a British man-of-war, whose captain, in answer +to a question about his artillery, informed Chang that he had the +bearings of his official residence, and could drop a shell into +it with unerring precision at a distance of three miles. He was +also aided by the influence of Mr. Fraser, a wide-awake British +consul. Fraser modestly disclaims any special merit in the matter, +but British missionaries at Hankow give him the credit. They say +that, learning from them the state of feeling among the people, he +induced the viceroy to take prompt measures to prevent an outbreak. +At one time a Boxer army from the south was about to cross the +river and destroy the foreign settlement. Chang, when appealed +to, frankly confessed that his troops were in sympathy with the +Boxers, and that being in arrears of pay they were on the verge +of revolt. Fraser found him the money by the help of the Hong Kong +Bank; the troops were paid; and the Boxers dispersed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The same problem confronted Liu, the viceroy of Nanking; and it +was solved by him in the same way. Both viceroys acted in concert; +but to which belongs the honour of that wise initiative can never +be decided with certainty. The foreign consuls at Nanking claim it +for Liu. Mr. Sundius, now British consul at Wuhu, assures me that +as Liu read the barbarous decree he exclaimed, "I shall repudiate +this as a forgery," adding "I shall not obey, if I have to die for +it." His words have a heroic ring; and +<a name="page_228"><span class="page">Page 228</span></a> +suggest that his policy was not taken at second-hand. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A similar claim has been put forward for Li Hung Chang, who was at +that time viceroy at Canton. Is it not probable that the same view +of the situation flashed on the minds of all three simultaneously? +They were not, like the Peking princes, ignorant Tartars, but Chinese +scholars of the highest type. They could not fail to see that compliance +with that bloody edict would seal their own doom as well as that +of the Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Speaking of Chang, Mr. Fraser says: "He had the wit to see that +any other course meant ruin." Chang certainly does not hesitate +to blow his own trumpet; but I do not suspect him of "drawing the +longbow." Having the advantage of being an expert rhymer, he has +put his own pretensions into verses which all the school-children +in a population of fifty millions are obliged to commit to memory. +They run somewhat like this: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"In Kengtse (1900) the Boxer robbers went mad,<br> +And Peking became for the third time the prey of fire and sword;<br> +But the banks of the Great River and the province of Hupei<br> +Remained in tranquillity." +</p> + +<p> +He adds in a tone of exultation: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"The province of Hupei was accordingly exempted<br> +From the payment of an indemnity tax,<br> +And allowed to spend the amount thus saved<br> +In the erection of schoolhouses." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In these lines there is not much poetry; but the fact which they +commemorate adds one more wreath to +<a name="page_229"><span class="page">Page 229</span></a> +a brow already crowned with many laurels, showing how much the viceroy's +heart was set on the education of his people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the interest of the educational movement, I was called to Chang's +assistance in 1902. The Imperial University was destroyed in the +Boxer War, and, seeing no prospect of its reëstablishment I +was on the way to my home in America when, on reaching Vancouver, +I found a telegram from Viceroy Chang, asking me to be president +of a university which he proposed to open, and to instruct his +junior officials in international law. I engaged for three years; +and I now look back on my recent campaign in Central China as one +of the most interesting passages in a life of over half a century +in the Far East. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Besides instructing his mandarins in the law of nations, I had +to give them some notion of geography and history, the two +coördinates of time and place, without which they might, like +some of their writers, mistake Rhode Island for the Island of Rhodes, +and Rome, New York, for the City of the Seven Hills. A book on +the Intercourse of Nations and a translation of Dudley Field's +"International Code," remain as tangible results of those lectures. +But the university failed to materialise. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Within a month after my arrival the viceroy was ordered to remove +to Nanking to take up a post rendered vacant by the death of his +eminent colleague, Liu. Calling at my house on the eve of embarking +he said, "I asked you to come here to be president of a university +for two provinces. If you will go with me to Nanking, I will make +you president of a university +<a name="page_230"><span class="page">Page 230</span></a> +for five provinces," meaning that he would combine the educational +interests of the two viceroyalties, and showing how the university +scheme had expanded in his fertile brain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Before he had been a month at that higher post he learned to his +intense disappointment that he was only to hold the place for another +appointee. After nearly a year at Nanking, he was summoned to Peking, +where he spent another year in complete uncertainty as to his future +destination. In the meantime the university existed only on paper. +In justice to the viceroy I ought to say that nothing could exceed +the courtesy and punctuality with which he discharged his obligations +to me. The despatch which once a month brought me my stipend was +always addressed to me as president of the Wuchang University, +though as a matter of fact I might as well have been styled president +of the University of Weissnichtwo. In one point he went beyond his +agreement, viz., in giving me free of charge a furnished house +of two stories, with ten rooms and a garden. It was on the bank +of the "Great River" with the picturesque hills of Hanyang nearly +opposite, a site which I preferred to any other in the city. I there +enjoyed the purest air with a minimum of inconvenience from narrow, +dirty streets. To these exceptional advantages it is doubtless due +that my health held out, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, +which, the locality being far inland and in lat. 30° 30', was +that of a fiery furnace. On the night of the autumnal equinox, my +first in Wuchang, the mercury stood in my bedroom at 102°. I +was the guest of the Rev. Arnold Foster of the London Missionary +<a name="page_231"><span class="page">Page 231</span></a> +Society, whose hospitality was warm in more ways than one. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy returned from Peking, broken in health; the little +strength he had left was given to military preparation for the +contingencies of the Russo-Japanese War; and his university was +consigned to the limbo of forgotten dreams. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Viceroy Chang has been derided, not quite justly, as possessing a +superabundance of initiative along with a rather scant measure of +finality, taking up and throwing down his new schemes as a child +does its playthings. In these enterprises the paucity of results +was due to the shortcomings of the agents to whom he entrusted +their management. The same reproach and the same apology might be +made for the Empress Dowager who, like the Roman Sybil, committed +her progressive decrees to the mercy of the winds without seeming +to care what became of them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Next after the education of his people the development of their +material resources has been with Chang a leading object. To this +end he has opened cotton-mills, silk-filatures, glass-works and +iron-works, all on an extensive scale, with foreign machinery and +foreign experts. For miles outside of the gates of Wuchang the +banks of the river are lined with these vast establishments. Do +they not announce more clearly than the batteries which command +the waterway the coming of a new China? Some of them he has kept +going at an annual loss. The cotton-mill, for example, was standing +idle when I arrived, because in the hands of his mandarins he could +not make it pay expenses. A Canton merchant leased it on easy terms, +and made it +<a name="page_232"><span class="page">Page 232</span></a> +such a conspicuous success that he is now growing rich. It is an +axiom in China that no manufacturing or mercantile enterprise can +be profitably conducted by a deputation of mandarins. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chang is rapidly changing the aspect of his capital by erecting +in all parts of it handsome school-buildings in foreign style, +literally proclaiming from the house-tops his gospel of education. +The youth in these schools are mostly clad in foreign dress; his +street police and the soldiers in his barracks are all in foreign +uniform; and many of the latter have cut off their cues as a sign of +breaking with the old régime. In talking with their officers +I applauded the prudence of the measure as making them less liable +to be captured while running away. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Chang's soldiers are taught to march to the cadence of his own +war-songs—which, though lacking the fire of Tyrtæus +or Körner, are not ill-suited to arouse patriotic sentiment. +Take these lines as a sample: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Foreigners laugh at our impotence,<br> +And talk of dividing our country like a watermelon,<br> +But are we not 400 million strong?<br> +If we of the Yellow Race only stand together,<br> +What foreign power will dare to molest us?<br> +Just look at India, great in extent<br> +But sunk in hopeless bondage.<br> +Look, too, at the Jews, famous in ancient times,<br> +Now scattered on the face of the earth.<br> +Then look at Japan with her three small islands,<br> +Think how she got the better of this great nation,<br> +And won the admiration of the world.<br> +What I admire in the Japanese<br> +Is not their skill in using ship or gun<br> +But their single-hearted love of country." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_233"><span class="page">Page 233</span></a> +Viceroy Chang's mode of dealing with his own malady might be taken +as a picture of the shifting policy of a half-enlightened country. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The first doctor he consulted was a Chinese of the old school. Besides +administering pills composed of +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,<br> +Wool of bat, and tongue of dog," +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +the doctor suggested that one thing was still required to put the +patient in harmony with the course of Nature. Pointing to a fine +chain of hills that stretches in a waving line across the wide city, +he said: "The root of your trouble lies there. That carriage-road +that you have opened has wounded the spinal column of the serpent. +Restore the hill to its former condition and you will soon get +well." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy filled the gap incontinently, but found himself no +better. He then sent for English and American doctors—dismissing +them in turn to make way for a Japanese who had him in charge when +I left Wuchang. For a paragon of intelligence and courage, how +pitiful this relapse into superstition! Did not China after a trial +of European methods also relapse during the Boxer craze into her old +superstitions? And is she not at this moment taking the medicine +of Japan? To Japan she looks for guidance in the conduct of her +public schools as well as for the training of her army and navy. +To Japan she is sending her sons and daughters in growing numbers. +No fewer than eight thousand of her young men, and, what is more +significant, one or two hundred of her young women from the best +families are now in those islands inhaling the breath of a new +life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_234"><span class="page">Page 234</span></a> +Some writers have sounded a note of alarm in consequence of this +wholesale surrender on the part of China. But for my part I have +no fear of any sinister tendency in the teachings of Japan, whether +political or educational. On a memorable occasion twelve years ago, +when Marquis Ito was entertained at a banquet in Peking by the +governor of the city and the chancellor of the Imperial University, I +congratulated him on the fact that "Japan exerts a stronger influence +on China than any Western power—just as the moon raises a +higher tide than the more distant sun"—implying, what the +Japanese are ready enough to admit, that their country shines by +borrowed light. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After all, the renovating effect, for which I look to them, will +not come so much from their teaching as from their example. "What +is to hinder us from doing what those islanders have done?" is an +argument oft reiterated by Viceroy Chang in his appeals to his drowsy +countrymen. It was, as I have said, largely under his influence that +the Emperor was led to adopt a new educational programme twelve +years ago. Nor can there be a doubt that by his influence more than +that of any other man, the Empress Dowager was induced to reenact +and to enlarge that programme. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To show what is going on in this very decade: On September 3, 1905, +an edict was issued "abolishing the literary competitive examinations +of the old style," and ordering that "hereafter exclusive attention +shall be given to the establishment of schools of modern learning +throughout the Empire in lieu thereof." The next day a supplementary +decree ordained that +<a name="page_235"><span class="page">Page 235</span></a> +the provincial chancellors or examiners who, like Othello, found their +occupation gone, should have the duty of examining and inspecting the +schools in their several provinces; and, to give the new arrangement +greater weight, it was required that they "discharge this duty in +conjunction with the viceroy or governor of the province." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +An item of news that came along with these decrees seemed to indicate +that a hitherto frivolous court has at length become thoroughly in +earnest on the subject of education. A sum of 300,000 taels appeared +in the national budget as the annual expense of a theatrical troupe +in attendance on the Court. At the instance of two ministers (Viceroy +Yuan and General Tieliang) Her Majesty reduced this to one-third of +that amount, ordering that theatricals should be performed twice +a week instead of daily; and that the 200,000 taels thus economised +shall be set apart for <i>the use of schools</i>. How much this +resembles the policy of Viceroy Chang who, exempted from raising +a war indemnity, set apart an equal amount for the building of +schoolhouses! An empire that builds schoolhouses is more certain +to make a figure in the world than one that spends its money on +batteries and forts. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In addition to adopting the new education there are three items +which Chang proclaims as essential to a renovation of Chinese society. +In the little book, already cited, he says: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +<a name="page_236"><span class="page">Page 236</span></a> +The crippling of women makes their offspring weak;<br> +The superstition of <i>Fungshui</i> prevents the opening of mines,<br> +And keeps China poor." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +How could the man who wrote this fall back into the folly of +<i>Fungshui?</i> Is it not possible that he closed that new road +in deference to the superstitions of his people? In either case +it would be a deplorable weakness; but his country, thanks to his +efforts, is now fully committed to progress. She moves, however, +in that direction much as her noble rivers move toward the +sea—with many a backward bend, many a refluent eddy. +</p> + +<h4> +POSTSCRIPT NO. I +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +In taking leave of this eminent man, who represents the best class +of his countrymen, there are two or three incidents, which I mention +by way of supplement. In his telegram to Vancouver, besides engaging +me to assume the office of president of the proposed university, he +asked me to act as his legal and political adviser. In the agreement +formally made through the consul in New York, in place of these +last-named functions was substituted the duty of instructing his +junior mandarins in international law. The reason assigned for +the change was that the Peking Government declined to allow <i>any +foreigner</i> to hold the post of adviser. The objection was represented +as resting on general policy, not on personal grounds. If, however, +the Peking officials had read my book on the Siege, in which I +denounce the treachery of Manchu government and favour the +<a name="page_237"><span class="page">Page 237</span></a> +position of China, it is quite conceivable that their objection +might have a tinge of personality. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When Viceroy Chang was starting for Peking, I called to see him +on board his steamer. He held in his hand a printed report of my +opening lecture at the beginning of a new term, and expressed regret +that in the hurry of departure he had been unable to find time to +attend in person. On that occasion (the previous day) several of +his higher officials, including the treasurer, judge, and prefect, +after giving me tiffin at the Mandarin Institute, brought sixty +junior officials to make their salaam to their instructor. This +ceremony performed, I bowed to Their Excellencies, and requested +them to leave me with my students. "No," they replied, "we too +are desirous of hearing you"; and they took seats in front of the +platform. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Viceroy Chang seems to have manifested some jealousy of Sir Robert +Hart, in criticising the Inspector-General's proposal for a single +tax. He likewise criticised unfavourably the scheme of Professor +Jenckes for unifying the currency of the Empire—influenced, +perhaps, by the fear that such an <i>innovation</i> might impair +the usefulness of a costly plant which he has recently erected for +minting both silver and copper coin. For the same reason perhaps he +objects, as I hear he does, to the proposed engagement of a Cornell +professor by the Board of Revenue in the capacity of financial +adviser. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With all his foibles, however, he is a true patriot; and his influence +has done much to move China in the right direction. O for more men +like Chang, the "Longbow of the Cavern!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_238"><span class="page">Page 238</span></a> +I append a weighty document that is not the less interesting for +being somewhat veiled in mystery. I regret that I am not at liberty +to disclose its authorship. The report is to be taken as anonymous, +being an unpublished document of the secret service. To the reader +it is left to divine the nationality and personality of its author. +Valuable for the light it throws on a great character in a trying +situation, the report gains piquancy and interest from the fact that +the veil of official secrecy has to be treated with due respect. +My unnamed friend has my thanks and deserves those of my readers. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +OFFICIAL INTERVIEWS WITH VICEROY CHANG DURING THE CRISIS OF 1900 +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"At our interview of 17th June, described at length in my despatch +to you of 18th June, the Viceroy explained his determination to +maintain order and to afford the protection due under treaty; he +also emphasised his desire to be on friendly terms with England. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Early in June, the three cities of Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankow had +been full of rumours of the kidnapping of children and even grown +persons by means of hypnotism; and though a concise notification by +the Viceroy, that persons spreading such tales would be executed, +checked its prevalence here, the scare spread to the country districts +and inflamed the minds of the people against foreigners and, in +consequence, against converts and missions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"On the 25th June, the Viceroy, as reported in a separate despatch +of 28th June, to Lord Salisbury, sent a special envoy to assure me +that H. E. would not accept or act upon any anti-foreign decrees +from Peking. At the same time he communicated copy of a telegraphic +memorial from himself and seven other high provincial officers +insisting on the suppression of the +<a name="page_239"><span class="page">Page 239</span></a> +Boxers and the maintenance of peace. This advice H. E. gave me +to understand led to the recall of Li Hung Chang to the north as +negotiator. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Distorted accounts of the capture of the Taku forts and the hostilities +of the north caused some excitement, but the Viceroy's proclamation +of 2nd July, copy of which was forwarded in my despatch of 3rd +July to the Foreign Office, and the vigorous police measures taken +by His Excellency soon restored calm which, despite occasional +rumours, continued until the recent plot and scare reported in my +despatch to you of 23rd of August. In the same despatch I described +how, in compliance with my wish, H. E. took the unprecedented step +of tearing down his proclamation embodying an Imperial Decree which +had been taken to imply license to harry converts. To foreigners +during the past two months the question of interest has been whether +the Viceroy could and would keep his troops in order. The Viceroy +himself seemed to be in some doubt until the return of his trusted +officers, who were attending the Japanese manœuvres when the +northern troubles began. Every now and then reports of disaffection +have been industriously circulated, but the drilled troops have +never shown any sign of disloyalty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"A point of H. E.'s policy which has caused considerable suspicion +is the despatch of troops northward, At the end of June some 2,000 +or 3,000 men passed through Hankow bound for Nyanking where the +Governor was said to want a body-guard. They were unarmed and did +no mischief beyond invading the Customs and China Merchants' Steam +Navigation Company's premises. During July some 5,000 troops, of +whom perhaps half were drilled men, went from Hukeang provinces +overland to Honan and on to Chihli. They were led by the anti-foreign +Treasurer of Hunan; and their despatch was explained by the +constitutional duty of succouring the Emperor. Since July I have +not heard of any further detachments leaving, though it was said +that the total would reach 10,000. Possibly the Viceroy sent the +men because he did not feel strong enough to defy Peking altogether, +because failure to help the court would +<a name="page_240"><span class="page">Page 240</span></a> +have excited popular reprobation, and also in order to get rid of +a considerable part of the dangerous 'loafer' class. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"About the 20th July there was a persistent report that the Viceroy +was secretly placing guns on the opposite banks of the river. The +German military instructors assured me that the report was baseless; +and Lieutenant Brandon, H. M. S. <i>Pique</i>, thoroughly searched +the bank for a distance of three miles in length and breadth, without +discovering a trace of a cannon. The only guns in position are the +two 5-inch Armstrong M. L. within the walls of Wuchang, and they +have been there for a long time and are used 'merely for training +purposes.' +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"So early as our interview of June 17th, the Viceroy expressed +anxiety as to missionaries at remote points in the interior; and I +had about that time suggested to the various missions that women and +children would be better at a treaty port. The missions themselves +preferred to recall all their members, and at the Viceroy's request +supplied lists of the stations thus left to the care of the local +authorities. Since then, even in Hupeh, there have been a few cases +of plundering, especially in the large district of Sin Chan on the +Hunan border, while at Hangchow-fu, in Hunan, the London Mission +premises were wrecked early in July and for a time throughout the +whole province it appeared probable that the Missions would be +destroyed. The chief cause of this, as of the riots in Hupeh, was +the dissemination of an alleged decree of 26th June praising the +Boxers and ordering the authorities to imitate the north in +exterminating foreigners. This decree seems to have reached local +authorities direct; and those hostile to foreigners acted upon +it or let its existence be known to the gentry and people. The +chapels in Hunan were all sealed up; and it was understood that +all mission and convert property would be confiscated. Towards the +end of July, however, the Viceroy and the Hunan Governor issued +a satisfactory proclamation, and I have heard no more complaints +from that province, the western part of which seems tranquil. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Besides safeguarding foreign life and property in his own province +the Viceroy has frequently been asked to aid missionaries retiring +from Kansuh, Shensi, Shansi, and Honan. In +<a name="page_241"><span class="page">Page 241</span></a> +every case H. E. has readily consented. Detailed telegrams have +been sent again and again not only to his frontier officers, but to +the governors of other provinces with whom H. E. has expostulated, +when necessary, in strong terms. Thus, when Honan seemed likely +to turn against us, the Viceroy insisted on the publication of +favourable decrees, and even went so far as to send his men to +establish a permanent escort depot at Ching Tzu Kuan, an important +post in Honan where travellers from the north and northwest have +to change from cart to boat. Happily the acting Governor of Shensi +has coöperated nobly. But the refugees who testify invariably +to the marvellous feeling of security engendered by reaching Hupeh, +will, I doubt not, agree that they owe their lives to Chang Chi-tung's +efforts; for simple inaction on his part would have encouraged the +many hostile officers to treat them as Shansi has treated its +missionaries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"At times during the past two anxious months the Viceroy's action +in sending troops north, the occurrence of riots at various points, +H. E.'s communication of decrees in which the Peking Government +sought to gloss over the northern uprising, and his eagerness to +make out that the Empress Dowager had not incited the outbreak and +had no hostile feeling against foreigners have inevitably made one +uneasy. But on looking back one appreciates the skill and constancy +with which H. E. has met a most serious crisis and done his duty to +Chinese and foreigners alike. It is no small thing for a Chinese +statesman and scholar to risk popularity, position, and even life +in a far-seeing resistance to the apparent decrees of a court to +which his whole training enforces blind loyalty and obedience. +His desire to secure the personal safety of the Empress Dowager on +account of her long services to the Empire is natural enough; nor +need he be blamed for supplying some military aid to his sovereign, +even though he may have guessed that it would be used against those +foreign nations with whom he himself steadfastly maintains friendship +and against whose possible attack he has not mounted an extra gun." +</p> + +<h4> +<a name="page_242"><span class="page">Page 242</span></a> +POSTSCRIPT NO.2 +</h4> + +<p class="center"> +TUAN FANG OF THE HIGH COMMISSION +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During Chang's long absence, Tuan Fang, Governor of Hupeh, held +the seals and exercised the functions of viceroy. He was a +Manchu—one of those specimens, admirable but not rare, who, +in acquiring the refinement of Chinese culture, lose nothing of +the vigour of their own race. "Of their own race," I say, because +in language and habits the Manchus are strongly differentiated +from their Chinese subjects. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the Boxer War Governor Tuan established an excellent record. +Acting as governor in Shensi, instead of killing missionaries, as +did the Manchu governor of the next province, he protected them +effectually and sent them safely to Hankow. One day when I was at +his house a missionary came to thank him for kindness shown on +that occasion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mentioning one of my books I once asked him if he had read it. "You +never wrote a book that I have not read," was his emphatic reply. +He was a pretty frequent visitor at my house, punctually returning +all my calls; and when he was transferred to the governorship of +Hunan he appeared pleased to have the Yale Mission commended to +his patronage. He has a son at school in the United States; and +his wife and daughters have taken lessons in English from ladies +of the American Episcopal Mission. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Governor Tuan (now viceroy) is a leading member of a commission +recently sent abroad to study and report on the institutions of +the Western world. Its +<a name="page_243"><span class="page">Page 243</span></a> +departure was delayed by the explosion of a bomb in one of the +carriages just as the commission was leaving Peking. The would-be +assassin was "hoist with his own petard," leaving the public mystified +as to the motive of the outrage. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_244"><span class="page">Page 244</span></a> +CHAPTER XXXI +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +ANTI-FOREIGN AGITATION +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>American Influence in the Far East—Officials and the +Boycott—Interview with President Roosevelt—Riot in a +British Concession—Ex-territoriality—Two Ways to an +End—A Grave Mistake—The Nan-chang Tragedy—Dangers +from Superstition</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +So far from being new, an anti-foreign spirit is the normal state +of the Chinese mind. Yet during the year past it has taken on new +forms, directed itself against new objects, and employed new methods. +It deserves therefore a conspicuous place among the new developments +in the China of the twentieth century. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Where everything is changing, the temper of the people has undergone +a change. They have become restless as the sea and fickle as a +weather-vane, The friends of yesterday are the enemies of to-day; +and a slight or petty annoyance is enough to make them transfer +man or country from one to the other category. Murderous outbreaks, +rare in the past, have now become alarmingly frequent, so much so +that the last year might be described as a year of anti-foreign +riots. The past nine months have witnessed four such outbreaks, +In four widely separated provinces, venting their fury pretty +impartially on people of four nationalities and of all professions, +they were actuated by a +<a name="page_245"><span class="page">Page 245</span></a> +common hate and indicated a common purpose. That purpose—if +they had a purpose—was to compel a readjustment of treaty +relations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +America has the distinction of being the target for the first assaults. +In treating the subject I accordingly begin with America and the +boycott, as set forth in a long extract from an address before +the Publishers' League of New York, November 8, 1905, on +</p> + +<p class="center"> +AMERICAN INFLUENCE IN THE FAR EAST +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Mr. President and Gentlemen: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"If I were asked to find a <i>pou sto</i>, a fulcrum, on which +to erect a machine to move the world, I should choose this league +of publishers; and the machine would be no other than the power +press! I have accepted your invitation not merely from pleasant +recollections of your former hospitality, but because new occurrences +have taken place which appeal to the patriotism of every good citizen. +They are issues that rise above party; they involve our national +character and the well-being of another people whom we owe the +sacred duties of justice and humanity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"When I agreed to speak to you of American influence in the Far +East, I was not aware that we should have with us a representative +of Japan, and I expected to spread myself thinly over two empires. +Happy I am to resign one of these empires to Mr. Stevens. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I shall accordingly say no more about Japan than to advert to +the fact that the wise forbearance of Commodore Perry, which, in +1854, induced the Shogun to open his ports without firing a gun, +has won the gratitude of the Japanese people; so that in many ways +they testify a preference for us and our country. For instance, they +call the English language 'Americano,' etc. They were disappointed +that their claims against Russia were not backed up by the United +States. That, however, caused only a momentary cloud. Beyond this, +nothing has ever occurred to mar the harmony of the two peoples who +<a name="page_246"><span class="page">Page 246</span></a> +face each other on the shores of the Pacific. Perry's wise initiative +was followed by the equal wisdom of Townsend Harris, who, before +any other consul or minister had arrived, was invited to Yedda +to give advice to the government of the Shogun. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"American influence thus inaugurated has been fostered by a noble +army of ministers, consuls, and missionaries. The total absence +of massacres and murders[*] makes the history of our intercourse +with Japan tame in contrast with the tragic story from China. It +speaks the reign of law. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: The only missionary killed in the last fifty years +was stabbed while grappling with a burglar.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"My acquaintance with Japan dates back forty-six years; and in the +meantime I have had pleasant relations with most of the ministers +she has sent to China. One of her officials recently gave me a +beautiful scarf-pin that speaks volumes for American influence, +showing as it does the two flags in friendly union on one flagstaff. +I gave him in return the following lines: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"'To sun and stars divided sway!<br> +Remote but kindred suns are they,<br> +In friendly concord here they twine<br> +To form a new celestial sign. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"'Thou, Orient sun, still higher rise<br> +To fill with light the Eastern skies!<br> +And you, ye stars and stripes, unfurled<br> +Shed glory on the Western world! +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"'Our starry flag first woke the dawn<br> +In the empire of the Rising Sun.<br> +May no ill chance e'er break the tie,<br> +And so we shout our loud <i>banzai!</i>' +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I now turn to the less cheering theme of American influence in +China. It reminds me of the naturalist who took for the +<a name="page_247"><span class="page">Page 247</span></a> +heading of a chapter 'Snakes in Iceland,' and whose entire chapter +consisted of the words 'There are no snakes in Iceland.' Though +formerly blazing like a constellation in the Milky Way, American +influence has vanished so completely that you can hardly see it with +a microscope. What influence can we presume on when our commodities +are shut out, not by legislative action but as a result of popular +resentment? +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE BOYCOTT +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"True, the latest advices are to the effect that the boycott has +broken down. I foresaw and foretold more than two months ago that +it could not in the nature of the case be of long duration, that +it was a mere <i>ballon d'essai</i>—an encouraging proof +that Orientals are learning to apply our methods. But is there +not a deplorable difference between the conditions under which it +is used in the two countries? In one the people all read, and the +newspaper is in everybody's hand. The moment a strike or boycott +is declared off all hands fall into their places and things go on +as usual. In the other the readers are less than one in twenty. +Newspapers, away from the open ports, are scarcely known, or if +they exist they are subject to the tyranny of the mandarins or +the terrorism of the mob. Hence a war may be waged in one province +and people in another may scarcely hear of it. Chevaux-de-frise may +bar out goods from one port, while they are more or less openly +admitted in other ports. Not only so, the hostile feeling engendered +by such conflict of interest is not dissipated by sunshine, but +rankles and spreads like an epidemic over vast regions unenlightened +by newspapers or by contact with foreign commerce. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Witness the massacre of American missionaries at Lienchow in the +Canton province. I am not going to enter into the details of that +shocking atrocity, nor to dwell on it further than to point out +that although the boycott was ended on September 14, the people +in that district were in such a state of exasperation that the +missionaries felt themselves in danger fourteen days after that +date. In the New York <i>Sun</i> of November 5 I find part of a +letter from one of the victims, the Reverend Mr. +<a name="page_248"><span class="page">Page 248</span></a> +Peale, written exactly one month before the tragedy. Allow me to +read it along with an introductory paragraph. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="indent"> +"'PRINCETON, N. J., Nov. 4.—A. Lee Wilson, a student in the +Princeton Theological Seminary, received a letter a few days ago +from John R. Peale, the missionary who, with his wife, was killed +in Lienchow, China, on October 28. The letter was dated September +28, and reached America at the time that Peale and his wife were +murdered. It gives a clue to the troubles which led to the death +of Peale. The letter says in part: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"'"The interest in the boycott is vital to the missionaries. Heretofore +the Americans always enjoyed special favour, and to fly the American +flag meant protection; but it is different now. No personal violence +has been attempted, but the people are less cordial and more suspicious. +People in China are not asking that their coolies be allowed entrance +into the States, but they only ask that the Americans cease treating +the Chinese with contempt and allow their merchants and students +the same privileges that other foreigners receive." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"'Peale graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary last May. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Is it not evident that whatever spark caused the explosion, the +nitro-glycerin that made it possible came from the boycott? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Not only do they boycott ponderables such as figure at the +custom-house, but they extend the taboo to things of the head and +heart. The leader of the whole movement was formerly an active +supporter of the International Institute, an institution which +proposes to open gratuitous courses of lectures and to place Chinese +men of intelligence on common ground with scholars of the West, +He now opposes the International Institute because, forsooth, it +is originated and conducted by Dr. Reid, a large-minded American. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"After this, will you be surprised to hear that your own publications, +the best text-books for the schools of the Far East, have been put +on the <i>index expurgatorius?</i> A number of such books were +lately returned with the excuse that they were forbidden because +they bore the stamp of an American press. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_249"><span class="page">Page 249</span></a> +"If I should go on to say that government officials, high and low, +look with satisfaction on this assertion of something like national +feeling, you might reply, 'National feeling! Yes, it is a duty to +cultivate that.' But do we not know how it has been fostered in +China? Has not hatred of the foreigner been mistaken for patriotism, +and been secretly instigated as a safeguard against foreign aggression? +In this instance, however, there is no room to suspect such a motive. +The movement is purely a result of provocation on our part; and it +is fostered with a view to coercing our government into modifying +or repealing our offensive exclusion laws. The Viceroy of Central +China, with whom I have spent the last three years, is known as +a pioneer of reform—a man who has done more than any other +to instruct his people in their duties as well as their rights. +When, on the expiration of my engagement, I was about to leave for +home, the prefect of Wuchang, a Canton man, addressed me a letter +begging me to plead the cause of his people with the President of +the United States. That letter was referred to in an interview by +the viceroy, and the request which it contained reiterated by him. +He gave me a parting banquet, attended by many of his mandarins, +and on that occasion the subject came up again and the same request +was renewed and pressed on me from all sides. While I promised to +exert myself on their behalf, let me give you a specimen of the +kind of oil which I poured on their wounded feelings. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Said I, 'Under the exasperating effect of these petty grievances +your people forget what they owe to the United States. They lose +sight of the danger of alienating their best friend. In the Boxer +War, when Peking was captured by a combined force of eight foreign +powers, who but America was the first to introduce a self-denying +ordinance forbidding any power to take any portion of the Chinese +territory? In this she was backed up by Great Britain; the other +powers fell into line and the integrity of the Empire was assured. +Again, when China was in danger of being drawn into the vortex +of the Russo-Japanese war, who but America secured for her the +privileges of neutrality—thus a second time protecting her +national life? And now you turn +<a name="page_250"><span class="page">Page 250</span></a> +against us! Is not such conduct condemned by your ancient poet who +says: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"<i>'Ki wo siao yuen, wang wo ta teh', etc.</i> +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +(How many acts of kindness done<br> + One small offence wipes out,<br> + As motes obscure the shining sun<br> + And shut his lustre out.') +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"If the cause of offence be taken away there is reason to hope +that the beneficent action of our country, on those two occasions +so big with destiny, will be remembered, and will lead China to look +to our flag as an ægis under which she may find protection +in time of need. Not till then will our influence, now reduced to +the vanishing-point, be integrated to its full value. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +PROVOCATIONS TO A BOYCOTT +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The injuries inflicted, though trifling in comparison with the +benefits conferred, are such as no self-respecting people should +either perpetrate or endure. Take one example, where I could give +you twenty. Two young men, both Christians, one rich, the other +poor, came to the United States for education. They were detained +in a prison-shed for three months, One of them, falling sick, was +removed to a hospital; the other obtaining permission to visit +him, they made their escape to Canada and thence back to China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What wonder no more students come to us and that over 8,000 are +now pursuing their studies in Japan![*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: The conciliatory policy of President Roosevelt is +bearing fruit Forty students are about to start to the United States +(May, 1906).] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The present irritation is, we are assured by the agitators, provoked +by the outrageous treatment of the <i>privileged classes</i> (merchants, +travellers, and students) and not by the exclusion of labourers, to +which their government has given its assent. Yet in the growing +intelligence of the Chinese a time has come when their rulers feel +such discrimination as a stigma. It is not merely +<a name="page_251"><span class="page">Page 251</span></a> +a just application of existing laws that Viceroy Chang and his +mandarins demand. They call for the rescinding of those disgraceful +prohibitions and the right to compete on equal terms with immigrants +from Europe. If we show a disposition to treat the Chinese fairly, +their country and their hearts will be open to us as never before. +Our commerce with China will expand to vast proportions; and our +flag will stand highest among those that overarch and protect the +integrity of that empire." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On November 16, I was received by President Roosevelt. Running +his eye over the documents (see below) which I placed in his hands +he expressed himself on each point. The grievances arising from +the Exclusion Laws he acknowledged to be real. He promised that +they should be mitigated or removed by improvements in the mode +of administration; but he held out no hope of their repeal. "We +have one race problem on our hands and we don't want another," he +said with emphasis. The boycott which the Chinese have resorted +to as a mode of coercion he condemned as an aggravation of existing +difficulties. The interruption of trade and the killing of American +missionaries to which it had led made it impossible, he said, to +turn over to China the surplus indemnity, as he had intended. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This response is what I expected; but it will by no means satisfy +the ruling classes in China, who aim at nothing short of repeal. +When I assured him the newspapers were wrong in representing the +agitation as confined to labourers and merchants, adding that the +highest mandarins, while formally condemning it, really give it +countenance, he replied that he believed that to be the case, and +reiterated the declaration that +<a name="page_252"><span class="page">Page 252</span></a> +nothing is to be gained by such violent measures on the part of +China. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the Executive Mansion, I proceeded to the Chinese Legation, +where I talked over the matter with the minister, Sir Chentung +Liang. He was not surprised at the attitude of the President. He +said the state of feeling towards China in Congress and in the +entire country is improving, but that, in his opinion, it will +require ten years to bring about the repeal of the Exclusion Laws. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The present hitch in negotiations comes in part from Peking, but +he hoped a temporary settlement would soon be arrived at. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The papers referred to above are here appended. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +LETTERS REQUESTING GOOD OFFICES<br> +(<i>Translation</i>) +</p> + +<p> +"To the Hon. Dr. Martin. +</p> + +<p> +"Sir: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"During the last three years we have often exchanged views on the +subject of education and other topics of the day; and to me it +is a joy to reflect that no discordant note has ever marred our +intercourse. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"In view of your learning and your long residence of forty years +at our capital, besides fifteen years in other parts of China, you +are regarded by us with profound respect. When we hear your words +we ponder them and treasure them up as things not to be forgotten. +It is by your scholarship and by your personal character that you +have been able to associate with the officers and scholars of the +Central Empire in harmony like this. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Now, sir, there is a matter which we wish to bring to your +attention—a matter that calls for the efforts of wise men +like yourself. I refer to the exclusion of Chinese labourers. It +affects our mercantile as well as our labouring population very +deeply. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_253"><span class="page">Page 253</span></a> +"We beg you to bear in mind your fifty-five years' sojourn in China +and to speak a good word on our behalf to the President of the +United States so as to secure the welfare of both classes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"If through your persuasion the prohibitory regulations should be +withdrawn the gratitude of our Chinese people will know no bounds; +your fifty-five years of devotion to the good of China will have +a fitting consummation in one day's achievement; and your name +will be handed down to coming generations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Being old friends, I write as frankly as if we were speaking face +to face. +</p> + +<p> + "(Signed) LIANG TING FEN,<br> + "Director of the Normal College for the Two Lake<br> + "Provinces, Intendant of Circuit (<i>Taotai</i>), +etc. etc.<br> +"Wuchang, July 8, 1905." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The foregoing translation was made by me, and the original is attached +to the copy presented to the President, for the satisfaction of +any official interpreter who may desire to see it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This letter may be regarded as expressing the sentiments of the +higher officials of the Chinese Empire. It was written on the eve +of my embarkation for home by a man who more than any other has +a right to be looked on as spokesman for Viceroy Chang; and the +following day the request was repeated by the viceroy himself. These +circumstances make it a document of more than ordinary importance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The outrageous treatment to which the privileged classes (merchants, +students, and travellers) have been subjected, under cover of enforcing +the Exclusion Laws, has caused a deep-rooted resentment, of which +the boycott is only a superficial manifestation. That movement may +not be of long duration, but it has already lasted long enough +to do us no little damage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_254"><span class="page">Page 254</span></a> +Besides occasioning embarrassment to our trade, it has excited a +feeling of hostility which it will require years of conciliatory +policy to eradicate. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The letter makes no direct reference to the boycott, neither does +it allude to coming negotiations; yet there can be little doubt +that, in making this appeal, the writer had both in view. The viceroy +and his officials are right in regarding the present as a grave +crisis in the intercourse of the two countries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their amicable relations have never been interrupted except during +a fanatical outbreak known as the "Boxer Troubles," which aimed +at the expulsion of all foreigners. The leading part taken by our +country in the subsequent settlement, especially in warding off the +threatened dismemberment of China, added immensely to our influence. +Again, on the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese conflict, which was +waged mainly on Chinese territory, it was American diplomacy that +secured for China the advantage of neutrality, and once more warded +off a danger that menaced her existence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Yet every spark of gratitude for these transcendent services is +liable to be extinguished by the irritation caused by discrimination +against her labourers and the consequent ill-treatment of other +classes of her people. No argument is required to show how important +it is to remove all grounds of complaint in the interest of our +growing commerce. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That any sweeping alteration will be made in our existing laws, I +have given my mandarin friends no reason to expect. Self-preservation +stands on a higher plane than the amenities of intercourse. For +many years these laws served as a bulwark without which the +<a name="page_255"><span class="page">Page 255</span></a> +sparse population of our Western States would have been swamped by +the influx of Asiatics. In early days it was easier for the Chinese +to cross the ocean than for the people of our Eastern States to cross +the Continent. Now, however, the completion of railroads has reduced +the continental transit to five or six days, in lieu of many months; +and the population of our Pacific Coast is so considerable that +there is no longer any danger of its being overrun by immigrants +from the Far East. Is it not therefore a fair question whether the +maintenance of these old restrictions is desirable or politic? +Swaddling bands, necessary for the protection of an infant, are an +impediment to a growing boy. That question can perhaps be best +decided by ascertaining the general sentiment of our Pacific States. +My impression is that, with the exception of the fruit-growers of +California and some others, they are strongly opposed to what they +call "letting down the bars." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most feasible way of meeting the difficulty would be, as it +appears to me, the enactment of regulations to provide against +abuses in the enforcement of our Exclusion Laws. The President +has already spoken forcibly in condemnation of such abuses. The +"privileged classes" might be construed in a more liberal sense. +Provision might be made to mitigate the hardships of detention and +repatriation; and a better class of inspectors might be appointed +with a general superintendent, whose duty it should be to see that +the laws are enforced humanely as well as faithfully. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On December 18, less than three months after the attack on Americans +at Lienchow, an attempt +<a name="page_256"><span class="page">Page 256</span></a> +was made to destroy the British settlement in Shanghai. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A woman arrested on a charge of kidnapping was sent to the foreign +jail to await trial. The Chinese assessor insisted, not without +reason, that she ought to be kept in a native jail. No attention +being given to his protest, though supported by the <i>taotai</i> +or local governor, a mob of riff-raff from beyond the limits burst +into the settlement, put the foreign police to flight, and began to +burn and pillage. Happily a body of marines with gatling guns and +fire-engines succeeded in quelling the flames and suppressing the +insurrection. A few hours' delay must have seen that rich emporium +converted into a heap of ashes. Forty of the rioters were killed +and many wounded. Though on ground granted to Great Britain, the +settlement is called international and is governed by a municipal +council elected by the foreign ratepayers. The Chinese residents, +numbering half a million, are allowed no voice in the council; and +that also is felt as a grievance. They are, however, protected +against the rapacity of their own officials; and it is said they +took no part in the riot. In fact had it not been promptly suppressed +they must have suffered all the horrors of sack and pillage. After it +was over they took occasion to demand recognition in the municipal +government; promising to be satisfied if allowed to appoint a permanent +committee, with whom the council should consult before deciding on +any question affecting their interests. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Modest as this request was, it was rejected by an almost unanimous +vote of the foreign ratepayers. They knew that such committee, +however elected, +<a name="page_257"><span class="page">Page 257</span></a> +was certain to be manipulated by the governor to extend his +jurisdiction. Their decision was quietly accepted by the Chinese +residents, who appreciate the protection which they enjoy in that +strange republic. The question is certain to come up again, and +their claim to be heard will be pressed with more insistence as +they become more acquainted with the principles of representative +government. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The existence of an <i>imperium in imperio</i> which comes between +them and their people is of course distasteful to the mandarins; +and they are bent on curtailing its privileges. If its franchises +were surrendered, "Ichabod" might be inscribed on the gates of +the model settlement. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The practice of marking out a special quarter for each nationality +is an old one in China, adopted for convenience. When, after the +first war, the British exacted the opening of ports, they required +the grant of a concession in each, within which their consuls should +have chief, if not exclusive authority. Other nations made the same +demands; and China made the grants, not as to the British from +necessity, but apparently from choice—the foreign consul +being bound to keep his people in order. Now, however, the influx +of natives into the foreign settlements, and the enormous growth +of those mixed communities in wealth and population, have led the +Chinese Government to look on the ready compliance of its predecessors +as a blunder. Accordingly, in opening new ports in the interior it +marks out a foreign quarter, but makes no "concession." It does not +as before waive the exercise of jurisdiction within those limits. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_258"><span class="page">Page 258</span></a> +The above question relates solely to the government of Chinese +residing in the foreign "concessions." But there is a larger question +now looming on the political sky, viz., how to recover the right +of control over foreigners, wherever they may be in the Empire. +If it were in their power, the Chinese would cancel not merely +the franchises of foreign settlements, but the treaty right of +exemption from control by the local government. This is a franchise +of vital interest to the foreigner, whose life and property would +not be safe were they dependent on the native tribunals as these +are at present constituted. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Such exemption is customary in Turkey and other Moslem countries, +not to say among the Negroes of Africa. It was recognised by treaty +in Japan; and the Japanese, in proportion as they advanced in the +path of reform, felt galled by an exception which fixed on them the +stigma of barbarism. When they had proved their right to a place +in the comity of nations, with good laws administered, foreign +powers cheerfully consented to allow them the exercise of all the +prerogatives of sovereignty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +How does her period of probation compare with that of her neighbour? +Japan resolved on national renovation on Western lines in 1868. +China came to no such resolution until the collapse of her attempt +to exterminate the foreigner in 1900. With her the age of reform +dates from the return of the Court in 1902—as compared with +Japan four years to thirty! Then what a contrast in the animus of +the two countries! The one characterised by law and order, the other +<a name="page_259"><span class="page">Page 259</span></a> +by mob violence, unrestrained, if not instigated, by the authorities! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When the north wind tried to compel a traveller to take off his +cloak, the cloak was wrapped the closer and held the tighter. When +the sun came out with his warm beams, the traveller stripped it +off of his own accord. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The sunrise empire has exemplified the latter method; China prefers +the former. Is it not to be feared that the apparent success of +the boycott will encourage her to persist in the policy of the +traveller in the north wind. She ought to be notified that she +is on probation, and that the only way to recover the exercise of +her sovereign rights is to show herself worthy of confidence. The +Boxer outbreak postponed by many years the withdrawal of the cloak +of ex-territoriality, and every fresh exhibition of mob violence +defers that event to a more distant date. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To confound "stranger" with "enemy" is the error of Bedouin or +Afghan. Does not China do the same when she mistakes hostility to +foreigners for patriotism? By this blunder she runs the risk of +alienating her best friends, England and America. A farmer attempting +to rope up a shaky barrel in which a hen was sitting on a nest full +of eggs, the silly fowl mistook him for an enemy and flew in his +face. Is not China in danger of being left to the fate which her +friends have sought to avert? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In April a magistrate went by invitation to the French Catholic +Mission to settle a long-standing dispute, and he settled it by +committing suicide—in China the most dreaded form of revenge. +<a name="page_260"><span class="page">Page 260</span></a> +Carried out gasping but speechless, he intimated that he was the +victim of a murderous attack by the senior priest. His wounds were +photographed; and the pictures were circulated with a view to +exciting the mob. Gentry and populace held meetings for the purpose +of screwing their courage up to the required pitch—governor +and mandarins kept carefully in the background—and on the +fifth day the mission buildings were destroyed and the priests killed. +An English missionary, his wife and daughter, living not far away, +were set upon and slain, not because they were not known to belong +to another nation and another creed, but because an infuriated mob +does not care to discriminate. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +English and French officials proceeded to the scene in gunboats to +examine the case and arrange a settlement. The case of the English +family was settled without difficulty; but that of the French mission +was more complicated. Among the French demands were two items which +the Chinese Government found embarrassing. It had accepted the +theory of murder and hastily conferred posthumous honours on the +deceased magistrate. The French demanded the retraction of those +honors, and a public admission of suicide. To pay a money indemnity +and cashier a governor was no great hardship, but how could the +court submit to the humiliation of dancing to the tune of a French +piper? An English surgeon declared, in a sealed report of autopsy, +that the wounds must have been self-inflicted, as their position +made it impossible for them to have been inflicted by an assailant. +But +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[<i>Note from PG proofer:</i> two lines of text missing here.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_261"><span class="page">Page 261</span></a> +In 1870 France accepted a money payment for the atrocious massacre at +Tientsin, because the Second Empire was entering on a life-and-death +struggle with Germany. If she makes things easy for China this time, +will it not be because the Republic is engaged in mortal combat +with the Roman Church? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +China's constant friction and frequent collisions with France spring +chiefly from two sources; (1) the French protectorate over the Roman +missions, and (2) the menacing attitude of France in Indo-China. +It was to avenge the judicial murder of a missionary that Louis +Napoleon sent troops to China in 1857-60. From this last date the +long-persecuted Church assumed an imperious tone. The restitution +of confiscated property was a source of endless trouble; and the +certainty of being backed up by Church and State emboldened native +converts not only to insist on their own rights, but to mix in +disputes with which they had no necessary connection—a practice +which more than anything else has tended to bring the Holy Faith +into disrepute among the Chinese people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Yet, on the other side, there are more fruitful sources of difficulty +in the ignorance of the people and in the unfair treatment of converts +by the Chinese Government. While the Government, having no conception +of religious freedom, extends to Christians of all creeds a compulsory +toleration and views them as traitors to their country, is it not +natural for their pagan neighbours to treat them with dislike and +suspicion? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In this state of mind they, like the pagans of ancient Rome, charge +them with horrible crimes, and seize the slightest occasion for +murderous attack. A church +<a name="page_262"><span class="page">Page 262</span></a> +spire is said to disturb the good luck of a neighbourhood—the +people burn the building. A rumour is started that babies in a +foundling hospital have their eyes taken out to make into photographic +medicine—the hospital is demolished and the Sisters of Charity +killed. A skeleton found in the house of a physician is paraded on +the street as proof of diabolical acts—instantly an angry +mob wrecks the building and murders every foreigner within its +reach. One of these instances was seen in the Tientsin massacre +of 1869, the other in the Lienchow massacre of 1905. Nor are these +isolated cases. Two American ladies doing hospital work in Canton +were set upon by a mob, who accused them of killing a man whose +life they were trying to save, and they narrowly escaped murder. +But why extend the gruesome list? In view of their mad fury, so +fatal to their benefactors, one is tempted to exclaim: <i>Unglaube +du bist nicht so viel ein ungeheuer als aberglaube du!</i> "Of the +twin monsters, unbelief and superstition, the more to be dreaded +is the last!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In China if a man falls in the street, the priest and Levite consult +their own safety by keeping at a distance; and if a good Samaritan +stoops to pick him up it is at his peril. In treating the sick a +medical man requires as much courage and tact as if he were dealing +with lunatics! These dark shadows, so harmful to the good name of +China, are certain to be dissipated by the numerous agencies now +employed to diffuse intelligence. But what of the feeling towards +religious missions? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Medical missions are recognised as a potent agency in overcoming +prejudice. They reach the heart of +<a name="page_263"><span class="page">Page 263</span></a> +the people by ministering to their bodily infirmities; high officials +are among their supporters; and the Empress Dowager latterly showed a +disposition to give them her patronage. But how about the preaching +missionary and the teaching missionary? Are the Chinese hostile +to these branches of missionary work? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Unlike Mohammedan or Brahman, the Chinese are not strongly attached +to any form of religious faith. They take no umbrage at the offer +of a new creed, particularly if it have the advantage of being +akin to that of their ancient sages. What they object to is not +the creed, but the foreigner who brings it. Their newspapers are in +fact beginning to agitate the question of accepting the Christian +faith and propagating it in their own way, without aid from the +foreigner. That they would be glad to see merchant and missionary +leave them in peace, no one can doubt. Yet the influence of missions +is steadily on the increase; and their influence for good is +acknowledged by the leading minds of the Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Said the High Commissioner Tuan Fang, in an address to the Mission +Boards at New York, February 2,1906: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We take pleasure this evening in bearing testimony to the part +taken by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the +Chinese people. They have borne the light of Western civilisation into +every nook and corner of the Empire. They have rendered inestimable +service to China by the laborious task of translating into the Chinese +language religious and scientific works of the West. They help us +to bring happiness and comfort to the poor and the suffering by +the establishment +<a name="page_264"><span class="page">Page 264</span></a> +of hospitals and schools. The awakening of China which now seems +to be at hand may be traced in no small measure to the hand of the +missionary. For this service you will find China not ungrateful." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mission stations, now counted by hundreds, have generally high +schools or colleges. Not only is the science taught in them up-to-date, +but the conscientious manner in which they are conducted makes +them an object-lesson to those officials who are charged with the +supervision of government schools. To name only a few: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here in Peking is a university of the American Methodist Episcopal +Church which is not unworthy of the name it bears. At Tungchow, a +suburb of the capital, is a noble college of the American Board +(Congregationalist) which is in every point a worthy compeer. These +coöperate with each other and with a Union Medical College +which under the London Mission has won the favour of the Empress +Dowager. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The American Presbyterian Mission has a high school and a theological +seminary, and coöperates to a certain extent with the three +societies above named. A quadrilateral union like this speaks volumes +as to the spirit in which the work of Christian education is being +carried forward. The Atlantic is bridged and two nations unite; +denominational differences are forgotten in view of the mighty +enterprise of converting an empire. In the economy of their teaching +force they already experience the truth of the maxim "Union is +Strength." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In Shantung, at Weihien, there is a fine college in +<a name="page_265"><span class="page">Page 265</span></a> +which English Baptists unite with American Presbyterians. The original +plant of the latter was a college at Tengchow, which under Dr. +Mateer afforded conclusive proof that an education deep and broad +may be given through the medium of the Chinese language. In most +of these schools the English language is now claiming a prominent +place, not as the sole medium for instruction, but as a key to the +world's literature, and a preparation for intercourse with foreign +nations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Shanghai, which takes the lead in education as in commerce, +there is an admirable institution called St. John's College which +makes English the basis of instruction. Numberless other schools +make it a leading branch of study to meet the wants of a centre +of foreign trade. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the best known institutions of Shanghai is a Roman Catholic +College at Siccawei, which preserves the traditions of Matteo Ricci, +and his famous convert Paul Sü. In connection with it are +an astronomical observatory and a weather bureau, which are much +appreciated by foreigners in China, and ought to be better known +throughout the Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Passing down a coast on which colleges are more numerous than +lighthouses, one comes to Canton, where, near the "Great City" +and beautifully conspicuous, rises the Canton Christian College. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +These are mentioned by way of example, to show what missionaries are +doing for the education of China. It is a narrow view of education +that confines it to teaching in schools. Missionaries led the way +in Chinese journalism and in the preparation of textbooks in all +branches of science. The Society for the +<a name="page_266"><span class="page">Page 266</span></a> +Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is spreading broadcast the seeds of +secular and religious truth. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Gratitude for the good they have already done, as well as for benefits +to come, ought to lead the Chinese Government to accord a generous +recognition to all these institutions. At the opening of the Union +Medical College, Mr. Rockhill, the American minister, in a remarkable +address, proposed the recognition of their degrees by the Government; +and as a representative of the Empress Dowager was in the chair on +that occasion, there is reason to hope that his suggestion will +not be overlooked. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_267"><span class="page">Page 267</span></a> +CHAPTER XXXII +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE MANCHUS, THE NORMANS OF CHINA +</p> + +<p class="summary"> +<i>The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty—The Empress Dowager—Her +Origin—Her First Regency—Her Personality—Other +Types—Two Manchu Princes—Two Manchu Ministers—The +Nation's Choice—Conclusions</i> +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In a wide survey of the history of the world, we discover a law +which appears to govern the movements of nations. Those of the +north show a tendency to encroach on those of the south. The former +are nomads, hunters, or fishers, made bold by a constant struggle +with the infelicities of their environment. The latter are occupied +with the settled industries of civilised life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Goths and Vandals of Rome, and the Tartars under Genghis and +Tamerlane all conform to this law and seem to be actuated by a +common impulse. In the east and west of the Eastern hemisphere +may be noted two examples of this general movement, which afford +a curious parallel: I refer to the Normans of Great Britain and +the Manchus of China. Both empires are under the sway of dynasties +which originated in the north; for the royal house of Britain, +though under another title, has always been proud of its Norman +blood. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Normans who conquered Britain had first +<a name="page_268"><span class="page">Page 268</span></a> +settled in France and there acquired the arts of civilised life. +The Manchus coming from the banks of the Amur settled in Liao-tung, +a region somewhat similarly situated with reference to China. There +they learned something of the civilisation of China, and watched +for an opportunity to obtain possession of the empire. In Britain a +kindred branch of the Norman family was on the throne, and William +the Conqueror contrived to give his invasion a colour of right, by +claiming the throne under an alleged bequest of Edward the Confessor. +The Manchus, though not invoking such artificial sanction, aspired +to the dominion of China because their ancestors of the Golden +Horde had ruled over the northern half of the empire. The Norman +conquest, growing out of a family quarrel, was decided by a single +battle. The Manchus' conquest of a country more than ten times the +extent of Britain was not so easy to effect. Yet they achieved +it with unexampled rapidity, because they came by invitation and +they brought peace to a people exhausted by long wars. Their task +was comparatively easy in the north, where the traditions of the +Kin Tartars still survived; but it was prolonged and bloody in +the south. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Both houses treated their new subjects as a conquered people. Each +imposed the burden of foreign garrisons and a new nobility. Each +introduced a foreign language, which they tried to perpetuate as +the speech of the court, if not of the people. In each case the +language of the people asserted itself. In Britain it absorbed +and assimilated the alien tongue; in China, where the absence of +common elements made amalgamation +<a name="page_269"><span class="page">Page 269</span></a> +impossible, it superseded that of the conquerors, not merely for +writing purposes, but as the spoken dialect of the court. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Both conquerors found it necessary to conciliate the subject race +by liberal and timely concessions; but here begins a contrast. +In Britain no external badge of subjection was ever imposed; in +process of time all special privileges of the ruling caste were +abolished; and no trace of race antipathy ever displays itself +anywhere—if we except Ireland. In China the cue remains as +a badge of subjection. Habit has reconciled the people to its use; +but it still offers a tempting grip to revolutionary agitators. +Every party that raises the standard of revolt abolishes the cue; +would it not be wise for the Manchu Government to make the wearing +of that appendage a matter of option, especially as it is beginning +to disappear from their soldiers' uniform? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The extension of reform in dress from camp to court and from court +to people (to them as a matter of option) would remove a danger. +It would also remove a barrier in the way of China's admission +into the congress of nations. The abolition of the cue implies +the abandonment of those long robes which make such an impression +of barbaric pomp. Already the Chinese are tacitly permitted to +adopt foreign dress; and in every case they have to dispense with +the cue. The Japanese never did a wiser thing than to adopt our +Western costume. Their example tends to encourage a reform of the +same kind in China. A new costume means a new era. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another point is required to complete the parallel: +<a name="page_270"><span class="page">Page 270</span></a> +each victor has given the conquered country a better government +than any in its previous history. To Confucius feudalism was a +beau-ideal, and he beautifully compares the sovereign to the North +Star which sits in state on the pole of the heavens while all the +constellations revolve around it, and pay it homage. Yet was the +centralised government of the First Hwang-ti an immense improvement +on the loose agglomeration of the Chous. The great dynasties have all +adopted the principle of centralisation; but not one has applied it +with such success, nor is there one which shows so large a proportion +of respectable rulers as the house of Ta-ts'ing. Of the first six +some account has been given in Part II. As to the next two it is +too soon to have the verdict of history. One died after a brief +reign of two years and three months, too short to show character. +The other now sits at the foot of the throne, while his adoptive +mother sways the sceptre. Both have been overshadowed by the Empress +Dowager and controlled by her masterful spirit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +China has had female rulers that make figures in history, such as +Lu of the Han and Wu of the T'ang dynasties, but she has no law +providing for the succession of a female under any conditions. A +female reign is abnormal, and the ruler a monstrosity. Her character +is always blackened so as to make it difficult to delineate. Yet in +every instance those women have possessed rare talent; for without +uncommon gifts it must have been impossible to seize a sceptre +in the face of such prejudices, and to sway it over a submissive +people. Usually they are described much as the Jewish chronicler +sketches the character of Jezebel +<a name="page_271"><span class="page">Page 271</span></a> +or Athaliah. Cruel, licentious, and implacable, they "destroy the +seed royal," they murder the prophets and they make the ears of +the nation tingle with stories of shameless immorality. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Among these we shall not seek a parallel for the famous Empress +Dowager, so well known to the readers of magazine literature. In +tragic vicissitudes, if not in length of reign, she stood without +a rival in the history of the world. She also stood alone in the +fact that her destinies were interwoven with the tangle of foreign +invasion. Twice she fled from the gates of a fallen capital; and +twice did the foreign conqueror permit her to return. Without the +foreigner and his self-imposed restraint, there could have been no +Empress Dowager in China. Did she hate the foreigner for driving +her away, or did she thank him for her repeated restoration? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The daughter of Duke Chou (the slave-girl story is a myth), she +became a secondary wife of Hienfung in 1853 or 1854; and her sister +somewhat later became consort of the Emperor's youngest brother. +Having the happiness to present her lord with a son, she was raised +to the rank of Empress and began to exert no little influence in the +character of mother to an heir-apparent. Had she not been protected +by her new rank her childless rival might have driven her from +court and appropriated the boy. She had instead to admit a joint +motherhood, which in a few years led to a joint regency. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Scarcely had the young Empress become accustomed to her new dignity, +when the fall of Taku and Tientsin, in 1860, warned the Emperor +of what he might +<a name="page_272"><span class="page">Page 272</span></a> +expect. Taking the two imperial ladies and their infant son, he +retired to Jeho, on the borders of Tartary, in time to escape capture. +There he heard of the burning of his summer palace and the surrender +of his capital. Whether he succumbed to disease or whether a proud +nature refused to survive his disgrace, is not known. What we do +know is, that on his death, in 1861, two princes, Sushun and Tuanhwa, +organised a regency and brought the court back to the capital about +a year after the treaty of peace had been signed by Prince Kung as +the Emperor's representative. Prince Kung was not included in the +council of regency; and he knew that he was marked for destruction. +Resolving to be beforehand, he found means to consult with the +Empresses, who looked to him to rescue them from the tyranny of +the Council of Eight. On December 2 the blow was struck: all the +members of the council were seized; the leader was put to death in +the market-place; some committed suicide; and others were condemned +to exile. A new regency was formed, consisting of the two Empresses +and Prince Kung, the latter having the title of "joint regent." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +What part the Empress Mother had taken in this her first <i>coup +d'état</i>, is left to conjecture. Penetrating and ambitious +she was not content to be a tool in the hands of the Eight. The +senior Empress yielded to the ascendency of a superior mind, as +she continued to do for twenty years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There was another actor whom it would be wrong to overlook, namely, +Kweiliang, the good secretary, who had signed the treaties at Tientsin. +His daughter +<a name="page_273"><span class="page">Page 273</span></a> +was Prince Kung's principal wife, and though too old to take a +leading part in the Court revolutions, it was he who prompted Prince +Kung, who was young and inexperienced, to strike for his life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The reigning title of the infant Emperor was changed from +<i>Kisiang</i>, "good luck," to <i>Tung-chi</i>, "joint government"; +and the Empire acquiesced in the new régime. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One person there was, however, who was not quite satisfied with +the arrangement. This was the restless, ambitious young Dowager. +The Empire was quiet; and things went on in their new course for +years, Prince Kung all the time growing in power and dignity. His +growing influence gave her umbrage; and one morning a decree from +the two Dowagers stripped him of power, and confined him a prisoner +in his palace. His alleged offence was want of respect to their +Majesties; he threw himself at their feet and implored forgiveness. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The ladies were not implacable; he was restored to favour and clothed +with all his former dignities, except one. The title of +<i>Icheng-wang</i>, "joint regent," never reappeared. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1881 the death of the senior Dowager left the second Dowager +alone in her glory. So harmoniously had they coöperated during +their joint regency, and so submissive had the former been to the +will of the latter, that there was no ground for suspicion of foul +play, yet such suspicions are always on the wing, like bats in +the twilight of an Oriental court. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the death of Tung-chi, the adroit selection of a nephew of three +summers to succeed to the throne as her adopted son, gave the Dowager +the prospect of another long regency. Recalled to power by the +<a name="page_274"><span class="page">Page 274</span></a> +reactionaries, in 1898, after a brief retirement, the Empress Dowager +dethroned her puppet by a second <i>coup-d'état</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During the ruinous recoil that followed she had the doubtful +satisfaction of feeling herself sole aristocrat of the Chinese +Empire. Was it not the satisfaction of a gladiator who seated himself +on the throne of the Cæsars in a burning amphitheatre? Was she +not made sensible that she, too, was a creature of circumstances, +when her ill-judged policy compelled her a second time to seek +safety in flight? A helpless fugitive, how could she conceive that +fortune held in reserve for her brighter days than she had ever +experienced? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Accepting the situation and returning with the Emperor, the Empire +and the world accepted her, and, taught by experience, she engaged +in the congenial task of renovating the Chinese people. Advancing +years, consciousness of power, and willing conformity to the freer +usages of European courts, all conspired to lead her to throw aside +the veil and to appear openly as the chief actor on this imperial +stage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Six years ago her seventieth birthday was celebrated with great +pomp, although she had forbidden her people to be too lavish in +their loyalty. At Wuchang, Tuan Fang, who was acting viceroy, gave +a banquet at which he asked me to make a speech in the Dowager's +honor. The task was a delicate one for a man who had borne the +hardships of a siege in 1900; but I accepted it, and excused the +Dowager on the principle of British law, that "The king can do no +<a name="page_275"><span class="page">Page 275</span></a> +wrong." Throwing the blame on her ministers, I pronounced a eulogy +on her talents and her public services. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The question arises, did we know her in person and character? Have +we not seen her in that splendid portrait executed by Miss Carl, +and exhibited at St. Louis? If we suspect the artist of flattery, +have we not a gallery of photographs, in which she shows herself +in many a majestic pose? Is flattery possible to a sunbeam? We +certainly see her as truly as we see ourselves in a mirror! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As to character, it is too soon to express an opinion. <i>Varium +et mutabile semper femina</i>. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To pencil and sunbeam add word-pictures by men and women from whose +critical eyes she did not conceal herself; and we may confidently +affirm that we knew her personal appearance as well as we knew that +of any lady who occupies or shares a European throne. A trifle +under the average height of European ladies, so perfect were her +proportions and so graceful her carriage that she seemed to need +nothing to add to her majesty. Her features were vivacious and +pleasing rather than beautiful; her complexion, not yellow, but +subolive, and her face illuminated by orbs of jet, half-hidden +by dark lashes, behind which lurked the smiles of favour or the +lightning of anger. No one would take her to be over forty. She +carried tablets on which, even during conversation, she jotted +down memoranda. Her pencil was the support of her sceptre. With it +she sent out her autograph commands; and with it, too, she inscribed +those pictured characters which were worn as the proudest decorations +<a name="page_276"><span class="page">Page 276</span></a> +of her ministers. I have seen them in gilded frames in the hall +of a viceroy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The elegance of her culture excited sincere admiration in a country +where women are illiterate; and the breadth of her understanding +was such as to take in the details of government. She chose her +agents with rare judgment, and shifted them from pillar to post, +so that they might not forget their dependence on her will. Without +a parallel in her own country, she has been sometimes compared +with Catherine II. of Russia. She had the advantage in the decency +of her private life; for though she is said to have had favourites +they have never dared to boast of her favours, nor was a curious +public ever able to identify them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Her full name, including honorific epithets added by the Academy, +was Tse Hi Tuanyin Kangyi Chaoyu Chuangcheng Shoukung Chinhien +Chunghi. A few hours before her death, which occurred on the day +after the Emperor's, she named his nephew as successor, and the +present ruler, Hsuan-Tung, who was born in 1903, began to reign +November 14, 1908. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Let the Dowager be taken as a type of the Manchu woman. The late +Emperor, though handsome and intelligent, was too small for a +representative of a robust race. Tuan Fang, the High Commissioner, +is a more favourable specimen. The Manchus are in general taller +than the Chinese, and both in physical and intellectual qualities +they prove that their branch of the family is far from effete. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Prince Kung, who for fifteen years presided over the imperial cabinet, +was tall, handsome and urbane. +<a name="page_277"><span class="page">Page 277</span></a> +Despite the disadvantages of an education in a narrow-minded court, +he displayed a breadth and capacity of a high order. Prince Ching, +who succeeded him in 1875, though less attractive in person, is not +deficient in that sort of astuteness that passes for statesmanship. +What better evidence than that he has kept himself on top of a +rolling log for thirty years? To keep his position through the +dethronement of the Emperor and the convulsions of the Boxer War +required agility and adaptability of no mean order. Personally I +have seen much of both princes. They are abler men than one would +expect to find among the offshoots of an Oriental court. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Wensiang, who from the opening of Peking to his death in 1875 bore +the leading part in the conduct of foreign affairs, showed great +ability in piloting the state through rocks and breakers. His mental +power greatly impressed all foreigners, while it secured him an easy +ascendency among his countrymen. Such men are sure to be overloaded +with official duties in a country like China. Physically he was not +strong; and on one occasion when he came into the room wheezing +with asthma he said to me: "You see I am like a small donkey, with +a tight collar and a heavy load." The success of Prince Kung's +administration was largely due to Wensiang. Paochuin, minister +of finance, and member of the Inner Council, was distinguished +as a literary genius. Prince Kung delighted on festive occasions +to call him and Tungsuin to a contest in extempore verse. To enter +the lists with a noted scholar and poet like Tung, showed how the +Manchus have come to vie with the Chinese in the +<a name="page_278"><span class="page">Page 278</span></a> +refinements of literary culture. I remember him as a dignified +greybeard, genial and jocose. On the fall of the Kung ministry, +he doffed his honours in three stanzas, which contain more truth +than poetry: +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Through life, as in a pleasing dream,<br> + Unconscious of my years,<br> + In Fortune's smile to bask I seem;<br> + Perennial, Spring appears. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"Alas! Leviathan to take<br> + Defies the fisher's art;<br> + From dreams of glory I awake,—<br> + My youth and power depart. +</p> + +<p class="bquote"> +"That loss is often gain's disguise<br> + May us for loss console.<br> + My fellow-sufferers, take advice<br> + And keep your reason whole." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In more than one crisis, the heart of the nation has cleaved to +the Manchu house as the embodiment of law and order. The people +chose to adhere to a tolerably good government rather than take +the chance of a better one emerging from the strife of factions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Three things are required to confirm their loyalty: (1) the abolition +of tonsure and pigtail, (2) the abandonment of all privileges in +examinations and in the distribution of offices, (3) the removal +of all impediments in the way of intermarriage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This last has been recently authorised by proclamation. It is not +so easy for those who are in possession of the loaves and fishes to +admit others to an equal share. If to these were added the abolition +of a degrading +<a name="page_279"><span class="page">Page 279</span></a> +badge, the Manchu dynasty might hope to be perpetual, because the +Manchus would cease to exist as a people. +</p> + +<h4> +CONCLUSIONS +</h4> + +<p class="indent"> +1. More than once I have demanded the expulsion of the Manchus, +and the partition of China. That they deserved it no one who knows +the story of 1900 will venture to deny. It was not without reason +that <i>Mene tekel</i> and <i>Ichabod</i> were engraved on the +medal commemorating the siege in Peking. If I seem to recant, it +is in view of the hopeful change that has come over the spirit of +the Manchu Government. Under the leadership of Dowager Empress +and Emperor, the people were more likely to make peaceful progress +than under a new dynasty or under the Polish policy of division. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +2. The prospect of admission to the full privileges of a member of +the brotherhood of nations will act as an incentive to improvement. +But the subjection of foreigners to Chinese jurisdiction ought +not to be conceded without a probation as long and thorough as +that through which Japan had to pass. In view of the treachery +and barbarism so conspicuous in 1900—head-hunting and edicts +to massacre foreigners—a probation of thirty years would +not be too long. During that time the reforms in law and justice +should be fully tested, and the Central Government should be held +responsible for the repression of every tendency to anti-foreign +riots. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A government that encourages Boxers and other rioters as patriots +does not merit an equal place in the +<a name="page_280"><span class="page">Page 280</span></a> +congress of nations. The alternative is the "gunboat policy," according +to which foreign powers will administer local punishment. If the +mother of the house will not chastise her unruly children, she +must allow her neighbours to do it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +3. Prior to legal reform, and at the root of it, the adoption of a +constitution ought to be insisted on. In such constitution a leading +article ought to be not toleration, but freedom of conscience. As +long as China looks on native Christians as people who have abjured +their nationality, so long will they be objects of persecution; +self-defence and reprisals will keep the populace in a ferment, and +peace will be impossible. If China is sincere in her professions +of reform, she will follow the example of Japan and make her people +equal in the eye of the law without distinction of creed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +4. All kinds of reform are involved in the new education, and to +that China is irrevocably committed. Reënforced by railroad, +telegraph, and newspaper, the schoolmaster will dispel the stagnation +of remote districts, giving to the whole people a horizon wider +than their hamlet, and thoughts higher than their hearthstone. +Animated by sound science and true religion, it will not be many +generations before the Chinese people will take their place among +the leading nations of the earth. +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_281"><span class="page">Page 281</span></a> +APPENDIX +</h2> + +<h3> +I. +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE AGENCY OF MISSIONARIES IN THE DIFFUSION OF SECULAR KNOWLEDGE +IN CHINA[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: This paper was originally written for Dr. Dennis's +well-known work on The Secular Benefits of Christian Missions. +As it now appears it is not a mere reprint, it having been much +enlarged and brought down to date.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While the primary motive of missionaries in going to China is, as +in going to other countries, the hope of bringing the people to +Christ, the incidental results of their labours in the diffusion +of secular knowledge have been such as to confer inestimable benefit +on the world at large and on the Chinese people in particular. +This is admitted by the recent High Commission.[**] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote **: See <a href="#page_263">page 263</a>.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was in the character of apostles of science that Roman Catholic +missionaries obtained a footing in Peking three centuries ago, +and were enabled to plant their faith throughout the provinces. +Armed with telescope and sextant they effected the reform of the +Chinese calendar, and secured for their religion the respect and +adherence of some of the highest minds in the Empire. So firmly +was it rooted that churches of their planting were able to survive +a century and a half of persecution. Their achievements, recorded +in detail by Abbé Huc and others, fill some of the +<a name="page_282"><span class="page">Page 282</span></a> +brightest pages in the history of missions. I shall not enlarge +on them in this place, as my present task is to draw attention +to the work of Protestant missions. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +A CENTURY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is not too much to claim for these last that for a century past +they have been active intermediaries, especially between the +English-speaking nations and the Far East. On one hand, they have +supplied such information in regard to China as was indispensable +for commercial and national intercourse, while on the other they +have brought the growing science of the Western world to bear on +the mind of China. Not only did Dr. Morrison, who led the way in +1807, give the Chinese the first translation of our Holy Scriptures; +he was the very first to compile a Chinese dictionary in the English +language. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE PIONEER OF AMERICAN MISSIONS +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was not until 1838 that America sent her pioneer missionary in +the person of Dr. Bridgman. Besides coöperating with others +in the revision of Morrison's Bible, or, more properly, in making a +new version, Bridgman won immortality by originating and conducting +the <i>Chinese Repository</i>, a monthly magazine which became a +thesaurus of information in regard to the Chinese Empire. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE PRESS—A MISSIONARY FRANKLIN +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The American Board showed their enlightened policy by establishing +a printing-press at Canton, and +<a name="page_283"><span class="page">Page 283</span></a> +in sending S. Wells Williams to take charge of it, in 1833. John +R. Morrison, son of the missionary, had, indeed, made a similar +attempt; but from various causes he had felt compelled to relinquish +the enterprise. From the arrival of Williams to the present day +the printing-press has shown itself a growing power—a lever +which, planted on a narrow fulcrum in the suburb of a single port, +has succeeded in moving the Eastern world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The art of printing was not new to the Chinese. They had discovered +it before it was dreamed of in Europe; but with their hereditary +tendency to run in ruts, they had continued to engrave their characters +on wooden blocks in the form of stereotype plates. With divisible +types (mostly on wood) they had indeed made some experiments; but +that improved method never obtained currency among the people. It +was reserved for Christian missions to confer on them the priceless +boon of the power press and metallic types. What Williams began at +Canton was perfected at Shanghai by Gamble of the Presbyterian +Board, who multiplied the fonts and introduced the process of +electrotyping. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Shut up in the purlieus of Canton, it is astonishing how much Dr. +Williams was able to effect in the way of making China known to the +Western world. His book on "The Middle Kingdom," first published in +1848, continues to be, after the lapse of half a century, the highest +of a long list of authorities on the Chinese Empire. Beginning like +Benjamin Franklin as a printer, like Franklin he came to perform a +brilliant part in the diplomacy of our country, aiding in the +<a name="page_284"><span class="page">Page 284</span></a> +negotiation of a new treaty and filling more than once the post +of chargé d'affaires. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +EXPANSION OF THE WORK +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The next period of missionary activity dates from the treaty of +Nanking, which put an end to the Opium War, in 1842. The opening +of five great seaports to foreign residence was a vast enlargement +in comparison with a small suburb of Canton; and the withdrawal +of prohibitory interdicts, first obtained by the French minister +Lagrené, invited the efforts of missionary societies in all +lands. In this connection it is only fair to say that, in 1860, +when the Peking expedition removed the remaining barriers, it was +again to the French that our missionaries were indebted for access +to the interior. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +MEDICAL WORK +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the earliest dawn of our mission work it may be affirmed that +no sooner did a chapel open its doors than a hospital was opened +by its side for the relief of bodily ailments with which the rude +quackery of the Chinese was incompetent to deal. Nor is there at +this day a mission station in any part of China that does not in +this way set forth the practical charity of the Good Samaritan. +This glorious crusade against disease and death began, so far as +Protestants are concerned, with the Ophthalmic Hospital opened +by Dr. Peter Parker at Canton in 1834. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +MEDICAL TEACHING +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The training of native physicians began at the same date; and those +who have gone forth to bless their +<a name="page_285"><span class="page">Page 285</span></a> +people by their newly acquired medical skill may now be counted +by hundreds. In strong contrast with the occult methods of native +practitioners, neither they nor their foreign teachers have hidden +their light under a bushel. Witness the Union Medical College, a +noble institution recently opened in Peking under the sanction +and patronage of the Imperial Government. A formal despatch of the +Board of Education (in July, 1906) grants the power of conferring +degrees, and guarantees their recognition by the state. For many +years to come this great school is likely to be the leading source +of a new faculty. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE SEEDS OF A NEW EDUCATION +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Not less imperative, though not so early, was the establishment +of Christian schools. Those for girls have the merit of being the +first to shed light on the shaded hemisphere of Chinese society. +Those for boys were intended to reach all grades of life; but their +prime object was to raise up a native ministry, not merely to +coöperate with foreign missions, but eventually to take the +place of the foreign missionary. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE EARLIEST UNION COLLEGE +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the earliest and most successful of these lighthouses was +the Tengchow College founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer. It was there +that young Chinese were most thoroughly instructed in mathematics, +physics, and chemistry. So conspicuous was the success of that +institution that when the Government opened a university in Peking, +and more recently in Shantung, +<a name="page_286"><span class="page">Page 286</span></a> +it was in each case to Tengchow that they had recourse for native +teachers of science. From that school they obtained text-books, +and from the same place they secured (in Dr. Hayes) a president +for the first provincial university organised in China. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +METHODIST EPISCOPAL UNIVERSITY IN PEKING +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church have of late taken +up the cause of education and carried it forward with great vigour. +Not to speak of high schools for both sexes in Fukien, they have a +flourishing college in Shanghai, and a university in the imperial +capital under the presidency of H. H. Lowry. Destroyed by the Boxers +in 1900, that institution has now risen phœnix-like from +its ashes with every prospect of a more brilliant future than its +most sanguine friends ever ventured to anticipate. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +AMERICAN BOARD COLLEGE AT TUNGCHOW +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A fine college of the American Board at Tungchow, near the capital, +met the same fate and rose again with similar expansion. Dr. Sheffield, +its president, has made valuable contributions to the list of +educational text-books. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +These great schools, together with the Medical College of the London +Mission, above referred to, and a high school of the United States +Presbyterians, have formed a system of cöoperation which greatly +augments the efficiency of each. Of this educational union the +chief cornerstone is the Medical College. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A similar coöperative union between the English +<a name="page_287"><span class="page">Page 287</span></a> +Baptists and American Presbyterians is doing a great work at Weihien, +in Shantung. I speak of these because of that most notable +feature—union international and interdenominational. Space +would fail to enumerate a tithe of the flourishing schools that +are aiding in the educational movement; but St. John's College, +at Shanghai (U. S. Episcopal), though already mentioned, claims +further notice because, as we now learn, it has been given by the +Chinese Government the status of a university. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +PREPARATION OF TEXT-BOOKS +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Schools require text-books; and the utter absence of anything of +the kind, except in the department of classical Chinese, gave rise +to early and persistent efforts to supply the want. Manuals in +geography and history were among the first produced. Those in +mathematics and physics followed; and almanacs were sent forth +yearly containing scientific information in a shape adapted to +the taste of Chinese readers—alongside of religious truths. +Such an annual issued by the late Dr. McCartee, was much sought for. +A complete series of text-books in mathematics was translated by +Mr. Wylie, of the London Mission; and text-books on other subjects, +including geology, were prepared by Messrs. Muirhead, Edkins, and +Williamson. At length the task of providing text-books was taken +in hand by a special committee, and later on by the Society for +the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, now under the direction of the +Rev. Dr. Richard. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_288"><span class="page">Page 288</span></a> +So deeply was the want of text-books felt by some of the more +progressive mandarins that a corps of translators was early formed +in connection with one of the government arsenals—a work in +which Dr. John Fryer has gained merited renown. Those translators +naturally gave prominence to books on the art of war, and on the +politics of Western nations, the one-sided tendency of their +publications serving to emphasise the demand for such books as were +prepared by missionaries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Text-books on international law and political economy were made +accessible to Chinese literature by Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who, having +acted as interpreter to two of the American embassies, was deeply +impressed by the ignorance of those vital subjects among Chinese +mandarins. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On going to reside in Peking, in 1863, Dr. Martin carried with him +a translation of Wheaton, and it was welcomed by the Chinese Foreign +Office as a timely guide in their new situation. He followed this up by +versions of Woolsey, Bluntschli and Hall. He also gave them a popular +work on natural philosophy—not a translation—together +with a more extended work on mathematical physics. Not only has +the former appeared in many editions from the Chinese press, but +it has been often reprinted in Japan; and to this day maintains +its place in the favour of both empires. To this he has lately +added a text-book on mental philosophy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A book on the evidences of Christianity, by the same author, has +been widely circulated both in China and in Japan. Though distinctly +religious in aim, it +<a name="page_289"><span class="page">Page 289</span></a> +appeals to the reader's taste for scientific knowledge, seeking to +win the heathen from idolatry by exhibiting the unity and beauty +of nature, while it attempts to show the reasonableness of our +revealed religion. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THREE PRESIDENTS OF GOVERNMENT COLLEGES +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is not without significance that the Chinese have sought presidents +for their highest schools among the ranks of Protestant missionaries. +Dr. Ferguson of the Methodist Episcopal Mission was called to the +presidency of the Nanyang College at Shanghai; Dr. Hayes, to be +head of a new university in Shantung; and Dr. Martin, after serving +for twenty-five years as head of the Diplomatic College in Peking, +was, in 1898, made president of the new Imperial University. His +appointment was by decree from the Throne, published in the Government +<i>Gazette</i>; and mandarin rank next to the highest was conferred +on him. On terminating his connection with that institution, after +it was broken up by Boxers, he was recalled to China to take charge +of a university for the two provinces of Hupeh and Hunan. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +CREATORS OF CHINESE JOURNALISM +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the movement of modern society, no force is more conspicuous +than journalism. In this our missionaries have from the first taken +a leading part, as it was they who introduced it to China. At every +central station for the last half-century periodicals have been +issued by them in the Chinese language. +<a name="page_290"><span class="page">Page 290</span></a> +The man who has done most in this line is Dr. Y. J. Allen, of the +Methodist Episcopal Church South. He has devoted a lifetime to +it, besides translating numerous books. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Formerly the Chinese had only one newspaper in the empire—the +<i>Peking Gazette</i>, the oldest journal in the world. They now +have, in imitation of foreigners, some scores of dailies, in which +they give foreign news, and which they print in foreign type. The +highest mandarins wince under their stinging criticisms. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THEY LEAD A VERNACULAR REVOLUTION +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is one of the triumphs of Christianity to have given a written +form to the language of modern Europe. It is doing the same for +heathen nations in all parts of the earth. Nor does China offer +an exception. The culture for which her learned classes are noted +is wholly confined to a classic language that is read everywhere, +and spoken nowhere, somewhat as Latin was in the West in the Middle +Ages, save that Latin was really a tongue capable of being employed +in speech, whereas the classical language of China is not addressed +to the ear but to the eye, being, as Dr. Medhurst said, "an occulage, +not a language." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The mandarin or spoken language of the north was, indeed, reduced +to writing by the Chinese themselves; and a similar beginning was +made with some of the southern dialects. In all these efforts the +Chinese ideographs have been employed; but so numerous and disjointed +are they that the labour of years is required to get a command of +them even for reading in a vernacular +<a name="page_291"><span class="page">Page 291</span></a> +dialect. In all parts of China our missionaries have rendered the +Scriptures into the local dialects. so that they may be understood +when read aloud, and that every man "may hear in his own tongue the +wonderful works of God." In some places they have printed them in +the vernacular by the use of Chinese characters. Yet those characters +are clumsy instruments for the expression of sounds; and in several +provinces our missionaries have tried to write Chinese with Roman +letters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The experiment has proved successful beyond a doubt. Old women +and young children have in this way come to read the Scriptures +and other books in a few days. This revolution must go forward +with the spread of Christianity; nor is it too much to expect that +in the lapse of ages, the hieroglyphs of the learned language will +for popular use be superseded by the use of the Roman alphabet, or +by a new alphabet recently invented and propagated by officials +in Peking. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In conclusion: Our missionaries have made our merchants acquainted +with China; and they have made foreign nations known to the Chinese. +They have aided our envoys in their negotiations; and they have +conferred on the Chinese the priceless boon of scientific text-books. +Also along with schools for modern education, they have introduced +hospitals for the relief of bodily suffering. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +W. A. P. M. +</p> + +<p> +PEKING,<br> + Aug. 4. 1906. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_292"><span class="page">Page 292</span></a> +II. +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +UNMENTIONED REFORMS[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[Footnote *: Written by the author for the <i>North-China Daily +News</i>.] +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The return of the Mission of Inquiry has quickened our curiosity +as to its results in proposition and in enactment. All well-wishers +of China are delighted to learn that the creation of a parliament +and the substitution of constitutional for autocratic government are +to have the first place in the making of a New China. The reports +of the High Commissioners are not yet before the public, but it +is understood that they made good use of their time in studying +the institutions of the West, and that they have shown a wise +discrimination in the selection of those which they recommend for +adoption. There are, however, three reforms of vital importance, +which have scarcely been mentioned at all, which China requires +for full admission to the comity of nations. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +1. A CHANGE OF COSTUME +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During their tour no one suggested that the Chinese costume should +be changed nor would it have been polite or politic to do so. But I +do not admire either the taste or the wisdom of those orators who, +in welcoming the distinguished visitors; applauded them for their +graceful dress and stately carriage. If that indiscreet flattery +had any effect it merely tended +<a name="page_293"><span class="page">Page 293</span></a> +to postpone a change which is now in progress. All the soldiers +of the Empire will ere long wear a Western uniform, and all the +school children are rapidly adopting a similar uniform. To me few +spectacles that I have witnessed are so full of hope for China as +the display on an imperial birthday, when the military exhibit +their skilful evolutions and their Occidental uniform, and when +thousands of school children appear in a new costume, which is +both becoming and convenient. But the Court and the mandarins cling +to their antiquated attire. If the peacock wishes to soar with +the eagle, he must first get rid of his cumbersome tail. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This subject, though it savours of the tailor shop, is not unworthy +the attention of the grand council of China's statesmen. Has not +Carlyle shown in his "Sartor Resartus" how the Philosophy of Clothes +is fundamental to the history of civilisation? The Japanese with +wonderful foresight settled that question at the very time when +they adopted their new form of government. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When Mr. Low was U. S. Minister in Peking some thirty years ago, +he said to the writer "Just look at this tomfoolery!" holding up +the fashion plates representing the new dress for the diplomatic +service of Japan. Time has proved that he was wrong, and that the +Japanese were right in adopting a new uniform, when they wished to +fall in line with nations of the West. With their old shuffling +habiliments and the cringing manners inseparable from them, they +never could have been admitted to intercourse on easy terms with +Western society. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_294"><span class="page">Page 294</span></a> +The mandarin costume of China, though more imposing, is not less +barbaric than that of Japan; and the etiquette that accompanies +it is wholly irreconcilable with the usages of the Western world. +Imagine a mandarin doffing his gaudy cap, gay with tassels, feathers, +and ruby button, on meeting a friend, or pushing back his long +sleeves to shake hands! Such frippery we have learned to leave +to the ladies; and etiquette does not require them to lay aside +their hats. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Quakers, like the mandarins, keep their hats on in public meetings; +and the oddity of their manners has kept them out of society and +made their following very exiguous. Do our Chinese friends wish +to be looked on as Quakers, or do they desire to fraternise freely +with the people of the great West? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their cap of ceremony hides a shaven pate and dangling cue, and +here lies the chief obstacle in the way of the proposed reform +in style and manners. Those badges of subjection will have to be +dispensed with either formally or tacitly before the cap that conceals +them can give way to the dress hat of European society. Neither +graceful nor convenient, that dress hat is not to be recommended +on its own merits, but as part of a costume common to all nations +which conform to the usages of our modern civilisation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It must have struck the High Commissioners that, wherever they +went, they encountered in good society only one general type of +costume. Nor would it be possible for them to advise the adoption of +the costume of this or that nationality—a general conformity +is all that seems feasible or desirable. Will the Chinese +<a name="page_295"><span class="page">Page 295</span></a> +cling to their cap and robes with a death grip like that of the +Korean who jumped from a railway train to save his high hat and +lost his life? As they are taking passage on the great railway of +the world's progress, will they not take pains to adapt themselves +in every way to the requirements of a new era? +</p> + +<p class="center"> +2. POLYGAMY +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We have as yet no intimation what the Reform Government intends +to do with this superannuated institution. Will they persist in +burning incense before it to disguise its ill-odour, or will they +bury it out of sight at once and for ever? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Travelling Commissioners, whose breadth and acumen are equally +conspicuous, surely did not fail to inquire for it in the countries +which they visited. Of course, they did not find it there; but, as +with the question of costume, the good breeding of their hosts would +restrain them from offering any suggestion touching the domestic +life of the Chinese. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Commissioners had the honour of presentation to the Queen-Empress +Alexandra. Fancy them asking how many subordinate wives she has +to aid her in sustaining the dignity of the King-Emperor! They +would learn with surprise that no European sovereign, however lax +in morals, has ever had a palace full of concubines as a regular +appendage to his regal menage; that for prince and people the ideal +is monogamy; and that, although the conduct of the rich and great +is often such as to make us blush for our Christian civilisation, +it is true this day that the crowned heads of Europe are in general +setting a worthy example of +<a name="page_296"><span class="page">Page 296</span></a> +domestic morals. "Admirable!" respond the Commissioners; "our ancient +sovereigns were like that, and our sages taught that there should +be '<i>Ne Wu Yuen Nu, Wai wu Kwang-tu</i>' (in the harem no pining +beauty, outside no man without a mate). It is the luxury of later +ages that keeps a multitude of women in seclusion for the pleasure +of a few men, and leaves the common man without a wife. We heartily +approve the practice of Europe, but what of Africa?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"There the royal courts consider a multitude of wives essential to +their grandeur, and the nobles reckon their wealth by the number +of their wives and cows. The glory of a prince is that of a cock +in a barn-yard or of a bull at the head of a herd. Such is their +ideal from the King of Dahomey with his bodyguard of Amazons to +the Sultan of Morocco and the Khedive of Egypt. Not only do the +Mahommedans of Asia continue the practice—they have tried +to transplant their ideal paradise into Europe. Turkey, decayed +and rotten, with its black eunuchs and its Circassian slave girls, +stands as an object-lesson to the whole world." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We beg your pardon, we know enough about Asia; but what of +America—does polygamy flourish there?" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It did exist among the Peruvians and Aztecs before the Spanish +conquest, but it is now under ban in every country from pole to +pole. Witness the Mormons of Utah! They were refused admission +into the American Union as long as they adhered to the Oriental +type of plural marriage." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Ah! We perceive you are pointing to the Mormons as a warning to +us. You mean that we shall not be admitted into the society of +the more civilised nations +<a name="page_297"><span class="page">Page 297</span></a> +as long as we hold to polygamy. Well! Our own sages have condemned +it. It has a long and shameful record; but its days are numbered. +It will do doubt be suppressed by our new code of laws." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This imaginary conversation is so nearly a transcript of what must +have taken place, that I feel tempted to throw the following paragraphs +into the form of a dialogue. The dialogue, however, is unavoidably +prolix, and I hasten to wind up the discussion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +With reference to the Mormons I may add that at the conference +on International Arbitration held at Lake Mohonk last July, there +were present Jews, Quakers, Protestants and Roman Catholics, but +no Mormons and no Turks. Creeds were not required as credentials, +but Turk and Mormon did not think it worth while to knock at the +door. Both are objects of contempt, and no nation whose family +life is formed on the same model can hope to be admitted to full +fraternity with Western peoples. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The abominations associated with such a type of society are inconsistent +with any but a low grade of civilisation—they are eunuchs, +slavery, unnatural vice, and, more than all, a general debasement +of the female sex. In Chinese society, woman occupies a shaded +hemisphere—not inaptly represented by the dark portion in +their national symbol the <i>Yinyang-tse</i> or Diagram of the +Dual principles. So completely has she hitherto been excluded from +the benefits of education that a young man in a native high school +recently began an essay with the exclamation—"I am glad I am +not a Chinese woman. Scarcely one in a thousand is able to read!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_298"><span class="page">Page 298</span></a> +If "Knowledge is power," as Bacon said, and Confucius before him, +what a source of weakness has this neglect of woman been to China. +Happily she is not excluded from the new system of national education, +and there is reason to believe that with the reign of ignorance +polygamy will also disappear as a state of things repugnant to +the right feeling of an intelligent woman. But would it not hasten +the enfranchisement of the sex, and rouse the fair daughters of +the East to a nobler conception of human life if the rulers would +issue a decree placing concubinage under the ban of law? Nothing +would do more to secure for China the respect of the Western world. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +3. DOMESTIC SLAVERY +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Since writing the first part of this paper, I have learned that +some of the Commissioners have expressed themselves in favour of +a change of costume. I have also learned that the regulation of +slavery is to have a place in the revised statutes, though not +referred to by the Commissioners. Had this information reached +me earlier, it might have led me to omit the word "unmentioned" +from my general title, but it would not have altered a syllable +in my treatment of the subject. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Cheering it is to the well-wishers of China to see that she has +a government strong enough and bold enough to deal with social +questions of this class. How urgent is the slave question may be +seen from the daily items in your own columns. What, for example, +was the lady from Szechuen doing but carrying on a customary +<a name="page_299"><span class="page">Page 299</span></a> +form of the slave traffic? What was the case of those singing girls +under the age of fifteen, of whom you spoke last week, but a form +of slavery? Again, by way of climax, what will the Western world +think of a country that permits a mistress to beat a slave girl to +death for eating a piece of watermelon—as reported by your +correspondent from Hankow? The triviality of the provocation reminds +us of the divorce of a wife for offering her mother-in-law a dish +of half-cooked pears. The latter, which is a classic instance, +is excused on the ground of filial duty, but I have too much respect +for the author of the "Hiaoking," to accept a tradition which does a +grievous wrong to one of the best men of ancient times. The tradition, +however unfounded, may serve as a guide to public opinion. It suggests +another subject, which we might (but will not) reserve for another +section, viz., the regulation of divorce and the limitation of +marital power. It is indeed intimately connected with my present +topic, for what is wife or concubine but a slave, as long as a +husband has power to divorce or sell her at will—with or without +provocation? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Last week an atrocious instance, not of divorce, but of wife-murder, +occurred within bow-shot of my house. A man engaged in a coal-shop +had left his wife with an aunt in the country. The aunt complained +of her as being too stupid and clumsy to earn a living. Her brutal +husband thereon took the poor girl to a lonely spot, where he killed +her, and left her unburied. Returning to the coal-shop, he sent +word to his aunt that he was ready to answer for what he had done, +if called to account. "Has he been called to account?" +<a name="page_300"><span class="page">Page 300</span></a> +I enquired this morning of one of his neighbours. "Oh no! was the +reply; it's all settled; the woman is buried, and no inquiry is +called for." Is not woman a slave, though called a wife, in a society +where such things are allowed to go with impunity? Will not the new +laws, from which so much is expected, limit the marriage relation +to one woman, and make the man, to whom she is bound, a husband, +not a master? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Confucius, we are told, resigned office in his native state when +the prince accepted a bevy of singing girls sent from a neighbouring +principality. The girls were slaves bought and trained for their +shameful profession, and the traffic in girls for the same service +constitutes the leading form of domestic slavery at this day—so +little has been the progress in morals, so little advance toward +a legislation that protects the life and virtue of the helpless! +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But the slave traffic is not confined to women; any man may sell +his son; and classes of both sexes are found in all the houses of +the rich. Prædial servitude was practised in ancient times, as +it was in Europe in the Middle Ages, and in Russia till a recent day. +We read of lands and labourers being conferred on court favourites. +How the system came to disappear we need not pause to inquire. It +is certain, however, that no grand act of emancipation ever took +place in China like that which cost Lincoln his life, or that for +which the good Czar Alexander II. had to pay the same forfeit. +Russia is to-day eating the bitter fruits of ages of serfdom; and +the greatest peril ever encountered by the United States was a +war brought on by negro slavery. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_301"><span class="page">Page 301</span></a> +The form of slavery prevailing in China is not one that threatens +war or revolutions; but in its social aspects it is worse than +negro slavery. It depraves morals and corrupts the family, and +as long as it exists, it carries the brand of barbarism. China +has great men, who for the honour of their country would not be +afraid to take the matter in hand. They would, if necessary, imitate +Lincoln and the Czar Alexander to effect the removal of such a +blot. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is proposed, we are told, to limit slavery to minors—freedom +ensuing on the attainment of majority. This would greatly ameliorate +the evil, but the evil is so crying that it demands not amelioration, +but extinction. Let the legislators of China take for their model +the provisions of British law, which make it possible to boast that +"as soon as a slave touches British soil his fetters fall." Let +them also follow that lofty legislation which defines the rights +and provides for the well-being of the humblest subject. Let the +old system be uprooted before a new one is inaugurated, otherwise +there is danger that the limiting of slavery to minors will leave +those helpless creatures exposed to most of the wrongs that accompany +a lifelong servitude. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The number and extent of the reforms decreed or effected are such +as to make the present reign the most illustrious in the history +of the Empire. May we not hope that in dealing with polygamy and +domestic slavery, the action of China will be such as to lift her +out of the class of Turkey and Morocco into full companionship +with the most enlightened nations of Europe and America. +</p> + +<h3> +<a name="page_302"><span class="page">Page 302</span></a> +III. +</h3> + +<p class="subtitle"> +A NEW OPIUM WAR +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The fiat has gone forth—war is declared against an insidious +enemy that has long been exhausting the resources of China and +sapping the strength of her people. She has resolved to rid herself +at once and forever of the curse of opium. The home production of +the drug, and all the ramifications of the vice stand condemned +by a decree from the throne, followed by a code of regulations +designed not to limit, but to extirpate the monster evil. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In this bold stroke for social reform there can be no doubt that +the Government is supported by the best sentiment of the whole +country. Most Chinese look upon opium as the beginning of their +national sorrows. In 1839 it involved them in their first war with +the West; and that opened the way for a series of wars which issued +in their capital being twice occupied by foreign forces. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Their first effort to shake off the incubus was accompanied by +such displays of pride, ignorance and unlawful violence that Great +Britain was forced to make war—not to protect an illegal +traffic, but to redress an outrage and to humble a haughty empire. +In this renewed onslaught the Chinese have exhibited so much good +sense and moderation as to show that they have learned much from +foreign intercourse during the sixty-seven years that have intervened. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +<a name="page_303"><span class="page">Page 303</span></a> +Without making any appeal to the foreigner, they courageously resolved +to deal with the evil in its domestic aspects. Most of the mandarins +are infected by it; and the licensed culture of the poppy has made +the drug so cheap that even the poor are tempted to indulge. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The prohibitory edict asserts that of the adult population 30 or +40 per cent. are under the influence of the seductive poison. This, +by the way, gives an enormous total, far beyond any of the estimates +of foreign writers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Appalled by the signs of social decadence the more patriotic of +China's statesmen were not slow to perceive that all attempts at +reform in education, army, and laws must prove abortive if opium +were allowed to sap the vigour of the nation. "You can't carve a +piece of rotten wood," says Confucius. Every scheme for national +renovation must have for its basis a sound and energetic people. It +was this depraved taste that first made a market for the drug; if +that taste can be eradicated the trade and the vice must disappear +together, with or without the concurrence of Great Britain. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Great Britain was not, however, to be ignored. Besides her overshadowing +influence and her commercial interests vast and varied, is she not +mistress of India, whose poppy-fields formerly supplied China and +are still sending to the Chinese market fifty thousand chests per +annum? No longer an illegal traffic, this importation is regulated +by treaty. Concerted action might prevent complications and tend +to insure success. The new British Government was approached on the +<a name="page_304"><span class="page">Page 304</span></a> +subject. Fortunately, the Liberals being in power, it was not bound +by old traditions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A general resolution passed the House of Commons without a dissentient +voice, expressing sympathy with China and a willingness to adopt +similar measures in India. "When asked in the House what steps had +been taken to carry out the resolution for the abolition of the +opium traffic between India and China, Mr. Morley replied, that +he understood that China was contemplating the issue of regulations +restricting the importation, cultivation, and consumption of opium. He +had received no communication from China; but as soon as proposals were +submitted he was prepared to consider them in a sympathetic spirit. +H. B. M.'s minister in Peking had been instructed to communicate +with the Chinese Government to that effect." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The telegram containing these words is dated London, October 30. +The imperial edict, which initiated what many call "the new crusade," +was issued barely forty days before that date (viz., on September +20). Let it also be noted that near the end of August a memorial +of the Anti-Opium League, suggesting action on the part of the +Government, was sent up through the Nanking viceroy. It was signed +by 1,200 missionaries of different nations and churches. Is it +not probable that their representations, backed by the viceroy, +moved the hand that sways the sceptre? +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The decree runs as follows: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China +has been flooded with the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted +their time, neglected their employment, ruined their constitutions, +and impoverished their households. Thus for several decades China +has presented a +<a name="page_305"><span class="page">Page 305</span></a> +spectacle of increasing poverty and weakness. It rouses our indignation +to speak of the matter. The Court is now determined to make China +powerful; and it is our duty to urge our people to reformation +in this respect. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We decree, therefore, that within a limit of ten years this harmful +muck be fully and entirely wiped away. We further command the Council +of State to consider means for the strict prohibition both of +opium-smoking and of poppy-growing." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Among the regulations drawn up by the Council of State are these: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That all smokers of opium be required to report themselves and to +take out licenses. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Smokers holding office are divided into two classes. Those of the +junior class are to cleanse themselves in six months. For the seniors +no limit of time is fixed. Both classes while under medical treatment +are to pay for approved deputies, by whom their duties shall be +discharged. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All opium dens are to be closed after six months. These are places +where smokers dream away the night in company with the idle and +the vicious. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No opium lamps or pipes are to be made or sold after six months. +Shops for the sale of the drug are not to be closed until the tenth +year. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Government provides medicines for the cure of the habit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The formation of anti-opium societies is encouraged; but the members +are cautioned not to discuss political questions. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="indent"> +The question no doubt arises in the mind of the reader, Will China +succeed in freeing herself from bondage to this hateful vice? It +is easy for an autocrat to issue a decree, but not easy to secure +obedience. It +<a name="page_306"><span class="page">Page 306</span></a> +is encouraging to know that this decisive action is favoured by +all the viceroys—Yuan, the youngest and most powerful, has +already taken steps to put the new law in force in the metropolitan +province. A flutter of excitement has also shown itself in the ranks +of Indian traders—Parsees, Jews, and Mohammedans—who +have presented a claim for damages to their respectable traffic. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the whole we are inclined to believe in the good faith of the +Chinese Government in adopting this measure, and to augur well +for its success. Next after the change of basis in education, this +brave effort to suppress a national vice ranks as the most brilliant +in a long series of reformatory movements. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +W. A. P. M. +</p> + +<p> +PEKING, January, 1907. +</p> + +<p class="title"> +<a name="page_307"><span class="page">Page 307</span></a> +INDEX +</p> + +<h2> +<a name="page_309"><span class="page">Page 309</span></a> +INDEX +</h2> + +<p class="index"> +Adams, John Quincy, on the Opium War, <a href="#page_153">153</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Albazin, Cossack garrison captured at, <a href="#page_57">57</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Alphabet, a new, invented by Wang Chao, <a href="#page_217">217</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Amherst, Lord, declines to kneel to Emperor, <a href="#page_168">168</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Amoy, seaport in Fukien province, <a href="#page_14">14</a> + <br />its grass cloth and peculiar sort of black tea, + <a href="#page_15">15</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Anhwei, province of, home of Li Hung Chang, <a href="#page_49">49</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Anti-foot-binding Society, supported by Dowager Empress in an edict, +<a href="#page_217">217</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Anti-foreign Agitation, <a href="#page_244">244-266</a> + <br />American influence in the Far East and, + <a href="#page_245">245</a>-<a href="#page_251">251</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +"Appeal from the Lion's Den," <a href="#page_176">176</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Army, the Chinese, <a href="#page_200">200-202</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Arrow</i> War, the, <a href="#page_162">162-169</a> + <br />allied troops at Peking, <a href="#page_168">168</a> + <br />Canton occupied by British troops, <a href="#page_164">164</a> + <br />China abandons her long seclusion, <a href="#page_169">169</a> + <br />crew of the <i>Arrow</i> executed without trial, + <a href="#page_163">163</a> + <br />negotiations of the four powers with China, + <a href="#page_165">165</a> + <br />seizure of the lorcha <i>Arrow</i>, <a href="#page_162">162</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Bamboo tablets, writings of Confucius engraved on, +<a href="#page_106">106</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Battle of the Sea of Japan, <a href="#page_191">191-192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Bell-tower, boy's soul supposed to be hovering in, <a href="#page_21">21</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Black-haired race, Chinese style themselves the, <a href="#page_151">151</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Bowring, Sir John, Governor of Hong Kong, and the <i>Arrow</i> case, + <br /><a href="#page_162">162-163</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Boxer War, the, <a href="#page_172">172-180</a> + <br />a Boxer manifesto, <a href="#page_175">175</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Boycott, the, <a href="#page_247">247</a>, <a href="#page_252">252</a>, +<a href="#page_253">253</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Bridges, <a href="#page_16">16</a>, <a href="#page_41">41</a>, +<a href="#page_42">42</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Bridgman, Dr., pioneer missionary to China, <a href="#page_282">282</a> + <br />founds the Chinese Repository, <a href="#page_282">282</a> + Buddhism, introduction of, into China, <a href="#page_95">95</a> + <br />"Apotheosis of Mercy," a legend of Northern Buddhism, + <a href="#page_108">108</a> + <br />number of Buddhist monasteries, <a href="#page_108">108</a> + <br />rooted in the minds of the illiterate, <a href="#page_108">108</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Burden, Bishop, of the English Church Mission. Hang-chow, +<a href="#page_23">23</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Burlingame, Hon. Anson, U. S. Minister to China, <a href="#page_212">212</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Cambalu, Mongol name for Peking, <a href="#page_59">59</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_310"><span class="page">Page 310</span></a> +Camöens, tomb of, at Macao, <a href="#page_9">9</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Canton, the most populous city of the Empire, <a href="#page_9">9-12</a> + <br />American trade suffers most in Canton from boycott of + 1905, <a href="#page_13">13</a> + <br />averts bombardment by payment of $6,000,000 ransom, + <a href="#page_154">154</a> + <br />Christian college, <a href="#page_10">10</a> + <br />cock-fighting the popular amusement, <a href="#page_10">10</a> + <br />crowds of beggars, <a href="#page_12">12</a> + <br />excellence of tea and silk produced in the vicinity, + <a href="#page_13">13</a> + <br />"flower-boats," <a href="#page_9">9</a> + <br />historical enigma contests, <a href="#page_11">11</a> + <br />narrowness of streets, <a href="#page_12">12</a> + <br />passion for gambling, <a href="#page_11">11</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Canton (Kwangtung), province of, <a href="#page_7">7-13</a> + <br />Viceroy of, has also Kwangsi under his jurisdiction, + <a href="#page_13">13</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Caravan Song, <a href="#page_61">61</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chang Chien, legend of, <a href="#page_63">63</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chang-fi, rescues son of Liu Pi from burning palace, +<a href="#page_114">114</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chang Tien-shi, arch-magician of Taoism, <a href="#page_109">109</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chang Chi-tung, Viceroy of Hukwang, his life and public career, +<a href="#page_219">219-241</a> + <br />first to start the Emperor on the path of reform + <a href="#page_213">213</a> + <br />case of Chunghau, <a href="#page_223">223-224</a> + <br />his commercial developments at Wuchang, <a href="#page_231">231</a> + <br />official interviews with, <a href="#page_238">238-241</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chang Yee, an able diplomatist of the Chou period, <a href="#page_99">99</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chao, Prince of, is offered fifteen cities for a Kohinoor belonging to + him, <a href="#page_98">98</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chau-siang subjugates Tung-chou-Kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, +<a href="#page_99">99</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chefoo (Chifu), port in Shantung province, <a href="#page_32">32</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chéhkiang, province of, smallest of the eighteen provinces, +<a href="#page_17">17-24</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Cheng-wang, "the completer," a ruler of the Chou dynasty, +<a href="#page_86">86-87</a> + <br />his successors, <a href="#page_87">87-88</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chentung, Liang, Sir, interview with Dr. Martin with reference to the + <br />Exclusion Laws and the boycott, <a href="#page_252">252</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chin, one of the Nan-peh Chao, <a href="#page_117">117</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +China, probable derivation of name, <a href="#page_101">101</a> + <br />agency of missionaries in diffusing secular knowledge in, + <a href="#page_281">281-291</a> + <br />American exclusion laws, <a href="#page_253">253</a> + <br />anti-opium edict, <a href="#page_304">304-305</a> + <br />boycott, <a href="#page_247">247</a>, <a href="#page_252">252</a>, + <a href="#page_253">253</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a> + <br />condition after five wars, <a href="#page_181">181</a> + <br />displays of barbarity during the Boxer War, + <a href="#page_180">180</a> + <br />effect of her defeat by Japan, <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />effects of Russo-Japanese War, <a href="#page_193">193</a> + <br />eighteen provinces, <a href="#page_6">6</a> +<a name="page_311"><span class="page">Page 311</span></a> + <br />five grand divisions, <a href="#page_3">3</a> + <br />Grand Canal, <a href="#page_31">31</a> + <br />Great Wall, <a href="#page_4">4</a>, <a href="#page_31">31</a>, + <a href="#page_32">32</a>, <a href="#page_101">101</a> + <br />interference in Tongking, <a href="#page_62">62</a> + <br />interference in Korea, <a href="#page_62">62</a> + <br />physiographical features, <a href="#page_4">4</a> + <br />reforms in, <a href="#page_196">196-218</a> + <br />rivers, <a href="#page_19">19</a>, <a href="#page_15">15</a>, + <a href="#page_18">18</a>, <a href="#page_25">25</a>, + <a href="#page_41">41</a>, <a href="#page_52">52</a> + <br />sincerity of reformatory movements, <a href="#page_306">306</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, <a href="#page_200">200</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chingtu-fu, capital of the state of Shuh, <a href="#page_113">113</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chinhai, city at the mouth of the Ningpo, <a href="#page_18">18</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chosin, Prince of, <a href="#page_196">196</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chou dynasty, founded by Wen-wang, <a href="#page_84">84</a> + <br />annals of, <a href="#page_84">84-88</a>, + <a href="#page_96">96</a>, <a href="#page_99">99</a> + <br />form of government praised by Confucius, <a href="#page_96">96</a> + <br />term <i>Chung Kwoh</i>, "Middle Kingdom," originates in, + <a href="#page_85">85</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chou-sin, brings ruin on the house of Shang, sets fire to his own palace, + <br />and perishes in the flames, <a href="#page_81">81</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Christians, attitude of Chinese Government towards, +<a href="#page_261">261</a> + <br />newspapers and the Christian faith, <a href="#page_263">263</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chu Fu-tse, the philosopher, <a href="#page_128">128</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chu Hi, the Coryphæus of Mediæval China, +<a href="#page_128">128</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chu-koh Liang, a peasant who became minister to Liu Pi, +<a href="#page_114">114-115</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Chuang Yuen</i>, Chinese term for senior wrangler; his importance + <br />and privileges <a href="#page_123">123</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chungchen, last of the Mings, hangs himself after stabbing his daughter, + <br /><a href="#page_139">139</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chunghau and the restoration of Ili, <a href="#page_223">223</a> + <br />accused by Chang Chi-tung, <a href="#page_224">224</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chunking, city on the Yangtse, <a href="#page_51">51</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chusan, Archipelago and Island, <a href="#page_17">17</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chu Yuen Chang, Father of the Mings, <a href="#page_135">135</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Chwan-siang, exterminates the house of Chou, <a href="#page_99">99</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Confucius, birth and parentage of <a href="#page_89">89</a>, +<a href="#page_90">90</a> + <br />account of his education, <a href="#page_90">90</a> + <br />describes himself as "editor, not author," <a href="#page_91">91</a> + <br />edits the Five Classics, <a href="#page_92">92</a> + <br />Golden Rule the essence of his teaching, <a href="#page_92">92</a> + <br />number of his disciples, <a href="#page_90">90</a> + <br />passion for music, <a href="#page_91">91</a> + <br />search for lost books by Liu-Pang, <a href="#page_106">106</a> + <br />tomb of, <a href="#page_30">30-31</a> + <br />worshipped by his people, <a href="#page_92">92-93</a> + <br />writings burned and disciples persecuted by Shi-hwang-ti, + <a href="#page_102">102-103</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Control of Chinese over foreigners throughout Empire, +<a href="#page_258">258</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Corvée</i>, myriads of labourers drafted by, for construction of + the Grand Canal, <a href="#page_32">32</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_312"><span class="page">Page 312</span></a> +Corvino, missionary, <a href="#page_133">133</a> + <br />his church at Peking perishes in the overthrow of the Mongols, + <a href="#page_137">137</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Cotton produced in all the provinces, <a href="#page_3">3</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Cue, abolition of, requisite to confirm loyalty to Manchus, +<a href="#page_278">278</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Degrees, literary, <a href="#page_122">122</a>-<a href="#page_123">123</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Diaz and da Gama, voyage to India, <a href="#page_136">136</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Diplomacy, becomes an art under the Chou dynasty, <a href="#page_97">97</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Diplomatic College, <a href="#page_209">209</a> + <br />Dr. Martin president of, <a href="#page_209">209</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +"Drinking Alone by Moonlight," poem by Lipai, <a href="#page_120">120</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Eclectic Commission, the, <a href="#page_197">197-198</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Educational reforms, <a href="#page_210">210</a> + <br />the Imperial University, <a href="#page_210">210</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Elgin, Lord, and the Tai-pings, <a href="#page_161">161</a>, +<a href="#page_166">166</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Elliott, Captain Charles, and the Opium War, <a href="#page_154">154</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Empress Dowager, and the Boxer War, <a href="#page_172">172-174</a>, +<a href="#page_179">179-180</a> + <br />celebrates her seventieth birthday with great pomp, + <a href="#page_274">274</a> + <br />convert to the policy of progress, <a href="#page_197">197</a> + <br /><i>coup d'état</i>, <a href="#page_272">272</a> + <br />full name, <a href="#page_276">276</a> + <br />parentage, <a href="#page_271">271</a> + <br />personal description of, <a href="#page_275">275</a> + <br />reactionary clique and, <a href="#page_174">174</a> + <br />type of the Manchu woman, <a href="#page_276">276</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +England takes lease of Wei-hai-wei, <a href="#page_174">174</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Eunuchism, <a href="#page_112">112</a>, <a href="#page_297">297</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Examinations, system of civil service, instituted by the Hans, +<a href="#page_109">109</a> + <br />continued for twelve centuries, <a href="#page_121">121</a> + <br />details of, <a href="#page_122">122-124</a> + <br />developed under the T'angs, <a href="#page_121">121</a> + <br />reforms in, <a href="#page_213">213</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Exclusion laws, the, Chinese resentment of, <a href="#page_253">253</a> + <br />most feasible way to deal with, <a href="#page_255">255</a> + <br />President Roosevelt on, <a href="#page_251">251</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Factories, the, at Canton, <a href="#page_150">150</a>, +<a href="#page_152">152</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Favier, Bishop, defends his people in the French Cathedral, Peking, +<a href="#page_176">176</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Fishing, queer methods of, <a href="#page_19">19</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Five dynasties, the, factions contending for the succession on the fall + of the house of T'ang, <a href="#page_126">126</a> + <br />the later Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, and Chou are united after + fifty-three years in the Sung dynasty, <a href="#page_126">126-127</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Foochow (Fuchau), on the River Min, <a href="#page_15">15</a> + <br />fine wall and "bridge of ten thousand years," <a href="#page_16">16</a> + <br />Kushan, its sacred mountain, <a href="#page_15">15</a> + <br />Manchu colony, <a href="#page_16">16</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_313"><span class="page">Page 313</span></a> +Formosa, Island of, colonised by people of Fukien, <a href="#page_14">14</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +France takes lease of Kwang-chou-wan, <a href="#page_174">174</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +France, war with, <a href="#page_169">169</a> + <br />allowed to retain Tong-king, <a href="#page_170">170</a> + <br />French seize Formosa, <a href="#page_170">170</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Fraser, Consul, and Viceroy Chang in the Boxer War, +<a href="#page_227">227</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Fuchau (Foochow), province of Fukien, <a href="#page_15">15</a> + <br />large and prosperous missions in, <a href="#page_16">16</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Fuhi, mythical ruler, teaches his people to rear domestic animals, +<a href="#page_72">72</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Fukien (Fuhkien), province of, <a href="#page_14">14-16</a> + <br />derivation of name, <a href="#page_15">15</a> + <br />dialect, <a href="#page_14">14</a> + <br />inhabitants bold navigators, <a href="#page_14">14</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Fungshui, a false science, <a href="#page_202">202</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Fungtao, inventor of printing, <a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Gabet and Huc, French missionaries, reach Lhasa in Tibet, +<a href="#page_63">63</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Gama, da, voyage to India, <a href="#page_136">136</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Gaselee, General, and his contingent relieve the British Legation, + Peking, <a href="#page_177">177</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Genghis Khan, splendour of his court eclipsed by that of his grandson, + Kublai Khan, <a href="#page_131">131</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Gods, the numerous, of the Chinese, <a href="#page_82">82</a> + <br />worship of many of them referred to the Shang dynasty, + <a href="#page_82">82</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Gordon, General, victorious over the Tai-pings, <a href="#page_161">161</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Grand Canal, journey down from Tsi-ning, <a href="#page_31">31</a> + <br />as useful to-day as six hundred years ago, <a href="#page_31">31</a> + <br />constructed by Kublai Khan, <a href="#page_31">31-32</a> + <br />its object, <a href="#page_32">32</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Grand Lama, the Buddhist pope, <a href="#page_62">62</a>, +<a href="#page_109">109</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Great Wall, the, origin of, <a href="#page_4">4</a> + <br />an effete relic, <a href="#page_31">31</a> + <br />built by Ts'in, <a href="#page_101">101</a> + <br />its construction overthrows house of its builder, + <a href="#page_32">32</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Gunpowder, early known to the Chinese, but not used with cannon, +<a href="#page_115">115</a> + <br />spoken of by Arabs as "Chinese snow," <a href="#page_115">115</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Han dynasty, founded by Liu-pang, <a href="#page_105">105</a> + <br />annals, <a href="#page_105">105-111</a> + <br />civil service examinations inaugurated, <a href="#page_109">109</a> + <br />marked advance in belles-lettres, <a href="#page_109">109</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hangchow, capital of Chéh-kiang province, its streets first trodden + by white men in 1855, <a href="#page_22">22</a> + <br />its "bore", <a href="#page_24">24</a> + <br />its magnificent West Lake, <a href="#page_22">22</a> + <br />"The Japanese are coming," <a href="#page_23">23</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hanlin Academy, contest before the Emperor for seats in, +<a href="#page_123">123</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_314"><span class="page">Page 314</span></a> +Han Yu, eminent writer of the eighth century, ridicules the relics of + Buddha, <a href="#page_107">107</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hart, Sir Robert, his opportune services in the war with France, +<a href="#page_170">170</a> + <br />development of the maritime customs, <a href="#page_206">206-208</a> + <br />father of the postal system, <a href="#page_206">206</a> + <br />many honours of, <a href="#page_207">207</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hayes, Dr., president of first provincial university in China, +<a href="#page_286">286</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Helungkiang, province of Manchuria, <a href="#page_56">56</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hia dynasty, founded by Ta-Yü, <a href="#page_78">78</a> + <br />together with the Shang and Chou dynasties, known as the San Tai + or San Wang, <a href="#page_78">78</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hien-feng, Emperor, escapes to Tartary and dies there, +<a href="#page_168">168</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Himalayas, a bulwark to China, <a href="#page_4">4</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Hiao Lien</i>, literary degree, now <i>Chu-jin</i>, equivalent to + A. M., <a href="#page_122">122</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hiunghu, supposed ancestors of the Huns, <a href="#page_111">111</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Honan province of, <a href="#page_41">41</a>-<a href="#page_44">44</a> + <br />agricultural resources, <a href="#page_42">42</a> + <br />bridge over the Hwang Ho,<a href="#page_41">41</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hong Kong, "the Gibraltar of the Orient," ceded to Great Britain, +<a href="#page_7">7</a> + <br />British make it chief emporium of Eastern seas, + <a href="#page_8">8</a> + <br />rapid development of, <a href="#page_8">8</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Huc and Gabet, French missionaries, make their way to Lhasa, +<a href="#page_63">63</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hung Siu-tsuen, leader of the Tai-pings, <a href="#page_157">157</a> + <br />his aid Yang, <a href="#page_158">158</a> + <br />invites his first instructor, Rev. Issachar Roberts, to visit his + court, <a href="#page_160">160</a> + <br />new method of baptism <a href="#page_160">160</a> + <br />raises the flag of rebellion in Kwangsi, <a href="#page_157">157</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Huns, supposed ancestors were the Hiunghu, <a href="#page_111">111</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hupeh, province of, <a href="#page_45">45</a>-<a href="#page_49">49</a> + <br />Hankow, Hupeh province, a Shanghai on a smaller scale, + <a href="#page_45">45</a> + <br />Hanyang, Hupeh province, a busy industrial centre, + <a href="#page_46">46</a> + <br />Wuchang, capital of Hupeh, <a href="#page_45">45</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hwai, Prince, regent during minority of Shunchi, <a href="#page_141">141</a> + <br />called Amawang by the Manchus, <a href="#page_141">141</a> + <br />effects the subjugation of the eighteen provinces, and imposes the + tonsure and "pigtail," <a href="#page_141">141</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hwan, Duke, of western Shan-tung, convokes the States-General nine + times, <a href="#page_96">96</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Hwang-ti</i>, term for "Emperor," first used by the builder of the + Great Wall, <a href="#page_78">78</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Hwei-ti, a ruler of the Han dynasty, <a href="#page_106">106</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Ichang, city on the Yang-tse, <a href="#page_15">15</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_315"><span class="page">Page 315</span></a> +Ili, Chunghau and the restoration of, <a href="#page_223">223-224</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ito, Marquis, <a href="#page_196">196</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +I-yin, a wise minister who had charge of the young ruler T'ai-kia, +<a href="#page_80">80-81</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Japan, war with, provoked by China's interference in Korea, +<a href="#page_170">170</a> + <br />Japanese expel Chinese from Korea, and take part of Manchuria, + <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />Japan left in possession of Port Arthur and Liao-tung, + <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />Russia is envious and compels her to withdraw, + <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />having defeated Russia unreservedly restores Manchuria to China, + <a href="#page_195">195</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Jews, of K'ai-fung-fu, <a href="#page_43">43</a> + <br />ancestors of, reach China by way of India, <a href="#page_43">43</a> + <br />Shanghai, help their K'ai-fung-fu brethren, <a href="#page_44">44</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Jin-hwang, Tién-hwang, and Ti-hwang, three mythical rulers, +<a href="#page_71">71</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +K'ai-fung-fu, formerly the capital under Chou and Sung dynasties, +<a href="#page_42">42</a> + <br />visit to the Jews of, <a href="#page_43">43</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kairin, province of Manchuria, <a href="#page_56">56</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kalgan, Mongolia, a caravan terminal, <a href="#page_58">58</a>, +<a href="#page_61">61</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kanghi, the greatest monarch in the history of the Empire, +<a href="#page_142">142</a> + <br />alienated by the pope, <a href="#page_144">144</a> + <br />patron of missionaries, <a href="#page_142">142</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kanghi, progress of Christianity during his reign, +<a href="#page_143">143</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kang Yuwei, urges reform on the Emperor, <a href="#page_213">213</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kansuh, province of, comparatively barren, and climate unfavourable to +agriculture, <a href="#page_55">55</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kao-tsung, son of Tai-tsung, raises Wu, one of his father's concubines, +to the rank of empress, <a href="#page_121">121</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ketteler, Baron von, killed during siege in Peking, +<a href="#page_176">176</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kiachta, a double town in Manchuria, <a href="#page_58">58</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kiak'ing, succeeds on the abdication of his father, Kienlung, +<a href="#page_144">144</a> + <br />a weak and dissolute monarch, <a href="#page_145">145</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kiangsu province, <a href="#page_25">25</a>-<a href="#page_29">29</a> + <br />derivation of name, <a href="#page_25">25</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kiao-Chao (Kiau-Chau), port occupied by Germans, +<a href="#page_30">30</a>, <a href="#page_165">165</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kiayi, an exiled statesman, dates a poem from Changsha, +<a href="#page_110">110</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kié, last king of the Hia dynasty, his excesses, +<a href="#page_80">80</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kien Lung, emperor poet, lines inscribed by him on rock at Patachu, +<a href="#page_35">35</a> + <br />abdicates, after a reign of sixty years, for the reason that he did + not wish to reign longer than his grandfather, <a href="#page_144">144</a> + <br />adds Turkestan to the empire, <a href="#page_144">144</a> + <br />dynasty reaches the acme of splendour in his reign, + <a href="#page_144">144</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_316"><span class="page">Page 316</span></a> +Kin Tartars, obtain possession of Peking, and push their way to + K'ai-fung-fu, the Emperor retiring to Nanking, <a href="#page_129">129</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kin Tartars, the, <a href="#page_140">140</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kingdoms, the three, Wei, Wu, and Shuh, <a href="#page_112">112-113</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +King Sheng Tau, annotator of popular historical novel, +<a href="#page_113">113</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kinsha, "River of Golden Sands," <a href="#page_52">52</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Komura, Baron, and Portsmouth treaty, <a href="#page_193">193</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Korea, the bone of contention between Japan and Russia, +<a href="#page_182">182</a>, <a href="#page_183">183</a>, +<a href="#page_186">186</a>, <a href="#page_192">192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kuanyin Pusa, a legend of, "The Apotheosis of Mercy," +<a href="#page_108">108</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kublai Khan, absorbs China, <a href="#page_131">131</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kung, Prince, and the Empress Dowager, <a href="#page_273">273</a> + <br />disgraced and confined in his palace, <a href="#page_273">273</a> + <br />personal characteristics, <a href="#page_277">277</a> + <br />restored to favour but not to joint regency, + <a href="#page_273">273</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kuropatkin, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, +<a href="#page_185">185-192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kwangsi, province of, subordinate to Canton, <a href="#page_13">13</a> + <br />in an almost chronic state of rebellion, <a href="#page_13">13</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kwangsu, Emperor, and the Empress Dowager, <a href="#page_172">172</a>, +<a href="#page_173">173</a> + <br />his desire for reforms, <a href="#page_197">197</a> + <br />imprisoned in a secluded palace, <a href="#page_173">173</a>, + <a href="#page_174">174</a> + <br />influenced by Kang Yuwei <a href="#page_173">173</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kwangtung (Canton), province of, <a href="#page_7">7-13</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kweichau, province of, the poorest province of China, +<a href="#page_52">52</a> + <br />one-half its population aborigines, <a href="#page_52">52</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Kweilang, secretary to the Empress, <a href="#page_272">272</a> + <br />prompts Prince Kung to strike for his life, + <a href="#page_273">273</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Lao-Tse, founder of Taoism, his life and influence, <a href="#page_94">94</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lhasa, treaty of, <a href="#page_62">62</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Li and Yu, two bad kings of the house of Chou, <a href="#page_88">88</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Liang, one of the Nan-peh Chao, <a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Liang Ting Fen, letter to Dr. Martin requesting his good offices with + <br />President Roosevelt, <a href="#page_252">252-253</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Liaoyang, battle of, <a href="#page_187">187</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lienchow, attack on Americans at, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, +<a href="#page_255">255</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lien P'o, a general of Chao, who threatens to kill the envoy Lin at + <br />sight, <a href="#page_98">98</a> + <br />makes friends with his adversary, <a href="#page_99">99</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Li Hung Chang, a native of Anhwei, <a href="#page_49">49</a> + <br />preëminent in the work of reform, <a href="#page_212">212</a> + <br />sent to Japan to sue for peace he is shot by an assassin, + <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />wins earldom through Gordon's victory, <a href="#page_161">161</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_317"><span class="page">Page 317</span></a> +Li Ling, a commander for whom Sze-ma Ts'ien stood sponsor, and who + surrendered to the enemy, <a href="#page_110">110</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lin, Commissioner, and the opium traffic, <a href="#page_152">152</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lin Sian Ju, a brave envoy, <a href="#page_98">98</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lineivitch, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, +<a href="#page_190">190-192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lipai, the Pope of Chinese literature, <a href="#page_119">119</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Li-Sze, chancellor of Shi-hwang-ti, denounces the works of Confucius to + that ruler, and causes them to be burned, <a href="#page_102">102</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Little, Mrs. Archibald, and the Anti-foot-binding Society, +<a href="#page_217">217</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Liu-pang founds the Han dynasty, <a href="#page_105">105</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Liu Pi founds the state of Shuh, <a href="#page_113">113</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Li Yuen, assassinates Yang-ti and sets up the T'ang dynasty, +<a href="#page_118">118</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lo Kwan-chung, author of a popular historical novel, +<a href="#page_113">113</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lo-yang, capital of the state of Wei, <a href="#page_112">112</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Lu, Empress, holds the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years, +<a href="#page_106">106</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Macao, Portuguese town of, <a href="#page_8">8</a> + <br />burial place of Camöens and Robert Morrison, + <a href="#page_8">8</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +McCartee, Dr., annual issued by, <a href="#page_287">287</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Manchuria, <a href="#page_3">3</a> + <br />consists of three regions or provinces under one governor-general, + <a href="#page_56">56</a> + <br />home of the Manchus, <a href="#page_56">56</a> + <br />ignorance of Manchus in their original habitat, + <a href="#page_57">57</a> + <br />Japan takes possession of parts of, <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />population and products, <a href="#page_57">57</a> + <br />restored by Japan to China, <a href="#page_195">195</a> + <br />Russia occupies the very positions from which she compelled Japan to + <br /> withdraw, <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />sacred city of Mukden, <a href="#page_56">56</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Manchus, the, ignorance of those remaining in Manchuria, +<a href="#page_57">57</a> + <br />give to China a better government than any of her native dynasties, + <a href="#page_142">142</a> + <br />the Normans of China, <a href="#page_267">267-280</a> + <br />they settle at Mukden and await an opportunity to descend on + China, <a href="#page_140">140</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Marco Polo. See Polo +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Maritime customs, the, <a href="#page_206">206-208</a> + <br />Sir Robert Hart's long and valuable services, + <a href="#page_206">206-209</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Martin, Dr. W. A. P., head of the Tung-wen College, +<a href="#page_209">209</a> + <br />in siege at Peking, <a href="#page_176">176</a>, + <a href="#page_177">177</a> + <br />president of the Imperial University, <a href="#page_210">210</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mateer, Dr. C. W., founds Teng-chow College, <a href="#page_285">285</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_318"><span class="page">Page 318</span></a> +Meadows, Consul T. T., reports in favour of the Tai-pings, +<a href="#page_159">159</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Medhurst, Dr., his description of the Chinese Classical language, +<a href="#page_290">290</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mencius, more eloquent but less original than Confucius, +<a href="#page_93">93</a> + <br />his tribute to Confucius, <a href="#page_94">94</a> + <br />owed much to his mother's training, <a href="#page_93">93</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Merchant marine, the, <a href="#page_200">200</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mings, last of, stabs daughter and hangs himself, <a href="#page_139">139</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ming-ti, sends embassy to India to import Buddhist books and bonzes, +<a href="#page_107">107</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mining enterprises, <a href="#page_202">202</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Min River, <a href="#page_15">15</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Missions, development of, <a href="#page_264">264</a> + <br />Minister Rockhill's address upon, <a href="#page_266">266</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Missionaries, attacks on, <a href="#page_40">40</a>, +<a href="#page_180">180</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, +<a href="#page_260">260</a>, <a href="#page_261">261</a>, +<a href="#page_262">262</a> + <br />agency of, in the diffusion of secular knowledge, + <a href="#page_263">263-291</a> + <br />apostles of science, <a href="#page_263">263</a> + <br />creators of Chinese journalism <a href="#page_290">290</a> + <br />medical work, <a href="#page_284">284</a> + <br />lead a vernacular revolution, <a href="#page_290">290</a> + <br />preparation of text-books, <a href="#page_287">287</a> + <br />presidents of government colleges, <a href="#page_289">289</a> + <br />teaching and preaching, <a href="#page_263">263</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, <a href="#page_57">57</a>, +<a href="#page_61">61</a> + <br />contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis, + <a href="#page_50">50</a> + <br />inhabitants nomadic, <a href="#page_58">58</a> + <br />has only three towns, <a href="#page_58">58</a> + <br />Russians "came lean and went away fat," <a href="#page_58">58</a> + <br />Russians granted privilege of establishing an ecclesiastical + mission, <a href="#page_57">57</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mongols, liable to military service, but prohibited from doing garrison + duty in China, <a href="#page_59">59</a> + <br />dress, <a href="#page_60">60</a> + <br />forty-eight Mongolian princes, <a href="#page_59">59</a> + <br />Mongol monks at Peking, <a href="#page_60">60</a> + <br />nomadic wanderings, <a href="#page_58">58</a> + <br />princes visit Cambalu (Peking), in winter, <a href="#page_59">59</a> + <br />their camel, <a href="#page_60">60</a> + <br />victorious over the Sungs, <a href="#page_130">130</a> + <br />Yuen or Mongol dynasty, <a href="#page_131">131-134</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Morrison, John R., son of Dr. Morrison the missionary, attempts to +establish a printing-press, <a href="#page_283">283</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Morrison, Robert, pioneer of Protestant missions to China, tomb of, at +Macao, <a href="#page_9">9</a>, <a href="#page_282">282</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Moule, Bishop, makes Hang-chow seat of his diocese, <a href="#page_23">23</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mukden, city of, sacred to every Manchu, <a href="#page_56">56</a> + <br />battle of, <a href="#page_189">189</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Mu-wang, a Chou ruler, who seeks relief from ennui in foreign travel, +<a href="#page_87">87</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_319"><span class="page">Page 319</span></a> +Nanking, chief city of Kiangsu province, <a href="#page_25">25</a>, +<a href="#page_26">26</a> + <br />called <i>Kiangning</i> by the Manchus, <a href="#page_26">26</a> + <br />pillaged by Tartars, <a href="#page_129">129</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Nanking, treaty of, <a href="#page_7">7</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Nan-peh Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms" four factions arising on + <br />the fall of the Tsin dynasty, <a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Napier, Lord, appointed superintendent of British trade in China, +<a href="#page_153">153</a> + <br />arrives at Macao and announces his appointment by letter to the + prefect of Canton, who "tosses it back," <a href="#page_153">153</a> + <br />dies of chagrin at Macao, <a href="#page_153">153</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Napoleon, Louis, and Annam, <a href="#page_165">165</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Navy, the Chinese, <a href="#page_199">199</a>-<a href="#page_200">200</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +"Nest-builder, The," <a href="#page_71">71</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Nevius, Rev. J. L., missionary at Hangchow, <a href="#page_23">23</a> + <br />at Chefoo, where he plants a church and a fruit garden, + <a href="#page_32">32</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Nevius, Mrs., at Chefoo, <a href="#page_32">32</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Newspapers, reforms in, <a href="#page_215">215</a> + <br />covertly criticise Government and its agents, + <a href="#page_215">215</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ningpo, province of Chéhkiang, <a href="#page_19">19</a> + <br />its handsome people and their literary and commercial prominence, + <a href="#page_20">20</a> + <br />residence of the author for ten years, <a href="#page_20">20</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ningpo River, <a href="#page_18">18</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Nogi, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, <a href="#page_188">188-192</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +O'Connor, Mr., British chargé d'affaires, <a href="#page_179">179</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Omesham Mountains, <a href="#page_51">51</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Opening of China, the, a drama in five acts, <a href="#page_149">149</a> + <br />result of collisions between Oriental conservatism and Occidental + progress, <a href="#page_149">149</a>, <a href="#page_150">150</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Opium, extent of trade in, <a href="#page_303">303</a> + <br />20,000 chests destroyed at request of Captain Charles Elliott, + <a href="#page_154">154</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Opium traffic, Commissioner Lin directed by Emperor Tao Kwang to abolish + it, <a href="#page_152">152</a> + <br />attitude of British Government, <a href="#page_304">304</a> + <br />decree ordering its total abolition, <a href="#page_304">304</a> + <br />regulations of Council of State, <a href="#page_305">305</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Opium War, the, its causes, precipitation, and effects, +<a href="#page_150">150-162</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Oyama, Field-marshal, in the Russo-Japanese War, +<a href="#page_187">187-192</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +P's, the three—pen, paper, and printing, invention of, +<a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Palmerston, Lord, invites cooperation of France, Russia and the United + States concerning the <i>Arrow</i> case, <a href="#page_164">164</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +P'an-keng, of the house of Shang, moves his capital five times, +<a href="#page_81">81</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +P'anku, the "ancient founder," <a href="#page_71">71</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_320"><span class="page">Page 320</span></a> +Paoting-fu, in Chihli province, scene of martyrdom of missionaries, +<a href="#page_40">40</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Parker, Dr. Peter, missionary at Canton, <a href="#page_284">284</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Parkes, Consul and the <i>Arrow</i> case, <a href="#page_162">162</a>, +<a href="#page_163">163</a>, <a href="#page_164">164</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Patachu, summer resort near Peking, <a href="#page_34">34-35</a> + <br />its eight Buddhist temples, <a href="#page_35">35</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Pearl River, <a href="#page_9">9</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Peking, northern capital of China, <a href="#page_34">34</a> + <br />approaches to new foreign quarter fortified, <a href="#page_37">37</a> + <br />Byron's lines on Lisbon applied to Peking, <a href="#page_39">39</a> + <br />climate and low death-rate, <a href="#page_38">38</a> + <br />Empress Dowager's summer residence, <a href="#page_34">34</a> + <br />"Forbidden City," <a href="#page_37">37</a> + <br />French Cathedral defended by Bishop Favier and marines, + <a href="#page_176">176</a> + <br />Legation Street, <a href="#page_36">36</a> + <br />Prospect or Palatine Hill, <a href="#page_38">38</a> + <br />siege of legations, <a href="#page_175">175</a> + <br />summer palaces, <a href="#page_34">34</a> + <br />Tai-ping expedition against, <a href="#page_159">159</a> + <br />Tartar and Chinese cities, <a href="#page_35">35</a> + <br />Temples of Agriculture, Heaven and Earth, <a href="#page_35">35</a>, + <a href="#page_36">36</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Peking Gazette, the, oldest journal in the world, <a href="#page_290">290</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Philosophers of the Sung period, Cheo, Cheng, Chang, and Chu, +<a href="#page_127">127-128</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Philosophers: + <br />Chu Hi, <a href="#page_128">128</a> + <br />Wang Ngan-shi, economist, <a href="#page_128">128</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Pirates, attacks of, on Mr. Russell and the author, <a href="#page_18">18</a> + <br />Rev. Walter Lowrie is drowned by, <a href="#page_18">18</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Police, reforms in, <a href="#page_218">218</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Polo, Marco, Mattei, and Nicolo, <a href="#page_132">132</a> + <br />sojourn in China, <a href="#page_132">132</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Port Arthur and Liao-tung, <a href="#page_171">171</a>, +<a href="#page_174">174</a>, <a href="#page_182">182</a>, +<a href="#page_184">184</a>, <a href="#page_186">186</a>, +<a href="#page_187">187</a>, <a href="#page_188">188</a>, +<a href="#page_190">190</a>, <a href="#page_191">191</a>, +<a href="#page_192">192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ports, five, opened to great Britain at close of the Opium War, +<a href="#page_155">155</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Portsmouth (N. H.), treaty of, <a href="#page_192">192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Portuguese, first ships of the, appear at Canton, <a href="#page_136">136</a> + <br />disapprove missions, <a href="#page_137">137</a> + <br />obtain a footing at Macao, <a href="#page_137">137</a> + <br />secretly oppose Dutch traders, <a href="#page_137">137</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Postal system, <a href="#page_206">206</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Pottinger, Sir Henry, moderate conditions imposed by, at close of Opium + War, <a href="#page_155">155</a>, <a href="#page_156">156</a> + <br />his action compared with that of Commodore Perry, + <a href="#page_156">156</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Psychology, Chinese, its recognition of three souls, <a href="#page_22">22</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Punishments, barbarous, abolished, <a href="#page_214">214</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Putu, the sacred island of, <a href="#page_18">18</a> + <br />its monasteries, <a href="#page_18">18</a> + <br />prevalence of piracy in adjacent waters, <a href="#page_18">18</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_321"><span class="page">Page 321</span></a> +Railways, King-Ran road completed to Hankow, <a href="#page_39">39</a> + <br />first grand trunk road, <a href="#page_39">39</a> + <br />good work of Belgian constructors, <a href="#page_39">39</a> + <br />influence of, on people and government, <a href="#page_40">40</a> + <br />questionable action of American company, <a href="#page_40">40</a> + <br />reforms in, <a href="#page_203">203</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Rankin, Rev. Henry, with the author, the first white man to enter +Hang-chow, <a href="#page_22">22</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Reading-rooms (not libraries, but places for reading) a new institution, +<a href="#page_216">216</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Red-haired, the, a vulgar designation for Europeans, +<a href="#page_151">151</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Reed, Hon, W. B., American Minister to China, and the <i>Arrow</i> +case, <a href="#page_165">165</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Reforms in China, <a href="#page_196">196</a>-<a href="#page_218">218</a> + <br />Anti-foot-binding Society, <a href="#page_217">217</a> + <br />army, <a href="#page_201">201</a> + <br />customs, <a href="#page_206">206</a> + <br />educational, <a href="#page_213">213</a> + <br />Hart, Sir Robert, and, <a href="#page_206">206</a> + <br />legal, <a href="#page_204">204</a> + <br />merchant marine, <a href="#page_200">200</a> + <br />mining enterprises, <a href="#page_202">202</a> + <br />newspapers, <a href="#page_215">215</a> + <br />post office, <a href="#page_205">205</a> + <br />railways, <a href="#page_203">203</a> + <br />streets, <a href="#page_218">218</a> + <br />telegraph, <a href="#page_214">214</a> + <br />Tung-wen College and The Imperial University, + <a href="#page_209">209-210</a> + <br />writing, <a href="#page_216">216</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Reforms, unmentioned, <a href="#page_292">292</a>, <a href="#page_301">301</a> + <br />a change of costume, <a href="#page_292">292</a> + <br />domestic slavery, <a href="#page_298">298</a> + <br />polygamy, <a href="#page_295">295</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Religions, the three, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, their + characteristic features, <a href="#page_107">107</a> + <br />each religion has a hierarchy, <a href="#page_109">109</a> + <br />"Hall of the Three Religions," <a href="#page_108">108</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ricci, after twenty years of effort, effects an entrance to Peking, +<a href="#page_138">138</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Rice, grown in all the provinces, <a href="#page_3">3</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Richard, Dr. and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, +<a href="#page_287">287</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Richthofen, explorer, <a href="#page_58">58</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +River traffic, junks drawn by hundreds of coolies, <a href="#page_50">50</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Rivers, the Yang-tse Kiang, <a href="#page_25">25</a> + <br />Hwang Ho, <a href="#page_41">41</a> + <br />Hingpo, <a href="#page_18">18</a> + <br />Pearl, <a href="#page_9">9</a> + <br />Kinsha, the "river of golden sands," <a href="#page_52">52</a> + <br />Min, <a href="#page_15">15</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Roberts, Rev. Issachar, and the leader of the Tai-pings, +<a href="#page_160">160</a> + <br />is invited to visit their court, <a href="#page_160">160</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Rockhill, Mr., the American Minister, and missionary institutions, +<a href="#page_266">266</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Roman Catholic missionaries, dissensions in the ranks of, +<a href="#page_143">143</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Roosevelt, President, his efforts to end Russo-Japanese War, +<a href="#page_193">193</a> +<a name="page_322"><span class="page">Page 322</span></a> + <br />awarded Nobel peace prize, <a href="#page_193">193</a> + <br />interview with Dr. Martin on the subject of the Exclusion Laws and the + boycott, <a href="#page_251">251</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Rozhesvenski, Admiral, and the relief squadron for Port Arthur, +<a href="#page_190">190-192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Russell, Mr., and the author captured by pirates, <a href="#page_18">18</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Russia, compels Japan to evacuate Manchuria and occupies the same districts + herself, <a href="#page_171">171</a> + <br />designs on Korea, <a href="#page_182">182</a> + <br />increases her forces in Manchuria during Boxer War, + <a href="#page_182">182</a> + <br />obtains lease of Port Arthur, <a href="#page_174">174</a> + <br />schemes for conquest, <a href="#page_182">182</a>, + <a href="#page_183">183</a> + <br />surprised by Japan's commencement of the war, + <a href="#page_184">184</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Russo-Japanese War, the, <a href="#page_181">181-195</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Sages of China, the, Confucius, <a href="#page_89">89-93</a> + <br />Lao-tse, <a href="#page_94">94</a> + <br />Mencius, <a href="#page_93">93</a>-<a href="#page_94">94</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Saghalien, Island of, Japan and Russia to divide possession of, +<a href="#page_192">192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Schaal, Father, is president of Astronomical Board, casts cannon, and +builds churches in Peking, <a href="#page_143">143</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Sea of Japan, Battle of, <a href="#page_191">191-192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Seng Ko Lin Sin (nicknamed "Sam Collinson" by British), Lama prince who +heads northern armies against Tai-ping rebels, <a href="#page_59">59</a>, +<a href="#page_159">159</a> + <br />defeated by British and French before Peking, <a href="#page_59">59</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shang dynasty, founded by Shang-tang, <a href="#page_80">80</a> + <br />annals of, <a href="#page_80">80</a>, <a href="#page_82">82</a> + <br />"made religion the basis of education," <a href="#page_82">82</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shanghai, one of the five treaty ports, <a href="#page_26">26</a> + <br />colleges and schools, newspapers and translation bureaux, + <a href="#page_28">28</a> + <br />foreign Concessions, opulent business houses, and luxurious + mansions, <a href="#page_27">27</a> + <br />leading commercial emporium, <a href="#page_26">26</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Shang-ti</i> and <i>Tien</i>, Roman Catholics and the terms, +<a href="#page_143">143</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shangyang, a statesman of the Chou dynasty, converts the tenure of land +into fee simple, <a href="#page_85">85</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shansi, province of, <a href="#page_54">54</a> + <br />prolific of bankers, <a href="#page_54">54</a> + <br />rich in agricultural and mineral resources, <a href="#page_54">54</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shantung, province of, <a href="#page_30">30-32</a> + <br />apples, pears, and peaches grown, <a href="#page_30">30</a> + <br />railway built by Germans from the sea to Tsinan-fu, + <a href="#page_30">30</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shanyu, a forerunner of the Grand Khan of Tartary, <a href="#page_111">111</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_323"><span class="page">Page 323</span></a> +Shaohing, city, in Chéhkiang province noted for its rice wine and +lawyers, <a href="#page_23">23</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Sheffield, Dr., president of Tung-chow College, <a href="#page_286">286</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shengking, province of Manchuria, <a href="#page_56">56</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shensi, province of, earliest home of the Chinese, <a href="#page_55">55</a> + <br />monument at Si-ngan commemorating the introduction of Christianity by + Nestorians, <a href="#page_55">55</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shi-hwang-ti, real founder of the Chinese Empire, <a href="#page_102">102</a> + <br />devout believer in Taoism, <a href="#page_104">104</a> + <br />sends a consignment of lads and lasses to Japan, + <a href="#page_103">103</a> + <br />though one of the heroes of history he is execrated for burning the + writings of Confucius, <a href="#page_102">102</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shin-nung, "divine husbandman," mythical ruler, worshipped as the Ceres +of China, <a href="#page_72">72</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Shu-king</i>, the, or "Book of History," one of the Five Classics edited +by Confucius, <a href="#page_76">76</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shun, successor of Yao, rejects his own son and leaves throne to Ta-yü, +<a href="#page_74">74</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shunteh-fu, American mission at, <a href="#page_40">40</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Shun-ti, last monarch of the Yuen dynasty, <a href="#page_133">133</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Si-ngan, city in Shensi, <a href="#page_55">55</a> + <br />capital of the Chous, <a href="#page_55">55</a> + <br />capital of the T'angs, <a href="#page_121">121</a> + <br />Empress Dowager takes refuge there, <a href="#page_42">42</a> + <br />monument commemorating the introduction of Christianity by + Nestonans, <a href="#page_121">121</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Sing Su Hai</i>, "Sea of Stars," cluster of lakes in Tibet, +<a href="#page_63">63</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Siun Kien founds the state of Wu, <a href="#page_112">112</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Siu-tsai</i>, literary degree equivalent to A. B., +<a href="#page_122">122</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Smith, Dr. Arthur, and thanksgiving service at raising of siege of British +Legation, Peking, <a href="#page_178">178</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, <a href="#page_266">266</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Solatium to encourage honesty in public officials, <a href="#page_208">208</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Spaniards, the, trade and relations with China, <a href="#page_137">137</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +St. John's College, Shanghai, <a href="#page_287">287</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Stoessel, General, and his defence of Port Arthur, <a href="#page_188">188</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +"Strange Stories of an Idle Student," a popular work in Chinese depicting +conditions prior to Opium War, <a href="#page_150">150-151</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Streets, improvement in construction and protection of, +<a href="#page_218">218</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Sü of Shanghai, baptised by the name of Paul by Ricci, +<a href="#page_138">138</a> + <br />his daughter Candida also baptised, <a href="#page_138">138</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Suchow, in Kiangsu, the Paris of the Far East, <a href="#page_25">25</a> + <br />musical dialect, of, <a href="#page_26">26</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Su Ts'in, the patient diplomat, whose reputation is ruined by his own +passions, <a href="#page_99">99</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_324"><span class="page">Page 324</span></a> +Sui dynasty, the, founded by Yan Kien, lasts less than thirty years, +<a href="#page_117">117</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Sundius, Mr., British consul at Wuhu, <a href="#page_227">227</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Sung, one of the Nan-peh Chao, <a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Sung dynasty, founded by Chao-kwang-yun, <a href="#page_127">127</a> + <br />annals, <a href="#page_127">127</a>-<a href="#page_128">128</a> + <br />encroachment of the Tartars, <a href="#page_127">127</a> + <br />rise of a great school of philosophy, <a href="#page_127">127-129</a> + <br />Southern Sungs, <a href="#page_127">127</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Superstitions of the Chinese, concerning wandering spirits, +<a href="#page_21">21</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Sven Hedin, explorer, <a href="#page_58">58</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Swatow, Canton province, American Baptists' Mission at, +<a href="#page_15">15</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Szechuen, province of, <a href="#page_50">50-51</a> + <br />fratricidal wars under Ming dynasty, <a href="#page_51">51</a> + <br />great variety of climate, <a href="#page_51">51</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Szema Ts'ien, the Herodotus of China, <a href="#page_110">110</a> + <br />barbarously treated by his people, <a href="#page_110">110</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +T'ai-kia, successor of Shang-tang, <a href="#page_80">80</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tai-ping Rebellion, the, a result of the Opium War, +<a href="#page_156">156</a> + <br />details of, <a href="#page_157">157</a>-<a href="#page_162">162</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tai-pings, the, try to establish a new empire, the <i>Tai-ping +Tien-kwoh</i>, <a href="#page_158">158</a> + <br />commonly called "Chang-mao," long-haired rebels, owing to their + rejection of the tonsure and cue, <a href="#page_161">161</a> + <br />defeated by Gordon, <a href="#page_161">161</a> + <br />descend into the plains of Hunan, pillage three cities, and capture + Nanking, massacring its garrison of 25,000 Manchus, + <a href="#page_158">158-159</a> + <br />go into winter quarters, and, dividing their forces, are cut off in + detail, <a href="#page_159">159</a> + <br />hold Nanking for ten years, <a href="#page_159">159</a> + <br />loose morals and travesty of sacred things horrify Christian world, + <a href="#page_161">161</a> + <br />missionaries attracted by their profession of Christianity, + <a href="#page_160">160</a> + <br />queer titles adopted by, <a href="#page_161">161</a> + <br />sympathy for their cause by Consul Meadows, <a href="#page_159">159</a> + <br />unsuccessfully attempt to drive the Manchus from Peking, + <a href="#page_159">159</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tai-tsung, second emperor of the T'ang dynasty, <a href="#page_120">120</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Taiyuan-fu, missionaries murdered at by the governor, +<a href="#page_180">180</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ta-Ki, a wicked woman by whom Chou-sin is said to have been led into his +evil courses, <a href="#page_81">81</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Ta Kiang</i>, "Great River," the Chinese name for the Yang-tse Kiang, +<a href="#page_28">28</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, <a href="#page_33">33</a> + <br />capture of forts by British and French, repulse of allied forces in + following year, <a href="#page_33">33</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_325"><span class="page">Page 325</span></a> +Tamerlane, Mongolian origin of, <a href="#page_61">61</a> + <br />born in Turkestan, <a href="#page_61">61</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, author of the cycle of sixty, +<a href="#page_77">77</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +T'ang dynasty, founded by Li Yuen, <a href="#page_118">118</a> + <br />an Augustan age, <a href="#page_119">119</a> + <br />annals, <a href="#page_119">119</a>-<a href="#page_125">125</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tang Shao-yi, a Chinese, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of +the entire customs service, <a href="#page_208">208</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tao Kwang, Emperor, resolves to put a stop to opium traffic, +<a href="#page_152">152</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tartars, encroach on the Flowery Land, <a href="#page_117">117</a> + <br />suspicious of other foreigners, <a href="#page_151">151</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tartary, Grand Khan of, <a href="#page_111">111</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tatnall, Commodore, his kind action at Taku, <a href="#page_167">167</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ta-ts'ing dynasty, the, its annals, <a href="#page_140">140-145</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ta-yü, or Yu the Great, early emperor, subdues the waters of a +deluge, <a href="#page_75">75</a> + <br />casts <a href="#page_9">9</a> brazen tripods, <a href="#page_79">79</a> + <br />departs from practice of his predecessors and leaves throne to his + son, <a href="#page_76">76</a> + <br />devotes nine years to the dredging and diking of rivers, + <a href="#page_75">75</a> + <br />his acts and reign, <a href="#page_78">78</a>-<a href="#page_79">79</a> + <br />monuments commemorating his labours, <a href="#page_75">75</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Telegraph and telephone, introduction of, <a href="#page_204">204-205</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Temples of Heaven, Earth and Agriculture, <a href="#page_36">36</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Teng-chow College, founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer, <a href="#page_285">285</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tenney, Dr., and the University of Tientsin, <a href="#page_213">213</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Text-books, prepared by missionaries—Edkins, Martin, Muirhead, +Williamson and Wylie, <a href="#page_287">287-288</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Theatre, the Chinese, <a href="#page_114">114</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Three Kingdoms, the, states of Wei, Wu and Shuh, <a href="#page_112">112</a> + <br />Lo Kwan-chung, author of a historical novel, + <a href="#page_113">113</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tibet, the land of the Grand Lama, <a href="#page_62">62</a> + <br />called by the Chinese "the roof of the world," + <a href="#page_63">63</a> + <br />Chinese influence in is nearly <i>nil</i>, <a href="#page_62">62</a> + <br />explored by Huc and Gabet, <a href="#page_63">63</a> + <br />mother of great rivers, <a href="#page_63">63</a> + <br />polyandry prevalent, <a href="#page_63">63</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tieliang, a Manchu, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of the +entire customs service, <a href="#page_208">208</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Tien</i> and <i>Shang-ti</i>, question among Catholics concerning the +terms, <a href="#page_143">143</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Tien Chu</i>, substitution of, for <i>Shang-ti</i> repulsive to pious +Chinese, <a href="#page_144">144</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Tien Ho</i>, "River of Heaven," Chinese term for the Milky Way, +<a href="#page_63">63</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tién-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang, three mythical rulers who +reigned eighteen thousand years each, <a href="#page_71">71</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_326"><span class="page">Page 326</span></a> +<i>Tiensheng</i>, Chinese name for province of Yünnan +<a href="#page_52">52</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tientsin, province of Chihli, rises anew from its half-ruined condition, +<a href="#page_33">33</a> + <br />ranks as third of treaty ports, <a href="#page_34">34</a> + <br />treaties of, <a href="#page_166">166</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ti-hwang, Jin-hwang, and Tién-hwang, three mythical rulers, +<a href="#page_71">71</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Togo, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, <a href="#page_184">184</a>, +<a href="#page_185">185</a>, <a href="#page_188">188</a>, +<a href="#page_191">191</a>, <a href="#page_192">192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tongking, French left in possession of, <a href="#page_170">170</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Translators, corps of, Dr. John Fryer's prominent connection with, +<a href="#page_288">288</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tsao Tsao founds the state of Wei, <a href="#page_112">112</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tsai Lun, inventor of paper <a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ts'ang-Kié, the Cadmus of China, author of its written characters, +<a href="#page_77">77</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ts'in dynasty, Yin Cheng brings the whole country under his sway and + <br /> assumes title of <i>Shi-Hwang-ti</i> "Emperor First," + <a href="#page_101">101</a> + <br />annals of, <a href="#page_101">101</a>-<a href="#page_104">104</a> + <br />builds Great Wall, <a href="#page_101">101</a> + <br />lasts for a century and a half, <a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ts'in, Prince of, offers fifteen cities for a kohinoor, +<a href="#page_98">98</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tsinan-fu, railway from the sea to, built by the Germans, +<a href="#page_30">30</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<i>Tsin-shi</i>, "Literary Doctor," degree of, <a href="#page_123">123</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tsungming, Island of, formed by the waters of the Yang-tse Kiang, +<a href="#page_28">28</a> + <br />and Tunking coupled in popular proverb, <a href="#page_28">28</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tsushima, Battle of, <a href="#page_191">191</a>-<a href="#page_192">192</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tuan Fang, governor of Hupeh, <a href="#page_242">242-243</a> + <br />favourable specimen of a Manchu, <a href="#page_276">276</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tuan, Prince, father of the heir apparent, <a href="#page_174">174</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tufu, poet of the T'ang dynasty, <a href="#page_119">119</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tung-chi, Emperor, death of, <a href="#page_273">273</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Tung-chou-kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, <a href="#page_99">99</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Turkestan, <a href="#page_3">3</a>, <a href="#page_61">61</a> + <br />majority of the inhabitants Mohammedans, <a href="#page_61">61</a> + <br />most of the khanates absorbed by Russia, <a href="#page_61">61</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Union Medical College, Peking, <a href="#page_285">285</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Urga, Mongolia, a shrine for pilgrimage, <a href="#page_58">58</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Uriu, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, <a href="#page_184">184</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Verbiest, the Jesuit, made president of Board of Astronomy, +<a href="#page_143">143</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Wall, Great, see Great Wall +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wang Chao, invents new alphabet, <a href="#page_217">217</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ward, Frederick G., the American, and the Tai-ping rebellion, +<a href="#page_160">160</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Ward, Hon. J. E., American minister, proceeds to Peking by land, +<a href="#page_167">167</a> +<a name="page_327"><span class="page">Page 327</span></a> + <br />declines to kneel to Emperor, <a href="#page_168">168</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wei, one of the Nan-peh Chao, <a href="#page_116">116</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Weihien, in Shantung, destined to become a railway centre, +<a href="#page_30">30</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Weihwei-fu, city on the border of Chihli and Honan, <a href="#page_41">41</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wensiang, success of Prince Kung's administration largely due to him, +<a href="#page_277">277</a> + <br />contests with Tungsuin in extemporaneous verse, + <a href="#page_277">277</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wen-ti, "patron of letters," a ruler of the house of Han, +<a href="#page_107">107</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wen-wang, the real founder of the Chou dynasty, <a href="#page_84">84</a> + <br />encourages letters, <a href="#page_84">84</a> + <br />known as a commentator in the <i>Yih-king</i>, <a href="#page_84">84</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Whales, the river near Hang-chow a trap for, <a href="#page_23">23</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wheat, produced in all the provinces, <a href="#page_3">3</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Williams, Dr. S. Wells, takes charge of American Board printing press at +Canton, <a href="#page_283">283</a> + <br />labours, <a href="#page_283">283</a> + <br />"The Middle Kingdom," <a href="#page_283">283</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Witte, Count, and Portsmouth treaty, <a href="#page_193">193</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Women in China, considered out of place in attempting to govern, +<a href="#page_82">82</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Writing, reform in, <a href="#page_216">216</a> + <br />new alphabet invented, <a href="#page_217">217</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wu, Empress, succeeds Kao-tsung and reigns for twenty-one years, +<a href="#page_121">121</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wu Pa, the five dictators, <a href="#page_96">96</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wu San-kwei, a traitorous Chinese general, makes terms with the +Manchus, <a href="#page_140">140</a>-<a href="#page_141">141</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wu Ti, Liang emperor, who became a Buddhist monk, <a href="#page_117">117</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wu-ti, "the five rulers," <a href="#page_71">71</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wu-ting-fang, Chinese minister at Washington, and legal reforms, +<a href="#page_214">214</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Wu-wang, the martial king, rescues the people from the oppression of the +Shangs, <a href="#page_83">83</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Xavier, St. Francis, arrives at Macao, is not allowed to land, and dies +on the Island of St. John, <a href="#page_138">138</a> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="index"> +Yang, chief supporter of the leader of the Tai-pings, +<a href="#page_157">157-158</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yang Chia Kow, called by foreign sailors "Yankee Cow," at the mouth of +the Yellow River, <a href="#page_29">29</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yang-tse Kiang, possible Tibetan source of, <a href="#page_63">63</a> + <br />new islands made by, <a href="#page_28">28</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yan Kien, a Chinese general sets up the Sui dynasty, +<a href="#page_117">117</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yao, type of an unselfish monarch, <a href="#page_73">73</a> + <br />astronomical observations, <a href="#page_76">76</a> + <br />passes by son in naming his successor, <a href="#page_73">73</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yeh, Viceroy, and the <i>Arrow</i> War, <a href="#page_162">162</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +<a name="page_328"><span class="page">Page 328</span></a> +Yellow River, source of, <a href="#page_63">63</a> + <br />forsakes its old bed, <a href="#page_29">29</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +"Yellow ruler, the," reputed inventor of letters and the cycle of sixty + <br />years, <a href="#page_72">72</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yellow Sea, why so called, <a href="#page_28">28</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yermak, <a href="#page_182">182</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yu and Li, two bad kings of the house of Chou, <a href="#page_88">88</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yuen or Mongol dynasty <a href="#page_131">131-134</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yuen Shi Kai, Viceroy, preeminent in the work of reform, +<a href="#page_212">212</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yungcheng, succeeds Kanghi and reigns fourteen years, +<a href="#page_144">144</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yungloh, emperor of the Ming dynasty, <a href="#page_136">136</a> + <br />"Thesaurus of," <a href="#page_136">136</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yünkwei, viceregal district of, <a href="#page_15">15</a>, +<a href="#page_52">52</a> +</p> + +<p class="index"> +Yünnan, province of, <a href="#page_52">52</a>, <a href="#page_53">53</a> + <br />coal measures and copper mines, <a href="#page_52">52</a> + <br />hundred tribes of aborigines within its borders, + <a href="#page_52">52</a> + <br />unhealthful climate, <a href="#page_52">52</a> +</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 15125-h.htm or 15125-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/2/15125/ + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..83c88aa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #15125 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15125) diff --git a/old/15125-8.txt b/old/15125-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5180d90 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/15125-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10284 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Awakening of China + +Author: W.A.P. Martin + +Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15125] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + + + + + +The Awakening of China + + +By W. A. P. MARTIN, D.D., LL.D + +Formerly President of the Chinese Imperial University + +Author of "A Cycle of Cathay," "The Siege +in Peking," "The Lore of Cathay," etc. + + + + +[Page v] +PREFACE + +China is the theatre of the greatest movement now taking place +on the face of the globe. In comparison with it, the agitation +in Russia shrinks to insignificance; for it is not political, but +social. Its object is not a changed dynasty, nor a revolution in +the form of government; but, with higher aim and deeper motive, it +promises nothing short of the complete renovation of the oldest, +most populous, and most conservative of empires. Is there a people +in either hemisphere that can afford to look on with indifference? + +When, some thirty years ago, Japan adopted the outward forms of +Western civilisation, her action was regarded by many as a stage +trick--a sort of travesty employed for a temporary purpose. But +what do they think now, when they see cabinets and chambers of +commerce compelled to reckon with the British of the North Pacific? +The awakening of Japan's huge neighbour promises to yield results +equally startling and on a vastly extended scale. + +Political agitation, whether periodic like the tides or unforeseen +like the hurricane, is in general superficial and temporary; but +the social movement in China has its origin in subterranean forces +such as raise continents from the bosom of the deep. To explain +those forces is the object of the present work. + +It is the fascination of this grand spectacle that has +[Page vi] +brought me back to China, after a short visit to my native land--and +to this capital, after a sojourn of some years in the central provinces. +Had the people continued to be as inert and immobile as they appeared +to be half a century ago, I might have been tempted to despair +of their future. But when I see them, as they are to-day, united +in a firm resolve to break with the past, and to seek new life +by adopting the essentials of Western civilisation, I feel that +my hopes as to their future are more than half realised; and I +rejoice to help their cause with voice and pen. + +Their patriotism may indeed be tinged with hostility to foreigners; +but will it not gain in breadth with growing intelligence, and will +they not come to perceive that their interests are inseparable from +those of the great family into which they are seeking admission? + +Every day adds its testimony to the depth and genuineness of the +movement in the direction of reform. Yesterday the autumn +manoeuvres of the grand army came to a close. They have shown +that by the aid of her railways China is able to assemble a body +of trained troops numbering 100,000 men. Not content with this +formidable land force, the Government has ordered the construction +of the nucleus of a navy, to consist of eight armoured cruisers +and two battleships. Five of these and three naval stations are +to be equipped with the wireless telegraph. + +Not less significant than this rehabilitation of army and navy is +the fact that a few days ago a number of students, who had completed +their studies at foreign universities, were admitted to the third +degree (or +[Page vii] +D. C. L.) in the scale of literary honours, which means appointment +to some important post in the active mandarinate. If the booming +of cannon at the grand review proclaimed that the age of bows and +arrows is past, does not this other fact announce that, in the +field of education, rhyming and caligraphy have given place to +science and languages? Henceforth thousands of ambitious youth +will flock to the universities of Japan, and growing multitudes +will seek knowledge at its fountain-head beyond the seas. + +Still more surprising are the steps taken toward the intellectual +emancipation of woman in China. One of the leading ministers of +education assured me the other day that he was pushing the establishment +of schools for girls. The shaded hemisphere of Chinese life will thus +be brought into the sunshine, and in years to come the education +of Chinese youth will begin at the mother's knee. + +The daily deliberations of the Council of State prove that the +reform proposals of the High Commission are not to be consigned to +the limbo of abortions. Tuan Fang, one of the leaders, has just been +appointed to the viceroyalty of Nanking, with _carte blanche_ +to carry out his progressive ideas; and the metropolitan viceroy, +Yuan, on taking leave of the Empress Dowager before proceeding to +the manoeuvres, besought her not to listen to reactionary counsels +such as those which had produced the disasters of 1900. + +In view of these facts, what wonder that Chinese newspapers are +discussing the question of a national religion? The fires of the +old altars are well-nigh extinct; and, among those who have come +forward to +[Page vii] +advocate the adoption of Christianity as the only faith that meets +the wants of an enlightened people, one of the most prominent is +a priest of Buddha. + +May we not look forward with confidence to a time when China shall +be found in the brotherhood of Christian nations? + +W. A. P. M. + +_Peking, October 30, 1906._ + + + + +[Page ix] +INTRODUCTION + +How varied are the geological formations of different countries, +and what countless ages do they represent! Scarcely less diversified +are the human beings that occupy the surface of the globe, and not +much shorter the period of their evolution. To trace the stages +of their growth and decay, to explain the vicissitudes through +which they have passed, is the office of a philosophic historian. + +If the life history of a silkworm, whose threefold existence is +rounded off in a few months, is replete with interest, how much +more interesting is that of societies of men emerging from barbarism +and expanding through thousands of years. Next in interest to the +history of our own branch of the human family is that of the yellow +race confronting us on the opposite shore of the Pacific; even +more fascinating, it may be, owing to the strangeness of manners +and environment, as well as from the contrast or coincidence of +experience and sentiment. So different from ours (the author writes +as an American) are many phases of their social life that one is +tempted to suspect that the same law, which placed their feet opposite +to ours, of necessity turned their heads the other way. + +To pursue this study is not to delve in a necropolis like Nineveh +or Babylon; for China is not, like western Asia, the grave of dead +empires, but the home of a people +[Page x] +endowed with inexhaustible vitality. Her present greatness and her +future prospects alike challenge admiration. + +If the inhabitants of other worlds could look down on us, as we +look up at the moon, there are only five empires on the globe of +sufficient extent to make a figure on their map: one of these is +China. With more than three times the population of Russia, and an +almost equal area, in natural advantages she is without a rival, +if one excepts the United States. Imagination revels in picturing +her future, when she shall have adopted Christian civilisation, +and when steam and electricity shall have knit together all the +members of her gigantic frame. + +It was by the absorption of small states that the Chinese people +grew to greatness. The present work will trace their history as +they emerge, like a rivulet, from the highlands of central Asia +and, increasing in volume, flow, like a stately river, toward the +eastern ocean. Revolutions many and startling are to be recorded: +some, like that in the epoch of the Great Wall, which stamped the +impress of unity upon the entire people; others, like the Manchu +conquest of 1644, by which, in whole or in part, they were brought +under the sway of a foreign dynasty. Finally, contemporary history +will be treated at some length, as its importance demands; and +the transformation now going on in the Empire will be faithfully +depicted in its relations to Western influences in the fields of +religion, commerce and arms. + +As no people can be understood or properly studied apart from their +environment, a bird's-eye view of the country is given. + + + + +[Page xi] +CONTENTS + + PREFACE + INTRODUCTION + + +PART I + +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE + + I. China Proper + II. A Journey Through the Provinces--Kwangtung and Kwangsi + III. Fukien + IV. Chéhkiang + V. Kiangsu + VI. Shantung + VII. Chihli + VIII. Honan + IX. The River Provinces--Hupeh, Hunan, Anhwei, Kiangsi + X. Provinces of the Upper Yang-tse--Szechuen, Kweichau, Yunnan + XI. Northwestern Provinces--Shansi, Shensi, Kansuh + XII. Outlying Territories--Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, Tibet + + +[Page xii] +PART II + +HISTORY IN OUTLINE, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + XIII. Origin of the Chinese + XIV. The Mythical Period + XV. The Three Dynasties + XVI. House of Chou + XVII. The Sages of China + XVIII. The Warring States + XIX. House of Ts'in + XX. House of Han + XXI. The Three Kingdoms + XXII. The Tang Dynasty + XXIII. The Sung Dynasty + XXIV. The Yuen Dynasty + XXV. The Ming Dynasty + XXVI. The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty + + +PART III + +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION + + XXVII. The Opening of China, a Drama in Five Acts--God in + History--Prologue + ACT 1--The Opium War + (Note on the Tai-ping Rebellion) + ACT 2--The "Arrow" War + ACT 3--War with France + ACT 4--War with Japan + ACT 5--The Boxer War +[Page xiii] + XXVIII. The Russo-Japanese War + XXIX. Reform in China + XXX. Viceroy Chang + XXXI. Anti-foreign Agitation + XXII. The Manchus, the Normans of China + + +APPENDIX + + I. The Agency of Missionaries in the Diffusion of Secular + Knowledge in China + II. Unmentioned Reforms + III. A New Opium War + +INDEX + + + + +[Page 1] +PART I + +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE + + + +[Page 3] +THE AWAKENING OF CHINA + + + +CHAPTER I + +CHINA PROPER + +_Five Grand Divisions--Climate--Area and Population--The Eighteen +Provinces_ + +The empire consists of five grand divisions: China Proper, Manchuria, +Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. In treating of this huge conglomerate +it will be most convenient to begin with the portion that gives +name and character to the whole. + +Of China Proper it may be affirmed that the sun shines nowhere on +an equal area which combines so many of the conditions requisite +for the support of an opulent and prosperous people. Lying between +18° and 49° north latitude, her climate is alike exempt from the +fierce heat of the torrid zone and the killing cold of the frigid +regions. There is not one of her provinces in which wheat, rice, +and cotton, the three staples of food and clothing, may not be +cultivated with more or less success; but in the southern half +wheat gives place to rice, while in the north cotton yields to +silk and hemp. In the south cotton is king and rice is queen of +the fields. + +Traversed in every direction by mountain ranges of moderate elevation +whose sides are cultivated in +[Page 4] +terraces to such a height as to present the appearance of hanging +gardens, China possesses fertile valleys in fair proportion, together +with vast plains that compare in extent with those of our American +prairie states. Furrowed by great rivers whose innumerable affluents +supply means of irrigation and transport, her barren tracts are +few and small. + +A coast-line of three thousand miles indented with gulfs, bays, +and inlets affords countless harbours for shipping, so that few +countries can compare with her in facilities for ocean commerce. + +As to her boundaries, on the east six of her eighteen provinces +bathe their feet in the waters of the Pacific; on the south she +clasps hands with Indo-China and with British Burma; and on the +west the foothills of the Himalayas form a bulwark more secure +than the wall that marks her boundary on the north. Greatest of +the works of man, the Great Wall serves at present no other purpose +than that of a mere geographical expression. Built to protect the +fertile fields of the "Flowery Land" from the incursions of northern +nomads, it may have been useful for some generations; but it can +hardly be pronounced an unqualified success, since China in whole +or in part has passed more than half of the twenty-two subsequent +centuries under the domination of Tartars. + +With an area of about 1,500,000 square miles, or one-half that of +Europe, China has a busy population of about four hundred millions; +yet, so far from being exhausted, there can be no doubt that with +improved methods in agriculture, manufactures, mining, and +transportation, she might very +[Page 5] +easily sustain double the present number of her thrifty children. + +Within this favoured domain the products of nature and of human industry +vie with each other in extent and variety. A bare enumeration would +read like a page of a gazetteer and possibly make no more impression +than a column of figures. To form an estimate of the marvellous +fecundity of the country and to realise its picturesqueness, one +ought to visit the provinces in succession and spend a year in +the exploration of each. If one is precluded from such leisurely +observation, undoubtedly the next best thing is to see them through +the eyes of those who have travelled in and have made a special +study of those regions. + +To more than half of the provinces I can offer myself as a guide. +I spent ten years at Ningpo, and one year at Shanghai, both on the +southern seacoast. At the northern capital I spent forty years; +and I have recently passed three years at Wuchang on the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang, a special coign of vantage for the study +of central China. While residing in the above-mentioned foci it +was my privilege to visit six other provinces (some of them more +than once), thus gaining a personal acquaintance with ten out of +the eighteen and being enabled to gather valuable information at +first hand. + +A glance at the subjoined table (from the report of the China Inland +Mission for 1905) will exhibit the magnitude of the field of +investigation before us. The average province corresponds in extent +to the average state of the American Union; and the whole exceeds +[Page 6] +that portion of the United States which lies east of the Mississippi. + + CHINA PROPER + + --------------------------------------------- + PROVINCES | AREA | POPULATION + | SQ. MILES | + -------------------|-----------|------------- + Kwangtung (Canton) | 99,970 | 31,865,000 + Kwangsi | 77,200 | 5,142,000 + Fukien | 46,320 | 22,876,000 + Chéhkiang | 36,670 | 11,580,000 + Kiangsu | 38,600 | 13,980,000 + Shantung | 55,970 | 38,248,000 + Chihli | 115,800 | 20,937,000 + Shansi | 81,830 | 12,200,000 + Shensi | 75,270 | 8,450,000 + Kansuh | 125,450 | 10,385,000 + Honan | 67,940 | 35,316,000 + Hupeh | 71,410 | 35,280,000 + Hunan | 83,380 | 22,170,000 + Nganhwei(Anhwei) | 54,810 | 23,670,000 + Yünnan | 146,680 | 12,325,000 + Szechuen | 218,480 | 68,725,000 + Kiangsi | 69,480 | 26,532,000 + Kweichau | 67,160 | 7,650,000 + -------------------|-----------|------------- + Totals | 1,532,420 | 407,331,000 + + + + +[Page 7] +CHAPTER II + +A JOURNEY THROUGH THE PROVINCES--KWANGTUNG AND KWANGSI + +_Hong Kong--A Trip to Canton--Macao--Scenes on Pearl River--Canton +Christian College--Passion for Gambling--A Typical City--A Chief +Source of Emigration_ + +Let us take an imaginary journey through the provinces and begin +at Hong Kong, where, in 1850, I began my actual experience of life +in China. + +From the deck of the good ship _Lantao_, which had brought me +from Boston around the Cape in one hundred and thirty-four days, +I gazed with admiration on the Gibraltar of the Orient. Before me +was a land-locked harbour in which all the navies of the world +might ride in safety. Around me rose a noble chain of hills, their +slopes adorned with fine residences, their valleys a chessboard +of busy streets, with here and there a British battery perched +on a commanding rock. + +Under Chinese rule Hong Kong had been an insignificant fishing +village, in fact a nest of pirates. In 1841 the island was ceded +by China to Great Britain, and the cession was confirmed by the +treaty of Nanking in August, 1842. The transformation effected in +less than a decade had been magical; yet that was only the bloom +[Page 8] +of babyhood, compared with the rich maturity of the, present day. + +A daily steamer then sufficed for its trade with Canton; a weekly +packet connected it with Shanghai; and the bulk of its merchandise +was still carried in sailing ships or Chinese junks. How astounding +the progress that has marked the last half-century! The streets that +meandered, as it were, among the valleys, or fringed the water's +edge, now girdle the hills like rows of seats in a huge amphitheatre; +a railway lifts the passenger to the mountain top; and other railways +whirl him from hill to hill along the dizzy height. I Trade, too, +has multiplied twenty fold. In a commercial report for the year +ending June, 1905, it is stated that in amount of tonnage Hong +Kong has become the banner port of the world. + +Though politically Hong Kong is not China, more than 212,000 of its +busy population (about 221,000) are Chinese; and it is preëminently +the gate of China. By a wise and liberal policy the British Government +has made it the chief emporium of the Eastern seas. + +We now take a trip to Canton and cross a bay studded with islands. +These are clothed with copious verdure, but, like all others on the +China coast, lack the crowning beauty of trees. In passing we get +a glimpse of Macao, a pretty town under the flag of the Portuguese, +the pioneers of Eastern trade. The oldest foreign settlement in China, +it dates from 1544--not quite a half-century after the discovery +of the route to India, an achievement whose fourth centenary was +celebrated in 1898. If it could be ascertained on what +[Page 9] +day some adventurous argonaut pushed the quest of the Golden Fleece +to Farther India, as China was then designated, that exploit might +with equal appropriateness be commemorated also. + +The city of Macao stands a monument of Lusitanian enterprise. +Beautifully situated on a projecting spur of an island, it is a +favourite summer resort of foreign residents in the metropolis. +It has a population of about 70,000, mostly Chinese, and contains +two tombs that make it sacred in my eyes; namely, that of Camöens, +author of "The Lusiad" and poet of Gama's voyage, and that of Robert +Morrison, the pioneer of Protestant missions, the centennial of +whose arrival had in 1907 a brilliant celebration. + +Entering the Pearl River, a fine stream 500 miles in length, whose +affluents spread like a fan over two provinces, we come to the +viceregal capital, as Canton deserves to be called, though the +viceroy actually resides in another city. The river is alive with +steamboats, large and small, mostly under the British flag; but +native craft of the old style have not yet been put to flight. +Propelled by sail or oar, the latter creep along the shore; and at +Pagoda Anchorage near the city they form a floating town in which +families are born and die without ever having a home on _terra +firma_. + +Big-footed women are seen earning an honest living by plying the +oar, or swinging on the scull-beam with babies strapped on their +backs. One may notice also the so-called "flower-boats," embellished +like the palaces of water fairies. Moored in one locality, they +are a well-known resort of the vicious. In the fields are +[Page 10] +the tillers of the soil wading barefoot and bareheaded in mud and +water, holding plough or harrow drawn by an amphibious creature +called a carabao or water-buffalo, burying by hand in the mire +the roots of young rice plants, or applying as a fertiliser the +ordure and garbage of the city. Such unpoetic toils never could +have inspired the georgic muse of Vergil or Thomson. + +The most picturesque structure that strikes the eye as one approaches +the city is a Christian college--showing how times have changed. +In 1850 the foreign quarter was in a suburb near one of the gates. +There I dined with Sir John Bowring at the British Consulate, having +a letter of introduction from his American cousin, Miss Maylin, a +gifted lady of Philadelphia. There, too, I lodged with Dr. Happer, +who by the tireless exertions of many years succeeded in laying +the foundations of that same Christian college. For him it is a +monument more lasting than brass; for China it is only one of many +lighthouses now rising at commanding points on the seacoast and +in the interior. + +In passing the Fati, a recreation-ground near the city, a view +is obtained of the amusements of the rich and the profligate. We +see a multitude seated around a cockpit intent on a cock-fight; but +the cocks are quails, not barnyard fowls. Here, too, is a smaller +and more exclusive circle stooping over a pair of crickets engaged +in deadly combat. Insects of other sorts or pugnacious birds are +sometimes substituted; and it might be supposed that the people +must be warlike in their disposition, to enjoy such spectacles. +The fact is, they are fond of fighting by proxy. What attracts them +[Page 11] +most, however, is the chance of winning or losing a wager. + +A more intellectual entertainment to be seen in many places is the +solving of historical enigmas. Some ancient celebrity is represented +by an animal in a rhyming couplet; and the man who detects the hero +under this disguise wins a considerable sum. Such is the native +passion for gambling that bets are even made on the result of the +metropolitan examinations, particularly on the province to which will +fall the honour of the first prize, that of the scholar-laureateship. + +Officials in all parts and benevolent societies take advantage +of this passion for gambling in opening lotteries to raise funds +for worthy objects--a policy which is unwise if not immoral. It +should not be forgotten, however, that our own forefathers sometimes +had recourse to lotteries to build churches. + +The foreign settlement now stands on Shamien, a pretty islet in +the river, in splendid contrast with the squalor of the native +streets. The city wall is not conspicuous, if indeed it is visible +beyond the houses of a crowded suburb. Yet one may be sure that it +is there; for every large town must have a wall for protection, +and the whole empire counts no fewer than 1,553 walled cities. +What an index to the insecurity resulting from an ill-regulated +police! The Chinese are surprised to hear that in all the United +States there is nothing which they would call a city, because the +American cities are destitute of walls. + +Canton with its suburbs contains over two million people; it is +therefore the most populous city in the empire. In general the +houses are low, dark, and +[Page 12] +dirty, and the streets are for the most part too narrow for anything +broader than a sedan or a "rickshaw" (jinriksha). Yet in city and +suburbs the eye is dazzled by the richness of the shops, especially +of those dealing in silks and embroideries. In strong contrast with +this luxurious profusion may be seen crowds of beggars displaying +their loathsome sores at the doors of the rich in order to extort +thereby a penny from those who might not be disposed to give from +motives of charity. The narrow streets are thronged with coolies +in quality of beasts of burden, having their loads suspended from +each end of an elastic pole balanced on the shoulder, or carrying +their betters in sedan chairs, two bearers for a commoner, four +for a "swell," and six or eight for a magnate. High officials borne +in these luxurious vehicles are accompanied by lictors on horse or +foot. Bridegrooms and brides are allowed to pose for the nonce as +grandees; and the bridal chair, whose drapery blends the rainbow +and the butterfly, is heralded by a band of music, the blowing of +horns, and the clashing of cymbals. The block and jam thus occasioned +are such as no people except the patient Chinese would tolerate. +They bow to custom and smile at inconvenience. Of horse-cars or +carriages there are none except in new streets. Rickshaws and +wheelbarrows push their way in the narrowest alleys, and compete +with sedans for a share of the passenger traffic. + +In those blue hills that hang like clouds on the verge of the horizon +and bear the poetical name of White Cloud, there are gardens that +combine in rich variety the fruits of both the torrid and the temperate +zones. Tea and silk are grown in many other +[Page 13] +parts of China; but here they are produced of a superior quality. + +Enterprising and intelligent, the people of this province have +overflowed into the islands of the Pacific from Singapore to Honolulu. +Touching at Java in 1850, I found refreshments at the shop of a +Canton man who showed a manifest superiority to the natives of the +island. Is it not to be regretted that the Chinese are excluded +from the Philippines? Would not the future of that archipelago +be brighter if the shiftless native were replaced by the thrifty +Chinaman? + +It was in Canton that American trade suffered most from the boycott +of 1905, because there the ill-treatment of Chinese in America was +most deeply felt, the Chinese in California being almost exclusively +from the province of Canton. + +The viceroy of Canton has also the province of Kwangsi under his +jurisdiction. Mountainous and thinly peopled, it is regarded by +its associate as a burden, being in an almost chronic state of +rebellion and requiring large armies to keep its turbulent inhabitants +in order. + + + + +[Page 14] +CHAPTER III + +PROVINCE OF FUKIEN + +_Amoy--Bold Navigators--Foochow--Mountain of Kushan--The Bridge +of Ten Thousand Years_ + +Following the coast to the north some three hundred miles we come +to Amoy, the first important seaport in the adjacent province of +Fukien. The aspect of the country has undergone a change. Hills +attain the altitude of mountains, and the alluvial plains, so +conspicuous about Canton, become contracted to narrow valleys. + +The people, too, are changed in speech and feature. Taller, coarser +in physiognomy, with high cheek-bones and harsh voices, their dialect +is totally unintelligible to people of the neighbouring province. +As an example of the diversity of dialects in China, may be cited +the Chinese word for man. In some parts of Fukien it is _long_; +in Canton, _yan_ or _yin_; at Ningpo, _ning_; and +at Peking, _jin_. + +One is left in doubt whether the people or the mountains which +they inhabit were the most prominent factors in determining the +dividing line that separates them from their neighbours on the +south and west. In enterprise and energy they rival the Cantonese. +They are bold navigators; the grand island of Formosa, now ceded +to Japan, was colonised by them; and by +[Page 15] +them also the savage aborigines were driven over to the east coast. +A peculiar sort of black tea is grown on these mountains, and, along +with grass cloth, forms a staple in the trade of Amoy. The harbour +is not wanting in beauty; and a view from one of the hill-tops, from +which hundreds of villages are visible, is highly picturesque. +Of the town of Amoy with its 200,000 people there is not much to +be said except that several missions, British and American, which +opened stations there soon after the first war with Great Britain, +have met with encouraging success. At Swatow, a district in Canton +Province beyond the boundary, the American Baptists have a flourishing +mission. + +Entering the Formosan Channel we proceed to the mouth of the Min, +a fine river which leads up to Foochow (Fuchau), some thirty miles +inland. We do not stop to explore the Island of Formosa because, +having been ceded to Japan, it no longer forms a part of the Chinese +Empire. From the river the whole province is sometimes described +as "the country of Min"; but its official name is Fukien. This +name does not signify "happily established," as stated in most +books, but is compounded of the names of its two chief cities by +taking the first syllable of each, somewhat as the pioneer settlers +of Arkansas formed the name of the boundary town of Texarkana. +The names of some other provinces of China are formed in the same +way; e.g. Kiangsu, Kansuh, and that of the viceregal district of +Yünkwei. + +Kushan, a mountain on the bank of the river, is famed for its scenery; +and, as with mountains everywhere else in China, it has been made +the seat of a +[Page 16] +Buddhist monastery, with some scores of monks passing their time +not in contemplation, but in idleness. + +The city of Foochow is imposing with its fine wall of stone, and +a long stone bridge called Wansuik'iao "the bridge of ten thousand +years." It has a population of about 650,000. To add to its importance +it has a garrison or colony of Manchus who from the date of the +conquest in 1644 have lived apart from the Chinese and have not +diminished in numbers. + +The American Board and the Methodist Episcopal Board have large and +prosperous missions at this great centre, and from this base they +have ramified through the surrounding mountains, mostly following +the tributaries of the Min up to their sources. In 1850 I was +entertained at Foochow by the Rev. Dr. C. C. Baldwin, who, I am +glad to say, still lives after the lapse of fifty-five years; but +he is no longer in the mission field. + + + + +[Page 17] +CHAPTER IV + +PROVINCE OF CHÉHKIANG + +_Chusan Archipelago--Putu and Pirates--Queer Fishers and Queer +Boats--Ningpo--A Literary Triumph--Search for a Soul--Chinese +Psychology--Hangchow--The Great Bore_ + +Chéhkiang, the next province to the north, and the smallest of +the eighteen, is a portion of the highlands mentioned in the last +chapter. It is about as large as Indiana, while some of the provinces +have four or five times that area. There is no apparent reason +why it should have a distinct provincial government save that its +waters flow to the north, or perhaps because the principality of +Yuih (1100 B.C.) had such a boundary, or, again, perhaps because +the language of the people is akin to that of the Great Plain in +which its chief river finds an outlet. How often does a conqueror +sever regions which form a natural unit, merely to provide a +principality for some favourite! + +Lying off its coast is the Chusan archipelago, in which two islands +are worthy of notice. The largest, which gives the archipelago +its name, is about half the length of Long Island, N. Y., and is +so called from a fancied resemblance to a junk, it having a high +promontory at either end. It contains eighteen valleys--a division +not connected with the eighteen provinces, but +[Page 18] +perpetuated in a popular rhyme which reflects severely on the morals +of its inhabitants. Shielded by the sea, and near enough to the +land to strike with ease at any point of the neighbouring coast, +the British forces found here a secure camping-ground in their +first war. + +To the eastward lies the sacred Isle of Putu, the Iona of the China +coast. With a noble landscape, and so little land as to offer no +temptation to the worldly, it was inevitable that the Buddhists +should fix on it as a natural cloister. For many centuries it has been +famous for its monasteries, some of which are built of timbers taken +from imperial palaces. Formerly the missionaries from neighbouring +seaports found at Putu refuge from the summer heat, but it is now +abandoned, since it afforded no shelter from the petty piracy at +all times so rife in these waters. + +In 1855 Mr. (afterward Bishop) Russell and myself were captured by +pirates while on our way to Putu. The most gentlemanly freebooters +I ever heard of, they invited us to share their breakfast on the +deck of our own junk; but they took possession of all our provisions +and our junk too, sending us to our destination in a small boat, +and promising to pay us a friendly visit on the island. One of +them, who had taken my friend's watch, came to the owner to ask him +how to wind it. The Rev. Walter Lowrie, founder of the Presbyterian +Mission at Ningpo, was not so fortunate. Attacked by pirates nearly +on the same spot, he was thrown into the sea and drowned. + +Passing these islands we come to the Ningpo River, with Chinhai, +a small city, at its mouth, and Ningpo, +[Page 19] +a great emporium, some twelve miles inland. This curious arrangement, +so different from what one would expect, confronts one in China with +the regularity of a natural law: Canton, Shanghai, Foochow, and +Tientsin, all conform to it. The small city stands at the anchorage +for heavy shipping; but the great city, renouncing this advantage, +is located some distance inland, to be safe from sea-robbers and +foreign foes. + +As we ascend the river we are struck with more than one peculiar +mode of taking fish. We see a number of cormorants perched on the +sides of a boat. Now and then a bird dives into the water and comes +up with a fish in its beak. If the fish be a small one, the bird +swallows it as a reward for its services; but a fish of considerable +size is hindered in its descent by a ring around the bird's neck +and becomes the booty of the fisherman. The birds appear to be +well-trained; and their sharp eyes penetrate the depths of the +water. Another novelty in fishing is a contrivance by which fish are +made to catch themselves--not by running into a net or by swallowing +a hook, but by leaping over a white board and falling into a boat. +More strange than all are men who, like the cormorants, dive into +the water and emerge with fish--sometimes with one in either hand. +These fishermen when in the water always have their feet on the +ground and grope along the shore. The first time I saw this method +in practice I ran to the brink of the river to save, as I thought, +the life of a poor man. He no sooner raised his head out of the +water, however, than down it went again; and I was laughed at for +my want of discernment by a crowd of people who shouted _Ko-ng, +Ko-ng_, "he's catching fish." + +[Page 20] +The natives have a peculiar mode of propelling a boat. Sitting +in the stern the boatman holds the helm with one hand, while with +the other he grasps a long pipe which he smokes at leisure. Without +mast or sail, he makes speed against wind or current by making +use of his feet to drive the oar. He thus gains the advantage of +weight and of his strong sartorial muscles. These little craft +are the swiftest boats on the river. + +At the forks of the river, in a broad plain dotted with villages, +rise the stone walls of Ningpo, six miles in circuit, enclosing +a network of streets better built than those of the majority of +Chinese cities. The foreign settlement is on the north bank of +the main stream; but a few missionaries live within the walls, and +there I passed the first years of my life in China. + +Above the walls, conspicuous at a distance, appears the pinnacle +of a lofty pagoda, a structure like most of those bearing the name, +with eight corners and nine stories. Originally designed for the +mere purposes of look-outs, these airy edifices have degenerated +into appliances of superstition to attract good influences and +to ward off evil. + +Not only has this section of the province a dialect of its own, +of the mandarin type, but its people possess a finer physique than +those of the south. Taller, with eyes less angular and faces of +faultless symmetry, they are a handsome people, famed alike for +literary talent and for commercial enterprise. During my residence +there the whole city was once thrown into excitement by the news +that one of her sons had won the first prize in prose and verse +in competition, before the emperor, with the assembled scholars +of the empire--an +[Page 21] +an honour comparable to that of poet laureate or of a victor in +the Olympic games. When that distinction falls to a city, it is +believed that, in order to equalise matters, the event is sure +to be followed by three years of dearth. In this instance, the +highest mandarins escorted the wife of the literary athlete to +the top of the wall, where she scattered a few handfuls of rice +to avert the impending famine. + +My house was attached to a new church which was surmounted by a +bell-tower. In a place where nothing of the sort had previously +existed, that accessory attracted many visitors even before the bell +was in position to invite them. One day a weeping mother, attended +by an anxious retinue, presented herself and asked permission to +climb the tower, which request of course was not refused. + +Uncovering a bundle, she said: "This is my boy's clothing. Yesterday +he was up in the tower and, taking fright at the height of the +building, his little soul forsook his body and he had to go home +without it. He is now delirious with fever. We think the soul is +hovering about in this huge edifice and that it will recognise +these clothes and, taking possession of them, will return home with +us." + +When a bird escapes from its cage the Chinese sometimes hang the +cage on the branch of a tree and the bird returns to its house +again. They believe they can capture a fugitive soul in the same +way. Sometimes, too, a man may be seen standing on a housetop at +night waving a lantern and chanting in dismal tones an invitation +to some wandering spirit to return to its abode. Whether in the +case just mentioned the poor +[Page 22] +woman's hopes were fulfilled and whether the _animula vagula +blandula_ returned from its wanderings I never learned, but I +mention the incident as exhibiting another picturesque superstition. + +Chinese psychology recognises three souls, viz., the animal, the +spiritual, and the intellectual. The absence of one of the three +does not, therefore, involve immediate death, as does the departure +of the soul in our dual system. + +But I tarry too long at my old home. We have practically an empire +still before us, and will, therefore, steer west for Hangchow. + +In the thirteenth century this was the residence of an imperial +court; and the provincial capital still retains many signs of imperial +magnificence. The West Lake with its pavilions and its lilies, +a pleasance fit for an emperor; the vast circuit of the city's +walls enclosing hill and vale; and its commanding site on the bank +of a great river at the head of a broad bay--all combine to invest +it with dignity. Well do I recall the day in 1855 when white men +first trod its streets. They were the Rev. Henry Rankin and myself. +Though not permitted by treaty to penetrate even the rind of the +"melon," as the Chinese call their empire, to a distance farther +than admitted of our returning to sleep at home, we nevertheless +broke bounds and set out for the old capital of the Sungs. On the +way we made a halt at the city of Shaohing; and as we were preaching +to a numerous and respectful audience in the public square, a +well-dressed man pressed through the crowd and invited us to do +him the honour of taking tea at his house. His mansion exhibited every +[Page 23] +evidence of affluence; and he, a scholar by profession, aspiring +to the honours of the mandarinate, explained, as he ordered for +us an ample repast, that he would have felt ashamed if scholars +from the West had been allowed to pass through his city without +anyone offering them hospitality. What courtesy! Could Hebrew or +Arab hospitality surpass it? + +Two things for which the city of Shaohing is widely celebrated +are (1) a sort of rice wine used throughout the Empire as being +indispensable at mandarin feasts, and (2) clever lawyers who are +deemed indispensable as legal advisers to mandarins. They are the +"Philadelphia lawyers" of China. + +As we entered Hangchow the boys shouted _Wo tsei lai liao_, +"the Japanese are coming "--never having seen a European, and having +heard their fathers speak of the Japanese as sea-robbers, a terror +to the Chinese coast. Up to this date, Japan had no treaty with +China, and it had never carried on any sort of regular commerce +with or acknowledged the superiority of China. Before many years +had passed, these youths became accustomed to Western garb and +features; and I never heard that any foreigner suffered insult or +injury at their hands. + +In 1860 the Rev. J. L. Nevius, one of my colleagues, took possession +of the place in the name of Christ. He was soon followed by Bishop +Burden, of the English Church Mission, whose apostolic successor, +Bishop Moule, now makes it the seat of his immense diocese. + +Another claim to distinction not to be overlooked is that its river +is a trap for whales. Seven or eight years ago a cetaceous monster +was stranded near the +[Page 24] +river's mouth. The Rev. Dr. Judson, president of the Hangchow Mission +College, went to see it and sent me an account of his observations. +He estimated the length of the whale at 100 feet; the tail had been +removed by the natives. To explain the incident it is necessary +to say that, the bay being funnel-shaped, the tides rise to an +extraordinary height. Twice a month, at the full and the change of +the moon, the attractions of sun and moon combine, and the water +rushes in with a roar like that of a tidal wave. The bore of Hangchow +is not surpassed by that of the Hooghly or of the Bay of Fundy. +Vessels are wrecked by it; and even the monsters of the deep are +unable to contend with the fury of its irresistible advance. + + + + +[Page 25] +CHAPTER V + +PROVINCE OF KIANGSU + +_Nanking--Shanghai--The Yang-tse Kiang--The Yellow River_ + +Bordering on the sea, traversed by the Grand Canal and the Yang-tse +Kiang, the chief river of the Empire, rich in agriculture, fisheries, +and commerce, Kiangsu is the undisputed queen of the eighteen provinces. +In 1905 it was represented to the throne as too heavy a burden for +one set of officers. The northern section was therefore detached and +erected into a separate province; but before the new government was +organised the Empress Dowager yielded to remonstrances and rescinded +her hasty decree--showing how reluctant she is to contravene the +wishes of her people. What China requires above all things is the +ballot box, by which the people may make their wishes known. + +The name of the province is derived from its two chief cities, +Suchow and Nanking. Suchow, the Paris of the Far East, is coupled +with Hangchow in a popular rhyme, which represents the two as paragon +cities: + + _"Shang yu t'ien t'ang hia yu Su-Hang."_ + + "Su and Hang, so rich and fair, + May well with Paradise compare." + +[Page 26] +The local dialect is so soft and musical that strolling players from +Suchow are much sought for in the adjacent provinces. A well-known +couplet says: + + "I'd rather hear men wrangle in Suchow's dulcet tones + Than hear that mountain jargon, composed of sighs and groans." + +Farther inland, near the banks of the "Great River," stands Nanking, +the old capital of the Ming dynasty. The Manchus, unwilling to +call it a _king_, _i.e._ seat of empire, changed its +name to Kiangning; but the old title survives in spite of official +jealousy. As it will figure prominently in our history we shall +not pause there at present, but proceed to Shanghai, a place which +more than any other controls the destinies of the State. + +Formerly an insignificant town of the third order (provincial capitals +and prefectural towns ranking respectively first and second), some +sapient Englishman with an eye to commerce perceived the advantage +of the site; and in the dictation of the terms of peace in 1842 it +was made one of the five ports. It has come to overshadow Canton; +and more than all the other ports it displays to the Chinese the +marvels of Western skill, knowledge, and enterprise. + +On a broad estuary near the mouth of the main artery that penetrates +the heart of China, it has become a leading emporium of the world's +commerce. The native city still hides its squalor behind low walls +of brick, but outside the North Gate lies a tract of land known +as the "Foreign Concessions." There a beautiful city styled the +"model settlement" has sprung up like a gorgeous pond-lily from +the muddy, +[Page 27] +paddy-fields. Having spent a year there, I regard it with a sort +of affection as one of my Oriental homes. + +Shanghai presents a spectacle rare amongst the seaports of the +world. Its broad streets, well kept and soon to be provided with +electric trolleys, extend for miles along the banks of two rivers, +lined with opulent business houses and luxurious mansions, most of +the latter being surrounded by gardens and embowered in groves +of flowering trees. Nor do these magazines and dwelling-houses +stand merely for taste and opulence. Within the bounds of the +Concessions is the reign of law--not, as elsewhere in China, the +arbitrary will of a magistrate, but the offspring of freedom and +justice. Foreigners live everywhere under the protection of their +own national flags: and within the Concessions. Chinese accused of +crimes are tried by a mixed court which serves as an object-lesson +in justice and humanity. Had one time to peep into a native +_yamên_, one might see bundles of bamboos, large and small, +prepared for the bastinado; one might see, also, thumb-screws, +wooden boots, wooden collars, and other instruments of torture, +some of them intended to make mince-meat of the human body. The +use of these has now been forbidden.[*] + +[Footnote *: In another city a farmer having extorted a sum of money +from a tailor living within the Concession, the latter appealed +to the British consul for Justice. The consul, an inexperienced +young man, observing that the case concerned only the Chinese, +referred it to the city magistrate, who instantly ordered the tailor +to receive a hundred blows for having applied to a foreign court.] + +In Shanghai there are schools of all grades, some under the foreign +municipal government, others under missionary societies. St. John's +College (U. S. +[Page 28] +Episcopal) and the Anglo-Chinese College (American M. E.) bear the +palm in the line of education so long borne by the Roman Catholics +of Siccawei. Added to these, newspapers foreign and native--the +latter exercising a freedom of opinion impossible beyond the limits +of this city of refuge--the Society for the Diffusion of Christian +Knowledge and other translation bureaux, foreign and native, turning +out books by the thousand with the aid of steam presses, form a +combination of forces to which China is no longer insensible. + +Resuming our imaginary voyage we proceed northward, and in the +space of an hour find ourselves at the mouth of the Yang-tse Kiang, +or Ta Kiang, the "Great River," as the Chinese call it. The width +of its embouchure suggests an Asiatic rival of the Amazon and La +Plata. We now see why this part of the ocean is sometimes described +as the Yellow Sea. A river whose volume, it is said, equals that of +two hundred and forty-four such rivulets as Father Thames, pours +into it its muddy waters, making new islands and advancing the +shore far into the domain of Neptune. + +Notice on the left those long rows of trees that appear to spring +from the bosom of the river. They are the life-belt of the Island +of Tsungming which six centuries ago rose like the fabled Delos +from the surface of the turbid waters. Accepted as the river's +tribute to the Dragon Throne, it now forms a district of the province +with a population of over half a million. About the same time, +a large tract of land was carried into the sea by the Hwang Ho, +the "Yellow River," which gave rise to the popular proverb, "If +we lose in Tungking we gain in Tsungming." + +[Page 29] +The former river comes with its mouth full of pearls; the latter +yawns to engulf the adjacent land. At present, however, the Yellow +River is dry and thirsty, the unruly stream, the opposite of Horace's +_uxorius amnis_, having about forty years ago forsaken its +old bed and rushed away to the Gulf of Pechili (Peh-chihli). This +produced as much consternation as the Mississippi would occasion +if it should plough its way across the state that bears its name +and enter the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay. The same phenomenon +has occurred at long intervals in times past. The wilful stream +has oscillated with something like periodical regularity from side +to side of the Shantung promontory, and sometimes it has flowed +with a divided current, converting that territory into an island. +Now, however, the river seems to have settled itself in its new +channel, entering the gulf at Yang Chia Kow--a place which foreign +sailors describe as "Yankee cow"--and making a portentous alteration +in the geography of the globe. + + + + +[Page 30] +CHAPTER VI + +PROVINCE OF SHANTUNG + +_Kiao-Chao--Visit to Confucius's Tomb--Expedition to the Jews +of K'ai-fung-fu--The Grand Canal--Chefoo_ + +In Shantung the people appear to be much more robust than their +neighbours to the south. Wheat and millet rather than rice are +their staple food. In their orchards apples, pears and peaches take +the place of oranges. + +At Kiao-chao (Kiau-Chau) the Germans, who occupied that port in +1897, have built a beautiful town opposite the Island of Tsingtao, +presenting a fine model for imitation, which, however, the Chinese +are not in haste to copy. They have constructed also a railway from +the sea to Tsinan-fu, very nearly bisecting the province. Weihien +is destined to become a railroad centre; and several missionary +societies are erecting colleges there to teach the people truths +that Confucius never knew. More than half a century ago, when a +missionary distributed Christian books in that region, the people +brought them back saying, "We have the works of our Sage, and they +are sufficient for us." Will not the new arts and sciences of the +West convince them that their Sage was not omniscient? + +In 1866 I earned the honours of a _hadji_ by visiting the tomb +of Confucius--a magnificent mausoleum surrounded by his descendants +of the seventieth generation, +[Page 31] +one of whom in quality of high priest to China's greatest teacher +enjoys the rank of a hereditary duke. + +On that occasion, I had come up from a visit to the Jews in Honan. +Having profited by a winter vacation to make an expedition to +K'ai-fung-fu, I had the intention of pushing on athwart the province +to Hankow. The interior, however, as I learned to my intense +disappointment, was convulsed with rebellion. No cart driver was +willing to venture his neck, his steed, and his vehicle by going +in that direction. I accordingly steered for the Mecca of Shantung, +and, having paid my respects to the memory of China's greatest sage, +struck the Grand Canal and proceeded to Shanghai. From K'ai-fung-fu +I had come by land slowly, painfully, and not without danger. From +Tsi-ning I drifted down with luxurious ease in a well-appointed +house-boat, meditating poetic terms in which to describe the contrast. + +The canal deserves the name of "grand" as the wall on the north +deserves the name of "great." Memorials of ancient times, they both +still stand unrivalled by anything the Western world has to show, +if one except the Siberian Railway. The Great Wan is an effete relic +no longer of use; and it appears to be satire on human foresight +that the Grand Canal should have been built by the very people +whom the Great Wall was intended to exclude from China. The canal +is as useful to-day as it was six centuries ago, and remains the +chief glory of the Mongol dynasty. + +Kublai having set up his throne in the north, and completed the +conquest of the eighteen provinces, ordered the construction of +this magnificent waterway, +[Page 32] +which extends 800 miles from Peking to Hangchow and connects with +other waterways which put the northern capital in roundabout +communication with provinces of the extreme south. His object was +to tap the rice-fields of Central China and obtain a food supply +which could not be interfered with by those daring sea-robbers, +the redoubtable Japanese, who had destroyed his fleets and rendered +abortive his attempt at conquest. Of the Great Wall, it may be said +that the oppression inseparable from its construction hastened +the overthrow of the house of its builder. The same is probably +true of the Grand Canal. The myriads of unpaid labourers who were +drafted by _corvée_ from among the Chinese people subsequently +enlisted, they or their children, under the revolutionary banner +which expelled the oppressive Mongols. + +Another port in this province which we cannot pass without an admiring +glance, is Chefoo (Chifu). On a fine hill rising from the sea wave the +flags of several nations; in the harbour is a cluster of islands; and +above the settlement another noble hill rears its head crowned with +a temple and groves of trees. On its sides and near the seashore are +the residences of missionaries. There I have more than once found +a refuge from the summer heat, under the hospitable roof of Mrs. +Nevius, the widow of my friend Dr. J. L. Nevius, who, after opening +a mission in Hangchow, became one of the pioneers of Shantung. In +Chefoo he planted not only a church, but a fruit garden. To the +Chinese eye this garden was a striking symbol of what his gospel +proposed to effect for the people. + + + + +[Page 33] +CHAPTER VII + +PROVINCE OF CHIHLI + +_Taku--Tientsin--Peking--The Summer Palace--Patachu--Temples +of Heaven, Earth, and Agriculture--Foreign Quarter--The Forbidden +City--King-Han Railway--Paoting-fu_ + +Crossing the gulf we reach Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, and, +passing the dismantled forts, ascend the river to Tientsin. + +In 1858 I spent two months at Taku and Tientsin in connection with +the tedious negotiations of that year. At the latter place I became +familiar with the dusty road to the treaty temple; and at the former +witnessed the capture of the forts by the combined squadrons of +Great Britain and France. The next year on the same ground I saw +the allied forces repulsed with heavy loss--a defeat avenged by +the capture of Peking in 1860. + +In the Boxer War the relief force met with formidable opposition +at Tientsin. The place has, however, risen with new splendour from +its half-ruined condition, and now poses as the principal residence +of the most powerful of the viceroys. Connected by the river with +the seaboard, by the Grand Canal with several provinces to the south, +and by rail with Peking, Hankow and Manchuria, Tientsin commands +the chief lines of +[Page 34] +communication in northern China. In point of trade it ranks as the +third in importance of the treaty ports. + +Three hours by rail bring us to the gates of Peking, the northern +capital. Formerly it took another hour to get within the city. +Superstition or suspicion kept the railway station at a distance; +now, however, it is at the Great Central Gate. Unlike Nanking, +Peking has nothing picturesque or commanding in its location. On +the west and north, at a distance of ten to twenty miles, ranges +of blue hills form a feature in the landscape. Within these limits +the eye rests on nothing but flat fields, interspersed with clumps +of trees overshadowing some family cemetery or the grave of some +grandee. + +Between the city and the hills are the Yuen Ming Yuen, the Emperor's +summer palace, burnt in 1860 and still an unsightly ruin, and the +Eho Yuen, the summer residence of the Empress Dowager. Enclosing +two or three pretty hills and near to a lofty range, the latter +occupies a site of rare beauty. It also possesses mountain water +in rich abundance. No fewer than twenty-four springs gush from +the base of one of its hills, feeding a pretty lake and numberless +canals. Partly destroyed in 1860, this palace was for many years as +silent as the halls of Palmyra. I have often wandered through its +neglected grounds. Now, every prominent rock is crowned with pagoda +or pavilion. There are, however, some things which the slave of the +lamp is unable to produce even at the command of an empress--there +are no venerable oaks or tall pines to lend their majesty to the +scene. + +Patachu, in the adjacent hills, used to be a favourite +[Page 35] +summer resort for the legations and other foreigners before the +seaside became accessible by rail. Its name, signifying the "eight +great places," denotes that number of Buddhist temples, built one +above another in a winding gorge on the hillside. In the highest, +called Pearl Grotto, 1,200 feet above the sea, I have found repose +for many a summer. I am there now (June, 1906), and there I expect +to write the closing chapters of this work. These temples are at my +feet; the great city is in full view. To that shrine the emperors +sometimes made excursions to obtain a distant prospect of the world. +One of them, Kien Lung, somewhat noted as a poet, has left, inscribed +on a rock, a few lines commemorative of his visit: + + "Why have I scaled this dizzy height? + Why sought this mountain den? + I tread as on enchanted ground, + Unlike the abode of men. + + "Beneath my feet my realm I see + As in a map unrolled, + Above my head a canopy + Adorned with clouds of gold." + +The capital consists of two parts: the Tartar city, a square of +four miles; and the Chinese city, measuring five miles by three. +They are separated by imposing walls with lofty towers, the outer +wall being twenty-one miles in circuit. At present the subject +people are permitted to mingle freely with their conquerors; but +most of the business is done in the Chinese city. Resembling other +Chinese towns in its unsavoury condition, this section contains two +imperial temples of great sanctity. One of these, the Temple of Heaven, +[Page 36] +has a circular altar of fine white marble with an azure dome in +its centre in imitation of the celestial vault. Here the Emperor +announces his accession, prays for rain, and offers an ox as a burnt +sacrifice at the winter solstice--addressing himself to Shang-ti, +the supreme ruler, "by whom kings reign and princes decree justice." + +The Temple of Agriculture, which stands at a short distance from +that just mentioned, was erected in honour of the first man who +cultivated the earth. In Chinese, he has no name, his title, Shin-nung +signifying the "divine husbandman"--a masculine Ceres. Might we not +call the place the Temple of Cain? There the Emperor does honour +to husbandry by ploughing a few furrows at the vernal equinox. +His example no doubt tends to encourage and comfort his toiling +subjects. + +Another temple associated with these is that of Mother Earth, the +personified consort of Heaven; but it is not in this locality. +The eternal fitness of things requires that it should be outside +of the walls and on the north. It has a square altar, because the +earth is supposed to have "four corners." "Heaven is round and +Earth square," is the first line of a school reader for boys. The +Tartar city is laid out with perfect regularity, and its streets +and alleys are all of convenient width. + +Passing from the Chinese city through the Great Central Gate we +enter Legation Street, so called because most of the legations +are situated on or near it. Architecturally they make no show, +being of one story, or at most two stories, in height and hidden +[Page 37] +behind high walls. So high and strong are the walls of the British +Legation that in the Boxer War of 1900 it served the whole community +for a fortress, wherein we sustained a siege of eight weeks. A +marble obelisk near the Legation gate commemorates the siege, and +a marble gateway on a neighbouring street marks the spot where +Baron Ketteler was shot. Since that war a foreign quarter has been +marked out, the approaches to which have been partially fortified. +The streets are now greatly improved; ruined buildings have been +repaired; and the general appearance of the old city has been altered +for the better. + +Two more walled enclosures have to be passed before we arrive at +the palace. One of them forms a protected barrack or camping-ground +for the palace guards and other officials attendant on the court. The +other is a sacred precinct shielded from vulgar eyes and intrusive +feet, and bears the name "Forbidden City." In the year following the +flight of the court these palaces were guarded by foreign troops, +and were thrown open to foreign visitors. + +Marble bridges, balustrades, and stairways bewilder a stranger. +Dragons, phoenixes and other imaginary monsters carved on doorways +and pillars warn him that he is treading on sacred ground. The +ground, though paved with granite, is far from clean; and the +costly carvings within remind one of the saying of an Oriental +monarch, "The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in kings' +houses." None of the buildings has more than one story, but the +throne-rooms and great halls are so lofty as to suggest the dome +of a cathedral. The roofs are all covered with tiles of a +[Page 38] +yellow hue, a colour which even princes are not permitted to use. + +Separated from the palace by a moat and a wall is Prospect Hill, +a charming elevation which serves as an imperial garden. On the +fall of the city in 1643 the last of the Mings hanged himself +there--after having stabbed his daughter, like another Virginius, +as a last proof of paternal affection. + +From the gate of the Forbidden City to the palace officials high +and low must go on foot, unless His Majesty by special favour confers +the privilege of riding on horseback, a distinction which is always +announced in the _Gazette_ by the statement that His Majesty +has "given a horse" to So-and-So. No trolleys are to be seen in +the streets, and four-wheeled carriages are rare and recent. Carts, +camels, wheel-barrows, and the ubiquitous rickshaw are the means +of transport and locomotion. The canals are open sewers never used +for boats. + +Not lacking in barbaric splendour, as regards the convenience of +living this famous capital will not compare with a country village of +the Western world. On the same parallel as Philadelphia, but dryer, +hotter, and colder, the climate is so superb that the city, though +lacking a system of sanitation, has a remarkably low death-rate. +In 1859 I first entered its gates. In 1863 I came here to reside. +More than any other place on earth it has been to me a home; and +here I am not unlikely to close my pilgrimage. + +On my first visit, I made use of Byron's lines on Lisbon to express my +impressions of Peking. Though there are now some signs of improvement +in the city +[Page 39] +the quotation can hardly be considered as inapplicable at the present +time. Here it is for the convenience of the next traveller: + + "...Whoso entereth within this town, + That, sheening far, celestial seems to be, + Disconsolate will wander up and down, + 'Mid many things unsightly to strange ee: + For hut and palace show like filthily: + The dingy denizens are rear'd in dirt; + Ne personage of high or mean degree + Doth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt..." + (_Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the First_, st. xvii.) + +Returning to the station we face about for the south and take tickets +for Paoting-fu. We are on the first grand trunk railway of this +empire. It might indeed be described as a vertebral column from +which iron roads will ere long be extended laterally on either side, +like ribs, to support and bind together the huge frame. Undertaken +about twelve years ago it has only recently been completed as far +as Hankow, about six hundred miles. The last spike in the bridge +across the Yellow River was driven in August, 1905, and since that +time through trains have been running from the capital to the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang. + +This portion has been constructed by a Belgian syndicate, and their +task has been admirably performed. I wish I could say as much of +the other half (from Hankow to Canton), the contract for which +was given to an American company. After a preliminary survey this +company did no work, but, under pretext of waiting for tranquil +times, watched the fluctuations of the share market. The whole +enterprise was eventually +[Page 40] +taken over by a native company opposed to foreign ownership--at an +advance of 300 per cent. It was a clever deal; but the Americans +sacrificed the credit and the influence of their country, and a +grand opportunity was lost through cupidity and want of patriotism. + +This iron highway is destined in the near future to exert a mighty +influence on people and government. It will bring the provinces +together and make them feel their unity. It will also insure that +communication between the north and the south shall not be interrupted +as it might be were it dependent on sea or canal. These advantages +must have been so patent as to overcome an inbred hostility to +development. Instead of being a danger, these railways are bound +to become a source of incalculable strength. + +Paoting-fu was the scene of a sad tragedy in 1900, and when avenging +troops appeared on the scene, and saw the charred bones of missionaries +among the ashes of their dwellings, they were bent on destroying +the whole city, but a missionary who served as guide begged them +to spare the place. So grateful were the inhabitants for his kindly +intervention that they bestowed on the mission a large plot of +ground--showing that, however easily wrought up, they were not +altogether destitute of the better feelings of humanity. + +Continuing our journey through half a dozen considerable cities, +at one of which, Shunteh-fu, an American mission has recently been +opened, we reach the borders of the province of Honan. + + + + +[Page 41] +CHAPTER VIII + +PROVINCE OF HONAN + +_A Great Bridge--K'ai-fung-fu--Yellow Jews_ + +Passing the border city of Weihwei-fu, we find ourselves arrested +by the Hwang Ho--not that we experience any difficulty in reaching +the other bank; but we wish to indulge our curiosity in inspecting +the means of transit. It is a bridge, and such a bridge as has no +parallel on earth. Five miles in length, it is longer than any +other bridge built for the passage of a river. It is not, however, +as has been said, the longest bridge in the world; the elevated +railway of New York is a bridge of much greater length. So are +some of the bridges that carry railways across swamp-lands on the +Pacific Coast. Bridges of that sort, however, are of comparatively +easy construction. They have no rebellious stream or treacherous +quicksands to contend with. Cæsar's bridge over the Rhine was an +achievement worthy to be recorded among the victories of his Gallic +wars; but it was a child's plaything in comparison with the bridge +over the Yellow River. Cæsar's bridge rested on sesquipedalian +beams of solid timber. The Belgian bridge is supported on tubular +piles of steel of sesquipedalian diameter driven by steam or screwed +down into the sand to a depth of fifty feet. + +There have been other bridges near this very spot +[Page 42] +with which it might be compared. One of them was called Ta-liang, +the "Great Bridge," and gave name to a city. Another was Pien-liang, +"The Bridge of Pien," one of the names of the present city of +K'ai-fung-fu. That bridge has long since disappeared; but the name +adheres to the city. + +What an unstable foundation on which to erect a seat of empire! +Yet the capital has been located in this vicinity more than once +or twice within the last twenty-five centuries. The first occasion +was during the dynasty of Chou (1100 B. c.), when the king, to be +more central, or perhaps dreading the incursions of the Tartars, +forsook his capital in Shensi and followed the stream down almost +to the sea, braving the quicksands and the floods rather than face +those terrible foes. Again, in the Sung period, it was the seat +of government for a century and a half. + +The safest refuge for a fugitive court which, once established +there, has no reason to fear attack by sea or river, it is somewhat +strange that in 1900 the Empress Dowager did not direct her steps +toward K'ai-fung-fu, instead of escaping to Si-ngan. Being, however, +herself a Tartar, she might have been expected to act in a way +contrary to precedents set by Chinese dynasties. Obviously, she +chose the latter as a place of refuge because it lay near the borders +of Tartary. It is noteworthy that a loyal governor of Honan at that +very time prepared a palace for her accommodation in K'ai-fung-fu, +and when the court was invited to return to Peking, he implored +her not to risk herself in the northern capital. + +Honan is a province rich in agricultural, and probably +[Page 43] +in mineral, resources, but it has no outlet in the way of trade. +What a boon this railway is destined to be, as a channel of +communication with neighbouring provinces! + +I crossed the Yellow River in 1866, but there was then no bridge +of any kind. Two-thirds of a mile in width, with a furious current, +the management of the ferry-boat was no easy task. On that occasion +an object which presented stronger attractions than this wonderful +bridge had drawn me to K'ai-fung-fu--a colony of Jews, a fragment +of the Lost Tribes of Israel. As mentioned in a previous chapter, I +had come by land over the very track now followed by the railroad, +but under conditions in strong contrast with the luxuries of a +railway carriage--"Alone, unfriended, solitary, slow," I had made my +way painfully, shifting from horse to cart, and sometimes compelled +by the narrowness of a path to descend to a wheelbarrow. How I +longed for the advent of the iron horse. Now I have with me a jovial +company; and we may enjoy the mental stimulus of an uninterrupted +session of the Oriental Society, while making more distance in +an hour than I then made in a day. + +Of the condition of the Jews of K'ai-fung-fu, as I found them, +I have given a detailed account elsewhere.[*] Suffice it to say +here that the so-called colony consisted of about four hundred +persons, belonging to seven families or clans. Undermined by a +flood of the Yellow River, their synagogue had become ruinous, +and, being unable to repair it, they had disposed of its timbers +to relieve the pressure of their dire poverty. +[Page 44] +Nothing remained but the vacant space, marked by a single stone +recording the varying fortunes of these forlorn Israelites. It +avers that their remoter ancestors arrived in China by way of India +in the Han dynasty, before the Christian era, and that the founders +of this particular colony found their way to K'ai-fung-fu in the +T'ang dynasty about 800 A. D. It also gives an outline of their +Holy Faith, showing that, in all their wanderings, they had not +forsaken the God of their fathers. They still possessed some rolls +of the Law, written in Hebrew, on sheepskins, but they no longer +had a rabbi to expound them. They had forgotten the sacred tongue, +and some of them had wandered into the fold of Mohammed, whose +creed resembled their own. Some too had embraced the religion of +Buddha. + +[Footnote *: See "Cycle of Cathay." Revell & Co., New York.] + +My report was listened to with much interest by the rich Jews of +Shanghai, but not one of them put his hand in his pocket to rebuild +the ruined synagogue; and without that for a rallying-place the +colony must ere long fade away, and be absorbed in the surrounding +heathenism, or be led to embrace Christianity. + +I now learn that the Jews of Shanghai have manifested enough interest +to bring a few of their youth to that port for instruction in the +Hebrew language. Also that some of these K'ai-fung-fu Jews are +frequent attendants in Christian chapels, which have now been opened +in that city. To my view, the resuscitation of that ancient colony +would be as much of a miracle as the return from captivity in the +days of Cyrus. + + + + +[Page 45] +CHAPTER IX + +THE RIVER PROVINCES + +_Hupeh--Hankow--Hanyang Iron Works--A Centre of Missionary +Activity--Hunan--Kiangsi--Anhwei--Native Province of Li Hung Chang_ + +By the term "river provinces" are to be understood those provinces +of central and western China which are made accessible to intercourse +and trade by means of the Yang-tse Kiang. + +Pursuing our journey, in twelve hours by rail we reach the frontier +of Hupeh. At that point we see above us a fortification perched on +the side of a lofty hill which stands beyond the line. At a height +more than double that of this crenelated wall is a summer resort of +foreigners from Hankow and other parts of the interior. I visited +this place in 1905. In Chinese, the plateau on which it stands is +called, from a projecting rock, the "Rooster's Crest"; shortened +into the more expressive name, the "Roost," it is suggestive of the +repose of summer. It presents a magnificent prospect, extending +over a broad belt of both provinces. + +Six hours more and we arrive in Hankow, which is one of three cities +built at the junction of the Han and the Yang-tse, the Tripolis of +China, a tripod of empire, the hub of the universe, as the Chinese +fondly regard it. The other two cities are Wuchang, the capital +[Page 46] +of the viceroyalty, and Hanyang, on the opposite bank of the river. + +In Hankow one beholds a Shanghai on a smaller scale, and in the +other two cities the eye is struck by indications of the change +which is coming over the externals of Chinese life. + +At Hanyang, which is reached by a bridge, may be seen an extensive +and well-appointed system of iron-works, daily turning out large +quantities of steel rails for the continuation of the railway. It +also produces large quantities of iron ordnance for the contingencies +of war. This is the pet enterprise of the enlightened Viceroy Chang +Chi-tung; but on the other side of the Yang-tse we have cheering +evidence that he has not confined his reforms to transportation and +the army. There, on the south bank, you may see the long walls and +tall chimneys of numerous manufacturing establishments--cotton-mills, +silk filatures, rope-walks, glass-works, tile-works, powder-works--all +designed to introduce the arts of the West, and to wage an industrial +war with the powers of Christendom. There, too, in a pretty house +overlooking the Great River, I spent three years as aid to the viceroy +in educational work. In the heart of China, it was a watch-tower from +which I could look up and down the river and study the condition +of these inland provinces. + +This great centre was early preëmpted by the pioneers of missionary +enterprise. Here Griffith John set up the banner of the cross forty +years ago and by indefatigable and not unfruitful labours earned +for himself the name of "the Apostle of Central China." +[Page 47] +In addition he has founded a college for the training of native +preachers. The year 1905 was the jubilee of his arrival in the +empire. Here, too, came David Hill, a saintly man combining the +characters of St. Paul and of John Howard, as one of the pioneers +of the churches of Great Britain. These leaders have been followed +by a host who, if less distinguished, have perhaps accomplished +more for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. Without the +coöperation of such agencies all reformatory movements like those +initiated by the viceroy must fall short of elevating the people +to the level of Christian civilisation. + +The London Mission, the English Wesleyans, and the American +Episcopalians, all have flourishing stations at Wuchang. The Boone +school, under the auspices of the last-named society, is an admirable +institution, and takes rank with the best colleges in China. + +At Hankow the China Inland Mission is represented by a superintendent +and a home for missionaries in transit. At that home the Rev. J. +Hudson Taylor, the founder of that great society, whom I call the +Loyola of Protestant missions, spent a few days in 1906; and there +Dr. John and I sat with him for a group of the "Three Senior +Missionaries" in China. + +The river provinces may be divided into lower and upper, the +dividing-line being at Ichang near the gorges of the Yang-tse. Hupeh +and Hunan, Kiangsi and Anhwei occupy the lower reach; Szechuen, +Kweichau, and Yünnan, the upper one. The first two form one viceregal +district, with a population exceeding that of any European country +excepting Russia. + +[Page 48] +Hupeh signifies "north of the lake"; Hunan, "south of the lake"--the +great lake of Tungting lying between the two. Hupeh has been open to +trade and residence for over forty years; but the sister province +was long hermetically sealed against the footprints of the white +man. Twenty or even ten years ago to venture within its limits +would have cost a European his life. Its capital, Changsha, was +the seat of an anti-foreign propaganda from which issued masses of +foul literature; but the lawless hostility of the people has been +held in check by the judicious firmness of the present viceroy, +and that city is now the seat of numerous mission bodies which +are vying with each other in their efforts to diffuse light and +knowledge. It is also open to commerce as a port of trade. + +One of the greatest distinctions of the province is its production +of brave men, one of the bravest of whom was the first Marquis Tseng +who, at the head of a patriotic force from his native province, +recaptured the city of Nanking and put an end to the chaotic government +of the Taiping rebels--a service which has ever since been recognised +by the Chinese Government in conferring the viceroyalty of Nanking +on a native of Hunan. + +Lying to the south of the river, is the province of Kiangsi, containing +the Poyang Lake, next in size to the Tungting. Above its entrance +at Kiukiang rises a lone mountain which bears the name of Kuling. +Beautifully situated, and commanding a wide view of lake and river, +its sides are dotted with pretty cottages, erected as summer resorts +for people from all the inland ports. Here may be seen the flags of many +[Page 49] +nations, and here the hard-worked missionary finds rest and recreation, +without idleness; for he finds clubs for the discussion of politics +and philosophy, and libraries which more than supply the absence of +his own. Just opposite the entrance to the lake stands the "Little +Orphan," a vine-clad rock 200 feet in height, with a small temple +on the top. It looks like a fragment torn from the mountain-side +and planted in the bosom of the stream. Fancy fails to picture +the convulsion of which the "Little Orphan" is the monument. + +Farther down is the province of Anhwei which takes its name from +its chief two cities, Anking and Weichou. In general resembling +Kiangsi, it has two flourishing ports on the river, Anking, the +capital, and Wuhu. Of the people nothing noteworthy is to be observed, +save that they are unusually turbulent, and their lawless spirit +has not been curbed by any strong hand like that of the viceroy +at Wuchang.[*] The province is distinguished for its production +of great men, of whom Li Hung Chang was one. + +[Footnote *: This was written before the Nanchang riot of March, +1906.] + + + + +[Page 50] +CHAPTER X + +PROVINCES OF THE UPPER YANG-TSE + +_A Perilous Passage--Szechuen--Kweichau, the Poorest Province +in China--Yünnan--Tribes of Aborigines_ + +Thus far our voyage of exploration, like one of Cook's tours, has +been personally conducted. From this point, however, I must depend +upon the experience of others: the guide himself must seek a guide +to conduct him through the remaining portions of the empire. + +We enter the Upper Yang-tse by a long and tortuous passage through +which the "Great River" rushes with a force and a roar like the +cataracts of the Rhine, only on a vastly greater scale. In some +bygone age volcanic forces tore asunder a mountain range, and the +waters of the great stream furrowed out a channel; but the obstructing +rocks, so far from being worn away, remain as permanent obstacles +to steam navigation and are a cause of frequent shipwrecks. Yet, +undeterred by dangers that eclipse Scylla and Charybdis, the laborious +Chinese have for centuries past carried on an immense traffic through +this perilous passage. In making the ascent their junks are drawn +against the current by teams of coolies, tens or hundreds of the +latter being harnessed to the tow-lines of one boat and driven +like a bullock train in South Africa. Slow +[Page 51] +and difficult is the ascent, but swift and perilous the downward +passage. + +No doubt engineering may succeed in removing some of the obstacles +and in minifying the dangers of this passage. Steam, too, may supply +another mode of traction to take the place of these teams of men. +A still revolution is in prospect, namely a ship canal or railway. +The latter, perhaps, might be made to lift the junks bodily out of +the water and transport them beyond the rapids. Two cities, however, +would suffer somewhat by this change in the mode of navigation, +namely, Ichang at the foot and Chungking at the head of the rapids. +The latter is the chief river port of Szechuen, a province having +four times the average area. + +The great province of Szechuen, if it only had the advantages of +a seacoast, would take the lead in importance. As it is, it is +deemed sufficiently important, like Chihli, to have a viceroy of +its own. The name signifies the "four rivers," and the province has +as many ranges of mountains. One of them, the Omeshan, is celebrated +for its beauty and majesty. The mountains give the province a great +variety of climate, and the rivers supply means of transportation +and irrigation. Its people, too, are more uniform in language and +character than those of most other regions. Their language partakes +of the Northern mandarin. Near the end of the Ming dynasty the +whole population is said to have been destroyed in the fratricidal +wars of that sanguinary period. The population accordingly is +comparatively sparse, and the cities are said to present a new and +prosperous aspect. Above Szechuen +[Page 52] +lie the two provinces of Kweichau and Yünnan, forming one viceroyalty +under the name of Yünkwei. + +Kweichau has the reputation of being the poorest province in China, +with a very sparse population, nearly one-half of whom are aborigines, +called _shans_, _lolos_, and _miaotzes_. + +Yünnan (signifying not "cloudy south," but "south of the cloudy +mountains") is next in area to Szechuen. Its resources are as yet +undeveloped, and it certainly has a great future. Its climate, +if it may be said to have one, is reputed to be unhealthful, and +among its hills are many deep gorges which the Chinese say are +full of _chang chi_, "poisonous gases" which are fatal to men +and animals--like the Grotto del Cane in Italy. But these gorges +and cliffs abound in better things also. They are rich in unexploited +coal measures and they contain also many mines of the purest copper +ore. The river that washes its borders here bears the name of Kinsha, +the river of "golden sands." Some of its rivers have the curious +peculiarity of flowing the reverse way, that is, to the west and +south instead of toward the eastern sea. The Chinese accordingly +call the province "Tiensheng" the country of the "converse streams." + +Within the borders of Yünnan there are said to be more than a hundred +tribes of aborigines all more or less akin to those of Kweichau +and Burma, but each under its own separate chief. Some of them +are fine-looking, vigorous people; but the Chinese describe them +as living in a state of utter savagery. Missionaries, however, +have recently begun work for them; and we may hope that, as for +the Karens of +[Page 53] +Burma, a better day will soon dawn on the Yünnan aborigines. + +The French, having colonies on the border, are naturally desirous +of exploiting the provinces of this southern belt, and China is +intensely suspicious of encroachment from that quarter. + + + + +[Page 54] +CHAPTER XI + +NORTHWESTERN PROVINCES + +_Shansi--Shensi--Earliest Known Home of the Chinese--Kansuh_ + +Of the three northwestern provinces, the richest is Shansi. More +favoured in climate and soil than the other members of the group, its +population is more dense. Divided from Chihli by a range of hills, +its whole surface is hilly, but not mountainous. The highlands give +variety to its temperature--condensing the moisture and supplying +water for irrigation. The valleys are extremely fertile, and of +them it may be said in the words of Job, "As for the earth, out of +it cometh bread: and underneath it is turned up as it were fire." +Not only do the fields yield fine crops of wheat and millet, but +there are extensive coal measures of excellent quality. Iron ore +also is found in great abundance. Mining enterprises have accordingly +been carried on from ancient times, and they have now, with the +advent of steam, acquired a fresh impetus. It follows, of course, +that the province is prolific of bankers. Shansi bankers monopolise +the business of finance in all the adjacent provinces. + +Next on the west comes the province of Shensi, from _shen_, a +"strait or pass" (not _shan_ a "hill"), and _si_, "west." + +[Page 55] +Here was the earliest home of the Chinese race of which there is +any record. On the Yellow River, which here forms the boundary of +two provinces, stands the city of Si-ngan where the Chou dynasty +set up its throne in the twelfth century B. C. Since that date +many dynasties have made it the seat of empire. Their palaces have +disappeared; but most of them have left monumental inscriptions +from which a connected history might be extracted. To us the most +interesting monument is a stone, erected about 800 A. D. to commemorate +the introduction of Christianity by some Nestorian missionaries +from western Asia. + +The province of Kansuh is comparatively barren. Its boundaries +extend far out into regions peopled by Mongol tribes; and the +neighbourhood of great deserts gives it an arid climate unfavourable +to agriculture. Many of its inhabitants are immigrants from Central +Asia and profess the Mohammedan faith. It is almost surrounded by +the Yellow River, like a picture set in a gilded frame, reminding +one of that river of paradise which "encompasseth the whole land +of Havilah where there is gold." Whether there is gold in Kansuh +we have yet to learn; but no doubt some grains of the precious +metal might be picked up amongst its shifting sands. + + + + +[Page 56] +CHAPTER XII + +OUTLYING TERRITORIES + +_Manchuria--Mongolia--Turkestan--Tibet, the Roof of the World--Journey +of Huc and Gabet._ + +Beyond the eastern extremity of the Great Wall, bounded on the +west by Mongolia, on the north by the Amur, on the east by the +Russian seaboard, and on the south by Korea and the Gulf of Pechili, +lies the home of the Manchus--the race now dominant in the Chinese +Empire. China claims it, just as Great Britain claimed Normandy, +because her conquerors came from that region; and now that two +of her neighbours have exhausted themselves in fighting for it, +she will take good care that neither of them shall filch the jewel +from her crown. + +That remarkable achievement, the conquest of China by a few thousand +semi-civilised Tartars, is treated in the second part of this work. + +Manchuria consists of three regions now denominated provinces, +Shengking, Kairin, and Helungkiang. They are all under one +governor-general whose seat is at Mukden, a city sacred in the +eyes of every Manchu, because there are the tombs of the fathers +of the dynasty. + +The native population of Manchuria having been drafted off to garrison +and colonise the conquered +[Page 57] +country, their deserted districts were thrown open to Chinese settlers. +The population of the three provinces is mainly Chinese, and, +assimilated in government to those of China, they are reckoned +as completing the number of twenty-one. Opulent in grain-fields, +forests, and minerals, with every facility for commerce, no part of +the empire has a brighter future. So thinly peopled is its northern +portion that it continues to be a vast hunting-ground which supplies +the Chinese market with sables and tiger-skins besides other peltries. +The tiger-skins are particularly valuable as having longer and +richer fur than those of Bengal. + +Of the Manchus as a people, I shall speak later on.[*] Those remaining +in their original habitat are extremely rude and ignorant; yet +even these hitherto neglected regions are now coming under the +enlightening influence of a system of government schools. + +[Footnote *: Part II. page 140 and 142; part III, pages 267-280] + +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, if not of the Empire, +is scarcely better known than the mountain regions of Tibet, a +large portion of its area being covered with deserts as uninviting +and as seldom visited as the African Sahara. One route, however, +has been well trodden by Russian travellers, namely, that lying +between Kiachta and Peking. + +In the reign of Kanghi the Russians were granted the privilege of +establishing an ecclesiastical mission to minister to a Cossack +garrison which the Emperor had captured at Albazin trespassing on +his grounds. Like another Nebuchadnezzar, he transplanted them +to the soil of China. He also permitted the Russians +[Page 58] +to bring tribute to the "Son of Heaven" once in ten years. That +implied a right to trade, so that the Russians, like other envoys, +in Chinese phrase "came lean and went away fat." But they were +not allowed to leave the beaten track: they were merchants, not +travellers. Not till the removal of the taboo within the last +half-century have these outlying dependencies been explored by +men like Richthofen and Sven Hedin. Formerly the makers of maps +garnished those unknown regions + + "With caravans for want of towns." + +Sooth to say, there are no towns, except Urga, a shrine for pilgrimage, +the residence of a living Buddha, and Kiachta and Kalgan, terminal +points of the caravan route already referred to. + +Kiachta is a double town--one-half of it on each side of the +Russo-Chinese boundary--presenting in striking contrast the magnificence +of a Russian city and the poverty and filth of a Tartar encampment. +The whole country is called in Chinese "the land of grass." Its +inhabitants have sheepfolds and cattle ranches, but neither fields +nor houses, unless tents and temporary huts may be so designated. +To this day, nomadic in their habits, they migrate from place to +place with their flocks and herds as the exigencies of water and +pasturage may require. + +Lines of demarcation exist for large tracts belonging to a tribe, +but no minor divisions such as individual holdings. The members of +a clan all enjoy their grazing range in common, and hold themselves +ready to fight for the rights of their chieftain. Bloody feuds +lasting for generations, such as would rival those of +[Page 59] +the Scottish clans, are not of infrequent occurrence. Their Manchu +overlord treats these tribal conflicts with sublime indifference, +as he does the village wars in China. + +The Mongolian chiefs, or "princes" as they are called, are forty-eight +in number. The "forty-eight princes" is a phrase as familiar to +the Chinese ear as the "eighteen provinces" is to ours. Like the +Manchus they are arranged in groups under eight banners. Some of +them took part in the conquest, but the Manchus are too suspicious +to permit them to do garrison duty in the Middle Kingdom, lest the +memories of Kublai Khan and his glory should be awakened. They +are, however, held liable to military service. Seng Ko Lin Sin +("Sam Collinson" as the British dubbed him), a Lama prince, headed +the northern armies against the Tai-ping rebels and afterwards +suffered defeat at the hands of the British and French before the +gates of Peking. + +In the winter the Mongol princes come with their clansmen to revel +in the delights of Cambalu, the city of the great Khan, as they +have continued to call Peking ever since the days of Kublai, whose +magnificence has been celebrated by Marco Polo. Their camping-ground +is the Mongolian Square which is crowded with tabernacles built +of bamboo and covered with felt. In a sort of bazaar may be seen +pyramids of butter and cheese, two commodities that are abominations +to the Chinese of the south, but are much appreciated by Chinese +in Peking as well as by the Manchus. One may see also mountains +of venison perfectly fresh; the frozen carcasses of "yellow sheep" +[Page 60] +(really not sheep, but antelopes); then come wild boars in profusion, +along with badgers, hares, and troops of live dogs--the latter only +needing to be wild to make them edible. This will give some faint +idea of Mongolia's contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis. +Devout Buddhist as he is, the average Mongol deems abstinence from +animal food a degree of sanctity unattainable by him. + +Mongols of the common classes are clad in dirty sheepskins. Their +gentry and priesthood dress themselves in the spoils of wolf or +fox--more costly but not more clean. Furs, felt, and woollen fabrics +of the coarsest texture may also be noticed. Raiment of camel's +hair, strapped with a leathern girdle after the manner of John +the Baptist, may be seen any day, and the wearers are not regarded +as objects of commiseration. + +Their camel, too, is wonderfully adapted to its habitat. Provided +with two humps, it carries a natural saddle; and, clothed in long +wool, yellow, brown or black, it looks in winter a lordly beast. +Its fleece is never shorn, but is shed in summer. At that season +the poor naked animal is the most pitiable of creatures. In the +absence of railways and carriage roads, it fills the place of the +ship of the desert and performs the heaviest tasks, such as the +transporting of coals and salt. Most docile of slaves, at a word +from its master it kneels down and quietly accepts its burden. + +At Peking there is a lamasary where four hundred Mongol monks are +maintained in idleness at the expense of the Emperor. Their manners +are those of highwaymen. They have been known to lay rough +[Page 61] +hands on visitors in order to extort a charitable dole; and, if +rumour may be trusted, their morals are far from exemplary. + +My knowledge of the Mongols is derived chiefly from what I have +seen of them in Peking. I have also had a glimpse of their country +at Kalgan, beyond the Great Wall. A few lines from a caravan song +by the Rev. Mark Williams give a picture of a long journey by those +slow coaches: + + "Inching along, we are inching along, + At the pace of a snail, we are inching along, + Our horses are hardy, our camels are strong, + We all shall reach Urga by inching along. + + "The things that are common, all men will despise; + But these in the desert we most highly prize. + For water is worth more than huge bags of gold + And argols than diamonds of value untold." + --_A Flight for Life_, Pilgrim Press, Boston. + +Politically Turkestan is not Mongolia, but Tamerlane, though born +there, was a Mongol. His descendants were the Moguls of India. At +different epochs peoples called Turks and Huns have wandered over +the Mongolian plateau, and Mongols have swept over Turkestan. To +draw a line of demarcation is neither easy nor important. In the +Turkestan of to-day the majority of the people follow the prophet +of Mecca. Russia has absorbed most of the khanates, and has tried +more than once to encroach on portions belonging to China. In one +instance she was foiled and compelled to disgorge by the courage of +Viceroy Chang, a story which I reserve for the sequel. The coveted +region was Ili, and Russia's pretext for crossing the +[Page 62] +boundary was the chronic state of warfare in which the inhabitants +existed. + +Tibet is the land of the Grand Lama. Is it merely tributary or +is it a portion of the Chinese Empire? This is a question that +has been warmly agitated during the last two years--brought to +the front by Colonel Younghusband's expedition and by a treaty +made in Lhasa. Instead of laying their complaints before the court +of Peking, the Indian Government chose to settle matters on the +spot, ignoring the authority of China. Naturally China has been +provoked to instruct her resident at Lhasa to maintain her rights. + +A presumptive claim might be based on the fact, that the Grand Lama +took refuge at Urga, where he remained until the Empress Dowager +ordered him to return to his abandoned post. China has always had +a representative at his court; but his function would appear to +be that of a political spy rather than an overseer, governor, or +even adviser. Chinese influence in Tibet is nearly _nil_. +For China to assert authority by interference and to make herself +responsible for Tibet's shortcomings would be a questionable policy, +against which two wars ought to be a sufficient warning. She was +involved with France by her interference in Tongking and with Japan +by interference in Korea. Too much intermeddling in Tibet might +easily embroil her with Great Britain. + +In one sense the Buddhist pope may justly claim to be the highest of +earthly potentates. No other sits on a throne at an equal elevation +above the level of the sea. Like Melchizedeck, he is without father +or mother--each occupant of the throne being a fresh +[Page 63] +incarnation of Buddha. The signs of Buddhaship are known only to +the initiated; but they are supposed to consist in the recognition +of places, persons, and apparel. These lamas never die of old age. + +While in other parts of the Empire polygamy prevails for those +who can afford it, in Tibet polyandry crops up. Which is the more +offensive to good morals we need not decide; but is it not evident +that Confucianism shows its weakness on one side as Buddhism does +on the other? A people that tolerates either or both hardly deserves +to be regarded as civilised. + +The Chinese call Tibet the "roof of the world," and most of it is +as barren as the roof of a house. Still the roof, though producing +nothing, collects water to irrigate a garden. Tibet is the mother +of great rivers, and she feeds them from her eternal snows. On her +highlands is a lake or cluster of lakes which the Chinese describe +as _Sing Su Hai_, the "sea of stars." From this the Yellow +River takes its rise and perhaps the Yang-tse Kiang. A Chinese +legend says that Chang Chien poled a raft up to the source of the +Yellow River and found himself in the Milky Way, _Tienho_, +the "River of Heaven." + +Fifty years ago two intrepid French missionaries, Huc and Gabet, +made their way to Lhasa, but they were not allowed to remain there. +The Chinese residents made them prisoners, under pretext of giving +them protection, and sent them to the seacoast through the heart +of the empire. They were thus enabled to see the vast interior +at a time when it was barred alike to traveller and missionary. +Of this adventurous +[Page 64] +journey Huc's published "Travels" is the immortal monument. + +We have thus gone over China and glanced at most of her outlying +dependencies. The further exploration of Tibet we may postpone +until she has made good her claims to dominion in that mountain +region. The vastness of the Chinese Empire and the immensity of +its population awaken in the mind a multitude of questions to which +nothing but history can give an adequate reply. We come therefore +to the oracle whose responses may perhaps be less dubious than +those of Delphi. + + + + +[Page 65] +PART II + +HISTORY IN OUTLINE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + + + +[Page 67] +CHAPTER XIII + +ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE + +_Parent Stock a Migratory People--They Invade China from the +Northwest and Colonise the Banks of the Yellow River and of the +Han--Their Conflicts with the Aborigines--Native Tribes Absorbed +by Conquerors_ + +That the parent stock in which the Chinese nation had its origin +was a small migratory people, like the tribes of Israel, and that +they entered the land of promise from the northwest is tolerably +certain; but to trace their previous wanderings back to Shinar, +India, or Persia would be a waste of time, as the necessary data +are lacking. Even within their appointed domain the accounts of +their early history are too obscure to be accepted as to any extent +reliable. + +They appear to have begun their career of conquest by colonising +the banks of the Yellow River and those of the Han. By slow stages +they moved eastward to the central plain and southward to the Yang-tse +Kiang. At that early epoch, between 3000 and 2000 B. C., they found the +country already occupied by various wild tribes whom they considered +as savages. In their early traditions they describe these tribes +respectively by four words: those of the south are called _Man_ +(a word with the silk radical); those on the east, _Yi_ (with +[Page 68] +the bow radical); those on the north, _Tih_ (represented by +a dog and fire); and those on the west, _Jung_ ("war-like, +fierce," the symbol for their ideograph being a spear). Each of +these names points to something distinctive. Some of these tribes +were, perhaps, spinners of silk; some, hunters; and all of them, +formidable enemies. + +The earliest book of history opens with conflicts with aborigines. +There can be no question that the slow progress made by the invaders +in following the course of those streams on which the most ancient +capitals of the Chinese were subsequently located was owing to the +necessity of fighting their way. Shun, the second sovereign of +whose reign there is record (2200 B. c.), is said to have waged +war with San Miao, three tribes of _miaotze_ or aborigines, +a term still applied to the independent tribes of the southwest. +Beaten in the field, or at least suffering a temporary check, he +betook himself to the rites of religion, making offerings and praying +to Shang-ti, the supreme ruler. "After forty days," it is stated, +"the natives submitted." + +In the absence of any explanation it may be concluded that during +the suspension of hostilities negotiations were proceeding which +resulted not in the destruction of the natives, but in their +incorporation with their more civilised neighbours. This first +recorded amalgamation of the kind was doubtless an instance of +a process of growth that continued for many centuries, resulting +in the absorption of all the native tribes on the north of the +Yang-tse and of most of those on the south. The expanding state +was eventually composed of a vast body of natives who submitted +[Page 69] +to their civilised conquerors, much as the people of Mexico and +Peru consented to be ruled by a handful of Spaniards.[*] + +[Footnote *: To this day, the bulk of the people in those countries +show but small traces of Spanish blood. Juarez, the famous dictator, +was a pure Indian.] + +As late as the Christian era any authentic account of permanent +conquests in China to the south of the "Great River" is still wanting, +though warlike expeditions in that direction were not infrequent. The +people of the northern provinces called themselves _Han-jin_, +"men of Han" or "sons of Han," while those of the south styled +themselves _T'ang-jin_, "men of T'ang." Does not this indicate +that, while the former were moulded into unity by the great dynasty +which took its name from the river Han (206 B. c.), the latter +did not become Chinese until the brilliant period of the T'angs, +nearly a thousand years later? Further confirmation need not be +adduced to show that the empire of the Far East contemporary with, +and superior in civilisation to, ancient Rome, embraced less than +the eighteen provinces of China Proper. Of the nine districts into +which it was divided by Ta-yü, 2100 B. C. not one was south of +the "Great River." + + + + +[Page 70] +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MYTHICAL PERIOD + +_Account of Creation--P'an-ku, the Ancient Founder--The Three +Sovereigns--The Five Rulers, the Beginnings of Human Civilisation--The +Golden Age--Yau, the Unselfish Monarch--Shun, the Paragon of Domestic +Virtues--Story of Ta-yü--Rise of Hereditary Monarchy_ + +Unlike the Greeks and Hindoos, the Chinese are deficient in the sort +of imagination that breeds a poetical mythology. They are not, however, +wanting in that pride of race which is prone to lay claim to the past +as well as to the future. They have accordingly constructed, not a +mythology, but a fictitious history which begins with the creation of +the world. + +How men and animals were made they do not say; but they assert that +heaven and earth were united in a state of chaos until a divine man, +whom they call P'an-ku, the "ancient founder," rent them asunder. +Pictures show him wielding his sledge-hammer and disengaging sun +and moon from overlying hills--a grotesque conception in strong +contrast with the simple and sublime statement, "God said, 'Let +there be light' and there was light." P'an-ku was followed by a +divine being named Nü-wa, in regard to whom it +[Page 71] +is doubtful whether to speak in the feminine or in the masculine +gender. Designated queen more frequently than king, it is said +of her that, a portion of the sky having fallen down (probably +owing to the defective work of her predecessor), she rebuilt it +with precious stones of many colours. _Lien shih pu tien_, +"to patch the sky with precious stones," is a set phrase by which +the Chinese indicate that which is fabulous and absurd. + +Instead of filling the long interval between the creation of the +world and the birth of history with gods and fairies, the Chinese +cover that period by three sovereigns whom they call after their +favourite triad, heaven, earth, and man, giving them the respective +titles Tién-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang. Each of these reigned +eighteen thousand years; but what they reigned over is not apparent. +At all events they seem to have contributed little to the comfort +of their people; for at the close of that long period the wretched +inhabitants of the empire--the only country then known to exist +on earth--had no houses, no clothes, no laws, and no letters. + +Now come five personages who, in accordance with Chinese historical +propriety, are likewise invested with imperial dignity and are +called Wu-ti, "the five rulers." Collectively they represent the +first appearance of the useful arts, the rude beginnings of human +civilisation. One of these rulers, noticing that birds constructed +nests, taught his people to build huts, from which he is called the +"nest builder." Another was the Prometheus of his day and obtained +fire, not, however, by stealing it from the sun, but by +[Page 72] +honestly working for it with two pieces of wood which he rubbed +together. The third of these rulers, named Fuhi, appears to have been +the teacher of his people in the art of rearing domestic animals; +in other words, the initiator of pastoral life, and possibly the +originator of sacrificial offerings. The fourth in order introduced +husbandry. As has been stated in a previous chapter (see page 36), +he has no name except Shin-nung, "divine husbandman"; and under +that title he continues to be worshipped at the present day as +the Ceres of China. The Emperor every spring repairs to his temple +to plough a few furrows by way of encouragement to his people. The +last of the five personages is called the "yellow ruler," whether +from the colour of his robes, or as ruler of the yellow race, is +left in doubt. He is credited with the invention of letters and +the cycle of sixty years, the foundation of Chinese chronology +(2700 B. C.). + +Unlike the long twilight which precedes the dawn in high latitudes, +the semi-mythical age was brief, covering no more than two reigns, +those of Yao and Shun. Confucius regarded these as included in +the "five rulers." To make room for them, he omits the first two; +and he seldom refers to the others, but appears to accept them as +real personages. He is no critic; but he has shown good sense in +drawing the line no further back. He has made the epoch of these +last a golden age (2356-2206) which is not the creation of a poet, +but the conception of a philosopher who wished to have an open space +on which to build up his political theories. He found, moreover, +in these primitive times some features by which he was +[Page 73] +greatly fascinated. The simplicity and freedom which appeared to +prevail in those far-off days were to him very attractive. + +It is related that Yao, the type of an unselfish monarch, while +on a tour of inspection in the disguise of a peasant, heard an +old man singing this song to the notes of his guitar: + + "I plough my ground and eat my own bread, + I dig my well and drink my own water: + What use have I for king or court?" + +Yao returned to his palace, rejoicing that the state of his country +was such that his people were able to forget him. + +Another feature which the Chinese hold up in bold relief is the fact +that in those days the occupancy of the throne was not hereditary. +Yao is said to have reigned a hundred years. When he was growing old +he saw with grief that his son showed no signs of being a worthy +successor. Setting him aside, therefore, he asked his ministers +to recommend someone as his heir. They all agreed in nominating +Shun. "What are his merits?" asked the King. "Filial piety and +fraternal kindness," they replied. "By these virtues he has wrought +a reform in a family noted for perverseness." The King desiring +to know the facts, they related the following story: + +"Shun's father is an ill-natured, blind man. He has a cruel stepmother +and a selfish, petulant younger brother. This boy, the pet of his +parents, treated Shun with insolence; and the father and mother +joined in persecuting the elder son. Shun, without showing resentment, +cried aloud to Heaven and obtained +[Page 74] +patience to bear their harshness. By duty and affection he has won +the hearts of all three." "Bring him before me," said the King; "I +have yet another trial by which to test his virtues." Yao made him +his son-in-law, giving him his two daughters at once. He wished to +see whether the good son and brother would also be a good husband and +father--an example for his people in all their domestic relations. +Shun accepted the test with becoming resignation and comported +himself to the satisfaction of the old king, who raised him to the +throne. After a reign of fifty years, partly as Yao's associate, +Shun followed the example of his father-in-law. Passing by his +own son, he left the throne to Ta-yü or Yü, a man who had been +subjected to trials far more serious than that of having to live +in the same house with a pair of pretty princesses. + +A question discussed in the school of Mencius, many centuries later, +may be cited here for the light it throws on the use made by Chinese +schoolmen of the examples of this period. "Suppose," said one of +his students, "that Shun's father had killed a man, would Shun, +being king, have allowed him to be condemned?" "No," replied the +master; "he would have renounced the throne and, taking his father +on his shoulders, he would have fled away to the seaside, rejoicing +in the consciousness of having performed the duty of a filial son." +Shun continues to be cited as the paragon of domestic virtues, +occupying the first place in a list of twenty-four who are noted +for filial piety. + +The trial by which the virtues of Ta-yü were proved +[Page 75] +was an extraordinary feat of engineering--nothing less than the +subduing of the waters of a deluge. "The waters," said the King, +"embosom the high hills and insolently menace heaven itself. Who +will find us a man to take them in hand and keep them in place?" +His ministers recommended one Kun. Kun failed to accomplish the +task, and Shun, who in this case hardly serves for the model of a +just ruler, put him to death. Then the task was imposed on Ta-yü, the +son of the man who had been executed. After nine years of incredible +hardships he brought the work to a successful termination. During this +time he extended his care to the rivers of more than one province, +dredging, ditching, and diking. Three times he passed his own door +and, though he heard the cries of his infant son, he did not once +enter his house. The son of a criminal who had suffered death, +a throne was the meed of his diligence and ability. + +A temple in Hanyang, at the confluence of two rivers, commemorates +Ta-yü's exploit, which certainly throws the labours of Hercules +completely into the shade. On the opposite side of the river stands +a pillar, inscribed in antique hieroglyphics, which professes to +record this great achievement. It is a copy of one which stands +on Mount Hang; and the characters, in the tadpole style, are so +ancient that doubts as to their actual meaning exist among scholars +of the present day. Each letter is accordingly accompanied by its +equivalent in modern Chinese. The stone purports to have been erected +by Ta-yü himself--good ground for suspicion--but it has been +[Page 76] +proved to be a fabrication of a later age, though still very ancient.[*] + +[Footnote *: Dr. Hänisch of Berlin has taken great pains to expose +the imposture.] + +In the two preceding reigns the sovereign had always consulted +the public good rather than family interest--a form of monarchy +which the Chinese call elective, but which has never been followed, +save that the Emperor exercises the right of choice among his sons +irrespective of primogeniture. The man who bears the odium of having +departed from the unselfish policy of Yao and Shun is this same +Ta-yü. He left the throne to his son and, as the Chinese say, "made +of the empire a family estate." + +This narrative comes from the _Shu-King_ or "Book of History," +the most venerated of the Five Classics edited by Confucius; but +the reader will readily perceive that it is no more historical +than the stories of Codrus or Numa Pompilius. + +In the reign of Yao we have an account of astronomical observations +made with a view to fixing the length of the year. The King tells +one man to go to the east and another to the west, to observe the +culmination and transit of certain stars. As a result he says they +will find that the year consists of 366 days, a close approximation +for that epoch. The absurdity of this style, which attributes +omniscience to the prince and leaves to his agents nothing but +the task of verification, should not be allowed to detract from +the credit due to their observations. The result arrived at was +about the same as that reached by the Babylonians at the same date +(2356 B. c.) + +Other rulers who are credited with great inventions +[Page 77] +probably made them in the same way. Whether under Fuhi or Hwang-ti, +Ts'ang-kié is recognised as the Cadmus of China, the author of its +written characters; and Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, is admitted +to be the author of the cycle of sixty. Both of those emperors +may be imagined as calling up their ministers and saying to one, +"Go and invent the art of writing," and to the other, "Work out +a system of chronology." + +In the same way, the inception of the culture of the silkworm and the +discovery of the magnetic needle are attributed to the predecessors +of Yao, probably on the principle that treasure-trove was the property +of the King and that if no claimant for the honour could be found +it must be attributed to some ancient monarch. The production of +silk, as woman's work, they profess to assign to the consort of one +of those worthies--a thing improbable if not impossible, her place +of residence being in the north of China. Their picture-writing tells +a different tale. Their word for a southern barbarian, compounded of +"silk" and "worm," points to the south as the source of that useful +industry, much as our word "silk," derived from _sericum_, +points to China as its origin. + + + + +[Page 78] +CHAPTER XV + +THE THREE DYNASTIES + +_The House of Hia--Ta-yu's Consideration for His Subjects--Kié's +Excesses--The House of Shang--Shang-tang, the Founder, Offers Himself +as a Sacrificial Victim, and Brings Rain--Chou-sin Sets Fire to +His Own Palace and Perishes in the Flames--The House of Chou_ + +The Hia, Shang and Chou dynasties together extend over the twenty-two +centuries preceding the Christian Era. The first occupies 440 years; +the second, 644; and the last, in the midst of turmoil and anarchy, +drags out a miserable existence of 874 years. They are grouped +together as the San Tai or San Wang, "the Three Houses of Kings," +because that title was employed by the founder of each. Some of +their successors were called _Ti_; but _Hwang-ti_, the +term for "emperor" now in use, was never employed until it was +assumed by the builder of the Great Wall on the overthrow of the +feudal states and the consolidation of the empire, 240 B. C. + + + THE HOUSE OF HIA, 2205-1766 B. C. + (17 kings, 2 usurpers) + +Unlike most founders of royal houses, who come to the throne through +a deluge of blood, Ta-yü, as has been shown in the last chapter, +climbed to that eminence +[Page 79] +through a deluge of water. Like Noah, the hero of an earlier deluge, +he seems to have indulged, for once at least, too freely in the use +of wine. A chapter in the "Book of History," entitled "A Warning +Against Wine," informs us that one Yiti having made wine presented +it to his prince. Ta-yü was delighted with it, but discontinued its +use, saying that in time to come kings would lose their thrones +through a fondness for the beverage. In China "wine" is a common +name for all intoxicating drinks. That referred to in this passage +was doubtless a distillation from rice or millet. + +In the discharge of his public duties Ta-yü showed himself no less +diligent than in contending with the waters. He hung at his door a +bell which the poorest of his subjects might ring and thus obtain +immediate attention. It is said that when taking a bath, if he heard +the bell he sometimes rushed out without adjusting his raiment +and that while partaking of a meal, if the bell rang he did not +allow himself time to swallow his rice. + +Prior to laying down his toilsome dignity Ta-yü caused to be cast +nine brazen tripods, each bearing an outline map or a description +of one of the provinces of the empire. In later ages these were +deemed preeminently the patent of imperial power. On one occasion a +feudal prince asked the question, "How heavy are these tripods?" A +minister of state, suspecting an intention to remove them and usurp +the power, replied in a long speech, proving the divine commission +of his master, and asked in conclusion, "Why then should you inquire +the weight of these tripods?" + +[Page 80] +Of the subsequent reigns nothing worth repetition is recorded except +the fall of the dynasty. This, however, is due more to the meagreness +of the language of that day than to the insignificance of the seventeen +kings. Is it not probable that they were occupied in making good +their claim to the nine provinces emblazoned on the tripods? + +Kié, the last king, is said to have fallen under the fascination +of a beautiful woman and to have spent his time in undignified +carousals. He built a mountain of flesh and filled a tank with +wine, and to amuse her he caused 3,000 of his courtiers to go on +all fours and drink from the tank like so many cows. + + + THE SHANG DYNASTY, 1766-1122 B. C. + (28 kings) + +The founder of this dynasty was Shang-tang, or Cheng-tang, who to +great valour added the virtues of humanity and justice. Pitying +the oppressions of the people, he came to them as a deliverer; +and the frivolous tyrant was compelled to retire into obscurity. +A more remarkable exhibition of public spirit was the offering +of himself as a victim to propitiate the wrath of Heaven. In a +prolonged famine, his prayers having failed to bring rain, the +soothsayers said that a human victim was required. "It shall be +myself," he replied; and, stripping off his regal robes, he laid +himself on the altar. A copious shower was the response to this +act of devotion. + +The successor of Shang-tang was his grandson T'ai-kia, who was under +the tutelage of a wise minister +[Page 81] +named I-yin. Observing the indolence and pleasure-loving disposition +of the young man, the minister sent him into retirement for three +years that he might acquire habits of sobriety and diligence. The +circumstance that makes this incident worth recording is that the +minister, instead of retaining the power in his own family, restored +the throne to its rightful occupant. + +Another king of this house, by name P'an-keng, has no claim to +distinction other than that of having moved his capital five times. +As we are not told that he was pursued by vindictive enemies, we +are left to the conjecture that he was escaping from disastrous +floods, or, perhaps under the influence of a silly superstition, +was in quest of some luckier site. + +Things went from bad to worse, and finally Chou-sin surpassed in +evil excesses the man who had brought ruin upon the House of Hia. +The House of Shang of course suffered the same fate. An ambitious +but kind-hearted prince came forward to succour the people, and +was welcomed by them as a deliverer. The tyrant, seeing that all +was lost, arrayed himself in festal robes, set fire to his own +palace, and, like another Sardanapalus, perished in the flames. + +He and Kié make a couple who are held up to everlasting execration +as a warning to tyrannical princes. Like his remote predecessor, +Chou-sin is reputed to have been led into his evil courses by a +wicked woman, named Ta-ki. One suspects that neither one nor the +other stood in need of such prompting. According to history, bad +kings are generally worse than bad queens. In China, however, a +woman is considered out of place +[Page 82] +when she lays her hand on the helm of state. Hence the tendency +to blacken the names of those famous court beauties. + +If Mencius may be believed, the tyrants themselves were not quite +so profligate as the story makes them. He says, "Dirty water has +a tendency to accumulate in the lowest sinks"; and he warns the +princes of his time not to put themselves in a position in which +future ages will continue to heap opprobrium on their memory. + +Of the wise founders of this dynasty it is said that they "made +religion the basis of education," as did the Romans, who prided +themselves on devotion to their gods. In both cases natural religion +degenerated into gross superstition. In the number of their gods +the Chinese have exceeded the Romans; and they refer the worship +of many of them to the Shang dynasty. + +The following dynasty, that of Chou (35 sovereigns, 1122-249 B. +C.) merits a separate chapter. + + + + +[Page 83] +CHAPTER XVI + +HOUSE OF CHOU + +_Wen-wang, the founder--Rise and Progress of Culture--Communistic +Land Tenure--Origin of the term "Middle Kingdom"--Duke Chou and +Cheng wang, "The Completer"--A Royal Traveller--Li and Yu, two +bad kings_ + +The merciful conqueror who at this time rescued the people from +oppression was Wu-wang, the martial king. He found, it is said, the +people "hanging with their heads downward" and set them on their +feet. On the eve of the decisive battle he harangued his troops, +appealing to the Deity as the arbiter, and expressing confidence in +the result. "The tyrant," he said, "has ten myriads of soldiers, +and I have but one myriad. His soldiers, however, have ten myriads +of hearts, while my army has but one heart." + +When the battle had been fought and won he turned his war-horses +out to pasture and ordained that they should be forever free from +yoke and saddle. Could he have been less humane in the treatment +of his new subjects? + +The credit of his victory he gave to ten wise counsellors, one +of whom was his mother. History, however, ascribes it in a large +degree to his father, Wen-wang, +[Page 84] +who was then dead, but who had prepared the way for his son's triumph. + +Wen-wang, the Beauclerc of the Chous, is one of the most notable +figures in the ancient history of China. A vassal prince, by wise +management rather than by military prowess he succeeded in enlarging +his dominions so that he became possessor of two-thirds of the +empire. He is applauded for his wisdom in still paying homage to +his feeble chief. The latter, however, must have regarded him with +no little suspicion, as Wen-wang was thrown into prison, and only +regained his liberty at the cost of a heavy ransom. Wen-wang apparently +anticipated a mortal struggle; for it is related that, seeing an +old man fishing, he detected in him an able general who had fled +the service of the tyrant. "You," said he, "are the very man I +have been looking for"; and, taking him up into his chariot, as +Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the assurance of coming victory. +The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung, the ancestor of the royal House +of Ts'i in Shantung. Though eighty-one years of age he took command +of the cavalry and presided in the councils of his new master. + +Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-wang should be the real +founder of the new dynasty; for now for the first time those pictured +symbols become living blossoms from which the fruits of learning and +philosophy are to be gathered. The rise and progress of a generous +culture is the chief characteristic of the House of Chou. Besides +encouraging letters Wen-wang contributed much to the new literature. +He is known as a commentator in the _Yih-King_, "Book of Changes," +[Page 85] +pronounced by Confucius the profoundest of the ancient classics--a +book which he never understood. + +In theory there was under this and the preceding dynasty no private +ownership of land. The arable ground was laid out in plots of nine +squares, thus: + + ----------- +| | | | +| | | | +|---|---|---| +| | | | +| | | | +|---|---|---| +| | | | +| | | | + ----------- + +Eight of these were assigned to the people to cultivate for themselves; +and the middle square was reserved for the government and tilled +by the joint labour of all. The simple-hearted souls of that day +are said to have prayed that the rains might first descend on the +public field and then visit their private grounds. + +In later years this communistic scheme was found not to work perfectly, +owing, it is said, to the decay of public virtue. A statesman, named +Shangyang, converted the tenure of land into fee simple--a natural +evolution which was, however, regarded as quite too revolutionary +and earned for him the execrations of the populace. + +The charming simplicity of the above little diagram would seem +to have suggested the arrangement of fiefs in the state, in which +the irregular feudality of former times became moulded into a +symmetrical system. The sovereign state was in the centre; and those +of the feudal barons were ranged on the four sides in successive +rows. The central portion was designated _Chung Kwoh_, "Middle +Kingdom," a title which has come to be applied to the whole empire, +implying, of course, that all the nations of the earth are its +vassals. + +Laid out with the order of a camp and ruled with martial vigour, +the new state prospered for a few reigns. +[Page 86] +At length, however, smitten with a disease of the heart the members +no longer obeyed the behests of the head. Decay and anarchy are +written on the last pages of the history of the House of Chou. + +The martial king died young, leaving his infant heir under the +regency of his brother, the Duke of Chou. The latter, who inherited +the tastes and talents of Wen-wang, was avowedly the character which +the great Sage took for his pattern. With fidelity and ability he +completed the pacification of the state. The credit of that achievement +inured to his ward, who received the title of _Cheng-wang_, +"The Completer." + +Accused of scheming to usurp the throne, the Duke resigned his +powers and withdrew from the court. The young prince, opening a +golden casket, found in it a prayer of his uncle, made and sealed +up during a serious illness of the King, imploring Heaven to accept +his life as a ransom for his royal ward. This touching proof of +devotion dispelled all doubt; and the faithful duke was recalled +to the side of the now full-grown monarch. + +Even during the minority of his nephew the Duke never entered his +presence in other than full court costume. On one occasion the +youthful king, playing with a younger brother, handed him a palm +leaf saying, "This shall be your patent of nobility. I make you +duke of such and such a place." The regent remonstrated, whereupon +the King excused himself by saying, "I was only in sport." The +Duke replied, "A king has no right to indulge in such sports," and +insisted that the younger lad receive the investiture and +[Page 87] +emoluments. He was also, it is said, so careful of the sacred person +that he never left on it the mark of his rod. When the little king +deserved chastisement, the guardian always called up his own son, +Pechin, and thrashed him soundly. One pities the poor fellow who +was the innocent substitute more than one admires the scrupulous +and severe regent. The Chinese have a proverb which runs, "Whip +an ass and let a horse see it." + +What shall be said of the successors of Cheng-wang? To account +for the meagre chronicles of previous dynasties one may invoke +the poverty of a language not yet sufficiently mature for the +requirements of history; but for the seeming insignificance of +the long line of Chous, who lived in the early bloom, if not the +rich fruitage, of the classic period, no such apology is admissible. + +Some there were, doubtless, who failed to achieve distinction because +they had no foreign foe to oppose, no internal rebellion to suppress. +Others, again, were so hampered by system that they had nothing +better to do than to receive the homage of vassals. So wearied +was one among them, Mu-wang, the fifth in succession, with those +monotonous ceremonies that he betook himself to foreign travel +as a relief from ennui, or perhaps impelled by an innate love of +adventure. He delighted in horses; and, yoking eight fine steeds +to his chariot, he set off to see the world. A book full of fables +professes to record the narrative of his travels. He had, it says, +a magic whip which possessed the property of compressing the surface +of the earth into a small space. To-day Chinese envoys, with steam and +[Page 88] +electricity at command, are frequently heard to exclaim: "Now at +last we have got the swift steeds and the magic whip of Mu-wang." + +Two other kings, Li and Yu, are pointed at with the finger of scorn +as examples of what a king ought not to be. The latter set aside +his queen and her son in favour of a concubine and her son; and +so offended was high heaven by this unkingly conduct that the sun +hid his face in a total eclipse. This happened 775 B. C.; and it +furnishes the starting-point for a reliable chronology. For her +amusement the king caused the signal-fires to be lighted. She laughed +heartily to see the great barons rush to the rescue and find it was +a false alarm; but she did not smile when, not long after this, +the capital was attacked by a real foe, the father of her injured +rival. The signal-fires were again lighted; but the barons, having +once been deceived by the cry of "Wolf," took care not to expose +themselves again to derision. + +The other king has not been lifted into the fierce light that beats +upon a throne by anything so tragic as a burning palace; but his +name is coupled with that of the former as a synonym of all that +is weak and contemptible. + +The story of the House of Chou is not to be disposed of in a few +paragraphs, like the accounts of the preceding dynasties, because +it was preëminently the formative period of ancient China; the age +of her greatest sages, and the birthday of poetry and philosophy. +I shall therefore devote a chapter to the sages and another to the +reign of anarchy before closing the Book of Chou. + + + + +[Page 89] +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SAGES OF CHINA + +_Confucius--Describes Himself as Editor, not Author--"Model Teacher +of All Ages"--Mencius--More Eloquent than his Great Master--Lao-tse, +the Founder of Taoism_ + +I shall not introduce the reader to all who justly bear the august +title of sage; for China has had more and wiser sages than any other +ancient country. Some of them may be referred to in the sequel; but +this chapter I shall devote chiefly to the two who by universal +consent have no equals in the history of the Empire--Confucius and +Mencius. These great men owe much of their fame to the learned +Jesuits who first brought them on the stage, clad in the Roman toga, +and made them citizens of the world by giving them the euphonious +names by which they are popularly known. Stripped of their disguise +they appear respectively as K'ung Fu-tse and Meng-tse. Exchanging +the _ore rotunda_ of Rome for the sibillation of China, they +never could have been naturalised as they are now. + + +CONFUCIUS + +Born in the year 549 B. C., Confucius was contemporaneous with +Isaiah and Socrates. Of a respectable but not opulent family he +had to struggle for his +[Page 90] +education--a fact which in after years he was so far from concealing +that he ascribed to it much of his success in life. To one who +asked him, "How comes it that you are able to do so many things," +he replied, "I was born poor and had to learn." His schoolmasters +are unknown; and it might be asked of him, as it was of a greater +than Confucius, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" + +Of his self-education, which continued through life, he gives the +following concise account: "At fifteen I entered on a life of study; +at thirty I took my stand as a scholar; at forty my opinions were +fixed; at fifty I knew how to judge and select; at sixty I never +relapsed into a known fault; at seventy I could follow my inclinations +without going wrong." Note how each stage marks an advance towards +moral excellence. Mark also that this passage gives an outline +of self-discipline. It says nothing of his books or of his work +as a statesman and a reformer. + +He is said to have had, first and last, three thousand disciples. +Those longest under instruction numbered twelve. They studied, not +with lectures and textbooks, as in modern schools, but by following +his footsteps and taking the impress of his character, much as +Peter and John followed the steps and studied the life of Christ. +Some of them followed Confucius when, bent on effecting a political +as well as an ethical reform, he travelled from court to court +among the petty principalities. They have placed it on record that +once, when exposed to great peril, he comforted them by saying, +"If Heaven has made me the depositary of these teachings, what +can my enemies do against +[Page 91] +me?" Nobly conscious of a more than human mission, so pure were +his teachings that, though he taught morals, not religion, he might +fairly, with Socrates, be allowed to claim a sort of inspiration. + +The one God, of whom he knew little, he called Heaven, and he always +spoke of Heaven with the profoundest reverence. When neglected or +misunderstood he consoled himself by saying, "Heaven knows me." +During a serious illness a disciple inquired if he should pray for +him, meaning the making of offerings at some temple. Confucius +answered, "I have long prayed," or "I have long been in the habit +of praying." + +In letters he described himself as an "editor, not an author," +meaning that he had revised the works of the ancients, but had +published nothing of his own. Out of their poetry he culled three +hundred odes and declared that "purity of thought" might be stamped on +the whole collection. Into a confused mass of traditional ceremonies +be brought something like order, making the Chinese (if a trifle too +ceremonious) the politest people on earth. Out of their myths and +chronicles he extracted a trustworthy history, and by his treatment +of vice he made princes tremble, lest their heads should be exposed +on the gibbet of history. He gave much time to editing the music +of the ancients, but his work in that line has perished. This, +however, cannot be regarded as a very great loss, in view of the rude +condition in which Chinese music is still found. However deficient +his knowledge of the art, his passion for music was extraordinary. +After hearing a fine performance "he was unable for +[Page 92] +three months to enjoy his food." A fifth task was the editing of +the _Yih-King_,[*] the book of divination compiled by Wen-wang. +How thoroughly he believed in it is apparent from his saying, "Should +it please Heaven to grant me five or ten years to study this book, +I would not be in danger of falling into great errors." He meant +that he would then be able to shape his conduct by the calculation +of chances. + +[Footnote *: This and the preceding are the Five Classics, which, +like the five books of Moses, lie at the root of a nation's religion +and learning.] + +Great as were his labours in laying the foundation of literary +culture, the impression made by his personal intercourse and by +his collected sayings has been ten-fold more influential. They form +the substance of the Four Books which, from a similar numerical +coincidence, the Chinese are fond of comparing with our Four Gospels. +Confucius certainly gives the Golden Rule as the essence of his +teaching. True, he puts it in a negative form, "Do not unto others +what you would not have them do to you"; but he also says, "My +doctrine is comprehended in two words, _chung_ and _shu_." +The former denotes fidelity; the latter signifies putting oneself +in the place of another, but it falls short of that active charity +which has changed the face of the world. + +It were easy to point out Confucius' limitations and mistakes; yet +on the whole his merits were such that his people can hardly be +blamed for the exaggerated honours which they show to his memory. +They style him the "model teacher of all ages," but they do not +invoke him as a tutelary deity, nor do they represent +[Page 93] +him by an image. Excessively honorific, their worship of Confucius +is not idolatry. + + +MENCIUS + +A hundred years later Mencius was born, and received his doctrine +through the grandson of the Sage. More eloquent than his great +master, more bold in rebuking the vices of princes, he was less +original. One specimen of his teaching must suffice. One of the +princes asking him, "How do you know that I have it in me to become +a good ruler?" he replied, "I am told that, seeing the extreme +terror of an ox that was being led to the altar, you released it +and commanded a sheep to be offered in its stead. The ox was before +your eyes and you pitied it; the sheep was not before your eyes +and you had no pity on it. Now with such a heart if you would only +think of your people, so as to bring them before your eyes, you +might become the best of rulers." + +Mencius lost his father in his infancy, but his mother showed rare +good sense in the bringing up of her only child. Living near a +butcher, she noticed that the boy mimicked the cries of the pigs. +She then removed to the gate of a cemetery; but, noticing that the +child changed his tune and mocked the wailing of mourners, she +struck her tent and took up her abode near a high school. There +she observed with joy that he learned the manners and acquired the +tastes of a student. Perceiving, however, that he was in danger +of becoming lazy and dilatory, she cut the warp of her web and +said, "My son, this is what you are doing with the web of life." + +[Page 94] +The tomb of each of these sages is in the keeping of one of his +descendants, who enjoys the emoluments of a hereditary noble. Mencius +himself says of the master whom he never saw, "Since men were born +on earth there has been no man like Confucius." + + +LAO-TSE + +I cannot close this chapter without a word or two on Lao-tse, the +founder of Taoism. He bore the family name of _Li_, "plum-tree," +either from the fact that his cottage was in a garden or possibly +because, like the Academics, he placed his school in a grove of +plum-trees. The name by which he is now known signifies "old master," +probably because he was older than Confucius. The latter is said +to have paid him a visit to inquire about rites and ceremonies; +but Lao-tse, with his love of solitude and abstract speculation, +seems not to have exerted much influence on the mind of the rising +philosopher. In allusion to him, Confucius said, "Away from men +there is no philosophy--no _tao_." + +Less honoured by the official class, Lao-tse's influence with the +masses of China has been scarcely less than that of his younger +rival. Like the other two sages he, too, has to-day a representative, +who enjoys an official status as high priest of the Taoist sect. +Chang Tien-shi dwells in a stately palace on the summit of the +Tiger and Dragon Mountain, in Kiangsi, as the head of one of the +three religions. But, alas! the sublime teachings of the founder +of Taoism have degenerated into a contemptible mixture of jugglery +and witchcraft. + +[Page 95] +Not till five centuries later did Buddhism enter China and complete +the triad of religions--a triad strangely inharmonious; indeed one +can scarcely conceive of three creeds more radically antagonistic. + + + + +[Page 96] +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE WARRING STATES + +_Five Dictators--Diplomacy and Strategy--A Brave Envoy--Heroes +Reconciled--Ts'in Extinguishes the House of Chou_ + +In the first half of the Chou dynasty the machinery moved with +such regularity that Confucius could think of no form of government +more admirable, saying, "The policy of the future may be foretold +for a hundred generations--it will be to follow the House of Chou." +The latter half was a period of misrule and anarchy. + +Ambitions and jealousies led to petty wars. The King being too +feeble to repress them, these petty wars grew into vast combinations +like the leagues of modern Europe. Five of the states acquired at +different times such a preponderance that their rulers are styled +_Wu Pa_, the "five dictators." One of these, Duke Hwan of +western Shantung, is famous for having nine times convoked the +States-General. The dictator always presided at such meetings and +he was recognised as the real sovereign--as were the mayors of +the palace in France in the Merovingian epoch, or the shoguns in +Japan during the long period in which the Mikado was called the +"spiritual emperor." + +The legitimate sovereign still sat on his throne +[Page 97] +in the central state; but he complained that his only function was +to offer sacrifices. The Chinese dictatorship was not hereditary, +or the world might have witnessed an exact parallel to the duplicate +sovereignty in Japan, where one held the power and the other retained +the title for seven hundred years. + +In China the shifting of power from hand to hand made those four +centuries an age of diplomacy. Whenever some great baron was suspected +of aspiring to the leadership, combinations were formed to curb his +ambitions; embassies sped from court to court; and armies were +marshalled in the field. Envoys became noted for courage and cunning, +and generals acquired fame by their skill in handling large bodies +of soldiers. Diplomacy became an art, and war a science. + +An international code to control the intercourse of states began to +take shape; but the diplomat was not embarrassed by a multiplicity +of rules. In negotiations individual character counted for more than +it does at the present day; nor must it be supposed that in the +absence of our modern artillery there was no room for generalship. +On the contrary, as battles were not decided by the weight of metal, +there was more demand for strategy. + +All this was going on in Greece at this very epoch: and, as Plutarch +indulges in parallels, we might point to compeers of Themistocles +and Epaminondas. The cause which in the two countries led to this +state of things was the existence of a family of states with a +common language and similar institutions; but in the Asiatic empire +the theatre was vastly more extensive, +[Page 98] +and the operations in politics and war on a grander scale. + +To the honour of the Chinese it must be admitted that they showed +themselves more civilised than the Greeks. The Persian invasion +was provoked by the murder of ambassadors by the Athenians. Of +such an act there is no recorded instance among the warring states +of China. It was reserved for our own day to witness in Peking that +exhibition of Tartar ferocity. The following two typical incidents +from the voluminous chronicles of those times may be appropriately +presented here: + + +A BRAVE ENVOY + +The Prince of Ts'in, a semi-barbarous state in the northwest, answering +to Macedonia in Greece, had offered to give fifteen cities for +a kohinoor, a jewel belonging to the Prince of Chao (not Chou). +Lin Sian Ju was sent to deliver the jewel and to complete the +transaction. The conditions not being complied with, he boldly +put the jewel into his bosom and returned to his own state. That +he was allowed to do so--does it not speak as much for the morality +of Ts'in as for the courage of Lin? The latter is the accepted +type of a brave and faithful envoy. + + +HEROES RECONCILED + +Jealous of his fame, Lien P'o, a general of Chao, announced that he +would kill Lin at sight. The latter took pains to avoid a meeting. +Lien P'o, taxing him with cowardice, sent him a challenge, to which +Lin responded, "You and I are the pillars of our +[Page 99] +state. If either falls, our country is lost. This is why I have +shunned an encounter." So impressed was the general with the spirit +of this reply that he took a rod in his hand and presented himself +at the door of his rival, not to thrash the latter, but to beg +that he himself might be castigated. Forgetting their feud the two +joined hands to build up their native state much as Aristides and +Themistocles buried their enmity in view of the war with Persia. + +As the Athenian orators thundered against Macedon so the statesmen +of China formed leagues and counterplots for and against the rising +power of the northwest. The type of patient, shrewd diplomacy is Su +Ts'in who, at the cost of incredible hardships in journeying from +court to court, succeeded in bringing six of the leading states +into line to bar the southward movement of their common foe. His +machinations were all in vain, however; for not only was his ultimate +success thwarted by the counterplots of Chang Yee, an equally able +diplomatist, but his reputation, like that of Parnell in our own +times, was ruined by his own passions. The rising power of Ts'in, +like a glacier, was advancing by slow degrees to universal sway. In +the next generation it absorbed all the feudal states. Chau-siang +subjugated Tung-chou-Kiun, the last monarch of the Chou dynasty, and +the House of Chou was exterminated by Chwang-siang, who, however, +enjoyed the supreme power for only three years (249-246 B. C). + + + + +[Page 100] +CHAPTER XIX + +THE HOUSE OF TS'IN, 246-206 B. C. + +(2 Emperors) + +_Ts'in Shi-hwang-ti, "Emperor First"--The Great Wall--The Centralised +Monarchy--The title Hwang-ti--Origin of the name China--Burning +of the Books--Expedition to Japan--Revolution Places the House +of Han on the Throne_ + +"Viewed in the light of philosophy," says Schiller, "Cain killed +Abel because Abel's sheep trespassed on Cain's cornfield." From +that day to this farmers and shepherds have not been able to live +together in peace. A monument of that eternal conflict is the Great +Wall of China. Like the Roman Wall in North Britain, to compare +great things with small, its object was not to keep out the Tartars +but to reënforce the vigilance of the military pickets. That end +it seems to have accomplished for a long time. It was, the Chinese +say, the destruction of one generation and the salvation of many. +We shall soon see how it came to be a mere geographical expression. +For our present purpose it may also be regarded as a chronological +landmark, dividing ancient from mediæval China. + +With the House of Chou the old feudal divisions disappeared forever. +The whole country was brought +[Page 101] +under the direct sway of one emperor who, for the first time in +the history of the people, had built up a dominion worthy of that +august title. This was the achievement of Yin Cheng, the Prince +of Ts'in. He thereupon assumed the new style of Hwang-ti. Hwangs +and Tis were no novelty; but the combination made it a new coinage +and justified the additional appellation of "the First," or +Shi-hwang-ti. Four imperishable monuments perpetuate his memory: +the Great Wall, the centralised monarchy, the title _Hwang-ti_, +and the name of China itself--the last derived from a principality +which under him expanded to embrace the empire. Where is there +another conqueror in the annals of the world who has such solid +claims to everlasting renown? Alexander overthrew many nations; +but he set up nothing permanent. Julius Cæsar instituted the Roman +Empire; but its duration was ephemeral in comparison with that +of the empire founded by Shi-hwang-ti, the builder of the Wall. + +Though Shi-hwang-ti completed it, the wall was not the work of +his reign alone. Similarly the triumphs of his arms and arts were +due in large measure to his predecessors, who for centuries had +aspired to universal sway. Conscious of inferiority in culture, +they welcomed the aid and rewarded the services of men of talent +from every quarter. Some came as penniless adventurers from rival +or hostile states and were raised to the highest honours. + +Six great chancellors stand conspicuous as having introduced law +and order into a rude society, and paved the way for final success. +Every one of these was a "foreigner." The princes whom they served +[Page 102] +deserve no small praise for having the good sense to appreciate them +and the courage to follow their advice. Of some of these it might +be said, as Voltaire remarked of Peter the Great, "They civilised +their people, but themselves were savages." The world forgets how +much the great czar was indebted for education and guidance to Le +Fort, a Genevese soldier of fortune. Pondering that history one +is able to gauge the merits of those foreign chancellors, perhaps +also to understand what foreigners have done for the rulers of +China in our day. + +Shi-hwang-ti was the real founder of the Chinese Empire. He is one +of the heroes of history; yet no man in the long list of dynasties +is so abused and misrepresented by Chinese writers. They make him +a bastard, a debauchee, and a fool. To this day he is the object +of undying hatred to every one who can hold a pen. Why? it may +be asked. Simply because he burned the books and persecuted the +disciples of Confucius. Those two things, well-nigh incredible +to us, are to the Chinese utterly incomprehensible. + +Li-Sze, a native of Yen, was his chancellor, a genius more daring +and far-sighted than any of the other five. The welding together +of the feudal states into a compact unity was his darling scheme, +as it was that of his master. "Never," he said, "can you be sure +that those warring states will not reappear, so long as the books +of Confucius are studied in the schools; for in them feudalism is +consecrated as a divine institution." "Then let them be burned," +said the tyrant. + +The adherents of the Sage were ejected from the +[Page 103] +schools, and their teachings proscribed. This harsh treatment and +the search for their books naturally gave rise to counterplots. +"Put them to death," said the tyrant; and they went to the block, +not like Christian marytrs for religious convictions, but like the +Girondists of France for political principles. Their followers +offer the silly explanation that the books were destroyed that the +world might never know that there had been other dynasties, and +the scholars slaughtered or buried alive to prevent the reproduction +of the books. + +The First Hwang-ti did not confine his ambition to China. He sent +a fleet to Japan; and those isles of the Orient came to view for +the first time in the history of the world. The fleet carried, +it is said, a crew of three thousand lads and lasses. It never +returned; but the traditions of Japan affirm that it arrived, and +the islanders ascribe their initiation into Chinese literature +to their invasion by that festive company--a company not unlike +that with which Bacchus was represented as making the conquest +of India. Their further acquaintance with China and its sages was +obtained through Korea, which was long a middle point of communication +between the two countries. It was, in fact, from the Shantung +promontory, near to Korea, that this flotilla of videttes was +dispatched. + +What was the real object of that strange expedition? Chinese authors +assert that it was sent in search of the "elixir of life," but do +they not distort everything in the history of the First Hwang-ti? +The great monarch was, in fact, a devout believer in the fables +of Taoism, among which were stories of the Islands of +[Page 104] +the Blest, and of a fountain of immortality, such as eighteen centuries +later stimulated the researches of Ponce de Leon. The study of +alchemy was in full blast among the Chinese at that time. It probably +sprang from Taoism; but, in my opinion, the ambitious potentate, +sighing for other worlds to conquer, sent that jolly troop as the +vanguard of an army. + +In spite, however, of elixirs of life and fountains of youth, death +put an end to his conquests when he had enjoyed the full glories of +imperial power for only twelve years. His son reigned two years; +and the first of the imperial dynasties came to an end--overturned +by a revolution which placed the House of Han on the vacant throne. + + + + +[Page 105] +CHAPTER XX + +THE HOUSE OF HAN, 206--B. C.--220 A. D. + +(24 Emperors, 2 Usurpers) + +_Liu-pang Founds Illustrious Dynasty--Restoration of the Books--A +Female Reign--The Three Religions--Revival of Letters--Sze-ma Ts'ien, +the Herodotus of China--Conquests of the Hans_ + +The burning of the books and the slaughter of the scholars had +filled the public mind with horror. The oppressions occasioned by +the building of the Great Wall had excited a widespread discontent; +and Liu-pang, a rough soldier of Central China, took advantage of +this state of things to dispossess the feeble heir of the tyrant. +He founded a dynasty which is reckoned among the most illustrious +in the annals of the Empire. It takes the name of Han from the +river on the banks of which it rose to power. When Liu-pang was +securely seated on the throne one of his ministers proposed that he +should open schools and encourage learning. "Learning," exclaimed +the Emperor, "I have none of it myself, nor do I feel the need +of it. I got the empire on horseback." "But can you govern the +empire on horseback? That is the question," replied the minister. To +conciliate the favour of the learned, the Emperor not only rescinded +the persecuting edicts, but caused search to be made for +[Page 106] +the lost books, and instituted sacrificial rites in honour of the +Sage. + +Old men were still living who had committed those books to memory +in boyhood. One such, Fu-seng by name, was noted for his erudition; +and from his capacious memory a large portion of the sacred canon +was reproduced, being written from his dictation. The copies thus +obtained were of course not free from error. Happily a somewhat +completer copy, engraved on bamboo tablets, was discovered in the +wall of a house belonging to the Confucian family. Yet down to +the present day the Chinese classics bear traces of the tyrant's +fire. Portions are wanting and the lacunæ are always ascribed to +the "fires of Ts'in." The first chapter of the Great Study closes +with the pregnant words, "The source of knowledge is in the study +of things." Not a syllable is added on that prolific text. A note +informs the reader that there was a chapter on the subject, but that +it has been lost. Chinese scholars, when taxed with the barrenness +of later ages in every branch of science, are wont to make the +naïve reply, "Yes, and no wonder--how could it be otherwise when +the Sage's chapter on that subject has been lost?" + +After the second reign, that of Hwei-ti, we have the first instance +in Chinese history of a woman seizing the reins of government. +The Empress Lu made herself supreme, and such were her talents +that she held the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years. +Like Jezebel she "destroyed all the seed royal," and filled the +various offices with her kindred and favourites. At her death they +were butchered without +[Page 107] +mercy, and a male heir to the throne was proclaimed. His posthumous +title _Wen-ti_, meaning the "learned" or "patron of letters," +marks the progress made by the revival of learning. + +One might imagine that these literary emperors would have been +satisfied with the recovery of the Confucian classics; but no, a +rumour reached them that "there are sages in the West." The West +was India. An embassy was sent, 66 A. D., by Ming-ti to import +books and bonzes. The triad of religions was thus completed. + +Totally diverse in spirit and essence, the three religions could +hardly be expected to harmonise or combine. Confucianism exalts +letters, and lays stress on ethics to the neglect of the spiritual +world. Taoism inculcates physical discipline; but in practice it +has become the mother of degrading superstition--dealing in magic +and necromancy. Buddhism saps the foundations of the family and +enjoins celibacy as the road to virtue. Metempsychosis is its leading +doctrine, and to "think on nothing" its mental discipline. It forbids +a flesh diet and deprecates scholarship. Through imperial patronage +it acquired a footing in China, but it was long before it felt at +home there. As late as the eighth century Han Yu, the greatest +writer of the age, ridiculed the relics of Buddha and called on +his people to "burn their books, close their temples, and make +laity of their monks." + +Yet Buddhism seems to have met a want. It has fostered a sympathy +for animal life, and served as a protest against the Sadducean tenets +of the lettered class. It long ago became so rooted in the minds of +[Page 108] +the illiterate, who form nine-tenths of the population, that China +may be truly described as the leading Buddhist country of the globe.[*] + +[Footnote *: THE APOTHEOSIS OF MERCY + +A LEGEND OF KUANYIN PUSA--IN NORTHERN BUDDHISM + + Two images adorn this mountain shrine, + Not marble chiselled out by Grecian art, + But carved from wood with Oriental skill. + In days of yore adored by pilgrim throngs, + They languish now without a worshipper. + + High up a winding flight of stony steps + See Gautama upon his lotus throne! + More near the gate, her lovely face downcast, + Sits Mercy's Goddess, pity in her eye, + To greet the weary climbers and to hear + Their many-coloured tales of woe and want. + + The Buddha, in sublime repose, sees not + His prostrate worshippers; and they to him + No prayer address, save hymns of grateful praise.[1] + 'Twas he who for a blinded world sought out + The secret of escape from misery; + The splendour of a royal court resigned, + He found in poverty a higher realm! + Yet greater far the victory, when he broke + The chain of Fate and spurned the wheel of change. + To suffering humanity he says, + "Tread in my steps: You, too, may find release." + +[Footnote 1: Such as _Om mani padmi hum_ ("O the jewel in the lotus")] + + Like him, the Pusa was of princely birth, + But not like him did she forsake a throne, + Nor yet like him did she consent to see + Nirvana's pearly gates behind her close. + A field for charity her regal state. + Her path with ever-blooming flowers she strewed, + Her sympathy to joy a relish gave, + To sorrows manifold it brought relief, + Forgetting self she lived for others' weal + Till higher than Meru her merit rose.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Mt. Meru, the Indian Olympus.] + + At length a Voice celestial smote her ear. + "Nirvana's portal to thee open stands, + The crown of Buddhaship is thine by right. + No wave of care that shore can ever reach, + No cry of pain again thine ear assail; + But fixed in solitary bliss thou'lt see + The circling ages rolling at thy feet!" + + "Shall I then have no tidings of mankind? + Such heaven a throne of glittering ice would be. + That changeless bliss to others thou may'st give. + Happiest am I th' unhappy to upraise. + Oh for a thousand hands[3] the task to ply! + To succour and relieve be mine," she said, + "Bought though it be by share of suffering. + Turn then the wheel,[4] and back to earth again." + +[Footnote 3: She is often so represented, as the symbol of present +Providence.] + +[Footnote 4: _Lunhui_, the wheel of destiny, within which birth +and death succeed without end or interval.] + + From out the blue came down the Voice once more: + "Thy great refusal wins a higher prize; + A kingdom new thy charity hath gained.[5] + And there shalt thou, the Queen of Mercy, reign, + Aloof from pain or weakness of thine own, + With quickened sense to hear and power to save." + +[Footnote 5: She escapes the wheel, but remains on the border of +Nirvana, where, as her name signifies, she "hears the prayers of +men."] + + Fair image thou! Almost I worship thee, + Frail shadow of a Christ that hears and feels! + + W. A. P. M. + +PEARL GROTTO, NEAR PEKING, August 8, 1906.] + +Buddhist monasteries are to be seen on every hand. They are often +subsidised by the state; and even at the tomb of Confucius a temple was +erected called the "Hall of the Three Religions." In it the image of +[Page 109] +Buddha is said to have occupied the seat of honour, but prior to +the date of my visit it had been demolished. + +Each of these religions has a hierarchy: that of Confucius with +a lineal descendant of the Sage at its head; that of Lao-tse with +Chang Tien-shi, the arch-magician, as its high priest; and, higher +than all, that of Buddha with the Grand Lama of Tibet. + +Under the house of Han a beginning was made in the institution +of civil service examinations--a system which has continued to +dominate the Chinese intellect down to our time; but it was not +fully developed until the dynasty of T'ang. Belles-lettres made +a marked advance. The poetry of the period is more finished +[Page 110] +than that of the Chous. Prose composition, too, is vigorous and +lucid. The muse of history claims the place of honour. Sze-ma Ts'ien, +the Herodotus of China, was born in this period. A glory to his +country, the treatment Sze-ma Ts'ien received at the hands of his +people exposes their barbarism. He had recommended Li Ling as a +suitable commander to lead an expedition against the Mongols. Li +Ling surrendered to the enemy, and Sze-ma Ts'ien, as his sponsor, was +liable to suffer death in his stead. Being allowed an alternative, +he chose to submit to the disgrace of emasculation, in order that he +might live to complete his monumental work--a memorial better than +sons and daughters. A pathetic letter of the unfortunate general, +who never dared to return to China, is preserved amongst the choice +specimens of prose composition. + +Not content with the Great Wall for their northern limit nor with +the "Great River" for their southern boundary, the Hans attempted to +advance their frontiers in both directions. In the north they added +the province of Kansuh, and in the other direction they extended +their operations as far south as the borders of Annam; but they +did not make good the possession of the whole of the conquered +territory. Szechuen and Hunan were, however, added to their domain. +The latter seems to have served as a penal colony rather than an +integral portion of the Empire. A poem by Kiayi, an exiled statesman +(200 B. c.), is dated from Changsha, its capital.[*] + +[Footnote *: See "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +Martin.] + +In the south the savage tribes by which the Chinese +[Page 111] +were opposed made a deep impression on the character of the people, +but left no record in history. Not so with the powerful foe encountered +in the north. Under the title of Shanyu, he was a forerunner of +the Grand Khan of Tartary--claiming equality with the emperors of +China and exchanging embassies on equal terms. His people, known +as the Hiunghu, are supposed to have been ancestors of the Huns. + + + + +[Page 112] +CHAPTER XXI + +THE THREE KINGDOMS, THE NAN-PEH CHAO, AND THE SUI DYNASTY, 214-618 +A. D. + +_The States of Wei, Wu, and Shuh--A Popular Historical +Romance--Chu-koh Liang, an Inventive Genius--The "three P's," Pen, +Paper, Printing--The Sui Dynasty_ + +After four centuries of undisputed sway, the sceptre is seen ready +to fall from the nerveless hands of feeble monarchs. Eunuchs usurp +authority, and the hydra of rebellion raises its many heads. Minor +aspirants are easily extinguished; but three of them survive a +conflict of twenty years, and lay the foundation of short-lived +dynasties. + +The noble structure erected by the Ts'ins and consolidated by the +Hans began to crumble at the beginning of its fifth century of +existence. In 221 A. D. its fragments were removed to three cities, +each of which claimed to be the seat of empire. The state of Wei +was founded by Tsao Tsao, with its capital at Lo-yang, the seat +of the Hans. He had the further advantage, as mayor of the palace, +of holding in his power the feeble emperor Hwan-ti, the last of the +house of Han. The state of Wu, embracing the provinces of Kiangsu, +Kiangsi, and Chehkiang, was established by Siun Kien, a man of +distinguished ability +[Page 113] +who secured his full share of the patrimony. The third state was +founded by Liu Pi, a scion of the imperial house whose capital +was at Chingtu-fu in Szechuen. The historian is here confronted +by a problem like that of settling the apostolic succession of +the three popes, and he has decided in favour of the last, whom +he designates the "Later Han," mainly on the ground of blood +relationship. + +Authority for this is found in the dynastic history; but reference +may also be made to a romance which deals with the wars of those +three states. Composed by Lo Kwan-chung and annotated by Kin Sheng +Tan, it is the most popular historical novel in the whole range +of Chinese literature. Taking the place of a national epic, its +heroes are not of one type or all on one side, but its favourites +are found among the adherents of Liu Pi. It opens with a scene +in which Liu, Kwan, and Chang, like the three Tells on Grütli, +meet in a peach-garden and take vows of brotherhood--drinking of a +loving-cup tinged with the blood of each and swearing fidelity to +their common cause. Of the three brothers the first, Liu Pi, after +a long struggle, succeeds in founding a state in western China. The +second, Kwan Yü, is the beau-ideal of patriotic courage. In 1594 he +was canonised as the god of war. The gifted author has, therefore, +the distinction, beyond that of any epic poet of the West, of having +created for his countrymen their most popular deity. Chang-fi, the +youngest of the three brothers, is the inseparable henchman of +the Chinese Mars. He wields a spear eighteen feet in length with +a dash and impetuosity which no enemy is able to withstand. + +[Page 114] +Other characters are equally fixed in the public mind. Tsao Tsao, +the chief antagonist of Liu Pi, is not merely a usurper: he is a +curious compound of genius, fraud, and cruelty. Another conspicuous +actor is Lü Pu, an archer able to split a reed at a hundred paces, +and a horseman who performs prodigies on the field of battle. He +begins his career by shooting his adopted father, like Brutus perhaps, +not because he loved Tung Choh less, but China more. + +All these and others too numerous to mention may be seen any day +on the boards of the theatre, an institution which, in China at +least, serves as a school for the illiterate.[*] + +[Footnote *: The stage is usually a platform on the open street +where an actor may be seen changing his rôle with his costume, +now wearing the mask of one and then of another of the contending +chieftains, and changing his voice, always in a falsetto key, to +produce something like variety.] + +Liu Pi succeeds, after a struggle of twenty years, in establishing +himself in the province of Szechuen; but he enjoys undisturbed dominion +in his limited realm for three years only, and then transmits his +crown to a youthful son whom he commends to the care of a faithful +minister. The youth when an infant has been rescued from a burning +palace by the brave Chang-fi, who, wrapping the sleeping child in +his cloak and mounting a fleet charger, cut his way through the +enemy. On reaching a distant point the child was still asleep. +The witty annotator adds the remark, "He continued to sleep for +thirty years." + +The minister to whom the boy had been confided, Chu-koh Liang, +is the most versatile and inventive genius of Chinese antiquity. +As the founder of the house of Chou discovered in an old fisherman a +[Page 115] +counsellor of state who paved his way to the throne, so Liu Pi +found this man in a humble cottage where he was hiding himself in +the garb of a peasant, _San Ku Mao Lu_, say the Chinese. He +"three times visited that thatched hovel" before he succeeded in +persuading its occupant to commit himself to his uncertain fortunes. +From that moment Chu-koh Liang served him as eyes and ears, teeth +and claws, with a skill and fidelity which have won the applause +of all succeeding ages. Among other things, he did for Liu Pi what +Archimedes did for Dionysius. He constructed military engines that +appeared so wonderful that, as tradition has it "he made horses +and oxen out of wood." + +Entrusted by his dying master with the education of the young prince, +he has left two papers full of wise counsels which afford no little +help in drawing the line between fact and fiction. Unquestionably +Chu-koh Liang was the first man of his age in intellect and in such +arts and sciences as were known to his times. Yet no one invention +can be pointed to as having been certainly derived from Chu-koh +Liang. The author of the above-mentioned romance, who lived as +late as the end of the thirteenth century, constantly speaks of +his use of gunpowder either to terrify the enemy or to serve for +signals; but it is never used to throw a cannon-ball. It probably was +known to the Chinese of that date, as the Arab speaks of gunpowder +under the designation of "Chinese snow," meaning doubtless the +saltpetre which forms a leading ingredient. The Chinese had been +dabbling in alchemy for many centuries, and it is scarcely possible +that they +[Page 116] +should have failed to hit on some such explosive. It is, however, +believed on good authority that they never made use of cannon in +war until the beginning of the fifteenth century. + +There are, however, three other inventions or improvements of the +known arts, which deserve notice in this connection, namely, the +"three Ps"--pen, paper and printing--all preëminently instruments +of peaceful culture. The pen in China is a hair pencil resembling +a paint-brush. It was invented by Mung-tien in the third century +B. c. Paper was invented by Tsai Lun, 100 B. c., and printing by +Fungtao in the tenth century of the present era. What is meant +by printing in this case is, however, merely the substitution of +wood for stone, the Chinese having been for ages in the habit of +taking rubbings from stone inscriptions. It was not long before they +divided the slab into movable characters and earned for themselves +the honour of having anticipated Gutenberg and Faust. Their divisible +types were never in general use, however, and block printing continues +in vogue; but Western methods are rapidly supplanting both. + +The three states were reunited under the Tsin dynasty, 265 A. D. +This lasted for a century and a half and then, after a succession +of fifteen emperors, went down in a sea of anarchy, from the froth +of which arose more than half a score of contending factions, among +which four were sufficiently prominent to make for themselves a +place in history. Their period is described as that of the Nan-peh +Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms." The names of the principals +were Sung, Wei, Liang and Chin. The first +[Page 117] +only was Chinese, the others belonging to various branches of the +Tartar race. The chiefs of the Liang family were of Tibetan origin--a +circumstance which may perhaps account for their predilection for +Buddhism. The second emperor of that house, Wu Ti, became a Buddhist +monk and retired to a monastery where he lectured on the philosophy of +Buddhism. He reminds one of Charles the Fifth, who in his retirement +amused himself less rationally by repairing watches and striving, +in vain, to make a number of them keep identical time. + +It may be noted that behind these warring factions there is in +progress a war of races also. The Tartars are forever encroaching +on the Flowery Land. Repulsed or expelled, they return with augmented +force; and even at this early epoch the shadow of their coming +conquest is plainly visible. + +In the confused strife of North and South the preponderance is +greatly on the side of the Tartars. The pendulum of destiny then +begins to swing in the other direction. Yan Kien, a Chinese general +in the service of a Tartar principality, took advantage of their +divisions to rally a strong body of his countrymen by whose aid +he cut them off in detail and set up the Sui dynasty, The Tartars +have always made use of Chinese in the invasion of China; and if +the Chinese were always faithful to their own country no invader +would succeed in conquering them. + +Though the Sui dynasty lasted less than thirty years (589-618, +three reigns), it makes a conspicuous figure on account of two events: +(1) a victorious expedition in the north which reached the borders of +[Page 118] +Turkestan, and (2) the opening of canals between the Yellow River +and the Yang-tse Kiang. The latter enterprise only hastened the +fall of the house. It was effected by forced labour; and the +discontented people were made to believe, as their historians continue +to assert, that its chief object was to enable a luxurious emperor +to display his grandeur to the people of many provinces. We shall +see how the extension of those canals precipitated the overthrow +of the Mongols as we have already seen how the completion of the +Great Wall caused the downfall of the house of Ts'in. + +Yang-ti, the second emperor of the Sui dynasty, though not wanting +in energy, is notorious for his excesses in display and debauch. +He is reported to have hastened his accession to the throne by +the murder of his father. A peaceful end to such a reign would +have been out of keeping with the course of human events. Li Yuen, +one of his generals, rose against him, and he was assassinated +in Nanking. + +By wisdom and courage Li Yuen succeeded in setting up a new dynasty +which he called _T'ang_ (618 A. D.): After a long period of +unrest, it brought to the distracted provinces an era of unwonted +prosperity; it held the field for nearly three hundred years, and +surpassed all its predecessors in splendour. + + + + +[Page 119] +CHAPTER XXII + +THE T'ANG DYNASTY, 618-907 A. D. +(20 Emperors) + +_An Augustan Age--A Pair of Poets--The Coming of Christianity--The +Empress Wu--System of Examinations_ + +I have seen a river plunge into a chasm and disappear. After a +subterranean course of many miles it rose to the surface fuller, +stronger than before. No man saw from whence it drew its increment +of force, but the fact was undeniable. This is just what took place +in China at this epoch. + +It is comforting to know that during those centuries of turmoil the +Chinese were not wholly engrossed with war and rapine. The T'ang +dynasty is conspicuously the Augustan Age. Literature reappears +in a more perfect form than under the preceding reigns. The prose +writers of that period are to the present day studied as models +of composition, which cannot be affirmed of the writers of any +earlier epoch. Poetry, too, shone forth with dazzling splendour. +A galaxy of poets made their appearance, among whom two particular +stars were Tufu and Lipai, the Dryden and Pope of Chinese literature. + +The following specimen from Lipai who is deemed the highest poetical +genius in the annals of China, may +[Page 120] +show, even in its Western dress, something of his peculiar talent: + + ON DRINKING ALONE BY MOONLIGHT[*] + + Here are flowers and here is wine, + But where's a friend with me to join + Hand in hand and heart to heart + In one full cup before we part? + + Rather than to drink alone, + I'll make bold to ask the moon + To condescend to lend her face + The hour and the scene to grace. + + Lo, she answers, and she brings + My shadow on her silver wings; + That makes three, and we shall be. + I ween, a merry company + + The modest moon declines the cup, + But shadow promptly takes it up, + And when I dance my shadow fleet + Keeps measure with my flying feet. + + But though the moon declines to tipple + She dances in yon shining ripple, + And when I sing, my festive song, + The echoes of the moon prolong. + + Say, when shall we next meet together? + Surely not in cloudy weather, + For you my boon companions dear + Come only when the sky is clear. + +[Footnote *: From "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +MARTIN.] + +The second emperor, Tai-tsung, made good his claims by killing +two of his brothers who were plotting against him. Notwithstanding +this inauspicious beginning +[Page 121] +he became an able and illustrious sovereign. The twenty-three years +during which he occupied the throne were the most brilliant of +that famous dynasty. + +At Si-ngan in Shensi, the capital of the T'angs, is a stone monument +which records the introduction of Christianity by Nestorians from +Syria. Favoured by the Emperor the new faith made considerable +headway. For five hundred years the Nestorian churches held up +the banner of the Cross; but eventually, through ignorance and +impurity, they sank to the level of heathenism and disappeared. +It is sad to think that this early effort to evangelise China has +left nothing but a monumental stone. + +At the funeral of Tai-tsung his successor, Kao-tsung, saw Wu, one +of his father's concubines, who pleased him so much that, contrary +to law, he took her into his own harem. Raised to the rank of empress +and left mother of an infant son, she swayed the sceptre after +Kao-tsung's death for twenty-one years. Beginning as regent she +made herself absolute. + +A system of civil service examinations which had sprung up with +the revival of learning under the Hans was now brought to maturity. +For good or for evil it has dominated the mind of the Empire for +twelve centuries. Now, however, the leaders of thought have begun +to suspect that it is out of date. The new education requires new +tests; but what is to hinder their incorporation in the old system? +To abolish it would be fraught with danger, and to modify it is +a delicate task for the government of the present day. + +That the scholar should hold himself in readiness +[Page 122] +to serve the state no less than the soldier was an acknowledged +principle. It was reserved for the statesmen of T'ang to make it +the mainspring of the government. To them belongs the honour of +constructing a system which would stimulate literary culture and +skim the cream of the national talent for the use of the state. +It had the further merit of occupying the minds of ambitious youth +with studies of absorbing interest, thus diverting them from the +dangerous path of political conspiracy. + +Never was a more effective patronage given to letters. Without +founding or endowing schools the state said: "If you acquire the +necessary qualifications, we shall see that your exertions are +duly rewarded. Look up to those shining heights--see the gates +that are open to welcome you, the garlands that wait to crown your +triumphant course!" + +Annual examinations were held in every country; and the degree +of S. T. (_Siu-tsai_), equivalent to A. B., was conferred on +3 per cent. of the candidates. To fail was no disgrace; to have +entered the lists was a title to respect. Once in three years the +budding talent of the province convened in its chief city to compete +for the second degree. This was H. L. (_Hiao Lien_, "Filial +and Honest"), showing how ethical ideas continued to dominate the +literary tribunals. It is now _Chu-jin_, and denotes nothing +but promotion or prize man. The prize, a degree answering to A. +M., poetically described as a sprig of the _Olea fragrans_, +was the more coveted as the competitors were all honour men of the +first grade, and it was limited to one in a hundred. Its immediate +effect is such social +[Page 123] +distinction that it is said poor bachelors are common, but poor +masters are rare. + +If the competition stopped here it would be an Olympic game on a +grander scale. But there are loftier heights to be climbed. The +new-made masters from all the provinces proceed to the imperial +capital to try their strength against the assembled scholars of +the Empire. Here the prizes are three in a hundred. The successful +student comes forth a Literary Doctor--a _Tsin-shi_, "fit for +office." To all such is assured a footing, high or low, on the +official ladder. + +But another trial remains by which those who are good at the high +leap may at a single bound place themselves very near the top. +This final contest takes place in the palace--nominally in the +presence of the Emperor, and the questions are actually issued +by him. Its object is to select the brightest of the doctors for +chairs in the Hanlin Academy--an institution in which the humblest +seat is one of exalted dignity. How dazzling the first name on +that list! The _Chuang Yuen_ or senior wrangler takes rank +with governors and viceroys. An unfading halo rests on the place +of his birth. Sometimes in travelling I have seen a triumphal arch +proclaiming that "Here was born the laureate of the Empire." Such +an advertisement raises the value of real estate; and good families +congregate in a place on which the sun shines so auspiciously. +A laureate who lived near me married his daughter to a viceroy, +and her daughter became consort to the Emperor Tungchi. + +What then are the objections to a regulation which is so democratic +that it makes a nobleman of every +[Page 124] +successful scholar and gives to all the inspiration of equal +opportunity? They are, in a word, that it has failed to expand +with the growing wants of the people. The old curriculum laid down +by Confucius, "Begin with poetry; make etiquette your strong point; +and finish off with music," was not bad for his day, but is utterly +inadequate for ours, unless it be for a young ladies seminary. The +Sage's chapter on experiment as the source of knowledge--a chapter +which might have anticipated the _Novum Organum_--having been +lost, the statesmen of the T'ang period fell into the error of +leaving in their scheme no place for original research. This it +was that made the mind of China barren of discoveries for twelve +centuries. It was like putting a hood on the keen-eyed hawk and +permitting him to fly at only such game as pleased his master. + +The chief requirement was superficial polish in prose and verse. +The themes were taken exclusively from books, the newest of which +was at that time over a thousand years old. To broach a theory +not found there was fatal; and to raise a question in physical +science was preposterous. Had anyone come forward with a new machine +he might have been rewarded; but no such inventor ever came because +the best minds in the Empire were trained to trot blindfold on +a tread-mill in which there was no possibility of progress. Had +the mind of the nation been left free and encouraged to exert its +force, who can doubt that the country that produced the mariner's +compass might have given birth to a Newton or an Edison? + +After Wu none of the monarchs of this dynasty +[Page 125] +calls for notice. The last emperor was compelled to abdicate; and +thus, after a career of nearly three centuries bright with the +light of genius and prolific of usages good and bad that set the +fashion for after ages, this great house was extinguished. + + + + +[Page 126] +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE SUNG DYNASTY, 960-1280 A. D. +(18 Emperors) + +_The Five Philosophers--Wang Ngan-shi, Economist--The Kin Tartars--The +Southern Sungs--Aid of Mongols Invoked to Drive Out the Kins--Mongols +Exterminate Sungs_ + +On the fall of the house of T'ang, a score of factions contended for +the succession. During the fifty-three years preceding the establishment +of the Sungs, no less than five of them rose to temporary prominence +sufficient to admit of being dubbed a "dynasty." Collectively they +are spoken of as the "Five Dynasties" (907-960). + +Their names are without exception a repetition of those of former +dynasties, Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, Chou with the prefix +"Later"--suggesting that each claimed to be a lineal successor +of some previous imperial family. Their struggles for power, not +more instructive than a conflict of gladiators, are so devoid of +interest that the half-century covered by them may be passed over +as a blank. It may, however, be worth while to remind the reader +that as the House of Han was followed by the wars of the "Three +Kingdoms," and that of Ts'in by a struggle of North and South under +four states, so the House of T'ang was now +[Page 127] +succeeded by five short-lived "dynasties," with a mean duration of +scarcely more than ten years. The numerical progression is curious; +but it is more important to notice a historical law which native +Chinese writers deduce from those scenes of confusion. They state +it in this form: "After long union the empire is sure to be divided; +after long disruption it is sure to be reunited." + +So deep an impression has this historical generalisation made on +the public mind that if the empire were now to be divided between +foreign nations, as it has been more than once, the people would +confidently expect it to be reintegrated under rulers of their +own race. + +The undivided Sung dynasty held sway from 960 to 1127; that of +the southern Sungs from 1127 to 1280. The founder of the house was +Chao-kwang-yun, an able leader of soldiers and an astute politician. +So popular was he with his troops that they called him to the throne +by acclamation. He was drunk, it is said, when his new dignity was +announced, and he had no alternative but to wear the yellow robe +that was thrown on his shoulders. Undignified as was his debut, +his reign was one continued triumph. After a tenure of seventeen +years, he left his successor in possession of nearly the whole of +China Proper together with a fatal legacy of lands on the north. + +The two main features of the Sung period are the rise of a great +school of philosophy and the constant encroachment of the Tartars. The +two Chengs being brothers, the names of the five leading philosophers +fall into an alliterative line of four syllables, _Cheo, +[Page 128] +Cheng, Chang, Chu_. Acute in speculation and patient in research, +they succeeded in fixing the interpretation of the sacred books, +and in establishing a theory of nature and man from which it is +heresy to dissent. The rise of their school marks an intellectual +advance as compared with the lettered age of the T'angs. It was an +age of daring speculation; but, as constantly happens in China, +the authority of these great men was converted into a bondage for +posterity. The century in which they flourished (1020-1120) is +unique in the history of their country as the age of philosophy. +In Europe it was a part of the Dark Ages; and at that time the +Western world was convulsed by the Crusades. + +The most eminent of the five philosophers was Chu Fu-tse. Not the +most original, he collected the best thoughts of all into a system; +and his erudition was such that the whole range of literature was +his domain. Chu Hi, the Coryphæus of mediæval China, stands next +in honour after that incomparable pair, Confucius and Mencius. +Contemporary with the earlier members of this coterie appeared Wang +Ngan-shi, an economist, of rare originality. His leading principle +was the absorption by the state of all industrial enterprises--state +ownership of land, and in general a paternal system to supersede +private initiative. So charming was the picture presented in his +book "The Secret of Peace" (still extant) that the Emperor gave him +_carte blanche_ to put his theory into practice. In practical +life however it was a failure--perhaps because he failed to allow +for the strength or weakness of materials and instruments. His +book is a Chinese +[Page 129] +Utopia, nearly akin to those of Plato and Sir John More. + +In the northeast beyond the Wall were two Tartar kingdoms, one +of which was the Kin or "Golden Horde"--remote ancestors of the +Manchu dynasty. A constant menace to the settled population of the +"inner land," they obtained possession of Peking in 1118. For a +time they were kept at bay by a money payment which reminds one of +the _Danegeld_ paid by our forefathers to the sea-robbers of +northern Europe. Payments not being punctual, the Tartars occupied +portions of the northern provinces, and pushed their way as far south +as K'ai-fung-fu, the capital of the Empire. The Emperor retired +to Nanking, leaving in command his son, who, unable to resist the +Tartars, made a disgraceful peace. A heavy ransom was paid to avert +the sacking of the city; and all the region on the north of the +Yellow River passed under Tartar sway. + +Repenting of their hard bargain, the Chinese provoked a renewal +of hostilities, which resulted in a heavier downfall. The capital +surrendered after a severe siege, and the Emperor with his court +was carried into captivity. The next emperor acknowledged himself +a vassal of the Tartars; but peace on such conditions could not +be of long duration. An intermittent warfare was kept up for more +than a century, in the course of which Nanking was pillaged, and +the court fell back successively on Hangchow and Wenchow. When +there was no longer a place of safety on the mainland the wretched +fugitives sought refuge on an island. Fitting out a fleet the Tartars +continued the +[Page 130] +pursuit; but more used to horses than ships, the fleet was annihilated, +and the expiring dynasty obtained a new lease of life. + +This was about 1228. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors +had carried everything before them in the northwest. Thirsting for +revenge, the Chinese appealed for aid to this new power--and the +Mongols found an opportunity to bag two birds instead of one. As +a Chinese fable puts it: "A sea-bird failing to make a breakfast +on a shellfish was held in its grip until a fisherman captured +both." + +The Kins were driven back into Manchuria; and the Chinese without +asking leave of their allies reoccupied their old capital. But +the revival of the Sungs was no part of the Mongol programme. The +Sungs declining to evacuate K'ai-fung-fu and to cede to the Mongols +the northern half of the empire, the latter resolved on a war of +extermination. After a bitter struggle of fifteen years, the infant +emperor and his guardians again committed their fortunes to the sea. +The Mongols, more lucky than the other Tartars, were victorious +on water as well as on land; and the last scion of the imperial +house drowned himself to escape their fury (1280). + + + + +[Page 131] +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE YUEN OR MONGOL DYNASTY, 1280-1368 +(10 Emperors) + +_Kublai Khan--First Intercourse of China with Europe--Marco Polo--The +Grand Canal_ + +Parts of China had been frequently overrun by foreign conquerors; +but the Mongols were the first to extend their sway over the whole +country. The subjugation of China was the work of Kublai, grandson +of Genghis, who came to the throne in 1260, inheriting an empire +more extensive than Alexander or Cæsar had dreamed of. In 1264 +the new khan fixed his court at Peking and proceeded to reduce the +provinces to subjection. Exhausted and disunited as they were the +task was not difficult, though it took fifteen years to complete. +Ambition alone would have been sufficient motive for the conquest, +but his hostility was provoked by perfidy--especially by the murder +of envoys sent to announce his accession. "Without good faith," +says Confucius, "no nation can exist." + +By the absorption of China the dominions of Kublai were made richer, +if not greater in extent, than those of his grandfather, while the +splendour of his court quite eclipsed that of Genghis Khan. + +Unknown to the ancient Romans, China was revealed to their mediæval +successors by the Mongol +[Page 132] +conquest. In 1261 two Venetian merchants, Nicolo and Matteo Polo, +made their way to Bokhara, whence, joining an embassy from India, +they proceeded to Kublai's capital at Xanadu (or Shangtu) near +the site of Peking. They were the first white men the Grand Khan +had ever seen, and he seems to have perceived at once that, if not +of superior race, they were at least more advanced in civilisation +than his own people; for, besides intrusting them with letters to +the Pope, he gave them a commission to bring out a hundred Europeans +to instruct the Mongols in the arts and sciences of the West. + +In 1275 they returned to Peking without other Europeans, but accompanied +by Marco Polo, the son of Nicolo. They were received with more +honour than on their first visit, and the young man was appointed +to several positions of trust in the service of the monarch. After +a sojourn of seventeen years, the three Polos obtained permission +to join the escort of a Mongol princess who was going to the court +of Persia. In Persia they heard of the death of their illustrious +patron, and, instead of returning to China, turned their faces +homeward, arriving at Venice in 1295. + +Having been captured by the Genoese, Marco Polo while in prison +dictated his wonderful story. At first it was looked on as a romance +and caused its author to receive the sobriquet of "Messer Millione"; +but its general accuracy has been fully vindicated. + +The chief effect of that narrative was to fire the imagination +of another Italian and lead him by steering to the west to seek +a short cut to the Eldorado. +[Page 133] +How strange the occult connection of sublunary things! The Mongol +Kublai must be invoked to account for the discovery of America! +The same story kindled the fancy of Coleridge, in the following +exquisite fragment, which he says came to him in a vision of the +night: + + "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan + A stately pleasure-dome decree: + Where Alph, the sacred river, ran + Through caverns measureless to man, + Down to a sunless sea." + --_Kubla Khan._ + +Still another Italian claims mention as having made some impression +on the court of Kublai. This was Corvino, a missionary sent by the +Pope; but of his church, his schools, and his convents, there were +left no more traces than of his predecessors, the Nestorians. + +The glory of Kublai was not of long duration. The hardy tribes of +the north became enervated by the luxury and ease of their rich +patrimony. "Capua captured Hannibal." Nine of the founder's descendants +followed him, not one of whom displayed either vigour or statesmanship. + +Their power ebbed more suddenly than it rose. Shun-ti, the last +of the house, took refuge behind the Great Wall from the rising +tide of Chinese patriotism; and after a tenure of ninety years, +or of two centuries of fluctuating dominion, reckoning from the +rise of Genghis Khan, the Yuen dynasty came to an untimely end. + +The magnificent waterway, the Grand Canal, remains an imperishable +monument of the Mongol +[Page 134] +sway. As an "alimentary canal" it was needed for the support of +the armies that held the people in subjection; and the Mongols +only completed a work which other dynasties had undertaken. A +description of it from personal observation is given in Part I of +this work (page 31). It remains to be said that the construction +of the Canal, like that of the Great Wall, was a leading cause of +the downfall of its builders. Forced labour and aggravated taxation +gave birth to discontent; rebellion became rife, and the Mongols +were too effeminate to take active measures for its suppression. + + + + +[Page 135] +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MING DYNASTY, 1368-1644 A. D. +(16 Emperors) + +_Humble Origin of the Founder--Nanking and Peking as Capital--First +Arrival of European Ships--Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch +Traders--Arrival of Missionaries--Tragic End of the Last of the +Mings_ + +Humble as was the origin of the founder of the House of Han, spoken +of as _Pu-i_, "A peasant clothed in homespun," that of the +Father of the Mings was still more obscure. A novice or servant +(_sacrificulus_) in a Buddhist monastery, Chu Yuen Chang felt +called to deliver his people from oppression. At first regarded as +a robber chief, one of many, his rivals submitted to his leadership +and the people accepted his protection. Securing possession of +Nanking, a city of illustrious memories and strong natural defences, +he boldly proclaimed his purpose. After twenty years of blood and +strategy, he succeeded in placing the Great Wall between him and +the retreating Mongols. Proud of his victory he assumed for the +title of his reign _Hungwu_, "Great Warrior," and chose +_Ming_, "Luminous," for that of his dynasty. + +Leaving his son, the Prince of Yen, at Peking, to hold the Tartars +in check, Hungwu spent the remaining +[Page 136] +years of his reign at his original capital, and then left the sceptre +to his grandson. The Prince of Yen, uncle of the youthful emperor, +feeling the slight implied in his father's choice, raised an army +and captured Nanking. A charred corpse being shown to him as that +of the emperor, he caused it to be interred with becoming rites, +and at once assumed the imperial dignity, choosing for his reigning +title _Yungloh_, "Perpetual Joy." He also removed the seat of +government to Peking, where it has remained for five centuries. The +"Thesaurus of Yungloh," a digest of Chinese literature so extensive +as to form a library in itself, remains a monument to his patronage +of letters. + +A tragic episode in the history of the Mings was the capture of the +next emperor by the Mongols, who, however, failed to take Peking. +It was easier to make a new emperor than to ransom the captive. +His brother having been proclaimed, the Tartars sent their captive +back, hoping that a war between the brothers would weaken their +enemy. Retiring into private life he appeared to renounce his claim; +but after the death of his brother he once more occupied the throne. +What a theme for a romance! + +Great Britain was described by a Roman as "almost cut off from the +whole world" because it was not accessible by land. China had long +been cut off from the Western world because it was not accessible +by sea. The way to India was opened by Diaz and Gama in 1498; and +the first Portuguese ships appeared at Canton in 1511. Well-treated +at first, others came in greater numbers. Their armaments were so +formidable as to excite suspicion; and their +[Page 137] +acts of violence kindled resentment. Under these combined motives +a massacre of the foreign traders was perpetrated, and Andrade, a +sort of envoy at Peking, was thrown into prison and beheaded. The +trading-posts were abolished except at Macao, where the Portuguese +obtained a footing by paying an annual rent. + +After the Portuguese came the Spaniards, who appear to have been +satisfied with the Philippine archipelago, rather than provoke a +conflict with the Portuguese. The Chinese they had little reason +to dread, as the superiority of their arms would have enabled them +to seize portions of the seacoast, though not to conquer the Empire +as easily as they did the Mexicans and Peruvians. Perhaps, too, +they were debarred by the same authority which divided the Western +continent between the two Iberian powers. The Chinese becoming too +numerous at Manila, the Spaniards slaughtered them without mercy, +as if in retaliation for the blood of their cousins, or taking a +hint from the policy of China. + +In 1622 the Dutch endeavoured to open trade with China, but their +advances being rejected, doubtless through secret opposition from +the Portuguese, they seized the Pescadores, and later established +themselves on Formosa, whence they were eventually expelled by +Koxinga, a Chinese freebooter. + +The church founded by Corvino at Peking perished in the overthrow +of the Mongols. The Portuguese traders disapproved of missions, +as tending to impose restraint on their profligacy and to impart +to China the strength that comes from knowledge. The narrow +[Page 138] +policy of the Mings, moreover, closed the door against the introduction +of a foreign creed. Yet it is strange that half a century elapsed +before any serious attempt was made to give the Gospel to China. +In 1552 St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, arrived +at Macao. He and his fellow Jesuits were indirect fruits of the +Protestant Reformation--belonging to an order organised for the +purpose of upholding and extending the power of the Holy See. After +wonderful success in India, the Straits, and Japan, Xavier appeared +in Chinese waters, but he was not allowed to land. He expired on +the island of Shang-chuen or St. John's, exclaiming "O rock, rock, +when wilt thou open?" + +Ricci, who came in 1580, met with better success: but it cost him +twenty years of unceasing effort to effect an entrance to Peking. +Careful to avoid giving offence, and courtly in manners, his science +proved to be the master-key. Among the eminent men who favoured +his mission was Sü of Shanghai, whom he baptised by the name of +Paul. Not only did he help Ricci to translate Euclid for a people +ignorant of the first elements of geometry, but he boldly came to +the defence of missionaries when it was proposed to expel them. +His memorial in their favour is one of the best documents in the +defence of Christianity. Among the converts to the Christian faith +there are no brighter names than Paul Sü and his daughter Candida. + +The Ming dynasty compares favourably in point of duration with +most of the imperial houses that preceded it; but long before the +middle of its third century it began to show signs of decay. In Korea +[Page 139] +it came into collision with the Japanese, and emerged with more +credit than did its successor from a war with the same foe, which +began on the same ground three centuries later. In the northeast +the Mings were able to hold the Manchus at bay, notwithstanding +an occasional foray; but a disease of the heart was sapping the +vigour of the dynasty and hastening its doom. Rebellion became +rife; and two of the aspirants to the throne made themselves masters +of whole provinces. One depopulated Szechuen; the other ravaged +Shansi and advanced on Peking. Chungchen, the last of the Mings, +realising that all was lost, hanged himself in his garden on the +Palatine Hill, after stabbing his daughter, as a last proof of +paternal affection (1643). + + + + +[Page 140] +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE TA-TS'ING DYNASTY, 1644-- + +_The Manchus, Invited to Aid in Restoring Order, Seat their Own +Princes on the Throne--the Traitor, General Wu San-kwei--Reigns of +Shunchi and Kanghi--Spread of Christianity--A Papal Blunder--Yung-cheng +Succeeded by Kieñlung, who Abdicates Rather than Reign Longer than +his Grandfather--Era of Transformation_ + +The Manchus had been preparing for some generations for a descent +on China. They had never forgotten that half the Empire had once +been in the possession of their forefathers, the Kin Tartars; and +after one or two abortive attempts to recover their heritage they +settled themselves at Mukden and watched their opportunity. It +came with the fall of the Mings. + +Wu San-kwei, a Chinese general whose duty it was to keep them in +bounds, threw open the gate of the Great Wall and invoked their +assistance to expel the successful rebel. His family had been +slaughtered in the fall of the capital; he thirsted for revenge, +and without doubt indulged the hope of founding a dynasty. The +Manchus agreed to his terms, and, combining their forces with his, +advanced on Peking. Feeling himself unable to hold the city, the +rebel chief burnt +[Page 141] +his palace and retreated, after enjoying the imperial dignity ten +days. + +General Wu offered to pay off his mercenaries and asked them to +retire beyond the Wall. Smiling at his simplicity, they coolly +replied that it was for him to retire or to enter their service. +It was the old story of the ass and the stag. An ass easily drove +a stag from his pasture-ground by taking a man on his back; but the +man remained in the saddle. Forced to submit, the General employed +his forces to bring his people into subjection to their hereditary +enemy. Rewarded with princely rank, and shielded by the reigning +house, he has escaped the infamy which he deserved at the hands of +the historians. A traitor to his country, he was also a traitor to +his new masters. He died in a vain attempt at counter-revolution. + +The new dynasty began with Shunchi, a child of six years, his uncle +the Prince Hwai acting as regent. Able and devoted, this great +man, whom the Manchus call Amawang, acquitted himself of his task +in a manner worthy of the model regent, the Duke of Chou. His task +was not an easy one. He had to suppress contending factions, to +conciliate a hostile populace, and to capture many cities which +refused to submit. In seven years he effected the subjugation of +the eighteen provinces, everywhere imposing the tonsure and the +"pigtail" as badges of subjection. Many a myriad of the Chinese +forfeited their heads by refusing to sacrifice their glossy locks; +but the conquest was speedy, and possession secure. + +The success of the Manchus was largely due to the fact that they +found the empire exhausted by internal +[Page 142] +strife and came as deliverers. The odium of overturning the Ming +dynasty did not rest on them. While at Mukden they had cultivated +the language and letters of the "Inner land" and they had before +them, for guidance or warning, the history of former conquests. + +They have improved on their predecessors, whether Kins or Mongols; +and with all their faults they have given to China a better government +than any of her native dynasties. + +Shunchi (1644-1662) passed off the stage at the age of twenty-four +and left the throne to a son, Kanghi (1662-1723), who became the +greatest monarch in the history of the Empire. During his long reign +of sixty-one years, Kanghi maintained order in his wide domain, +corrected abuses in administration, and promoted education for both +nationalities. It is notable that the most complete dictionary +of the Chinese language bears the imprimatur of Kanghi, a Tartar +sovereign. + +For his fame in the foreign world, Kanghi is largely indebted to +the learned missionaries who enjoyed his patronage, though he took +care to distinguish between them and their religion. The latter had +been proscribed by the regents, who exercised supreme power during +his minority. Their decree was never revoked; and persecution went on +in the provinces, without the least interference from the Emperor. +Still his patronage of missionaries was not without influence on +the status of Christianity in his dominions. It gained ground, and +before the close of his reign it had a following of over three hundred +thousand converts. Near the close of his reign he pointedly condemned +[Page 143] +the foreign faith, and commanded the expulsion of its propagators, +except a few, who were required in the Board of Astronomy. + +The favourable impression made by Ricci had been deepened by Schaal +and Verbiest. The former under Shunchi reformed the calendar and +obtained the presidency of the Astronomical Board. He also cast +cannon to aid the Manchu conquest. The latter did both for Kanghi, +and filled the same high post. Schaal employed his influence to +procure the building of two churches in Peking. Verbiest made use of +his to spread the faith in the provinces. The Church might perhaps +have gained a complete victory, had not dissensions arisen within her +own ranks. Dominicans and Franciscans entering the field denounced +their forerunners for having tolerated heathen rites and accepted +heathen names for God. After prolonged discussions and contradictory +decrees the final verdict went against the Jesuits. In this decision +the Holy See seems not to have been guided by infallible wisdom. + +Kanghi, whose opinion had been requested by the Jesuits, asserted +that by _Tien_ and _Shang-ti_ the Chinese mean the Ruler +of the Universe, and that the worship of Confucius and of ancestors +is not idolatry, but a state or family ceremony. By deciding against +his views, the Pope committed the blunder of alienating a great +monarch, who might have been won by a liberal policy. The prohibition +of the cult of ancestors--less objectionable in itself than the +worship of saints--had the effect of arming every household against +a faith that aimed to subvert their family altars. The dethronement +of _Shang-ti_ (a name accepted by +[Page 144] +most Protestant missionaries) and the substitution of _Tien Chu_, +could not fail to shock the best feelings of devout people. _Tien +Chu_, if not a new coinage, was given by papal fiat an artificial +value, equivalent to "Lord of all"--whereas it had previously headed +a list of divisional deities, such as Lord of Heaven, Lord of Earth, +Lord of the Sea, etc. + +What wonder that for two centuries Christianity continued to be a +prohibited creed! The ground thus lost by a papal blunder it has +never regained. The acceptance of _Tien_ and _Shang-ti_ +by Protestants might perhaps do something to retrieve the situation, +if backed by some form of respect for ancestors. + +Kanghi was succeeded by his son Yungcheng (1722-1736), who was +followed by Kienlung (1736-1796), during whose reign the dynasty +reached the acme of splendour. Under Kienlung, Turkestan was added to +the empire. The Grand Lama of Tibet was also enrolled as a feudatory; +but he never accepted the laws of China, and no doubt considered +himself repaid by spiritual homage. No territory has since been +added, and none lost, if we except the cession of Formosa to Japan +and of Hong Kong to Great Britain. The cessions of seaports to +other powers are considered as temporary leases. + +After a magnificent reign of sixty years, Kienlung abdicated in +favour of his fifth son, Kiak'ing, for the whimsical reason that +he did not wish to reign longer than his grandfather. In Chinese +eyes this was sublime. Why did they not enact a law that no man +should surpass the longevity of his father? + +As to Kiak'ing, who occupied the throne for twenty-four +[Page 145] +years, weak and dissolute is a summary of his character. + +The next four reigns came under the influence of new forces. They +belong to the era of transformation, and may properly be reserved +for Part III. + + + + +[Page 147] +PART III + +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION + + + + +[Page 149] +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE OPENING OF CHINA, A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS--GOD IN HISTORY + +_Prologue--Act 1, the Opium War--(Note on the Taiping Rebellion)--Act +2, the "Arrow" War--Act 3, War with France--Act 4, War with Japan--Act +5, the Boxer War_ + +PROLOGUE + +If one were asked to name the most important three events that took +place in Asia in the last century, he could have no hesitation in +pointing to the extension of the Indian Empire and the renovation +of Japan as two of them. But where would he look for the third? +Possibly to some upheaval in Turkey, Persia, or Asiatic Russia. +In my opinion, however, China is the only country whose history +supplies the solution of the problem. The opening of that colossal +empire to unrestricted intercourse with other countries was not +a gradual evolution from within--it was the result of a series +of collisions between the conservatism of the extreme Orient and +the progressive spirit of the Western world. + +Each of those collisions culminated in a war, giving rise to a +cloud of ephemeral literature, in which a student might easily lose +his way, and which it would +[Page 150] +require the lifetime of an antediluvian to exhaust. I think, therefore, +that I shall do my readers a service if I set before them a concise +outline of each of those wars, together with an account of its causes +and consequences. Not only will this put them on their guard against +misleading statements; it will also furnish them with a syllabus of +the modern history of China in relation to her intercourse with +other nations. + +During the past seven decades the Chinese Empire has been no less +than five times in conflict with foreign powers; and on each occasion +her policy has undergone a modification more or less extensive. +Taking these five conflicts seriatim--without touching on those +internal commotions whose rise and fall resembles the tides of +the ocean--I shall ask my readers to think of the Flowery Land as +a stage on which, within the memory of men now living, a tragedy +in five acts has been performed. Its subject was the Opening of +China; and its first act was the so-called Opium War (1839-42). +Prior to 1839 the Central Empire, as the Chinese proudly call their +country, with a population nearly equal to that of Europe and America +combined, was hermetically sealed against foreign intercourse, +except at one point, viz., the "Factories" at Canton. + +This state of things is depicted with a few masterstrokes in a popular +work in Chinese entitled "Strange Stories of an Idle Student." The +first of these tales describes a traveller meeting in the mountains +an old man, in the costume of a former dynasty, whose family had +there sought a refuge from the anarchy that preceded the fall of +the imperial house. This +[Page 151] +old fellow had not even heard of the accession of the Manchu conquerors; +and though he was eager for information, he disappeared without +giving any clue to the Sleepy Hollow in which he was hiding. The +author no doubt intended a quiet satire on the seclusion of China, +that had nothing to ask of the outside world but to be let alone. + +Another of the sketches, which is no satire, but a cautionary +hint--perhaps an unconscious prophecy--is entitled "The Magic Carpet +of the Red-haired," a vulgar designation for Europeans, in contrast +with the Chinese, who style themselves the "Black-haired race." +During the former dynasty, it says, a ship arrived from some unknown +country, and those aboard desired to engage in commerce. Their +request was refused; but when they asked permission to dry their +goods on shore, requiring for that purpose no more ground than +they could cover with a carpet, their petition was readily granted. +The carpet was spread, and the goods were exposed to the sun; then, +taking the carpet by its four corners, they stretched it so that +it covered several acres. A large body of armed men then planted +themselves on it, and striking out in every direction took possession +of the country. This elastic carpet reminds one of Dido's bull's +hide, which covered space enough for the foundation of Carthage. + + +ACT 1. THE OPIUM WAR, 1839-1842 + +The Tartars, who began their conquest in 1644, were naturally suspicious +of other foreigners who had secured a foothold in India, where the +Great Mogul, a scion +[Page 152] +of their own race, still held nominal sway. The trading-posts, +which the Chinese emperors had permitted foreigners to open as +far north as Ningpo, were closed, and only one point of tangency +was allowed to remain--the above-mentioned Factories at Canton, a +spot, as we shall see, large enough to admit of the spreading of +a "magic carpet." Foreign trade was at that time insignificant, in +comparison with the enormous expansion which it has now attained. +It was mainly in the hands of the British, as it still continues to +be; and no small part of it consisted in opium from the poppy-fields +of India. Though under the ban of prohibition, this drug was smuggled +into every bay and inlet, with scarcely a pretence of concealment. +With the introduction of the vicious opium habit the British had +nothing to do; but they contrived to turn it to good account. + +The Emperor Tao Kwang, moved, it is said, by the unhappy fate of +one of his sons who had fallen a victim to the seductive poison, +resolved at all hazards to put a stop to a traffic so ruinous to +his people. Commissioner Lin, a native of Foochow, was transferred +from the viceroyalty of Wuchang to that of Canton and clothed with +plenary powers for the execution of this decree. To understand the +manner in which he undertook to execute the will of his master +it must be remembered that diplomatic intercourse had as yet no +existence in China, because she considered herself as sustaining +to foreign nations no other relation than that of a suzerain to +a vassal. Her mandarins scorned to hold direct communication with +any of the superintendents of foreign commerce--receiving +[Page 153] +petitions and sending mandates through the hong merchants, thirteen +native firms which had purchased a monopoly of foreign trade. + +In 1834 Lord Napier was appointed to the humble position of +superintendent of British trade in China, He arrived at Macao on +July 15 of that year, and announced his appointment by a letter to +the prefect, which was handed for transmission to the commander of +the city gate of Canton--a barrier which no foreigner was permitted +to pass. The letter was returned through the brokers without any +answer other than a line on the cover informing the "barbarian +eye" (consul) that the document was "tossed back" because it was +not superscribed with the character _pin_ (or _ping_), +which signifies a "humble petition." + +This was the beginning of sorrows for China as well as for poor +Napier, who, failing in his efforts to communicate with the mandarins +on equal terms, retired to the Portuguese settlement of Macao and +died of disappointment. The eminent American statesman, John Quincy +Adams, speaking in later years of the war that ensued, declared +that its cause was not opium but a _pin_, i. e., an insolent +assumption of superiority on the part of China. + +The irrepressible conflict provoked by these indignities was +precipitated in 1839 by the action of the new viceroy, who undertook +to effect a summary suppression of the traffic in opium. One morning +shortly after his arrival, the foreigners at Canton, who were always +locked up at night for their own safety, awoke to find themselves +surrounded by a body of soldiers and threatened with indiscriminate +[Page 154] +slaughter unless they surrendered the obnoxious drug, stored on +their opium hulks, at an anchorage outside the harbour. + +While they were debating as to what action to take, Captain Charles +Elliot, the new superintendent, came up from Macao and bravely insisted +on sharing the duress of his countrymen. Calling the merchants +together he requested them to surrender their opium to him, to be +used in the service of the Queen as a ransom for the lives of her +subjects, assuring them that Her Majesty's Government would take +care that they should be properly indemnified. Twenty thousand +chests of opium were handed over to the viceroy (who destroyed the +drug by mixing it with quicklime in huge vats); and the prisoners +were set at liberty. + +The viceroy fondly imagined that the incident was closed, and flattered +himself that he had gained an easier victory than he could have done +by sending his junks against the armed ships of the smugglers. +Little did he suspect that he had lighted a slow-match, that would +blow up the walls of his own fortress and place the throne itself +at the mercy of the "barbarian." + +A strong force was despatched to China to exact an indemnity, for +which the honour of the Crown had been pledged, and to punish the +Chinese for the cut-throat fashion in which they had sought to +suppress a prohibited trade. The proud city of Canton averted a +bombardment by paying a ransom of $6,000,000; islands and seaports +were occupied by British troops as far north as the River Yang-tse; and +Nanking, the ancient capital, was only saved from falling into their +[Page 155] +hands by the acceptance of such conditions of peace as Sir Henry +Pottinger saw fit to impose. + +Those conditions were astonishingly moderate for a conqueror who, +unembarrassed by the interests of other powers, might have taken +the whole empire. They were, besides payment for the destroyed +drug, the opening of five ports to British trade, and the cession +to Great Britain of Hong Kong, a rocky islet which was then the +abode of fishermen and pirates, but which to-day claims to outrank +all the seaports of the world in the amount of its tonnage. Not +a word, be it noted, about opening up the vast interior, not a +syllable in favour of legalising the opium traffic, or tolerating +Christianity. + +So much for the charge that this war, which bears a malodorous +name, was waged for the purpose of compelling China to submit to the +continuance of an immoral traffic. That a smuggling trade would go +on with impunity was no doubt foreseen and reckoned on by interested +parties; but it is morally certain that if the Chinese had understood +how to deal with it they might have rid themselves of the incubus +without provoking the discharge of another shot. + +Here ends the first act, in 1842; and in it I may claim a personal +interest from the fact that my attention was first turned to China +as a mission field by the boom of British cannon in the Opium War. + +China was not opened; but five gates were set ajar against her +will. For that she has to thank the pride and ignorance of emperor +and viceroy which betrayed them into the blunder of dealing with +British merchants as a policeman deals with pickpockets. For the first +[Page 156] +time in her history she was made aware of the existence of nations +with which she would have to communicate on a footing of equality. + +The moderation and forbearance of Pottinger in refraining from +demanding larger concessions, and in leaving the full consequences +of this war to be unfolded by the progress of time, may fairly +challenge comparison with the politic procedure of Commodore Perry +in dealing with Japan in 1854. One may ask, too, would Japan have +come to terms so readily if she had not seen her huge neighbour +bowing to superior force? + + * * * * * + +An important consequence of the Opium War was the outbreak of rebellions +in different parts of the Empire. The prestige of the Tartars was +in the dust. Hitherto deemed invincible, they had been beaten by a +handful of foreigners. Was not this a sure sign that their divine +commission had been withdrawn by the Court of Heaven? If so, might +it not be possible to wrest the sceptre from their feeble grasp, +and emancipate the Chinese race? + +Private ambition was kindled at the prospect, and patriotism was +invoked to induce the people to make common cause. Three parties +entered the field: the Tai-pings of the South, the "Red-haired" on +the seacoast, and the Nienfi in the north. Neither of the latter +two deserves notice; but the first-named made for themselves a +place in history which one is +[Page 157] +not at liberty to ignore, even if their story were less romantic +than it is. It will be convenient to introduce here the following +note on the Tai-ping rebellion. + + +THE TAI-PING REBELLION + +In 1847 a young man of good education and pleasing manners, named +Hung Siu-tsuen, presented himself at the American Baptist mission in +Canton, saying he had seen their sacred book and desired instruction. +This he received from the Rev. Issachar Roberts; and he was duly +enrolled as a catechumen. Without receiving the sealing ordinance, +or taking his instructor into confidence, Siu-tsuen returned to his +home at Hwa-hien and began to propagate his new creed. His talents +and zeal won adherents, whom he organised into a society called +_Shang-ti-hwui_, "the Church of the supreme God." Persecution +transformed it into a political party, to which multitudes were +attracted by a variety of motives. + +Following the early Church, in the absence of any modern model, his +converts expected and received spiritual gifts. Shall we describe +such manifestations as hysteria, hypnotism, or hypocrisy? Their +fanaticism was contagious, especially after their flight to the +mountains of Kwangsi. There Siu-tsuen boldly raised the flag of +rebellion and proclaimed that he had a divine call to restore the +throne to the Chinese race, and to deliver the people from the curse +of idolatry. In this twofold crusade he was ably seconded by one +Yang, who possessed all the qualities of a successful hierophant. +Shrewd and calculating, Yang was able +[Page 158] +at will to bring on cataleptic fits, during which his utterances +passed for the words of the Holy Ghost. + +The new empire which they were trying to establish, they called +_Tai-ping Tien-kwoh_, "The Kingdom of Heaven and the reign +of peace." Hung was emperor, to be saluted with _Wansue!_ +(Japanese, _Banzai!_) "10,000 years!" Yang as prince-premier +was saluted with "9,000 years," nine-tenths of a banzai. He was +the medium of communication with the Court of Heaven; and all their +greater movements were made by command of Shang-ti, the Supreme +Ruler. + +On one occasion Yang went into a trance and declared that Shang-ti +was displeased by something done by his chief, and required the +latter to receive a castigation on his naked shoulders. The chief +submitted, whether from credulity or from policy it might not be +easy to say; but thereby the faith of his followers seems to have +been confirmed rather than shaken. Nor did Yang take advantage +of his chief's disgrace to usurp his place or to treat him as a +puppet. + +Through Yang it was revealed that they were to leave their mountain +fortress and strike for Nanking, which had been made the capital on +the expulsion of the Mongols, and which was destined to enjoy the +same dignity on the overthrow of the Manchus. That programme, one of +unexampled daring, was promptly put into execution. Descending into +the plains of Hunan, like a mountain torrent they swept everything +before them and began their march towards the central stronghold +fifteen hundred miles distant. Striking the "Great River" at Hankow, +they pillaged +[Page 159] +the three rich cities Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankow, and, seizing +all the junks, committed themselves to its current without a doubt +as to the issue of their voyage. + +Nanking was carried by assault despite the alleged impregnability +of its ramparts, and despite also a garrison of 25,000 Manchus. +These last must have fought with the fury of despair; for they +well knew what fate awaited them. Not one was spared to tell the +tale--this was in 1853. There the Tai-pings held their ground for +ten years; and it is safe to affirm that without the aid of foreign +missionaries they never would have been dislodged. + +The second part of their enterprise--the expulsion of the Manchus +from Peking--ended in defeat. A strong detachment was sent north +by way of the Grand Canal. At first they met with great success--no +town or city was able to check their progress, which resembled +Napoleon's invasion of Russia. At the beginning of winter they +were met by a strong force under the Mongol prince Sengkolinsin; +then came the more dreaded generals--January and February. Unable +to make headway, they went into winter quarters, and committed +the blunder of dividing themselves between two towns, where they +were besieged and cut off in detail. + +In the meantime the eyes of the world were turned toward Nanking. +Ships of war were sent to reconnoitre and Consul T. T. Meadows, +who accompanied the _Hermes_, made a report full of sympathy; +but the failure of their expedition to the north deterred the nation +from any formal recognition of the Tai-ping government. + +[Page 160] +Missionaries were attracted by their profession of Christianity. +Among others, I made an unsuccessful attempt to reach them. Unable +to induce my boatmen to run the blockade, I returned home and took +up the pen in their defence. My letters were well received, but they +did not prevent soldiers of fortune, like the American Frederick +G. Ward and Colonel Gordon of the British army, throwing their +swords into the scale. + +Two Sabbatarians hearing that the rebels observed Saturday for +their day of rest, posted off to confirm them in that ancient usage. +Learning at an outpost that the seeming agreement with their own +practice grew out of a mistake in reckoning, they did not continue +their journey. + +A missionary who actually penetrated to the rebel headquarters +was the Rev. Issachar Roberts, the first instructor of the rebel +chief. The latter had sent him a message inviting him to court. +His stay was not long. He found that his quondam disciple had +substituted a new mode of baptism, neither sprinkling nor immersion, +but washing the pit of the stomach with a towel dipped in warm +water! Who says the Chinese are not original? It is probable that +Roberts's dispute lay deeper than a mere ceremony. Professing a +New Testament creed, the rebel chief shaped his practice on Old +Testament examples--killing men as ruthlessly as David, and, like +Solomon, filling his harem with women. A remonstrance on either +head was certain to bring danger; it was said indeed that Roberts's +life was threatened. + +Some queer titles were adopted by the Tai-pings. +[Page 161] +As stated above, the premier was styled "Father of 9,000 years"; +other princes had to content themselves with 7,000, 6,000, etc.--or +seven-tenths and six-tenths of a "Live forever!" Christ was the +"Heavenly Elder Brother"; and the chief called himself "Younger +Brother of Jesus Christ." These designations might excite a smile; +but when he called Yang, his adviser, the "Holy Ghost," one felt +like stopping one's ears, as did the Hebrews of old. The loose morals +of the Tai-pings and their travesty of sacred things horrified the +Christian world; and Gordon no doubt felt that he was doing God +a service in breaking up a horde of blasphemers and blackguards. + +Gordon's victory won an earldom for Li Hung Chang; but the Chinese +conferred no posthumous honours on Gordon as they did on Ward, +who has a temple and is reckoned among the gods of the empire. + +The Tai-pings were commonly called Changmao, "long-haired" rebels, +because they rejected the tonsure and "pigtail" as marks of subjection. +They printed at Nanking, by what they called "Imperial authority," +an edition of the Holy Scriptures. At one time Lord Elgin, disgusted +by the conduct of the Peking Government, proposed to make terms with +the court at Nanking. The French minister refused to coöperate, partly +because the rebels had not been careful to distinguish between the +images in Roman Catholic chapels and those in pagan temples, but +chiefly from an objection to the ascendency of Protestant influence, +coupled with a fear of losing the power that comes from a protectorate +of Roman Catholic missions. How different would have been +[Page 162] +the future of China had the allied powers backed up the Tai-pings +against the Manchus! + + * * * * * + + +ACT 2. THE "ARROW" WAR, 1857-1860 + +Of the second act in this grand drama on the world's wide stage, +a vessel, named the _Arrow_, was, like opium in the former +conflict, the occasion, not the cause. The cause was, as before, +pride and ignorance on the part of the Chinese, though the British +are not to be altogether exonerated. Their flag was compromised; +and they sought to protect it. Fifteen years of profitable commerce +had passed, during which China had been a double gainer, receiving +light and experience in addition to less valuable commodities, +when Viceroy Yeh seized the lorcha _Arrow_, on a charge of +piracy. Though owned by Chinese, she was registered in Hong Kong, +and sailed under the British flag. Had the viceroy handed her over +to a British court for trial, justice would no doubt have been +done to the delinquents, and the two nations would not have been +embroiled; but, haughty as well as hasty, the viceroy declined to +admit that the British Government had any right to interfere with +his proceedings. Unfortunately (or fortunately) British interests +at Canton were in the hands of Consul Parkes, afterward Sir Harry +Parkes, the renowned plenipotentiary at Peking and Tokio. + +Sir John Bowring was governor of Hong Kong, with the oversight of +British interests in the Empire. A gifted poet, and an enthusiastic +advocate of universal peace, he was a man who might be counted on, if in +[Page 163] +the power of man, to hold the dogs of war in leash. But he, too, +had been consul at Canton and he knew by experience the quagmire +in which the best intentions were liable to be swamped. + +Parkes, whom I came to know as Her Britannic Majesty's minister in +Peking, was the soul of honour, as upright as any man who walked +the earth. But with all his rectitude, he, like the Viceroy Yeh, +was irascible and unyielding. When the viceroy refused his demand +for the rendition of the _Arrow_ and her crew, he menaced him +with the weight of the lion's paw. Alarmed, but not cowed, the +viceroy sent the prisoners in fetters to the consulate, instead of +replacing them on board their ship; nor did he vouchsafe a word of +courtesy or apology. Parkes, too fiery to overlook such contemptuous +informality, sent them back, much as a football is kicked from +one to another; and the viceroy, incensed beyond measure, ordered +their heads to be chopped off without a trial. + +Here was a Gordian knot, which nothing but the sword could loose. +War was provoked as before by the rashness of a viceroy. The +peace-loving governor did not choose to swallow the affront to +his country, nor did the occupant of the Dragon Throne deign to +interfere; looking on the situation with the same sublime indifference +with which the King of Persia regarded the warlike preparations of +the younger Cyrus, when he supposed, as Xenophon tells us, that +he was only going to fight out a feud with a neighbouring satrap. +How could China be opened; how was a stable equilibrium possible +so long as foreign powers were kept at a distance from the capital +of the Empire? + +[Page 164] +In three months the haughty viceroy was a prisoner in India, never +to return, and his provincial capital was held by a garrison of +British troops. On this occasion the old blunder of admitting the +city to ransom was not repeated, else Canton might have continued +to be a hotbed of seditious plots and anti-foreign hostilities. +Parkes knew the people, and he knew their rulers also. He was +accordingly allowed to have his own way in dealing with them. The +viceroy being out of the way, he proposed to Pehkwei, the Manchu +governor, to take his place and carry on the provincial government +as if the two nations were at peace. Strange to say, the governor +did not decline the task. That he did not was due to the fact that +he disapproved the policy of the viceroy, and that he put faith +in the assurance that Great Britain harboured no design against +the reigning house or its territorial domain. + +To the surprise of the Chinese, who in their native histories find +that an Asiatic conqueror always takes possession of as much territory +as he is able to hold, it soon became evident that the Queen of +England did not make war in the spirit of conquest. Her premier, +Lord Palmerston, invited the coöperation of France, Russia, and +the United States, in a movement which was expected to issue +advantageously to all, especially to China. France, at that time +under an ambitious successor of the great Napoleon, seized the +opportunity to contribute a strong contingent, with the view of +checkmating England and of obtaining for herself a free hand in +Indo-China, possibly in China Proper also. For assuming a hostile +[Page 165] +attitude towards China, she found a pretext in the judicial murder of a +missionary in Kwangsi, just as Germany found two of her missionaries +similarly useful as an excuse for the occupation of Kiao-Chao in +1897. No wonder the Chinese have grown cautious how they molest a +missionary; but they needed practical teaching before they learned +the lesson. + +Unable to take a morsel of China as long as his powerful ally abstained +from territorial aggrandisement, Louis Napoleon subsequently employed +his troops to enlarge the borders of a small state which the French +claimed in Annam, laying the foundation of a dominion which goes +far to console them for the loss of India. America and Russia, +having no wrongs to redress, declined to send troops, but consented +to give moral support to a movement for placing foreign relations +with China on a satisfactory basis. + +In the spring of 1858, the representatives of the four powers met +at the mouth of the Peiho, coöperating in a loose sort of concert +which permitted each one to carryon negotiations on his own account. +As interpreter to the Hon. W. B. Reed, the American minister, I +enjoyed the best of opportunities for observing what went on behind +the scenes, besides being a spectator of more than one battle. + +The neutrals, arriving in advance of the belligerents, opened +negotiations with the Viceroy of Chihli, which might have added +supplementary articles, but must have left the old treaties +substantially unchanged. The other envoys coming on the stage insisted +that the viceroy should wear the title and be clothed with the +powers of a plenipotentiary. When that was +[Page 166] +refused, as being "incompatible with the absolute sovereignty of +the Emperor," they stormed the forts and proceeded to Tientsin +where they were met by men whose credentials were made out in due +form, though it is doubtful if their powers exceeded those of the +crestfallen viceroy. A pitiful artifice to maintain their affectation +of superiority was the placing of the names of foreign countries +one space lower than that of China in the despatch announcing their +appointment. When this covert insult was pointed out they apologised +for a clerical error, and had the despatches rectified. + +The allies were able to dictate their own terms; and they got all +they asked for, though, as will be seen, they did not ask enough. +The rest of us got the same, though we had struck no blow and shed +no blood. One article, known as "the most-favoured-nation clause" +(already in the treaty of 1844), was all that we required to enable +us to pick up the fruit when others shook the tree. + +Four additional seaports were opened, but Tienstin, where the treaties +were drawn up, was not one of them. I remember hearing Lord Elgin, +whose will was absolute, say that he was not willing to have it +thrown open to commerce, because in that case it would be used +to overawe the capital--just as if _overaweing_ were not the +very thing needed to make a bigoted government enter on the path of +progress. Never did a man in repute for statesmanship show himself +more shortsighted. His blunder led to the renewal of the war, and +its continuance for two more years. + +[Page 167] +The next year when the envoys came to the mouth of the river, on +their way to Peking to exchange ratified copies of their treaties, +they found the forts rebuilt, the river closed, and access to the +capital by way of Tientsin bluntly refused. In taking this action, +the Chinese were not chargeable with a breach of faith; but the +allies, feeling insulted at having the door shut in their faces, +decided to force it open. They had a strong squadron; but their +gunboats were no match for the forts. Some were sunk; others were +beached; and the day ended in disastrous defeat. Though taking no +part in the conflict the Americans were not indifferent spectators. +Hearing that the British admiral was wounded, their commodore, the +brave old Tatnall, went through a shower of bullets to express +his sympathy, getting his boat shattered and losing a man on the +way. When requested to lend a helping hand, he exclaimed "Blood +is thicker than water;" and, throwing neutrality to the winds, +he proceeded to tow up a flotilla of British barges. His words +have echoed around the world; and his act, though impolitic from +the viewpoint of diplomacy, had the effect of knitting closer the +ties of two kindred nations. + +Seeing the repulse of the allies, the American minister, the Hon. +J. E. Ward, resolved to accept an offer which they had declined, +namely, to proceed to the capital by land under a Chinese escort. +His country was pledged in the treaty, of which he was the bearer, +to use her good offices on the occurrence of difficulties with +other powers. Without cavilling at the prescribed route or mode +of conveyance, he felt it his duty to present himself before the +Throne as speedily +[Page 168] +as possible in the hope of averting a threatened calamity. For +him, it was an opportunity to do something great and good; for +China, it was the last chance to ward off a crushing blow. But +so elated were the Chinese by their unexpected success that they +were in no mood to accept the services of a mediator. The Emperor +insisted that he should go on his knees like the tribute-bearer +from a vassal state. "Tell them," said Mr. Ward, "that I go on +my knees only to God and woman"--a speech brave and chivalrous, +but undignified for a minister and unintelligible to the Chinese. +With this he quitted the capital and left China to her fate. He +was not the first envoy to meet a rude rebuff at the Chinese court. +In 1816 Lord Amherst was not allowed to see the "Dragon's Face" +because he refused to kneel. At that date England was not in a +position to punish the insult; but it had something to do with the +war of 1839. In 1859 it was pitiful to see a power whose existence +was hanging in the scales alienate a friend by unseemly insolence. + +The following year (1860) saw the combined forces of two empires +at the gates of Peking. The summer palace was laid in ashes to +punish the murder of a company of men and officers under a flag +of truce; and it continues to be an unsightly ruin. The Emperor +fled to Tartary to find a grave; and throne and capital were for +the first time at the mercy of an Occidental army. On the accession +of Hien-feng, in 1850, an old counsellor advised him to make it +his duty to "restore the restrictions all along the coast." His +attempt to do this was one source of his misfortunes. Supplementary +articles were signed within the walls, +[Page 169] +by which China relinquished her absurd pretensions, abandoned her +long seclusion, and, at the instance of France, threw open the +whole empire to the labours of Christian missions. They had been +admitted by rescript to the Five Ports, but no further. + +Thus ends the second act of the drama; and a spectator must be +sadly deficient in spiritual insight if he does not perceive the +hand of God overruling the strife of nations and the blunders of +statesmen. + + +ACT 3. WAR WITH FRANCE + +The curtain rises on the third act of the drama in 1885. Peking was +open to residence, and I had charge of a college for the training +of diplomatic agents. + +I was at Pearl Grotto, my summer refuge near Peking, when I was +called to town by a messenger from the Board of Foreign Affairs. +The ministers informed me that the French had destroyed their fleet +and seized their arsenal at Foochow. "This," they said, "is war. We +desire to know how the non-combatants of the enemy are to be treated +according to the rules of international law." I wrote out a brief +statement culled from text-books, which I had myself translated +for the use of the Chinese Government; but before I had finished +writing a clerk came to say that the Grand Council wished to have +it as soon as possible, as they were going to draw up a decree on +the subject. The next day an imperial decree proclaimed a state +of war and assured French people in China that if they refrained +from taking part in any hostile act they might remain in their +places, and count on full protection. Nobly did the government of +the day redeem its pledge. +[Page 170] +Not a missionary was molested in the interior; and two French professors +belonging to my own faculty were permitted to go on with the instruction +of their classes. + +There was not much fighting. The French seized Formosa; and both +parties were preparing for a trial of strength, when a seemingly +unimportant occurrence led them to come to an understanding. A small +steamer belonging to the customs service, employed in supplying the +wants of lighthouses, having been taken by the French, Sir Robert +Hart applied to the French premier, Jules Ferry, for its release. +This was readily granted; and an intimation was at the same time +given that the French would welcome overtures for a settlement +of the quarrel. Terms were easily agreed upon and the two parties +resumed the _status quo ante bellum_. + +So far as the stipulations were concerned neither party had gained +or lost anything, yet as a matter of fact France had scored a +substantial victory. She was henceforward left in quiet possession +of Tongking, a principality which China had regarded as a vassal +and endeavoured to protect. + + +ACT 4. WAR WITH JAPAN + +China had not thoroughly learned the lesson suggested by this +experience; for ten years later a fourth act in the drama grew out +of her unwise attempt to protect another vassal. + +In 1894 the Japanese, provoked by China's interference with their +enterprises in Korea, boldly drew the sword and won for themselves +a place among the great powers. I was in Japan when the war broke +[Page 171] +out, and, being asked by a company of foreigners what I thought +of Japan's chances, answered, "The swordfish can kill the whale." + +Not merely did the islanders expel the Chinese from the Korean +peninsula, but they took possession of those very districts in +Manchuria from which they have but yesterday ousted the Russians. +Peking itself was in danger when Li Hung Chang was sent to the +Mikado to sue for peace. Luckily for China a Japanese assassin +lodged a bullet in the head of her ambassador; and the Mikado, +ashamed of that cowardly act, granted peace on easy conditions. +China's greatest statesman carried that bullet in his _dura mater_ +to the end of his days, proud to have made himself an offering for +his country, and rejoicing that one little ball had silenced the +batteries of two empires. + +By the terms of the treaty, Japan was to be left in possession +of Port Arthur and Liao-tung. But this arrangement was in fatal +opposition to the policy of a great power which had already cast +covetous eyes on the rich provinces of Manchuria. Securing the +support of France and Germany, Russia compelled the Japanese to +withdraw; and in the course of three years she herself occupied +those very positions, kindling in the bosom of Japan the fires +of revenge, and sowing the seeds of another war.[*] + +[Footnote *: The Russo-Japanese war lies outside of our present +programme because China was not a party to it, though it involved +her interests and even her existence. The subject will be treated +in another chapter.] + +The effect of China's defeat at the hands of her despised neighbour, +was, if possible, more profound than that of her humiliation by +the English and +[Page 172] +French in 1860. She saw how the adoption of Western methods had +clothed a small Oriental people with irresistible might; and her +wisest statesmen set themselves to work a similar transformation +in their antiquated empire. The young Emperor showed himself an +apt pupil, issuing a series of reformatory edicts, which alarmed +the conservatives and provoked a reaction that constitutes the +last act in this tremendous drama. + + +ACT 5. THE BOXER WAR + +The fifth act opens with the _coup d'état_ of the Empress +Dowager, and terminates with the capture of Peking by the combined +forces of the civilised world. + +Instead of attempting, even in outline, a narrative of events, it +will be more useful to direct attention to the springs of action. +It should be borne in mind that the late Emperor was the adopted son +of the Dowager Empress. After the death of her own son, Tung-chi, +who occupied the throne for eleven years under a joint regency +of two empresses, his mother cast about for some one to adopt in +his stead. With motives not difficult to divine she chose among +her nephews an infant of three summers, and gave him the title +_Kwangsu_, "Illustrious Successor." When he was old enough +to be entrusted with the reins of government, she made a feint +of laying down her power, in deference to custom. Yet she exacted +of the imperial youth that he visit her at her country palace and +throw himself at her feet once in five days--proof enough that +she kept her hand on the helm, though she +[Page 173] +mitted her nephew to pose as steersman. She herself was noted for +progressive ideas; and it was not strange that the young man, under +the influence of Kang Yuwei, backed by enlightened viceroys, should +go beyond his adoptive mother. Within three years from the close +of the war he had proclaimed a succession of new measures which +amounted to a reversal of the old policy; nor is it likely that +she disapproved of any of them, until the six ministers of the +Board of Rites, the guardians of a sort of Levitical law, besought +her to save the empire from the horrors of a revolution. + +For her to command was to be obeyed. The viceroys were her appointees; +and she knew they would stand by her to a man. The Emperor, though +nominally independent, was not emancipated from the obligations of +filial duty, which were the more binding as having been created +by her voluntary choice. There was no likelihood that he would +offer serious resistance; and it was certain that he would not +be supported if he did. Coming from behind the veil, she snatched +the sceptre from his inexperienced hand, as a mother takes a deadly +weapon from a half-grown boy. Submitting to the inevitable he made +a formal surrender of his autocratic powers and, confessing his +errors, implored her "to teach him how to govern." This was in +September, 1898. + +Stripped of every vestige of authority, the unhappy prince was +confined, a prisoner of state, in a secluded palace where it was +thought he would soon receive the present of a silken scarf as a hint +to make way for a worthier successor. That his life was spared was no +[Page 174] +doubt due to a certain respect for the public sentiment of the +world, to which China is not altogether insensible. He having no +direct heir, the son of Prince Tuan was adopted by the Dowager +as heir-apparent, evidently in expectation of a vacancy soon to +be filled. Prince Tuan, hitherto unknown in the politics of the +state, became, from that moment, the leader of a reactionary party. +Believing that his son would soon be called to the throne by the +demise of the Emperor, he put on all the airs of a _Tai-shang +Hwang_, or "Father of an Emperor." + +Here again the _patria potestas_ comes in as a factor; and +in the brief career of the father of the heir-apparent, it shows +itself in its most exaggerated form. Under the influence of the +reactionary clique, of which he was acknowledged chief, the Empress +Dowager in her new regency was induced to repeal almost everything +the Emperor had done in the way of reform. In her edict she said +cynically: "It does not follow that we are to stop eating, because +we have been choked!" Dislike to foreign methods engendered an +ill-concealed hatred of foreigners; and just at this epoch occurred +a series of aggressions by foreign powers, which had the effect +of fanning that hatred into a flame. + +In the fall of 1897 Germany demanded the cession of Kiao-Chao, +calling it a lease for 99 years. The next spring Russia under the +form of a lease for 25 years obtained Port Arthur for the terminus +of her long railway. England and France followed suit: one taking +a _lease_ of Wei-hai-wei; the other, of Kwang-chou-wan. Though +in every case the word "lease" +[Page 175] +was employed, the Chinese knew the transfer meant permanent alienation. + +A hue and cry was raised against what they described as the "slicing +of the melon," and in Shantung, where the first act of spoliation +had taken place, the Boxers, a turbulent society of long standing, +were encouraged to wage open war against native Christians, foreigners +and foreign products, including railways, telegraphs, and all sorts +of merchandise. + +Not until those predatory bands had entered the metropolitan province, +with the avowed object of pushing their way to Peking[*] did the +legations take steps to strengthen their guards. A small reinforcement +of 207 men luckily reached Peking a few days before the railway +was wrecked. + +[Footnote *: On March 30, 1900, the following Boxer manifesto in +jingling rhyme, was thrown into the London Mission, at Tientsin. It +is here given in a prose version, taken from "A Flight for Life," +by the Rev. J. H. Roberts, Pilgrim Press, Boston. + +"We Boxers have come to Tientsin to kill an foreign devils, and +protect the Manchu dynasty. Above, there is the Empress Dowager +on our side, and below there is Junglu. The soldiers of Yulu and +Yuhien [governors of Shantung and Chihli] are an our men. When +we have finished killing in Tientsin, we shall go to Peking. All +the officials high and low will welcome us. Whoever is afraid let +him quickly escape for his life."] + +With a view to protect the foreign settlement at Tientsin, then +threatened by Boxers, the combined naval forces stormed the forts +at the mouth of the river, and advanced to that rich emporium. The +Court denounced this as an act of war, and ordered all foreigners +to leave the capital within twenty-four hours. That meant slaughter +at the hands of the Boxers. The foreign ministers protested, and +[Page 176] +endeavoured by prolonged negotiation to avoid compliance with the +cruel order. + +On June 20, the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, was on his +way to the Foreign Office to obtain an extension of time, when he +was shot dead in the street by a man in the uniform of a soldier. +His secretary, though wounded, gave the alarm; and all the legations, +with all their respective countrymen, took refuge in the British +Legation, with the exception of Bishop Favier and his people who, +with the aid of forty marines, bravely defended themselves in the +new cathedral. + +In the evening we were fired on by the Government troops, and from +that time we were closely besieged and exposed to murderous attacks +day and night for eight weeks, when a combined force under the +flags of eight nations carried the walls by storm, just in time +to prevent such a massacre as the world has never seen. Massacres +on a larger scale have not been a rare spectacle; but never before +in the history of the world had any government been seen attempting +to destroy an entire diplomatic body, every member of whom is made +sacred by the law of nations.[*] + +[Footnote *: AN APPEAL FROM THE LION'S DEN + +(Written four weeks before the end of the siege, this appeal failed +to reach the outside world. It is now printed for the first time. +Nothing that I could now write would show the situation with half +such vividness. It reveals the scene as with a lightning flash.) + + "British Legation, July 16, 1900. + +"TO THE CHRISTIAN WORLD + +"On the 19th ult. the Chinese declared war on account of the attack +on the forts at Taku. Since then we have been shut up in the British +Legation and others adjacent, and bombarded day and night with shot +and shell. The defence has been magnificent. About 1,000 foreigners +(of both sexes) have held their ground against the forces of the +Empire. Some thousands of Chinese converts are dependent on us for +protection. The City Wall near the legations is held by our men, +but the Chinese are forcing them back and driving in our outposts. +The mortality in our ranks is very great; and unless relief comes +soon we must all perish. Our men have fought bravely, and our women +have shown sublime courage. May this terrible sacrifice prove not +to be in vain! We are the victims of pagan fanaticism. Let this +pagan empire be partitioned among Christian powers, and may a new +order of things open on China with a new century! + +"The chief asylum for native Christians is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, +where Bishop Favier aided by forty marines gives protection to four +or five thousand. The perils of the siege have obliterated the lines +of creed and nation, making a unity, not merely of Christians, but +bringing the Japanese into brotherhood with us. To them the siege +is a step toward Christianity." + +"(Signed) DR. W. A. P. MARTIN."] + +[Page 177] +On August 14 Gen. Gaseles and his contingent entered the British +Legation. The Court, conscious of guilt, fled to the northwest, +leaving the city once more at the mercy of the hated foreigner; +and so the curtain falls on the closing scene. + +What feats of heroism were performed in the course of those eventful +weeks; how delicate women rose to the height of the occasion in +patient endurance and helpful charity; how international jealousies +were merged in the one feeling of devotion to the common good--all +this and more I should like to relate for the honour of human nature. + +How an unseen power appeared to hold our enemies in check and to +sustain the courage of the besieged, I would also like to place on +record, to the glory of the Most High; but space fails for dealing +with anything but general principles.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See the author's "The Siege in Peking," New York: Fleming +H. Revell Company.] + +On the day following our rescue, at a thanksgiving meeting, which +was largely attended, Dr. Arthur +[Page 178] +Smith pointed out ten instances--most of us agreed that he might +have made the number ten times ten--in which the providence of +God had intervened on our behalf. + +It was a role of an ancient critic that a god should not be brought +on the stage unless the occasion were such as to require the presence +of a more than human power. _Nec deus intersit nisi dignus vindice +nodus._ How many such occasions we have had to notice in the +course of this narrative! What a theodicæa we have in the result +of all this tribulation! We see at last, a government convinced +of the folly of a policy which brought on such a succession of +disastrous wars. We see missionaries and native Christians fairly +well protected throughout the whole extent of the Empire. We see, +moreover, a national movement in the direction of educational reform, +which, along with the Gospel of Christ, promises to impart new +life to that ancient people. + +The following incident may serve to show the state of uncertainty +in which we lived during the interregnum preceding the return of +the Court. + +While waiting for an opportunity to get my "train (the university) +on the track," I spent the summer of 1901 at Pearl Grotto, my usual +retreat, on the top of a hill over a thousand feet high, overlooking +the capital. "The Boxers are coming!" cried my writer and servants +one evening about twilight. "Haste--hide in the rocks--they will +soon be on us!" "I shall not hide," I replied; and seizing my rifle +I rested it on a wall which commanded the approach. They soon became +visible at the distance of a hundred yards, +[Page 179] +waving flambeaux, and yelling like a troop of devils. Happily I +reserved my fire for closer range; for leaving the path at that +point they betook themselves to the top of another hill where they +waved their torches and shouted like madmen. We were safe for the +night; and in the morning I reported the occurrence to Mr. O'Conor, +the British chargé d'affaires, who was at a large temple at the +foot of the hills. "They were not Boxers," he remarked, "but a +party we sent out _to look for a lost student_." + + +POSTSCRIPT + +It is the fashion to speak slightingly of the Boxer troubles, and +to blink the fact that the movement which led to the second capture +of Peking and the flight of the Court was a serious war. The southern +viceroys had undertaken to maintain order in the south. Operations were +therefore localised somewhat, as they were in the Russo-Japanese War. +It is even said that the combined forces were under the impression +that they were coming to the rescue of a helpless government which +was doing all in its power to protect foreigners. Whether this was +the effect of diplomatic dust thrown in their eyes or not, _it +was a fiction_. + +How bitterly the Empress Dowager was bent on exterminating the +foreigner, may be inferred from her decree ordering the massacre of +foreigners and their adherents--a savage edict which the southern +satraps refused to obey. A similar inference may be drawn from the +summary execution of four ministers of state for remonstrating against +throwing in the fortunes of the empire with the Boxer party. China +[Page 180] +should be made to do penance on her knees for those shocking displays +of barbarism. At Taiyuan-fu, forty-five missionaries were murdered +by the governor, and sixteen at Paoting-fu. Such atrocities are +only possible among a _half-civilised people_. + + + + +[Page 181] +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR + +_Russia's Schemes for Conquest--Conflicting Interests in +Korea--Hostilities Begin--The First Battles--The Blockade--Dispersion +of the Russian Fleet--Battle of Liao-yang--Fall of Port Arthur--Battle +of Mukden--The Armada--Battle of Tsushima--The Peace of Portsmouth--The +Effect on China_ + +To the Chinese the retrospect of these five wars left little room +for those pompous pretensions which appeared to be their vital +breath. + +Beaten by Western powers and by the new power of the East, their +capital taken a second time after forty years' opportunity to fortify +it, and their fugitive court recalled a second time to reign on +sufferance or during good behaviour, what had they left to boast +of except the antiquity of their country and the number of their +people? Dazed and paralysed, most of them gave way to a sullen +resignation that differed little from despair. + +There were, indeed, a few who, before things came to the worst, +saw that China's misfortunes were due to folly, not fate. Ignorant +conservatism had made her weak; vigorous reform might make her +strong. But another war was required to turn the feeling of the +few into a conviction of the many. This change was +[Page 182] +accomplished by a war waged within their borders but to which they +were not a party--a war which was not an act in their national +drama, but a spectacle for which they furnished the stage. That +spectacle calls for notice in the present work on account of its +influence on the destinies of China. + +For the springs of action it will be necessary to go back three +centuries, to the time when Yermak crossed the Ural Mountains and +made Russia an Asiatic power. The conquest of Siberia was not to +end in Siberia. Russia saw in it a chance to enrich herself at +the expense of weaker neighbours. What but that motive led her, in +1858, to demand the Manchurian seacoast as the price of neutrality? +What but that led her to construct the longest railway in the world? +What but that impelled her to seek for it a second terminus on +the Gulf of Pechili? + +The occupation of Port Arthur and Liao-tung by the Japanese, in +1895, was a checkmate to Russia's little game; and, supported by +France and Germany, she gave her notice to quit. During the Boxer +War of 1900, Russia increased her forces in Manchuria to provide +for the eventualities of a probable break-up, and after the peace +her delay in fulfilling her promise of evacuation was tantamount +to a refusal. + +Had the Russians confined their attention to Manchuria they might +have continued to remain in possession; but another feeble state +offered itself as a tempting prize. They set greedy eyes on Korea, +made interest with an impoverished court, and obtained the privilege +of navigating the Yalu and cutting +[Page 183] +timber on its banks. This proceeding, though explained by the +requirements of railway construction, aroused the suspicion and +jealousy of the Japanese. They knew it meant more than seeking +an outlet for a lumber industry. They knew it portended vassalage +for Korea and ejection for themselves. Had they not made war on +China ten years before because they could brook no rival in the +peninsula? How could they tolerate the intrusion of Russia? Not +merely were their interests in Korea at stake; every advance of +Russia in that quarter, with Korea for vassal or ally, was a menace +to the existence of Japan. + +The Japanese lost no time in entering a protest. Russia resorted +to the Fabian policy of delay as before; but she was dealing with +a people whose pride and patriotism were not to be trifled with. +After protracted negotiations Japan sent an ultimatum in which she +proposed to recognise Manchuria as Russia's sphere of influence, +provided Russia would recognise Japanese influence as paramount +in Korea. For a fortnight or more the Czar vouchsafed no reply. +Accustomed to being waited on, he put the paper in his pocket and +kept it there while every train on the railway was pouring fresh +troops into Manchuria. Without waiting for a formal reply, or deigning +to discuss modifications intended to gain time, the Japanese heard +the hour strike and cleared for action. + +They are reproached for opening hostilities without first formally +declaring war. In the age of chivalry a declaration of war was a +solemn ceremony. A herald standing on the border read or recited his +[Page 184] +master's complaint and then hurled a spear across the boundary +as an act of defiance. In later times nothing more than a formal +announcement is required, except for the information of neutrals +and the belligerents' own people. The rupture of relations leaves +both parties free to choose their line of action. Japan, the newest +of nations, naturally adopted the most modern method. + +Recalling her ambassador on February 6, 1904, Japan was ready to +strike simultaneous blows at two points. On February 8, Admiral +Uriu challenged two Russian cruisers at Chemulpo to come out and +fight, otherwise he would attack them in the harbour. Steaming +out they fired the first shots of the war, and both were captured +or destroyed. A little later on the same day Admiral Togo opened +his broadsides on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, and resumed +the attack the following morning. Without challenge or notification +of any kind, his attack had the effect of a genuine surprise. The +Russians, whether from confidence in their position or contempt +for their enemy, were unprepared and replied feebly. They had seven +battleships to Togo's six, but the big ships of Japan were supported +by a flotilla of torpedo-boats which outnumbered those of Russia. +These alert little craft did great execution. Creeping into the +harbour while the bombardment kept the enemy occupied they sank +two battleships and one armoured cruiser. Other Russian vessels +were badly damaged; but, according to Togo's report, on the side +of Japan not one vessel was incapacitated for actual service. + +Land forces, fully equipped and waiting for this +[Page 185] +special service, commenced operations without delay and began to +cut off communication from the land side while Togo's squadron +corked up every inlet from the sea. Alexieff, whose title of viceroy +revealed the intentions of Russia in regard to Manchuria, taking +alarm at the prospect of a siege, escaped to Harbin near the Siberian +frontier--a safer place for headquarters. To screen his flight he made +unwarrantable use of an ambulance train of the Red Cross Society. +Disagreeing with General Kuropatkin as to the plan of campaign, +he resigned the command of the army in April, and Kuropatkin was +promoted to the vacant place. Beaten in several engagements on +the Liao-tung peninsula, the Russians began to fall back, followed +by the Japanese under Field-Marshal Oyama; and the siege of the +fortress was prosecuted with unremitting vigour. + +By July the Japanese had secured possession of the outer line of +forts, and, planting heavy guns on the top of a high hill, they were +able to throw plunging shot into the bosom of the harbour. No longer +safe at their inner anchorage, the Russian naval officers resolved +to attempt to reach Vladivostok, where the combined squadrons might +assume the offensive or at least be secure from blockade. Scarcely +had they gained the open sea when (on August 10) the Japanese fell on +them like a whirlwind and scattered their ships in all directions. +A few reëntered the harbour to await their doom; two or three found +their way to Vladivostok; two sought refuge at the German port of +Tsing-tao; two put into Shanghai; and one continued its flight +as far south as Saigon. + +[Page 186] +One gunboat sought shelter at Chefoo, where I was passing my summer +vacation. The Japanese, in hot pursuit, showed no more respect to +the neutrality of China than they had shown to Korea. Boarding +the fugitive vessel, they summoned the captain to surrender. He +replied by seizing the Japanese officer in his arms and throwing +himself into the sea. They were rescued; and the Japanese then +carried off the boat under the guns of a Chinese admiral. Of this +incident in its main features I was an eye-witness. I may add that +we were near enough to bear witness to the fact of the siege; for, +in the words of Helen Sterling: + + "We heard the boom of guns by day + And saw their flash by night, + And almost thought, tho' miles away, + That we were in the fight. + +The Chinese admiral, feeling the affront to the Dragon flag and +fearing that he would be called to account, promptly tendered his +resignation. He was told to keep his place; and, by way of consoling +him for his inaction, the Minister of Marine added, "You are not +to blame for not firing on the Japanese. They are fighting our +battles--we can't do anything against them." So much for Chinese +neutrality in theory and in practice. + +Kuropatkin, like the Parthian, "most dreaded when in flight," renouncing +any further attempt to break through the cordon which the Japanese +had drawn around the doomed fortress, intrenched his forces in +and around Liaoyang. His position was strong by +[Page 187] +nature, and he strengthened it by every device known to a military +engineer; yet he was driven from it in a battle which lasted nine +days. + +The Japanese, though not slow to close around his outposts, were +too cautious to deliver their main attack until they could be certain +of success. The combat thickened till, on August 24, cannon thundered +along a line of forty miles. Outflanked by his assailants, the +Russian general, perceiving that he must secure his communications +on the north or sustain a siege, abandoned his ground and fell +back on Mukden. + +In this, the greatest battle of the campaign thus far, 400,000 +men were engaged, the Japanese, as usual, having a considerable +majority. The loss of life was appalling. The Russian losses were +reported at 22,000; and those of Japan could not have been less. +Yet Liaoyang with all its horrors was only a prelude to a more +obstinate conflict on a more extended arena. + +Without hope of succour by land, and without a fleet to bring relief +by sea, the Russians defended their fortress with the courage of +despair. Ten years before this date the Japanese under Field-marshal +Oyama had carried this same stronghold almost by assault. Taking +it in the rear, a move which the Chinese thought so contrary to +the rules of war that they had neglected their landward defences, +they were masters of the place on the morning of the third day. + +How different their reception on the present occasion! How changed +the aspect! The hills, range after range, were now crowned with +forts. Fifty thousand of Russia's best soldiers were behind those +batteries, many of which were provided with casemates impenetrable +[Page 188] +to any ordinary projectile. General Stoessel, a man of science, +courage and experience, was in command; and he held General Nogi +with a force of sixty or seventy thousand at bay for eleven months. +Prodigies of valour were performed on both sides, some of the more +commanding positions being taken and retaken three or four times. + +When, in September, the besiegers got possession of Wolf Hill, and +with plunging shot smashed the remnant of the fleet, they offered +generous terms to the defenders. General Stoessel declined the +offer, resolving to emulate Thermopylæ, or believing, perhaps, in +the possibility of rescue. When, however, he saw the "203 Metre +Hill" in their hands and knew his casemates would soon be riddled +by heavy shot, in sheer despair he was forced to capitulate. This +was on the first day of the new year (1905). His force had been +reduced to half its original numbers, and of these no fewer than +14,000 were in hospital. + +General Stoessel has been censured for not holding out until the +arrival of the armada; but what could the armada have done had it +appeared in the offing? It certainly could not have penetrated the +harbour, for in addition to fixed or floating mines it would have +had to run the gauntlet of Togo's fleet and its doom would have +been precipitated. One critic of distinction denounced Stoessel's +surrender as "shameful"; but is it not a complete vindication that +his enemies applaud his gallant defence, and that his own government +was satisfied that he had done his duty.[*] + +[Footnote *: Since writing this I have read the finding of the +court-martial. It has the air of an attempt to diminish the national +disgrace by throwing blame on a brave commander.] + +[Page 189] +The Russian commander had marked out a new camp at Mukden, the +chief city of the province and the cradle of the Manchu dynasty. +There he was allowed once more to intrench himself. Was this because +the Japanese were confident of their ability to compel him again +to retire, or were they occupied with the task of filling up their +depleted ranks? If the latter was the cause, the Russians were +doing the same; but near to their base and with full command of +the sea, the Japanese were able to do it more expeditiously than +their enemy. Yet with all their facilities they were not ready to +move on his works until winter imposed a suspension of hostilities. + +On October 2 Kuropatkin published a boastful manifesto expressing +confidence in the issue of the coming conflict--trusting no doubt +to the help of the three generals, December, January, and February. +Five months later, on March 8, 1905, he sent two telegrams to the +Czar: the first said "I am surrounded;" the second, a few hours +later, conveyed the comforting intelligence "the army has escaped." + +The Japanese, not choosing to encounter the rigours of a Manchurian +winter, waited till the advent of spring. The air was mild and the +streams spanned by bridges of ice. The manoeuvres need not be +described here in detail. After more than ten days of continuous +fighting on a line of battle nearly two hundred miles long, with +scarcely less than a million of men engaged (Japanese in majority +as before), the great Russian strategist broke camp and retired +in good order. His army had escaped, but it had lost in killed +and wounded 150,000. The losses of Japan amounted to 50,000. + +[Page 190] +The greatest battle of this latest war, the Battle of Mukden was +in some respects the greatest in modern history. In length of line, +in numbers engaged, and in the resulting casualties its figures +are double those of Waterloo. Once more by masterly strategy a +rout was converted into a retreat; and the Russian army withdrew +to the northwest. + +Weary of crawfish tactics the Czar appointed General Lineivitch +to the chief command; and the ablest of the Russian generals was +relieved of the duty of contriving ways of "escape." To cover the +rear of a defeated force is always reckoned a post of honour; but +it is not the sort of distinction that satisfies the ambition of +a great commander. + +By dint of efforts and sacrifices an enormous fleet was assembled +for the relief of Port Arthur. It sailed from Cronstadt on August 11, +1905, leaving the Baltic seaports unprotected save by the benevolent +neutrality of the German Kaiser, who granted passage through his +ship canal, although he knew the fleet was going to wage war on +one of his friends. + +Part of the fleet proceeded via Suez, and part went round the Cape +of Good Hope--to them a name of mockery. The ships moved leisurely, +their commanders not doubting that Stoessel would be able to hold +his ground; but scarcely had they reached a rendezvous which, by +the favour of France, they had fixed in the waters adjacent to +Madagascar, when they heard of the fall of Port Arthur. Of the +annihilation of the fleet attached to the fortress, and of the +destruction of a squadron coming to the rescue from the north they +had previously learned. With what dismay did they +[Page 191] +now hear that the key of the ocean was lost. Almost at the same +moment the last of Job's messengers arrived with the heavier tidings +that Mukden, the key of the province, had been abandoned by a defeated +army--stunning intelligence for a forlorn hope! Should they turn +back or push ahead? Anxious question this for Admiral Rozhesvenski +and his officers. Too late for Port Arthur, might they not reënforce +Vladivostok and save it from a like fate? The signal to "steam +ahead" was displayed on the flagship. + +Slowly and painfully, its propellers clogged by seaweed, its keels +overgrown with barnacles, the grand armada crossed the Indian Ocean +and headed northward for the China Sea. On May 27, steering for +the Korean channel, it fell into a snare which a blind man ought +to have been able to foresee. Togo's fleet had the freedom of the +seas. Where could it be, if not in that very channel? Yet on the +Russians went: + + "Unmindful of the whirlwind's sway + That hushed in grim repose + Expects his evening prey." + +The struggle was short and decisive--finished, it is said, in less +than one hour. While Togo's battleships, fresh and in good condition, +poured shot and shell into the wayworn strangers, his torpedo-boats, +greatly increased in number, glided almost unobservedly among the +enemy and launched their thunderbolts with fatal effect. Battleships +and cruisers went down with all on board. The Russian flagship was +disabled, and the admiral, severely wounded, was transferred +[Page 192] +to the hold of a destroyer. Without signals from their commander +the vessels of the whole fleet fought or fled or perished separately; +of 18,000 men, 1,000 escaped and 3,000 were made prisoners. What +of the other 14,000? + + "Ask of the winds that far around + With fragments strewed the sea." + +The much vaunted armada was a thing of the past; and Tsushima or, +as Togo officially named it, the Battle of the Sea of Japan, has +taken its place along with Trafalgar and Salamis. + +Tired of a spectacle that had grown somewhat monotonous, the world +was clamorous for peace. The belligerents, hitherto deaf to every +suggestion of the kind, now accepted an invitation from President +Roosevelt and appointed commissioners to arrange the terms of a +treaty. They met in August, 1905, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and +after a good deal of diplomatic fencing the sword was sheathed. In +the treaty, since ratified, Russia acknowledges Japan's exceptional +position in Korea, transfers to Japan her rights in Port Arthur +and Liao-tung, and hands over to Japan her railways in Manchuria. +Both parties agree to evacuate Manchuria within eighteen months. + +Japan was obliged to waive her claim to a war indemnity and to +allow Russia to retain half the island of Saghalien. Neither nation +was satisfied with the terms, but both perceived that peace was +preferable to the renewal of the struggle with all its horrors +and uncertainties. For tendering the olive branch +[Page 193] +and smoothing the way for its acceptance, President Roosevelt merits +the thanks of mankind.[*] Besides other advantages Japan has assured +her position as the leading power of the Orient; but the greatest +gainer will be Russia, if her defeat in the field should lead her +to the adoption of a liberal government at home. + +[Footnote *: Since this was written a Nobel Peace Prize has justly +been awarded to the President.] + + "Peace hath her victories, + No less renowned than war." + +The Czar signified his satisfaction by making Witte the head of +a reconstruction ministry and by conferring upon him the title +of Count; and the Mikado showed his entire confidence in Baron +Komura, notwithstanding some expressions of disappointment among +the people, by assigning him the delicate task of negotiating a +treaty with China. + +Though the attitude of China had been as unheroic as would have +been Menelaus' had the latter declared neutrality in the Trojan +war, the issue has done much to rouse the spirit of the Chinese +people. Other wars made them feel their weakness: this one begot +a belief in their latent strength. When they witnessed a series +of victories on land and sea gained by the Japanese over one of +the most formidable powers of the West, they exclaimed, "If our +neighbour can do this, why may we not do the same? We certainly +can if, like them, we break with the effete systems of the past. +Let us take these island heroes for our schoolmasters." + +[Page 194] +That war was one of the most momentous in the annals of history. +It unsettled the balance of power, and opened a vista of untold +possibilities for the yellow race. + +Not slow to act on their new convictions, the Chinese have sent a +small army of ten thousand students to Japan--of whom over eight +thousand are there now, while they have imported from the island +a host of instructors whose numbers can only be conjectured. The +earliest to come were in the military sphere, to rehabilitate army +and navy. Then came professors of every sort, engaged by public +or private institutions to help on educational reform. Even in +agriculture, on which they have hitherto prided themselves, the +Chinese have put themselves under the teaching of the Japanese, +while with good reason they have taken them as teachers in forestry +also. Crowds of Japanese artificers in every handicraft find ready +employment in China. Nor will it be long before pupils and apprentices +in these home schools will assume the rôle of teacher, while Chinese +graduates returning from Japan will be welcomed as professors of a +higher grade. This Japanning process, as it is derisively styled, may +be somewhat superficial; but it has the recommendation of cheapness +and rapidity in comparison with depending on teachers from the +West. It has, moreover, the immense advantage of racial kinship and +example. Of course the few students who go to the fountain-heads +of science--in the West--must when they return home take rank as +China's leading teachers. + +All this inclines one to conclude that a rapid transformation in +this ancient empire is to be counted on. +[Page 195] +The Chinese will soon do for themselves what they are now getting +the Japanese to do for them. Japanese ideas will be permanent; but +the direct agency of the Japanese people will certainly become +less conspicuous than it now is. + +To the honour of the Japanese Government, the world is bound to +acknowledge that the island nation has not abused its victories to +wring concessions from China. In fact to the eye of an unprejudiced +observer it appears that in unreservedly restoring Manchuria Japan +has allowed an interested neutral to reap a disproportionate share +of the profits. + + + + +[Page 196] +CHAPTER XXIX + +REFORM IN CHINA + +_Reforms under the Empress Dowager--The Eclectic Commission--Recent +Reforms--Naval Abortion--Merchant Marine--Army Reform--Mining +Enterprises--Railways--The Telegraph--The Post Office--The Customs--Sir +Robert Hart--Educational Reform--The Tung-Wen College--The Imperial +University--Diplomatic Intercourse--Progressive Viceroys--New Tests +for Honours--Legal Reform--Newspapers--Social Reforms--Reading +Rooms--Reform in Writing--Anti-foot-binding Society--The Streets._ + +"When I returned from England," said Marquis Ito, "my chief, the +Prince of Chosin, asked me if I thought anything needed to be changed +in Japan. I answered, 'Everything.'" These words were addressed in my +hearing, as I have elsewhere recorded, to three Chinese statesmen, +of whom Li Hung Chang was one. The object of the speaker was to +emphasise the importance of reform in China. He was unfortunate in +the time of his visit--it was just after the _coup d'état_, +in 1898. His hearers were men of light and leading, in sympathy +with his views; but reform was on the ebb; a ruinous recoil was +to follow; and nothing came of his suggestions. + +[Page 197] +The Emperor had indeed shown himself inclined to "change everything," +but at that moment his power was paralyzed. What vicissitudes he +has passed through since that date! Should he come again to power, +as now seems probable, may he not, sobered by years and prudent +from experience, still carry into effect his grand scheme for the +renovation of China. To him a golden dream, will it ever be a reality +to his people? + +Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her +life and her throne, the Dowager became a convert to the policy +of progress. She had, in fact, outstripped her nephew. "Long may +she live!" "Late may he rule us!" During her lifetime she could be +counted on to carry forward the cause she had so ardently espoused. +She grasped the reins with a firm hand; and her courage was such +that she did not hesitate to drive the chariot of state over many +a new and untried road. She knew she could rely on the support +of her viceroys--men of her own appointment. She knew too that +the spirit of reform was abroad in the land, and that the heart +of the people was with her. + +The best embodiment of this new spirit was the High Commission +sent out in 1905 to study the institutions of civilized countries +east and west, and to report on the adoption of such as they deemed +advisable. The mere sending forth of such an embassy was enough +to make her reign illustrious. The only analogous mission in the +history of China, is that which was despatched to India, in 66 A. +D., in quest of a better faith, by Ming-ti, "The Luminous." The +earlier embassy +[Page 198] +borrowed a few sparks to rekindle the altars of their country; +the present embassy propose to introduce new elements in the way +of political reform. Their first recommendation, if not their first +report, reaches me while I write, and in itself is amply sufficient +to prove that this High Commission is not a sham designed to dazzle +or deceive. The Court _Gazette_, according to the _China +Times_, gives the following on the subject: + + +"The five commissioners have sent in a joint memorial dealing with +what they have seen in foreign countries during the last three +months. They report that the wealthiest and strongest nations in +the world to-day are governed by constitutional government. They +mention the proclamation of constitutional government in Russia, and +remark that China is the only great country that has not adopted that +principle. As they have carefully studied the systems of England, +the United States, Japan, etc., they earnestly request the Throne +to issue a decree fixing on five years as the limit within which +'China will adopt a constitutional form of government.' + +"A rescript submits this recommendation to a council of state to +advise on the action to be taken." + + +If that venerable body, consisting of old men who hold office for +life, does not take umbrage at the prospect of another tribunal +infringing on their domain, we shall have at least the promise of +a parliament. And five years hence, if the _congé d'elire_ +goes forth, it will rend the veil of ages. It implies the conferment +on the people of power hitherto unknown in their history. What a +commotion will the ballot-box excite! How suddenly will it arouse +the dormant +[Page 199] +intellect of a brainy race! But it is premature to speculate. + +In 1868 the Mikado granted his subjects a charter of rights, the +first article of which guarantees freedom of discussion, and engages +that he will be guided by the will of the people. In China does +not the coming of a parliament involve the previous issue of a +Magna Charta? + +It is little more than eight years since the restoration, as the +return of the Court in January, 1902, may be termed. In this period, +it is safe te assert that more sweeping reforms have been decreed +in China than were ever enacted in a half-century by any other +country, if one except Japan, whose example the Chinese profess to +follow, and France, in the Revolution, of which Macaulay remarks +that "they changed everything--from the rites of religion to the +fashion of a shoe-buckle." + +Reference will here be made to a few of the more important innovations +or ameliorations which, taken together, made the reign of the Empress +Dowager the most brilliant in the history of the Empire. The last +eight years have been uncommonly prolific of reforms; but the tide +began to turn after the peace of Peking in 1860. Since that date +every step in the adoption of modern methods was taken during the +reign or regency of that remarkable woman, which dated from 1861 +to 1908. + +As late as 1863 the Chinese Government did not possess a single +fighting ship propelled by steam. Steamers belonging to Chinese +merchants were sometimes employed to chase pirates; but they were not +[Page 200] +the property of the state. The first state-owned steamers, at least +the first owned by the Central Government, was a flotilla of gunboats +purchased that year in England by Mr. Lay, Inspector-General of +Maritime Customs. Dissatisfied with the terms he had made with the +commander, whom he had bound not to act on any orders but such as +the Inspector should approve, the Government dismissed the Inspector +and sold the ships. + +In the next thirty years a sufficient naval force was raised to +justify the appointment of an admiral; but in 1895 the whole fleet +was destroyed by the Japanese, and Admiral Ting committed suicide. +At present there is a squadron under each viceroy; but all combined +would hardly form the nucleus of a navy. That the Government intend +to create a navy may be inferred from the establishment of a Naval +Board. In view of the naval exploits of Japan, and under the guidance +of Japanese, they are certain to develop this feeble plant and to +make it formidable to somebody--perhaps to themselves. + +Their merchant marine is more respectable. With a fleet of fifty +or more good ships the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company +are able by the aid of subsidies and special privileges to compete +for a share in the coasting trade; but as yet they have no line +trading to foreign ports. + +In 1860 a wild horde with matchlocks, bows, and spears, the land +army is now supplied in large part with repeating rifles, trained +in Western drill, and dressed in uniform of the Western type. The +manoeuvres that took place near Peking in 1905 made +[Page 201] +a gala day for the Imperial Court, which expressed itself as more +than satisfied with the splendour of the spectacle. The contingent +belonging to this province is 40,000, and the total thus drilled +and armed is not less than five times that number. In 1907 the +troops of five provinces met in Honan. Thanks to railways, something +like concentration is coming within the range of possibility. Not +deficient in courage, what these raw battalions require to make +them effective is confidence in themselves and in their commanders. +Lacking in the lively patriotism that makes heroes of the Japanese, +these fine big fellows are not machines, but animals. To the mistaken +efforts recently made to instil that sentiment at the expense of the +foreigner, I shall refer in another chapter. A less objectionable +phase of the sentiment is provincialism, which makes it easy for an +invader to employ the troops of one province to conquer another. +In history these provinces appear as kingdoms, and their mutual +wars form the staple subject. What feeling of unity can exist so +long as the people are divided by a babel of dialects? More than +once have Tartars employed Chinese to conquer China; and in 1900 a +fine regiment from Wei-hai-wei helped the British to storm Peking. +It may be added they repaid themselves by treating the inhabitants +as conquered foes. Everywhere they were conspicuous for acts of +lawless violence. + +Three great arsenals, not to speak of minor establishments, are +kept busy turning out artillery and small arms for the national +army, and the Board of Army Reform has the supervision of those +forces, with +[Page 202] +the duty of making them not provincial, but national. Efforts of +this kind, however, are no proof of a reform spirit. Are not the +same to be seen all the way from Afghanistan to Dahomey? "To be weak +is to be miserable"; and the Chinese are right in making military +reorganisation the starting-point of a new policy. Yet the mere +proposal of a parliament is a better indication of the spirit of +reform than all these armaments. + +In the mind of China, wealth is the correlative of strength. The +two ideas are combined in the word _Fuchiang_, which expresses +national prosperity. Hence the treasures hidden in the earth could +not be neglected, when they had given up the follies of geomancy +and saw foreigners prospecting and applying for concessions to work +mines. At first such applications were met by a puerile quibble +as to the effect of boring on the "pulse of the Dragon"--in their +eyes not the guardian of a precious deposit, but the personification +of "good luck." To find lucky locations, and to decide what might +help or harm, were the functions of a learned body of professors of +_Fungshui_, a false science which held the people in bondage +and kept the mines sealed up until our own day. Gradually the Chinese +are shaking off the incubus and, reckless of the Dragon, are forming +companies for the exploitation of all sorts of minerals. The Government +has framed elaborate regulations limiting the shares of foreigners, +and encouraging their own people to engage in mining enterprises. + + "Give up your _Fungshui_; + It keeps your wealth locked up," + +says a verse of Viceroy Chang. + +[Page 203] +A similar change has taken place in sentiment as regards railways. +At first dreaded as an instrument of foreign aggression, they are +now understood to be the best of auxiliaries for national defence. +It has further dawned on the mind of a grasping mandarinate that +they may be utilised as a source of revenue. If stocks pay well, +why should not the Government hold them? "Your railways pay 10 +per cent.--that's the sort of railway we want in China," said one +of the commissioners at a banquet in England. + +It would not be strange if the nationalisation of railways decided +on this spring in Japan should lead to a similar movement in China. +In a country like America, with 300,000 miles of track, the purchase +would be _ultra vires_ in more senses than one, but with only +1 per cent. of that mileage, the purchase would not be difficult, +though it might not be so easy to secure an honest administration. + +Trains from Peking now reach Hankow (600 miles) in thirty-six hours. +When the grand trunk is completed, through trains from the capital +will reach Canton in three days. Set this over against the three +months' sea voyage of former times (a voyage made only once a year), +or against the ten days now required for the trip by steamer! What +a potent factor is the railroad in the progress of a great country! + +The new enterprises in this field would be burdensome to enumerate. +Shanghai is to be connected by rail with Tientsin (which means +Peking), and with Nanking and Suchow. Lines to penetrate the western +provinces are already mapped out; and even in Mongolia it is proposed +to supersede the camel by the iron +[Page 204] +horse on the caravan route to Russia. "Alas! the age of golden +leisure is gone--the iron age of hurry-skurry is upon us!" This +is the lament of old slow-going China. + +When China purchased the Shanghai-Woosung railway in 1876, she +was thought to be going ahead. What did we think when she tore up +the track and dumped it in the river? An æon seems to have passed +since that day of darkness. + +The advent of railways has been slow in comparison with the telegraph. +The provinces are covered with wires. Governors and captains consult +with each other by wire, in preference to a tardy exchange of written +correspondence. The people, too, appreciate the advantage of +communicating by a flash with distant members of their families, +and of settling questions of business at remote places without +stirring from their own doors. To have their thunder god bottled +up and brought down to be their courier was to them the wonder of +wonders; yet they have now become so accustomed to this startling +innovation, that they cease to marvel. + +The wireless telegraph is also at work--a little manual, translated +by a native Christian, tells people how to use it. + +Over forty years ago, when I exhibited the Morse system to the +astonished dignitaries of Peking, those old men, though heads of +departments, chuckled like children when, touching a button, they +heard a bell ring; or when wrapping a wire round their bodies, +they saw the lightning leap from point to point. "It's wonderful," +they exclaimed, "but we can't use it in +[Page 205] +our country. The people would steal the wires." Electric bells +are now common appliances in the houses of Chinese who live in +foreign settlements. Electric trolleys are soon to be running at +Shanghai and Tientsin. Telephones, both private and public, are +a convenience much appreciated. Accustomed as the Chinese are to +the instantaneous transmission of thought and speech, they have +yet to see the _telodyne_--electricity as a transmitter of +force. But will they not see it when the trolleys run? The advent +of electric power will mark an epoch. + +China's weakness is not due wholly to backwardness in the arts +and sciences. It is to be equally ascribed to defective connection +of parts and to a lack of communication between places. Hence a +sense of solidarity is wanting, and instead there is a predominance +of local over national interests. For this disease the remedy is +forthcoming--rail and wire are rapidly welding the disjointed members +of the Empire into a solid unity. The post office contributes to +the same result. + +A postal system China has long possessed: mounted couriers for +official despatches, and foot messengers for private parties, the +Government providing the former, and merchant companies the latter. +The modernised post office, now operating in every province, provides +for both. To most of the large towns the mails are carried by steamboat +or railroad--a marvellous gain in time, compared with horse or +foot. The old method was slow and uncertain; the new is safe and +expeditious. + +That the people appreciate the change is shown by +[Page 206] +the following figures: In 1904 stamps to the amount of $400,000 +(Mexican) were sold; in 1905 the sale rose to $600,000--an advance +of 50 per cent. in one year. What may we not expect when the women +learn to read, and when education becomes more general among men? + +Sir Robert Hart, from whom I had this statement, is the father +of China's postal system. Overcoming opposition with patience and +prudence, he has given the post office a thorough organisation and +has secured for it the confidence of princes and people. Already +does the Government look to it as a prospective source of revenue. + +To the maritime customs service, Sir Robert has been a foster-father. +Provided for by treaty, it was in operation before he took charge, +in 1863; but to him belongs the honour of having nursed the infant +up to vigorous maturity by the unwearied exertions of nearly half +a century. While the post office is a new development, the maritime +customs have long been looked upon as the most reliable branch of +the revenue service. China's debts to foreign countries, whether +for loans or indemnities, are invariably paid from the customs +revenue. The Government, though disinclined to have such large +concerns administered by foreign agents, is reconciled to the +arrangement in the case of the customs by finding it a source of +growing income. The receipts for 1905 amounted to 35,111,000 taels += £5,281,000. In volume of trade this shows a gain of 11-1/2 per +cent. on 1904; but, owing to a favouring gale from the happy isles +of high finance, in sterling value the gain is actually 17 per +cent. + +[Page 207] +To a thoughtful mind, native or foreign, the maritime customs are +not to be estimated by a money standard. They rank high among the +agencies working for the renovation of China. They furnish an +object-lesson in official integrity, showing how men brought up +under the influence of Christian morals can collect large sums and +pay them over without a particle sticking to their fingers. While +the local commissioners have carried liberal ideas into mandarin +circles all along the seacoast and up the great rivers into the +interior, the Inspector-General (the "I. G." as Sir Robert is usually +called) has been the zealous advocate of every step in the way of +reform at headquarters. + +Another man in his position might have been contented to be a mere +fiscal agent, but Sir Robert Hart's fertile brain has been unceasingly +active for nearly half a century in devising schemes for the good of +China. All the honours and wealth that China has heaped on her trusted +adviser are far from being sufficient to cancel her obligations. +It was he who prompted a timid, groping government to take the +first steps in the way of diplomatic intercourse. It was he who +led them to raise their school of interpreters to the rank of a +diplomatic college. He it was who made peace in the war with France; +and in 1900, after the flight of the Court, he it was who acted +as intermediary between the foreign powers and Prince Ching. To +some of these notable services I shall refer elsewhere. I speak +of them here for the purpose of emphasising my disapproval of an +intrigue designed to oust Sir Robert and to overturn +[Page 208] +the lofty structure which he has made into a light-house for China. + +In May, 1906, two ministers were appointed by the Throne to take +charge of the entire customs service, with plenary powers to reform +or modify _ad libitum_. Sir Robert was not consulted, nor was +he mentioned in the decree. He was not dismissed, but was virtually +superseded. Britain, America, and other powers took alarm for the +safety of interests involved, and united in a protest. The Government +explained that it was merely substituting one tribunal for another, +creating a dual headship for the customs service instead of leaving +it under the Board of Foreign Affairs, a body already overburdened +with responsibilities. They gave a solemn promise that while Sir +Robert Hart remained there should be no change in his status or +powers; and so the matter stands. The protest saved the situation +for the present. Explanation and promise were accepted; but the +Government (or rather the two men who got themselves appointed +to a fat office) remain under the reproach of discourtesy and +ingratitude. The two men are Tieliang, a Manchu, and Tang Shao-yi, +a Chinese. The latter, I am told on good authority, is to have +£30,000 per annum. The other will not have less. This enormous salary +is paid to secure honesty. + +In China every official has his salary paid in two parts: one called +the "regular stipend," the other, a "solatium to encourage honesty." +The former is counted by hundreds of taels; the latter, by thousands, +especially where there is a temptation to peculate. What a rottenness +at the core is here betrayed! + +[Page 209] +A new development worthy of all praise is the opening, by imperial +command, of a school for the training of officials for the customs +service. It is a measure which Sir Robert Hart with all his public +spirit, never ventured to recommend, because it implies the speedy +replacement of the foreign staff by trained natives. + +Filling the sky with a glow of hope not unlike the approach of +sunshine after an arctic winter, the reform in the field of education +throws all others into the shade. By all parties is recognised +its supremacy. Its beginning was feeble and unwelcome, implying +on the part of China nothing but a few drops of oil to relieve +the friction at a few points of contact with the outside world. + +The new treaties found China unprovided with interpreters capable +of translating documents in foreign languages. Foreign nations +agreed to accompany their despatches with a Chinese version, until +a competent staff of interpreters should be provided. With a view to +meeting this initial want, a school was opened in 1862, in connection +with the Foreign Office, and placed under the direction of the +Inspector-General of Maritime Customs, by whom I was recommended +for the presidency. Professors of English, French, and Russian +were engaged; and later on German took a place alongside of the +three leading languages of the Western world. + +At first no science was taught or expected, but gradually we succeeded +in obtaining the consent of the Chinese ministers to enlarge our +faculty so as to include chairs of astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, +and physics. International law was taught by the +[Page 210] +president; and by him also the Chinese were supplied with their +first text-books on the law of nations. What use had they for books +on that subject, so long as they held no intercourse on equal terms +with foreign countries? The students trained in that school of +diplomacy had to shiver in the cold for many a year before the +Government recognised their merits and rewarded them with official +appointments. The minister recently returned from London, the ministers +now in Germany and Japan, and a minister formerly in France, not to +speak of secretaries of legation and consuls, were all graduates +of our earlier classes. + +In 1898 the young Emperor, taught by defeat at the hands of the +Japanese, resolved on a thorough reform in the system of national +education. It would never do to confine the knowledge of Western +science to a handful of interpreters and attachés. The highest +scholars of the Empire must be allowed access to the fountain of +national strength. A university was created with a capital of five +million taels, and the writer was made president by an imperial +decree which conferred on him the highest but one of the nine grades +of the mandarinate. + +Two or three hundred students were enrolled, among whom were bachelors, +masters, and doctors of the civil service examinations. It was +launched with a favouring breeze; but the wind changed with the +_coup d'état_ of the Empress Dowager, and two years later the +university went down in the Boxer cyclone. A professor, a tutor, +and a student lost their lives. How the cause of educational reform +rose stronger after the storm, I relate in a special +[Page 211] +chapter. It is a far cry from a university for the _élite_ +to that elaborate system of national education which is destined +to plant its schools in every town and hamlet in the Empire. The +new education was in fact still regarded with suspicion by the +honour men of the old system. They looked on it, as they did on +the railway, as a source of danger, a perilous experiment. + +As yet the intercourse was one-sided: envoys came; but none were +sent. Embassies were no novelty; but they had always moved on an +inclined plane, either coming up laden with tribute, or going down +bearing commands. Where there was no tribute and no command, why +send them? Why send to the very people who had robbed China of her +supremacy! It was a bitter pill, and she long refused to swallow +it. Hart gilded the dose and she took it. Obtaining leave to go +home to get married, he proposed that he should be accompanied by +his teacher, Pinchun, a learned Manchu, as unofficial envoy--with +the agreeable duty to see and report. It was a travelling commission, +not like that of 1905-06, to seek light, but to ascertain whether +the representative of a power so humbled and insulted would be +treated with common decency. + +The old pundit was a poet. All Chinese pundits are poets; but Pinchun +had real gifts, and the flow of champagne kindled his inspiration. +Everywhere wined and dined, though accredited to no court, he was +in raptures at the magnificence of the nations of the West. He +lauded their wealth, culture, and scenery in faultless verse; and +if he indulged in satire, +[Page 212] +it was not for the public eye. He was attended by several of our +students, to whom the travelling commission was an education. They +were destined, after long waiting as I have said, to revisit the +Western world, clothed with higher powers. + +The impression made on both sides was favourable, and the way was +prepared for a genuine embassy. The United States minister, Anson +Burlingame, a man of keen penetration and broad sympathies, had made +himself exceedingly acceptable to the Foreign Office at Peking. When +he was taking leave to return home, in 1867, the Chinese ministers +begged his good offices with the United States Government and with +other governments as occasion might offer--"In short, you will +be our ambassador," they said, with hearty good-will. + +Burlingame, who grasped the possibilities of the situation, called at +the Customs on his way to the Legation. Hart seized the psychological +moment, and, hastening to the _Yamên_, induced the ministers +to turn a pleasantry into a reality. The Dowagers (for there were +two) assented to the proposal of Prince Kung, to invest Burlingame +with a roving commission to all the Treaty powers, and to associate +with him a Manchu and a Chinese with the rank of minister. An +"oecumenical embassy" was the result. Some of our students were +again attached to the suite; reciprocal intercourse had begun; and +Burlingame has the glory of initiating it". + +In the work of reform three viceroys stand pre-eminent, viz., Li +Hung Chang, Yuen Shi Kai and Chang Chitung. Li, besides organising +an army and +[Page 213] +a navy (both demolished by the Japanese in 1895), founded a university +at Tienstin, and placed Dr. Tenney at the head of it. Yuen, coming +to the same viceroyalty with the lesson of the Boxer War before +his eyes, has made the army and education objects of special care. +In the latter field he had had the able assistance of Dr. Tenney, +and succeeded in making the schools of the province of Chihli an +example for the Empire. + +Viceroy Chang has the distinction of being the first man (with +the exception of Kang Yuwei) to start the emperor on the path of +reform. Holding that, to be rich, China must have the industrial +arts of the West, and to be strong she must have the sciences of +the West, he has taken the lead in advocating and introducing both. +Having been called, after the suspension of the Imperial University, +to assist this enlightened satrap in his great enterprise, I cannot +better illustrate the progress of reform than by devoting a separate +chapter to him and to my observations during three years in Central +China. + +Tests of scholarship and qualifications for office have undergone +a complete change. The regulation essay, for centuries supreme in +the examinations for the civil service, is abolished; and more +solid acquirements have taken its place. It takes time to adjust such +an ancient system to new conditions. That this will be accomplished +is sufficiently indicated by the fact that in May, 1906, degrees +answering to A. M. and Ph. D. were conferred on quite a number of +students who had completed their studies at universities in foreign +countries. As a result there is certain +[Page 214] +to be a rush of students to Europe and America, the fountain-heads +of science. Forty young men selected by Viceroy Yuen from the advanced +classes of his schools were in 1906 despatched under the superintendence +of Dr. Tenney to pursue professional studies in the United States. +That promising mission was partly due to the relaxation of the +rigour of the exclusion laws. + +The Chinese assessor of the Mixed Court in Shanghai was dismissed +the same year because he had condemned criminals to be beaten with +rods--a favourite punishment, in which there is a way to alleviate +the blows. Slicing, branding, and other horrible punishments with +torture to extort confessions have been forbidden by imperial decree. +Conscious of the contempt excited by such barbarities, and desirous +of removing an obstacle to admission to the comity of nations, the +Government has undertaken to revise its penal code. Wu-ting-fang, +so well known as minister at Washington, has borne a chief part in +this honourable task. The code is not yet published; but magistrates +are required to act on its general principles. When completed it will +no doubt provide for a jury, a thing hitherto unknown in China. +The commissioners on legal reform have already sent up a memorial, +explaining the functions of a jury; and, to render its adoption +palatable, they declare that it is an ancient institution, having +been in use in China three thousand years ago. They leave the Throne +to infer that Westerners borrowed it from China. + +The fact is that each magistrate is a petty tyrant, embodying in +his person the functions of local governor, +[Page 215] +judge, and jury, though there are limits to his discretion and +room for appeal or complaint. It is to be hoped that lawyers and +legal education will find a place in the administration of justice. + +Formerly clinging to a foreign flagstaff, the editor of a Chinese +journal cautiously hinted the need for some kinds of reform. Within +this _lustrum mirabile_ the daily press has taken the Empire +by storm. Some twenty or more journals have sprung up under the +shadow of the throne, and they are not gagged. They go to the length +of their tether in discussing affairs of state--notwithstanding +cautionary hints. Refraining from open attack, they indulge in +covert criticism of the Government and its agents. + +Social reforms open to ambitious editors a wide field and make amends +for exclusion from the political arena. One of the most influential +recently deplored the want of vitality in the old religions of +the country, and, regarding their reformation as hopeless, openly +advocated the adoption of Christianity. To be independent of the +foreigner it must, he said, be made a state church, with one of +the princes for a figurehead, if not for pilot. + +Another deals with the subject of marriage. Many improvements, +he says, are to be made in the legal status of woman. The total +abolition of polygamy might be premature; but that is to be kept +in view. In another issue he expresses a regret that the Western +usage of personal courtship cannot safely be introduced. Those who +are to be companions for life cannot as yet be allowed to see each +other, as disorders might result from excess of freedom. Such liberty +[Page 216] +in social relations is impracticable "except in a highly refined +and well-ordered state of society." The same or another writer +proposes, by way of enlarging woman's world, that she shall not +be confined to the house, but be allowed to circulate as freely +as Western women but she must hide her charms behind a veil. + +Reporting an altercation between a policeman and the driver of +one of Prince Ching's carts, who insisted on driving on tracks +forbidden to common people, an editor suggests with mild sarcasm +that a notice be posted in such cases stating that only "noblemen's +carts are allowed to pass." Do not these specimens show a laudable +attempt to simulate a free press? Free it is by sufferance, though +not by law. + +Reading-rooms are a new institution full of promise. They are not +libraries, but places for reading and expounding newspapers for the +benefit of those who are unable to read for themselves. Numerous +rooms may be seen at the street corners, where men are reciting +the contents of a paper to an eager crowd. They have the air of +wayside chapels; and this mode of enlightening the ignorant was +confessedly borrowed from the missionary. How urgent the need, +where among the men only one in twenty can read; and among women +not one in a hundred! + +Reform in writing is a genuine novelty, Chinese writing being a +development of hieroglyphics, in which the sound is no index to +the sense, and in which each pictorial form must be separately made +familiar to the eye. Dr. Medhurst wittily calls it "an occulage, +not a language." Without the introduction of alphabetic +[Page 217] +writing, the art of reading can never become general. To meet this +want a new alphabet of fifty letters has been invented, and a society +organised to push the system, so that the common people, also women, +may soon be able to read the papers for themselves. The author of +the system is Wang Chao, mentioned above as having given occasion +for the _coup d'état_ by which the Dowager Empress was restored +to power in 1898. + +I close this formidable list of reforms with a few words on a society +for the abolition of a usage which makes Chinese women the +laughing-stock of the world, namely, the binding of their feet. +With the minds of her daughters cramped by ignorance, and their +feet crippled by the tyranny of an absurd fashion, China suffers an +immense loss, social and economic. Happily there are now indications +that the proposed enfranchisement will meet with general favour. +Lately I heard mandarins of high rank advocate this cause in the +hearing of a large concourse at Shanghai. They have given a pledge +that there shall be no more foot-binding in their families; and the +Dowager Empress came to the support of the cause with a hortatory +edict. As in this matter she dared not prohibit, she was limited to +persuasion and example. Tartar women have their powers of locomotion +unimpaired. Viceroy Chang denounced the fashion as tending to sap the +vigour of China's mothers; and he is reported to have suggested a +tax on small feet--in inverse proportion to their size, of course. +The leader in this movement, which bids fair to become national, +is Mrs. Archibald Little. + +[Page 218] +The streets are patrolled by a well-dressed and well-armed police +force, in strong contrast with the ragged, negligent watchmen of +yore. The Chinese, it seems, are in earnest about mending their +ways. Their streets, in Peking and other cities, are undergoing +thorough repair--so that broughams and rickshaws are beginning to +take the place of carts and palanquins. A foreign style of building +is winning favour; and the adoption of foreign dress is talked of. +When these changes come, what will be left of this queer antique? + + + + +[Page 219] +CHAPTER XXX + +VICEROY CHANG-A LEADER OF REFORM + +_His Origin--Course as a Student--In the Censorate--He Floors a +Magnate--The First to Wake Up--As a Leader of Reform--The Awakening +of the Giant_ + +If I were writing of Chang, the Chinese giant, who overtopped the +tallest of his fellow-men by head and shoulders, I should be sure +of readers. Physical phenomena attract attention more than mental +or moral grandeur. Is it not because greatness in these higher +realms requires patient thought for due appreciation? + +Chang, the viceroy of Hukwang, a giant in intellect and a hero in +achievement, is not a commonplace character. If my readers will +follow me, while I trace his rise and progress, not only will they +discover that he stands head and shoulders above most officials +of his rank, but they will gain important side-lights on great +events in recent history. + +During my forty years' residence in the capital I had become well +acquainted with Chang's brilliant career; but it is only within +the last three or four years that I have had an opportunity to +study him in personal intercourse, having been called to preside +over his university and to aid him in other educational enterprises. + +[Page 220] +Whatever may be thought of the rank and file of China's mandarins, +her viceroys are nearly always men of exceptional ability. They +are never novices, but as a rule old in years and veterans in +experience. Promoted for executive talent or for signal services, +their office is too high to be in the market; nor is it probable +that money can do much to recommend a candidate. A governor of +Kwangsi was recently dismissed for incompetence, or for ill-success +against a body of rebels. Being a rich man, he made a free use +of that argument which commonly proves effective at Peking. But, +so far from being advanced to the viceroyalty, he was not even +reinstated in his original rank. The most he was able to obtain by +a lavish expenditure was the inspectorship of a college at Wuchang, +to put his foot on one of the lower rounds of the official ladder. + +Chang was never rich enough to buy official honours, even in the +lower grades; and it is one of his chief glories that, after a +score of years in the exercise of viceregal power, he continues +to be relatively poor. + +His name in full is Chang Chi-tung, meaning "Longbow of the Cavern," +an allusion to a tradition that one of his ancestors was born in +a cave and famed for archery. This was far back in the age of the +troglodytes. Now, for many generations, the family has been devoted +to the peaceful pursuit of letters. As for Chang himself, it will +be seen with what deadly effect he has been able to use the pen, in +his hands a more formidable weapon than the longbow of his ancestor. + +Chang was born at Nanpi, in the metropolitan +[Page 221] +province of Chihli, not quite seventy years ago; and that circumstance +debarred him from holding the highest viceroyalty in the Empire, +as no man is permitted to hold office in his native place. He has +climbed to his present eminence without the extraneous aids of +wealth and family influence. This implies talents of no ordinary +grade; but how could those talents have found a fit arena without +that admirable system of literary competition which for so many +centuries has served the double purpose of extending patronage +to letters and of securing the fittest men for the service of the +state. + +Crowned with the laurel of A. B., or budding genius, before he +was out of his teens, three years later he won the honour of A. +M., or, as the Chinese say, he plucked a sprig of the _olea +fragrans_ in a contest with his fellow-provincials in which +only one in a hundred gained a prize. Proceeding to the imperial +capital he entered the lists against the picked scholars of all +the provinces. The prizes were 3 per cent. of the whole number +of competitors, and he gained the doctorate in letters, which, as +the Chinese title indicates, assures its possessor of an official +appointment. Had he been content to wait for some obscure position +he might have gone home to sleep on his laurels. But his restless +spirit saw fresh battle-fields beckoning him to fresh triumphs. +The three hundred new-made doctors were summoned to the palace to +write on themes assigned by the Emperor, that His Majesty might +select a score of them for places in the Hanlin Academy. Here again +fortune favoured young Chang; the elegance of his penmanship and +his skill in composing +[Page 222] +mechanical verse were so remarkable that he secured a seat on the +literary Olympus of the Empire. + +His conflicts were not yet ended. A conspicuous advantage of his +high position was that it qualified him as a candidate for membership +of the Board of Censors. Nor did fortune desert her favourite in +this instance. After writing several papers to show his knowledge +of law, history, and politics, he came forth clothed with powers +that made him formidable to the highest officers of the state--powers +somewhat analogous to the combined functions of censor and tribune +in ancient Rome. + +Before I proceed to show how our "knight of the longbow" employed +his new authority, a few words on the constitution of that august +tribunal, the Board of Censors, may prove interesting to the reader. +Its members are not judges, but prosecuting attorneys for the state. +They are accorded a freedom of speech which extends even to pointing +out the shortcomings of majesty. How important such a tribunal for +a country in which a newspaper press with its argus eyes has as +yet no existence! There is indeed a court _Gazette_, which +has been called the oldest newspaper in the world; but its contents +are strictly limited to decrees, memorials, and appointments. Free +discussion and general news have no place in its columns; so that +in the modern sense it is not a newspaper. + +The court--even the occupant of the Dragon Throne--needs watch-dogs. +Such is the theory; but as a matter of fact these guardians of official +morals find it safer to occupy themselves with the aberrations of +satellites than to discover spots on the sun. About +[Page 223] +thirty years ago one of them, Wukotu, resolved to denounce the +Empress Dowager for having adopted the late emperor as her son +instead of making him her grandson. He accordingly immolated himself +at the tomb of the late emperor by way of protesting against the +impropriety of leaving him without a direct heir to worship his +manes. It is doubtful whether the Western mind is capable of following +Wukotu's subtle reasoning; but is it not plain that he felt that +he was provoking an ignominious death, and chose rather to die +as a hero--the champion of his deceased master? + +If a censor succeeds in convicting a single high functionary of +gross misconduct his fortune is made. He is rewarded by appointment +to some respectable post, possibly the same from which his victim has +been evicted. Practical advantage carries the day against abstract +notions of æsthetic fitness. Sublime it might be to see the guardians +of the common weal striking down the unworthy, with a public spirit +untainted by self-interest; but in China (and in some other countries) +such machinery requires self-interest for its motive force. Wanting +that, it would be like a windmill without wind, merely a fine object +in the landscape. + +As an illustration of the actual procedure take the case in which +Chang first achieved a national reputation. Chunghau, a Manchu of +noble family and high in favour at court, had been sent to Russia +in 1880 to demand the restoration of Ili, a province of Chinese +Turkestan, which the Russians had occupied on pretext of quelling +its chronic disorders. Scarcely had he reported the success of +his mission, which had +[Page 224] +resulted in recovering two-thirds of the disputed territory, when +Chang came forward and denounced it as worse than a failure. He +had, as Chang proved, permitted the Russians to retain certain +strategic points, and had given them fertile districts in exchange +for rugged mountains or arid plains. To such a settlement no envoy +could be induced to consent, unless chargeable with corruption +or incompetence. + +The unlucky envoy was thrown into prison and condemned to death +(but reprieved), and his accuser rose in the official scale as +rapidly as if he had won a great battle on land or sea. His victory +was not unlike that of those British orators who made a reputation +out of the impeachment of Lord Clive or Warren Hastings, save that +with him a trenchant pen took the place of an eloquent tongue. I +knew Chunghau both before and after his disgrace. In 1859, when +an American embassy for the first time entered the gates of Peking, +it was Chunghau who was appointed to escort the minister to the +capital and back again to the seacoast--a pretty long journey in +those days when there was neither steamboat nor railway. During +that time, acting as interpreter, I had occasion to see him every +day, and I felt strongly attracted by his generous and gentlemanly +bearing. The poor fellow came out of prison stripped of all his +honours, and with his prospects blighted forever. In a few months +he died of sheer chagrin. + +The war with Japan in 1894-1895 found Chang established in the +viceroyalty of Hukwang, two provinces in Central China, with a +prosperous population of over fifty millions, on a great highway +of internal +[Page 225] +traffic rivalling the Mississippi, and with Hankow, the hub of +the Empire, for its commercial centre. When he saw the Chinese +forces scattered like chaff by the battalions of those despised +islanders he was not slow to grasp the explanation. Kang Yuwei, a +Canton man, also grasped it, and urged on the Emperor the necessity +for reform with such vigour as to prompt him to issue a meteoric +shower of reformatory edicts, filling one party with hope and the +other with dismay. + +Chang had held office at Canton; and his keen intellect had taken +in the changed relations of West and East. He perceived that a +new sort of sunshine shed its beams on the Western world. He did +not fully apprehend the spiritual elements of our civilisation; +but he saw that it was clothed with a power unknown to the sages +of his country, the forces of nature being brought into subjection +through science and popular education. He felt that China must +conform to the new order of things, or perish--even if that new +order was in contradiction to her ancient traditions as much as +the change of sunrise to the west. He saw and felt that knowledge +is power, a maxim laid down by Confucius before the days of Bacon; +and he set about inculcating his new ideas by issuing a series +of lectures for the instruction of his subordinates. Collected +into a volume under the title of "Exhortations to Learn,"[*] they +were put into the hands of the young Emperor and by his command +distributed among the viceroys and governors of the Empire. + +[Footnote *: Translated by Dr. Woodbridge as "China's Only Hope." +Kelly & Walsh, Shanghai.] + +[Page 226] +What a harvest might have sprung from the sowing of such seed in +such soil by an imperial husbandman! But there were some who viewed +it as the sowing of dragons' teeth. Those reactionaries induced the +Dowager Empress to come out from her retirement and to reassume +her abdicated power in order to save the Empire from a threatening +conflagration. It was the fable of Phaëton enacted in real life. +The young charioteer was struck down and the sun brought back to +his proper course instead of rising in the west. The progressive +legislation of the two previous years 1897-98 was repealed and +then followed two years of a narrow, benighted policy, controlled +by the reactionaries under the lead of Prince Tuan, father of the +heir-apparent, with a junta of Manchu princes as blind and corrupt +as Russian grand dukes. That disastrous recoil resulted in war, +not against a single power, but against the whole civilised world, +as has been set forth in the account of the Boxer War (see page +172). + +Affairs were drifting into this desperate predicament when Chang +of the Cavern became in a sense the saviour of his country. This +he effected by two actions which called for uncommon intelligence +and moral force: (1) By assuring the British Government that he +would at all costs maintain peace in Central China; (2) by refusing +to obey an inhuman decree from Peking, commanding the viceroys to +massacre all foreigners within their jurisdiction--a decree which +would be incredible were it not known that at the same moment the +walls of the capital were placarded with proclamations offering +rewards of 50, 30 and 20 +[Page 227] +taels respectively for the heads of foreign men, women, and children. + +It is barely possible that Chang was helped to a decision by a +friendly visit from a British man-of-war, whose captain, in answer +to a question about his artillery, informed Chang that he had the +bearings of his official residence, and could drop a shell into +it with unerring precision at a distance of three miles. He was +also aided by the influence of Mr. Fraser, a wide-awake British +consul. Fraser modestly disclaims any special merit in the matter, +but British missionaries at Hankow give him the credit. They say +that, learning from them the state of feeling among the people, he +induced the viceroy to take prompt measures to prevent an outbreak. +At one time a Boxer army from the south was about to cross the +river and destroy the foreign settlement. Chang, when appealed +to, frankly confessed that his troops were in sympathy with the +Boxers, and that being in arrears of pay they were on the verge +of revolt. Fraser found him the money by the help of the Hong Kong +Bank; the troops were paid; and the Boxers dispersed. + +The same problem confronted Liu, the viceroy of Nanking; and it +was solved by him in the same way. Both viceroys acted in concert; +but to which belongs the honour of that wise initiative can never +be decided with certainty. The foreign consuls at Nanking claim it +for Liu. Mr. Sundius, now British consul at Wuhu, assures me that +as Liu read the barbarous decree he exclaimed, "I shall repudiate +this as a forgery," adding "I shall not obey, if I have to die for +it." His words have a heroic ring; and +[Page 228] +suggest that his policy was not taken at second-hand. + +A similar claim has been put forward for Li Hung Chang, who was at +that time viceroy at Canton. Is it not probable that the same view +of the situation flashed on the minds of all three simultaneously? +They were not, like the Peking princes, ignorant Tartars, but Chinese +scholars of the highest type. They could not fail to see that compliance +with that bloody edict would seal their own doom as well as that +of the Empire. + +Speaking of Chang, Mr. Fraser says: "He had the wit to see that +any other course meant ruin." Chang certainly does not hesitate +to blow his own trumpet; but I do not suspect him of "drawing the +longbow." Having the advantage of being an expert rhymer, he has +put his own pretensions into verses which all the school-children +in a population of fifty millions are obliged to commit to memory. +They run somewhat like this: + + "In Kengtse (1900) the Boxer robbers went mad, + And Peking became for the third time the prey of fire and sword; + But the banks of the Great River and the province of Hupei + Remained in tranquillity." + +He adds in a tone of exultation: + + "The province of Hupei was accordingly exempted + From the payment of an indemnity tax, + And allowed to spend the amount thus saved + In the erection of schoolhouses." + +In these lines there is not much poetry; but the fact which they +commemorate adds one more wreath to +[Page 229] +a brow already crowned with many laurels, showing how much the viceroy's +heart was set on the education of his people. + +In the interest of the educational movement, I was called to Chang's +assistance in 1902. The Imperial University was destroyed in the +Boxer War, and, seeing no prospect of its reëstablishment I was +on the way to my home in America when, on reaching Vancouver, I +found a telegram from Viceroy Chang, asking me to be president +of a university which he proposed to open, and to instruct his +junior officials in international law. I engaged for three years; +and I now look back on my recent campaign in Central China as one +of the most interesting passages in a life of over half a century +in the Far East. + +Besides instructing his mandarins in the law of nations, I had to +give them some notion of geography and history, the two coördinates +of time and place, without which they might, like some of their +writers, mistake Rhode Island for the Island of Rhodes, and Rome, +New York, for the City of the Seven Hills. A book on the Intercourse +of Nations and a translation of Dudley Field's "International Code," +remain as tangible results of those lectures. But the university +failed to materialise. + +Within a month after my arrival the viceroy was ordered to remove +to Nanking to take up a post rendered vacant by the death of his +eminent colleague, Liu. Calling at my house on the eve of embarking +he said, "I asked you to come here to be president of a university +for two provinces. If you will go with me to Nanking, I will make +you president of a university +[Page 230] +for five provinces," meaning that he would combine the educational +interests of the two viceroyalties, and showing how the university +scheme had expanded in his fertile brain. + +Before he had been a month at that higher post he learned to his +intense disappointment that he was only to hold the place for another +appointee. After nearly a year at Nanking, he was summoned to Peking, +where he spent another year in complete uncertainty as to his future +destination. In the meantime the university existed only on paper. +In justice to the viceroy I ought to say that nothing could exceed +the courtesy and punctuality with which he discharged his obligations +to me. The despatch which once a month brought me my stipend was +always addressed to me as president of the Wuchang University, +though as a matter of fact I might as well have been styled president +of the University of Weissnichtwo. In one point he went beyond his +agreement, viz., in giving me free of charge a furnished house +of two stories, with ten rooms and a garden. It was on the bank +of the "Great River" with the picturesque hills of Hanyang nearly +opposite, a site which I preferred to any other in the city. I there +enjoyed the purest air with a minimum of inconvenience from narrow, +dirty streets. To these exceptional advantages it is doubtless due +that my health held out, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, +which, the locality being far inland and in lat. 30° 30', was that +of a fiery furnace. On the night of the autumnal equinox, my first +in Wuchang, the mercury stood in my bedroom at 102°. I was the +guest of the Rev. Arnold Foster of the London Missionary +[Page 231] +Society, whose hospitality was warm in more ways than one. + +The viceroy returned from Peking, broken in health; the little +strength he had left was given to military preparation for the +contingencies of the Russo-Japanese War; and his university was +consigned to the limbo of forgotten dreams. + +Viceroy Chang has been derided, not quite justly, as possessing a +superabundance of initiative along with a rather scant measure of +finality, taking up and throwing down his new schemes as a child +does its playthings. In these enterprises the paucity of results +was due to the shortcomings of the agents to whom he entrusted +their management. The same reproach and the same apology might be +made for the Empress Dowager who, like the Roman Sybil, committed +her progressive decrees to the mercy of the winds without seeming +to care what became of them. + +Next after the education of his people the development of their +material resources has been with Chang a leading object. To this +end he has opened cotton-mills, silk-filatures, glass-works and +iron-works, all on an extensive scale, with foreign machinery and +foreign experts. For miles outside of the gates of Wuchang the +banks of the river are lined with these vast establishments. Do +they not announce more clearly than the batteries which command +the waterway the coming of a new China? Some of them he has kept +going at an annual loss. The cotton-mill, for example, was standing +idle when I arrived, because in the hands of his mandarins he could +not make it pay expenses. A Canton merchant leased it on easy terms, +and made it +[Page 232] +such a conspicuous success that he is now growing rich. It is an +axiom in China that no manufacturing or mercantile enterprise can +be profitably conducted by a deputation of mandarins. + +Chang is rapidly changing the aspect of his capital by erecting +in all parts of it handsome school-buildings in foreign style, +literally proclaiming from the house-tops his gospel of education. +The youth in these schools are mostly clad in foreign dress; his +street police and the soldiers in his barracks are all in foreign +uniform; and many of the latter have cut off their cues as a sign +of breaking with the old régime. In talking with their officers I +applauded the prudence of the measure as making them less liable +to be captured while running away. + +Chang's soldiers are taught to march to the cadence of his own +war-songs--which, though lacking the fire of Tyrtæus or Körner, +are not ill-suited to arouse patriotic sentiment. Take these lines +as a sample: + + "Foreigners laugh at our impotence, + And talk of dividing our country like a watermelon, + But are we not 400 million strong? + If we of the Yellow Race only stand together, + What foreign power will dare to molest us? + Just look at India, great in extent + But sunk in hopeless bondage. + Look, too, at the Jews, famous in ancient times, + Now scattered on the face of the earth. + Then look at Japan with her three small islands, + Think how she got the better of this great nation, + And won the admiration of the world. + What I admire in the Japanese + Is not their skill in using ship or gun + But their single-hearted love of country." + +[Page 233] +Viceroy Chang's mode of dealing with his own malady might be taken +as a picture of the shifting policy of a half-enlightened country. + +The first doctor he consulted was a Chinese of the old school. Besides +administering pills composed of + + "Eye of newt, and toe of frog, + Wool of bat, and tongue of dog," + +the doctor suggested that one thing was still required to put the +patient in harmony with the course of Nature. Pointing to a fine +chain of hills that stretches in a waving line across the wide city, +he said: "The root of your trouble lies there. That carriage-road +that you have opened has wounded the spinal column of the serpent. +Restore the hill to its former condition and you will soon get +well." + +The viceroy filled the gap incontinently, but found himself no +better. He then sent for English and American doctors--dismissing +them in turn to make way for a Japanese who had him in charge when +I left Wuchang. For a paragon of intelligence and courage, how +pitiful this relapse into superstition! Did not China after a trial +of European methods also relapse during the Boxer craze into her old +superstitions? And is she not at this moment taking the medicine +of Japan? To Japan she looks for guidance in the conduct of her +public schools as well as for the training of her army and navy. +To Japan she is sending her sons and daughters in growing numbers. +No fewer than eight thousand of her young men, and, what is more +significant, one or two hundred of her young women from the best +families are now in those islands inhaling the breath of a new +life. + +[Page 234] +Some writers have sounded a note of alarm in consequence of this +wholesale surrender on the part of China. But for my part I have +no fear of any sinister tendency in the teachings of Japan, whether +political or educational. On a memorable occasion twelve years ago, +when Marquis Ito was entertained at a banquet in Peking by the +governor of the city and the chancellor of the Imperial University, I +congratulated him on the fact that "Japan exerts a stronger influence +on China than any Western power--just as the moon raises a higher +tide than the more distant sun"--implying, what the Japanese are +ready enough to admit, that their country shines by borrowed light. + +After all, the renovating effect, for which I look to them, will +not come so much from their teaching as from their example. "What +is to hinder us from doing what those islanders have done?" is an +argument oft reiterated by Viceroy Chang in his appeals to his drowsy +countrymen. It was, as I have said, largely under his influence that +the Emperor was led to adopt a new educational programme twelve +years ago. Nor can there be a doubt that by his influence more than +that of any other man, the Empress Dowager was induced to reenact +and to enlarge that programme. + +To show what is going on in this very decade: On September 3, 1905, +an edict was issued "abolishing the literary competitive examinations +of the old style," and ordering that "hereafter exclusive attention +shall be given to the establishment of schools of modern learning +throughout the Empire in lieu thereof." The next day a supplementary +decree ordained that +[Page 235] +the provincial chancellors or examiners who, like Othello, found their +occupation gone, should have the duty of examining and inspecting the +schools in their several provinces; and, to give the new arrangement +greater weight, it was required that they "discharge this duty in +conjunction with the viceroy or governor of the province." + +An item of news that came along with these decrees seemed to indicate +that a hitherto frivolous court has at length become thoroughly in +earnest on the subject of education. A sum of 300,000 taels appeared +in the national budget as the annual expense of a theatrical troupe +in attendance on the Court. At the instance of two ministers (Viceroy +Yuan and General Tieliang) Her Majesty reduced this to one-third of +that amount, ordering that theatricals should be performed twice +a week instead of daily; and that the 200,000 taels thus economised +shall be set apart for _the use of schools_. How much this +resembles the policy of Viceroy Chang who, exempted from raising +a war indemnity, set apart an equal amount for the building of +schoolhouses! An empire that builds schoolhouses is more certain +to make a figure in the world than one that spends its money on +batteries and forts. + +In addition to adopting the new education there are three items +which Chang proclaims as essential to a renovation of Chinese society. +In the little book, already cited, he says: + +[Page 236] + The crippling of women makes their offspring weak; + The superstition of _Fungshui_ prevents the opening of mines, + And keeps China poor." + +How could the man who wrote this fall back into the folly of +_Fungshui?_ Is it not possible that he closed that new road +in deference to the superstitions of his people? In either case +it would be a deplorable weakness; but his country, thanks to his +efforts, is now fully committed to progress. She moves, however, in +that direction much as her noble rivers move toward the sea--with +many a backward bend, many a refluent eddy. + + +POSTSCRIPT NO. I + +In taking leave of this eminent man, who represents the best class +of his countrymen, there are two or three incidents, which I mention +by way of supplement. In his telegram to Vancouver, besides engaging +me to assume the office of president of the proposed university, he +asked me to act as his legal and political adviser. In the agreement +formally made through the consul in New York, in place of these +last-named functions was substituted the duty of instructing his +junior mandarins in international law. The reason assigned for +the change was that the Peking Government declined to allow _any +foreigner_ to hold the post of adviser. The objection was represented +as resting on general policy, not on personal grounds. If, however, +the Peking officials had read my book on the Siege, in which I +denounce the treachery of Manchu government and favour the +[Page 237] +position of China, it is quite conceivable that their objection +might have a tinge of personality. + +When Viceroy Chang was starting for Peking, I called to see him +on board his steamer. He held in his hand a printed report of my +opening lecture at the beginning of a new term, and expressed regret +that in the hurry of departure he had been unable to find time to +attend in person. On that occasion (the previous day) several of +his higher officials, including the treasurer, judge, and prefect, +after giving me tiffin at the Mandarin Institute, brought sixty +junior officials to make their salaam to their instructor. This +ceremony performed, I bowed to Their Excellencies, and requested +them to leave me with my students. "No," they replied, "we too +are desirous of hearing you"; and they took seats in front of the +platform. + +Viceroy Chang seems to have manifested some jealousy of Sir Robert +Hart, in criticising the Inspector-General's proposal for a single +tax. He likewise criticised unfavourably the scheme of Professor +Jenckes for unifying the currency of the Empire--influenced, perhaps, +by the fear that such an _innovation_ might impair the usefulness +of a costly plant which he has recently erected for minting both +silver and copper coin. For the same reason perhaps he objects, as +I hear he does, to the proposed engagement of a Cornell professor +by the Board of Revenue in the capacity of financial adviser. + +With all his foibles, however, he is a true patriot; and his influence +has done much to move China in the right direction. O for more men +like Chang, the "Longbow of the Cavern!" + +[Page 238] +I append a weighty document that is not the less interesting for +being somewhat veiled in mystery. I regret that I am not at liberty +to disclose its authorship. The report is to be taken as anonymous, +being an unpublished document of the secret service. To the reader +it is left to divine the nationality and personality of its author. +Valuable for the light it throws on a great character in a trying +situation, the report gains piquancy and interest from the fact that +the veil of official secrecy has to be treated with due respect. +My unnamed friend has my thanks and deserves those of my readers. + + +OFFICIAL INTERVIEWS WITH VICEROY CHANG DURING THE CRISIS OF 1900 + +"At our interview of 17th June, described at length in my despatch +to you of 18th June, the Viceroy explained his determination to +maintain order and to afford the protection due under treaty; he +also emphasised his desire to be on friendly terms with England. + +"Early in June, the three cities of Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankow had +been full of rumours of the kidnapping of children and even grown +persons by means of hypnotism; and though a concise notification by +the Viceroy, that persons spreading such tales would be executed, +checked its prevalence here, the scare spread to the country districts +and inflamed the minds of the people against foreigners and, in +consequence, against converts and missions. + +"On the 25th June, the Viceroy, as reported in a separate despatch +of 28th June, to Lord Salisbury, sent a special envoy to assure me +that H. E. would not accept or act upon any anti-foreign decrees +from Peking. At the same time he communicated copy of a telegraphic +memorial from himself and seven other high provincial officers +insisting on the suppression of the +[Page 239] +Boxers and the maintenance of peace. This advice H. E. gave me +to understand led to the recall of Li Hung Chang to the north as +negotiator. + +"Distorted accounts of the capture of the Taku forts and the hostilities +of the north caused some excitement, but the Viceroy's proclamation +of 2nd July, copy of which was forwarded in my despatch of 3rd +July to the Foreign Office, and the vigorous police measures taken +by His Excellency soon restored calm which, despite occasional +rumours, continued until the recent plot and scare reported in my +despatch to you of 23rd of August. In the same despatch I described +how, in compliance with my wish, H. E. took the unprecedented step +of tearing down his proclamation embodying an Imperial Decree which +had been taken to imply license to harry converts. To foreigners +during the past two months the question of interest has been whether +the Viceroy could and would keep his troops in order. The Viceroy +himself seemed to be in some doubt until the return of his trusted +officers, who were attending the Japanese manoeuvres when the +northern troubles began. Every now and then reports of disaffection +have been industriously circulated, but the drilled troops have +never shown any sign of disloyalty. + +"A point of H. E.'s policy which has caused considerable suspicion +is the despatch of troops northward, At the end of June some 2,000 +or 3,000 men passed through Hankow bound for Nyanking where the +Governor was said to want a body-guard. They were unarmed and did +no mischief beyond invading the Customs and China Merchants' Steam +Navigation Company's premises. During July some 5,000 troops, of +whom perhaps half were drilled men, went from Hukeang provinces +overland to Honan and on to Chihli. They were led by the anti-foreign +Treasurer of Hunan; and their despatch was explained by the +constitutional duty of succouring the Emperor. Since July I have +not heard of any further detachments leaving, though it was said +that the total would reach 10,000. Possibly the Viceroy sent the +men because he did not feel strong enough to defy Peking altogether, +because failure to help the court would +[Page 240] +have excited popular reprobation, and also in order to get rid of +a considerable part of the dangerous 'loafer' class. + +"About the 20th July there was a persistent report that the Viceroy +was secretly placing guns on the opposite banks of the river. The +German military instructors assured me that the report was baseless; +and Lieutenant Brandon, H. M. S. _Pique_, thoroughly searched +the bank for a distance of three miles in length and breadth, without +discovering a trace of a cannon. The only guns in position are the +two 5-inch Armstrong M. L. within the walls of Wuchang, and they +have been there for a long time and are used 'merely for training +purposes.' + +"So early as our interview of June 17th, the Viceroy expressed +anxiety as to missionaries at remote points in the interior; and I +had about that time suggested to the various missions that women and +children would be better at a treaty port. The missions themselves +preferred to recall all their members, and at the Viceroy's request +supplied lists of the stations thus left to the care of the local +authorities. Since then, even in Hupeh, there have been a few cases +of plundering, especially in the large district of Sin Chan on the +Hunan border, while at Hangchow-fu, in Hunan, the London Mission +premises were wrecked early in July and for a time throughout the +whole province it appeared probable that the Missions would be +destroyed. The chief cause of this, as of the riots in Hupeh, was +the dissemination of an alleged decree of 26th June praising the +Boxers and ordering the authorities to imitate the north in +exterminating foreigners. This decree seems to have reached local +authorities direct; and those hostile to foreigners acted upon +it or let its existence be known to the gentry and people. The +chapels in Hunan were all sealed up; and it was understood that +all mission and convert property would be confiscated. Towards the +end of July, however, the Viceroy and the Hunan Governor issued +a satisfactory proclamation, and I have heard no more complaints +from that province, the western part of which seems tranquil. + +"Besides safeguarding foreign life and property in his own province +the Viceroy has frequently been asked to aid missionaries retiring +from Kansuh, Shensi, Shansi, and Honan. In +[Page 241] +every case H. E. has readily consented. Detailed telegrams have +been sent again and again not only to his frontier officers, but to +the governors of other provinces with whom H. E. has expostulated, +when necessary, in strong terms. Thus, when Honan seemed likely +to turn against us, the Viceroy insisted on the publication of +favourable decrees, and even went so far as to send his men to +establish a permanent escort depot at Ching Tzu Kuan, an important +post in Honan where travellers from the north and northwest have +to change from cart to boat. Happily the acting Governor of Shensi +has coöperated nobly. But the refugees who testify invariably to the +marvellous feeling of security engendered by reaching Hupeh, will, +I doubt not, agree that they owe their lives to Chang Chi-tung's +efforts; for simple inaction on his part would have encouraged the +many hostile officers to treat them as Shansi has treated its +missionaries. + +"At times during the past two anxious months the Viceroy's action +in sending troops north, the occurrence of riots at various points, +H. E.'s communication of decrees in which the Peking Government +sought to gloss over the northern uprising, and his eagerness to +make out that the Empress Dowager had not incited the outbreak and +had no hostile feeling against foreigners have inevitably made one +uneasy. But on looking back one appreciates the skill and constancy +with which H. E. has met a most serious crisis and done his duty to +Chinese and foreigners alike. It is no small thing for a Chinese +statesman and scholar to risk popularity, position, and even life +in a far-seeing resistance to the apparent decrees of a court to +which his whole training enforces blind loyalty and obedience. +His desire to secure the personal safety of the Empress Dowager on +account of her long services to the Empire is natural enough; nor +need he be blamed for supplying some military aid to his sovereign, +even though he may have guessed that it would be used against those +foreign nations with whom he himself steadfastly maintains friendship +and against whose possible attack he has not mounted an extra gun." + + +[Page 242] +POSTSCRIPT NO.2 + +TUAN FANG OF THE HIGH COMMISSION + +During Chang's long absence, Tuan Fang, Governor of Hupeh, held the +seals and exercised the functions of viceroy. He was a Manchu--one +of those specimens, admirable but not rare, who, in acquiring the +refinement of Chinese culture, lose nothing of the vigour of their +own race. "Of their own race," I say, because in language and habits +the Manchus are strongly differentiated from their Chinese subjects. + +In the Boxer War Governor Tuan established an excellent record. +Acting as governor in Shensi, instead of killing missionaries, as +did the Manchu governor of the next province, he protected them +effectually and sent them safely to Hankow. One day when I was at +his house a missionary came to thank him for kindness shown on +that occasion. + +Mentioning one of my books I once asked him if he had read it. "You +never wrote a book that I have not read," was his emphatic reply. +He was a pretty frequent visitor at my house, punctually returning +all my calls; and when he was transferred to the governorship of +Hunan he appeared pleased to have the Yale Mission commended to +his patronage. He has a son at school in the United States; and +his wife and daughters have taken lessons in English from ladies +of the American Episcopal Mission. + +Governor Tuan (now viceroy) is a leading member of a commission +recently sent abroad to study and report on the institutions of +the Western world. Its +[Page 243] +departure was delayed by the explosion of a bomb in one of the +carriages just as the commission was leaving Peking. The would-be +assassin was "hoist with his own petard," leaving the public mystified +as to the motive of the outrage. + + + + +[Page 244] +CHAPTER XXXI + +ANTI-FOREIGN AGITATION + +_American Influence in the Far East--Officials and the +Boycott--Interview with President Roosevelt--Riot in a British +Concession--Ex-territoriality--Two Ways to an End--A Grave Mistake--The +Nan-chang Tragedy--Dangers from Superstition_ + +So far from being new, an anti-foreign spirit is the normal state +of the Chinese mind. Yet during the year past it has taken on new +forms, directed itself against new objects, and employed new methods. +It deserves therefore a conspicuous place among the new developments +in the China of the twentieth century. + +Where everything is changing, the temper of the people has undergone +a change. They have become restless as the sea and fickle as a +weather-vane, The friends of yesterday are the enemies of to-day; +and a slight or petty annoyance is enough to make them transfer +man or country from one to the other category. Murderous outbreaks, +rare in the past, have now become alarmingly frequent, so much so +that the last year might be described as a year of anti-foreign +riots. The past nine months have witnessed four such outbreaks, +In four widely separated provinces, venting their fury pretty +impartially on people of four nationalities and of all professions, +they were actuated by a +[Page 245] +common hate and indicated a common purpose. That purpose--if they +had a purpose--was to compel a readjustment of treaty relations. + +America has the distinction of being the target for the first assaults. +In treating the subject I accordingly begin with America and the +boycott, as set forth in a long extract from an address before +the Publishers' League of New York, November 8, 1905, on + + +AMERICAN INFLUENCE IN THE FAR EAST + +"Mr. President and Gentlemen: + +"If I were asked to find a _pou sto_, a fulcrum, on which +to erect a machine to move the world, I should choose this league +of publishers; and the machine would be no other than the power +press! I have accepted your invitation not merely from pleasant +recollections of your former hospitality, but because new occurrences +have taken place which appeal to the patriotism of every good citizen. +They are issues that rise above party; they involve our national +character and the well-being of another people whom we owe the +sacred duties of justice and humanity. + +"When I agreed to speak to you of American influence in the Far +East, I was not aware that we should have with us a representative +of Japan, and I expected to spread myself thinly over two empires. +Happy I am to resign one of these empires to Mr. Stevens. + +"I shall accordingly say no more about Japan than to advert to +the fact that the wise forbearance of Commodore Perry, which, in +1854, induced the Shogun to open his ports without firing a gun, +has won the gratitude of the Japanese people; so that in many ways +they testify a preference for us and our country. For instance, they +call the English language 'Americano,' etc. They were disappointed +that their claims against Russia were not backed up by the United +States. That, however, caused only a momentary cloud. Beyond this, +nothing has ever occurred to mar the harmony of the two peoples who +[Page 246] +face each other on the shores of the Pacific. Perry's wise initiative +was followed by the equal wisdom of Townsend Harris, who, before +any other consul or minister had arrived, was invited to Yedda +to give advice to the government of the Shogun. + +"American influence thus inaugurated has been fostered by a noble +army of ministers, consuls, and missionaries. The total absence +of massacres and murders[*] makes the history of our intercourse +with Japan tame in contrast with the tragic story from China. It +speaks the reign of law. + +[Footnote *: The only missionary killed in the last fifty years +was stabbed while grappling with a burglar.] + +"My acquaintance with Japan dates back forty-six years; and in the +meantime I have had pleasant relations with most of the ministers +she has sent to China. One of her officials recently gave me a +beautiful scarf-pin that speaks volumes for American influence, +showing as it does the two flags in friendly union on one flagstaff. +I gave him in return the following lines: + + "'To sun and stars divided sway! + Remote but kindred suns are they, + In friendly concord here they twine + To form a new celestial sign. + + "'Thou, Orient sun, still higher rise + To fill with light the Eastern skies! + And you, ye stars and stripes, unfurled + Shed glory on the Western world! + + "'Our starry flag first woke the dawn + In the empire of the Rising Sun. + May no ill chance e'er break the tie, + And so we shout our loud _banzai!_' + +"I now turn to the less cheering theme of American influence in +China. It reminds me of the naturalist who took for the +[Page 247] +heading of a chapter 'Snakes in Iceland,' and whose entire chapter +consisted of the words 'There are no snakes in Iceland.' Though +formerly blazing like a constellation in the Milky Way, American +influence has vanished so completely that you can hardly see it with +a microscope. What influence can we presume on when our commodities +are shut out, not by legislative action but as a result of popular +resentment? + + +THE BOYCOTT + +"True, the latest advices are to the effect that the boycott has +broken down. I foresaw and foretold more than two months ago that +it could not in the nature of the case be of long duration, that +it was a mere _ballon d'essai_--an encouraging proof that +Orientals are learning to apply our methods. But is there not a +deplorable difference between the conditions under which it is +used in the two countries? In one the people all read, and the +newspaper is in everybody's hand. The moment a strike or boycott +is declared off all hands fall into their places and things go on +as usual. In the other the readers are less than one in twenty. +Newspapers, away from the open ports, are scarcely known, or if +they exist they are subject to the tyranny of the mandarins or +the terrorism of the mob. Hence a war may be waged in one province +and people in another may scarcely hear of it. Chevaux-de-frise may +bar out goods from one port, while they are more or less openly +admitted in other ports. Not only so, the hostile feeling engendered +by such conflict of interest is not dissipated by sunshine, but +rankles and spreads like an epidemic over vast regions unenlightened +by newspapers or by contact with foreign commerce. + +"Witness the massacre of American missionaries at Lienchow in the +Canton province. I am not going to enter into the details of that +shocking atrocity, nor to dwell on it further than to point out +that although the boycott was ended on September 14, the people +in that district were in such a state of exasperation that the +missionaries felt themselves in danger fourteen days after that +date. In the New York _Sun_ of November 5 I find part of a +letter from one of the victims, the Reverend Mr. +[Page 248] +Peale, written exactly one month before the tragedy. Allow me to +read it along with an introductory paragraph. + + +"'PRINCETON, N. J., Nov. 4.--A. Lee Wilson, a student in the Princeton +Theological Seminary, received a letter a few days ago from John R. +Peale, the missionary who, with his wife, was killed in Lienchow, +China, on October 28. The letter was dated September 28, and reached +America at the time that Peale and his wife were murdered. It gives +a clue to the troubles which led to the death of Peale. The letter +says in part: + +"'"The interest in the boycott is vital to the missionaries. Heretofore +the Americans always enjoyed special favour, and to fly the American +flag meant protection; but it is different now. No personal violence +has been attempted, but the people are less cordial and more suspicious. +People in China are not asking that their coolies be allowed entrance +into the States, but they only ask that the Americans cease treating +the Chinese with contempt and allow their merchants and students +the same privileges that other foreigners receive." + +"'Peale graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary last May. + + +"Is it not evident that whatever spark caused the explosion, the +nitro-glycerin that made it possible came from the boycott? + +"Not only do they boycott ponderables such as figure at the +custom-house, but they extend the taboo to things of the head and +heart. The leader of the whole movement was formerly an active +supporter of the International Institute, an institution which +proposes to open gratuitous courses of lectures and to place Chinese +men of intelligence on common ground with scholars of the West, +He now opposes the International Institute because, forsooth, it +is originated and conducted by Dr. Reid, a large-minded American. + +"After this, will you be surprised to hear that your own publications, +the best text-books for the schools of the Far East, have been put +on the _index expurgatorius?_ A number of such books were +lately returned with the excuse that they were forbidden because +they bore the stamp of an American press. + +[Page 249] +"If I should go on to say that government officials, high and low, +look with satisfaction on this assertion of something like national +feeling, you might reply, 'National feeling! Yes, it is a duty to +cultivate that.' But do we not know how it has been fostered in +China? Has not hatred of the foreigner been mistaken for patriotism, +and been secretly instigated as a safeguard against foreign aggression? +In this instance, however, there is no room to suspect such a motive. +The movement is purely a result of provocation on our part; and it +is fostered with a view to coercing our government into modifying +or repealing our offensive exclusion laws. The Viceroy of Central +China, with whom I have spent the last three years, is known as +a pioneer of reform--a man who has done more than any other to +instruct his people in their duties as well as their rights. When, +on the expiration of my engagement, I was about to leave for home, +the prefect of Wuchang, a Canton man, addressed me a letter begging +me to plead the cause of his people with the President of the United +States. That letter was referred to in an interview by the viceroy, +and the request which it contained reiterated by him. He gave me +a parting banquet, attended by many of his mandarins, and on that +occasion the subject came up again and the same request was renewed +and pressed on me from all sides. While I promised to exert myself +on their behalf, let me give you a specimen of the kind of oil +which I poured on their wounded feelings. + +"Said I, 'Under the exasperating effect of these petty grievances +your people forget what they owe to the United States. They lose +sight of the danger of alienating their best friend. In the Boxer +War, when Peking was captured by a combined force of eight foreign +powers, who but America was the first to introduce a self-denying +ordinance forbidding any power to take any portion of the Chinese +territory? In this she was backed up by Great Britain; the other +powers fell into line and the integrity of the Empire was assured. +Again, when China was in danger of being drawn into the vortex +of the Russo-Japanese war, who but America secured for her the +privileges of neutrality--thus a second time protecting her national +life? And now you turn +[Page 250] +against us! Is not such conduct condemned by your ancient poet who +says: + + "_'Ki wo siao yuen, wang wo ta teh', etc._ + + (How many acts of kindness done + One small offence wipes out, + As motes obscure the shining sun + And shut his lustre out.') + +"If the cause of offence be taken away there is reason to hope +that the beneficent action of our country, on those two occasions +so big with destiny, will be remembered, and will lead China to +look to our flag as an ægis under which she may find protection +in time of need. Not till then will our influence, now reduced +to the vanishing-point, be integrated to its full value. + + +PROVOCATIONS TO A BOYCOTT + +"The injuries inflicted, though trifling in comparison with the +benefits conferred, are such as no self-respecting people should +either perpetrate or endure. Take one example, where I could give +you twenty. Two young men, both Christians, one rich, the other +poor, came to the United States for education. They were detained +in a prison-shed for three months, One of them, falling sick, was +removed to a hospital; the other obtaining permission to visit +him, they made their escape to Canada and thence back to China. + +"What wonder no more students come to us and that over 8,000 are +now pursuing their studies in Japan![*] + +[Footnote *: The conciliatory policy of President Roosevelt is +bearing fruit Forty students are about to start to the United States +(May, 1906).] + +"The present irritation is, we are assured by the agitators, provoked +by the outrageous treatment of the _privileged classes_ (merchants, +travellers, and students) and not by the exclusion of labourers, to +which their government has given its assent. Yet in the growing +intelligence of the Chinese a time has come when their rulers feel +such discrimination as a stigma. It is not merely +[Page 251] +a just application of existing laws that Viceroy Chang and his +mandarins demand. They call for the rescinding of those disgraceful +prohibitions and the right to compete on equal terms with immigrants +from Europe. If we show a disposition to treat the Chinese fairly, +their country and their hearts will be open to us as never before. +Our commerce with China will expand to vast proportions; and our +flag will stand highest among those that overarch and protect the +integrity of that empire." + +On November 16, I was received by President Roosevelt. Running +his eye over the documents (see below) which I placed in his hands +he expressed himself on each point. The grievances arising from +the Exclusion Laws he acknowledged to be real. He promised that +they should be mitigated or removed by improvements in the mode +of administration; but he held out no hope of their repeal. "We +have one race problem on our hands and we don't want another," he +said with emphasis. The boycott which the Chinese have resorted +to as a mode of coercion he condemned as an aggravation of existing +difficulties. The interruption of trade and the killing of American +missionaries to which it had led made it impossible, he said, to +turn over to China the surplus indemnity, as he had intended. + +This response is what I expected; but it will by no means satisfy +the ruling classes in China, who aim at nothing short of repeal. +When I assured him the newspapers were wrong in representing the +agitation as confined to labourers and merchants, adding that the +highest mandarins, while formally condemning it, really give it +countenance, he replied that he believed that to be the case, and +reiterated the declaration that +[Page 252] +nothing is to be gained by such violent measures on the part of +China. + +From the Executive Mansion, I proceeded to the Chinese Legation, +where I talked over the matter with the minister, Sir Chentung +Liang. He was not surprised at the attitude of the President. He +said the state of feeling towards China in Congress and in the +entire country is improving, but that, in his opinion, it will +require ten years to bring about the repeal of the Exclusion Laws. + +The present hitch in negotiations comes in part from Peking, but +he hoped a temporary settlement would soon be arrived at. + +The papers referred to above are here appended. + + + LETTERS REQUESTING GOOD OFFICES + (_Translation_) + +"To the Hon. Dr. Martin. + +"Sir: + +"During the last three years we have often exchanged views on the +subject of education and other topics of the day; and to me it +is a joy to reflect that no discordant note has ever marred our +intercourse. + +"In view of your learning and your long residence of forty years +at our capital, besides fifteen years in other parts of China, you +are regarded by us with profound respect. When we hear your words +we ponder them and treasure them up as things not to be forgotten. +It is by your scholarship and by your personal character that you +have been able to associate with the officers and scholars of the +Central Empire in harmony like this. + +"Now, sir, there is a matter which we wish to bring to your attention--a +matter that calls for the efforts of wise men like yourself. I refer +to the exclusion of Chinese labourers. It affects our mercantile +as well as our labouring population very deeply. + +[Page 253] +"We beg you to bear in mind your fifty-five years' sojourn in China +and to speak a good word on our behalf to the President of the +United States so as to secure the welfare of both classes. + +"If through your persuasion the prohibitory regulations should be +withdrawn the gratitude of our Chinese people will know no bounds; +your fifty-five years of devotion to the good of China will have +a fitting consummation in one day's achievement; and your name +will be handed down to coming generations. + +"Being old friends, I write as frankly as if we were speaking face +to face. + + "(Signed) LIANG TING FEN, + "Director of the Normal College for the Two Lake + "Provinces, Intendant of Circuit (_Taotai_), etc. etc. +"Wuchang, July 8, 1905." + +The foregoing translation was made by me, and the original is attached +to the copy presented to the President, for the satisfaction of +any official interpreter who may desire to see it. + +This letter may be regarded as expressing the sentiments of the +higher officials of the Chinese Empire. It was written on the eve +of my embarkation for home by a man who more than any other has +a right to be looked on as spokesman for Viceroy Chang; and the +following day the request was repeated by the viceroy himself. These +circumstances make it a document of more than ordinary importance. + +The outrageous treatment to which the privileged classes (merchants, +students, and travellers) have been subjected, under cover of enforcing +the Exclusion Laws, has caused a deep-rooted resentment, of which +the boycott is only a superficial manifestation. That movement may +not be of long duration, but it has already lasted long enough +to do us no little damage. + +[Page 254] +Besides occasioning embarrassment to our trade, it has excited a +feeling of hostility which it will require years of conciliatory +policy to eradicate. + +The letter makes no direct reference to the boycott, neither does +it allude to coming negotiations; yet there can be little doubt +that, in making this appeal, the writer had both in view. The viceroy +and his officials are right in regarding the present as a grave +crisis in the intercourse of the two countries. + +Their amicable relations have never been interrupted except during +a fanatical outbreak known as the "Boxer Troubles," which aimed +at the expulsion of all foreigners. The leading part taken by our +country in the subsequent settlement, especially in warding off the +threatened dismemberment of China, added immensely to our influence. +Again, on the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese conflict, which was +waged mainly on Chinese territory, it was American diplomacy that +secured for China the advantage of neutrality, and once more warded +off a danger that menaced her existence. + +Yet every spark of gratitude for these transcendent services is +liable to be extinguished by the irritation caused by discrimination +against her labourers and the consequent ill-treatment of other +classes of her people. No argument is required to show how important +it is to remove all grounds of complaint in the interest of our +growing commerce. + +That any sweeping alteration will be made in our existing laws, I +have given my mandarin friends no reason to expect. Self-preservation +stands on a higher plane than the amenities of intercourse. For +many years these laws served as a bulwark without which the +[Page 255] +sparse population of our Western States would have been swamped by +the influx of Asiatics. In early days it was easier for the Chinese +to cross the ocean than for the people of our Eastern States to cross +the Continent. Now, however, the completion of railroads has reduced +the continental transit to five or six days, in lieu of many months; +and the population of our Pacific Coast is so considerable that +there is no longer any danger of its being overrun by immigrants +from the Far East. Is it not therefore a fair question whether the +maintenance of these old restrictions is desirable or politic? +Swaddling bands, necessary for the protection of an infant, are an +impediment to a growing boy. That question can perhaps be best +decided by ascertaining the general sentiment of our Pacific States. +My impression is that, with the exception of the fruit-growers of +California and some others, they are strongly opposed to what they +call "letting down the bars." + +The most feasible way of meeting the difficulty would be, as it +appears to me, the enactment of regulations to provide against +abuses in the enforcement of our Exclusion Laws. The President +has already spoken forcibly in condemnation of such abuses. The +"privileged classes" might be construed in a more liberal sense. +Provision might be made to mitigate the hardships of detention and +repatriation; and a better class of inspectors might be appointed +with a general superintendent, whose duty it should be to see that +the laws are enforced humanely as well as faithfully. + +On December 18, less than three months after the attack on Americans +at Lienchow, an attempt +[Page 256] +was made to destroy the British settlement in Shanghai. + +A woman arrested on a charge of kidnapping was sent to the foreign +jail to await trial. The Chinese assessor insisted, not without +reason, that she ought to be kept in a native jail. No attention +being given to his protest, though supported by the _taotai_ +or local governor, a mob of riff-raff from beyond the limits burst +into the settlement, put the foreign police to flight, and began to +burn and pillage. Happily a body of marines with gatling guns and +fire-engines succeeded in quelling the flames and suppressing the +insurrection. A few hours' delay must have seen that rich emporium +converted into a heap of ashes. Forty of the rioters were killed +and many wounded. Though on ground granted to Great Britain, the +settlement is called international and is governed by a municipal +council elected by the foreign ratepayers. The Chinese residents, +numbering half a million, are allowed no voice in the council; and +that also is felt as a grievance. They are, however, protected +against the rapacity of their own officials; and it is said they +took no part in the riot. In fact had it not been promptly suppressed +they must have suffered all the horrors of sack and pillage. After it +was over they took occasion to demand recognition in the municipal +government; promising to be satisfied if allowed to appoint a permanent +committee, with whom the council should consult before deciding on +any question affecting their interests. + +Modest as this request was, it was rejected by an almost unanimous +vote of the foreign ratepayers. They knew that such committee, +however elected, +[Page 257] +was certain to be manipulated by the governor to extend his +jurisdiction. Their decision was quietly accepted by the Chinese +residents, who appreciate the protection which they enjoy in that +strange republic. The question is certain to come up again, and +their claim to be heard will be pressed with more insistence as +they become more acquainted with the principles of representative +government. + +The existence of an _imperium in imperio_ which comes between +them and their people is of course distasteful to the mandarins; +and they are bent on curtailing its privileges. If its franchises +were surrendered, "Ichabod" might be inscribed on the gates of +the model settlement. + +The practice of marking out a special quarter for each nationality +is an old one in China, adopted for convenience. When, after the +first war, the British exacted the opening of ports, they required +the grant of a concession in each, within which their consuls should +have chief, if not exclusive authority. Other nations made the +same demands; and China made the grants, not as to the British +from necessity, but apparently from choice--the foreign consul +being bound to keep his people in order. Now, however, the influx +of natives into the foreign settlements, and the enormous growth +of those mixed communities in wealth and population, have led the +Chinese Government to look on the ready compliance of its predecessors +as a blunder. Accordingly, in opening new ports in the interior it +marks out a foreign quarter, but makes no "concession." It does not +as before waive the exercise of jurisdiction within those limits. + +[Page 258] +The above question relates solely to the government of Chinese +residing in the foreign "concessions." But there is a larger question +now looming on the political sky, viz., how to recover the right +of control over foreigners, wherever they may be in the Empire. +If it were in their power, the Chinese would cancel not merely +the franchises of foreign settlements, but the treaty right of +exemption from control by the local government. This is a franchise +of vital interest to the foreigner, whose life and property would +not be safe were they dependent on the native tribunals as these +are at present constituted. + +Such exemption is customary in Turkey and other Moslem countries, +not to say among the Negroes of Africa. It was recognised by treaty +in Japan; and the Japanese, in proportion as they advanced in the +path of reform, felt galled by an exception which fixed on them the +stigma of barbarism. When they had proved their right to a place +in the comity of nations, with good laws administered, foreign +powers cheerfully consented to allow them the exercise of all the +prerogatives of sovereignty. + +How does her period of probation compare with that of her neighbour? +Japan resolved on national renovation on Western lines in 1868. +China came to no such resolution until the collapse of her attempt +to exterminate the foreigner in 1900. With her the age of reform +dates from the return of the Court in 1902--as compared with Japan +four years to thirty! Then what a contrast in the animus of the +two countries! The one characterised by law and order, the other +[Page 259] +by mob violence, unrestrained, if not instigated, by the authorities! + +When the north wind tried to compel a traveller to take off his +cloak, the cloak was wrapped the closer and held the tighter. When +the sun came out with his warm beams, the traveller stripped it +off of his own accord. + +The sunrise empire has exemplified the latter method; China prefers +the former. Is it not to be feared that the apparent success of +the boycott will encourage her to persist in the policy of the +traveller in the north wind. She ought to be notified that she +is on probation, and that the only way to recover the exercise of +her sovereign rights is to show herself worthy of confidence. The +Boxer outbreak postponed by many years the withdrawal of the cloak +of ex-territoriality, and every fresh exhibition of mob violence +defers that event to a more distant date. + +To confound "stranger" with "enemy" is the error of Bedouin or +Afghan. Does not China do the same when she mistakes hostility to +foreigners for patriotism? By this blunder she runs the risk of +alienating her best friends, England and America. A farmer attempting +to rope up a shaky barrel in which a hen was sitting on a nest full +of eggs, the silly fowl mistook him for an enemy and flew in his +face. Is not China in danger of being left to the fate which her +friends have sought to avert? + +In April a magistrate went by invitation to the French Catholic +Mission to settle a long-standing dispute, and he settled it by +committing suicide--in China the most dreaded form of revenge. Carried +[Page 260] +out gasping but speechless, he intimated that he was the victim of a +murderous attack by the senior priest. His wounds were photographed; +and the pictures were circulated with a view to exciting the mob. +Gentry and populace held meetings for the purpose of screwing their +courage up to the required pitch--governor and mandarins kept carefully +in the background--and on the fifth day the mission buildings were +destroyed and the priests killed. An English missionary, his wife +and daughter, living not far away, were set upon and slain, not +because they were not known to belong to another nation and another +creed, but because an infuriated mob does not care to discriminate. + +English and French officials proceeded to the scene in gunboats to +examine the case and arrange a settlement. The case of the English +family was settled without difficulty; but that of the French mission +was more complicated. Among the French demands were two items which +the Chinese Government found embarrassing. It had accepted the +theory of murder and hastily conferred posthumous honours on the +deceased magistrate. The French demanded the retraction of those +honors, and a public admission of suicide. To pay a money indemnity +and cashier a governor was no great hardship, but how could the +court submit to the humiliation of dancing to the tune of a French +piper? An English surgeon declared, in a sealed report of autopsy, +that the wounds must have been self-inflicted, as their position +made it impossible for them to have been inflicted by an assailant. +But + +[Note from PG proofer: two lines of text missing here.] + +[Page 261] +In 1870 France accepted a money payment for the atrocious massacre at +Tientsin, because the Second Empire was entering on a life-and-death +struggle with Germany. If she makes things easy for China this time, +will it not be because the Republic is engaged in mortal combat +with the Roman Church? + +China's constant friction and frequent collisions with France spring +chiefly from two sources; (1) the French protectorate over the Roman +missions, and (2) the menacing attitude of France in Indo-China. +It was to avenge the judicial murder of a missionary that Louis +Napoleon sent troops to China in 1857-60. From this last date the +long-persecuted Church assumed an imperious tone. The restitution +of confiscated property was a source of endless trouble; and the +certainty of being backed up by Church and State emboldened native +converts not only to insist on their own rights, but to mix in +disputes with which they had no necessary connection--a practice +which more than anything else has tended to bring the Holy Faith +into disrepute among the Chinese people. + +Yet, on the other side, there are more fruitful sources of difficulty +in the ignorance of the people and in the unfair treatment of converts +by the Chinese Government. While the Government, having no conception +of religious freedom, extends to Christians of all creeds a compulsory +toleration and views them as traitors to their country, is it not +natural for their pagan neighbours to treat them with dislike and +suspicion? + +In this state of mind they, like the pagans of ancient Rome, charge +them with horrible crimes, and seize the slightest occasion for +murderous attack. A church +[Page 262] +spire is said to disturb the good luck of a neighbourhood--the +people burn the building. A rumour is started that babies in a +foundling hospital have their eyes taken out to make into photographic +medicine--the hospital is demolished and the Sisters of Charity +killed. A skeleton found in the house of a physician is paraded +on the street as proof of diabolical acts--instantly an angry mob +wrecks the building and murders every foreigner within its reach. +One of these instances was seen in the Tientsin massacre of 1869, +the other in the Lienchow massacre of 1905. Nor are these isolated +cases. Two American ladies doing hospital work in Canton were set +upon by a mob, who accused them of killing a man whose life they +were trying to save, and they narrowly escaped murder. But why +extend the gruesome list? In view of their mad fury, so fatal to +their benefactors, one is tempted to exclaim: _Unglaube du bist +nicht so viel ein ungeheuer als aberglaube du!_ "Of the twin +monsters, unbelief and superstition, the more to be dreaded is +the last!" + +In China if a man falls in the street, the priest and Levite consult +their own safety by keeping at a distance; and if a good Samaritan +stoops to pick him up it is at his peril. In treating the sick a +medical man requires as much courage and tact as if he were dealing +with lunatics! These dark shadows, so harmful to the good name of +China, are certain to be dissipated by the numerous agencies now +employed to diffuse intelligence. But what of the feeling towards +religious missions? + +Medical missions are recognised as a potent agency in overcoming +prejudice. They reach the heart of +[Page 263] +the people by ministering to their bodily infirmities; high officials +are among their supporters; and the Empress Dowager latterly showed a +disposition to give them her patronage. But how about the preaching +missionary and the teaching missionary? Are the Chinese hostile +to these branches of missionary work? + +Unlike Mohammedan or Brahman, the Chinese are not strongly attached +to any form of religious faith. They take no umbrage at the offer +of a new creed, particularly if it have the advantage of being +akin to that of their ancient sages. What they object to is not +the creed, but the foreigner who brings it. Their newspapers are in +fact beginning to agitate the question of accepting the Christian +faith and propagating it in their own way, without aid from the +foreigner. That they would be glad to see merchant and missionary +leave them in peace, no one can doubt. Yet the influence of missions +is steadily on the increase; and their influence for good is +acknowledged by the leading minds of the Empire. + +Said the High Commissioner Tuan Fang, in an address to the Mission +Boards at New York, February 2,1906: + +"We take pleasure this evening in bearing testimony to the part +taken by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the +Chinese people. They have borne the light of Western civilisation into +every nook and corner of the Empire. They have rendered inestimable +service to China by the laborious task of translating into the Chinese +language religious and scientific works of the West. They help us +to bring happiness and comfort to the poor and the suffering by +the establishment +[Page 264] +of hospitals and schools. The awakening of China which now seems +to be at hand may be traced in no small measure to the hand of the +missionary. For this service you will find China not ungrateful." + +Mission stations, now counted by hundreds, have generally high +schools or colleges. Not only is the science taught in them up-to-date, +but the conscientious manner in which they are conducted makes +them an object-lesson to those officials who are charged with the +supervision of government schools. To name only a few: + +Here in Peking is a university of the American Methodist Episcopal +Church which is not unworthy of the name it bears. At Tungchow, a +suburb of the capital, is a noble college of the American Board +(Congregationalist) which is in every point a worthy compeer. These +coöperate with each other and with a Union Medical College which +under the London Mission has won the favour of the Empress Dowager. + +The American Presbyterian Mission has a high school and a theological +seminary, and coöperates to a certain extent with the three societies +above named. A quadrilateral union like this speaks volumes as +to the spirit in which the work of Christian education is being +carried forward. The Atlantic is bridged and two nations unite; +denominational differences are forgotten in view of the mighty +enterprise of converting an empire. In the economy of their teaching +force they already experience the truth of the maxim "Union is +Strength." + +In Shantung, at Weihien, there is a fine college in +[Page 265] +which English Baptists unite with American Presbyterians. The original +plant of the latter was a college at Tengchow, which under Dr. +Mateer afforded conclusive proof that an education deep and broad +may be given through the medium of the Chinese language. In most +of these schools the English language is now claiming a prominent +place, not as the sole medium for instruction, but as a key to the +world's literature, and a preparation for intercourse with foreign +nations. + +At Shanghai, which takes the lead in education as in commerce, +there is an admirable institution called St. John's College which +makes English the basis of instruction. Numberless other schools +make it a leading branch of study to meet the wants of a centre +of foreign trade. + +One of the best known institutions of Shanghai is a Roman Catholic +College at Siccawei, which preserves the traditions of Matteo Ricci, +and his famous convert Paul Sü. In connection with it are an +astronomical observatory and a weather bureau, which are much +appreciated by foreigners in China, and ought to be better known +throughout the Empire. + +Passing down a coast on which colleges are more numerous than +lighthouses, one comes to Canton, where, near the "Great City" +and beautifully conspicuous, rises the Canton Christian College. + +These are mentioned by way of example, to show what missionaries are +doing for the education of China. It is a narrow view of education +that confines it to teaching in schools. Missionaries led the way +in Chinese journalism and in the preparation of textbooks in all +branches of science. The Society for the +[Page 266] +Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is spreading broadcast the seeds of +secular and religious truth. + +Gratitude for the good they have already done, as well as for benefits +to come, ought to lead the Chinese Government to accord a generous +recognition to all these institutions. At the opening of the Union +Medical College, Mr. Rockhill, the American minister, in a remarkable +address, proposed the recognition of their degrees by the Government; +and as a representative of the Empress Dowager was in the chair on +that occasion, there is reason to hope that his suggestion will +not be overlooked. + + + + +[Page 267] +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE MANCHUS, THE NORMANS OF CHINA + +_The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty--The Empress Dowager--Her Origin--Her +First Regency--Her Personality--Other Types--Two Manchu Princes--Two +Manchu Ministers--The Nation's Choice--Conclusions_ + +In a wide survey of the history of the world, we discover a law +which appears to govern the movements of nations. Those of the +north show a tendency to encroach on those of the south. The former +are nomads, hunters, or fishers, made bold by a constant struggle +with the infelicities of their environment. The latter are occupied +with the settled industries of civilised life. + +The Goths and Vandals of Rome, and the Tartars under Genghis and +Tamerlane all conform to this law and seem to be actuated by a +common impulse. In the east and west of the Eastern hemisphere +may be noted two examples of this general movement, which afford +a curious parallel: I refer to the Normans of Great Britain and +the Manchus of China. Both empires are under the sway of dynasties +which originated in the north; for the royal house of Britain, +though under another title, has always been proud of its Norman +blood. + +The Normans who conquered Britain had first +[Page 268] +settled in France and there acquired the arts of civilised life. +The Manchus coming from the banks of the Amur settled in Liao-tung, +a region somewhat similarly situated with reference to China. There +they learned something of the civilisation of China, and watched +for an opportunity to obtain possession of the empire. In Britain a +kindred branch of the Norman family was on the throne, and William +the Conqueror contrived to give his invasion a colour of right, by +claiming the throne under an alleged bequest of Edward the Confessor. +The Manchus, though not invoking such artificial sanction, aspired +to the dominion of China because their ancestors of the Golden +Horde had ruled over the northern half of the empire. The Norman +conquest, growing out of a family quarrel, was decided by a single +battle. The Manchus' conquest of a country more than ten times the +extent of Britain was not so easy to effect. Yet they achieved +it with unexampled rapidity, because they came by invitation and +they brought peace to a people exhausted by long wars. Their task +was comparatively easy in the north, where the traditions of the +Kin Tartars still survived; but it was prolonged and bloody in +the south. + +Both houses treated their new subjects as a conquered people. Each +imposed the burden of foreign garrisons and a new nobility. Each +introduced a foreign language, which they tried to perpetuate as +the speech of the court, if not of the people. In each case the +language of the people asserted itself. In Britain it absorbed +and assimilated the alien tongue; in China, where the absence of +common elements made amalgamation +[Page 269] +impossible, it superseded that of the conquerors, not merely for +writing purposes, but as the spoken dialect of the court. + +Both conquerors found it necessary to conciliate the subject race +by liberal and timely concessions; but here begins a contrast. +In Britain no external badge of subjection was ever imposed; in +process of time all special privileges of the ruling caste were +abolished; and no trace of race antipathy ever displays itself +anywhere--if we except Ireland. In China the cue remains as a badge +of subjection. Habit has reconciled the people to its use; but it +still offers a tempting grip to revolutionary agitators. Every +party that raises the standard of revolt abolishes the cue; would +it not be wise for the Manchu Government to make the wearing of +that appendage a matter of option, especially as it is beginning +to disappear from their soldiers' uniform? + +The extension of reform in dress from camp to court and from court +to people (to them as a matter of option) would remove a danger. +It would also remove a barrier in the way of China's admission +into the congress of nations. The abolition of the cue implies +the abandonment of those long robes which make such an impression +of barbaric pomp. Already the Chinese are tacitly permitted to +adopt foreign dress; and in every case they have to dispense with +the cue. The Japanese never did a wiser thing than to adopt our +Western costume. Their example tends to encourage a reform of the +same kind in China. A new costume means a new era. + +Another point is required to complete the parallel: +[Page 270] +each victor has given the conquered country a better government +than any in its previous history. To Confucius feudalism was a +beau-ideal, and he beautifully compares the sovereign to the North +Star which sits in state on the pole of the heavens while all the +constellations revolve around it, and pay it homage. Yet was the +centralised government of the First Hwang-ti an immense improvement +on the loose agglomeration of the Chous. The great dynasties have all +adopted the principle of centralisation; but not one has applied it +with such success, nor is there one which shows so large a proportion +of respectable rulers as the house of Ta-ts'ing. Of the first six +some account has been given in Part II. As to the next two it is +too soon to have the verdict of history. One died after a brief +reign of two years and three months, too short to show character. +The other now sits at the foot of the throne, while his adoptive +mother sways the sceptre. Both have been overshadowed by the Empress +Dowager and controlled by her masterful spirit. + +China has had female rulers that make figures in history, such as +Lu of the Han and Wu of the T'ang dynasties, but she has no law +providing for the succession of a female under any conditions. A +female reign is abnormal, and the ruler a monstrosity. Her character +is always blackened so as to make it difficult to delineate. Yet in +every instance those women have possessed rare talent; for without +uncommon gifts it must have been impossible to seize a sceptre +in the face of such prejudices, and to sway it over a submissive +people. Usually they are described much as the Jewish chronicler +sketches the character of Jezebel +[Page 271] +or Athaliah. Cruel, licentious, and implacable, they "destroy the +seed royal," they murder the prophets and they make the ears of +the nation tingle with stories of shameless immorality. + +Among these we shall not seek a parallel for the famous Empress +Dowager, so well known to the readers of magazine literature. In +tragic vicissitudes, if not in length of reign, she stood without +a rival in the history of the world. She also stood alone in the +fact that her destinies were interwoven with the tangle of foreign +invasion. Twice she fled from the gates of a fallen capital; and +twice did the foreign conqueror permit her to return. Without the +foreigner and his self-imposed restraint, there could have been no +Empress Dowager in China. Did she hate the foreigner for driving +her away, or did she thank him for her repeated restoration? + +The daughter of Duke Chou (the slave-girl story is a myth), she +became a secondary wife of Hienfung in 1853 or 1854; and her sister +somewhat later became consort of the Emperor's youngest brother. +Having the happiness to present her lord with a son, she was raised +to the rank of Empress and began to exert no little influence in the +character of mother to an heir-apparent. Had she not been protected +by her new rank her childless rival might have driven her from +court and appropriated the boy. She had instead to admit a joint +motherhood, which in a few years led to a joint regency. + +Scarcely had the young Empress become accustomed to her new dignity, +when the fall of Taku and Tientsin, in 1860, warned the Emperor +of what he might +[Page 272] +expect. Taking the two imperial ladies and their infant son, he +retired to Jeho, on the borders of Tartary, in time to escape capture. +There he heard of the burning of his summer palace and the surrender +of his capital. Whether he succumbed to disease or whether a proud +nature refused to survive his disgrace, is not known. What we do +know is, that on his death, in 1861, two princes, Sushun and Tuanhwa, +organised a regency and brought the court back to the capital about +a year after the treaty of peace had been signed by Prince Kung as +the Emperor's representative. Prince Kung was not included in the +council of regency; and he knew that he was marked for destruction. +Resolving to be beforehand, he found means to consult with the +Empresses, who looked to him to rescue them from the tyranny of +the Council of Eight. On December 2 the blow was struck: all the +members of the council were seized; the leader was put to death in +the market-place; some committed suicide; and others were condemned +to exile. A new regency was formed, consisting of the two Empresses +and Prince Kung, the latter having the title of "joint regent." + +What part the Empress Mother had taken in this her first _coup +d'état_, is left to conjecture. Penetrating and ambitious she +was not content to be a tool in the hands of the Eight. The senior +Empress yielded to the ascendency of a superior mind, as she continued +to do for twenty years. + +There was another actor whom it would be wrong to overlook, namely, +Kweiliang, the good secretary, who had signed the treaties at Tientsin. +His daughter +[Page 273] +was Prince Kung's principal wife, and though too old to take a +leading part in the Court revolutions, it was he who prompted Prince +Kung, who was young and inexperienced, to strike for his life. + +The reigning title of the infant Emperor was changed from +_Kisiang_, "good luck," to _Tung-chi_, "joint government"; +and the Empire acquiesced in the new régime. + +One person there was, however, who was not quite satisfied with +the arrangement. This was the restless, ambitious young Dowager. +The Empire was quiet; and things went on in their new course for +years, Prince Kung all the time growing in power and dignity. His +growing influence gave her umbrage; and one morning a decree from +the two Dowagers stripped him of power, and confined him a prisoner +in his palace. His alleged offence was want of respect to their +Majesties; he threw himself at their feet and implored forgiveness. + +The ladies were not implacable; he was restored to favour and clothed +with all his former dignities, except one. The title of +_Icheng-wang_, "joint regent," never reappeared. + +In 1881 the death of the senior Dowager left the second Dowager +alone in her glory. So harmoniously had they coöperated during +their joint regency, and so submissive had the former been to the +will of the latter, that there was no ground for suspicion of foul +play, yet such suspicions are always on the wing, like bats in +the twilight of an Oriental court. + +On the death of Tung-chi, the adroit selection of a nephew of three +summers to succeed to the throne as her adopted son, gave the Dowager +the prospect of another long regency. Recalled to power by the +[Page 274] +reactionaries, in 1898, after a brief retirement, the Empress Dowager +dethroned her puppet by a second _coup-d'état_. + +During the ruinous recoil that followed she had the doubtful +satisfaction of feeling herself sole aristocrat of the Chinese +Empire. Was it not the satisfaction of a gladiator who seated himself +on the throne of the Cæsars in a burning amphitheatre? Was she +not made sensible that she, too, was a creature of circumstances, +when her ill-judged policy compelled her a second time to seek +safety in flight? A helpless fugitive, how could she conceive that +fortune held in reserve for her brighter days than she had ever +experienced? + +Accepting the situation and returning with the Emperor, the Empire +and the world accepted her, and, taught by experience, she engaged +in the congenial task of renovating the Chinese people. Advancing +years, consciousness of power, and willing conformity to the freer +usages of European courts, all conspired to lead her to throw aside +the veil and to appear openly as the chief actor on this imperial +stage. + +Six years ago her seventieth birthday was celebrated with great +pomp, although she had forbidden her people to be too lavish in +their loyalty. At Wuchang, Tuan Fang, who was acting viceroy, gave +a banquet at which he asked me to make a speech in the Dowager's +honor. The task was a delicate one for a man who had borne the +hardships of a siege in 1900; but I accepted it, and excused the +Dowager on the principle of British law, that "The king can do no +[Page 275] +wrong." Throwing the blame on her ministers, I pronounced a eulogy +on her talents and her public services. + +The question arises, did we know her in person and character? Have +we not seen her in that splendid portrait executed by Miss Carl, +and exhibited at St. Louis? If we suspect the artist of flattery, +have we not a gallery of photographs, in which she shows herself +in many a majestic pose? Is flattery possible to a sunbeam? We +certainly see her as truly as we see ourselves in a mirror! + +As to character, it is too soon to express an opinion. _Varium +et mutabile semper femina_. + +To pencil and sunbeam add word-pictures by men and women from whose +critical eyes she did not conceal herself; and we may confidently +affirm that we knew her personal appearance as well as we knew that +of any lady who occupies or shares a European throne. A trifle +under the average height of European ladies, so perfect were her +proportions and so graceful her carriage that she seemed to need +nothing to add to her majesty. Her features were vivacious and +pleasing rather than beautiful; her complexion, not yellow, but +subolive, and her face illuminated by orbs of jet, half-hidden +by dark lashes, behind which lurked the smiles of favour or the +lightning of anger. No one would take her to be over forty. She +carried tablets on which, even during conversation, she jotted +down memoranda. Her pencil was the support of her sceptre. With it +she sent out her autograph commands; and with it, too, she inscribed +those pictured characters which were worn as the proudest decorations +[Page 276] +of her ministers. I have seen them in gilded frames in the hall +of a viceroy. + +The elegance of her culture excited sincere admiration in a country +where women are illiterate; and the breadth of her understanding +was such as to take in the details of government. She chose her +agents with rare judgment, and shifted them from pillar to post, +so that they might not forget their dependence on her will. Without +a parallel in her own country, she has been sometimes compared +with Catherine II. of Russia. She had the advantage in the decency +of her private life; for though she is said to have had favourites +they have never dared to boast of her favours, nor was a curious +public ever able to identify them. + +Her full name, including honorific epithets added by the Academy, +was Tse Hi Tuanyin Kangyi Chaoyu Chuangcheng Shoukung Chinhien +Chunghi. A few hours before her death, which occurred on the day +after the Emperor's, she named his nephew as successor, and the +present ruler, Hsuan-Tung, who was born in 1903, began to reign +November 14, 1908. + +Let the Dowager be taken as a type of the Manchu woman. The late +Emperor, though handsome and intelligent, was too small for a +representative of a robust race. Tuan Fang, the High Commissioner, +is a more favourable specimen. The Manchus are in general taller +than the Chinese, and both in physical and intellectual qualities +they prove that their branch of the family is far from effete. + +Prince Kung, who for fifteen years presided over the imperial cabinet, +was tall, handsome and urbane. +[Page 277] +Despite the disadvantages of an education in a narrow-minded court, +he displayed a breadth and capacity of a high order. Prince Ching, +who succeeded him in 1875, though less attractive in person, is not +deficient in that sort of astuteness that passes for statesmanship. +What better evidence than that he has kept himself on top of a +rolling log for thirty years? To keep his position through the +dethronement of the Emperor and the convulsions of the Boxer War +required agility and adaptability of no mean order. Personally I +have seen much of both princes. They are abler men than one would +expect to find among the offshoots of an Oriental court. + +Wensiang, who from the opening of Peking to his death in 1875 bore +the leading part in the conduct of foreign affairs, showed great +ability in piloting the state through rocks and breakers. His mental +power greatly impressed all foreigners, while it secured him an easy +ascendency among his countrymen. Such men are sure to be overloaded +with official duties in a country like China. Physically he was not +strong; and on one occasion when he came into the room wheezing +with asthma he said to me: "You see I am like a small donkey, with +a tight collar and a heavy load." The success of Prince Kung's +administration was largely due to Wensiang. Paochuin, minister +of finance, and member of the Inner Council, was distinguished +as a literary genius. Prince Kung delighted on festive occasions +to call him and Tungsuin to a contest in extempore verse. To enter +the lists with a noted scholar and poet like Tung, showed how the +Manchus have come to vie with the Chinese in the +[Page 278] +refinements of literary culture. I remember him as a dignified +greybeard, genial and jocose. On the fall of the Kung ministry, +he doffed his honours in three stanzas, which contain more truth +than poetry: + + "Through life, as in a pleasing dream, + Unconscious of my years, + In Fortune's smile to bask I seem; + Perennial, Spring appears. + + "Alas! Leviathan to take + Defies the fisher's art; + From dreams of glory I awake,-- + My youth and power depart. + + "That loss is often gain's disguise + May us for loss console. + My fellow-sufferers, take advice + And keep your reason whole." + +In more than one crisis, the heart of the nation has cleaved to +the Manchu house as the embodiment of law and order. The people +chose to adhere to a tolerably good government rather than take +the chance of a better one emerging from the strife of factions. + +Three things are required to confirm their loyalty: (1) the abolition +of tonsure and pigtail, (2) the abandonment of all privileges in +examinations and in the distribution of offices, (3) the removal +of all impediments in the way of intermarriage. + +This last has been recently authorised by proclamation. It is not +so easy for those who are in possession of the loaves and fishes to +admit others to an equal share. If to these were added the abolition +of a degrading +[Page 279] +badge, the Manchu dynasty might hope to be perpetual, because the +Manchus would cease to exist as a people. + + +CONCLUSIONS + +1. More than once I have demanded the expulsion of the Manchus, +and the partition of China. That they deserved it no one who knows +the story of 1900 will venture to deny. It was not without reason +that _Mene tekel_ and _Ichabod_ were engraved on the +medal commemorating the siege in Peking. If I seem to recant, it +is in view of the hopeful change that has come over the spirit of +the Manchu Government. Under the leadership of Dowager Empress +and Emperor, the people were more likely to make peaceful progress +than under a new dynasty or under the Polish policy of division. + +2. The prospect of admission to the full privileges of a member of +the brotherhood of nations will act as an incentive to improvement. +But the subjection of foreigners to Chinese jurisdiction ought +not to be conceded without a probation as long and thorough as +that through which Japan had to pass. In view of the treachery +and barbarism so conspicuous in 1900--head-hunting and edicts to +massacre foreigners--a probation of thirty years would not be too +long. During that time the reforms in law and justice should be +fully tested, and the Central Government should be held responsible +for the repression of every tendency to anti-foreign riots. + +A government that encourages Boxers and other rioters as patriots +does not merit an equal place in the +[Page 280] +congress of nations. The alternative is the "gunboat policy," according +to which foreign powers will administer local punishment. If the +mother of the house will not chastise her unruly children, she +must allow her neighbours to do it. + +3. Prior to legal reform, and at the root of it, the adoption of a +constitution ought to be insisted on. In such constitution a leading +article ought to be not toleration, but freedom of conscience. As +long as China looks on native Christians as people who have abjured +their nationality, so long will they be objects of persecution; +self-defence and reprisals will keep the populace in a ferment, and +peace will be impossible. If China is sincere in her professions +of reform, she will follow the example of Japan and make her people +equal in the eye of the law without distinction of creed. + +4. All kinds of reform are involved in the new education, and to that +China is irrevocably committed. Reënforced by railroad, telegraph, +and newspaper, the schoolmaster will dispel the stagnation of remote +districts, giving to the whole people a horizon wider than their +hamlet, and thoughts higher than their hearthstone. Animated by +sound science and true religion, it will not be many generations +before the Chinese people will take their place among the leading +nations of the earth. + + + + +[Page 281] +APPENDIX + +I. + +THE AGENCY OF MISSIONARIES IN THE DIFFUSION OF SECULAR KNOWLEDGE +IN CHINA[*] + +[Footnote *: This paper was originally written for Dr. Dennis's +well-known work on The Secular Benefits of Christian Missions. +As it now appears it is not a mere reprint, it having been much +enlarged and brought down to date.] + +While the primary motive of missionaries in going to China is, as +in going to other countries, the hope of bringing the people to +Christ, the incidental results of their labours in the diffusion +of secular knowledge have been such as to confer inestimable benefit +on the world at large and on the Chinese people in particular. +This is admitted by the recent High Commission.[**] + +[Footnote **: See page 263.] + +It was in the character of apostles of science that Roman Catholic +missionaries obtained a footing in Peking three centuries ago, +and were enabled to plant their faith throughout the provinces. +Armed with telescope and sextant they effected the reform of the +Chinese calendar, and secured for their religion the respect and +adherence of some of the highest minds in the Empire. So firmly +was it rooted that churches of their planting were able to survive +a century and a half of persecution. Their achievements, recorded +in detail by Abbé Huc and others, fill some of the +[Page 282] +brightest pages in the history of missions. I shall not enlarge +on them in this place, as my present task is to draw attention +to the work of Protestant missions. + + +A CENTURY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS. + +It is not too much to claim for these last that for a century past +they have been active intermediaries, especially between the +English-speaking nations and the Far East. On one hand, they have +supplied such information in regard to China as was indispensable +for commercial and national intercourse, while on the other they +have brought the growing science of the Western world to bear on +the mind of China. Not only did Dr. Morrison, who led the way in +1807, give the Chinese the first translation of our Holy Scriptures; +he was the very first to compile a Chinese dictionary in the English +language. + + +THE PIONEER OF AMERICAN MISSIONS + +It was not until 1838 that America sent her pioneer missionary +in the person of Dr. Bridgman. Besides coöperating with others in +the revision of Morrison's Bible, or, more properly, in making a +new version, Bridgman won immortality by originating and conducting +the _Chinese Repository_, a monthly magazine which became a +thesaurus of information in regard to the Chinese Empire. + + +THE PRESS--A MISSIONARY FRANKLIN + +The American Board showed their enlightened policy by establishing +a printing-press at Canton, and +[Page 283] +in sending S. Wells Williams to take charge of it, in 1833. John +R. Morrison, son of the missionary, had, indeed, made a similar +attempt; but from various causes he had felt compelled to relinquish +the enterprise. From the arrival of Williams to the present day the +printing-press has shown itself a growing power--a lever which, +planted on a narrow fulcrum in the suburb of a single port, has +succeeded in moving the Eastern world. + +The art of printing was not new to the Chinese. They had discovered +it before it was dreamed of in Europe; but with their hereditary +tendency to run in ruts, they had continued to engrave their characters +on wooden blocks in the form of stereotype plates. With divisible +types (mostly on wood) they had indeed made some experiments; but +that improved method never obtained currency among the people. It +was reserved for Christian missions to confer on them the priceless +boon of the power press and metallic types. What Williams began at +Canton was perfected at Shanghai by Gamble of the Presbyterian +Board, who multiplied the fonts and introduced the process of +electrotyping. + +Shut up in the purlieus of Canton, it is astonishing how much Dr. +Williams was able to effect in the way of making China known to the +Western world. His book on "The Middle Kingdom," first published in +1848, continues to be, after the lapse of half a century, the highest +of a long list of authorities on the Chinese Empire. Beginning like +Benjamin Franklin as a printer, like Franklin he came to perform a +brilliant part in the diplomacy of our country, aiding in the +[Page 284] +negotiation of a new treaty and filling more than once the post +of chargé d'affaires. + + +EXPANSION OF THE WORK + +The next period of missionary activity dates from the treaty of +Nanking, which put an end to the Opium War, in 1842. The opening +of five great seaports to foreign residence was a vast enlargement +in comparison with a small suburb of Canton; and the withdrawal +of prohibitory interdicts, first obtained by the French minister +Lagrené, invited the efforts of missionary societies in all lands. +In this connection it is only fair to say that, in 1860, when the +Peking expedition removed the remaining barriers, it was again +to the French that our missionaries were indebted for access to +the interior. + + +MEDICAL WORK + +From the earliest dawn of our mission work it may be affirmed that +no sooner did a chapel open its doors than a hospital was opened +by its side for the relief of bodily ailments with which the rude +quackery of the Chinese was incompetent to deal. Nor is there at +this day a mission station in any part of China that does not in +this way set forth the practical charity of the Good Samaritan. +This glorious crusade against disease and death began, so far as +Protestants are concerned, with the Ophthalmic Hospital opened +by Dr. Peter Parker at Canton in 1834. + + +MEDICAL TEACHING + +The training of native physicians began at the same date; and those +who have gone forth to bless their +[Page 285] +people by their newly acquired medical skill may now be counted +by hundreds. In strong contrast with the occult methods of native +practitioners, neither they nor their foreign teachers have hidden +their light under a bushel. Witness the Union Medical College, a +noble institution recently opened in Peking under the sanction +and patronage of the Imperial Government. A formal despatch of the +Board of Education (in July, 1906) grants the power of conferring +degrees, and guarantees their recognition by the state. For many +years to come this great school is likely to be the leading source +of a new faculty. + + +THE SEEDS OF A NEW EDUCATION + +Not less imperative, though not so early, was the establishment of +Christian schools. Those for girls have the merit of being the first +to shed light on the shaded hemisphere of Chinese society. Those for +boys were intended to reach all grades of life; but their prime +object was to raise up a native ministry, not merely to coöperate +with foreign missions, but eventually to take the place of the +foreign missionary. + + +THE EARLIEST UNION COLLEGE + +One of the earliest and most successful of these lighthouses was +the Tengchow College founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer. It was there +that young Chinese were most thoroughly instructed in mathematics, +physics, and chemistry. So conspicuous was the success of that +institution that when the Government opened a university in Peking, +and more recently in Shantung, +[Page 286] +it was in each case to Tengchow that they had recourse for native +teachers of science. From that school they obtained text-books, +and from the same place they secured (in Dr. Hayes) a president +for the first provincial university organised in China. + + +METHODIST EPISCOPAL UNIVERSITY IN PEKING + +The missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church have of late taken +up the cause of education and carried it forward with great vigour. +Not to speak of high schools for both sexes in Fukien, they have a +flourishing college in Shanghai, and a university in the imperial +capital under the presidency of H. H. Lowry. Destroyed by the Boxers +in 1900, that institution has now risen phoenix-like from its ashes +with every prospect of a more brilliant future than its most sanguine +friends ever ventured to anticipate. + + +AMERICAN BOARD COLLEGE AT TUNGCHOW + +A fine college of the American Board at Tungchow, near the capital, +met the same fate and rose again with similar expansion. Dr. Sheffield, +its president, has made valuable contributions to the list of +educational text-books. + +These great schools, together with the Medical College of the London +Mission, above referred to, and a high school of the United States +Presbyterians, have formed a system of cöoperation which greatly +augments the efficiency of each. Of this educational union the +chief cornerstone is the Medical College. + +A similar coöperative union between the English +[Page 287] +Baptists and American Presbyterians is doing a great work at Weihien, in +Shantung. I speak of these because of that most notable feature--union +international and interdenominational. Space would fail to enumerate +a tithe of the flourishing schools that are aiding in the educational +movement; but St. John's College, at Shanghai (U. S. Episcopal), +though already mentioned, claims further notice because, as we +now learn, it has been given by the Chinese Government the status +of a university. + + +PREPARATION OF TEXT-BOOKS + +Schools require text-books; and the utter absence of anything of +the kind, except in the department of classical Chinese, gave rise +to early and persistent efforts to supply the want. Manuals in +geography and history were among the first produced. Those in +mathematics and physics followed; and almanacs were sent forth +yearly containing scientific information in a shape adapted to +the taste of Chinese readers--alongside of religious truths. Such +an annual issued by the late Dr. McCartee, was much sought for. +A complete series of text-books in mathematics was translated by +Mr. Wylie, of the London Mission; and text-books on other subjects, +including geology, were prepared by Messrs. Muirhead, Edkins, and +Williamson. At length the task of providing text-books was taken +in hand by a special committee, and later on by the Society for +the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, now under the direction of the +Rev. Dr. Richard. + +[Page 288] +So deeply was the want of text-books felt by some of the more +progressive mandarins that a corps of translators was early formed +in connection with one of the government arsenals--a work in which +Dr. John Fryer has gained merited renown. Those translators naturally +gave prominence to books on the art of war, and on the politics +of Western nations, the one-sided tendency of their publications +serving to emphasise the demand for such books as were prepared +by missionaries. + +Text-books on international law and political economy were made +accessible to Chinese literature by Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who, having +acted as interpreter to two of the American embassies, was deeply +impressed by the ignorance of those vital subjects among Chinese +mandarins. + +On going to reside in Peking, in 1863, Dr. Martin carried with him +a translation of Wheaton, and it was welcomed by the Chinese Foreign +Office as a timely guide in their new situation. He followed this +up by versions of Woolsey, Bluntschli and Hall. He also gave them +a popular work on natural philosophy--not a translation--together +with a more extended work on mathematical physics. Not only has +the former appeared in many editions from the Chinese press, but +it has been often reprinted in Japan; and to this day maintains +its place in the favour of both empires. To this he has lately +added a text-book on mental philosophy. + +A book on the evidences of Christianity, by the same author, has +been widely circulated both in China and in Japan. Though distinctly +religious in aim, it +[Page 289] +appeals to the reader's taste for scientific knowledge, seeking to +win the heathen from idolatry by exhibiting the unity and beauty +of nature, while it attempts to show the reasonableness of our +revealed religion. + + +THREE PRESIDENTS OF GOVERNMENT COLLEGES + +It is not without significance that the Chinese have sought presidents +for their highest schools among the ranks of Protestant missionaries. +Dr. Ferguson of the Methodist Episcopal Mission was called to the +presidency of the Nanyang College at Shanghai; Dr. Hayes, to be +head of a new university in Shantung; and Dr. Martin, after serving +for twenty-five years as head of the Diplomatic College in Peking, +was, in 1898, made president of the new Imperial University. His +appointment was by decree from the Throne, published in the Government +_Gazette_; and mandarin rank next to the highest was conferred +on him. On terminating his connection with that institution, after +it was broken up by Boxers, he was recalled to China to take charge +of a university for the two provinces of Hupeh and Hunan. + + +CREATORS OF CHINESE JOURNALISM + +In the movement of modern society, no force is more conspicuous +than journalism. In this our missionaries have from the first taken +a leading part, as it was they who introduced it to China. At every +central station for the last half-century periodicals have been +issued by them in the Chinese language. +[Page 290] +The man who has done most in this line is Dr. Y. J. Allen, of the +Methodist Episcopal Church South. He has devoted a lifetime to +it, besides translating numerous books. + +Formerly the Chinese had only one newspaper in the empire--the +_Peking Gazette_, the oldest journal in the world. They now +have, in imitation of foreigners, some scores of dailies, in which +they give foreign news, and which they print in foreign type. The +highest mandarins wince under their stinging criticisms. + + +THEY LEAD A VERNACULAR REVOLUTION + +It is one of the triumphs of Christianity to have given a written +form to the language of modern Europe. It is doing the same for +heathen nations in all parts of the earth. Nor does China offer +an exception. The culture for which her learned classes are noted +is wholly confined to a classic language that is read everywhere, +and spoken nowhere, somewhat as Latin was in the West in the Middle +Ages, save that Latin was really a tongue capable of being employed +in speech, whereas the classical language of China is not addressed +to the ear but to the eye, being, as Dr. Medhurst said, "an occulage, +not a language." + +The mandarin or spoken language of the north was, indeed, reduced +to writing by the Chinese themselves; and a similar beginning was +made with some of the southern dialects. In all these efforts the +Chinese ideographs have been employed; but so numerous and disjointed +are they that the labour of years is required to get a command of +them even for reading in a vernacular +[Page 291] +dialect. In all parts of China our missionaries have rendered the +Scriptures into the local dialects. so that they may be understood +when read aloud, and that every man "may hear in his own tongue the +wonderful works of God." In some places they have printed them in +the vernacular by the use of Chinese characters. Yet those characters +are clumsy instruments for the expression of sounds; and in several +provinces our missionaries have tried to write Chinese with Roman +letters. + +The experiment has proved successful beyond a doubt. Old women +and young children have in this way come to read the Scriptures +and other books in a few days. This revolution must go forward +with the spread of Christianity; nor is it too much to expect that +in the lapse of ages, the hieroglyphs of the learned language will +for popular use be superseded by the use of the Roman alphabet, or +by a new alphabet recently invented and propagated by officials +in Peking. + +In conclusion: Our missionaries have made our merchants acquainted +with China; and they have made foreign nations known to the Chinese. +They have aided our envoys in their negotiations; and they have +conferred on the Chinese the priceless boon of scientific text-books. +Also along with schools for modern education, they have introduced +hospitals for the relief of bodily suffering. + + W. A. P. M. + +PEKING, + Aug. 4. 1906. + + + + +[Page 292] +II. + +UNMENTIONED REFORMS[*] + +[Footnote *: Written by the author for the _North-China Daily +News_.] + +The return of the Mission of Inquiry has quickened our curiosity +as to its results in proposition and in enactment. All well-wishers +of China are delighted to learn that the creation of a parliament +and the substitution of constitutional for autocratic government are +to have the first place in the making of a New China. The reports +of the High Commissioners are not yet before the public, but it +is understood that they made good use of their time in studying +the institutions of the West, and that they have shown a wise +discrimination in the selection of those which they recommend for +adoption. There are, however, three reforms of vital importance, +which have scarcely been mentioned at all, which China requires +for full admission to the comity of nations. + + +1. A CHANGE OF COSTUME + +During their tour no one suggested that the Chinese costume should +be changed nor would it have been polite or politic to do so. But I +do not admire either the taste or the wisdom of those orators who, +in welcoming the distinguished visitors; applauded them for their +graceful dress and stately carriage. If that indiscreet flattery +had any effect it merely tended +[Page 293] +to postpone a change which is now in progress. All the soldiers +of the Empire will ere long wear a Western uniform, and all the +school children are rapidly adopting a similar uniform. To me few +spectacles that I have witnessed are so full of hope for China as +the display on an imperial birthday, when the military exhibit +their skilful evolutions and their Occidental uniform, and when +thousands of school children appear in a new costume, which is +both becoming and convenient. But the Court and the mandarins cling +to their antiquated attire. If the peacock wishes to soar with +the eagle, he must first get rid of his cumbersome tail. + +This subject, though it savours of the tailor shop, is not unworthy +the attention of the grand council of China's statesmen. Has not +Carlyle shown in his "Sartor Resartus" how the Philosophy of Clothes +is fundamental to the history of civilisation? The Japanese with +wonderful foresight settled that question at the very time when +they adopted their new form of government. + +When Mr. Low was U. S. Minister in Peking some thirty years ago, +he said to the writer "Just look at this tomfoolery!" holding up +the fashion plates representing the new dress for the diplomatic +service of Japan. Time has proved that he was wrong, and that the +Japanese were right in adopting a new uniform, when they wished to +fall in line with nations of the West. With their old shuffling +habiliments and the cringing manners inseparable from them, they +never could have been admitted to intercourse on easy terms with +Western society. + +[Page 294] +The mandarin costume of China, though more imposing, is not less +barbaric than that of Japan; and the etiquette that accompanies +it is wholly irreconcilable with the usages of the Western world. +Imagine a mandarin doffing his gaudy cap, gay with tassels, feathers, +and ruby button, on meeting a friend, or pushing back his long +sleeves to shake hands! Such frippery we have learned to leave +to the ladies; and etiquette does not require them to lay aside +their hats. + +Quakers, like the mandarins, keep their hats on in public meetings; +and the oddity of their manners has kept them out of society and +made their following very exiguous. Do our Chinese friends wish +to be looked on as Quakers, or do they desire to fraternise freely +with the people of the great West? + +Their cap of ceremony hides a shaven pate and dangling cue, and +here lies the chief obstacle in the way of the proposed reform +in style and manners. Those badges of subjection will have to be +dispensed with either formally or tacitly before the cap that conceals +them can give way to the dress hat of European society. Neither +graceful nor convenient, that dress hat is not to be recommended +on its own merits, but as part of a costume common to all nations +which conform to the usages of our modern civilisation. + +It must have struck the High Commissioners that, wherever they +went, they encountered in good society only one general type of +costume. Nor would it be possible for them to advise the adoption +of the costume of this or that nationality--a general conformity +is all that seems feasible or desirable. Will the Chinese +[Page 295] +cling to their cap and robes with a death grip like that of the +Korean who jumped from a railway train to save his high hat and +lost his life? As they are taking passage on the great railway of +the world's progress, will they not take pains to adapt themselves +in every way to the requirements of a new era? + + +2. POLYGAMY + +We have as yet no intimation what the Reform Government intends +to do with this superannuated institution. Will they persist in +burning incense before it to disguise its ill-odour, or will they +bury it out of sight at once and for ever? + +The Travelling Commissioners, whose breadth and acumen are equally +conspicuous, surely did not fail to inquire for it in the countries +which they visited. Of course, they did not find it there; but, as +with the question of costume, the good breeding of their hosts would +restrain them from offering any suggestion touching the domestic +life of the Chinese. + +The Commissioners had the honour of presentation to the Queen-Empress +Alexandra. Fancy them asking how many subordinate wives she has +to aid her in sustaining the dignity of the King-Emperor! They +would learn with surprise that no European sovereign, however lax +in morals, has ever had a palace full of concubines as a regular +appendage to his regal menage; that for prince and people the ideal +is monogamy; and that, although the conduct of the rich and great +is often such as to make us blush for our Christian civilisation, +it is true this day that the crowned heads of Europe are in general +setting a worthy example of +[Page 296] +domestic morals. "Admirable!" respond the Commissioners; "our ancient +sovereigns were like that, and our sages taught that there should +be '_Ne Wu Yuen Nu, Wai wu Kwang-tu_' (in the harem no pining +beauty, outside no man without a mate). It is the luxury of later +ages that keeps a multitude of women in seclusion for the pleasure +of a few men, and leaves the common man without a wife. We heartily +approve the practice of Europe, but what of Africa?" + +"There the royal courts consider a multitude of wives essential to +their grandeur, and the nobles reckon their wealth by the number +of their wives and cows. The glory of a prince is that of a cock +in a barn-yard or of a bull at the head of a herd. Such is their +ideal from the King of Dahomey with his bodyguard of Amazons to +the Sultan of Morocco and the Khedive of Egypt. Not only do the +Mahommedans of Asia continue the practice--they have tried to transplant +their ideal paradise into Europe. Turkey, decayed and rotten, with +its black eunuchs and its Circassian slave girls, stands as an +object-lesson to the whole world." + +"We beg your pardon, we know enough about Asia; but what of +America--does polygamy flourish there?" + +"It did exist among the Peruvians and Aztecs before the Spanish +conquest, but it is now under ban in every country from pole to +pole. Witness the Mormons of Utah! They were refused admission +into the American Union as long as they adhered to the Oriental +type of plural marriage." + +"Ah! We perceive you are pointing to the Mormons as a warning to +us. You mean that we shall not be admitted into the society of +the more civilised nations +[Page 297] +as long as we hold to polygamy. Well! Our own sages have condemned +it. It has a long and shameful record; but its days are numbered. +It will do doubt be suppressed by our new code of laws." + +This imaginary conversation is so nearly a transcript of what must +have taken place, that I feel tempted to throw the following paragraphs +into the form of a dialogue. The dialogue, however, is unavoidably +prolix, and I hasten to wind up the discussion. + +With reference to the Mormons I may add that at the conference +on International Arbitration held at Lake Mohonk last July, there +were present Jews, Quakers, Protestants and Roman Catholics, but +no Mormons and no Turks. Creeds were not required as credentials, +but Turk and Mormon did not think it worth while to knock at the +door. Both are objects of contempt, and no nation whose family +life is formed on the same model can hope to be admitted to full +fraternity with Western peoples. + +The abominations associated with such a type of society are inconsistent +with any but a low grade of civilisation--they are eunuchs, slavery, +unnatural vice, and, more than all, a general debasement of the female +sex. In Chinese society, woman occupies a shaded hemisphere--not +inaptly represented by the dark portion in their national symbol the +_Yinyang-tse_ or Diagram of the Dual principles. So completely +has she hitherto been excluded from the benefits of education that +a young man in a native high school recently began an essay with +the exclamation--"I am glad I am not a Chinese woman. Scarcely +one in a thousand is able to read!" + +[Page 298] +If "Knowledge is power," as Bacon said, and Confucius before him, +what a source of weakness has this neglect of woman been to China. +Happily she is not excluded from the new system of national education, +and there is reason to believe that with the reign of ignorance +polygamy will also disappear as a state of things repugnant to +the right feeling of an intelligent woman. But would it not hasten +the enfranchisement of the sex, and rouse the fair daughters of +the East to a nobler conception of human life if the rulers would +issue a decree placing concubinage under the ban of law? Nothing +would do more to secure for China the respect of the Western world. + + +3. DOMESTIC SLAVERY + +Since writing the first part of this paper, I have learned that +some of the Commissioners have expressed themselves in favour of +a change of costume. I have also learned that the regulation of +slavery is to have a place in the revised statutes, though not +referred to by the Commissioners. Had this information reached +me earlier, it might have led me to omit the word "unmentioned" +from my general title, but it would not have altered a syllable +in my treatment of the subject. + +Cheering it is to the well-wishers of China to see that she has +a government strong enough and bold enough to deal with social +questions of this class. How urgent is the slave question may be +seen from the daily items in your own columns. What, for example, +was the lady from Szechuen doing but carrying on a customary +[Page 299] +form of the slave traffic? What was the case of those singing girls +under the age of fifteen, of whom you spoke last week, but a form +of slavery? Again, by way of climax, what will the Western world +think of a country that permits a mistress to beat a slave girl +to death for eating a piece of watermelon--as reported by your +correspondent from Hankow? The triviality of the provocation reminds +us of the divorce of a wife for offering her mother-in-law a dish +of half-cooked pears. The latter, which is a classic instance, is +excused on the ground of filial duty, but I have too much respect +for the author of the "Hiaoking," to accept a tradition which does a +grievous wrong to one of the best men of ancient times. The tradition, +however unfounded, may serve as a guide to public opinion. It suggests +another subject, which we might (but will not) reserve for another +section, viz., the regulation of divorce and the limitation of +marital power. It is indeed intimately connected with my present +topic, for what is wife or concubine but a slave, as long as a +husband has power to divorce or sell her at will--with or without +provocation? + +Last week an atrocious instance, not of divorce, but of wife-murder, +occurred within bow-shot of my house. A man engaged in a coal-shop +had left his wife with an aunt in the country. The aunt complained +of her as being too stupid and clumsy to earn a living. Her brutal +husband thereon took the poor girl to a lonely spot, where he killed +her, and left her unburied. Returning to the coal-shop, he sent +word to his aunt that he was ready to answer for what he had done, +if called to account. "Has he been called to account?" +[Page 300] +I enquired this morning of one of his neighbours. "Oh no! was the +reply; it's all settled; the woman is buried, and no inquiry is +called for." Is not woman a slave, though called a wife, in a society +where such things are allowed to go with impunity? Will not the new +laws, from which so much is expected, limit the marriage relation +to one woman, and make the man, to whom she is bound, a husband, +not a master? + +Confucius, we are told, resigned office in his native state when +the prince accepted a bevy of singing girls sent from a neighbouring +principality. The girls were slaves bought and trained for their +shameful profession, and the traffic in girls for the same service +constitutes the leading form of domestic slavery at this day--so +little has been the progress in morals, so little advance toward +a legislation that protects the life and virtue of the helpless! + +But the slave traffic is not confined to women; any man may sell +his son; and classes of both sexes are found in all the houses of +the rich. Prædial servitude was practised in ancient times, as it +was in Europe in the Middle Ages, and in Russia till a recent day. +We read of lands and labourers being conferred on court favourites. +How the system came to disappear we need not pause to inquire. It +is certain, however, that no grand act of emancipation ever took +place in China like that which cost Lincoln his life, or that for +which the good Czar Alexander II. had to pay the same forfeit. +Russia is to-day eating the bitter fruits of ages of serfdom; and +the greatest peril ever encountered by the United States was a +war brought on by negro slavery. + +[Page 301] +The form of slavery prevailing in China is not one that threatens +war or revolutions; but in its social aspects it is worse than +negro slavery. It depraves morals and corrupts the family, and +as long as it exists, it carries the brand of barbarism. China +has great men, who for the honour of their country would not be +afraid to take the matter in hand. They would, if necessary, imitate +Lincoln and the Czar Alexander to effect the removal of such a +blot. + +It is proposed, we are told, to limit slavery to minors--freedom +ensuing on the attainment of majority. This would greatly ameliorate +the evil, but the evil is so crying that it demands not amelioration, +but extinction. Let the legislators of China take for their model +the provisions of British law, which make it possible to boast that +"as soon as a slave touches British soil his fetters fall." Let +them also follow that lofty legislation which defines the rights +and provides for the well-being of the humblest subject. Let the +old system be uprooted before a new one is inaugurated, otherwise +there is danger that the limiting of slavery to minors will leave +those helpless creatures exposed to most of the wrongs that accompany +a lifelong servitude. + +The number and extent of the reforms decreed or effected are such +as to make the present reign the most illustrious in the history +of the Empire. May we not hope that in dealing with polygamy and +domestic slavery, the action of China will be such as to lift her +out of the class of Turkey and Morocco into full companionship +with the most enlightened nations of Europe and America. + + + + +[Page 302] +III. + +A NEW OPIUM WAR + +The fiat has gone forth--war is declared against an insidious enemy +that has long been exhausting the resources of China and sapping +the strength of her people. She has resolved to rid herself at +once and forever of the curse of opium. The home production of +the drug, and all the ramifications of the vice stand condemned +by a decree from the throne, followed by a code of regulations +designed not to limit, but to extirpate the monster evil. + +In this bold stroke for social reform there can be no doubt that +the Government is supported by the best sentiment of the whole +country. Most Chinese look upon opium as the beginning of their +national sorrows. In 1839 it involved them in their first war with +the West; and that opened the way for a series of wars which issued +in their capital being twice occupied by foreign forces. + +Their first effort to shake off the incubus was accompanied by +such displays of pride, ignorance and unlawful violence that Great +Britain was forced to make war--not to protect an illegal traffic, +but to redress an outrage and to humble a haughty empire. In this +renewed onslaught the Chinese have exhibited so much good sense +and moderation as to show that they have learned much from foreign +intercourse during the sixty-seven years that have intervened. + +[Page 303] +Without making any appeal to the foreigner, they courageously resolved +to deal with the evil in its domestic aspects. Most of the mandarins +are infected by it; and the licensed culture of the poppy has made +the drug so cheap that even the poor are tempted to indulge. + +The prohibitory edict asserts that of the adult population 30 or +40 per cent. are under the influence of the seductive poison. This, +by the way, gives an enormous total, far beyond any of the estimates +of foreign writers. + +Appalled by the signs of social decadence the more patriotic of +China's statesmen were not slow to perceive that all attempts at +reform in education, army, and laws must prove abortive if opium +were allowed to sap the vigour of the nation. "You can't carve a +piece of rotten wood," says Confucius. Every scheme for national +renovation must have for its basis a sound and energetic people. It +was this depraved taste that first made a market for the drug; if +that taste can be eradicated the trade and the vice must disappear +together, with or without the concurrence of Great Britain. + +Great Britain was not, however, to be ignored. Besides her overshadowing +influence and her commercial interests vast and varied, is she not +mistress of India, whose poppy-fields formerly supplied China and +are still sending to the Chinese market fifty thousand chests per +annum? No longer an illegal traffic, this importation is regulated +by treaty. Concerted action might prevent complications and tend +to insure success. The new British Government was approached on the +[Page 304] +subject. Fortunately, the Liberals being in power, it was not bound +by old traditions. + +A general resolution passed the House of Commons without a dissentient +voice, expressing sympathy with China and a willingness to adopt +similar measures in India. "When asked in the House what steps had +been taken to carry out the resolution for the abolition of the +opium traffic between India and China, Mr. Morley replied, that +he understood that China was contemplating the issue of regulations +restricting the importation, cultivation, and consumption of opium. He +had received no communication from China; but as soon as proposals were +submitted he was prepared to consider them in a sympathetic spirit. +H. B. M.'s minister in Peking had been instructed to communicate +with the Chinese Government to that effect." + +The telegram containing these words is dated London, October 30. +The imperial edict, which initiated what many call "the new crusade," +was issued barely forty days before that date (viz., on September +20). Let it also be noted that near the end of August a memorial +of the Anti-Opium League, suggesting action on the part of the +Government, was sent up through the Nanking viceroy. It was signed +by 1,200 missionaries of different nations and churches. Is it +not probable that their representations, backed by the viceroy, +moved the hand that sways the sceptre? + +The decree runs as follows: + +"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China +has been flooded with the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted +their time, neglected their employment, ruined their constitutions, +and impoverished their households. Thus for several decades China +has presented a +[Page 305] +spectacle of increasing poverty and weakness. It rouses our indignation +to speak of the matter. The Court is now determined to make China +powerful; and it is our duty to urge our people to reformation +in this respect. + +"We decree, therefore, that within a limit of ten years this harmful +muck be fully and entirely wiped away. We further command the Council +of State to consider means for the strict prohibition both of +opium-smoking and of poppy-growing." + +Among the regulations drawn up by the Council of State are these: + +That all smokers of opium be required to report themselves and to +take out licenses. + +Smokers holding office are divided into two classes. Those of the +junior class are to cleanse themselves in six months. For the seniors +no limit of time is fixed. Both classes while under medical treatment +are to pay for approved deputies, by whom their duties shall be +discharged. + +All opium dens are to be closed after six months. These are places +where smokers dream away the night in company with the idle and +the vicious. + +No opium lamps or pipes are to be made or sold after six months. +Shops for the sale of the drug are not to be closed until the tenth +year. + +The Government provides medicines for the cure of the habit. + +The formation of anti-opium societies is encouraged; but the members +are cautioned not to discuss political questions. + + +The question no doubt arises in the mind of the reader, Will China +succeed in freeing herself from bondage to this hateful vice? It +is easy for an autocrat to issue a decree, but not easy to secure +obedience. It +[Page 306] +is encouraging to know that this decisive action is favoured by +all the viceroys--Yuan, the youngest and most powerful, has already +taken steps to put the new law in force in the metropolitan province. +A flutter of excitement has also shown itself in the ranks of Indian +traders--Parsees, Jews, and Mohammedans--who have presented a claim +for damages to their respectable traffic. + +On the whole we are inclined to believe in the good faith of the +Chinese Government in adopting this measure, and to augur well +for its success. Next after the change of basis in education, this +brave effort to suppress a national vice ranks as the most brilliant +in a long series of reformatory movements. + + W. A. P. M. + PEKING, January, 1907. + + + + +[Page 307] +INDEX + + + + +[Page 309] +INDEX + +Adams, John Quincy, on the Opium War, 153 +Albazin, Cossack garrison captured at, 57 +Alphabet, a new, invented by Wang Chao, 217 +Amherst, Lord, declines to kneel to Emperor, 168 +Amoy, seaport in Fukien province, 14 + its grass cloth and peculiar sort of black tea, 15 +Anhwei, province of, home of Li Hung Chang, 49 +Anti-foot-binding Society, supported by Dowager Empress in an edict, 217 +Anti-foreign Agitation, 244-266 + American influence in the Far East and, 245-251 +"Appeal from the Lion's Den," 176 +Army, the Chinese, 200-202 +_Arrow_ War, the, 162-169 + allied troops at Peking, 168 + Canton occupied by British troops, 164 + China abandons her long seclusion, 169 + crew of the _Arrow_ executed without trial, 163 + negotiations of the four powers with China, 165 + seizure of the lorcha _Arrow_, 162 + +Bamboo tablets, writings of Confucius engraved on, 106 +Battle of the Sea of Japan, 191-192 +Bell-tower, boy's soul supposed to be hovering in, 21 +Black-haired race, Chinese style themselves the, 151 +Bowring, Sir John, Governor of Hong Kong, and the _Arrow_ case, + 162-163 +Boxer War, the, 172-180 + a Boxer manifesto, 175 +Boycott, the, 247, 252, 253, 259 +Bridges, 16, 41, 42 +Bridgman, Dr., pioneer missionary to China, 282 + founds the Chinese Repository, 282 +Buddhism, introduction of, into China, 95 + "Apotheosis of Mercy," a legend of Northern Buddhism, 108 + number of Buddhist monasteries, 108 + rooted in the minds of the illiterate, 108 +Burden, Bishop, of the English Church Mission. Hang-chow, 23 +Burlingame, Hon. Anson, U. S. Minister to China, 212 + +Cambalu, Mongol name for Peking, 59 +[Page 310] +Camöens, tomb of, at Macao, 9 +Canton, the most populous city of the Empire, 9-12 + American trade suffers most in Canton from boycott of 1905, 13 + averts bombardment by payment of $6,000,000 ransom, 154 + Christian college, 10 + cock-fighting the popular amusement, 10 + crowds of beggars, 12 + excellence of tea and silk produced in the vicinity, 13 + "flower-boats," 9 + historical enigma contests, 11 + narrowness of streets, 12 + passion for gambling, 11 +Canton (Kwangtung), province of, 7-13 + Viceroy of, has also Kwangsi under his jurisdiction, 13 +Caravan Song, 61 +Chang Chien, legend of, 63 +Chang-fi, rescues son of Liu Pi from burning palace, 114 +Chang Tien-shi, arch-magician of Taoism, 109 +Chang Chi-tung, Viceroy of Hukwang, his life and public career, 219-241 + first to start the Emperor on the path of reform 213 + case of Chunghau, 223-224 + his commercial developments at Wuchang, 231 + official interviews with, 238-241 +Chang Yee, an able diplomatist of the Chou period, 99 +Chao, Prince of, is offered fifteen cities for a Kohinoor belonging to + him, 98 +Chau-siang subjugates Tung-chou-Kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, 99 +Chefoo (Chifu), port in Shantung province, 32 +Chéhkiang, province of, smallest of the eighteen provinces, 17-24 +Cheng-wang, "the completer," a ruler of the Chou dynasty, 86-87 + his successors, 87-88 +Chentung, Liang, Sir, interview with Dr. Martin with reference to the + Exclusion Laws and the boycott, 252 +Chin, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 117 +China, probable derivation of name, 101 + agency of missionaries in diffusing secular knowledge in, 281-291 + American exclusion laws, 253 + anti-opium edict, 304-305 + boycott, 247, 252, 253, 259 + condition after five wars, 181 + displays of barbarity during the Boxer War, 180 + effect of her defeat by Japan, 171 + effects of Russo-Japanese War, 193 + eighteen provinces, 6 +[Page 311] + five grand divisions, 3 + Grand Canal, 31 + Great Wall, 4, 31, 32, 101 + interference in Tongking, 62 + interference in Korea, 62 + physiographical features, 4 + reforms in, 196-218 + rivers, 19, 15, 18, 25, 41, 52 + sincerity of reformatory movements, 306 +China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, 200 +Chingtu-fu, capital of the state of Shuh, 113 +Chinhai, city at the mouth of the Ningpo, 18 +Chosin, Prince of, 196 +Chou dynasty, founded by Wen-wang, 84 + annals of, 84-88, 96, 99 + form of government praised by Confucius, 96 + term _Chung Kwoh_, "Middle Kingdom," originates in, 85 +Chou-sin, brings ruin on the house of Shang, sets fire to his own palace, + and perishes in the flames, 81 +Christians, attitude of Chinese Government towards, 261 + newspapers and the Christian faith, 263 +Chu Fu-tse, the philosopher, 128 +Chu Hi, the Coryphæus of Mediæval China, 128 +Chu-koh Liang, a peasant who became minister to Liu Pi, 114-115 +_Chuang Yuen_, Chinese term for senior wrangler; his importance + and privileges 123 +Chungchen, last of the Mings, hangs himself after stabbing his daughter, + 139 +Chunghau and the restoration of Ili, 223 + accused by Chang Chi-tung, 224 +Chunking, city on the Yangtse, 51 +Chusan, Archipelago and Island, 17 +Chu Yuen Chang, Father of the Mings, 135 +Chwan-siang, exterminates the house of Chou, 99 +Confucius, birth and parentage of 89, 90 + account of his education, 90 + describes himself as "editor, not author," 91 + edits the Five Classics, 92 + Golden Rule the essence of his teaching, 92 + number of his disciples, 90 + passion for music, 91 + search for lost books by Liu-Pang, 106 + tomb of, 30-31 + worshipped by his people, 92-93 + writings burned and disciples persecuted by Shi-hwang-ti, 102-103 +Control of Chinese over foreigners throughout Empire, 258 +_Corvée_, myriads of labourers drafted by, for construction of + the Grand Canal, 32 +[Page 312] +Corvino, missionary, 133 + his church at Peking perishes in the overthrow of the Mongols, 137 +Cotton produced in all the provinces, 3 +Cue, abolition of, requisite to confirm loyalty to Manchus, 278 + +Degrees, literary, 122-123 +Diaz and da Gama, voyage to India, 136 +Diplomacy, becomes an art under the Chou dynasty, 97 +Diplomatic College, 209 + Dr. Martin president of, 209 +"Drinking Alone by Moonlight," poem by Lipai, 120 + +Eclectic Commission, the, 197-198 +Educational reforms, 210 + the Imperial University, 210 +Elgin, Lord, and the Tai-pings, 161, 166 +Elliott, Captain Charles, and the Opium War, 154 +Empress Dowager, and the Boxer War, 172-174, 179-180 + celebrates her seventieth birthday with great pomp, 274 + convert to the policy of progress, 197 + _coup d'état_, 272 + full name, 276 + parentage, 271 + personal description of, 275 + reactionary clique and, 174 + type of the Manchu woman, 276 +England takes lease of Wei-hai-wei, 174 +Eunuchism, 112, 297 +Examinations, system of civil service, instituted by the Hans, 109 + continued for twelve centuries, 121 + details of, 122-124 + developed under the T'angs, 121 + reforms in, 213 +Exclusion laws, the, Chinese resentment of, 253 + most feasible way to deal with, 255 + President Roosevelt on, 251 + +Factories, the, at Canton, 150,152 +Favier, Bishop, defends his people in the French Cathedral, Peking, 176 +Fishing, queer methods of, 19 +Five dynasties, the, factions contending for the succession on the fall + of the house of T'ang, 126 + the later Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, and Chou are united after fifty-three + years in the Sung dynasty, 126-127 +Foochow (Fuchau), on the River Min, 15 + fine wall and "bridge of ten thousand years," 16 + Kushan, its sacred mountain, 15 + Manchu colony, 16 +[Page 313] +Formosa, Island of, colonised by people of Fukien, 14 +France takes lease of Kwang-chou-wan, 174 +France, war with, 169 + allowed to retain Tong-king, 170 + French seize Formosa, 170 +Fraser, Consul, and Viceroy Chang in the Boxer War, 227 +Fuchau (Foochow), province of Fukien, 15 + large and prosperous missions in, 16 +Fuhi, mythical ruler, teaches his people to rear domestic animals, 72 +Fukien (Fuhkien), province of, 14-16 + derivation of name, 15 + dialect, 14 + inhabitants bold navigators, 14 +Fungshui, a false science, 202 +Fungtao, inventor of printing, 116 + +Gabet and Huc, French missionaries, reach Lhasa in Tibet, 63 +Gama, da, voyage to India, 136 +Gaselee, General, and his contingent relieve the British Legation, + Peking, 177 +Genghis Khan, splendour of his court eclipsed by that of his grandson, + Kublai Khan, 131 +Gods, the numerous, of the Chinese, 82 + worship of many of them referred to the Shang dynasty, 82 +Gordon, General, victorious over the Tai-pings, 161 +Grand Canal, journey down from Tsi-ning, 31 + as useful to-day as six hundred years ago, 31 + constructed by Kublai Khan, 31-32 + its object, 32 +Grand Lama, the Buddhist pope, 62, 109 +Great Wall, the, origin of, 4 + an effete relic, 31 + built by Ts'in, 101 + its construction overthrows house of its builder, 32 +Gunpowder, early known to the Chinese, but not used with cannon, 115 + spoken of by Arabs as "Chinese snow," 115 + +Han dynasty, founded by Liu-pang, 105 + annals, 105-111 + civil service examinations inaugurated, 109 + marked advance in belles-lettres, 109 +Hangchow, capital of Chéh-kiang province, its streets first trodden + by white men in 1855, 22 + its "bore", 24 + its magnificent West Lake, 22 + "The Japanese are coming," 23 +Hanlin Academy, contest before the Emperor for seats in, 123 +[Page 314] +Han Yu, eminent writer of the eighth century, ridicules the relics of + Buddha, 107 +Hart, Sir Robert, his opportune services in the war with France, 170 + development of the maritime customs, 206-208 + father of the postal system, 206 + many honours of, 207 +Hayes, Dr., president of first provincial university in China, 286 +Helungkiang, province of Manchuria, 56 +Hia dynasty, founded by Ta-Yü, 78 + together with the Shang and Chou dynasties, known as the San Tai + or San Wang, 78 +Hien-feng, Emperor, escapes to Tartary and dies there, 168 +Himalayas, a bulwark to China, 4 +_Hiao Lien_, literary degree, now _Chu-jin_, equivalent to + A. M., 122 +Hiunghu, supposed ancestors of the Huns, 111 +Honan province of, 41-44 + agricultural resources, 42 + bridge over the Hwang Ho,41 +Hong Kong, "the Gibraltar of the Orient," ceded to Great Britain, 7 + British make it chief emporium of Eastern seas, 8 + rapid development of, 8 +Huc and Gabet, French missionaries, make their way to Lhasa, 63 +Hung Siu-tsuen, leader of the Tai-pings, 157 + his aid Yang, 158 + invites his first instructor, Rev. Issachar Roberts, to visit his + court, 160 + new method of baptism 160 + raises the flag of rebellion in Kwangsi, 157 +Huns, supposed ancestors were the Hiunghu, 111 +Hupeh, province of, 45-49 + Hankow, Hupeh province, a Shanghai on a smaller scale, 45 + Hanyang, Hupeh province, a busy industrial centre, 46 + Wuchang, capital of Hupeh, 45 +Hwai, Prince, regent during minority of Shunchi, 141 + called Amawang by the Manchus, 141 + effects the subjugation of the eighteen provinces, and imposes the + tonsure and "pigtail," 141 +Hwan, Duke, of western Shan-tung, convokes the States-General nine + times, 96 +_Hwang-ti_, term for "Emperor," first used by the builder of the + Great Wall, 78 +Hwei-ti, a ruler of the Han dynasty, 106 + +Ichang, city on the Yang-tse, 15 +[Page 315] +Ili, Chunghau and the restoration of, 223-224 Ito, Marquis, 196 +I-yin, a wise minister who had charge of the young ruler T'ai-kia, +80-81 + +Japan, war with, provoked by China's interference in Korea, 170 + Japanese expel Chinese from Korea, and take part of Manchuria, 171 + Japan left in possession of Port Arthur and Liao-tung, 171 + Russia is envious and compels her to withdraw, 171 + having defeated Russia unreservedly restores Manchuria to China, 195 +Jews, of K'ai-fung-fu, 43 + ancestors of, reach China by way of India, 43 + Shanghai, help their K'ai-fung-fu brethren, 44 +Jin-hwang, Tién-hwang, and Ti-hwang, three mythical rulers, 71 + +K'ai-fung-fu, formerly the capital under Chou and Sung dynasties, 42 + visit to the Jews of, 43 +Kairin, province of Manchuria, 56 +Kalgan, Mongolia, a caravan terminal, 58, 61 +Kanghi, the greatest monarch in the history of the Empire, 142 + alienated by the pope, 144 + patron of missionaries, 142 +Kanghi, progress of Christianity during his reign, 143 +Kang Yuwei, urges reform on the Emperor, 213 +Kansuh, province of, comparatively barren, and climate unfavourable to + agriculture, 55 +Kao-tsung, son of Tai-tsung, raises Wu, one of his father's concubines, + to the rank of empress, 121 +Ketteler, Baron von, killed during siege in Peking, 176 +Kiachta, a double town in Manchuria, 58 +Kiak'ing, succeeds on the abdication of his father, Kienlung, 144 + a weak and dissolute monarch, 145 +Kiangsu province, 25-29 + derivation of name, 25 +Kiao-Chao (Kiau-Chau), port occupied by Germans, 30, 165 +Kiayi, an exiled statesman, dates a poem from Changsha, 110 +Kié, last king of the Hia dynasty, his excesses, 80 +Kien Lung, emperor poet, lines inscribed by him on rock at Patachu, 35 + abdicates, after a reign of sixty years, for the reason that he did + not wish to reign longer than his grandfather, 144 + adds Turkestan to the empire, 144 + dynasty reaches the acme of splendour in his reign, 144 +[Page 316] +Kin Tartars, obtain possession of Peking, and push their way to + K'ai-fung-fu, the Emperor retiring to Nanking, 129 +Kin Tartars, the, 140 +Kingdoms, the three, Wei, Wu, and Shuh, 112-113 +King Sheng Tau, annotator of popular historical novel, 113 +Kinsha, "River of Golden Sands," 52 +Komura, Baron, and Portsmouth treaty, 193 +Korea, the bone of contention between Japan and Russia, 182, 183, 186, 192 +Kuanyin Pusa, a legend of, "The Apotheosis of Mercy," 108 +Kublai Khan, absorbs China, 131 +Kung, Prince, and the Empress Dowager, 273 + disgraced and confined in his palace, 273 + personal characteristics, 277 + restored to favour but not to joint regency, 273 +Kuropatkin, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 185-192 +Kwangsi, province of, subordinate to Canton, 13 + in an almost chronic state of rebellion, 13 +Kwangsu, Emperor, and the Empress Dowager, 172, 173 + his desire for reforms, 197 + imprisoned in a secluded palace, 173, 174 + influenced by Kang Yuwei 173 +Kwangtung (Canton), province of, 7-13 +Kweichau, province of, the poorest province of China, 52 + one-half its population aborigines, 52 +Kweilang, secretary to the Empress, 272 + prompts Prince Kung to strike for his life, 273 + +Lao-Tse, founder of Taoism, his life and influence, 94 +Lhasa, treaty of, 62 +Li and Yu, two bad kings of the house of Chou, 88 +Liang, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Liang Ting Fen, letter to Dr. Martin requesting his good offices with + President Roosevelt, 252-253 +Liaoyang, battle of, 187 +Lienchow, attack on Americans at, 248, 255 +Lien P'o, a general of Chao, who threatens to kill the envoy Lin at + sight, 98 + makes friends with his adversary, 99 +Li Hung Chang, a native of Anhwei, 49 + preëminent in the work of reform, 212 + sent to Japan to sue for peace he is shot by an assassin, 171 + wins earldom through Gordon's victory, 161 +[Page 317] +Li Ling, a commander for whom Sze-ma Ts'ien stood sponsor, and who + surrendered to the enemy, 110 +Lin, Commissioner, and the opium traffic, 152 +Lin Sian Ju, a brave envoy, 98 +Lineivitch, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 190-192 +Lipai, the Pope of Chinese literature, 119 +Li-Sze, chancellor of Shi-hwang-ti, denounces the works of Confucius to + that ruler, and causes them to be burned, 102 +Little, Mrs. Archibald, and the Anti-foot-binding Society, 217 +Liu-pang founds the Han dynasty, 105 +Liu Pi founds the state of Shuh, 113 +Li Yuen, assassinates Yang-ti and sets up the T'ang dynasty, 118 +Lo Kwan-chung, author of a popular historical novel, 113 +Lo-yang, capital of the state of Wei, 112 +Lu, Empress, holds the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years, 106 + +Macao, Portuguese town of, 8 + burial place of Camöens and Robert Morrison, 8 +McCartee, Dr., annual issued by, 287 +Manchuria, 3 + consists of three regions or provinces under one governor-general, 56 + home of the Manchus, 56 + ignorance of Manchus in their original habitat, 57 + Japan takes possession of parts of, 171 + population and products, 57 + restored by Japan to China, 195 + Russia occupies the very positions from which she compelled Japan to + withdraw, 171 + sacred city of Mukden, 56 +Manchus, the, ignorance of those remaining in Manchuria, 57 + give to China a better government than any of her native dynasties, 142 + the Normans of China, 267-280 + they settle at Mukden and await an opportunity to descend on China, 140 +Marco Polo. See Polo +Maritime customs, the, 206-208 + Sir Robert Hart's long and valuable services, 206-209 +Martin, Dr. W. A. P., head of the Tung-wen College, 209 + in siege at Peking, 176, 177 + president of the Imperial University, 210 +Mateer, Dr. C. W., founds Teng-chow College, 285 +[Page 318] +Meadows, Consul T. T., reports in favour of the Tai-pings, 159 +Medhurst, Dr., his description of the Chinese Classical language, 290 +Mencius, more eloquent but less original than Confucius, 93 + his tribute to Confucius, 94 + owed much to his mother's training, 93 +Merchant marine, the, 200 +Mings, last of, stabs daughter and hangs himself, 139 +Ming-ti, sends embassy to India to import Buddhist books and bonzes, 107 +Mining enterprises, 202 +Min River, 15 +Missions, development of, 264 + Minister Rockhill's address upon, 266 +Missionaries, attacks on, 40, 180, 248, 260, 261, 262 + agency of, in the diffusion of secular knowledge, 263-291 + apostles of science, 263 + creators of Chinese journalism 290 + medical work, 284 + lead a vernacular revolution, 290 + preparation of text-books, 287 + presidents of government colleges, 289 + teaching and preaching, 263 +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, 57, 61 + contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis, 50 + inhabitants nomadic, 58 + has only three towns, 58 + Russians "came lean and went away fat," 58 + Russians granted privilege of establishing an ecclesiastical mission, 57 +Mongols, liable to military service, but prohibited from doing garrison + duty in China, 59 + dress, 60 + forty-eight Mongolian princes, 59 + Mongol monks at Peking, 60 + nomadic wanderings, 58 + princes visit Cambalu (Peking), in winter, 59 + their camel, 60 + victorious over the Sungs, 130 + Yuen or Mongol dynasty, 131-134 +Morrison, John R., son of Dr. Morrison the missionary, attempts to + establish a printing-press, 283 +Morrison, Robert, pioneer of Protestant missions to China, tomb of, at + Macao, 9, 282 +Moule, Bishop, makes Hang-chow seat of his diocese, 23 +Mukden, city of, sacred to every Manchu, 56 + battle of, 189 +Mu-wang, a Chou ruler, who seeks relief from ennui in foreign travel, 87 + +[Page 319] +Nanking, chief city of Kiangsu province, 25, 26 + called _Kiangning_ by the Manchus, 26 + pillaged by Tartars, 129 +Nanking, treaty of, 7 +Nan-peh Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms" four factions arising on + the fall of the Tsin dynasty, 116 +Napier, Lord, appointed superintendent of British trade in China, 153 + arrives at Macao and announces his appointment by letter to the prefect + of Canton, who "tosses it back," 153 + dies of chagrin at Macao, 153 +Napoleon, Louis, and Annam, 165 +Navy, the Chinese, 199-200 +"Nest-builder, The," 71 +Nevius, Rev. J. L., missionary at Hangchow, 23 + at Chefoo, where he plants a church and a fruit garden, 32 +Nevius, Mrs., at Chefoo, 32 +Newspapers, reforms in, 215 + covertly criticise Government and its agents, 215 +Ningpo, province of Chéhkiang, 19 + its handsome people and their literary and commercial prominence, 20 + residence of the author for ten years, 20 +Ningpo River, 18 +Nogi, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 188-192 + +O'Connor, Mr., British chargé d'affaires, 179 +Omesham Mountains, 51 +Opening of China, the, a drama in five acts, 149 + result of collisions between Oriental conservatism and Occidental + progress, 149, 150 +Opium, extent of trade in, 303 + 20,000 chests destroyed at request of Captain Charles Elliott, 154 +Opium traffic, Commissioner Lin directed by Emperor Tao Kwang to abolish + it, 152 + attitude of British Government, 304 + decree ordering its total abolition, 304 + regulations of Council of State, 305 +Opium War, the, its causes, precipitation, and effects, 150-162 +Oyama, Field-marshal, in the Russo-Japanese War, 187-192 + +P's, the three--pen, paper, and printing, invention of, 116 +Palmerston, Lord, invites cooperation of France, Russia and the United + States concerning the _Arrow_ case, 164 +P'an-keng, of the house of Shang, moves his capital five times, 81 +P'anku, the "ancient founder," 71 +[Page 320] +Paoting-fu, in Chihli province, scene of martyrdom of missionaries, 40 +Parker, Dr. Peter, missionary at Canton, 284 +Parkes, Consul and the _Arrow_ case, 162, 163, 164 +Patachu, summer resort near Peking, 34-35 + its eight Buddhist temples, 35 +Pearl River, 9 +Peking, northern capital of China, 34 + approaches to new foreign quarter fortified, 37 + Byron's lines on Lisbon applied to Peking, 39 + climate and low death-rate, 38 + Empress Dowager's summer residence, 34 + "Forbidden City," 37 + French Cathedral defended by Bishop Favier and marines, 176 + Legation Street, 36 + Prospect or Palatine Hill, 38 + siege of legations, 175 + summer palaces, 34 + Tai-ping expedition against, 159 + Tartar and Chinese cities, 35 + Temples of Agriculture, Heaven and Earth, 35, 36 +Peking Gazette, the, oldest journal in the world, 290 +Philosophers of the Sung period, Cheo, Cheng, Chang, and Chu, 127-128 +Philosophers: + Chu Hi, 128 + Wang Ngan-shi, economist, 128 +Pirates, attacks of, on Mr. Russell and the author, 18 + Rev. Walter Lowrie is drowned by, 18 +Police, reforms in, 218 +Polo, Marco, Mattei, and Nicolo, 132 + sojourn in China, 132 +Port Arthur and Liao-tung, 171, 174, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191, 192 +Ports, five, opened to great Britain at close of the Opium War, 155 +Portsmouth (N. H.), treaty of, 192 +Portuguese, first ships of the, appear at Canton, 136 + disapprove missions, 137 + obtain a footing at Macao, 137 + secretly oppose Dutch traders, 137 +Postal system, 206 +Pottinger, Sir Henry, moderate conditions imposed by, at close of Opium + War, 155, 156 + his action compared with that of Commodore Perry, 156 +Psychology, Chinese, its recognition of three souls, 22 +Punishments, barbarous, abolished, 214 +Putu, the sacred island of, 18 + its monasteries, 18 + prevalence of piracy in adjacent waters, 18 + +[Page 321] +Railways, King-Ran road completed to Hankow, 39 + first grand trunk road, 39 + good work of Belgian constructors, 39 + influence of, on people and government, 40 + questionable action of American company, 40 + reforms in, 203 +Rankin, Rev. Henry, with the author, the first white man to enter + Hang-chow, 22 +Reading-rooms (not libraries, but places for reading) a new + institution, 216 +Red-haired, the, a vulgar designation for Europeans, 151 +Reed, Hon, W. B., American Minister to China, and the _Arrow_ + case, 165 +Reforms in China, 196-218 + Anti-foot-binding Society, 217 + army, 201 + customs, 206 + educational, 213 + Hart, Sir Robert, and, 206 + legal, 204 + merchant marine, 200 + mining enterprises, 202 + newspapers, 215 + post office, 205 + railways, 203 + streets, 218 + telegraph, 214 + Tung-wen College and The Imperial University, 209-210 + writing, 216 +Reforms, unmentioned, 292, 301 + a change of costume, 292 + domestic slavery, 298 + polygamy, 295 +Religions, the three, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, their + characteristic features, 107 + each religion has a hierarchy, 109 + "Hall of the Three Religions," 108 +Ricci, after twenty years of effort, effects an entrance to Peking, 138 +Rice, grown in all the provinces, 3 +Richard, Dr. and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 287 +Richthofen, explorer, 58 +River traffic, junks drawn by hundreds of coolies, 50 +Rivers, the Yang-tse Kiang, 25 + Hwang Ho, 41 + Hingpo, 18 + Pearl, 9 + Kinsha, the "river of golden sands," 52 + Min, 15 +Roberts, Rev. Issachar, and the leader of the Tai-pings, 160 + is invited to visit their court, 160 +Rockhill, Mr., the American Minister, and missionary institutions, 266 +Roman Catholic missionaries, dissensions in the ranks of, 143 +Roosevelt, President, his efforts to end Russo-Japanese War, 193 +[Page 322] + awarded Nobel peace prize, 193 + interview with Dr. Martin on the subject of the Exclusion Laws and the + boycott, 251 +Rozhesvenski, Admiral, and the relief squadron for Port Arthur, 190-192 +Russell, Mr., and the author captured by pirates, 18 +Russia, compels Japan to evacuate Manchuria and occupies the same districts + herself, 171 + designs on Korea, 182 + increases her forces in Manchuria during Boxer War, 182 + obtains lease of Port Arthur, 174 + schemes for conquest, 182, 183 + surprised by Japan's commencement of the war, 184 +Russo-Japanese War, the, 181-195 + +Sages of China, the, Confucius, 89-93 + Lao-tse, 94 + Mencius, 93-94 +Saghalien, Island of, Japan and Russia to divide possession of, 192 +Schaal, Father, is president of Astronomical Board, casts cannon, and + builds churches in Peking, 143 +Sea of Japan, Battle of, 191-192 +Seng Ko Lin Sin (nicknamed "Sam Collinson" by British), Lama prince who + heads northern armies against Tai-ping rebels, 59, 159 + defeated by British and French before Peking, 59 +Shang dynasty, founded by Shang-tang, 80 + annals of, 80, 82 + "made religion the basis of education," 82 +Shanghai, one of the five treaty ports, 26 + colleges and schools, newspapers and translation bureaux, 28 + foreign Concessions, opulent business houses, and luxurious mansions, 27 + leading commercial emporium, 26 +_Shang-ti_ and _Tien_, Roman Catholics and the terms, 143 +Shangyang, a statesman of the Chou dynasty, converts the tenure of land + into fee simple, 85 +Shansi, province of, 54 + prolific of bankers, 54 + rich in agricultural and mineral resources, 54 +Shantung, province of, 30-32 + apples, pears, and peaches grown, 30 + railway built by Germans from the sea to Tsinan-fu,30 +Shanyu, a forerunner of the Grand Khan of Tartary, 111 +[Page 323] +Shaohing, city, in Chéhkiang province noted for its rice wine and + lawyers, 23 +Sheffield, Dr., president of Tung-chow College, 286 +Shengking, province of Manchuria, 56 +Shensi, province of, earliest home of the Chinese, 55 + monument at Si-ngan commemorating the introduction of Christianity by + Nestorians, 55 +Shi-hwang-ti, real founder of the Chinese Empire, 102 + devout believer in Taoism, 104 + sends a consignment of lads and lasses to Japan, 103 + though one of the heroes of history he is execrated for burning the + writings of Confucius, 102 +Shin-nung, "divine husbandman," mythical ruler, worshipped as the Ceres + of China, 72 +_Shu-king_, the, or "Book of History," one of the Five Classics edited + by Confucius, 76 +Shun, successor of Yao, rejects his own son and leaves throne to Ta-yü, 74 +Shunteh-fu, American mission at, 40 +Shun-ti, last monarch of the Yuen dynasty, 133 +Si-ngan, city in Shensi, 55 + capital of the Chous, 55 + capital of the T'angs, 121 + Empress Dowager takes refuge there, 42 + monument commemorating the introduction of Christianity by Nestonans, 121 +_Sing Su Hai_, "Sea of Stars," cluster of lakes in Tibet, 63 +Siun Kien founds the state of Wu, 112 +_Siu-tsai_, literary degree equivalent to A. B., 122 +Smith, Dr. Arthur, and thanksgiving service at raising of siege of British + Legation, Peking, 178 +Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 266 +Solatium to encourage honesty in public officials, 208 +Spaniards, the, trade and relations with China, 137 +St. John's College, Shanghai, 287 +Stoessel, General, and his defence of Port Arthur, 188 +"Strange Stories of an Idle Student," a popular work in Chinese depicting + conditions prior to Opium War, 150-151 +Streets, improvement in construction and protection of, 218 +Sü of Shanghai, baptised by the name of Paul by Ricci, 138 + his daughter Candida also baptised, 138 +Suchow, in Kiangsu, the Paris of the Far East, 25 + musical dialect, of, 26 +Su Ts'in, the patient diplomat, whose reputation is ruined by his own + passions, 99 +[Page 324] +Sui dynasty, the, founded by Yan Kien, lasts less than thirty years, 117 +Sundius, Mr., British consul at Wuhu, 227 +Sung, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Sung dynasty, founded by Chao-kwang-yun, 127 + annals, 127-128 + encroachment of the Tartars, 127 + rise of a great school of philosophy, 127-129 + Southern Sungs, 127 +Superstitions of the Chinese, concerning wandering spirits, 21 +Sven Hedin, explorer, 58 +Swatow, Canton province, American Baptists' Mission at, 15 +Szechuen, province of, 50-51 + fratricidal wars under Ming dynasty, 51 + great variety of climate, 51 +Szema Ts'ien, the Herodotus of China, 110 + barbarously treated by his people, 110 + +T'ai-kia, successor of Shang-tang, 80 +Tai-ping Rebellion, the, a result of the Opium War, 156 + details of, 157-162 +Tai-pings, the, try to establish a new empire, the _Tai-ping + Tien-kwoh_, 158 + commonly called "Chang-mao," long-haired rebels, owing to their rejection + of the tonsure and cue, 161 + defeated by Gordon, 161 + descend into the plains of Hunan, pillage three cities, and capture + Nanking, massacring its garrison of 25,000 Manchus, 158-159 + go into winter quarters, and, dividing their forces, are cut off in + detail, 159 + hold Nanking for ten years, 159 + loose morals and travesty of sacred things horrify Christian world, 161 + missionaries attracted by their profession of Christianity, 160 + queer titles adopted by, 161 + sympathy for their cause by Consul Meadows, 159 + unsuccessfully attempt to drive the Manchus from Peking, 159 +Tai-tsung, second emperor of the T'ang dynasty, 120 +Taiyuan-fu, missionaries murdered at by the governor, 180 +Ta-Ki, a wicked woman by whom Chou-sin is said to have been led into his + evil courses, 81 +_Ta Kiang_, "Great River," the Chinese name for the Yang-tse Kiang, 28 +Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, 33 + capture of forts by British and French, repulse of allied forces in + following year, 33 +[Page 325] +Tamerlane, Mongolian origin of, 61 + born in Turkestan, 61 +Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, author of the cycle of sixty, 77 +T'ang dynasty, founded by Li Yuen, 118 + an Augustan age, 119 + annals, 119-125 +Tang Shao-yi, a Chinese, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of + the entire customs service, 208 +Tao Kwang, Emperor, resolves to put a stop to opium traffic, 152 +Tartars, encroach on the Flowery Land, 117 + suspicious of other foreigners, 151 +Tartary, Grand Khan of, 111 +Tatnall, Commodore, his kind action at Taku, 167 +Ta-ts'ing dynasty, the, its annals, 140-145 +Ta-yü, or Yu the Great, early emperor, subdues the waters of a deluge, 75 + casts 9 brazen tripods, 79 + departs from practice of his predecessors and leaves throne to his + son, 76 + devotes nine years to the dredging and diking of rivers, 75 + his acts and reign, 78-79 + monuments commemorating his labours, 75 +Telegraph and telephone, introduction of, 204-205 +Temples of Heaven, Earth and Agriculture, 36 +Teng-chow College, founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer, 285 +Tenney, Dr., and the University of Tientsin, 213 +Text-books, prepared by missionaries--Edkins, Martin, Muirhead, Williamson + and Wylie, 287-288 +Theatre, the Chinese, 114 +Three Kingdoms, the, states of Wei, Wu and Shuh, 112 + Lo Kwan-chung, author of a historical novel, 113 +Tibet, the land of the Grand Lama, 62 + called by the Chinese "the roof of the world," 63 + Chinese influence in is nearly _nil_, 62 + explored by Huc and Gabet, 63 + mother of great rivers, 63 + polyandry prevalent, 63 +Tieliang, a Manchu, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of the + entire customs service, 208 +_Tien_ and _Shang-ti_, question among Catholics concerning the + terms, 143 +_Tien Chu_, substitution of, for _Shang-ti_ repulsive to pious + Chinese, 144 +_Tien Ho_, "River of Heaven," Chinese term for the Milky Way, 63 +Tién-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang, three mythical rulers who reigned + eighteen thousand years each, 71 +[Page 326] +_Tiensheng_, Chinese name for province of Yünnan 52 +Tientsin, province of Chihli, rises anew from its half-ruined condition, 33 + ranks as third of treaty ports, 34 + treaties of, 166 +Ti-hwang, Jin-hwang, and Tién-hwang, three mythical rulers, 71 +Togo, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, 184, 185, 188, 191, 192 +Tongking, French left in possession of, 170 +Translators, corps of, Dr. John Fryer's prominent connection with, 288 +Tsao Tsao founds the state of Wei, 112 +Tsai Lun, inventor of paper 116 +Ts'ang-Kié, the Cadmus of China, author of its written characters, 77 +Ts'in dynasty, Yin Cheng brings the whole country under his sway and + assumes title of _Shi-Hwang-ti_ "Emperor First," 101 + annals of, 101-104 + builds Great Wall, 101 + lasts for a century and a half, 116 +Ts'in, Prince of, offers fifteen cities for a kohinoor, 98 +Tsinan-fu, railway from the sea to, built by the Germans, 30 +_Tsin-shi_, "Literary Doctor," degree of, 123 +Tsungming, Island of, formed by the waters of the Yang-tse Kiang, 28 + and Tunking coupled in popular proverb, 28 +Tsushima, Battle of, 191-192 +Tuan Fang, governor of Hupeh, 242-243 + favourable specimen of a Manchu, 276 +Tuan, Prince, father of the heir apparent, 174 +Tufu, poet of the T'ang dynasty, 119 +Tung-chi, Emperor, death of, 273 +Tung-chou-kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, 99 +Turkestan, 3, 61 + majority of the inhabitants Mohammedans, 61 + most of the khanates absorbed by Russia, 61 + +Union Medical College, Peking, 285 +Urga, Mongolia, a shrine for pilgrimage, 58 +Uriu, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, 184 + +Verbiest, the Jesuit, made president of Board of Astronomy, 143 + +Wall, Great, see Great Wall Wang Chao, invents new alphabet, 217 +Ward, Frederick G., the American, and the Tai-ping rebellion, 160 +Ward, Hon. J. E., American minister, proceeds to Peking by land, 167 +[Page 327] + declines to kneel to Emperor, 168 +Wei, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Weihien, in Shantung, destined to become a railway centre, 30 +Weihwei-fu, city on the border of Chihli and Honan, 41 +Wensiang, success of Prince Kung's administration largely due to him, 277 + contests with Tungsuin in extemporaneous verse, 277 +Wen-ti, "patron of letters," a ruler of the house of Han, 107 +Wen-wang, the real founder of the Chou dynasty, 84 + encourages letters, 84 + known as a commentator in the _Yih-king_, 84 +Whales, the river near Hang-chow a trap for, 23 +Wheat, produced in all the provinces, 3 +Williams, Dr. S. Wells, takes charge of American Board printing press at + Canton, 283 + labours, 283 + "The Middle Kingdom," 283 +Witte, Count, and Portsmouth treaty, 193 +Women in China, considered out of place in attempting to govern, 82 +Writing, reform in, 216 + new alphabet invented, 217 +Wu, Empress, succeeds Kao-tsung and reigns for twenty-one years, 121 +Wu Pa, the five dictators, 96 +Wu San-kwei, a traitorous Chinese general, makes terms with the + Manchus, 140-141 +Wu Ti, Liang emperor, who became a Buddhist monk, 117 +Wu-ti, "the five rulers," 71 +Wu-ting-fang, Chinese minister at Washington, and legal reforms, 214 +Wu-wang, the martial king, rescues the people from the oppression of the + Shangs, 83 + +Xavier, St. Francis, arrives at Macao, is not allowed to land, and dies + on the Island of St. John, 138 + +Yang, chief supporter of the leader of the Tai-pings, 157-158 +Yang Chia Kow, called by foreign sailors "Yankee Cow," at the mouth of + the Yellow River, 29 +Yang-tse Kiang, possible Tibetan source of, 63 + new islands made by, 28 +Yan Kien, a Chinese general sets up the Sui dynasty, 117 +Yao, type of an unselfish monarch, 73 + astronomical observations, 76 + passes by son in naming his successor, 73 +Yeh, Viceroy, and the _Arrow_ War, 162 +[Page 328] +Yellow River, source of, 63 + forsakes its old bed, 29 +"Yellow ruler, the," reputed inventor of letters and the cycle of sixty + years, 72 +Yellow Sea, why so called, 28 +Yermak, 182 +Yu and Li, two bad kings of the house of Chou, 88 +Yuen or Mongol dynasty 131-134 +Yuen Shi Kai, Viceroy, preeminent in the work of reform, 212 +Yungcheng, succeeds Kanghi and reigns fourteen years, 144 +Yungloh, emperor of the Ming dynasty, 136 + "Thesaurus of," 136 +Yünkwei, viceregal district of, 15, 52 +Yünnan, province of, 52, 53 + coal measures and copper mines, 52 + hundred tribes of aborigines within its borders, 52 + unhealthful climate, 52 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 15125-8.txt or 15125-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/2/15125/ + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/15125-8.zip b/old/15125-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf94070 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/15125-8.zip diff --git a/old/15125.txt b/old/15125.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c71710 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/15125.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10284 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Awakening of China + +Author: W.A.P. Martin + +Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15125] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + + + + + +The Awakening of China + + +By W. A. P. MARTIN, D.D., LL.D + +Formerly President of the Chinese Imperial University + +Author of "A Cycle of Cathay," "The Siege +in Peking," "The Lore of Cathay," etc. + + + + +[Page v] +PREFACE + +China is the theatre of the greatest movement now taking place +on the face of the globe. In comparison with it, the agitation +in Russia shrinks to insignificance; for it is not political, but +social. Its object is not a changed dynasty, nor a revolution in +the form of government; but, with higher aim and deeper motive, it +promises nothing short of the complete renovation of the oldest, +most populous, and most conservative of empires. Is there a people +in either hemisphere that can afford to look on with indifference? + +When, some thirty years ago, Japan adopted the outward forms of +Western civilisation, her action was regarded by many as a stage +trick--a sort of travesty employed for a temporary purpose. But +what do they think now, when they see cabinets and chambers of +commerce compelled to reckon with the British of the North Pacific? +The awakening of Japan's huge neighbour promises to yield results +equally startling and on a vastly extended scale. + +Political agitation, whether periodic like the tides or unforeseen +like the hurricane, is in general superficial and temporary; but +the social movement in China has its origin in subterranean forces +such as raise continents from the bosom of the deep. To explain +those forces is the object of the present work. + +It is the fascination of this grand spectacle that has +[Page vi] +brought me back to China, after a short visit to my native land--and +to this capital, after a sojourn of some years in the central provinces. +Had the people continued to be as inert and immobile as they appeared +to be half a century ago, I might have been tempted to despair +of their future. But when I see them, as they are to-day, united +in a firm resolve to break with the past, and to seek new life +by adopting the essentials of Western civilisation, I feel that +my hopes as to their future are more than half realised; and I +rejoice to help their cause with voice and pen. + +Their patriotism may indeed be tinged with hostility to foreigners; +but will it not gain in breadth with growing intelligence, and will +they not come to perceive that their interests are inseparable from +those of the great family into which they are seeking admission? + +Every day adds its testimony to the depth and genuineness of the +movement in the direction of reform. Yesterday the autumn +manoeuvres of the grand army came to a close. They have shown +that by the aid of her railways China is able to assemble a body +of trained troops numbering 100,000 men. Not content with this +formidable land force, the Government has ordered the construction +of the nucleus of a navy, to consist of eight armoured cruisers +and two battleships. Five of these and three naval stations are +to be equipped with the wireless telegraph. + +Not less significant than this rehabilitation of army and navy is +the fact that a few days ago a number of students, who had completed +their studies at foreign universities, were admitted to the third +degree (or +[Page vii] +D. C. L.) in the scale of literary honours, which means appointment +to some important post in the active mandarinate. If the booming +of cannon at the grand review proclaimed that the age of bows and +arrows is past, does not this other fact announce that, in the +field of education, rhyming and caligraphy have given place to +science and languages? Henceforth thousands of ambitious youth +will flock to the universities of Japan, and growing multitudes +will seek knowledge at its fountain-head beyond the seas. + +Still more surprising are the steps taken toward the intellectual +emancipation of woman in China. One of the leading ministers of +education assured me the other day that he was pushing the establishment +of schools for girls. The shaded hemisphere of Chinese life will thus +be brought into the sunshine, and in years to come the education +of Chinese youth will begin at the mother's knee. + +The daily deliberations of the Council of State prove that the +reform proposals of the High Commission are not to be consigned to +the limbo of abortions. Tuan Fang, one of the leaders, has just been +appointed to the viceroyalty of Nanking, with _carte blanche_ +to carry out his progressive ideas; and the metropolitan viceroy, +Yuan, on taking leave of the Empress Dowager before proceeding to +the manoeuvres, besought her not to listen to reactionary counsels +such as those which had produced the disasters of 1900. + +In view of these facts, what wonder that Chinese newspapers are +discussing the question of a national religion? The fires of the +old altars are well-nigh extinct; and, among those who have come +forward to +[Page vii] +advocate the adoption of Christianity as the only faith that meets +the wants of an enlightened people, one of the most prominent is +a priest of Buddha. + +May we not look forward with confidence to a time when China shall +be found in the brotherhood of Christian nations? + +W. A. P. M. + +_Peking, October 30, 1906._ + + + + +[Page ix] +INTRODUCTION + +How varied are the geological formations of different countries, +and what countless ages do they represent! Scarcely less diversified +are the human beings that occupy the surface of the globe, and not +much shorter the period of their evolution. To trace the stages +of their growth and decay, to explain the vicissitudes through +which they have passed, is the office of a philosophic historian. + +If the life history of a silkworm, whose threefold existence is +rounded off in a few months, is replete with interest, how much +more interesting is that of societies of men emerging from barbarism +and expanding through thousands of years. Next in interest to the +history of our own branch of the human family is that of the yellow +race confronting us on the opposite shore of the Pacific; even +more fascinating, it may be, owing to the strangeness of manners +and environment, as well as from the contrast or coincidence of +experience and sentiment. So different from ours (the author writes +as an American) are many phases of their social life that one is +tempted to suspect that the same law, which placed their feet opposite +to ours, of necessity turned their heads the other way. + +To pursue this study is not to delve in a necropolis like Nineveh +or Babylon; for China is not, like western Asia, the grave of dead +empires, but the home of a people +[Page x] +endowed with inexhaustible vitality. Her present greatness and her +future prospects alike challenge admiration. + +If the inhabitants of other worlds could look down on us, as we +look up at the moon, there are only five empires on the globe of +sufficient extent to make a figure on their map: one of these is +China. With more than three times the population of Russia, and an +almost equal area, in natural advantages she is without a rival, +if one excepts the United States. Imagination revels in picturing +her future, when she shall have adopted Christian civilisation, +and when steam and electricity shall have knit together all the +members of her gigantic frame. + +It was by the absorption of small states that the Chinese people +grew to greatness. The present work will trace their history as +they emerge, like a rivulet, from the highlands of central Asia +and, increasing in volume, flow, like a stately river, toward the +eastern ocean. Revolutions many and startling are to be recorded: +some, like that in the epoch of the Great Wall, which stamped the +impress of unity upon the entire people; others, like the Manchu +conquest of 1644, by which, in whole or in part, they were brought +under the sway of a foreign dynasty. Finally, contemporary history +will be treated at some length, as its importance demands; and +the transformation now going on in the Empire will be faithfully +depicted in its relations to Western influences in the fields of +religion, commerce and arms. + +As no people can be understood or properly studied apart from their +environment, a bird's-eye view of the country is given. + + + + +[Page xi] +CONTENTS + + PREFACE + INTRODUCTION + + +PART I + +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE + + I. China Proper + II. A Journey Through the Provinces--Kwangtung and Kwangsi + III. Fukien + IV. Chehkiang + V. Kiangsu + VI. Shantung + VII. Chihli + VIII. Honan + IX. The River Provinces--Hupeh, Hunan, Anhwei, Kiangsi + X. Provinces of the Upper Yang-tse--Szechuen, Kweichau, Yunnan + XI. Northwestern Provinces--Shansi, Shensi, Kansuh + XII. Outlying Territories--Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, Tibet + + +[Page xii] +PART II + +HISTORY IN OUTLINE, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + XIII. Origin of the Chinese + XIV. The Mythical Period + XV. The Three Dynasties + XVI. House of Chou + XVII. The Sages of China + XVIII. The Warring States + XIX. House of Ts'in + XX. House of Han + XXI. The Three Kingdoms + XXII. The Tang Dynasty + XXIII. The Sung Dynasty + XXIV. The Yuen Dynasty + XXV. The Ming Dynasty + XXVI. The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty + + +PART III + +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION + + XXVII. The Opening of China, a Drama in Five Acts--God in + History--Prologue + ACT 1--The Opium War + (Note on the Tai-ping Rebellion) + ACT 2--The "Arrow" War + ACT 3--War with France + ACT 4--War with Japan + ACT 5--The Boxer War +[Page xiii] + XXVIII. The Russo-Japanese War + XXIX. Reform in China + XXX. Viceroy Chang + XXXI. Anti-foreign Agitation + XXII. The Manchus, the Normans of China + + +APPENDIX + + I. The Agency of Missionaries in the Diffusion of Secular + Knowledge in China + II. Unmentioned Reforms + III. A New Opium War + +INDEX + + + + +[Page 1] +PART I + +THE EMPIRE IN OUTLINE + + + +[Page 3] +THE AWAKENING OF CHINA + + + +CHAPTER I + +CHINA PROPER + +_Five Grand Divisions--Climate--Area and Population--The Eighteen +Provinces_ + +The empire consists of five grand divisions: China Proper, Manchuria, +Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. In treating of this huge conglomerate +it will be most convenient to begin with the portion that gives +name and character to the whole. + +Of China Proper it may be affirmed that the sun shines nowhere on +an equal area which combines so many of the conditions requisite +for the support of an opulent and prosperous people. Lying between +18 deg. and 49 deg. north latitude, her climate is alike exempt from the +fierce heat of the torrid zone and the killing cold of the frigid +regions. There is not one of her provinces in which wheat, rice, +and cotton, the three staples of food and clothing, may not be +cultivated with more or less success; but in the southern half +wheat gives place to rice, while in the north cotton yields to +silk and hemp. In the south cotton is king and rice is queen of +the fields. + +Traversed in every direction by mountain ranges of moderate elevation +whose sides are cultivated in +[Page 4] +terraces to such a height as to present the appearance of hanging +gardens, China possesses fertile valleys in fair proportion, together +with vast plains that compare in extent with those of our American +prairie states. Furrowed by great rivers whose innumerable affluents +supply means of irrigation and transport, her barren tracts are +few and small. + +A coast-line of three thousand miles indented with gulfs, bays, +and inlets affords countless harbours for shipping, so that few +countries can compare with her in facilities for ocean commerce. + +As to her boundaries, on the east six of her eighteen provinces +bathe their feet in the waters of the Pacific; on the south she +clasps hands with Indo-China and with British Burma; and on the +west the foothills of the Himalayas form a bulwark more secure +than the wall that marks her boundary on the north. Greatest of +the works of man, the Great Wall serves at present no other purpose +than that of a mere geographical expression. Built to protect the +fertile fields of the "Flowery Land" from the incursions of northern +nomads, it may have been useful for some generations; but it can +hardly be pronounced an unqualified success, since China in whole +or in part has passed more than half of the twenty-two subsequent +centuries under the domination of Tartars. + +With an area of about 1,500,000 square miles, or one-half that of +Europe, China has a busy population of about four hundred millions; +yet, so far from being exhausted, there can be no doubt that with +improved methods in agriculture, manufactures, mining, and +transportation, she might very +[Page 5] +easily sustain double the present number of her thrifty children. + +Within this favoured domain the products of nature and of human industry +vie with each other in extent and variety. A bare enumeration would +read like a page of a gazetteer and possibly make no more impression +than a column of figures. To form an estimate of the marvellous +fecundity of the country and to realise its picturesqueness, one +ought to visit the provinces in succession and spend a year in +the exploration of each. If one is precluded from such leisurely +observation, undoubtedly the next best thing is to see them through +the eyes of those who have travelled in and have made a special +study of those regions. + +To more than half of the provinces I can offer myself as a guide. +I spent ten years at Ningpo, and one year at Shanghai, both on the +southern seacoast. At the northern capital I spent forty years; +and I have recently passed three years at Wuchang on the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang, a special coign of vantage for the study +of central China. While residing in the above-mentioned foci it +was my privilege to visit six other provinces (some of them more +than once), thus gaining a personal acquaintance with ten out of +the eighteen and being enabled to gather valuable information at +first hand. + +A glance at the subjoined table (from the report of the China Inland +Mission for 1905) will exhibit the magnitude of the field of +investigation before us. The average province corresponds in extent +to the average state of the American Union; and the whole exceeds +[Page 6] +that portion of the United States which lies east of the Mississippi. + + CHINA PROPER + + --------------------------------------------- + PROVINCES | AREA | POPULATION + | SQ. MILES | + -------------------|-----------|------------- + Kwangtung (Canton) | 99,970 | 31,865,000 + Kwangsi | 77,200 | 5,142,000 + Fukien | 46,320 | 22,876,000 + Chehkiang | 36,670 | 11,580,000 + Kiangsu | 38,600 | 13,980,000 + Shantung | 55,970 | 38,248,000 + Chihli | 115,800 | 20,937,000 + Shansi | 81,830 | 12,200,000 + Shensi | 75,270 | 8,450,000 + Kansuh | 125,450 | 10,385,000 + Honan | 67,940 | 35,316,000 + Hupeh | 71,410 | 35,280,000 + Hunan | 83,380 | 22,170,000 + Nganhwei(Anhwei) | 54,810 | 23,670,000 + Yuennan | 146,680 | 12,325,000 + Szechuen | 218,480 | 68,725,000 + Kiangsi | 69,480 | 26,532,000 + Kweichau | 67,160 | 7,650,000 + -------------------|-----------|------------- + Totals | 1,532,420 | 407,331,000 + + + + +[Page 7] +CHAPTER II + +A JOURNEY THROUGH THE PROVINCES--KWANGTUNG AND KWANGSI + +_Hong Kong--A Trip to Canton--Macao--Scenes on Pearl River--Canton +Christian College--Passion for Gambling--A Typical City--A Chief +Source of Emigration_ + +Let us take an imaginary journey through the provinces and begin +at Hong Kong, where, in 1850, I began my actual experience of life +in China. + +From the deck of the good ship _Lantao_, which had brought me +from Boston around the Cape in one hundred and thirty-four days, +I gazed with admiration on the Gibraltar of the Orient. Before me +was a land-locked harbour in which all the navies of the world +might ride in safety. Around me rose a noble chain of hills, their +slopes adorned with fine residences, their valleys a chessboard +of busy streets, with here and there a British battery perched +on a commanding rock. + +Under Chinese rule Hong Kong had been an insignificant fishing +village, in fact a nest of pirates. In 1841 the island was ceded +by China to Great Britain, and the cession was confirmed by the +treaty of Nanking in August, 1842. The transformation effected in +less than a decade had been magical; yet that was only the bloom +[Page 8] +of babyhood, compared with the rich maturity of the, present day. + +A daily steamer then sufficed for its trade with Canton; a weekly +packet connected it with Shanghai; and the bulk of its merchandise +was still carried in sailing ships or Chinese junks. How astounding +the progress that has marked the last half-century! The streets that +meandered, as it were, among the valleys, or fringed the water's +edge, now girdle the hills like rows of seats in a huge amphitheatre; +a railway lifts the passenger to the mountain top; and other railways +whirl him from hill to hill along the dizzy height. I Trade, too, +has multiplied twenty fold. In a commercial report for the year +ending June, 1905, it is stated that in amount of tonnage Hong +Kong has become the banner port of the world. + +Though politically Hong Kong is not China, more than 212,000 of its +busy population (about 221,000) are Chinese; and it is preeminently +the gate of China. By a wise and liberal policy the British Government +has made it the chief emporium of the Eastern seas. + +We now take a trip to Canton and cross a bay studded with islands. +These are clothed with copious verdure, but, like all others on the +China coast, lack the crowning beauty of trees. In passing we get +a glimpse of Macao, a pretty town under the flag of the Portuguese, +the pioneers of Eastern trade. The oldest foreign settlement in China, +it dates from 1544--not quite a half-century after the discovery +of the route to India, an achievement whose fourth centenary was +celebrated in 1898. If it could be ascertained on what +[Page 9] +day some adventurous argonaut pushed the quest of the Golden Fleece +to Farther India, as China was then designated, that exploit might +with equal appropriateness be commemorated also. + +The city of Macao stands a monument of Lusitanian enterprise. +Beautifully situated on a projecting spur of an island, it is a +favourite summer resort of foreign residents in the metropolis. +It has a population of about 70,000, mostly Chinese, and contains +two tombs that make it sacred in my eyes; namely, that of Camoeens, +author of "The Lusiad" and poet of Gama's voyage, and that of Robert +Morrison, the pioneer of Protestant missions, the centennial of +whose arrival had in 1907 a brilliant celebration. + +Entering the Pearl River, a fine stream 500 miles in length, whose +affluents spread like a fan over two provinces, we come to the +viceregal capital, as Canton deserves to be called, though the +viceroy actually resides in another city. The river is alive with +steamboats, large and small, mostly under the British flag; but +native craft of the old style have not yet been put to flight. +Propelled by sail or oar, the latter creep along the shore; and at +Pagoda Anchorage near the city they form a floating town in which +families are born and die without ever having a home on _terra +firma_. + +Big-footed women are seen earning an honest living by plying the +oar, or swinging on the scull-beam with babies strapped on their +backs. One may notice also the so-called "flower-boats," embellished +like the palaces of water fairies. Moored in one locality, they +are a well-known resort of the vicious. In the fields are +[Page 10] +the tillers of the soil wading barefoot and bareheaded in mud and +water, holding plough or harrow drawn by an amphibious creature +called a carabao or water-buffalo, burying by hand in the mire +the roots of young rice plants, or applying as a fertiliser the +ordure and garbage of the city. Such unpoetic toils never could +have inspired the georgic muse of Vergil or Thomson. + +The most picturesque structure that strikes the eye as one approaches +the city is a Christian college--showing how times have changed. +In 1850 the foreign quarter was in a suburb near one of the gates. +There I dined with Sir John Bowring at the British Consulate, having +a letter of introduction from his American cousin, Miss Maylin, a +gifted lady of Philadelphia. There, too, I lodged with Dr. Happer, +who by the tireless exertions of many years succeeded in laying +the foundations of that same Christian college. For him it is a +monument more lasting than brass; for China it is only one of many +lighthouses now rising at commanding points on the seacoast and +in the interior. + +In passing the Fati, a recreation-ground near the city, a view +is obtained of the amusements of the rich and the profligate. We +see a multitude seated around a cockpit intent on a cock-fight; but +the cocks are quails, not barnyard fowls. Here, too, is a smaller +and more exclusive circle stooping over a pair of crickets engaged +in deadly combat. Insects of other sorts or pugnacious birds are +sometimes substituted; and it might be supposed that the people +must be warlike in their disposition, to enjoy such spectacles. +The fact is, they are fond of fighting by proxy. What attracts them +[Page 11] +most, however, is the chance of winning or losing a wager. + +A more intellectual entertainment to be seen in many places is the +solving of historical enigmas. Some ancient celebrity is represented +by an animal in a rhyming couplet; and the man who detects the hero +under this disguise wins a considerable sum. Such is the native +passion for gambling that bets are even made on the result of the +metropolitan examinations, particularly on the province to which will +fall the honour of the first prize, that of the scholar-laureateship. + +Officials in all parts and benevolent societies take advantage +of this passion for gambling in opening lotteries to raise funds +for worthy objects--a policy which is unwise if not immoral. It +should not be forgotten, however, that our own forefathers sometimes +had recourse to lotteries to build churches. + +The foreign settlement now stands on Shamien, a pretty islet in +the river, in splendid contrast with the squalor of the native +streets. The city wall is not conspicuous, if indeed it is visible +beyond the houses of a crowded suburb. Yet one may be sure that it +is there; for every large town must have a wall for protection, +and the whole empire counts no fewer than 1,553 walled cities. +What an index to the insecurity resulting from an ill-regulated +police! The Chinese are surprised to hear that in all the United +States there is nothing which they would call a city, because the +American cities are destitute of walls. + +Canton with its suburbs contains over two million people; it is +therefore the most populous city in the empire. In general the +houses are low, dark, and +[Page 12] +dirty, and the streets are for the most part too narrow for anything +broader than a sedan or a "rickshaw" (jinriksha). Yet in city and +suburbs the eye is dazzled by the richness of the shops, especially +of those dealing in silks and embroideries. In strong contrast with +this luxurious profusion may be seen crowds of beggars displaying +their loathsome sores at the doors of the rich in order to extort +thereby a penny from those who might not be disposed to give from +motives of charity. The narrow streets are thronged with coolies +in quality of beasts of burden, having their loads suspended from +each end of an elastic pole balanced on the shoulder, or carrying +their betters in sedan chairs, two bearers for a commoner, four +for a "swell," and six or eight for a magnate. High officials borne +in these luxurious vehicles are accompanied by lictors on horse or +foot. Bridegrooms and brides are allowed to pose for the nonce as +grandees; and the bridal chair, whose drapery blends the rainbow +and the butterfly, is heralded by a band of music, the blowing of +horns, and the clashing of cymbals. The block and jam thus occasioned +are such as no people except the patient Chinese would tolerate. +They bow to custom and smile at inconvenience. Of horse-cars or +carriages there are none except in new streets. Rickshaws and +wheelbarrows push their way in the narrowest alleys, and compete +with sedans for a share of the passenger traffic. + +In those blue hills that hang like clouds on the verge of the horizon +and bear the poetical name of White Cloud, there are gardens that +combine in rich variety the fruits of both the torrid and the temperate +zones. Tea and silk are grown in many other +[Page 13] +parts of China; but here they are produced of a superior quality. + +Enterprising and intelligent, the people of this province have +overflowed into the islands of the Pacific from Singapore to Honolulu. +Touching at Java in 1850, I found refreshments at the shop of a +Canton man who showed a manifest superiority to the natives of the +island. Is it not to be regretted that the Chinese are excluded +from the Philippines? Would not the future of that archipelago +be brighter if the shiftless native were replaced by the thrifty +Chinaman? + +It was in Canton that American trade suffered most from the boycott +of 1905, because there the ill-treatment of Chinese in America was +most deeply felt, the Chinese in California being almost exclusively +from the province of Canton. + +The viceroy of Canton has also the province of Kwangsi under his +jurisdiction. Mountainous and thinly peopled, it is regarded by +its associate as a burden, being in an almost chronic state of +rebellion and requiring large armies to keep its turbulent inhabitants +in order. + + + + +[Page 14] +CHAPTER III + +PROVINCE OF FUKIEN + +_Amoy--Bold Navigators--Foochow--Mountain of Kushan--The Bridge +of Ten Thousand Years_ + +Following the coast to the north some three hundred miles we come +to Amoy, the first important seaport in the adjacent province of +Fukien. The aspect of the country has undergone a change. Hills +attain the altitude of mountains, and the alluvial plains, so +conspicuous about Canton, become contracted to narrow valleys. + +The people, too, are changed in speech and feature. Taller, coarser +in physiognomy, with high cheek-bones and harsh voices, their dialect +is totally unintelligible to people of the neighbouring province. +As an example of the diversity of dialects in China, may be cited +the Chinese word for man. In some parts of Fukien it is _long_; +in Canton, _yan_ or _yin_; at Ningpo, _ning_; and +at Peking, _jin_. + +One is left in doubt whether the people or the mountains which +they inhabit were the most prominent factors in determining the +dividing line that separates them from their neighbours on the +south and west. In enterprise and energy they rival the Cantonese. +They are bold navigators; the grand island of Formosa, now ceded +to Japan, was colonised by them; and by +[Page 15] +them also the savage aborigines were driven over to the east coast. +A peculiar sort of black tea is grown on these mountains, and, along +with grass cloth, forms a staple in the trade of Amoy. The harbour +is not wanting in beauty; and a view from one of the hill-tops, from +which hundreds of villages are visible, is highly picturesque. +Of the town of Amoy with its 200,000 people there is not much to +be said except that several missions, British and American, which +opened stations there soon after the first war with Great Britain, +have met with encouraging success. At Swatow, a district in Canton +Province beyond the boundary, the American Baptists have a flourishing +mission. + +Entering the Formosan Channel we proceed to the mouth of the Min, +a fine river which leads up to Foochow (Fuchau), some thirty miles +inland. We do not stop to explore the Island of Formosa because, +having been ceded to Japan, it no longer forms a part of the Chinese +Empire. From the river the whole province is sometimes described +as "the country of Min"; but its official name is Fukien. This +name does not signify "happily established," as stated in most +books, but is compounded of the names of its two chief cities by +taking the first syllable of each, somewhat as the pioneer settlers +of Arkansas formed the name of the boundary town of Texarkana. +The names of some other provinces of China are formed in the same +way; e.g. Kiangsu, Kansuh, and that of the viceregal district of +Yuenkwei. + +Kushan, a mountain on the bank of the river, is famed for its scenery; +and, as with mountains everywhere else in China, it has been made +the seat of a +[Page 16] +Buddhist monastery, with some scores of monks passing their time +not in contemplation, but in idleness. + +The city of Foochow is imposing with its fine wall of stone, and +a long stone bridge called Wansuik'iao "the bridge of ten thousand +years." It has a population of about 650,000. To add to its importance +it has a garrison or colony of Manchus who from the date of the +conquest in 1644 have lived apart from the Chinese and have not +diminished in numbers. + +The American Board and the Methodist Episcopal Board have large and +prosperous missions at this great centre, and from this base they +have ramified through the surrounding mountains, mostly following +the tributaries of the Min up to their sources. In 1850 I was +entertained at Foochow by the Rev. Dr. C. C. Baldwin, who, I am +glad to say, still lives after the lapse of fifty-five years; but +he is no longer in the mission field. + + + + +[Page 17] +CHAPTER IV + +PROVINCE OF CHEHKIANG + +_Chusan Archipelago--Putu and Pirates--Queer Fishers and Queer +Boats--Ningpo--A Literary Triumph--Search for a Soul--Chinese +Psychology--Hangchow--The Great Bore_ + +Chehkiang, the next province to the north, and the smallest of +the eighteen, is a portion of the highlands mentioned in the last +chapter. It is about as large as Indiana, while some of the provinces +have four or five times that area. There is no apparent reason +why it should have a distinct provincial government save that its +waters flow to the north, or perhaps because the principality of +Yuih (1100 B.C.) had such a boundary, or, again, perhaps because +the language of the people is akin to that of the Great Plain in +which its chief river finds an outlet. How often does a conqueror +sever regions which form a natural unit, merely to provide a +principality for some favourite! + +Lying off its coast is the Chusan archipelago, in which two islands +are worthy of notice. The largest, which gives the archipelago +its name, is about half the length of Long Island, N. Y., and is +so called from a fancied resemblance to a junk, it having a high +promontory at either end. It contains eighteen valleys--a division +not connected with the eighteen provinces, but +[Page 18] +perpetuated in a popular rhyme which reflects severely on the morals +of its inhabitants. Shielded by the sea, and near enough to the +land to strike with ease at any point of the neighbouring coast, +the British forces found here a secure camping-ground in their +first war. + +To the eastward lies the sacred Isle of Putu, the Iona of the China +coast. With a noble landscape, and so little land as to offer no +temptation to the worldly, it was inevitable that the Buddhists +should fix on it as a natural cloister. For many centuries it has been +famous for its monasteries, some of which are built of timbers taken +from imperial palaces. Formerly the missionaries from neighbouring +seaports found at Putu refuge from the summer heat, but it is now +abandoned, since it afforded no shelter from the petty piracy at +all times so rife in these waters. + +In 1855 Mr. (afterward Bishop) Russell and myself were captured by +pirates while on our way to Putu. The most gentlemanly freebooters +I ever heard of, they invited us to share their breakfast on the +deck of our own junk; but they took possession of all our provisions +and our junk too, sending us to our destination in a small boat, +and promising to pay us a friendly visit on the island. One of +them, who had taken my friend's watch, came to the owner to ask him +how to wind it. The Rev. Walter Lowrie, founder of the Presbyterian +Mission at Ningpo, was not so fortunate. Attacked by pirates nearly +on the same spot, he was thrown into the sea and drowned. + +Passing these islands we come to the Ningpo River, with Chinhai, +a small city, at its mouth, and Ningpo, +[Page 19] +a great emporium, some twelve miles inland. This curious arrangement, +so different from what one would expect, confronts one in China with +the regularity of a natural law: Canton, Shanghai, Foochow, and +Tientsin, all conform to it. The small city stands at the anchorage +for heavy shipping; but the great city, renouncing this advantage, +is located some distance inland, to be safe from sea-robbers and +foreign foes. + +As we ascend the river we are struck with more than one peculiar +mode of taking fish. We see a number of cormorants perched on the +sides of a boat. Now and then a bird dives into the water and comes +up with a fish in its beak. If the fish be a small one, the bird +swallows it as a reward for its services; but a fish of considerable +size is hindered in its descent by a ring around the bird's neck +and becomes the booty of the fisherman. The birds appear to be +well-trained; and their sharp eyes penetrate the depths of the +water. Another novelty in fishing is a contrivance by which fish are +made to catch themselves--not by running into a net or by swallowing +a hook, but by leaping over a white board and falling into a boat. +More strange than all are men who, like the cormorants, dive into +the water and emerge with fish--sometimes with one in either hand. +These fishermen when in the water always have their feet on the +ground and grope along the shore. The first time I saw this method +in practice I ran to the brink of the river to save, as I thought, +the life of a poor man. He no sooner raised his head out of the +water, however, than down it went again; and I was laughed at for +my want of discernment by a crowd of people who shouted _Ko-ng, +Ko-ng_, "he's catching fish." + +[Page 20] +The natives have a peculiar mode of propelling a boat. Sitting +in the stern the boatman holds the helm with one hand, while with +the other he grasps a long pipe which he smokes at leisure. Without +mast or sail, he makes speed against wind or current by making +use of his feet to drive the oar. He thus gains the advantage of +weight and of his strong sartorial muscles. These little craft +are the swiftest boats on the river. + +At the forks of the river, in a broad plain dotted with villages, +rise the stone walls of Ningpo, six miles in circuit, enclosing +a network of streets better built than those of the majority of +Chinese cities. The foreign settlement is on the north bank of +the main stream; but a few missionaries live within the walls, and +there I passed the first years of my life in China. + +Above the walls, conspicuous at a distance, appears the pinnacle +of a lofty pagoda, a structure like most of those bearing the name, +with eight corners and nine stories. Originally designed for the +mere purposes of look-outs, these airy edifices have degenerated +into appliances of superstition to attract good influences and +to ward off evil. + +Not only has this section of the province a dialect of its own, +of the mandarin type, but its people possess a finer physique than +those of the south. Taller, with eyes less angular and faces of +faultless symmetry, they are a handsome people, famed alike for +literary talent and for commercial enterprise. During my residence +there the whole city was once thrown into excitement by the news +that one of her sons had won the first prize in prose and verse +in competition, before the emperor, with the assembled scholars +of the empire--an +[Page 21] +an honour comparable to that of poet laureate or of a victor in +the Olympic games. When that distinction falls to a city, it is +believed that, in order to equalise matters, the event is sure +to be followed by three years of dearth. In this instance, the +highest mandarins escorted the wife of the literary athlete to +the top of the wall, where she scattered a few handfuls of rice +to avert the impending famine. + +My house was attached to a new church which was surmounted by a +bell-tower. In a place where nothing of the sort had previously +existed, that accessory attracted many visitors even before the bell +was in position to invite them. One day a weeping mother, attended +by an anxious retinue, presented herself and asked permission to +climb the tower, which request of course was not refused. + +Uncovering a bundle, she said: "This is my boy's clothing. Yesterday +he was up in the tower and, taking fright at the height of the +building, his little soul forsook his body and he had to go home +without it. He is now delirious with fever. We think the soul is +hovering about in this huge edifice and that it will recognise +these clothes and, taking possession of them, will return home with +us." + +When a bird escapes from its cage the Chinese sometimes hang the +cage on the branch of a tree and the bird returns to its house +again. They believe they can capture a fugitive soul in the same +way. Sometimes, too, a man may be seen standing on a housetop at +night waving a lantern and chanting in dismal tones an invitation +to some wandering spirit to return to its abode. Whether in the +case just mentioned the poor +[Page 22] +woman's hopes were fulfilled and whether the _animula vagula +blandula_ returned from its wanderings I never learned, but I +mention the incident as exhibiting another picturesque superstition. + +Chinese psychology recognises three souls, viz., the animal, the +spiritual, and the intellectual. The absence of one of the three +does not, therefore, involve immediate death, as does the departure +of the soul in our dual system. + +But I tarry too long at my old home. We have practically an empire +still before us, and will, therefore, steer west for Hangchow. + +In the thirteenth century this was the residence of an imperial +court; and the provincial capital still retains many signs of imperial +magnificence. The West Lake with its pavilions and its lilies, +a pleasance fit for an emperor; the vast circuit of the city's +walls enclosing hill and vale; and its commanding site on the bank +of a great river at the head of a broad bay--all combine to invest +it with dignity. Well do I recall the day in 1855 when white men +first trod its streets. They were the Rev. Henry Rankin and myself. +Though not permitted by treaty to penetrate even the rind of the +"melon," as the Chinese call their empire, to a distance farther +than admitted of our returning to sleep at home, we nevertheless +broke bounds and set out for the old capital of the Sungs. On the +way we made a halt at the city of Shaohing; and as we were preaching +to a numerous and respectful audience in the public square, a +well-dressed man pressed through the crowd and invited us to do +him the honour of taking tea at his house. His mansion exhibited every +[Page 23] +evidence of affluence; and he, a scholar by profession, aspiring +to the honours of the mandarinate, explained, as he ordered for +us an ample repast, that he would have felt ashamed if scholars +from the West had been allowed to pass through his city without +anyone offering them hospitality. What courtesy! Could Hebrew or +Arab hospitality surpass it? + +Two things for which the city of Shaohing is widely celebrated +are (1) a sort of rice wine used throughout the Empire as being +indispensable at mandarin feasts, and (2) clever lawyers who are +deemed indispensable as legal advisers to mandarins. They are the +"Philadelphia lawyers" of China. + +As we entered Hangchow the boys shouted _Wo tsei lai liao_, +"the Japanese are coming "--never having seen a European, and having +heard their fathers speak of the Japanese as sea-robbers, a terror +to the Chinese coast. Up to this date, Japan had no treaty with +China, and it had never carried on any sort of regular commerce +with or acknowledged the superiority of China. Before many years +had passed, these youths became accustomed to Western garb and +features; and I never heard that any foreigner suffered insult or +injury at their hands. + +In 1860 the Rev. J. L. Nevius, one of my colleagues, took possession +of the place in the name of Christ. He was soon followed by Bishop +Burden, of the English Church Mission, whose apostolic successor, +Bishop Moule, now makes it the seat of his immense diocese. + +Another claim to distinction not to be overlooked is that its river +is a trap for whales. Seven or eight years ago a cetaceous monster +was stranded near the +[Page 24] +river's mouth. The Rev. Dr. Judson, president of the Hangchow Mission +College, went to see it and sent me an account of his observations. +He estimated the length of the whale at 100 feet; the tail had been +removed by the natives. To explain the incident it is necessary +to say that, the bay being funnel-shaped, the tides rise to an +extraordinary height. Twice a month, at the full and the change of +the moon, the attractions of sun and moon combine, and the water +rushes in with a roar like that of a tidal wave. The bore of Hangchow +is not surpassed by that of the Hooghly or of the Bay of Fundy. +Vessels are wrecked by it; and even the monsters of the deep are +unable to contend with the fury of its irresistible advance. + + + + +[Page 25] +CHAPTER V + +PROVINCE OF KIANGSU + +_Nanking--Shanghai--The Yang-tse Kiang--The Yellow River_ + +Bordering on the sea, traversed by the Grand Canal and the Yang-tse +Kiang, the chief river of the Empire, rich in agriculture, fisheries, +and commerce, Kiangsu is the undisputed queen of the eighteen provinces. +In 1905 it was represented to the throne as too heavy a burden for +one set of officers. The northern section was therefore detached and +erected into a separate province; but before the new government was +organised the Empress Dowager yielded to remonstrances and rescinded +her hasty decree--showing how reluctant she is to contravene the +wishes of her people. What China requires above all things is the +ballot box, by which the people may make their wishes known. + +The name of the province is derived from its two chief cities, +Suchow and Nanking. Suchow, the Paris of the Far East, is coupled +with Hangchow in a popular rhyme, which represents the two as paragon +cities: + + _"Shang yu t'ien t'ang hia yu Su-Hang."_ + + "Su and Hang, so rich and fair, + May well with Paradise compare." + +[Page 26] +The local dialect is so soft and musical that strolling players from +Suchow are much sought for in the adjacent provinces. A well-known +couplet says: + + "I'd rather hear men wrangle in Suchow's dulcet tones + Than hear that mountain jargon, composed of sighs and groans." + +Farther inland, near the banks of the "Great River," stands Nanking, +the old capital of the Ming dynasty. The Manchus, unwilling to +call it a _king_, _i.e._ seat of empire, changed its +name to Kiangning; but the old title survives in spite of official +jealousy. As it will figure prominently in our history we shall +not pause there at present, but proceed to Shanghai, a place which +more than any other controls the destinies of the State. + +Formerly an insignificant town of the third order (provincial capitals +and prefectural towns ranking respectively first and second), some +sapient Englishman with an eye to commerce perceived the advantage +of the site; and in the dictation of the terms of peace in 1842 it +was made one of the five ports. It has come to overshadow Canton; +and more than all the other ports it displays to the Chinese the +marvels of Western skill, knowledge, and enterprise. + +On a broad estuary near the mouth of the main artery that penetrates +the heart of China, it has become a leading emporium of the world's +commerce. The native city still hides its squalor behind low walls +of brick, but outside the North Gate lies a tract of land known +as the "Foreign Concessions." There a beautiful city styled the +"model settlement" has sprung up like a gorgeous pond-lily from +the muddy, +[Page 27] +paddy-fields. Having spent a year there, I regard it with a sort +of affection as one of my Oriental homes. + +Shanghai presents a spectacle rare amongst the seaports of the +world. Its broad streets, well kept and soon to be provided with +electric trolleys, extend for miles along the banks of two rivers, +lined with opulent business houses and luxurious mansions, most of +the latter being surrounded by gardens and embowered in groves +of flowering trees. Nor do these magazines and dwelling-houses +stand merely for taste and opulence. Within the bounds of the +Concessions is the reign of law--not, as elsewhere in China, the +arbitrary will of a magistrate, but the offspring of freedom and +justice. Foreigners live everywhere under the protection of their +own national flags: and within the Concessions. Chinese accused of +crimes are tried by a mixed court which serves as an object-lesson +in justice and humanity. Had one time to peep into a native +_yamen_, one might see bundles of bamboos, large and small, +prepared for the bastinado; one might see, also, thumb-screws, +wooden boots, wooden collars, and other instruments of torture, +some of them intended to make mince-meat of the human body. The +use of these has now been forbidden.[*] + +[Footnote *: In another city a farmer having extorted a sum of money +from a tailor living within the Concession, the latter appealed +to the British consul for Justice. The consul, an inexperienced +young man, observing that the case concerned only the Chinese, +referred it to the city magistrate, who instantly ordered the tailor +to receive a hundred blows for having applied to a foreign court.] + +In Shanghai there are schools of all grades, some under the foreign +municipal government, others under missionary societies. St. John's +College (U. S. +[Page 28] +Episcopal) and the Anglo-Chinese College (American M. E.) bear the +palm in the line of education so long borne by the Roman Catholics +of Siccawei. Added to these, newspapers foreign and native--the +latter exercising a freedom of opinion impossible beyond the limits +of this city of refuge--the Society for the Diffusion of Christian +Knowledge and other translation bureaux, foreign and native, turning +out books by the thousand with the aid of steam presses, form a +combination of forces to which China is no longer insensible. + +Resuming our imaginary voyage we proceed northward, and in the +space of an hour find ourselves at the mouth of the Yang-tse Kiang, +or Ta Kiang, the "Great River," as the Chinese call it. The width +of its embouchure suggests an Asiatic rival of the Amazon and La +Plata. We now see why this part of the ocean is sometimes described +as the Yellow Sea. A river whose volume, it is said, equals that of +two hundred and forty-four such rivulets as Father Thames, pours +into it its muddy waters, making new islands and advancing the +shore far into the domain of Neptune. + +Notice on the left those long rows of trees that appear to spring +from the bosom of the river. They are the life-belt of the Island +of Tsungming which six centuries ago rose like the fabled Delos +from the surface of the turbid waters. Accepted as the river's +tribute to the Dragon Throne, it now forms a district of the province +with a population of over half a million. About the same time, +a large tract of land was carried into the sea by the Hwang Ho, +the "Yellow River," which gave rise to the popular proverb, "If +we lose in Tungking we gain in Tsungming." + +[Page 29] +The former river comes with its mouth full of pearls; the latter +yawns to engulf the adjacent land. At present, however, the Yellow +River is dry and thirsty, the unruly stream, the opposite of Horace's +_uxorius amnis_, having about forty years ago forsaken its +old bed and rushed away to the Gulf of Pechili (Peh-chihli). This +produced as much consternation as the Mississippi would occasion +if it should plough its way across the state that bears its name +and enter the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay. The same phenomenon +has occurred at long intervals in times past. The wilful stream +has oscillated with something like periodical regularity from side +to side of the Shantung promontory, and sometimes it has flowed +with a divided current, converting that territory into an island. +Now, however, the river seems to have settled itself in its new +channel, entering the gulf at Yang Chia Kow--a place which foreign +sailors describe as "Yankee cow"--and making a portentous alteration +in the geography of the globe. + + + + +[Page 30] +CHAPTER VI + +PROVINCE OF SHANTUNG + +_Kiao-Chao--Visit to Confucius's Tomb--Expedition to the Jews +of K'ai-fung-fu--The Grand Canal--Chefoo_ + +In Shantung the people appear to be much more robust than their +neighbours to the south. Wheat and millet rather than rice are +their staple food. In their orchards apples, pears and peaches take +the place of oranges. + +At Kiao-chao (Kiau-Chau) the Germans, who occupied that port in +1897, have built a beautiful town opposite the Island of Tsingtao, +presenting a fine model for imitation, which, however, the Chinese +are not in haste to copy. They have constructed also a railway from +the sea to Tsinan-fu, very nearly bisecting the province. Weihien +is destined to become a railroad centre; and several missionary +societies are erecting colleges there to teach the people truths +that Confucius never knew. More than half a century ago, when a +missionary distributed Christian books in that region, the people +brought them back saying, "We have the works of our Sage, and they +are sufficient for us." Will not the new arts and sciences of the +West convince them that their Sage was not omniscient? + +In 1866 I earned the honours of a _hadji_ by visiting the tomb +of Confucius--a magnificent mausoleum surrounded by his descendants +of the seventieth generation, +[Page 31] +one of whom in quality of high priest to China's greatest teacher +enjoys the rank of a hereditary duke. + +On that occasion, I had come up from a visit to the Jews in Honan. +Having profited by a winter vacation to make an expedition to +K'ai-fung-fu, I had the intention of pushing on athwart the province +to Hankow. The interior, however, as I learned to my intense +disappointment, was convulsed with rebellion. No cart driver was +willing to venture his neck, his steed, and his vehicle by going +in that direction. I accordingly steered for the Mecca of Shantung, +and, having paid my respects to the memory of China's greatest sage, +struck the Grand Canal and proceeded to Shanghai. From K'ai-fung-fu +I had come by land slowly, painfully, and not without danger. From +Tsi-ning I drifted down with luxurious ease in a well-appointed +house-boat, meditating poetic terms in which to describe the contrast. + +The canal deserves the name of "grand" as the wall on the north +deserves the name of "great." Memorials of ancient times, they both +still stand unrivalled by anything the Western world has to show, +if one except the Siberian Railway. The Great Wan is an effete relic +no longer of use; and it appears to be satire on human foresight +that the Grand Canal should have been built by the very people +whom the Great Wall was intended to exclude from China. The canal +is as useful to-day as it was six centuries ago, and remains the +chief glory of the Mongol dynasty. + +Kublai having set up his throne in the north, and completed the +conquest of the eighteen provinces, ordered the construction of +this magnificent waterway, +[Page 32] +which extends 800 miles from Peking to Hangchow and connects with +other waterways which put the northern capital in roundabout +communication with provinces of the extreme south. His object was +to tap the rice-fields of Central China and obtain a food supply +which could not be interfered with by those daring sea-robbers, +the redoubtable Japanese, who had destroyed his fleets and rendered +abortive his attempt at conquest. Of the Great Wall, it may be said +that the oppression inseparable from its construction hastened +the overthrow of the house of its builder. The same is probably +true of the Grand Canal. The myriads of unpaid labourers who were +drafted by _corvee_ from among the Chinese people subsequently +enlisted, they or their children, under the revolutionary banner +which expelled the oppressive Mongols. + +Another port in this province which we cannot pass without an admiring +glance, is Chefoo (Chifu). On a fine hill rising from the sea wave the +flags of several nations; in the harbour is a cluster of islands; and +above the settlement another noble hill rears its head crowned with +a temple and groves of trees. On its sides and near the seashore are +the residences of missionaries. There I have more than once found +a refuge from the summer heat, under the hospitable roof of Mrs. +Nevius, the widow of my friend Dr. J. L. Nevius, who, after opening +a mission in Hangchow, became one of the pioneers of Shantung. In +Chefoo he planted not only a church, but a fruit garden. To the +Chinese eye this garden was a striking symbol of what his gospel +proposed to effect for the people. + + + + +[Page 33] +CHAPTER VII + +PROVINCE OF CHIHLI + +_Taku--Tientsin--Peking--The Summer Palace--Patachu--Temples +of Heaven, Earth, and Agriculture--Foreign Quarter--The Forbidden +City--King-Han Railway--Paoting-fu_ + +Crossing the gulf we reach Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, and, +passing the dismantled forts, ascend the river to Tientsin. + +In 1858 I spent two months at Taku and Tientsin in connection with +the tedious negotiations of that year. At the latter place I became +familiar with the dusty road to the treaty temple; and at the former +witnessed the capture of the forts by the combined squadrons of +Great Britain and France. The next year on the same ground I saw +the allied forces repulsed with heavy loss--a defeat avenged by +the capture of Peking in 1860. + +In the Boxer War the relief force met with formidable opposition +at Tientsin. The place has, however, risen with new splendour from +its half-ruined condition, and now poses as the principal residence +of the most powerful of the viceroys. Connected by the river with +the seaboard, by the Grand Canal with several provinces to the south, +and by rail with Peking, Hankow and Manchuria, Tientsin commands +the chief lines of +[Page 34] +communication in northern China. In point of trade it ranks as the +third in importance of the treaty ports. + +Three hours by rail bring us to the gates of Peking, the northern +capital. Formerly it took another hour to get within the city. +Superstition or suspicion kept the railway station at a distance; +now, however, it is at the Great Central Gate. Unlike Nanking, +Peking has nothing picturesque or commanding in its location. On +the west and north, at a distance of ten to twenty miles, ranges +of blue hills form a feature in the landscape. Within these limits +the eye rests on nothing but flat fields, interspersed with clumps +of trees overshadowing some family cemetery or the grave of some +grandee. + +Between the city and the hills are the Yuen Ming Yuen, the Emperor's +summer palace, burnt in 1860 and still an unsightly ruin, and the +Eho Yuen, the summer residence of the Empress Dowager. Enclosing +two or three pretty hills and near to a lofty range, the latter +occupies a site of rare beauty. It also possesses mountain water +in rich abundance. No fewer than twenty-four springs gush from +the base of one of its hills, feeding a pretty lake and numberless +canals. Partly destroyed in 1860, this palace was for many years as +silent as the halls of Palmyra. I have often wandered through its +neglected grounds. Now, every prominent rock is crowned with pagoda +or pavilion. There are, however, some things which the slave of the +lamp is unable to produce even at the command of an empress--there +are no venerable oaks or tall pines to lend their majesty to the +scene. + +Patachu, in the adjacent hills, used to be a favourite +[Page 35] +summer resort for the legations and other foreigners before the +seaside became accessible by rail. Its name, signifying the "eight +great places," denotes that number of Buddhist temples, built one +above another in a winding gorge on the hillside. In the highest, +called Pearl Grotto, 1,200 feet above the sea, I have found repose +for many a summer. I am there now (June, 1906), and there I expect +to write the closing chapters of this work. These temples are at my +feet; the great city is in full view. To that shrine the emperors +sometimes made excursions to obtain a distant prospect of the world. +One of them, Kien Lung, somewhat noted as a poet, has left, inscribed +on a rock, a few lines commemorative of his visit: + + "Why have I scaled this dizzy height? + Why sought this mountain den? + I tread as on enchanted ground, + Unlike the abode of men. + + "Beneath my feet my realm I see + As in a map unrolled, + Above my head a canopy + Adorned with clouds of gold." + +The capital consists of two parts: the Tartar city, a square of +four miles; and the Chinese city, measuring five miles by three. +They are separated by imposing walls with lofty towers, the outer +wall being twenty-one miles in circuit. At present the subject +people are permitted to mingle freely with their conquerors; but +most of the business is done in the Chinese city. Resembling other +Chinese towns in its unsavoury condition, this section contains two +imperial temples of great sanctity. One of these, the Temple of Heaven, +[Page 36] +has a circular altar of fine white marble with an azure dome in +its centre in imitation of the celestial vault. Here the Emperor +announces his accession, prays for rain, and offers an ox as a burnt +sacrifice at the winter solstice--addressing himself to Shang-ti, +the supreme ruler, "by whom kings reign and princes decree justice." + +The Temple of Agriculture, which stands at a short distance from +that just mentioned, was erected in honour of the first man who +cultivated the earth. In Chinese, he has no name, his title, Shin-nung +signifying the "divine husbandman"--a masculine Ceres. Might we not +call the place the Temple of Cain? There the Emperor does honour +to husbandry by ploughing a few furrows at the vernal equinox. +His example no doubt tends to encourage and comfort his toiling +subjects. + +Another temple associated with these is that of Mother Earth, the +personified consort of Heaven; but it is not in this locality. +The eternal fitness of things requires that it should be outside +of the walls and on the north. It has a square altar, because the +earth is supposed to have "four corners." "Heaven is round and +Earth square," is the first line of a school reader for boys. The +Tartar city is laid out with perfect regularity, and its streets +and alleys are all of convenient width. + +Passing from the Chinese city through the Great Central Gate we +enter Legation Street, so called because most of the legations +are situated on or near it. Architecturally they make no show, +being of one story, or at most two stories, in height and hidden +[Page 37] +behind high walls. So high and strong are the walls of the British +Legation that in the Boxer War of 1900 it served the whole community +for a fortress, wherein we sustained a siege of eight weeks. A +marble obelisk near the Legation gate commemorates the siege, and +a marble gateway on a neighbouring street marks the spot where +Baron Ketteler was shot. Since that war a foreign quarter has been +marked out, the approaches to which have been partially fortified. +The streets are now greatly improved; ruined buildings have been +repaired; and the general appearance of the old city has been altered +for the better. + +Two more walled enclosures have to be passed before we arrive at +the palace. One of them forms a protected barrack or camping-ground +for the palace guards and other officials attendant on the court. The +other is a sacred precinct shielded from vulgar eyes and intrusive +feet, and bears the name "Forbidden City." In the year following the +flight of the court these palaces were guarded by foreign troops, +and were thrown open to foreign visitors. + +Marble bridges, balustrades, and stairways bewilder a stranger. +Dragons, phoenixes and other imaginary monsters carved on doorways +and pillars warn him that he is treading on sacred ground. The +ground, though paved with granite, is far from clean; and the +costly carvings within remind one of the saying of an Oriental +monarch, "The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in kings' +houses." None of the buildings has more than one story, but the +throne-rooms and great halls are so lofty as to suggest the dome +of a cathedral. The roofs are all covered with tiles of a +[Page 38] +yellow hue, a colour which even princes are not permitted to use. + +Separated from the palace by a moat and a wall is Prospect Hill, +a charming elevation which serves as an imperial garden. On the +fall of the city in 1643 the last of the Mings hanged himself +there--after having stabbed his daughter, like another Virginius, +as a last proof of paternal affection. + +From the gate of the Forbidden City to the palace officials high +and low must go on foot, unless His Majesty by special favour confers +the privilege of riding on horseback, a distinction which is always +announced in the _Gazette_ by the statement that His Majesty +has "given a horse" to So-and-So. No trolleys are to be seen in +the streets, and four-wheeled carriages are rare and recent. Carts, +camels, wheel-barrows, and the ubiquitous rickshaw are the means +of transport and locomotion. The canals are open sewers never used +for boats. + +Not lacking in barbaric splendour, as regards the convenience of +living this famous capital will not compare with a country village of +the Western world. On the same parallel as Philadelphia, but dryer, +hotter, and colder, the climate is so superb that the city, though +lacking a system of sanitation, has a remarkably low death-rate. +In 1859 I first entered its gates. In 1863 I came here to reside. +More than any other place on earth it has been to me a home; and +here I am not unlikely to close my pilgrimage. + +On my first visit, I made use of Byron's lines on Lisbon to express my +impressions of Peking. Though there are now some signs of improvement +in the city +[Page 39] +the quotation can hardly be considered as inapplicable at the present +time. Here it is for the convenience of the next traveller: + + "...Whoso entereth within this town, + That, sheening far, celestial seems to be, + Disconsolate will wander up and down, + 'Mid many things unsightly to strange ee: + For hut and palace show like filthily: + The dingy denizens are rear'd in dirt; + Ne personage of high or mean degree + Doth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt..." + (_Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the First_, st. xvii.) + +Returning to the station we face about for the south and take tickets +for Paoting-fu. We are on the first grand trunk railway of this +empire. It might indeed be described as a vertebral column from +which iron roads will ere long be extended laterally on either side, +like ribs, to support and bind together the huge frame. Undertaken +about twelve years ago it has only recently been completed as far +as Hankow, about six hundred miles. The last spike in the bridge +across the Yellow River was driven in August, 1905, and since that +time through trains have been running from the capital to the banks +of the Yang-tse Kiang. + +This portion has been constructed by a Belgian syndicate, and their +task has been admirably performed. I wish I could say as much of +the other half (from Hankow to Canton), the contract for which +was given to an American company. After a preliminary survey this +company did no work, but, under pretext of waiting for tranquil +times, watched the fluctuations of the share market. The whole +enterprise was eventually +[Page 40] +taken over by a native company opposed to foreign ownership--at an +advance of 300 per cent. It was a clever deal; but the Americans +sacrificed the credit and the influence of their country, and a +grand opportunity was lost through cupidity and want of patriotism. + +This iron highway is destined in the near future to exert a mighty +influence on people and government. It will bring the provinces +together and make them feel their unity. It will also insure that +communication between the north and the south shall not be interrupted +as it might be were it dependent on sea or canal. These advantages +must have been so patent as to overcome an inbred hostility to +development. Instead of being a danger, these railways are bound +to become a source of incalculable strength. + +Paoting-fu was the scene of a sad tragedy in 1900, and when avenging +troops appeared on the scene, and saw the charred bones of missionaries +among the ashes of their dwellings, they were bent on destroying +the whole city, but a missionary who served as guide begged them +to spare the place. So grateful were the inhabitants for his kindly +intervention that they bestowed on the mission a large plot of +ground--showing that, however easily wrought up, they were not +altogether destitute of the better feelings of humanity. + +Continuing our journey through half a dozen considerable cities, +at one of which, Shunteh-fu, an American mission has recently been +opened, we reach the borders of the province of Honan. + + + + +[Page 41] +CHAPTER VIII + +PROVINCE OF HONAN + +_A Great Bridge--K'ai-fung-fu--Yellow Jews_ + +Passing the border city of Weihwei-fu, we find ourselves arrested +by the Hwang Ho--not that we experience any difficulty in reaching +the other bank; but we wish to indulge our curiosity in inspecting +the means of transit. It is a bridge, and such a bridge as has no +parallel on earth. Five miles in length, it is longer than any +other bridge built for the passage of a river. It is not, however, +as has been said, the longest bridge in the world; the elevated +railway of New York is a bridge of much greater length. So are +some of the bridges that carry railways across swamp-lands on the +Pacific Coast. Bridges of that sort, however, are of comparatively +easy construction. They have no rebellious stream or treacherous +quicksands to contend with. Caesar's bridge over the Rhine was an +achievement worthy to be recorded among the victories of his Gallic +wars; but it was a child's plaything in comparison with the bridge +over the Yellow River. Caesar's bridge rested on sesquipedalian +beams of solid timber. The Belgian bridge is supported on tubular +piles of steel of sesquipedalian diameter driven by steam or screwed +down into the sand to a depth of fifty feet. + +There have been other bridges near this very spot +[Page 42] +with which it might be compared. One of them was called Ta-liang, +the "Great Bridge," and gave name to a city. Another was Pien-liang, +"The Bridge of Pien," one of the names of the present city of +K'ai-fung-fu. That bridge has long since disappeared; but the name +adheres to the city. + +What an unstable foundation on which to erect a seat of empire! +Yet the capital has been located in this vicinity more than once +or twice within the last twenty-five centuries. The first occasion +was during the dynasty of Chou (1100 B. c.), when the king, to be +more central, or perhaps dreading the incursions of the Tartars, +forsook his capital in Shensi and followed the stream down almost +to the sea, braving the quicksands and the floods rather than face +those terrible foes. Again, in the Sung period, it was the seat +of government for a century and a half. + +The safest refuge for a fugitive court which, once established +there, has no reason to fear attack by sea or river, it is somewhat +strange that in 1900 the Empress Dowager did not direct her steps +toward K'ai-fung-fu, instead of escaping to Si-ngan. Being, however, +herself a Tartar, she might have been expected to act in a way +contrary to precedents set by Chinese dynasties. Obviously, she +chose the latter as a place of refuge because it lay near the borders +of Tartary. It is noteworthy that a loyal governor of Honan at that +very time prepared a palace for her accommodation in K'ai-fung-fu, +and when the court was invited to return to Peking, he implored +her not to risk herself in the northern capital. + +Honan is a province rich in agricultural, and probably +[Page 43] +in mineral, resources, but it has no outlet in the way of trade. +What a boon this railway is destined to be, as a channel of +communication with neighbouring provinces! + +I crossed the Yellow River in 1866, but there was then no bridge +of any kind. Two-thirds of a mile in width, with a furious current, +the management of the ferry-boat was no easy task. On that occasion +an object which presented stronger attractions than this wonderful +bridge had drawn me to K'ai-fung-fu--a colony of Jews, a fragment +of the Lost Tribes of Israel. As mentioned in a previous chapter, I +had come by land over the very track now followed by the railroad, +but under conditions in strong contrast with the luxuries of a +railway carriage--"Alone, unfriended, solitary, slow," I had made my +way painfully, shifting from horse to cart, and sometimes compelled +by the narrowness of a path to descend to a wheelbarrow. How I +longed for the advent of the iron horse. Now I have with me a jovial +company; and we may enjoy the mental stimulus of an uninterrupted +session of the Oriental Society, while making more distance in +an hour than I then made in a day. + +Of the condition of the Jews of K'ai-fung-fu, as I found them, +I have given a detailed account elsewhere.[*] Suffice it to say +here that the so-called colony consisted of about four hundred +persons, belonging to seven families or clans. Undermined by a +flood of the Yellow River, their synagogue had become ruinous, +and, being unable to repair it, they had disposed of its timbers +to relieve the pressure of their dire poverty. +[Page 44] +Nothing remained but the vacant space, marked by a single stone +recording the varying fortunes of these forlorn Israelites. It +avers that their remoter ancestors arrived in China by way of India +in the Han dynasty, before the Christian era, and that the founders +of this particular colony found their way to K'ai-fung-fu in the +T'ang dynasty about 800 A. D. It also gives an outline of their +Holy Faith, showing that, in all their wanderings, they had not +forsaken the God of their fathers. They still possessed some rolls +of the Law, written in Hebrew, on sheepskins, but they no longer +had a rabbi to expound them. They had forgotten the sacred tongue, +and some of them had wandered into the fold of Mohammed, whose +creed resembled their own. Some too had embraced the religion of +Buddha. + +[Footnote *: See "Cycle of Cathay." Revell & Co., New York.] + +My report was listened to with much interest by the rich Jews of +Shanghai, but not one of them put his hand in his pocket to rebuild +the ruined synagogue; and without that for a rallying-place the +colony must ere long fade away, and be absorbed in the surrounding +heathenism, or be led to embrace Christianity. + +I now learn that the Jews of Shanghai have manifested enough interest +to bring a few of their youth to that port for instruction in the +Hebrew language. Also that some of these K'ai-fung-fu Jews are +frequent attendants in Christian chapels, which have now been opened +in that city. To my view, the resuscitation of that ancient colony +would be as much of a miracle as the return from captivity in the +days of Cyrus. + + + + +[Page 45] +CHAPTER IX + +THE RIVER PROVINCES + +_Hupeh--Hankow--Hanyang Iron Works--A Centre of Missionary +Activity--Hunan--Kiangsi--Anhwei--Native Province of Li Hung Chang_ + +By the term "river provinces" are to be understood those provinces +of central and western China which are made accessible to intercourse +and trade by means of the Yang-tse Kiang. + +Pursuing our journey, in twelve hours by rail we reach the frontier +of Hupeh. At that point we see above us a fortification perched on +the side of a lofty hill which stands beyond the line. At a height +more than double that of this crenelated wall is a summer resort of +foreigners from Hankow and other parts of the interior. I visited +this place in 1905. In Chinese, the plateau on which it stands is +called, from a projecting rock, the "Rooster's Crest"; shortened +into the more expressive name, the "Roost," it is suggestive of the +repose of summer. It presents a magnificent prospect, extending +over a broad belt of both provinces. + +Six hours more and we arrive in Hankow, which is one of three cities +built at the junction of the Han and the Yang-tse, the Tripolis of +China, a tripod of empire, the hub of the universe, as the Chinese +fondly regard it. The other two cities are Wuchang, the capital +[Page 46] +of the viceroyalty, and Hanyang, on the opposite bank of the river. + +In Hankow one beholds a Shanghai on a smaller scale, and in the +other two cities the eye is struck by indications of the change +which is coming over the externals of Chinese life. + +At Hanyang, which is reached by a bridge, may be seen an extensive +and well-appointed system of iron-works, daily turning out large +quantities of steel rails for the continuation of the railway. It +also produces large quantities of iron ordnance for the contingencies +of war. This is the pet enterprise of the enlightened Viceroy Chang +Chi-tung; but on the other side of the Yang-tse we have cheering +evidence that he has not confined his reforms to transportation and +the army. There, on the south bank, you may see the long walls and +tall chimneys of numerous manufacturing establishments--cotton-mills, +silk filatures, rope-walks, glass-works, tile-works, powder-works--all +designed to introduce the arts of the West, and to wage an industrial +war with the powers of Christendom. There, too, in a pretty house +overlooking the Great River, I spent three years as aid to the viceroy +in educational work. In the heart of China, it was a watch-tower from +which I could look up and down the river and study the condition +of these inland provinces. + +This great centre was early preempted by the pioneers of missionary +enterprise. Here Griffith John set up the banner of the cross forty +years ago and by indefatigable and not unfruitful labours earned +for himself the name of "the Apostle of Central China." +[Page 47] +In addition he has founded a college for the training of native +preachers. The year 1905 was the jubilee of his arrival in the +empire. Here, too, came David Hill, a saintly man combining the +characters of St. Paul and of John Howard, as one of the pioneers +of the churches of Great Britain. These leaders have been followed +by a host who, if less distinguished, have perhaps accomplished +more for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. Without the +cooeperation of such agencies all reformatory movements like those +initiated by the viceroy must fall short of elevating the people +to the level of Christian civilisation. + +The London Mission, the English Wesleyans, and the American +Episcopalians, all have flourishing stations at Wuchang. The Boone +school, under the auspices of the last-named society, is an admirable +institution, and takes rank with the best colleges in China. + +At Hankow the China Inland Mission is represented by a superintendent +and a home for missionaries in transit. At that home the Rev. J. +Hudson Taylor, the founder of that great society, whom I call the +Loyola of Protestant missions, spent a few days in 1906; and there +Dr. John and I sat with him for a group of the "Three Senior +Missionaries" in China. + +The river provinces may be divided into lower and upper, the +dividing-line being at Ichang near the gorges of the Yang-tse. Hupeh +and Hunan, Kiangsi and Anhwei occupy the lower reach; Szechuen, +Kweichau, and Yuennan, the upper one. The first two form one viceregal +district, with a population exceeding that of any European country +excepting Russia. + +[Page 48] +Hupeh signifies "north of the lake"; Hunan, "south of the lake"--the +great lake of Tungting lying between the two. Hupeh has been open to +trade and residence for over forty years; but the sister province +was long hermetically sealed against the footprints of the white +man. Twenty or even ten years ago to venture within its limits +would have cost a European his life. Its capital, Changsha, was +the seat of an anti-foreign propaganda from which issued masses of +foul literature; but the lawless hostility of the people has been +held in check by the judicious firmness of the present viceroy, +and that city is now the seat of numerous mission bodies which +are vying with each other in their efforts to diffuse light and +knowledge. It is also open to commerce as a port of trade. + +One of the greatest distinctions of the province is its production +of brave men, one of the bravest of whom was the first Marquis Tseng +who, at the head of a patriotic force from his native province, +recaptured the city of Nanking and put an end to the chaotic government +of the Taiping rebels--a service which has ever since been recognised +by the Chinese Government in conferring the viceroyalty of Nanking +on a native of Hunan. + +Lying to the south of the river, is the province of Kiangsi, containing +the Poyang Lake, next in size to the Tungting. Above its entrance +at Kiukiang rises a lone mountain which bears the name of Kuling. +Beautifully situated, and commanding a wide view of lake and river, +its sides are dotted with pretty cottages, erected as summer resorts +for people from all the inland ports. Here may be seen the flags of many +[Page 49] +nations, and here the hard-worked missionary finds rest and recreation, +without idleness; for he finds clubs for the discussion of politics +and philosophy, and libraries which more than supply the absence of +his own. Just opposite the entrance to the lake stands the "Little +Orphan," a vine-clad rock 200 feet in height, with a small temple +on the top. It looks like a fragment torn from the mountain-side +and planted in the bosom of the stream. Fancy fails to picture +the convulsion of which the "Little Orphan" is the monument. + +Farther down is the province of Anhwei which takes its name from +its chief two cities, Anking and Weichou. In general resembling +Kiangsi, it has two flourishing ports on the river, Anking, the +capital, and Wuhu. Of the people nothing noteworthy is to be observed, +save that they are unusually turbulent, and their lawless spirit +has not been curbed by any strong hand like that of the viceroy +at Wuchang.[*] The province is distinguished for its production +of great men, of whom Li Hung Chang was one. + +[Footnote *: This was written before the Nanchang riot of March, +1906.] + + + + +[Page 50] +CHAPTER X + +PROVINCES OF THE UPPER YANG-TSE + +_A Perilous Passage--Szechuen--Kweichau, the Poorest Province +in China--Yuennan--Tribes of Aborigines_ + +Thus far our voyage of exploration, like one of Cook's tours, has +been personally conducted. From this point, however, I must depend +upon the experience of others: the guide himself must seek a guide +to conduct him through the remaining portions of the empire. + +We enter the Upper Yang-tse by a long and tortuous passage through +which the "Great River" rushes with a force and a roar like the +cataracts of the Rhine, only on a vastly greater scale. In some +bygone age volcanic forces tore asunder a mountain range, and the +waters of the great stream furrowed out a channel; but the obstructing +rocks, so far from being worn away, remain as permanent obstacles +to steam navigation and are a cause of frequent shipwrecks. Yet, +undeterred by dangers that eclipse Scylla and Charybdis, the laborious +Chinese have for centuries past carried on an immense traffic through +this perilous passage. In making the ascent their junks are drawn +against the current by teams of coolies, tens or hundreds of the +latter being harnessed to the tow-lines of one boat and driven +like a bullock train in South Africa. Slow +[Page 51] +and difficult is the ascent, but swift and perilous the downward +passage. + +No doubt engineering may succeed in removing some of the obstacles +and in minifying the dangers of this passage. Steam, too, may supply +another mode of traction to take the place of these teams of men. +A still revolution is in prospect, namely a ship canal or railway. +The latter, perhaps, might be made to lift the junks bodily out of +the water and transport them beyond the rapids. Two cities, however, +would suffer somewhat by this change in the mode of navigation, +namely, Ichang at the foot and Chungking at the head of the rapids. +The latter is the chief river port of Szechuen, a province having +four times the average area. + +The great province of Szechuen, if it only had the advantages of +a seacoast, would take the lead in importance. As it is, it is +deemed sufficiently important, like Chihli, to have a viceroy of +its own. The name signifies the "four rivers," and the province has +as many ranges of mountains. One of them, the Omeshan, is celebrated +for its beauty and majesty. The mountains give the province a great +variety of climate, and the rivers supply means of transportation +and irrigation. Its people, too, are more uniform in language and +character than those of most other regions. Their language partakes +of the Northern mandarin. Near the end of the Ming dynasty the +whole population is said to have been destroyed in the fratricidal +wars of that sanguinary period. The population accordingly is +comparatively sparse, and the cities are said to present a new and +prosperous aspect. Above Szechuen +[Page 52] +lie the two provinces of Kweichau and Yuennan, forming one viceroyalty +under the name of Yuenkwei. + +Kweichau has the reputation of being the poorest province in China, +with a very sparse population, nearly one-half of whom are aborigines, +called _shans_, _lolos_, and _miaotzes_. + +Yuennan (signifying not "cloudy south," but "south of the cloudy +mountains") is next in area to Szechuen. Its resources are as yet +undeveloped, and it certainly has a great future. Its climate, +if it may be said to have one, is reputed to be unhealthful, and +among its hills are many deep gorges which the Chinese say are +full of _chang chi_, "poisonous gases" which are fatal to men +and animals--like the Grotto del Cane in Italy. But these gorges +and cliffs abound in better things also. They are rich in unexploited +coal measures and they contain also many mines of the purest copper +ore. The river that washes its borders here bears the name of Kinsha, +the river of "golden sands." Some of its rivers have the curious +peculiarity of flowing the reverse way, that is, to the west and +south instead of toward the eastern sea. The Chinese accordingly +call the province "Tiensheng" the country of the "converse streams." + +Within the borders of Yuennan there are said to be more than a hundred +tribes of aborigines all more or less akin to those of Kweichau +and Burma, but each under its own separate chief. Some of them +are fine-looking, vigorous people; but the Chinese describe them +as living in a state of utter savagery. Missionaries, however, +have recently begun work for them; and we may hope that, as for +the Karens of +[Page 53] +Burma, a better day will soon dawn on the Yuennan aborigines. + +The French, having colonies on the border, are naturally desirous +of exploiting the provinces of this southern belt, and China is +intensely suspicious of encroachment from that quarter. + + + + +[Page 54] +CHAPTER XI + +NORTHWESTERN PROVINCES + +_Shansi--Shensi--Earliest Known Home of the Chinese--Kansuh_ + +Of the three northwestern provinces, the richest is Shansi. More +favoured in climate and soil than the other members of the group, its +population is more dense. Divided from Chihli by a range of hills, +its whole surface is hilly, but not mountainous. The highlands give +variety to its temperature--condensing the moisture and supplying +water for irrigation. The valleys are extremely fertile, and of +them it may be said in the words of Job, "As for the earth, out of +it cometh bread: and underneath it is turned up as it were fire." +Not only do the fields yield fine crops of wheat and millet, but +there are extensive coal measures of excellent quality. Iron ore +also is found in great abundance. Mining enterprises have accordingly +been carried on from ancient times, and they have now, with the +advent of steam, acquired a fresh impetus. It follows, of course, +that the province is prolific of bankers. Shansi bankers monopolise +the business of finance in all the adjacent provinces. + +Next on the west comes the province of Shensi, from _shen_, a +"strait or pass" (not _shan_ a "hill"), and _si_, "west." + +[Page 55] +Here was the earliest home of the Chinese race of which there is +any record. On the Yellow River, which here forms the boundary of +two provinces, stands the city of Si-ngan where the Chou dynasty +set up its throne in the twelfth century B. C. Since that date +many dynasties have made it the seat of empire. Their palaces have +disappeared; but most of them have left monumental inscriptions +from which a connected history might be extracted. To us the most +interesting monument is a stone, erected about 800 A. D. to commemorate +the introduction of Christianity by some Nestorian missionaries +from western Asia. + +The province of Kansuh is comparatively barren. Its boundaries +extend far out into regions peopled by Mongol tribes; and the +neighbourhood of great deserts gives it an arid climate unfavourable +to agriculture. Many of its inhabitants are immigrants from Central +Asia and profess the Mohammedan faith. It is almost surrounded by +the Yellow River, like a picture set in a gilded frame, reminding +one of that river of paradise which "encompasseth the whole land +of Havilah where there is gold." Whether there is gold in Kansuh +we have yet to learn; but no doubt some grains of the precious +metal might be picked up amongst its shifting sands. + + + + +[Page 56] +CHAPTER XII + +OUTLYING TERRITORIES + +_Manchuria--Mongolia--Turkestan--Tibet, the Roof of the World--Journey +of Huc and Gabet._ + +Beyond the eastern extremity of the Great Wall, bounded on the +west by Mongolia, on the north by the Amur, on the east by the +Russian seaboard, and on the south by Korea and the Gulf of Pechili, +lies the home of the Manchus--the race now dominant in the Chinese +Empire. China claims it, just as Great Britain claimed Normandy, +because her conquerors came from that region; and now that two +of her neighbours have exhausted themselves in fighting for it, +she will take good care that neither of them shall filch the jewel +from her crown. + +That remarkable achievement, the conquest of China by a few thousand +semi-civilised Tartars, is treated in the second part of this work. + +Manchuria consists of three regions now denominated provinces, +Shengking, Kairin, and Helungkiang. They are all under one +governor-general whose seat is at Mukden, a city sacred in the +eyes of every Manchu, because there are the tombs of the fathers +of the dynasty. + +The native population of Manchuria having been drafted off to garrison +and colonise the conquered +[Page 57] +country, their deserted districts were thrown open to Chinese settlers. +The population of the three provinces is mainly Chinese, and, +assimilated in government to those of China, they are reckoned +as completing the number of twenty-one. Opulent in grain-fields, +forests, and minerals, with every facility for commerce, no part of +the empire has a brighter future. So thinly peopled is its northern +portion that it continues to be a vast hunting-ground which supplies +the Chinese market with sables and tiger-skins besides other peltries. +The tiger-skins are particularly valuable as having longer and +richer fur than those of Bengal. + +Of the Manchus as a people, I shall speak later on.[*] Those remaining +in their original habitat are extremely rude and ignorant; yet +even these hitherto neglected regions are now coming under the +enlightening influence of a system of government schools. + +[Footnote *: Part II. page 140 and 142; part III, pages 267-280] + +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, if not of the Empire, +is scarcely better known than the mountain regions of Tibet, a +large portion of its area being covered with deserts as uninviting +and as seldom visited as the African Sahara. One route, however, +has been well trodden by Russian travellers, namely, that lying +between Kiachta and Peking. + +In the reign of Kanghi the Russians were granted the privilege of +establishing an ecclesiastical mission to minister to a Cossack +garrison which the Emperor had captured at Albazin trespassing on +his grounds. Like another Nebuchadnezzar, he transplanted them +to the soil of China. He also permitted the Russians +[Page 58] +to bring tribute to the "Son of Heaven" once in ten years. That +implied a right to trade, so that the Russians, like other envoys, +in Chinese phrase "came lean and went away fat." But they were +not allowed to leave the beaten track: they were merchants, not +travellers. Not till the removal of the taboo within the last +half-century have these outlying dependencies been explored by +men like Richthofen and Sven Hedin. Formerly the makers of maps +garnished those unknown regions + + "With caravans for want of towns." + +Sooth to say, there are no towns, except Urga, a shrine for pilgrimage, +the residence of a living Buddha, and Kiachta and Kalgan, terminal +points of the caravan route already referred to. + +Kiachta is a double town--one-half of it on each side of the +Russo-Chinese boundary--presenting in striking contrast the magnificence +of a Russian city and the poverty and filth of a Tartar encampment. +The whole country is called in Chinese "the land of grass." Its +inhabitants have sheepfolds and cattle ranches, but neither fields +nor houses, unless tents and temporary huts may be so designated. +To this day, nomadic in their habits, they migrate from place to +place with their flocks and herds as the exigencies of water and +pasturage may require. + +Lines of demarcation exist for large tracts belonging to a tribe, +but no minor divisions such as individual holdings. The members of +a clan all enjoy their grazing range in common, and hold themselves +ready to fight for the rights of their chieftain. Bloody feuds +lasting for generations, such as would rival those of +[Page 59] +the Scottish clans, are not of infrequent occurrence. Their Manchu +overlord treats these tribal conflicts with sublime indifference, +as he does the village wars in China. + +The Mongolian chiefs, or "princes" as they are called, are forty-eight +in number. The "forty-eight princes" is a phrase as familiar to +the Chinese ear as the "eighteen provinces" is to ours. Like the +Manchus they are arranged in groups under eight banners. Some of +them took part in the conquest, but the Manchus are too suspicious +to permit them to do garrison duty in the Middle Kingdom, lest the +memories of Kublai Khan and his glory should be awakened. They +are, however, held liable to military service. Seng Ko Lin Sin +("Sam Collinson" as the British dubbed him), a Lama prince, headed +the northern armies against the Tai-ping rebels and afterwards +suffered defeat at the hands of the British and French before the +gates of Peking. + +In the winter the Mongol princes come with their clansmen to revel +in the delights of Cambalu, the city of the great Khan, as they +have continued to call Peking ever since the days of Kublai, whose +magnificence has been celebrated by Marco Polo. Their camping-ground +is the Mongolian Square which is crowded with tabernacles built +of bamboo and covered with felt. In a sort of bazaar may be seen +pyramids of butter and cheese, two commodities that are abominations +to the Chinese of the south, but are much appreciated by Chinese +in Peking as well as by the Manchus. One may see also mountains +of venison perfectly fresh; the frozen carcasses of "yellow sheep" +[Page 60] +(really not sheep, but antelopes); then come wild boars in profusion, +along with badgers, hares, and troops of live dogs--the latter only +needing to be wild to make them edible. This will give some faint +idea of Mongolia's contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis. +Devout Buddhist as he is, the average Mongol deems abstinence from +animal food a degree of sanctity unattainable by him. + +Mongols of the common classes are clad in dirty sheepskins. Their +gentry and priesthood dress themselves in the spoils of wolf or +fox--more costly but not more clean. Furs, felt, and woollen fabrics +of the coarsest texture may also be noticed. Raiment of camel's +hair, strapped with a leathern girdle after the manner of John +the Baptist, may be seen any day, and the wearers are not regarded +as objects of commiseration. + +Their camel, too, is wonderfully adapted to its habitat. Provided +with two humps, it carries a natural saddle; and, clothed in long +wool, yellow, brown or black, it looks in winter a lordly beast. +Its fleece is never shorn, but is shed in summer. At that season +the poor naked animal is the most pitiable of creatures. In the +absence of railways and carriage roads, it fills the place of the +ship of the desert and performs the heaviest tasks, such as the +transporting of coals and salt. Most docile of slaves, at a word +from its master it kneels down and quietly accepts its burden. + +At Peking there is a lamasary where four hundred Mongol monks are +maintained in idleness at the expense of the Emperor. Their manners +are those of highwaymen. They have been known to lay rough +[Page 61] +hands on visitors in order to extort a charitable dole; and, if +rumour may be trusted, their morals are far from exemplary. + +My knowledge of the Mongols is derived chiefly from what I have +seen of them in Peking. I have also had a glimpse of their country +at Kalgan, beyond the Great Wall. A few lines from a caravan song +by the Rev. Mark Williams give a picture of a long journey by those +slow coaches: + + "Inching along, we are inching along, + At the pace of a snail, we are inching along, + Our horses are hardy, our camels are strong, + We all shall reach Urga by inching along. + + "The things that are common, all men will despise; + But these in the desert we most highly prize. + For water is worth more than huge bags of gold + And argols than diamonds of value untold." + --_A Flight for Life_, Pilgrim Press, Boston. + +Politically Turkestan is not Mongolia, but Tamerlane, though born +there, was a Mongol. His descendants were the Moguls of India. At +different epochs peoples called Turks and Huns have wandered over +the Mongolian plateau, and Mongols have swept over Turkestan. To +draw a line of demarcation is neither easy nor important. In the +Turkestan of to-day the majority of the people follow the prophet +of Mecca. Russia has absorbed most of the khanates, and has tried +more than once to encroach on portions belonging to China. In one +instance she was foiled and compelled to disgorge by the courage of +Viceroy Chang, a story which I reserve for the sequel. The coveted +region was Ili, and Russia's pretext for crossing the +[Page 62] +boundary was the chronic state of warfare in which the inhabitants +existed. + +Tibet is the land of the Grand Lama. Is it merely tributary or +is it a portion of the Chinese Empire? This is a question that +has been warmly agitated during the last two years--brought to +the front by Colonel Younghusband's expedition and by a treaty +made in Lhasa. Instead of laying their complaints before the court +of Peking, the Indian Government chose to settle matters on the +spot, ignoring the authority of China. Naturally China has been +provoked to instruct her resident at Lhasa to maintain her rights. + +A presumptive claim might be based on the fact, that the Grand Lama +took refuge at Urga, where he remained until the Empress Dowager +ordered him to return to his abandoned post. China has always had +a representative at his court; but his function would appear to +be that of a political spy rather than an overseer, governor, or +even adviser. Chinese influence in Tibet is nearly _nil_. +For China to assert authority by interference and to make herself +responsible for Tibet's shortcomings would be a questionable policy, +against which two wars ought to be a sufficient warning. She was +involved with France by her interference in Tongking and with Japan +by interference in Korea. Too much intermeddling in Tibet might +easily embroil her with Great Britain. + +In one sense the Buddhist pope may justly claim to be the highest of +earthly potentates. No other sits on a throne at an equal elevation +above the level of the sea. Like Melchizedeck, he is without father +or mother--each occupant of the throne being a fresh +[Page 63] +incarnation of Buddha. The signs of Buddhaship are known only to +the initiated; but they are supposed to consist in the recognition +of places, persons, and apparel. These lamas never die of old age. + +While in other parts of the Empire polygamy prevails for those +who can afford it, in Tibet polyandry crops up. Which is the more +offensive to good morals we need not decide; but is it not evident +that Confucianism shows its weakness on one side as Buddhism does +on the other? A people that tolerates either or both hardly deserves +to be regarded as civilised. + +The Chinese call Tibet the "roof of the world," and most of it is +as barren as the roof of a house. Still the roof, though producing +nothing, collects water to irrigate a garden. Tibet is the mother +of great rivers, and she feeds them from her eternal snows. On her +highlands is a lake or cluster of lakes which the Chinese describe +as _Sing Su Hai_, the "sea of stars." From this the Yellow +River takes its rise and perhaps the Yang-tse Kiang. A Chinese +legend says that Chang Chien poled a raft up to the source of the +Yellow River and found himself in the Milky Way, _Tienho_, +the "River of Heaven." + +Fifty years ago two intrepid French missionaries, Huc and Gabet, +made their way to Lhasa, but they were not allowed to remain there. +The Chinese residents made them prisoners, under pretext of giving +them protection, and sent them to the seacoast through the heart +of the empire. They were thus enabled to see the vast interior +at a time when it was barred alike to traveller and missionary. +Of this adventurous +[Page 64] +journey Huc's published "Travels" is the immortal monument. + +We have thus gone over China and glanced at most of her outlying +dependencies. The further exploration of Tibet we may postpone +until she has made good her claims to dominion in that mountain +region. The vastness of the Chinese Empire and the immensity of +its population awaken in the mind a multitude of questions to which +nothing but history can give an adequate reply. We come therefore +to the oracle whose responses may perhaps be less dubious than +those of Delphi. + + + + +[Page 65] +PART II + +HISTORY IN OUTLINE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + + + +[Page 67] +CHAPTER XIII + +ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE + +_Parent Stock a Migratory People--They Invade China from the +Northwest and Colonise the Banks of the Yellow River and of the +Han--Their Conflicts with the Aborigines--Native Tribes Absorbed +by Conquerors_ + +That the parent stock in which the Chinese nation had its origin +was a small migratory people, like the tribes of Israel, and that +they entered the land of promise from the northwest is tolerably +certain; but to trace their previous wanderings back to Shinar, +India, or Persia would be a waste of time, as the necessary data +are lacking. Even within their appointed domain the accounts of +their early history are too obscure to be accepted as to any extent +reliable. + +They appear to have begun their career of conquest by colonising +the banks of the Yellow River and those of the Han. By slow stages +they moved eastward to the central plain and southward to the Yang-tse +Kiang. At that early epoch, between 3000 and 2000 B. C., they found the +country already occupied by various wild tribes whom they considered +as savages. In their early traditions they describe these tribes +respectively by four words: those of the south are called _Man_ +(a word with the silk radical); those on the east, _Yi_ (with +[Page 68] +the bow radical); those on the north, _Tih_ (represented by +a dog and fire); and those on the west, _Jung_ ("war-like, +fierce," the symbol for their ideograph being a spear). Each of +these names points to something distinctive. Some of these tribes +were, perhaps, spinners of silk; some, hunters; and all of them, +formidable enemies. + +The earliest book of history opens with conflicts with aborigines. +There can be no question that the slow progress made by the invaders +in following the course of those streams on which the most ancient +capitals of the Chinese were subsequently located was owing to the +necessity of fighting their way. Shun, the second sovereign of +whose reign there is record (2200 B. c.), is said to have waged +war with San Miao, three tribes of _miaotze_ or aborigines, +a term still applied to the independent tribes of the southwest. +Beaten in the field, or at least suffering a temporary check, he +betook himself to the rites of religion, making offerings and praying +to Shang-ti, the supreme ruler. "After forty days," it is stated, +"the natives submitted." + +In the absence of any explanation it may be concluded that during +the suspension of hostilities negotiations were proceeding which +resulted not in the destruction of the natives, but in their +incorporation with their more civilised neighbours. This first +recorded amalgamation of the kind was doubtless an instance of +a process of growth that continued for many centuries, resulting +in the absorption of all the native tribes on the north of the +Yang-tse and of most of those on the south. The expanding state +was eventually composed of a vast body of natives who submitted +[Page 69] +to their civilised conquerors, much as the people of Mexico and +Peru consented to be ruled by a handful of Spaniards.[*] + +[Footnote *: To this day, the bulk of the people in those countries +show but small traces of Spanish blood. Juarez, the famous dictator, +was a pure Indian.] + +As late as the Christian era any authentic account of permanent +conquests in China to the south of the "Great River" is still wanting, +though warlike expeditions in that direction were not infrequent. The +people of the northern provinces called themselves _Han-jin_, +"men of Han" or "sons of Han," while those of the south styled +themselves _T'ang-jin_, "men of T'ang." Does not this indicate +that, while the former were moulded into unity by the great dynasty +which took its name from the river Han (206 B. c.), the latter +did not become Chinese until the brilliant period of the T'angs, +nearly a thousand years later? Further confirmation need not be +adduced to show that the empire of the Far East contemporary with, +and superior in civilisation to, ancient Rome, embraced less than +the eighteen provinces of China Proper. Of the nine districts into +which it was divided by Ta-yue, 2100 B. C. not one was south of +the "Great River." + + + + +[Page 70] +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MYTHICAL PERIOD + +_Account of Creation--P'an-ku, the Ancient Founder--The Three +Sovereigns--The Five Rulers, the Beginnings of Human Civilisation--The +Golden Age--Yau, the Unselfish Monarch--Shun, the Paragon of Domestic +Virtues--Story of Ta-yue--Rise of Hereditary Monarchy_ + +Unlike the Greeks and Hindoos, the Chinese are deficient in the sort +of imagination that breeds a poetical mythology. They are not, however, +wanting in that pride of race which is prone to lay claim to the past +as well as to the future. They have accordingly constructed, not a +mythology, but a fictitious history which begins with the creation of +the world. + +How men and animals were made they do not say; but they assert that +heaven and earth were united in a state of chaos until a divine man, +whom they call P'an-ku, the "ancient founder," rent them asunder. +Pictures show him wielding his sledge-hammer and disengaging sun +and moon from overlying hills--a grotesque conception in strong +contrast with the simple and sublime statement, "God said, 'Let +there be light' and there was light." P'an-ku was followed by a +divine being named Nue-wa, in regard to whom it +[Page 71] +is doubtful whether to speak in the feminine or in the masculine +gender. Designated queen more frequently than king, it is said +of her that, a portion of the sky having fallen down (probably +owing to the defective work of her predecessor), she rebuilt it +with precious stones of many colours. _Lien shih pu tien_, +"to patch the sky with precious stones," is a set phrase by which +the Chinese indicate that which is fabulous and absurd. + +Instead of filling the long interval between the creation of the +world and the birth of history with gods and fairies, the Chinese +cover that period by three sovereigns whom they call after their +favourite triad, heaven, earth, and man, giving them the respective +titles Tien-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang. Each of these reigned +eighteen thousand years; but what they reigned over is not apparent. +At all events they seem to have contributed little to the comfort +of their people; for at the close of that long period the wretched +inhabitants of the empire--the only country then known to exist +on earth--had no houses, no clothes, no laws, and no letters. + +Now come five personages who, in accordance with Chinese historical +propriety, are likewise invested with imperial dignity and are +called Wu-ti, "the five rulers." Collectively they represent the +first appearance of the useful arts, the rude beginnings of human +civilisation. One of these rulers, noticing that birds constructed +nests, taught his people to build huts, from which he is called the +"nest builder." Another was the Prometheus of his day and obtained +fire, not, however, by stealing it from the sun, but by +[Page 72] +honestly working for it with two pieces of wood which he rubbed +together. The third of these rulers, named Fuhi, appears to have been +the teacher of his people in the art of rearing domestic animals; +in other words, the initiator of pastoral life, and possibly the +originator of sacrificial offerings. The fourth in order introduced +husbandry. As has been stated in a previous chapter (see page 36), +he has no name except Shin-nung, "divine husbandman"; and under +that title he continues to be worshipped at the present day as +the Ceres of China. The Emperor every spring repairs to his temple +to plough a few furrows by way of encouragement to his people. The +last of the five personages is called the "yellow ruler," whether +from the colour of his robes, or as ruler of the yellow race, is +left in doubt. He is credited with the invention of letters and +the cycle of sixty years, the foundation of Chinese chronology +(2700 B. C.). + +Unlike the long twilight which precedes the dawn in high latitudes, +the semi-mythical age was brief, covering no more than two reigns, +those of Yao and Shun. Confucius regarded these as included in +the "five rulers." To make room for them, he omits the first two; +and he seldom refers to the others, but appears to accept them as +real personages. He is no critic; but he has shown good sense in +drawing the line no further back. He has made the epoch of these +last a golden age (2356-2206) which is not the creation of a poet, +but the conception of a philosopher who wished to have an open space +on which to build up his political theories. He found, moreover, +in these primitive times some features by which he was +[Page 73] +greatly fascinated. The simplicity and freedom which appeared to +prevail in those far-off days were to him very attractive. + +It is related that Yao, the type of an unselfish monarch, while +on a tour of inspection in the disguise of a peasant, heard an +old man singing this song to the notes of his guitar: + + "I plough my ground and eat my own bread, + I dig my well and drink my own water: + What use have I for king or court?" + +Yao returned to his palace, rejoicing that the state of his country +was such that his people were able to forget him. + +Another feature which the Chinese hold up in bold relief is the fact +that in those days the occupancy of the throne was not hereditary. +Yao is said to have reigned a hundred years. When he was growing old +he saw with grief that his son showed no signs of being a worthy +successor. Setting him aside, therefore, he asked his ministers +to recommend someone as his heir. They all agreed in nominating +Shun. "What are his merits?" asked the King. "Filial piety and +fraternal kindness," they replied. "By these virtues he has wrought +a reform in a family noted for perverseness." The King desiring +to know the facts, they related the following story: + +"Shun's father is an ill-natured, blind man. He has a cruel stepmother +and a selfish, petulant younger brother. This boy, the pet of his +parents, treated Shun with insolence; and the father and mother +joined in persecuting the elder son. Shun, without showing resentment, +cried aloud to Heaven and obtained +[Page 74] +patience to bear their harshness. By duty and affection he has won +the hearts of all three." "Bring him before me," said the King; "I +have yet another trial by which to test his virtues." Yao made him +his son-in-law, giving him his two daughters at once. He wished to +see whether the good son and brother would also be a good husband and +father--an example for his people in all their domestic relations. +Shun accepted the test with becoming resignation and comported +himself to the satisfaction of the old king, who raised him to the +throne. After a reign of fifty years, partly as Yao's associate, +Shun followed the example of his father-in-law. Passing by his +own son, he left the throne to Ta-yue or Yue, a man who had been +subjected to trials far more serious than that of having to live +in the same house with a pair of pretty princesses. + +A question discussed in the school of Mencius, many centuries later, +may be cited here for the light it throws on the use made by Chinese +schoolmen of the examples of this period. "Suppose," said one of +his students, "that Shun's father had killed a man, would Shun, +being king, have allowed him to be condemned?" "No," replied the +master; "he would have renounced the throne and, taking his father +on his shoulders, he would have fled away to the seaside, rejoicing +in the consciousness of having performed the duty of a filial son." +Shun continues to be cited as the paragon of domestic virtues, +occupying the first place in a list of twenty-four who are noted +for filial piety. + +The trial by which the virtues of Ta-yue were proved +[Page 75] +was an extraordinary feat of engineering--nothing less than the +subduing of the waters of a deluge. "The waters," said the King, +"embosom the high hills and insolently menace heaven itself. Who +will find us a man to take them in hand and keep them in place?" +His ministers recommended one Kun. Kun failed to accomplish the +task, and Shun, who in this case hardly serves for the model of a +just ruler, put him to death. Then the task was imposed on Ta-yue, the +son of the man who had been executed. After nine years of incredible +hardships he brought the work to a successful termination. During this +time he extended his care to the rivers of more than one province, +dredging, ditching, and diking. Three times he passed his own door +and, though he heard the cries of his infant son, he did not once +enter his house. The son of a criminal who had suffered death, +a throne was the meed of his diligence and ability. + +A temple in Hanyang, at the confluence of two rivers, commemorates +Ta-yue's exploit, which certainly throws the labours of Hercules +completely into the shade. On the opposite side of the river stands +a pillar, inscribed in antique hieroglyphics, which professes to +record this great achievement. It is a copy of one which stands +on Mount Hang; and the characters, in the tadpole style, are so +ancient that doubts as to their actual meaning exist among scholars +of the present day. Each letter is accordingly accompanied by its +equivalent in modern Chinese. The stone purports to have been erected +by Ta-yue himself--good ground for suspicion--but it has been +[Page 76] +proved to be a fabrication of a later age, though still very ancient.[*] + +[Footnote *: Dr. Haenisch of Berlin has taken great pains to expose +the imposture.] + +In the two preceding reigns the sovereign had always consulted +the public good rather than family interest--a form of monarchy +which the Chinese call elective, but which has never been followed, +save that the Emperor exercises the right of choice among his sons +irrespective of primogeniture. The man who bears the odium of having +departed from the unselfish policy of Yao and Shun is this same +Ta-yue. He left the throne to his son and, as the Chinese say, "made +of the empire a family estate." + +This narrative comes from the _Shu-King_ or "Book of History," +the most venerated of the Five Classics edited by Confucius; but +the reader will readily perceive that it is no more historical +than the stories of Codrus or Numa Pompilius. + +In the reign of Yao we have an account of astronomical observations +made with a view to fixing the length of the year. The King tells +one man to go to the east and another to the west, to observe the +culmination and transit of certain stars. As a result he says they +will find that the year consists of 366 days, a close approximation +for that epoch. The absurdity of this style, which attributes +omniscience to the prince and leaves to his agents nothing but +the task of verification, should not be allowed to detract from +the credit due to their observations. The result arrived at was +about the same as that reached by the Babylonians at the same date +(2356 B. c.) + +Other rulers who are credited with great inventions +[Page 77] +probably made them in the same way. Whether under Fuhi or Hwang-ti, +Ts'ang-kie is recognised as the Cadmus of China, the author of its +written characters; and Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, is admitted +to be the author of the cycle of sixty. Both of those emperors +may be imagined as calling up their ministers and saying to one, +"Go and invent the art of writing," and to the other, "Work out +a system of chronology." + +In the same way, the inception of the culture of the silkworm and the +discovery of the magnetic needle are attributed to the predecessors +of Yao, probably on the principle that treasure-trove was the property +of the King and that if no claimant for the honour could be found +it must be attributed to some ancient monarch. The production of +silk, as woman's work, they profess to assign to the consort of one +of those worthies--a thing improbable if not impossible, her place +of residence being in the north of China. Their picture-writing tells +a different tale. Their word for a southern barbarian, compounded of +"silk" and "worm," points to the south as the source of that useful +industry, much as our word "silk," derived from _sericum_, +points to China as its origin. + + + + +[Page 78] +CHAPTER XV + +THE THREE DYNASTIES + +_The House of Hia--Ta-yu's Consideration for His Subjects--Kie's +Excesses--The House of Shang--Shang-tang, the Founder, Offers Himself +as a Sacrificial Victim, and Brings Rain--Chou-sin Sets Fire to +His Own Palace and Perishes in the Flames--The House of Chou_ + +The Hia, Shang and Chou dynasties together extend over the twenty-two +centuries preceding the Christian Era. The first occupies 440 years; +the second, 644; and the last, in the midst of turmoil and anarchy, +drags out a miserable existence of 874 years. They are grouped +together as the San Tai or San Wang, "the Three Houses of Kings," +because that title was employed by the founder of each. Some of +their successors were called _Ti_; but _Hwang-ti_, the +term for "emperor" now in use, was never employed until it was +assumed by the builder of the Great Wall on the overthrow of the +feudal states and the consolidation of the empire, 240 B. C. + + + THE HOUSE OF HIA, 2205-1766 B. C. + (17 kings, 2 usurpers) + +Unlike most founders of royal houses, who come to the throne through +a deluge of blood, Ta-yue, as has been shown in the last chapter, +climbed to that eminence +[Page 79] +through a deluge of water. Like Noah, the hero of an earlier deluge, +he seems to have indulged, for once at least, too freely in the use +of wine. A chapter in the "Book of History," entitled "A Warning +Against Wine," informs us that one Yiti having made wine presented +it to his prince. Ta-yue was delighted with it, but discontinued its +use, saying that in time to come kings would lose their thrones +through a fondness for the beverage. In China "wine" is a common +name for all intoxicating drinks. That referred to in this passage +was doubtless a distillation from rice or millet. + +In the discharge of his public duties Ta-yue showed himself no less +diligent than in contending with the waters. He hung at his door a +bell which the poorest of his subjects might ring and thus obtain +immediate attention. It is said that when taking a bath, if he heard +the bell he sometimes rushed out without adjusting his raiment +and that while partaking of a meal, if the bell rang he did not +allow himself time to swallow his rice. + +Prior to laying down his toilsome dignity Ta-yue caused to be cast +nine brazen tripods, each bearing an outline map or a description +of one of the provinces of the empire. In later ages these were +deemed preeminently the patent of imperial power. On one occasion a +feudal prince asked the question, "How heavy are these tripods?" A +minister of state, suspecting an intention to remove them and usurp +the power, replied in a long speech, proving the divine commission +of his master, and asked in conclusion, "Why then should you inquire +the weight of these tripods?" + +[Page 80] +Of the subsequent reigns nothing worth repetition is recorded except +the fall of the dynasty. This, however, is due more to the meagreness +of the language of that day than to the insignificance of the seventeen +kings. Is it not probable that they were occupied in making good +their claim to the nine provinces emblazoned on the tripods? + +Kie, the last king, is said to have fallen under the fascination +of a beautiful woman and to have spent his time in undignified +carousals. He built a mountain of flesh and filled a tank with +wine, and to amuse her he caused 3,000 of his courtiers to go on +all fours and drink from the tank like so many cows. + + + THE SHANG DYNASTY, 1766-1122 B. C. + (28 kings) + +The founder of this dynasty was Shang-tang, or Cheng-tang, who to +great valour added the virtues of humanity and justice. Pitying +the oppressions of the people, he came to them as a deliverer; +and the frivolous tyrant was compelled to retire into obscurity. +A more remarkable exhibition of public spirit was the offering +of himself as a victim to propitiate the wrath of Heaven. In a +prolonged famine, his prayers having failed to bring rain, the +soothsayers said that a human victim was required. "It shall be +myself," he replied; and, stripping off his regal robes, he laid +himself on the altar. A copious shower was the response to this +act of devotion. + +The successor of Shang-tang was his grandson T'ai-kia, who was under +the tutelage of a wise minister +[Page 81] +named I-yin. Observing the indolence and pleasure-loving disposition +of the young man, the minister sent him into retirement for three +years that he might acquire habits of sobriety and diligence. The +circumstance that makes this incident worth recording is that the +minister, instead of retaining the power in his own family, restored +the throne to its rightful occupant. + +Another king of this house, by name P'an-keng, has no claim to +distinction other than that of having moved his capital five times. +As we are not told that he was pursued by vindictive enemies, we +are left to the conjecture that he was escaping from disastrous +floods, or, perhaps under the influence of a silly superstition, +was in quest of some luckier site. + +Things went from bad to worse, and finally Chou-sin surpassed in +evil excesses the man who had brought ruin upon the House of Hia. +The House of Shang of course suffered the same fate. An ambitious +but kind-hearted prince came forward to succour the people, and +was welcomed by them as a deliverer. The tyrant, seeing that all +was lost, arrayed himself in festal robes, set fire to his own +palace, and, like another Sardanapalus, perished in the flames. + +He and Kie make a couple who are held up to everlasting execration +as a warning to tyrannical princes. Like his remote predecessor, +Chou-sin is reputed to have been led into his evil courses by a +wicked woman, named Ta-ki. One suspects that neither one nor the +other stood in need of such prompting. According to history, bad +kings are generally worse than bad queens. In China, however, a +woman is considered out of place +[Page 82] +when she lays her hand on the helm of state. Hence the tendency +to blacken the names of those famous court beauties. + +If Mencius may be believed, the tyrants themselves were not quite +so profligate as the story makes them. He says, "Dirty water has +a tendency to accumulate in the lowest sinks"; and he warns the +princes of his time not to put themselves in a position in which +future ages will continue to heap opprobrium on their memory. + +Of the wise founders of this dynasty it is said that they "made +religion the basis of education," as did the Romans, who prided +themselves on devotion to their gods. In both cases natural religion +degenerated into gross superstition. In the number of their gods +the Chinese have exceeded the Romans; and they refer the worship +of many of them to the Shang dynasty. + +The following dynasty, that of Chou (35 sovereigns, 1122-249 B. +C.) merits a separate chapter. + + + + +[Page 83] +CHAPTER XVI + +HOUSE OF CHOU + +_Wen-wang, the founder--Rise and Progress of Culture--Communistic +Land Tenure--Origin of the term "Middle Kingdom"--Duke Chou and +Cheng wang, "The Completer"--A Royal Traveller--Li and Yu, two +bad kings_ + +The merciful conqueror who at this time rescued the people from +oppression was Wu-wang, the martial king. He found, it is said, the +people "hanging with their heads downward" and set them on their +feet. On the eve of the decisive battle he harangued his troops, +appealing to the Deity as the arbiter, and expressing confidence in +the result. "The tyrant," he said, "has ten myriads of soldiers, +and I have but one myriad. His soldiers, however, have ten myriads +of hearts, while my army has but one heart." + +When the battle had been fought and won he turned his war-horses +out to pasture and ordained that they should be forever free from +yoke and saddle. Could he have been less humane in the treatment +of his new subjects? + +The credit of his victory he gave to ten wise counsellors, one +of whom was his mother. History, however, ascribes it in a large +degree to his father, Wen-wang, +[Page 84] +who was then dead, but who had prepared the way for his son's triumph. + +Wen-wang, the Beauclerc of the Chous, is one of the most notable +figures in the ancient history of China. A vassal prince, by wise +management rather than by military prowess he succeeded in enlarging +his dominions so that he became possessor of two-thirds of the +empire. He is applauded for his wisdom in still paying homage to +his feeble chief. The latter, however, must have regarded him with +no little suspicion, as Wen-wang was thrown into prison, and only +regained his liberty at the cost of a heavy ransom. Wen-wang apparently +anticipated a mortal struggle; for it is related that, seeing an +old man fishing, he detected in him an able general who had fled +the service of the tyrant. "You," said he, "are the very man I +have been looking for"; and, taking him up into his chariot, as +Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the assurance of coming victory. +The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung, the ancestor of the royal House +of Ts'i in Shantung. Though eighty-one years of age he took command +of the cavalry and presided in the councils of his new master. + +Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-wang should be the real +founder of the new dynasty; for now for the first time those pictured +symbols become living blossoms from which the fruits of learning and +philosophy are to be gathered. The rise and progress of a generous +culture is the chief characteristic of the House of Chou. Besides +encouraging letters Wen-wang contributed much to the new literature. +He is known as a commentator in the _Yih-King_, "Book of Changes," +[Page 85] +pronounced by Confucius the profoundest of the ancient classics--a +book which he never understood. + +In theory there was under this and the preceding dynasty no private +ownership of land. The arable ground was laid out in plots of nine +squares, thus: + + ----------- +| | | | +| | | | +|---|---|---| +| | | | +| | | | +|---|---|---| +| | | | +| | | | + ----------- + +Eight of these were assigned to the people to cultivate for themselves; +and the middle square was reserved for the government and tilled +by the joint labour of all. The simple-hearted souls of that day +are said to have prayed that the rains might first descend on the +public field and then visit their private grounds. + +In later years this communistic scheme was found not to work perfectly, +owing, it is said, to the decay of public virtue. A statesman, named +Shangyang, converted the tenure of land into fee simple--a natural +evolution which was, however, regarded as quite too revolutionary +and earned for him the execrations of the populace. + +The charming simplicity of the above little diagram would seem +to have suggested the arrangement of fiefs in the state, in which +the irregular feudality of former times became moulded into a +symmetrical system. The sovereign state was in the centre; and those +of the feudal barons were ranged on the four sides in successive +rows. The central portion was designated _Chung Kwoh_, "Middle +Kingdom," a title which has come to be applied to the whole empire, +implying, of course, that all the nations of the earth are its +vassals. + +Laid out with the order of a camp and ruled with martial vigour, +the new state prospered for a few reigns. +[Page 86] +At length, however, smitten with a disease of the heart the members +no longer obeyed the behests of the head. Decay and anarchy are +written on the last pages of the history of the House of Chou. + +The martial king died young, leaving his infant heir under the +regency of his brother, the Duke of Chou. The latter, who inherited +the tastes and talents of Wen-wang, was avowedly the character which +the great Sage took for his pattern. With fidelity and ability he +completed the pacification of the state. The credit of that achievement +inured to his ward, who received the title of _Cheng-wang_, +"The Completer." + +Accused of scheming to usurp the throne, the Duke resigned his +powers and withdrew from the court. The young prince, opening a +golden casket, found in it a prayer of his uncle, made and sealed +up during a serious illness of the King, imploring Heaven to accept +his life as a ransom for his royal ward. This touching proof of +devotion dispelled all doubt; and the faithful duke was recalled +to the side of the now full-grown monarch. + +Even during the minority of his nephew the Duke never entered his +presence in other than full court costume. On one occasion the +youthful king, playing with a younger brother, handed him a palm +leaf saying, "This shall be your patent of nobility. I make you +duke of such and such a place." The regent remonstrated, whereupon +the King excused himself by saying, "I was only in sport." The +Duke replied, "A king has no right to indulge in such sports," and +insisted that the younger lad receive the investiture and +[Page 87] +emoluments. He was also, it is said, so careful of the sacred person +that he never left on it the mark of his rod. When the little king +deserved chastisement, the guardian always called up his own son, +Pechin, and thrashed him soundly. One pities the poor fellow who +was the innocent substitute more than one admires the scrupulous +and severe regent. The Chinese have a proverb which runs, "Whip +an ass and let a horse see it." + +What shall be said of the successors of Cheng-wang? To account +for the meagre chronicles of previous dynasties one may invoke +the poverty of a language not yet sufficiently mature for the +requirements of history; but for the seeming insignificance of +the long line of Chous, who lived in the early bloom, if not the +rich fruitage, of the classic period, no such apology is admissible. + +Some there were, doubtless, who failed to achieve distinction because +they had no foreign foe to oppose, no internal rebellion to suppress. +Others, again, were so hampered by system that they had nothing +better to do than to receive the homage of vassals. So wearied +was one among them, Mu-wang, the fifth in succession, with those +monotonous ceremonies that he betook himself to foreign travel +as a relief from ennui, or perhaps impelled by an innate love of +adventure. He delighted in horses; and, yoking eight fine steeds +to his chariot, he set off to see the world. A book full of fables +professes to record the narrative of his travels. He had, it says, +a magic whip which possessed the property of compressing the surface +of the earth into a small space. To-day Chinese envoys, with steam and +[Page 88] +electricity at command, are frequently heard to exclaim: "Now at +last we have got the swift steeds and the magic whip of Mu-wang." + +Two other kings, Li and Yu, are pointed at with the finger of scorn +as examples of what a king ought not to be. The latter set aside +his queen and her son in favour of a concubine and her son; and +so offended was high heaven by this unkingly conduct that the sun +hid his face in a total eclipse. This happened 775 B. C.; and it +furnishes the starting-point for a reliable chronology. For her +amusement the king caused the signal-fires to be lighted. She laughed +heartily to see the great barons rush to the rescue and find it was +a false alarm; but she did not smile when, not long after this, +the capital was attacked by a real foe, the father of her injured +rival. The signal-fires were again lighted; but the barons, having +once been deceived by the cry of "Wolf," took care not to expose +themselves again to derision. + +The other king has not been lifted into the fierce light that beats +upon a throne by anything so tragic as a burning palace; but his +name is coupled with that of the former as a synonym of all that +is weak and contemptible. + +The story of the House of Chou is not to be disposed of in a few +paragraphs, like the accounts of the preceding dynasties, because +it was preeminently the formative period of ancient China; the age +of her greatest sages, and the birthday of poetry and philosophy. +I shall therefore devote a chapter to the sages and another to the +reign of anarchy before closing the Book of Chou. + + + + +[Page 89] +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SAGES OF CHINA + +_Confucius--Describes Himself as Editor, not Author--"Model Teacher +of All Ages"--Mencius--More Eloquent than his Great Master--Lao-tse, +the Founder of Taoism_ + +I shall not introduce the reader to all who justly bear the august +title of sage; for China has had more and wiser sages than any other +ancient country. Some of them may be referred to in the sequel; but +this chapter I shall devote chiefly to the two who by universal +consent have no equals in the history of the Empire--Confucius and +Mencius. These great men owe much of their fame to the learned +Jesuits who first brought them on the stage, clad in the Roman toga, +and made them citizens of the world by giving them the euphonious +names by which they are popularly known. Stripped of their disguise +they appear respectively as K'ung Fu-tse and Meng-tse. Exchanging +the _ore rotunda_ of Rome for the sibillation of China, they +never could have been naturalised as they are now. + + +CONFUCIUS + +Born in the year 549 B. C., Confucius was contemporaneous with +Isaiah and Socrates. Of a respectable but not opulent family he +had to struggle for his +[Page 90] +education--a fact which in after years he was so far from concealing +that he ascribed to it much of his success in life. To one who +asked him, "How comes it that you are able to do so many things," +he replied, "I was born poor and had to learn." His schoolmasters +are unknown; and it might be asked of him, as it was of a greater +than Confucius, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" + +Of his self-education, which continued through life, he gives the +following concise account: "At fifteen I entered on a life of study; +at thirty I took my stand as a scholar; at forty my opinions were +fixed; at fifty I knew how to judge and select; at sixty I never +relapsed into a known fault; at seventy I could follow my inclinations +without going wrong." Note how each stage marks an advance towards +moral excellence. Mark also that this passage gives an outline +of self-discipline. It says nothing of his books or of his work +as a statesman and a reformer. + +He is said to have had, first and last, three thousand disciples. +Those longest under instruction numbered twelve. They studied, not +with lectures and textbooks, as in modern schools, but by following +his footsteps and taking the impress of his character, much as +Peter and John followed the steps and studied the life of Christ. +Some of them followed Confucius when, bent on effecting a political +as well as an ethical reform, he travelled from court to court +among the petty principalities. They have placed it on record that +once, when exposed to great peril, he comforted them by saying, +"If Heaven has made me the depositary of these teachings, what +can my enemies do against +[Page 91] +me?" Nobly conscious of a more than human mission, so pure were +his teachings that, though he taught morals, not religion, he might +fairly, with Socrates, be allowed to claim a sort of inspiration. + +The one God, of whom he knew little, he called Heaven, and he always +spoke of Heaven with the profoundest reverence. When neglected or +misunderstood he consoled himself by saying, "Heaven knows me." +During a serious illness a disciple inquired if he should pray for +him, meaning the making of offerings at some temple. Confucius +answered, "I have long prayed," or "I have long been in the habit +of praying." + +In letters he described himself as an "editor, not an author," +meaning that he had revised the works of the ancients, but had +published nothing of his own. Out of their poetry he culled three +hundred odes and declared that "purity of thought" might be stamped on +the whole collection. Into a confused mass of traditional ceremonies +be brought something like order, making the Chinese (if a trifle too +ceremonious) the politest people on earth. Out of their myths and +chronicles he extracted a trustworthy history, and by his treatment +of vice he made princes tremble, lest their heads should be exposed +on the gibbet of history. He gave much time to editing the music +of the ancients, but his work in that line has perished. This, +however, cannot be regarded as a very great loss, in view of the rude +condition in which Chinese music is still found. However deficient +his knowledge of the art, his passion for music was extraordinary. +After hearing a fine performance "he was unable for +[Page 92] +three months to enjoy his food." A fifth task was the editing of +the _Yih-King_,[*] the book of divination compiled by Wen-wang. +How thoroughly he believed in it is apparent from his saying, "Should +it please Heaven to grant me five or ten years to study this book, +I would not be in danger of falling into great errors." He meant +that he would then be able to shape his conduct by the calculation +of chances. + +[Footnote *: This and the preceding are the Five Classics, which, +like the five books of Moses, lie at the root of a nation's religion +and learning.] + +Great as were his labours in laying the foundation of literary +culture, the impression made by his personal intercourse and by +his collected sayings has been ten-fold more influential. They form +the substance of the Four Books which, from a similar numerical +coincidence, the Chinese are fond of comparing with our Four Gospels. +Confucius certainly gives the Golden Rule as the essence of his +teaching. True, he puts it in a negative form, "Do not unto others +what you would not have them do to you"; but he also says, "My +doctrine is comprehended in two words, _chung_ and _shu_." +The former denotes fidelity; the latter signifies putting oneself +in the place of another, but it falls short of that active charity +which has changed the face of the world. + +It were easy to point out Confucius' limitations and mistakes; yet +on the whole his merits were such that his people can hardly be +blamed for the exaggerated honours which they show to his memory. +They style him the "model teacher of all ages," but they do not +invoke him as a tutelary deity, nor do they represent +[Page 93] +him by an image. Excessively honorific, their worship of Confucius +is not idolatry. + + +MENCIUS + +A hundred years later Mencius was born, and received his doctrine +through the grandson of the Sage. More eloquent than his great +master, more bold in rebuking the vices of princes, he was less +original. One specimen of his teaching must suffice. One of the +princes asking him, "How do you know that I have it in me to become +a good ruler?" he replied, "I am told that, seeing the extreme +terror of an ox that was being led to the altar, you released it +and commanded a sheep to be offered in its stead. The ox was before +your eyes and you pitied it; the sheep was not before your eyes +and you had no pity on it. Now with such a heart if you would only +think of your people, so as to bring them before your eyes, you +might become the best of rulers." + +Mencius lost his father in his infancy, but his mother showed rare +good sense in the bringing up of her only child. Living near a +butcher, she noticed that the boy mimicked the cries of the pigs. +She then removed to the gate of a cemetery; but, noticing that the +child changed his tune and mocked the wailing of mourners, she +struck her tent and took up her abode near a high school. There +she observed with joy that he learned the manners and acquired the +tastes of a student. Perceiving, however, that he was in danger +of becoming lazy and dilatory, she cut the warp of her web and +said, "My son, this is what you are doing with the web of life." + +[Page 94] +The tomb of each of these sages is in the keeping of one of his +descendants, who enjoys the emoluments of a hereditary noble. Mencius +himself says of the master whom he never saw, "Since men were born +on earth there has been no man like Confucius." + + +LAO-TSE + +I cannot close this chapter without a word or two on Lao-tse, the +founder of Taoism. He bore the family name of _Li_, "plum-tree," +either from the fact that his cottage was in a garden or possibly +because, like the Academics, he placed his school in a grove of +plum-trees. The name by which he is now known signifies "old master," +probably because he was older than Confucius. The latter is said +to have paid him a visit to inquire about rites and ceremonies; +but Lao-tse, with his love of solitude and abstract speculation, +seems not to have exerted much influence on the mind of the rising +philosopher. In allusion to him, Confucius said, "Away from men +there is no philosophy--no _tao_." + +Less honoured by the official class, Lao-tse's influence with the +masses of China has been scarcely less than that of his younger +rival. Like the other two sages he, too, has to-day a representative, +who enjoys an official status as high priest of the Taoist sect. +Chang Tien-shi dwells in a stately palace on the summit of the +Tiger and Dragon Mountain, in Kiangsi, as the head of one of the +three religions. But, alas! the sublime teachings of the founder +of Taoism have degenerated into a contemptible mixture of jugglery +and witchcraft. + +[Page 95] +Not till five centuries later did Buddhism enter China and complete +the triad of religions--a triad strangely inharmonious; indeed one +can scarcely conceive of three creeds more radically antagonistic. + + + + +[Page 96] +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE WARRING STATES + +_Five Dictators--Diplomacy and Strategy--A Brave Envoy--Heroes +Reconciled--Ts'in Extinguishes the House of Chou_ + +In the first half of the Chou dynasty the machinery moved with +such regularity that Confucius could think of no form of government +more admirable, saying, "The policy of the future may be foretold +for a hundred generations--it will be to follow the House of Chou." +The latter half was a period of misrule and anarchy. + +Ambitions and jealousies led to petty wars. The King being too +feeble to repress them, these petty wars grew into vast combinations +like the leagues of modern Europe. Five of the states acquired at +different times such a preponderance that their rulers are styled +_Wu Pa_, the "five dictators." One of these, Duke Hwan of +western Shantung, is famous for having nine times convoked the +States-General. The dictator always presided at such meetings and +he was recognised as the real sovereign--as were the mayors of +the palace in France in the Merovingian epoch, or the shoguns in +Japan during the long period in which the Mikado was called the +"spiritual emperor." + +The legitimate sovereign still sat on his throne +[Page 97] +in the central state; but he complained that his only function was +to offer sacrifices. The Chinese dictatorship was not hereditary, +or the world might have witnessed an exact parallel to the duplicate +sovereignty in Japan, where one held the power and the other retained +the title for seven hundred years. + +In China the shifting of power from hand to hand made those four +centuries an age of diplomacy. Whenever some great baron was suspected +of aspiring to the leadership, combinations were formed to curb his +ambitions; embassies sped from court to court; and armies were +marshalled in the field. Envoys became noted for courage and cunning, +and generals acquired fame by their skill in handling large bodies +of soldiers. Diplomacy became an art, and war a science. + +An international code to control the intercourse of states began to +take shape; but the diplomat was not embarrassed by a multiplicity +of rules. In negotiations individual character counted for more than +it does at the present day; nor must it be supposed that in the +absence of our modern artillery there was no room for generalship. +On the contrary, as battles were not decided by the weight of metal, +there was more demand for strategy. + +All this was going on in Greece at this very epoch: and, as Plutarch +indulges in parallels, we might point to compeers of Themistocles +and Epaminondas. The cause which in the two countries led to this +state of things was the existence of a family of states with a +common language and similar institutions; but in the Asiatic empire +the theatre was vastly more extensive, +[Page 98] +and the operations in politics and war on a grander scale. + +To the honour of the Chinese it must be admitted that they showed +themselves more civilised than the Greeks. The Persian invasion +was provoked by the murder of ambassadors by the Athenians. Of +such an act there is no recorded instance among the warring states +of China. It was reserved for our own day to witness in Peking that +exhibition of Tartar ferocity. The following two typical incidents +from the voluminous chronicles of those times may be appropriately +presented here: + + +A BRAVE ENVOY + +The Prince of Ts'in, a semi-barbarous state in the northwest, answering +to Macedonia in Greece, had offered to give fifteen cities for +a kohinoor, a jewel belonging to the Prince of Chao (not Chou). +Lin Sian Ju was sent to deliver the jewel and to complete the +transaction. The conditions not being complied with, he boldly +put the jewel into his bosom and returned to his own state. That +he was allowed to do so--does it not speak as much for the morality +of Ts'in as for the courage of Lin? The latter is the accepted +type of a brave and faithful envoy. + + +HEROES RECONCILED + +Jealous of his fame, Lien P'o, a general of Chao, announced that he +would kill Lin at sight. The latter took pains to avoid a meeting. +Lien P'o, taxing him with cowardice, sent him a challenge, to which +Lin responded, "You and I are the pillars of our +[Page 99] +state. If either falls, our country is lost. This is why I have +shunned an encounter." So impressed was the general with the spirit +of this reply that he took a rod in his hand and presented himself +at the door of his rival, not to thrash the latter, but to beg +that he himself might be castigated. Forgetting their feud the two +joined hands to build up their native state much as Aristides and +Themistocles buried their enmity in view of the war with Persia. + +As the Athenian orators thundered against Macedon so the statesmen +of China formed leagues and counterplots for and against the rising +power of the northwest. The type of patient, shrewd diplomacy is Su +Ts'in who, at the cost of incredible hardships in journeying from +court to court, succeeded in bringing six of the leading states +into line to bar the southward movement of their common foe. His +machinations were all in vain, however; for not only was his ultimate +success thwarted by the counterplots of Chang Yee, an equally able +diplomatist, but his reputation, like that of Parnell in our own +times, was ruined by his own passions. The rising power of Ts'in, +like a glacier, was advancing by slow degrees to universal sway. In +the next generation it absorbed all the feudal states. Chau-siang +subjugated Tung-chou-Kiun, the last monarch of the Chou dynasty, and +the House of Chou was exterminated by Chwang-siang, who, however, +enjoyed the supreme power for only three years (249-246 B. C). + + + + +[Page 100] +CHAPTER XIX + +THE HOUSE OF TS'IN, 246-206 B. C. + +(2 Emperors) + +_Ts'in Shi-hwang-ti, "Emperor First"--The Great Wall--The Centralised +Monarchy--The title Hwang-ti--Origin of the name China--Burning +of the Books--Expedition to Japan--Revolution Places the House +of Han on the Throne_ + +"Viewed in the light of philosophy," says Schiller, "Cain killed +Abel because Abel's sheep trespassed on Cain's cornfield." From +that day to this farmers and shepherds have not been able to live +together in peace. A monument of that eternal conflict is the Great +Wall of China. Like the Roman Wall in North Britain, to compare +great things with small, its object was not to keep out the Tartars +but to reenforce the vigilance of the military pickets. That end +it seems to have accomplished for a long time. It was, the Chinese +say, the destruction of one generation and the salvation of many. +We shall soon see how it came to be a mere geographical expression. +For our present purpose it may also be regarded as a chronological +landmark, dividing ancient from mediaeval China. + +With the House of Chou the old feudal divisions disappeared forever. +The whole country was brought +[Page 101] +under the direct sway of one emperor who, for the first time in +the history of the people, had built up a dominion worthy of that +august title. This was the achievement of Yin Cheng, the Prince +of Ts'in. He thereupon assumed the new style of Hwang-ti. Hwangs +and Tis were no novelty; but the combination made it a new coinage +and justified the additional appellation of "the First," or +Shi-hwang-ti. Four imperishable monuments perpetuate his memory: +the Great Wall, the centralised monarchy, the title _Hwang-ti_, +and the name of China itself--the last derived from a principality +which under him expanded to embrace the empire. Where is there +another conqueror in the annals of the world who has such solid +claims to everlasting renown? Alexander overthrew many nations; +but he set up nothing permanent. Julius Caesar instituted the Roman +Empire; but its duration was ephemeral in comparison with that +of the empire founded by Shi-hwang-ti, the builder of the Wall. + +Though Shi-hwang-ti completed it, the wall was not the work of +his reign alone. Similarly the triumphs of his arms and arts were +due in large measure to his predecessors, who for centuries had +aspired to universal sway. Conscious of inferiority in culture, +they welcomed the aid and rewarded the services of men of talent +from every quarter. Some came as penniless adventurers from rival +or hostile states and were raised to the highest honours. + +Six great chancellors stand conspicuous as having introduced law +and order into a rude society, and paved the way for final success. +Every one of these was a "foreigner." The princes whom they served +[Page 102] +deserve no small praise for having the good sense to appreciate them +and the courage to follow their advice. Of some of these it might +be said, as Voltaire remarked of Peter the Great, "They civilised +their people, but themselves were savages." The world forgets how +much the great czar was indebted for education and guidance to Le +Fort, a Genevese soldier of fortune. Pondering that history one +is able to gauge the merits of those foreign chancellors, perhaps +also to understand what foreigners have done for the rulers of +China in our day. + +Shi-hwang-ti was the real founder of the Chinese Empire. He is one +of the heroes of history; yet no man in the long list of dynasties +is so abused and misrepresented by Chinese writers. They make him +a bastard, a debauchee, and a fool. To this day he is the object +of undying hatred to every one who can hold a pen. Why? it may +be asked. Simply because he burned the books and persecuted the +disciples of Confucius. Those two things, well-nigh incredible +to us, are to the Chinese utterly incomprehensible. + +Li-Sze, a native of Yen, was his chancellor, a genius more daring +and far-sighted than any of the other five. The welding together +of the feudal states into a compact unity was his darling scheme, +as it was that of his master. "Never," he said, "can you be sure +that those warring states will not reappear, so long as the books +of Confucius are studied in the schools; for in them feudalism is +consecrated as a divine institution." "Then let them be burned," +said the tyrant. + +The adherents of the Sage were ejected from the +[Page 103] +schools, and their teachings proscribed. This harsh treatment and +the search for their books naturally gave rise to counterplots. +"Put them to death," said the tyrant; and they went to the block, +not like Christian marytrs for religious convictions, but like the +Girondists of France for political principles. Their followers +offer the silly explanation that the books were destroyed that the +world might never know that there had been other dynasties, and +the scholars slaughtered or buried alive to prevent the reproduction +of the books. + +The First Hwang-ti did not confine his ambition to China. He sent +a fleet to Japan; and those isles of the Orient came to view for +the first time in the history of the world. The fleet carried, +it is said, a crew of three thousand lads and lasses. It never +returned; but the traditions of Japan affirm that it arrived, and +the islanders ascribe their initiation into Chinese literature +to their invasion by that festive company--a company not unlike +that with which Bacchus was represented as making the conquest +of India. Their further acquaintance with China and its sages was +obtained through Korea, which was long a middle point of communication +between the two countries. It was, in fact, from the Shantung +promontory, near to Korea, that this flotilla of videttes was +dispatched. + +What was the real object of that strange expedition? Chinese authors +assert that it was sent in search of the "elixir of life," but do +they not distort everything in the history of the First Hwang-ti? +The great monarch was, in fact, a devout believer in the fables +of Taoism, among which were stories of the Islands of +[Page 104] +the Blest, and of a fountain of immortality, such as eighteen centuries +later stimulated the researches of Ponce de Leon. The study of +alchemy was in full blast among the Chinese at that time. It probably +sprang from Taoism; but, in my opinion, the ambitious potentate, +sighing for other worlds to conquer, sent that jolly troop as the +vanguard of an army. + +In spite, however, of elixirs of life and fountains of youth, death +put an end to his conquests when he had enjoyed the full glories of +imperial power for only twelve years. His son reigned two years; +and the first of the imperial dynasties came to an end--overturned +by a revolution which placed the House of Han on the vacant throne. + + + + +[Page 105] +CHAPTER XX + +THE HOUSE OF HAN, 206--B. C.--220 A. D. + +(24 Emperors, 2 Usurpers) + +_Liu-pang Founds Illustrious Dynasty--Restoration of the Books--A +Female Reign--The Three Religions--Revival of Letters--Sze-ma Ts'ien, +the Herodotus of China--Conquests of the Hans_ + +The burning of the books and the slaughter of the scholars had +filled the public mind with horror. The oppressions occasioned by +the building of the Great Wall had excited a widespread discontent; +and Liu-pang, a rough soldier of Central China, took advantage of +this state of things to dispossess the feeble heir of the tyrant. +He founded a dynasty which is reckoned among the most illustrious +in the annals of the Empire. It takes the name of Han from the +river on the banks of which it rose to power. When Liu-pang was +securely seated on the throne one of his ministers proposed that he +should open schools and encourage learning. "Learning," exclaimed +the Emperor, "I have none of it myself, nor do I feel the need +of it. I got the empire on horseback." "But can you govern the +empire on horseback? That is the question," replied the minister. To +conciliate the favour of the learned, the Emperor not only rescinded +the persecuting edicts, but caused search to be made for +[Page 106] +the lost books, and instituted sacrificial rites in honour of the +Sage. + +Old men were still living who had committed those books to memory +in boyhood. One such, Fu-seng by name, was noted for his erudition; +and from his capacious memory a large portion of the sacred canon +was reproduced, being written from his dictation. The copies thus +obtained were of course not free from error. Happily a somewhat +completer copy, engraved on bamboo tablets, was discovered in the +wall of a house belonging to the Confucian family. Yet down to +the present day the Chinese classics bear traces of the tyrant's +fire. Portions are wanting and the lacunae are always ascribed to +the "fires of Ts'in." The first chapter of the Great Study closes +with the pregnant words, "The source of knowledge is in the study +of things." Not a syllable is added on that prolific text. A note +informs the reader that there was a chapter on the subject, but that +it has been lost. Chinese scholars, when taxed with the barrenness +of later ages in every branch of science, are wont to make the +naive reply, "Yes, and no wonder--how could it be otherwise when +the Sage's chapter on that subject has been lost?" + +After the second reign, that of Hwei-ti, we have the first instance +in Chinese history of a woman seizing the reins of government. +The Empress Lu made herself supreme, and such were her talents +that she held the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years. +Like Jezebel she "destroyed all the seed royal," and filled the +various offices with her kindred and favourites. At her death they +were butchered without +[Page 107] +mercy, and a male heir to the throne was proclaimed. His posthumous +title _Wen-ti_, meaning the "learned" or "patron of letters," +marks the progress made by the revival of learning. + +One might imagine that these literary emperors would have been +satisfied with the recovery of the Confucian classics; but no, a +rumour reached them that "there are sages in the West." The West +was India. An embassy was sent, 66 A. D., by Ming-ti to import +books and bonzes. The triad of religions was thus completed. + +Totally diverse in spirit and essence, the three religions could +hardly be expected to harmonise or combine. Confucianism exalts +letters, and lays stress on ethics to the neglect of the spiritual +world. Taoism inculcates physical discipline; but in practice it +has become the mother of degrading superstition--dealing in magic +and necromancy. Buddhism saps the foundations of the family and +enjoins celibacy as the road to virtue. Metempsychosis is its leading +doctrine, and to "think on nothing" its mental discipline. It forbids +a flesh diet and deprecates scholarship. Through imperial patronage +it acquired a footing in China, but it was long before it felt at +home there. As late as the eighth century Han Yu, the greatest +writer of the age, ridiculed the relics of Buddha and called on +his people to "burn their books, close their temples, and make +laity of their monks." + +Yet Buddhism seems to have met a want. It has fostered a sympathy +for animal life, and served as a protest against the Sadducean tenets +of the lettered class. It long ago became so rooted in the minds of +[Page 108] +the illiterate, who form nine-tenths of the population, that China +may be truly described as the leading Buddhist country of the globe.[*] + +[Footnote *: THE APOTHEOSIS OF MERCY + +A LEGEND OF KUANYIN PUSA--IN NORTHERN BUDDHISM + + Two images adorn this mountain shrine, + Not marble chiselled out by Grecian art, + But carved from wood with Oriental skill. + In days of yore adored by pilgrim throngs, + They languish now without a worshipper. + + High up a winding flight of stony steps + See Gautama upon his lotus throne! + More near the gate, her lovely face downcast, + Sits Mercy's Goddess, pity in her eye, + To greet the weary climbers and to hear + Their many-coloured tales of woe and want. + + The Buddha, in sublime repose, sees not + His prostrate worshippers; and they to him + No prayer address, save hymns of grateful praise.[1] + 'Twas he who for a blinded world sought out + The secret of escape from misery; + The splendour of a royal court resigned, + He found in poverty a higher realm! + Yet greater far the victory, when he broke + The chain of Fate and spurned the wheel of change. + To suffering humanity he says, + "Tread in my steps: You, too, may find release." + +[Footnote 1: Such as _Om mani padmi hum_ ("O the jewel in the lotus")] + + Like him, the Pusa was of princely birth, + But not like him did she forsake a throne, + Nor yet like him did she consent to see + Nirvana's pearly gates behind her close. + A field for charity her regal state. + Her path with ever-blooming flowers she strewed, + Her sympathy to joy a relish gave, + To sorrows manifold it brought relief, + Forgetting self she lived for others' weal + Till higher than Meru her merit rose.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Mt. Meru, the Indian Olympus.] + + At length a Voice celestial smote her ear. + "Nirvana's portal to thee open stands, + The crown of Buddhaship is thine by right. + No wave of care that shore can ever reach, + No cry of pain again thine ear assail; + But fixed in solitary bliss thou'lt see + The circling ages rolling at thy feet!" + + "Shall I then have no tidings of mankind? + Such heaven a throne of glittering ice would be. + That changeless bliss to others thou may'st give. + Happiest am I th' unhappy to upraise. + Oh for a thousand hands[3] the task to ply! + To succour and relieve be mine," she said, + "Bought though it be by share of suffering. + Turn then the wheel,[4] and back to earth again." + +[Footnote 3: She is often so represented, as the symbol of present +Providence.] + +[Footnote 4: _Lunhui_, the wheel of destiny, within which birth +and death succeed without end or interval.] + + From out the blue came down the Voice once more: + "Thy great refusal wins a higher prize; + A kingdom new thy charity hath gained.[5] + And there shalt thou, the Queen of Mercy, reign, + Aloof from pain or weakness of thine own, + With quickened sense to hear and power to save." + +[Footnote 5: She escapes the wheel, but remains on the border of +Nirvana, where, as her name signifies, she "hears the prayers of +men."] + + Fair image thou! Almost I worship thee, + Frail shadow of a Christ that hears and feels! + + W. A. P. M. + +PEARL GROTTO, NEAR PEKING, August 8, 1906.] + +Buddhist monasteries are to be seen on every hand. They are often +subsidised by the state; and even at the tomb of Confucius a temple was +erected called the "Hall of the Three Religions." In it the image of +[Page 109] +Buddha is said to have occupied the seat of honour, but prior to +the date of my visit it had been demolished. + +Each of these religions has a hierarchy: that of Confucius with +a lineal descendant of the Sage at its head; that of Lao-tse with +Chang Tien-shi, the arch-magician, as its high priest; and, higher +than all, that of Buddha with the Grand Lama of Tibet. + +Under the house of Han a beginning was made in the institution +of civil service examinations--a system which has continued to +dominate the Chinese intellect down to our time; but it was not +fully developed until the dynasty of T'ang. Belles-lettres made +a marked advance. The poetry of the period is more finished +[Page 110] +than that of the Chous. Prose composition, too, is vigorous and +lucid. The muse of history claims the place of honour. Sze-ma Ts'ien, +the Herodotus of China, was born in this period. A glory to his +country, the treatment Sze-ma Ts'ien received at the hands of his +people exposes their barbarism. He had recommended Li Ling as a +suitable commander to lead an expedition against the Mongols. Li +Ling surrendered to the enemy, and Sze-ma Ts'ien, as his sponsor, was +liable to suffer death in his stead. Being allowed an alternative, +he chose to submit to the disgrace of emasculation, in order that he +might live to complete his monumental work--a memorial better than +sons and daughters. A pathetic letter of the unfortunate general, +who never dared to return to China, is preserved amongst the choice +specimens of prose composition. + +Not content with the Great Wall for their northern limit nor with +the "Great River" for their southern boundary, the Hans attempted to +advance their frontiers in both directions. In the north they added +the province of Kansuh, and in the other direction they extended +their operations as far south as the borders of Annam; but they +did not make good the possession of the whole of the conquered +territory. Szechuen and Hunan were, however, added to their domain. +The latter seems to have served as a penal colony rather than an +integral portion of the Empire. A poem by Kiayi, an exiled statesman +(200 B. c.), is dated from Changsha, its capital.[*] + +[Footnote *: See "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +Martin.] + +In the south the savage tribes by which the Chinese +[Page 111] +were opposed made a deep impression on the character of the people, +but left no record in history. Not so with the powerful foe encountered +in the north. Under the title of Shanyu, he was a forerunner of +the Grand Khan of Tartary--claiming equality with the emperors of +China and exchanging embassies on equal terms. His people, known +as the Hiunghu, are supposed to have been ancestors of the Huns. + + + + +[Page 112] +CHAPTER XXI + +THE THREE KINGDOMS, THE NAN-PEH CHAO, AND THE SUI DYNASTY, 214-618 +A. D. + +_The States of Wei, Wu, and Shuh--A Popular Historical +Romance--Chu-koh Liang, an Inventive Genius--The "three P's," Pen, +Paper, Printing--The Sui Dynasty_ + +After four centuries of undisputed sway, the sceptre is seen ready +to fall from the nerveless hands of feeble monarchs. Eunuchs usurp +authority, and the hydra of rebellion raises its many heads. Minor +aspirants are easily extinguished; but three of them survive a +conflict of twenty years, and lay the foundation of short-lived +dynasties. + +The noble structure erected by the Ts'ins and consolidated by the +Hans began to crumble at the beginning of its fifth century of +existence. In 221 A. D. its fragments were removed to three cities, +each of which claimed to be the seat of empire. The state of Wei +was founded by Tsao Tsao, with its capital at Lo-yang, the seat +of the Hans. He had the further advantage, as mayor of the palace, +of holding in his power the feeble emperor Hwan-ti, the last of the +house of Han. The state of Wu, embracing the provinces of Kiangsu, +Kiangsi, and Chehkiang, was established by Siun Kien, a man of +distinguished ability +[Page 113] +who secured his full share of the patrimony. The third state was +founded by Liu Pi, a scion of the imperial house whose capital +was at Chingtu-fu in Szechuen. The historian is here confronted +by a problem like that of settling the apostolic succession of +the three popes, and he has decided in favour of the last, whom +he designates the "Later Han," mainly on the ground of blood +relationship. + +Authority for this is found in the dynastic history; but reference +may also be made to a romance which deals with the wars of those +three states. Composed by Lo Kwan-chung and annotated by Kin Sheng +Tan, it is the most popular historical novel in the whole range +of Chinese literature. Taking the place of a national epic, its +heroes are not of one type or all on one side, but its favourites +are found among the adherents of Liu Pi. It opens with a scene +in which Liu, Kwan, and Chang, like the three Tells on Gruetli, +meet in a peach-garden and take vows of brotherhood--drinking of a +loving-cup tinged with the blood of each and swearing fidelity to +their common cause. Of the three brothers the first, Liu Pi, after +a long struggle, succeeds in founding a state in western China. The +second, Kwan Yue, is the beau-ideal of patriotic courage. In 1594 he +was canonised as the god of war. The gifted author has, therefore, +the distinction, beyond that of any epic poet of the West, of having +created for his countrymen their most popular deity. Chang-fi, the +youngest of the three brothers, is the inseparable henchman of +the Chinese Mars. He wields a spear eighteen feet in length with +a dash and impetuosity which no enemy is able to withstand. + +[Page 114] +Other characters are equally fixed in the public mind. Tsao Tsao, +the chief antagonist of Liu Pi, is not merely a usurper: he is a +curious compound of genius, fraud, and cruelty. Another conspicuous +actor is Lue Pu, an archer able to split a reed at a hundred paces, +and a horseman who performs prodigies on the field of battle. He +begins his career by shooting his adopted father, like Brutus perhaps, +not because he loved Tung Choh less, but China more. + +All these and others too numerous to mention may be seen any day +on the boards of the theatre, an institution which, in China at +least, serves as a school for the illiterate.[*] + +[Footnote *: The stage is usually a platform on the open street +where an actor may be seen changing his role with his costume, +now wearing the mask of one and then of another of the contending +chieftains, and changing his voice, always in a falsetto key, to +produce something like variety.] + +Liu Pi succeeds, after a struggle of twenty years, in establishing +himself in the province of Szechuen; but he enjoys undisturbed dominion +in his limited realm for three years only, and then transmits his +crown to a youthful son whom he commends to the care of a faithful +minister. The youth when an infant has been rescued from a burning +palace by the brave Chang-fi, who, wrapping the sleeping child in +his cloak and mounting a fleet charger, cut his way through the +enemy. On reaching a distant point the child was still asleep. +The witty annotator adds the remark, "He continued to sleep for +thirty years." + +The minister to whom the boy had been confided, Chu-koh Liang, +is the most versatile and inventive genius of Chinese antiquity. +As the founder of the house of Chou discovered in an old fisherman a +[Page 115] +counsellor of state who paved his way to the throne, so Liu Pi +found this man in a humble cottage where he was hiding himself in +the garb of a peasant, _San Ku Mao Lu_, say the Chinese. He +"three times visited that thatched hovel" before he succeeded in +persuading its occupant to commit himself to his uncertain fortunes. +From that moment Chu-koh Liang served him as eyes and ears, teeth +and claws, with a skill and fidelity which have won the applause +of all succeeding ages. Among other things, he did for Liu Pi what +Archimedes did for Dionysius. He constructed military engines that +appeared so wonderful that, as tradition has it "he made horses +and oxen out of wood." + +Entrusted by his dying master with the education of the young prince, +he has left two papers full of wise counsels which afford no little +help in drawing the line between fact and fiction. Unquestionably +Chu-koh Liang was the first man of his age in intellect and in such +arts and sciences as were known to his times. Yet no one invention +can be pointed to as having been certainly derived from Chu-koh +Liang. The author of the above-mentioned romance, who lived as +late as the end of the thirteenth century, constantly speaks of +his use of gunpowder either to terrify the enemy or to serve for +signals; but it is never used to throw a cannon-ball. It probably was +known to the Chinese of that date, as the Arab speaks of gunpowder +under the designation of "Chinese snow," meaning doubtless the +saltpetre which forms a leading ingredient. The Chinese had been +dabbling in alchemy for many centuries, and it is scarcely possible +that they +[Page 116] +should have failed to hit on some such explosive. It is, however, +believed on good authority that they never made use of cannon in +war until the beginning of the fifteenth century. + +There are, however, three other inventions or improvements of the +known arts, which deserve notice in this connection, namely, the +"three Ps"--pen, paper and printing--all preeminently instruments +of peaceful culture. The pen in China is a hair pencil resembling +a paint-brush. It was invented by Mung-tien in the third century +B. c. Paper was invented by Tsai Lun, 100 B. c., and printing by +Fungtao in the tenth century of the present era. What is meant +by printing in this case is, however, merely the substitution of +wood for stone, the Chinese having been for ages in the habit of +taking rubbings from stone inscriptions. It was not long before they +divided the slab into movable characters and earned for themselves +the honour of having anticipated Gutenberg and Faust. Their divisible +types were never in general use, however, and block printing continues +in vogue; but Western methods are rapidly supplanting both. + +The three states were reunited under the Tsin dynasty, 265 A. D. +This lasted for a century and a half and then, after a succession +of fifteen emperors, went down in a sea of anarchy, from the froth +of which arose more than half a score of contending factions, among +which four were sufficiently prominent to make for themselves a +place in history. Their period is described as that of the Nan-peh +Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms." The names of the principals +were Sung, Wei, Liang and Chin. The first +[Page 117] +only was Chinese, the others belonging to various branches of the +Tartar race. The chiefs of the Liang family were of Tibetan origin--a +circumstance which may perhaps account for their predilection for +Buddhism. The second emperor of that house, Wu Ti, became a Buddhist +monk and retired to a monastery where he lectured on the philosophy of +Buddhism. He reminds one of Charles the Fifth, who in his retirement +amused himself less rationally by repairing watches and striving, +in vain, to make a number of them keep identical time. + +It may be noted that behind these warring factions there is in +progress a war of races also. The Tartars are forever encroaching +on the Flowery Land. Repulsed or expelled, they return with augmented +force; and even at this early epoch the shadow of their coming +conquest is plainly visible. + +In the confused strife of North and South the preponderance is +greatly on the side of the Tartars. The pendulum of destiny then +begins to swing in the other direction. Yan Kien, a Chinese general +in the service of a Tartar principality, took advantage of their +divisions to rally a strong body of his countrymen by whose aid +he cut them off in detail and set up the Sui dynasty, The Tartars +have always made use of Chinese in the invasion of China; and if +the Chinese were always faithful to their own country no invader +would succeed in conquering them. + +Though the Sui dynasty lasted less than thirty years (589-618, +three reigns), it makes a conspicuous figure on account of two events: +(1) a victorious expedition in the north which reached the borders of +[Page 118] +Turkestan, and (2) the opening of canals between the Yellow River +and the Yang-tse Kiang. The latter enterprise only hastened the +fall of the house. It was effected by forced labour; and the +discontented people were made to believe, as their historians continue +to assert, that its chief object was to enable a luxurious emperor +to display his grandeur to the people of many provinces. We shall +see how the extension of those canals precipitated the overthrow +of the Mongols as we have already seen how the completion of the +Great Wall caused the downfall of the house of Ts'in. + +Yang-ti, the second emperor of the Sui dynasty, though not wanting +in energy, is notorious for his excesses in display and debauch. +He is reported to have hastened his accession to the throne by +the murder of his father. A peaceful end to such a reign would +have been out of keeping with the course of human events. Li Yuen, +one of his generals, rose against him, and he was assassinated +in Nanking. + +By wisdom and courage Li Yuen succeeded in setting up a new dynasty +which he called _T'ang_ (618 A. D.): After a long period of +unrest, it brought to the distracted provinces an era of unwonted +prosperity; it held the field for nearly three hundred years, and +surpassed all its predecessors in splendour. + + + + +[Page 119] +CHAPTER XXII + +THE T'ANG DYNASTY, 618-907 A. D. +(20 Emperors) + +_An Augustan Age--A Pair of Poets--The Coming of Christianity--The +Empress Wu--System of Examinations_ + +I have seen a river plunge into a chasm and disappear. After a +subterranean course of many miles it rose to the surface fuller, +stronger than before. No man saw from whence it drew its increment +of force, but the fact was undeniable. This is just what took place +in China at this epoch. + +It is comforting to know that during those centuries of turmoil the +Chinese were not wholly engrossed with war and rapine. The T'ang +dynasty is conspicuously the Augustan Age. Literature reappears +in a more perfect form than under the preceding reigns. The prose +writers of that period are to the present day studied as models +of composition, which cannot be affirmed of the writers of any +earlier epoch. Poetry, too, shone forth with dazzling splendour. +A galaxy of poets made their appearance, among whom two particular +stars were Tufu and Lipai, the Dryden and Pope of Chinese literature. + +The following specimen from Lipai who is deemed the highest poetical +genius in the annals of China, may +[Page 120] +show, even in its Western dress, something of his peculiar talent: + + ON DRINKING ALONE BY MOONLIGHT[*] + + Here are flowers and here is wine, + But where's a friend with me to join + Hand in hand and heart to heart + In one full cup before we part? + + Rather than to drink alone, + I'll make bold to ask the moon + To condescend to lend her face + The hour and the scene to grace. + + Lo, she answers, and she brings + My shadow on her silver wings; + That makes three, and we shall be. + I ween, a merry company + + The modest moon declines the cup, + But shadow promptly takes it up, + And when I dance my shadow fleet + Keeps measure with my flying feet. + + But though the moon declines to tipple + She dances in yon shining ripple, + And when I sing, my festive song, + The echoes of the moon prolong. + + Say, when shall we next meet together? + Surely not in cloudy weather, + For you my boon companions dear + Come only when the sky is clear. + +[Footnote *: From "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P. +MARTIN.] + +The second emperor, Tai-tsung, made good his claims by killing +two of his brothers who were plotting against him. Notwithstanding +this inauspicious beginning +[Page 121] +he became an able and illustrious sovereign. The twenty-three years +during which he occupied the throne were the most brilliant of +that famous dynasty. + +At Si-ngan in Shensi, the capital of the T'angs, is a stone monument +which records the introduction of Christianity by Nestorians from +Syria. Favoured by the Emperor the new faith made considerable +headway. For five hundred years the Nestorian churches held up +the banner of the Cross; but eventually, through ignorance and +impurity, they sank to the level of heathenism and disappeared. +It is sad to think that this early effort to evangelise China has +left nothing but a monumental stone. + +At the funeral of Tai-tsung his successor, Kao-tsung, saw Wu, one +of his father's concubines, who pleased him so much that, contrary +to law, he took her into his own harem. Raised to the rank of empress +and left mother of an infant son, she swayed the sceptre after +Kao-tsung's death for twenty-one years. Beginning as regent she +made herself absolute. + +A system of civil service examinations which had sprung up with +the revival of learning under the Hans was now brought to maturity. +For good or for evil it has dominated the mind of the Empire for +twelve centuries. Now, however, the leaders of thought have begun +to suspect that it is out of date. The new education requires new +tests; but what is to hinder their incorporation in the old system? +To abolish it would be fraught with danger, and to modify it is +a delicate task for the government of the present day. + +That the scholar should hold himself in readiness +[Page 122] +to serve the state no less than the soldier was an acknowledged +principle. It was reserved for the statesmen of T'ang to make it +the mainspring of the government. To them belongs the honour of +constructing a system which would stimulate literary culture and +skim the cream of the national talent for the use of the state. +It had the further merit of occupying the minds of ambitious youth +with studies of absorbing interest, thus diverting them from the +dangerous path of political conspiracy. + +Never was a more effective patronage given to letters. Without +founding or endowing schools the state said: "If you acquire the +necessary qualifications, we shall see that your exertions are +duly rewarded. Look up to those shining heights--see the gates +that are open to welcome you, the garlands that wait to crown your +triumphant course!" + +Annual examinations were held in every country; and the degree +of S. T. (_Siu-tsai_), equivalent to A. B., was conferred on +3 per cent. of the candidates. To fail was no disgrace; to have +entered the lists was a title to respect. Once in three years the +budding talent of the province convened in its chief city to compete +for the second degree. This was H. L. (_Hiao Lien_, "Filial +and Honest"), showing how ethical ideas continued to dominate the +literary tribunals. It is now _Chu-jin_, and denotes nothing +but promotion or prize man. The prize, a degree answering to A. +M., poetically described as a sprig of the _Olea fragrans_, +was the more coveted as the competitors were all honour men of the +first grade, and it was limited to one in a hundred. Its immediate +effect is such social +[Page 123] +distinction that it is said poor bachelors are common, but poor +masters are rare. + +If the competition stopped here it would be an Olympic game on a +grander scale. But there are loftier heights to be climbed. The +new-made masters from all the provinces proceed to the imperial +capital to try their strength against the assembled scholars of +the Empire. Here the prizes are three in a hundred. The successful +student comes forth a Literary Doctor--a _Tsin-shi_, "fit for +office." To all such is assured a footing, high or low, on the +official ladder. + +But another trial remains by which those who are good at the high +leap may at a single bound place themselves very near the top. +This final contest takes place in the palace--nominally in the +presence of the Emperor, and the questions are actually issued +by him. Its object is to select the brightest of the doctors for +chairs in the Hanlin Academy--an institution in which the humblest +seat is one of exalted dignity. How dazzling the first name on +that list! The _Chuang Yuen_ or senior wrangler takes rank +with governors and viceroys. An unfading halo rests on the place +of his birth. Sometimes in travelling I have seen a triumphal arch +proclaiming that "Here was born the laureate of the Empire." Such +an advertisement raises the value of real estate; and good families +congregate in a place on which the sun shines so auspiciously. +A laureate who lived near me married his daughter to a viceroy, +and her daughter became consort to the Emperor Tungchi. + +What then are the objections to a regulation which is so democratic +that it makes a nobleman of every +[Page 124] +successful scholar and gives to all the inspiration of equal +opportunity? They are, in a word, that it has failed to expand +with the growing wants of the people. The old curriculum laid down +by Confucius, "Begin with poetry; make etiquette your strong point; +and finish off with music," was not bad for his day, but is utterly +inadequate for ours, unless it be for a young ladies seminary. The +Sage's chapter on experiment as the source of knowledge--a chapter +which might have anticipated the _Novum Organum_--having been +lost, the statesmen of the T'ang period fell into the error of +leaving in their scheme no place for original research. This it +was that made the mind of China barren of discoveries for twelve +centuries. It was like putting a hood on the keen-eyed hawk and +permitting him to fly at only such game as pleased his master. + +The chief requirement was superficial polish in prose and verse. +The themes were taken exclusively from books, the newest of which +was at that time over a thousand years old. To broach a theory +not found there was fatal; and to raise a question in physical +science was preposterous. Had anyone come forward with a new machine +he might have been rewarded; but no such inventor ever came because +the best minds in the Empire were trained to trot blindfold on +a tread-mill in which there was no possibility of progress. Had +the mind of the nation been left free and encouraged to exert its +force, who can doubt that the country that produced the mariner's +compass might have given birth to a Newton or an Edison? + +After Wu none of the monarchs of this dynasty +[Page 125] +calls for notice. The last emperor was compelled to abdicate; and +thus, after a career of nearly three centuries bright with the +light of genius and prolific of usages good and bad that set the +fashion for after ages, this great house was extinguished. + + + + +[Page 126] +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE SUNG DYNASTY, 960-1280 A. D. +(18 Emperors) + +_The Five Philosophers--Wang Ngan-shi, Economist--The Kin Tartars--The +Southern Sungs--Aid of Mongols Invoked to Drive Out the Kins--Mongols +Exterminate Sungs_ + +On the fall of the house of T'ang, a score of factions contended for +the succession. During the fifty-three years preceding the establishment +of the Sungs, no less than five of them rose to temporary prominence +sufficient to admit of being dubbed a "dynasty." Collectively they +are spoken of as the "Five Dynasties" (907-960). + +Their names are without exception a repetition of those of former +dynasties, Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, Chou with the prefix +"Later"--suggesting that each claimed to be a lineal successor +of some previous imperial family. Their struggles for power, not +more instructive than a conflict of gladiators, are so devoid of +interest that the half-century covered by them may be passed over +as a blank. It may, however, be worth while to remind the reader +that as the House of Han was followed by the wars of the "Three +Kingdoms," and that of Ts'in by a struggle of North and South under +four states, so the House of T'ang was now +[Page 127] +succeeded by five short-lived "dynasties," with a mean duration of +scarcely more than ten years. The numerical progression is curious; +but it is more important to notice a historical law which native +Chinese writers deduce from those scenes of confusion. They state +it in this form: "After long union the empire is sure to be divided; +after long disruption it is sure to be reunited." + +So deep an impression has this historical generalisation made on +the public mind that if the empire were now to be divided between +foreign nations, as it has been more than once, the people would +confidently expect it to be reintegrated under rulers of their +own race. + +The undivided Sung dynasty held sway from 960 to 1127; that of +the southern Sungs from 1127 to 1280. The founder of the house was +Chao-kwang-yun, an able leader of soldiers and an astute politician. +So popular was he with his troops that they called him to the throne +by acclamation. He was drunk, it is said, when his new dignity was +announced, and he had no alternative but to wear the yellow robe +that was thrown on his shoulders. Undignified as was his debut, +his reign was one continued triumph. After a tenure of seventeen +years, he left his successor in possession of nearly the whole of +China Proper together with a fatal legacy of lands on the north. + +The two main features of the Sung period are the rise of a great +school of philosophy and the constant encroachment of the Tartars. The +two Chengs being brothers, the names of the five leading philosophers +fall into an alliterative line of four syllables, _Cheo, +[Page 128] +Cheng, Chang, Chu_. Acute in speculation and patient in research, +they succeeded in fixing the interpretation of the sacred books, +and in establishing a theory of nature and man from which it is +heresy to dissent. The rise of their school marks an intellectual +advance as compared with the lettered age of the T'angs. It was an +age of daring speculation; but, as constantly happens in China, +the authority of these great men was converted into a bondage for +posterity. The century in which they flourished (1020-1120) is +unique in the history of their country as the age of philosophy. +In Europe it was a part of the Dark Ages; and at that time the +Western world was convulsed by the Crusades. + +The most eminent of the five philosophers was Chu Fu-tse. Not the +most original, he collected the best thoughts of all into a system; +and his erudition was such that the whole range of literature was +his domain. Chu Hi, the Coryphaeus of mediaeval China, stands next +in honour after that incomparable pair, Confucius and Mencius. +Contemporary with the earlier members of this coterie appeared Wang +Ngan-shi, an economist, of rare originality. His leading principle +was the absorption by the state of all industrial enterprises--state +ownership of land, and in general a paternal system to supersede +private initiative. So charming was the picture presented in his +book "The Secret of Peace" (still extant) that the Emperor gave him +_carte blanche_ to put his theory into practice. In practical +life however it was a failure--perhaps because he failed to allow +for the strength or weakness of materials and instruments. His +book is a Chinese +[Page 129] +Utopia, nearly akin to those of Plato and Sir John More. + +In the northeast beyond the Wall were two Tartar kingdoms, one +of which was the Kin or "Golden Horde"--remote ancestors of the +Manchu dynasty. A constant menace to the settled population of the +"inner land," they obtained possession of Peking in 1118. For a +time they were kept at bay by a money payment which reminds one of +the _Danegeld_ paid by our forefathers to the sea-robbers of +northern Europe. Payments not being punctual, the Tartars occupied +portions of the northern provinces, and pushed their way as far south +as K'ai-fung-fu, the capital of the Empire. The Emperor retired +to Nanking, leaving in command his son, who, unable to resist the +Tartars, made a disgraceful peace. A heavy ransom was paid to avert +the sacking of the city; and all the region on the north of the +Yellow River passed under Tartar sway. + +Repenting of their hard bargain, the Chinese provoked a renewal +of hostilities, which resulted in a heavier downfall. The capital +surrendered after a severe siege, and the Emperor with his court +was carried into captivity. The next emperor acknowledged himself +a vassal of the Tartars; but peace on such conditions could not +be of long duration. An intermittent warfare was kept up for more +than a century, in the course of which Nanking was pillaged, and +the court fell back successively on Hangchow and Wenchow. When +there was no longer a place of safety on the mainland the wretched +fugitives sought refuge on an island. Fitting out a fleet the Tartars +continued the +[Page 130] +pursuit; but more used to horses than ships, the fleet was annihilated, +and the expiring dynasty obtained a new lease of life. + +This was about 1228. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors +had carried everything before them in the northwest. Thirsting for +revenge, the Chinese appealed for aid to this new power--and the +Mongols found an opportunity to bag two birds instead of one. As +a Chinese fable puts it: "A sea-bird failing to make a breakfast +on a shellfish was held in its grip until a fisherman captured +both." + +The Kins were driven back into Manchuria; and the Chinese without +asking leave of their allies reoccupied their old capital. But +the revival of the Sungs was no part of the Mongol programme. The +Sungs declining to evacuate K'ai-fung-fu and to cede to the Mongols +the northern half of the empire, the latter resolved on a war of +extermination. After a bitter struggle of fifteen years, the infant +emperor and his guardians again committed their fortunes to the sea. +The Mongols, more lucky than the other Tartars, were victorious +on water as well as on land; and the last scion of the imperial +house drowned himself to escape their fury (1280). + + + + +[Page 131] +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE YUEN OR MONGOL DYNASTY, 1280-1368 +(10 Emperors) + +_Kublai Khan--First Intercourse of China with Europe--Marco Polo--The +Grand Canal_ + +Parts of China had been frequently overrun by foreign conquerors; +but the Mongols were the first to extend their sway over the whole +country. The subjugation of China was the work of Kublai, grandson +of Genghis, who came to the throne in 1260, inheriting an empire +more extensive than Alexander or Caesar had dreamed of. In 1264 +the new khan fixed his court at Peking and proceeded to reduce the +provinces to subjection. Exhausted and disunited as they were the +task was not difficult, though it took fifteen years to complete. +Ambition alone would have been sufficient motive for the conquest, +but his hostility was provoked by perfidy--especially by the murder +of envoys sent to announce his accession. "Without good faith," +says Confucius, "no nation can exist." + +By the absorption of China the dominions of Kublai were made richer, +if not greater in extent, than those of his grandfather, while the +splendour of his court quite eclipsed that of Genghis Khan. + +Unknown to the ancient Romans, China was revealed to their mediaeval +successors by the Mongol +[Page 132] +conquest. In 1261 two Venetian merchants, Nicolo and Matteo Polo, +made their way to Bokhara, whence, joining an embassy from India, +they proceeded to Kublai's capital at Xanadu (or Shangtu) near +the site of Peking. They were the first white men the Grand Khan +had ever seen, and he seems to have perceived at once that, if not +of superior race, they were at least more advanced in civilisation +than his own people; for, besides intrusting them with letters to +the Pope, he gave them a commission to bring out a hundred Europeans +to instruct the Mongols in the arts and sciences of the West. + +In 1275 they returned to Peking without other Europeans, but accompanied +by Marco Polo, the son of Nicolo. They were received with more +honour than on their first visit, and the young man was appointed +to several positions of trust in the service of the monarch. After +a sojourn of seventeen years, the three Polos obtained permission +to join the escort of a Mongol princess who was going to the court +of Persia. In Persia they heard of the death of their illustrious +patron, and, instead of returning to China, turned their faces +homeward, arriving at Venice in 1295. + +Having been captured by the Genoese, Marco Polo while in prison +dictated his wonderful story. At first it was looked on as a romance +and caused its author to receive the sobriquet of "Messer Millione"; +but its general accuracy has been fully vindicated. + +The chief effect of that narrative was to fire the imagination +of another Italian and lead him by steering to the west to seek +a short cut to the Eldorado. +[Page 133] +How strange the occult connection of sublunary things! The Mongol +Kublai must be invoked to account for the discovery of America! +The same story kindled the fancy of Coleridge, in the following +exquisite fragment, which he says came to him in a vision of the +night: + + "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan + A stately pleasure-dome decree: + Where Alph, the sacred river, ran + Through caverns measureless to man, + Down to a sunless sea." + --_Kubla Khan._ + +Still another Italian claims mention as having made some impression +on the court of Kublai. This was Corvino, a missionary sent by the +Pope; but of his church, his schools, and his convents, there were +left no more traces than of his predecessors, the Nestorians. + +The glory of Kublai was not of long duration. The hardy tribes of +the north became enervated by the luxury and ease of their rich +patrimony. "Capua captured Hannibal." Nine of the founder's descendants +followed him, not one of whom displayed either vigour or statesmanship. + +Their power ebbed more suddenly than it rose. Shun-ti, the last +of the house, took refuge behind the Great Wall from the rising +tide of Chinese patriotism; and after a tenure of ninety years, +or of two centuries of fluctuating dominion, reckoning from the +rise of Genghis Khan, the Yuen dynasty came to an untimely end. + +The magnificent waterway, the Grand Canal, remains an imperishable +monument of the Mongol +[Page 134] +sway. As an "alimentary canal" it was needed for the support of +the armies that held the people in subjection; and the Mongols +only completed a work which other dynasties had undertaken. A +description of it from personal observation is given in Part I of +this work (page 31). It remains to be said that the construction +of the Canal, like that of the Great Wall, was a leading cause of +the downfall of its builders. Forced labour and aggravated taxation +gave birth to discontent; rebellion became rife, and the Mongols +were too effeminate to take active measures for its suppression. + + + + +[Page 135] +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MING DYNASTY, 1368-1644 A. D. +(16 Emperors) + +_Humble Origin of the Founder--Nanking and Peking as Capital--First +Arrival of European Ships--Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch +Traders--Arrival of Missionaries--Tragic End of the Last of the +Mings_ + +Humble as was the origin of the founder of the House of Han, spoken +of as _Pu-i_, "A peasant clothed in homespun," that of the +Father of the Mings was still more obscure. A novice or servant +(_sacrificulus_) in a Buddhist monastery, Chu Yuen Chang felt +called to deliver his people from oppression. At first regarded as +a robber chief, one of many, his rivals submitted to his leadership +and the people accepted his protection. Securing possession of +Nanking, a city of illustrious memories and strong natural defences, +he boldly proclaimed his purpose. After twenty years of blood and +strategy, he succeeded in placing the Great Wall between him and +the retreating Mongols. Proud of his victory he assumed for the +title of his reign _Hungwu_, "Great Warrior," and chose +_Ming_, "Luminous," for that of his dynasty. + +Leaving his son, the Prince of Yen, at Peking, to hold the Tartars +in check, Hungwu spent the remaining +[Page 136] +years of his reign at his original capital, and then left the sceptre +to his grandson. The Prince of Yen, uncle of the youthful emperor, +feeling the slight implied in his father's choice, raised an army +and captured Nanking. A charred corpse being shown to him as that +of the emperor, he caused it to be interred with becoming rites, +and at once assumed the imperial dignity, choosing for his reigning +title _Yungloh_, "Perpetual Joy." He also removed the seat of +government to Peking, where it has remained for five centuries. The +"Thesaurus of Yungloh," a digest of Chinese literature so extensive +as to form a library in itself, remains a monument to his patronage +of letters. + +A tragic episode in the history of the Mings was the capture of the +next emperor by the Mongols, who, however, failed to take Peking. +It was easier to make a new emperor than to ransom the captive. +His brother having been proclaimed, the Tartars sent their captive +back, hoping that a war between the brothers would weaken their +enemy. Retiring into private life he appeared to renounce his claim; +but after the death of his brother he once more occupied the throne. +What a theme for a romance! + +Great Britain was described by a Roman as "almost cut off from the +whole world" because it was not accessible by land. China had long +been cut off from the Western world because it was not accessible +by sea. The way to India was opened by Diaz and Gama in 1498; and +the first Portuguese ships appeared at Canton in 1511. Well-treated +at first, others came in greater numbers. Their armaments were so +formidable as to excite suspicion; and their +[Page 137] +acts of violence kindled resentment. Under these combined motives +a massacre of the foreign traders was perpetrated, and Andrade, a +sort of envoy at Peking, was thrown into prison and beheaded. The +trading-posts were abolished except at Macao, where the Portuguese +obtained a footing by paying an annual rent. + +After the Portuguese came the Spaniards, who appear to have been +satisfied with the Philippine archipelago, rather than provoke a +conflict with the Portuguese. The Chinese they had little reason +to dread, as the superiority of their arms would have enabled them +to seize portions of the seacoast, though not to conquer the Empire +as easily as they did the Mexicans and Peruvians. Perhaps, too, +they were debarred by the same authority which divided the Western +continent between the two Iberian powers. The Chinese becoming too +numerous at Manila, the Spaniards slaughtered them without mercy, +as if in retaliation for the blood of their cousins, or taking a +hint from the policy of China. + +In 1622 the Dutch endeavoured to open trade with China, but their +advances being rejected, doubtless through secret opposition from +the Portuguese, they seized the Pescadores, and later established +themselves on Formosa, whence they were eventually expelled by +Koxinga, a Chinese freebooter. + +The church founded by Corvino at Peking perished in the overthrow +of the Mongols. The Portuguese traders disapproved of missions, +as tending to impose restraint on their profligacy and to impart +to China the strength that comes from knowledge. The narrow +[Page 138] +policy of the Mings, moreover, closed the door against the introduction +of a foreign creed. Yet it is strange that half a century elapsed +before any serious attempt was made to give the Gospel to China. +In 1552 St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, arrived +at Macao. He and his fellow Jesuits were indirect fruits of the +Protestant Reformation--belonging to an order organised for the +purpose of upholding and extending the power of the Holy See. After +wonderful success in India, the Straits, and Japan, Xavier appeared +in Chinese waters, but he was not allowed to land. He expired on +the island of Shang-chuen or St. John's, exclaiming "O rock, rock, +when wilt thou open?" + +Ricci, who came in 1580, met with better success: but it cost him +twenty years of unceasing effort to effect an entrance to Peking. +Careful to avoid giving offence, and courtly in manners, his science +proved to be the master-key. Among the eminent men who favoured +his mission was Sue of Shanghai, whom he baptised by the name of +Paul. Not only did he help Ricci to translate Euclid for a people +ignorant of the first elements of geometry, but he boldly came to +the defence of missionaries when it was proposed to expel them. +His memorial in their favour is one of the best documents in the +defence of Christianity. Among the converts to the Christian faith +there are no brighter names than Paul Sue and his daughter Candida. + +The Ming dynasty compares favourably in point of duration with +most of the imperial houses that preceded it; but long before the +middle of its third century it began to show signs of decay. In Korea +[Page 139] +it came into collision with the Japanese, and emerged with more +credit than did its successor from a war with the same foe, which +began on the same ground three centuries later. In the northeast +the Mings were able to hold the Manchus at bay, notwithstanding +an occasional foray; but a disease of the heart was sapping the +vigour of the dynasty and hastening its doom. Rebellion became +rife; and two of the aspirants to the throne made themselves masters +of whole provinces. One depopulated Szechuen; the other ravaged +Shansi and advanced on Peking. Chungchen, the last of the Mings, +realising that all was lost, hanged himself in his garden on the +Palatine Hill, after stabbing his daughter, as a last proof of +paternal affection (1643). + + + + +[Page 140] +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE TA-TS'ING DYNASTY, 1644-- + +_The Manchus, Invited to Aid in Restoring Order, Seat their Own +Princes on the Throne--the Traitor, General Wu San-kwei--Reigns of +Shunchi and Kanghi--Spread of Christianity--A Papal Blunder--Yung-cheng +Succeeded by Kienlung, who Abdicates Rather than Reign Longer than +his Grandfather--Era of Transformation_ + +The Manchus had been preparing for some generations for a descent +on China. They had never forgotten that half the Empire had once +been in the possession of their forefathers, the Kin Tartars; and +after one or two abortive attempts to recover their heritage they +settled themselves at Mukden and watched their opportunity. It +came with the fall of the Mings. + +Wu San-kwei, a Chinese general whose duty it was to keep them in +bounds, threw open the gate of the Great Wall and invoked their +assistance to expel the successful rebel. His family had been +slaughtered in the fall of the capital; he thirsted for revenge, +and without doubt indulged the hope of founding a dynasty. The +Manchus agreed to his terms, and, combining their forces with his, +advanced on Peking. Feeling himself unable to hold the city, the +rebel chief burnt +[Page 141] +his palace and retreated, after enjoying the imperial dignity ten +days. + +General Wu offered to pay off his mercenaries and asked them to +retire beyond the Wall. Smiling at his simplicity, they coolly +replied that it was for him to retire or to enter their service. +It was the old story of the ass and the stag. An ass easily drove +a stag from his pasture-ground by taking a man on his back; but the +man remained in the saddle. Forced to submit, the General employed +his forces to bring his people into subjection to their hereditary +enemy. Rewarded with princely rank, and shielded by the reigning +house, he has escaped the infamy which he deserved at the hands of +the historians. A traitor to his country, he was also a traitor to +his new masters. He died in a vain attempt at counter-revolution. + +The new dynasty began with Shunchi, a child of six years, his uncle +the Prince Hwai acting as regent. Able and devoted, this great +man, whom the Manchus call Amawang, acquitted himself of his task +in a manner worthy of the model regent, the Duke of Chou. His task +was not an easy one. He had to suppress contending factions, to +conciliate a hostile populace, and to capture many cities which +refused to submit. In seven years he effected the subjugation of +the eighteen provinces, everywhere imposing the tonsure and the +"pigtail" as badges of subjection. Many a myriad of the Chinese +forfeited their heads by refusing to sacrifice their glossy locks; +but the conquest was speedy, and possession secure. + +The success of the Manchus was largely due to the fact that they +found the empire exhausted by internal +[Page 142] +strife and came as deliverers. The odium of overturning the Ming +dynasty did not rest on them. While at Mukden they had cultivated +the language and letters of the "Inner land" and they had before +them, for guidance or warning, the history of former conquests. + +They have improved on their predecessors, whether Kins or Mongols; +and with all their faults they have given to China a better government +than any of her native dynasties. + +Shunchi (1644-1662) passed off the stage at the age of twenty-four +and left the throne to a son, Kanghi (1662-1723), who became the +greatest monarch in the history of the Empire. During his long reign +of sixty-one years, Kanghi maintained order in his wide domain, +corrected abuses in administration, and promoted education for both +nationalities. It is notable that the most complete dictionary +of the Chinese language bears the imprimatur of Kanghi, a Tartar +sovereign. + +For his fame in the foreign world, Kanghi is largely indebted to +the learned missionaries who enjoyed his patronage, though he took +care to distinguish between them and their religion. The latter had +been proscribed by the regents, who exercised supreme power during +his minority. Their decree was never revoked; and persecution went on +in the provinces, without the least interference from the Emperor. +Still his patronage of missionaries was not without influence on +the status of Christianity in his dominions. It gained ground, and +before the close of his reign it had a following of over three hundred +thousand converts. Near the close of his reign he pointedly condemned +[Page 143] +the foreign faith, and commanded the expulsion of its propagators, +except a few, who were required in the Board of Astronomy. + +The favourable impression made by Ricci had been deepened by Schaal +and Verbiest. The former under Shunchi reformed the calendar and +obtained the presidency of the Astronomical Board. He also cast +cannon to aid the Manchu conquest. The latter did both for Kanghi, +and filled the same high post. Schaal employed his influence to +procure the building of two churches in Peking. Verbiest made use of +his to spread the faith in the provinces. The Church might perhaps +have gained a complete victory, had not dissensions arisen within her +own ranks. Dominicans and Franciscans entering the field denounced +their forerunners for having tolerated heathen rites and accepted +heathen names for God. After prolonged discussions and contradictory +decrees the final verdict went against the Jesuits. In this decision +the Holy See seems not to have been guided by infallible wisdom. + +Kanghi, whose opinion had been requested by the Jesuits, asserted +that by _Tien_ and _Shang-ti_ the Chinese mean the Ruler +of the Universe, and that the worship of Confucius and of ancestors +is not idolatry, but a state or family ceremony. By deciding against +his views, the Pope committed the blunder of alienating a great +monarch, who might have been won by a liberal policy. The prohibition +of the cult of ancestors--less objectionable in itself than the +worship of saints--had the effect of arming every household against +a faith that aimed to subvert their family altars. The dethronement +of _Shang-ti_ (a name accepted by +[Page 144] +most Protestant missionaries) and the substitution of _Tien Chu_, +could not fail to shock the best feelings of devout people. _Tien +Chu_, if not a new coinage, was given by papal fiat an artificial +value, equivalent to "Lord of all"--whereas it had previously headed +a list of divisional deities, such as Lord of Heaven, Lord of Earth, +Lord of the Sea, etc. + +What wonder that for two centuries Christianity continued to be a +prohibited creed! The ground thus lost by a papal blunder it has +never regained. The acceptance of _Tien_ and _Shang-ti_ +by Protestants might perhaps do something to retrieve the situation, +if backed by some form of respect for ancestors. + +Kanghi was succeeded by his son Yungcheng (1722-1736), who was +followed by Kienlung (1736-1796), during whose reign the dynasty +reached the acme of splendour. Under Kienlung, Turkestan was added to +the empire. The Grand Lama of Tibet was also enrolled as a feudatory; +but he never accepted the laws of China, and no doubt considered +himself repaid by spiritual homage. No territory has since been +added, and none lost, if we except the cession of Formosa to Japan +and of Hong Kong to Great Britain. The cessions of seaports to +other powers are considered as temporary leases. + +After a magnificent reign of sixty years, Kienlung abdicated in +favour of his fifth son, Kiak'ing, for the whimsical reason that +he did not wish to reign longer than his grandfather. In Chinese +eyes this was sublime. Why did they not enact a law that no man +should surpass the longevity of his father? + +As to Kiak'ing, who occupied the throne for twenty-four +[Page 145] +years, weak and dissolute is a summary of his character. + +The next four reigns came under the influence of new forces. They +belong to the era of transformation, and may properly be reserved +for Part III. + + + + +[Page 147] +PART III + +CHINA IN TRANSFORMATION + + + + +[Page 149] +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE OPENING OF CHINA, A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS--GOD IN HISTORY + +_Prologue--Act 1, the Opium War--(Note on the Taiping Rebellion)--Act +2, the "Arrow" War--Act 3, War with France--Act 4, War with Japan--Act +5, the Boxer War_ + +PROLOGUE + +If one were asked to name the most important three events that took +place in Asia in the last century, he could have no hesitation in +pointing to the extension of the Indian Empire and the renovation +of Japan as two of them. But where would he look for the third? +Possibly to some upheaval in Turkey, Persia, or Asiatic Russia. +In my opinion, however, China is the only country whose history +supplies the solution of the problem. The opening of that colossal +empire to unrestricted intercourse with other countries was not +a gradual evolution from within--it was the result of a series +of collisions between the conservatism of the extreme Orient and +the progressive spirit of the Western world. + +Each of those collisions culminated in a war, giving rise to a +cloud of ephemeral literature, in which a student might easily lose +his way, and which it would +[Page 150] +require the lifetime of an antediluvian to exhaust. I think, therefore, +that I shall do my readers a service if I set before them a concise +outline of each of those wars, together with an account of its causes +and consequences. Not only will this put them on their guard against +misleading statements; it will also furnish them with a syllabus of +the modern history of China in relation to her intercourse with +other nations. + +During the past seven decades the Chinese Empire has been no less +than five times in conflict with foreign powers; and on each occasion +her policy has undergone a modification more or less extensive. +Taking these five conflicts seriatim--without touching on those +internal commotions whose rise and fall resembles the tides of +the ocean--I shall ask my readers to think of the Flowery Land as +a stage on which, within the memory of men now living, a tragedy +in five acts has been performed. Its subject was the Opening of +China; and its first act was the so-called Opium War (1839-42). +Prior to 1839 the Central Empire, as the Chinese proudly call their +country, with a population nearly equal to that of Europe and America +combined, was hermetically sealed against foreign intercourse, +except at one point, viz., the "Factories" at Canton. + +This state of things is depicted with a few masterstrokes in a popular +work in Chinese entitled "Strange Stories of an Idle Student." The +first of these tales describes a traveller meeting in the mountains +an old man, in the costume of a former dynasty, whose family had +there sought a refuge from the anarchy that preceded the fall of +the imperial house. This +[Page 151] +old fellow had not even heard of the accession of the Manchu conquerors; +and though he was eager for information, he disappeared without +giving any clue to the Sleepy Hollow in which he was hiding. The +author no doubt intended a quiet satire on the seclusion of China, +that had nothing to ask of the outside world but to be let alone. + +Another of the sketches, which is no satire, but a cautionary +hint--perhaps an unconscious prophecy--is entitled "The Magic Carpet +of the Red-haired," a vulgar designation for Europeans, in contrast +with the Chinese, who style themselves the "Black-haired race." +During the former dynasty, it says, a ship arrived from some unknown +country, and those aboard desired to engage in commerce. Their +request was refused; but when they asked permission to dry their +goods on shore, requiring for that purpose no more ground than +they could cover with a carpet, their petition was readily granted. +The carpet was spread, and the goods were exposed to the sun; then, +taking the carpet by its four corners, they stretched it so that +it covered several acres. A large body of armed men then planted +themselves on it, and striking out in every direction took possession +of the country. This elastic carpet reminds one of Dido's bull's +hide, which covered space enough for the foundation of Carthage. + + +ACT 1. THE OPIUM WAR, 1839-1842 + +The Tartars, who began their conquest in 1644, were naturally suspicious +of other foreigners who had secured a foothold in India, where the +Great Mogul, a scion +[Page 152] +of their own race, still held nominal sway. The trading-posts, +which the Chinese emperors had permitted foreigners to open as +far north as Ningpo, were closed, and only one point of tangency +was allowed to remain--the above-mentioned Factories at Canton, a +spot, as we shall see, large enough to admit of the spreading of +a "magic carpet." Foreign trade was at that time insignificant, in +comparison with the enormous expansion which it has now attained. +It was mainly in the hands of the British, as it still continues to +be; and no small part of it consisted in opium from the poppy-fields +of India. Though under the ban of prohibition, this drug was smuggled +into every bay and inlet, with scarcely a pretence of concealment. +With the introduction of the vicious opium habit the British had +nothing to do; but they contrived to turn it to good account. + +The Emperor Tao Kwang, moved, it is said, by the unhappy fate of +one of his sons who had fallen a victim to the seductive poison, +resolved at all hazards to put a stop to a traffic so ruinous to +his people. Commissioner Lin, a native of Foochow, was transferred +from the viceroyalty of Wuchang to that of Canton and clothed with +plenary powers for the execution of this decree. To understand the +manner in which he undertook to execute the will of his master +it must be remembered that diplomatic intercourse had as yet no +existence in China, because she considered herself as sustaining +to foreign nations no other relation than that of a suzerain to +a vassal. Her mandarins scorned to hold direct communication with +any of the superintendents of foreign commerce--receiving +[Page 153] +petitions and sending mandates through the hong merchants, thirteen +native firms which had purchased a monopoly of foreign trade. + +In 1834 Lord Napier was appointed to the humble position of +superintendent of British trade in China, He arrived at Macao on +July 15 of that year, and announced his appointment by a letter to +the prefect, which was handed for transmission to the commander of +the city gate of Canton--a barrier which no foreigner was permitted +to pass. The letter was returned through the brokers without any +answer other than a line on the cover informing the "barbarian +eye" (consul) that the document was "tossed back" because it was +not superscribed with the character _pin_ (or _ping_), +which signifies a "humble petition." + +This was the beginning of sorrows for China as well as for poor +Napier, who, failing in his efforts to communicate with the mandarins +on equal terms, retired to the Portuguese settlement of Macao and +died of disappointment. The eminent American statesman, John Quincy +Adams, speaking in later years of the war that ensued, declared +that its cause was not opium but a _pin_, i. e., an insolent +assumption of superiority on the part of China. + +The irrepressible conflict provoked by these indignities was +precipitated in 1839 by the action of the new viceroy, who undertook +to effect a summary suppression of the traffic in opium. One morning +shortly after his arrival, the foreigners at Canton, who were always +locked up at night for their own safety, awoke to find themselves +surrounded by a body of soldiers and threatened with indiscriminate +[Page 154] +slaughter unless they surrendered the obnoxious drug, stored on +their opium hulks, at an anchorage outside the harbour. + +While they were debating as to what action to take, Captain Charles +Elliot, the new superintendent, came up from Macao and bravely insisted +on sharing the duress of his countrymen. Calling the merchants +together he requested them to surrender their opium to him, to be +used in the service of the Queen as a ransom for the lives of her +subjects, assuring them that Her Majesty's Government would take +care that they should be properly indemnified. Twenty thousand +chests of opium were handed over to the viceroy (who destroyed the +drug by mixing it with quicklime in huge vats); and the prisoners +were set at liberty. + +The viceroy fondly imagined that the incident was closed, and flattered +himself that he had gained an easier victory than he could have done +by sending his junks against the armed ships of the smugglers. +Little did he suspect that he had lighted a slow-match, that would +blow up the walls of his own fortress and place the throne itself +at the mercy of the "barbarian." + +A strong force was despatched to China to exact an indemnity, for +which the honour of the Crown had been pledged, and to punish the +Chinese for the cut-throat fashion in which they had sought to +suppress a prohibited trade. The proud city of Canton averted a +bombardment by paying a ransom of $6,000,000; islands and seaports +were occupied by British troops as far north as the River Yang-tse; and +Nanking, the ancient capital, was only saved from falling into their +[Page 155] +hands by the acceptance of such conditions of peace as Sir Henry +Pottinger saw fit to impose. + +Those conditions were astonishingly moderate for a conqueror who, +unembarrassed by the interests of other powers, might have taken +the whole empire. They were, besides payment for the destroyed +drug, the opening of five ports to British trade, and the cession +to Great Britain of Hong Kong, a rocky islet which was then the +abode of fishermen and pirates, but which to-day claims to outrank +all the seaports of the world in the amount of its tonnage. Not +a word, be it noted, about opening up the vast interior, not a +syllable in favour of legalising the opium traffic, or tolerating +Christianity. + +So much for the charge that this war, which bears a malodorous +name, was waged for the purpose of compelling China to submit to the +continuance of an immoral traffic. That a smuggling trade would go +on with impunity was no doubt foreseen and reckoned on by interested +parties; but it is morally certain that if the Chinese had understood +how to deal with it they might have rid themselves of the incubus +without provoking the discharge of another shot. + +Here ends the first act, in 1842; and in it I may claim a personal +interest from the fact that my attention was first turned to China +as a mission field by the boom of British cannon in the Opium War. + +China was not opened; but five gates were set ajar against her +will. For that she has to thank the pride and ignorance of emperor +and viceroy which betrayed them into the blunder of dealing with +British merchants as a policeman deals with pickpockets. For the first +[Page 156] +time in her history she was made aware of the existence of nations +with which she would have to communicate on a footing of equality. + +The moderation and forbearance of Pottinger in refraining from +demanding larger concessions, and in leaving the full consequences +of this war to be unfolded by the progress of time, may fairly +challenge comparison with the politic procedure of Commodore Perry +in dealing with Japan in 1854. One may ask, too, would Japan have +come to terms so readily if she had not seen her huge neighbour +bowing to superior force? + + * * * * * + +An important consequence of the Opium War was the outbreak of rebellions +in different parts of the Empire. The prestige of the Tartars was +in the dust. Hitherto deemed invincible, they had been beaten by a +handful of foreigners. Was not this a sure sign that their divine +commission had been withdrawn by the Court of Heaven? If so, might +it not be possible to wrest the sceptre from their feeble grasp, +and emancipate the Chinese race? + +Private ambition was kindled at the prospect, and patriotism was +invoked to induce the people to make common cause. Three parties +entered the field: the Tai-pings of the South, the "Red-haired" on +the seacoast, and the Nienfi in the north. Neither of the latter +two deserves notice; but the first-named made for themselves a +place in history which one is +[Page 157] +not at liberty to ignore, even if their story were less romantic +than it is. It will be convenient to introduce here the following +note on the Tai-ping rebellion. + + +THE TAI-PING REBELLION + +In 1847 a young man of good education and pleasing manners, named +Hung Siu-tsuen, presented himself at the American Baptist mission in +Canton, saying he had seen their sacred book and desired instruction. +This he received from the Rev. Issachar Roberts; and he was duly +enrolled as a catechumen. Without receiving the sealing ordinance, +or taking his instructor into confidence, Siu-tsuen returned to his +home at Hwa-hien and began to propagate his new creed. His talents +and zeal won adherents, whom he organised into a society called +_Shang-ti-hwui_, "the Church of the supreme God." Persecution +transformed it into a political party, to which multitudes were +attracted by a variety of motives. + +Following the early Church, in the absence of any modern model, his +converts expected and received spiritual gifts. Shall we describe +such manifestations as hysteria, hypnotism, or hypocrisy? Their +fanaticism was contagious, especially after their flight to the +mountains of Kwangsi. There Siu-tsuen boldly raised the flag of +rebellion and proclaimed that he had a divine call to restore the +throne to the Chinese race, and to deliver the people from the curse +of idolatry. In this twofold crusade he was ably seconded by one +Yang, who possessed all the qualities of a successful hierophant. +Shrewd and calculating, Yang was able +[Page 158] +at will to bring on cataleptic fits, during which his utterances +passed for the words of the Holy Ghost. + +The new empire which they were trying to establish, they called +_Tai-ping Tien-kwoh_, "The Kingdom of Heaven and the reign +of peace." Hung was emperor, to be saluted with _Wansue!_ +(Japanese, _Banzai!_) "10,000 years!" Yang as prince-premier +was saluted with "9,000 years," nine-tenths of a banzai. He was +the medium of communication with the Court of Heaven; and all their +greater movements were made by command of Shang-ti, the Supreme +Ruler. + +On one occasion Yang went into a trance and declared that Shang-ti +was displeased by something done by his chief, and required the +latter to receive a castigation on his naked shoulders. The chief +submitted, whether from credulity or from policy it might not be +easy to say; but thereby the faith of his followers seems to have +been confirmed rather than shaken. Nor did Yang take advantage +of his chief's disgrace to usurp his place or to treat him as a +puppet. + +Through Yang it was revealed that they were to leave their mountain +fortress and strike for Nanking, which had been made the capital on +the expulsion of the Mongols, and which was destined to enjoy the +same dignity on the overthrow of the Manchus. That programme, one of +unexampled daring, was promptly put into execution. Descending into +the plains of Hunan, like a mountain torrent they swept everything +before them and began their march towards the central stronghold +fifteen hundred miles distant. Striking the "Great River" at Hankow, +they pillaged +[Page 159] +the three rich cities Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankow, and, seizing +all the junks, committed themselves to its current without a doubt +as to the issue of their voyage. + +Nanking was carried by assault despite the alleged impregnability +of its ramparts, and despite also a garrison of 25,000 Manchus. +These last must have fought with the fury of despair; for they +well knew what fate awaited them. Not one was spared to tell the +tale--this was in 1853. There the Tai-pings held their ground for +ten years; and it is safe to affirm that without the aid of foreign +missionaries they never would have been dislodged. + +The second part of their enterprise--the expulsion of the Manchus +from Peking--ended in defeat. A strong detachment was sent north +by way of the Grand Canal. At first they met with great success--no +town or city was able to check their progress, which resembled +Napoleon's invasion of Russia. At the beginning of winter they +were met by a strong force under the Mongol prince Sengkolinsin; +then came the more dreaded generals--January and February. Unable +to make headway, they went into winter quarters, and committed +the blunder of dividing themselves between two towns, where they +were besieged and cut off in detail. + +In the meantime the eyes of the world were turned toward Nanking. +Ships of war were sent to reconnoitre and Consul T. T. Meadows, +who accompanied the _Hermes_, made a report full of sympathy; +but the failure of their expedition to the north deterred the nation +from any formal recognition of the Tai-ping government. + +[Page 160] +Missionaries were attracted by their profession of Christianity. +Among others, I made an unsuccessful attempt to reach them. Unable +to induce my boatmen to run the blockade, I returned home and took +up the pen in their defence. My letters were well received, but they +did not prevent soldiers of fortune, like the American Frederick +G. Ward and Colonel Gordon of the British army, throwing their +swords into the scale. + +Two Sabbatarians hearing that the rebels observed Saturday for +their day of rest, posted off to confirm them in that ancient usage. +Learning at an outpost that the seeming agreement with their own +practice grew out of a mistake in reckoning, they did not continue +their journey. + +A missionary who actually penetrated to the rebel headquarters +was the Rev. Issachar Roberts, the first instructor of the rebel +chief. The latter had sent him a message inviting him to court. +His stay was not long. He found that his quondam disciple had +substituted a new mode of baptism, neither sprinkling nor immersion, +but washing the pit of the stomach with a towel dipped in warm +water! Who says the Chinese are not original? It is probable that +Roberts's dispute lay deeper than a mere ceremony. Professing a +New Testament creed, the rebel chief shaped his practice on Old +Testament examples--killing men as ruthlessly as David, and, like +Solomon, filling his harem with women. A remonstrance on either +head was certain to bring danger; it was said indeed that Roberts's +life was threatened. + +Some queer titles were adopted by the Tai-pings. +[Page 161] +As stated above, the premier was styled "Father of 9,000 years"; +other princes had to content themselves with 7,000, 6,000, etc.--or +seven-tenths and six-tenths of a "Live forever!" Christ was the +"Heavenly Elder Brother"; and the chief called himself "Younger +Brother of Jesus Christ." These designations might excite a smile; +but when he called Yang, his adviser, the "Holy Ghost," one felt +like stopping one's ears, as did the Hebrews of old. The loose morals +of the Tai-pings and their travesty of sacred things horrified the +Christian world; and Gordon no doubt felt that he was doing God +a service in breaking up a horde of blasphemers and blackguards. + +Gordon's victory won an earldom for Li Hung Chang; but the Chinese +conferred no posthumous honours on Gordon as they did on Ward, +who has a temple and is reckoned among the gods of the empire. + +The Tai-pings were commonly called Changmao, "long-haired" rebels, +because they rejected the tonsure and "pigtail" as marks of subjection. +They printed at Nanking, by what they called "Imperial authority," +an edition of the Holy Scriptures. At one time Lord Elgin, disgusted +by the conduct of the Peking Government, proposed to make terms with +the court at Nanking. The French minister refused to cooeperate, partly +because the rebels had not been careful to distinguish between the +images in Roman Catholic chapels and those in pagan temples, but +chiefly from an objection to the ascendency of Protestant influence, +coupled with a fear of losing the power that comes from a protectorate +of Roman Catholic missions. How different would have been +[Page 162] +the future of China had the allied powers backed up the Tai-pings +against the Manchus! + + * * * * * + + +ACT 2. THE "ARROW" WAR, 1857-1860 + +Of the second act in this grand drama on the world's wide stage, +a vessel, named the _Arrow_, was, like opium in the former +conflict, the occasion, not the cause. The cause was, as before, +pride and ignorance on the part of the Chinese, though the British +are not to be altogether exonerated. Their flag was compromised; +and they sought to protect it. Fifteen years of profitable commerce +had passed, during which China had been a double gainer, receiving +light and experience in addition to less valuable commodities, +when Viceroy Yeh seized the lorcha _Arrow_, on a charge of +piracy. Though owned by Chinese, she was registered in Hong Kong, +and sailed under the British flag. Had the viceroy handed her over +to a British court for trial, justice would no doubt have been +done to the delinquents, and the two nations would not have been +embroiled; but, haughty as well as hasty, the viceroy declined to +admit that the British Government had any right to interfere with +his proceedings. Unfortunately (or fortunately) British interests +at Canton were in the hands of Consul Parkes, afterward Sir Harry +Parkes, the renowned plenipotentiary at Peking and Tokio. + +Sir John Bowring was governor of Hong Kong, with the oversight of +British interests in the Empire. A gifted poet, and an enthusiastic +advocate of universal peace, he was a man who might be counted on, if in +[Page 163] +the power of man, to hold the dogs of war in leash. But he, too, +had been consul at Canton and he knew by experience the quagmire +in which the best intentions were liable to be swamped. + +Parkes, whom I came to know as Her Britannic Majesty's minister in +Peking, was the soul of honour, as upright as any man who walked +the earth. But with all his rectitude, he, like the Viceroy Yeh, +was irascible and unyielding. When the viceroy refused his demand +for the rendition of the _Arrow_ and her crew, he menaced him +with the weight of the lion's paw. Alarmed, but not cowed, the +viceroy sent the prisoners in fetters to the consulate, instead of +replacing them on board their ship; nor did he vouchsafe a word of +courtesy or apology. Parkes, too fiery to overlook such contemptuous +informality, sent them back, much as a football is kicked from +one to another; and the viceroy, incensed beyond measure, ordered +their heads to be chopped off without a trial. + +Here was a Gordian knot, which nothing but the sword could loose. +War was provoked as before by the rashness of a viceroy. The +peace-loving governor did not choose to swallow the affront to +his country, nor did the occupant of the Dragon Throne deign to +interfere; looking on the situation with the same sublime indifference +with which the King of Persia regarded the warlike preparations of +the younger Cyrus, when he supposed, as Xenophon tells us, that +he was only going to fight out a feud with a neighbouring satrap. +How could China be opened; how was a stable equilibrium possible +so long as foreign powers were kept at a distance from the capital +of the Empire? + +[Page 164] +In three months the haughty viceroy was a prisoner in India, never +to return, and his provincial capital was held by a garrison of +British troops. On this occasion the old blunder of admitting the +city to ransom was not repeated, else Canton might have continued +to be a hotbed of seditious plots and anti-foreign hostilities. +Parkes knew the people, and he knew their rulers also. He was +accordingly allowed to have his own way in dealing with them. The +viceroy being out of the way, he proposed to Pehkwei, the Manchu +governor, to take his place and carry on the provincial government +as if the two nations were at peace. Strange to say, the governor +did not decline the task. That he did not was due to the fact that +he disapproved the policy of the viceroy, and that he put faith +in the assurance that Great Britain harboured no design against +the reigning house or its territorial domain. + +To the surprise of the Chinese, who in their native histories find +that an Asiatic conqueror always takes possession of as much territory +as he is able to hold, it soon became evident that the Queen of +England did not make war in the spirit of conquest. Her premier, +Lord Palmerston, invited the cooeperation of France, Russia, and +the United States, in a movement which was expected to issue +advantageously to all, especially to China. France, at that time +under an ambitious successor of the great Napoleon, seized the +opportunity to contribute a strong contingent, with the view of +checkmating England and of obtaining for herself a free hand in +Indo-China, possibly in China Proper also. For assuming a hostile +[Page 165] +attitude towards China, she found a pretext in the judicial murder of a +missionary in Kwangsi, just as Germany found two of her missionaries +similarly useful as an excuse for the occupation of Kiao-Chao in +1897. No wonder the Chinese have grown cautious how they molest a +missionary; but they needed practical teaching before they learned +the lesson. + +Unable to take a morsel of China as long as his powerful ally abstained +from territorial aggrandisement, Louis Napoleon subsequently employed +his troops to enlarge the borders of a small state which the French +claimed in Annam, laying the foundation of a dominion which goes +far to console them for the loss of India. America and Russia, +having no wrongs to redress, declined to send troops, but consented +to give moral support to a movement for placing foreign relations +with China on a satisfactory basis. + +In the spring of 1858, the representatives of the four powers met +at the mouth of the Peiho, cooeperating in a loose sort of concert +which permitted each one to carryon negotiations on his own account. +As interpreter to the Hon. W. B. Reed, the American minister, I +enjoyed the best of opportunities for observing what went on behind +the scenes, besides being a spectator of more than one battle. + +The neutrals, arriving in advance of the belligerents, opened +negotiations with the Viceroy of Chihli, which might have added +supplementary articles, but must have left the old treaties +substantially unchanged. The other envoys coming on the stage insisted +that the viceroy should wear the title and be clothed with the +powers of a plenipotentiary. When that was +[Page 166] +refused, as being "incompatible with the absolute sovereignty of +the Emperor," they stormed the forts and proceeded to Tientsin +where they were met by men whose credentials were made out in due +form, though it is doubtful if their powers exceeded those of the +crestfallen viceroy. A pitiful artifice to maintain their affectation +of superiority was the placing of the names of foreign countries +one space lower than that of China in the despatch announcing their +appointment. When this covert insult was pointed out they apologised +for a clerical error, and had the despatches rectified. + +The allies were able to dictate their own terms; and they got all +they asked for, though, as will be seen, they did not ask enough. +The rest of us got the same, though we had struck no blow and shed +no blood. One article, known as "the most-favoured-nation clause" +(already in the treaty of 1844), was all that we required to enable +us to pick up the fruit when others shook the tree. + +Four additional seaports were opened, but Tienstin, where the treaties +were drawn up, was not one of them. I remember hearing Lord Elgin, +whose will was absolute, say that he was not willing to have it +thrown open to commerce, because in that case it would be used +to overawe the capital--just as if _overaweing_ were not the +very thing needed to make a bigoted government enter on the path of +progress. Never did a man in repute for statesmanship show himself +more shortsighted. His blunder led to the renewal of the war, and +its continuance for two more years. + +[Page 167] +The next year when the envoys came to the mouth of the river, on +their way to Peking to exchange ratified copies of their treaties, +they found the forts rebuilt, the river closed, and access to the +capital by way of Tientsin bluntly refused. In taking this action, +the Chinese were not chargeable with a breach of faith; but the +allies, feeling insulted at having the door shut in their faces, +decided to force it open. They had a strong squadron; but their +gunboats were no match for the forts. Some were sunk; others were +beached; and the day ended in disastrous defeat. Though taking no +part in the conflict the Americans were not indifferent spectators. +Hearing that the British admiral was wounded, their commodore, the +brave old Tatnall, went through a shower of bullets to express +his sympathy, getting his boat shattered and losing a man on the +way. When requested to lend a helping hand, he exclaimed "Blood +is thicker than water;" and, throwing neutrality to the winds, +he proceeded to tow up a flotilla of British barges. His words +have echoed around the world; and his act, though impolitic from +the viewpoint of diplomacy, had the effect of knitting closer the +ties of two kindred nations. + +Seeing the repulse of the allies, the American minister, the Hon. +J. E. Ward, resolved to accept an offer which they had declined, +namely, to proceed to the capital by land under a Chinese escort. +His country was pledged in the treaty, of which he was the bearer, +to use her good offices on the occurrence of difficulties with +other powers. Without cavilling at the prescribed route or mode +of conveyance, he felt it his duty to present himself before the +Throne as speedily +[Page 168] +as possible in the hope of averting a threatened calamity. For +him, it was an opportunity to do something great and good; for +China, it was the last chance to ward off a crushing blow. But +so elated were the Chinese by their unexpected success that they +were in no mood to accept the services of a mediator. The Emperor +insisted that he should go on his knees like the tribute-bearer +from a vassal state. "Tell them," said Mr. Ward, "that I go on +my knees only to God and woman"--a speech brave and chivalrous, +but undignified for a minister and unintelligible to the Chinese. +With this he quitted the capital and left China to her fate. He +was not the first envoy to meet a rude rebuff at the Chinese court. +In 1816 Lord Amherst was not allowed to see the "Dragon's Face" +because he refused to kneel. At that date England was not in a +position to punish the insult; but it had something to do with the +war of 1839. In 1859 it was pitiful to see a power whose existence +was hanging in the scales alienate a friend by unseemly insolence. + +The following year (1860) saw the combined forces of two empires +at the gates of Peking. The summer palace was laid in ashes to +punish the murder of a company of men and officers under a flag +of truce; and it continues to be an unsightly ruin. The Emperor +fled to Tartary to find a grave; and throne and capital were for +the first time at the mercy of an Occidental army. On the accession +of Hien-feng, in 1850, an old counsellor advised him to make it +his duty to "restore the restrictions all along the coast." His +attempt to do this was one source of his misfortunes. Supplementary +articles were signed within the walls, +[Page 169] +by which China relinquished her absurd pretensions, abandoned her +long seclusion, and, at the instance of France, threw open the +whole empire to the labours of Christian missions. They had been +admitted by rescript to the Five Ports, but no further. + +Thus ends the second act of the drama; and a spectator must be +sadly deficient in spiritual insight if he does not perceive the +hand of God overruling the strife of nations and the blunders of +statesmen. + + +ACT 3. WAR WITH FRANCE + +The curtain rises on the third act of the drama in 1885. Peking was +open to residence, and I had charge of a college for the training +of diplomatic agents. + +I was at Pearl Grotto, my summer refuge near Peking, when I was +called to town by a messenger from the Board of Foreign Affairs. +The ministers informed me that the French had destroyed their fleet +and seized their arsenal at Foochow. "This," they said, "is war. We +desire to know how the non-combatants of the enemy are to be treated +according to the rules of international law." I wrote out a brief +statement culled from text-books, which I had myself translated +for the use of the Chinese Government; but before I had finished +writing a clerk came to say that the Grand Council wished to have +it as soon as possible, as they were going to draw up a decree on +the subject. The next day an imperial decree proclaimed a state +of war and assured French people in China that if they refrained +from taking part in any hostile act they might remain in their +places, and count on full protection. Nobly did the government of +the day redeem its pledge. +[Page 170] +Not a missionary was molested in the interior; and two French professors +belonging to my own faculty were permitted to go on with the instruction +of their classes. + +There was not much fighting. The French seized Formosa; and both +parties were preparing for a trial of strength, when a seemingly +unimportant occurrence led them to come to an understanding. A small +steamer belonging to the customs service, employed in supplying the +wants of lighthouses, having been taken by the French, Sir Robert +Hart applied to the French premier, Jules Ferry, for its release. +This was readily granted; and an intimation was at the same time +given that the French would welcome overtures for a settlement +of the quarrel. Terms were easily agreed upon and the two parties +resumed the _status quo ante bellum_. + +So far as the stipulations were concerned neither party had gained +or lost anything, yet as a matter of fact France had scored a +substantial victory. She was henceforward left in quiet possession +of Tongking, a principality which China had regarded as a vassal +and endeavoured to protect. + + +ACT 4. WAR WITH JAPAN + +China had not thoroughly learned the lesson suggested by this +experience; for ten years later a fourth act in the drama grew out +of her unwise attempt to protect another vassal. + +In 1894 the Japanese, provoked by China's interference with their +enterprises in Korea, boldly drew the sword and won for themselves +a place among the great powers. I was in Japan when the war broke +[Page 171] +out, and, being asked by a company of foreigners what I thought +of Japan's chances, answered, "The swordfish can kill the whale." + +Not merely did the islanders expel the Chinese from the Korean +peninsula, but they took possession of those very districts in +Manchuria from which they have but yesterday ousted the Russians. +Peking itself was in danger when Li Hung Chang was sent to the +Mikado to sue for peace. Luckily for China a Japanese assassin +lodged a bullet in the head of her ambassador; and the Mikado, +ashamed of that cowardly act, granted peace on easy conditions. +China's greatest statesman carried that bullet in his _dura mater_ +to the end of his days, proud to have made himself an offering for +his country, and rejoicing that one little ball had silenced the +batteries of two empires. + +By the terms of the treaty, Japan was to be left in possession +of Port Arthur and Liao-tung. But this arrangement was in fatal +opposition to the policy of a great power which had already cast +covetous eyes on the rich provinces of Manchuria. Securing the +support of France and Germany, Russia compelled the Japanese to +withdraw; and in the course of three years she herself occupied +those very positions, kindling in the bosom of Japan the fires +of revenge, and sowing the seeds of another war.[*] + +[Footnote *: The Russo-Japanese war lies outside of our present +programme because China was not a party to it, though it involved +her interests and even her existence. The subject will be treated +in another chapter.] + +The effect of China's defeat at the hands of her despised neighbour, +was, if possible, more profound than that of her humiliation by +the English and +[Page 172] +French in 1860. She saw how the adoption of Western methods had +clothed a small Oriental people with irresistible might; and her +wisest statesmen set themselves to work a similar transformation +in their antiquated empire. The young Emperor showed himself an +apt pupil, issuing a series of reformatory edicts, which alarmed +the conservatives and provoked a reaction that constitutes the +last act in this tremendous drama. + + +ACT 5. THE BOXER WAR + +The fifth act opens with the _coup d'etat_ of the Empress +Dowager, and terminates with the capture of Peking by the combined +forces of the civilised world. + +Instead of attempting, even in outline, a narrative of events, it +will be more useful to direct attention to the springs of action. +It should be borne in mind that the late Emperor was the adopted son +of the Dowager Empress. After the death of her own son, Tung-chi, +who occupied the throne for eleven years under a joint regency +of two empresses, his mother cast about for some one to adopt in +his stead. With motives not difficult to divine she chose among +her nephews an infant of three summers, and gave him the title +_Kwangsu_, "Illustrious Successor." When he was old enough +to be entrusted with the reins of government, she made a feint +of laying down her power, in deference to custom. Yet she exacted +of the imperial youth that he visit her at her country palace and +throw himself at her feet once in five days--proof enough that +she kept her hand on the helm, though she +[Page 173] +mitted her nephew to pose as steersman. She herself was noted for +progressive ideas; and it was not strange that the young man, under +the influence of Kang Yuwei, backed by enlightened viceroys, should +go beyond his adoptive mother. Within three years from the close +of the war he had proclaimed a succession of new measures which +amounted to a reversal of the old policy; nor is it likely that +she disapproved of any of them, until the six ministers of the +Board of Rites, the guardians of a sort of Levitical law, besought +her to save the empire from the horrors of a revolution. + +For her to command was to be obeyed. The viceroys were her appointees; +and she knew they would stand by her to a man. The Emperor, though +nominally independent, was not emancipated from the obligations of +filial duty, which were the more binding as having been created +by her voluntary choice. There was no likelihood that he would +offer serious resistance; and it was certain that he would not +be supported if he did. Coming from behind the veil, she snatched +the sceptre from his inexperienced hand, as a mother takes a deadly +weapon from a half-grown boy. Submitting to the inevitable he made +a formal surrender of his autocratic powers and, confessing his +errors, implored her "to teach him how to govern." This was in +September, 1898. + +Stripped of every vestige of authority, the unhappy prince was +confined, a prisoner of state, in a secluded palace where it was +thought he would soon receive the present of a silken scarf as a hint +to make way for a worthier successor. That his life was spared was no +[Page 174] +doubt due to a certain respect for the public sentiment of the +world, to which China is not altogether insensible. He having no +direct heir, the son of Prince Tuan was adopted by the Dowager +as heir-apparent, evidently in expectation of a vacancy soon to +be filled. Prince Tuan, hitherto unknown in the politics of the +state, became, from that moment, the leader of a reactionary party. +Believing that his son would soon be called to the throne by the +demise of the Emperor, he put on all the airs of a _Tai-shang +Hwang_, or "Father of an Emperor." + +Here again the _patria potestas_ comes in as a factor; and +in the brief career of the father of the heir-apparent, it shows +itself in its most exaggerated form. Under the influence of the +reactionary clique, of which he was acknowledged chief, the Empress +Dowager in her new regency was induced to repeal almost everything +the Emperor had done in the way of reform. In her edict she said +cynically: "It does not follow that we are to stop eating, because +we have been choked!" Dislike to foreign methods engendered an +ill-concealed hatred of foreigners; and just at this epoch occurred +a series of aggressions by foreign powers, which had the effect +of fanning that hatred into a flame. + +In the fall of 1897 Germany demanded the cession of Kiao-Chao, +calling it a lease for 99 years. The next spring Russia under the +form of a lease for 25 years obtained Port Arthur for the terminus +of her long railway. England and France followed suit: one taking +a _lease_ of Wei-hai-wei; the other, of Kwang-chou-wan. Though +in every case the word "lease" +[Page 175] +was employed, the Chinese knew the transfer meant permanent alienation. + +A hue and cry was raised against what they described as the "slicing +of the melon," and in Shantung, where the first act of spoliation +had taken place, the Boxers, a turbulent society of long standing, +were encouraged to wage open war against native Christians, foreigners +and foreign products, including railways, telegraphs, and all sorts +of merchandise. + +Not until those predatory bands had entered the metropolitan province, +with the avowed object of pushing their way to Peking[*] did the +legations take steps to strengthen their guards. A small reinforcement +of 207 men luckily reached Peking a few days before the railway +was wrecked. + +[Footnote *: On March 30, 1900, the following Boxer manifesto in +jingling rhyme, was thrown into the London Mission, at Tientsin. It +is here given in a prose version, taken from "A Flight for Life," +by the Rev. J. H. Roberts, Pilgrim Press, Boston. + +"We Boxers have come to Tientsin to kill an foreign devils, and +protect the Manchu dynasty. Above, there is the Empress Dowager +on our side, and below there is Junglu. The soldiers of Yulu and +Yuhien [governors of Shantung and Chihli] are an our men. When +we have finished killing in Tientsin, we shall go to Peking. All +the officials high and low will welcome us. Whoever is afraid let +him quickly escape for his life."] + +With a view to protect the foreign settlement at Tientsin, then +threatened by Boxers, the combined naval forces stormed the forts +at the mouth of the river, and advanced to that rich emporium. The +Court denounced this as an act of war, and ordered all foreigners +to leave the capital within twenty-four hours. That meant slaughter +at the hands of the Boxers. The foreign ministers protested, and +[Page 176] +endeavoured by prolonged negotiation to avoid compliance with the +cruel order. + +On June 20, the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, was on his +way to the Foreign Office to obtain an extension of time, when he +was shot dead in the street by a man in the uniform of a soldier. +His secretary, though wounded, gave the alarm; and all the legations, +with all their respective countrymen, took refuge in the British +Legation, with the exception of Bishop Favier and his people who, +with the aid of forty marines, bravely defended themselves in the +new cathedral. + +In the evening we were fired on by the Government troops, and from +that time we were closely besieged and exposed to murderous attacks +day and night for eight weeks, when a combined force under the +flags of eight nations carried the walls by storm, just in time +to prevent such a massacre as the world has never seen. Massacres +on a larger scale have not been a rare spectacle; but never before +in the history of the world had any government been seen attempting +to destroy an entire diplomatic body, every member of whom is made +sacred by the law of nations.[*] + +[Footnote *: AN APPEAL FROM THE LION'S DEN + +(Written four weeks before the end of the siege, this appeal failed +to reach the outside world. It is now printed for the first time. +Nothing that I could now write would show the situation with half +such vividness. It reveals the scene as with a lightning flash.) + + "British Legation, July 16, 1900. + +"TO THE CHRISTIAN WORLD + +"On the 19th ult. the Chinese declared war on account of the attack +on the forts at Taku. Since then we have been shut up in the British +Legation and others adjacent, and bombarded day and night with shot +and shell. The defence has been magnificent. About 1,000 foreigners +(of both sexes) have held their ground against the forces of the +Empire. Some thousands of Chinese converts are dependent on us for +protection. The City Wall near the legations is held by our men, +but the Chinese are forcing them back and driving in our outposts. +The mortality in our ranks is very great; and unless relief comes +soon we must all perish. Our men have fought bravely, and our women +have shown sublime courage. May this terrible sacrifice prove not +to be in vain! We are the victims of pagan fanaticism. Let this +pagan empire be partitioned among Christian powers, and may a new +order of things open on China with a new century! + +"The chief asylum for native Christians is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, +where Bishop Favier aided by forty marines gives protection to four +or five thousand. The perils of the siege have obliterated the lines +of creed and nation, making a unity, not merely of Christians, but +bringing the Japanese into brotherhood with us. To them the siege +is a step toward Christianity." + +"(Signed) DR. W. A. P. MARTIN."] + +[Page 177] +On August 14 Gen. Gaseles and his contingent entered the British +Legation. The Court, conscious of guilt, fled to the northwest, +leaving the city once more at the mercy of the hated foreigner; +and so the curtain falls on the closing scene. + +What feats of heroism were performed in the course of those eventful +weeks; how delicate women rose to the height of the occasion in +patient endurance and helpful charity; how international jealousies +were merged in the one feeling of devotion to the common good--all +this and more I should like to relate for the honour of human nature. + +How an unseen power appeared to hold our enemies in check and to +sustain the courage of the besieged, I would also like to place on +record, to the glory of the Most High; but space fails for dealing +with anything but general principles.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See the author's "The Siege in Peking," New York: Fleming +H. Revell Company.] + +On the day following our rescue, at a thanksgiving meeting, which +was largely attended, Dr. Arthur +[Page 178] +Smith pointed out ten instances--most of us agreed that he might +have made the number ten times ten--in which the providence of +God had intervened on our behalf. + +It was a role of an ancient critic that a god should not be brought +on the stage unless the occasion were such as to require the presence +of a more than human power. _Nec deus intersit nisi dignus vindice +nodus._ How many such occasions we have had to notice in the +course of this narrative! What a theodicaea we have in the result +of all this tribulation! We see at last, a government convinced +of the folly of a policy which brought on such a succession of +disastrous wars. We see missionaries and native Christians fairly +well protected throughout the whole extent of the Empire. We see, +moreover, a national movement in the direction of educational reform, +which, along with the Gospel of Christ, promises to impart new +life to that ancient people. + +The following incident may serve to show the state of uncertainty +in which we lived during the interregnum preceding the return of +the Court. + +While waiting for an opportunity to get my "train (the university) +on the track," I spent the summer of 1901 at Pearl Grotto, my usual +retreat, on the top of a hill over a thousand feet high, overlooking +the capital. "The Boxers are coming!" cried my writer and servants +one evening about twilight. "Haste--hide in the rocks--they will +soon be on us!" "I shall not hide," I replied; and seizing my rifle +I rested it on a wall which commanded the approach. They soon became +visible at the distance of a hundred yards, +[Page 179] +waving flambeaux, and yelling like a troop of devils. Happily I +reserved my fire for closer range; for leaving the path at that +point they betook themselves to the top of another hill where they +waved their torches and shouted like madmen. We were safe for the +night; and in the morning I reported the occurrence to Mr. O'Conor, +the British charge d'affaires, who was at a large temple at the +foot of the hills. "They were not Boxers," he remarked, "but a +party we sent out _to look for a lost student_." + + +POSTSCRIPT + +It is the fashion to speak slightingly of the Boxer troubles, and +to blink the fact that the movement which led to the second capture +of Peking and the flight of the Court was a serious war. The southern +viceroys had undertaken to maintain order in the south. Operations were +therefore localised somewhat, as they were in the Russo-Japanese War. +It is even said that the combined forces were under the impression +that they were coming to the rescue of a helpless government which +was doing all in its power to protect foreigners. Whether this was +the effect of diplomatic dust thrown in their eyes or not, _it +was a fiction_. + +How bitterly the Empress Dowager was bent on exterminating the +foreigner, may be inferred from her decree ordering the massacre of +foreigners and their adherents--a savage edict which the southern +satraps refused to obey. A similar inference may be drawn from the +summary execution of four ministers of state for remonstrating against +throwing in the fortunes of the empire with the Boxer party. China +[Page 180] +should be made to do penance on her knees for those shocking displays +of barbarism. At Taiyuan-fu, forty-five missionaries were murdered +by the governor, and sixteen at Paoting-fu. Such atrocities are +only possible among a _half-civilised people_. + + + + +[Page 181] +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR + +_Russia's Schemes for Conquest--Conflicting Interests in +Korea--Hostilities Begin--The First Battles--The Blockade--Dispersion +of the Russian Fleet--Battle of Liao-yang--Fall of Port Arthur--Battle +of Mukden--The Armada--Battle of Tsushima--The Peace of Portsmouth--The +Effect on China_ + +To the Chinese the retrospect of these five wars left little room +for those pompous pretensions which appeared to be their vital +breath. + +Beaten by Western powers and by the new power of the East, their +capital taken a second time after forty years' opportunity to fortify +it, and their fugitive court recalled a second time to reign on +sufferance or during good behaviour, what had they left to boast +of except the antiquity of their country and the number of their +people? Dazed and paralysed, most of them gave way to a sullen +resignation that differed little from despair. + +There were, indeed, a few who, before things came to the worst, +saw that China's misfortunes were due to folly, not fate. Ignorant +conservatism had made her weak; vigorous reform might make her +strong. But another war was required to turn the feeling of the +few into a conviction of the many. This change was +[Page 182] +accomplished by a war waged within their borders but to which they +were not a party--a war which was not an act in their national +drama, but a spectacle for which they furnished the stage. That +spectacle calls for notice in the present work on account of its +influence on the destinies of China. + +For the springs of action it will be necessary to go back three +centuries, to the time when Yermak crossed the Ural Mountains and +made Russia an Asiatic power. The conquest of Siberia was not to +end in Siberia. Russia saw in it a chance to enrich herself at +the expense of weaker neighbours. What but that motive led her, in +1858, to demand the Manchurian seacoast as the price of neutrality? +What but that led her to construct the longest railway in the world? +What but that impelled her to seek for it a second terminus on +the Gulf of Pechili? + +The occupation of Port Arthur and Liao-tung by the Japanese, in +1895, was a checkmate to Russia's little game; and, supported by +France and Germany, she gave her notice to quit. During the Boxer +War of 1900, Russia increased her forces in Manchuria to provide +for the eventualities of a probable break-up, and after the peace +her delay in fulfilling her promise of evacuation was tantamount +to a refusal. + +Had the Russians confined their attention to Manchuria they might +have continued to remain in possession; but another feeble state +offered itself as a tempting prize. They set greedy eyes on Korea, +made interest with an impoverished court, and obtained the privilege +of navigating the Yalu and cutting +[Page 183] +timber on its banks. This proceeding, though explained by the +requirements of railway construction, aroused the suspicion and +jealousy of the Japanese. They knew it meant more than seeking +an outlet for a lumber industry. They knew it portended vassalage +for Korea and ejection for themselves. Had they not made war on +China ten years before because they could brook no rival in the +peninsula? How could they tolerate the intrusion of Russia? Not +merely were their interests in Korea at stake; every advance of +Russia in that quarter, with Korea for vassal or ally, was a menace +to the existence of Japan. + +The Japanese lost no time in entering a protest. Russia resorted +to the Fabian policy of delay as before; but she was dealing with +a people whose pride and patriotism were not to be trifled with. +After protracted negotiations Japan sent an ultimatum in which she +proposed to recognise Manchuria as Russia's sphere of influence, +provided Russia would recognise Japanese influence as paramount +in Korea. For a fortnight or more the Czar vouchsafed no reply. +Accustomed to being waited on, he put the paper in his pocket and +kept it there while every train on the railway was pouring fresh +troops into Manchuria. Without waiting for a formal reply, or deigning +to discuss modifications intended to gain time, the Japanese heard +the hour strike and cleared for action. + +They are reproached for opening hostilities without first formally +declaring war. In the age of chivalry a declaration of war was a +solemn ceremony. A herald standing on the border read or recited his +[Page 184] +master's complaint and then hurled a spear across the boundary +as an act of defiance. In later times nothing more than a formal +announcement is required, except for the information of neutrals +and the belligerents' own people. The rupture of relations leaves +both parties free to choose their line of action. Japan, the newest +of nations, naturally adopted the most modern method. + +Recalling her ambassador on February 6, 1904, Japan was ready to +strike simultaneous blows at two points. On February 8, Admiral +Uriu challenged two Russian cruisers at Chemulpo to come out and +fight, otherwise he would attack them in the harbour. Steaming +out they fired the first shots of the war, and both were captured +or destroyed. A little later on the same day Admiral Togo opened +his broadsides on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, and resumed +the attack the following morning. Without challenge or notification +of any kind, his attack had the effect of a genuine surprise. The +Russians, whether from confidence in their position or contempt +for their enemy, were unprepared and replied feebly. They had seven +battleships to Togo's six, but the big ships of Japan were supported +by a flotilla of torpedo-boats which outnumbered those of Russia. +These alert little craft did great execution. Creeping into the +harbour while the bombardment kept the enemy occupied they sank +two battleships and one armoured cruiser. Other Russian vessels +were badly damaged; but, according to Togo's report, on the side +of Japan not one vessel was incapacitated for actual service. + +Land forces, fully equipped and waiting for this +[Page 185] +special service, commenced operations without delay and began to +cut off communication from the land side while Togo's squadron +corked up every inlet from the sea. Alexieff, whose title of viceroy +revealed the intentions of Russia in regard to Manchuria, taking +alarm at the prospect of a siege, escaped to Harbin near the Siberian +frontier--a safer place for headquarters. To screen his flight he made +unwarrantable use of an ambulance train of the Red Cross Society. +Disagreeing with General Kuropatkin as to the plan of campaign, +he resigned the command of the army in April, and Kuropatkin was +promoted to the vacant place. Beaten in several engagements on +the Liao-tung peninsula, the Russians began to fall back, followed +by the Japanese under Field-Marshal Oyama; and the siege of the +fortress was prosecuted with unremitting vigour. + +By July the Japanese had secured possession of the outer line of +forts, and, planting heavy guns on the top of a high hill, they were +able to throw plunging shot into the bosom of the harbour. No longer +safe at their inner anchorage, the Russian naval officers resolved +to attempt to reach Vladivostok, where the combined squadrons might +assume the offensive or at least be secure from blockade. Scarcely +had they gained the open sea when (on August 10) the Japanese fell on +them like a whirlwind and scattered their ships in all directions. +A few reentered the harbour to await their doom; two or three found +their way to Vladivostok; two sought refuge at the German port of +Tsing-tao; two put into Shanghai; and one continued its flight +as far south as Saigon. + +[Page 186] +One gunboat sought shelter at Chefoo, where I was passing my summer +vacation. The Japanese, in hot pursuit, showed no more respect to +the neutrality of China than they had shown to Korea. Boarding +the fugitive vessel, they summoned the captain to surrender. He +replied by seizing the Japanese officer in his arms and throwing +himself into the sea. They were rescued; and the Japanese then +carried off the boat under the guns of a Chinese admiral. Of this +incident in its main features I was an eye-witness. I may add that +we were near enough to bear witness to the fact of the siege; for, +in the words of Helen Sterling: + + "We heard the boom of guns by day + And saw their flash by night, + And almost thought, tho' miles away, + That we were in the fight. + +The Chinese admiral, feeling the affront to the Dragon flag and +fearing that he would be called to account, promptly tendered his +resignation. He was told to keep his place; and, by way of consoling +him for his inaction, the Minister of Marine added, "You are not +to blame for not firing on the Japanese. They are fighting our +battles--we can't do anything against them." So much for Chinese +neutrality in theory and in practice. + +Kuropatkin, like the Parthian, "most dreaded when in flight," renouncing +any further attempt to break through the cordon which the Japanese +had drawn around the doomed fortress, intrenched his forces in +and around Liaoyang. His position was strong by +[Page 187] +nature, and he strengthened it by every device known to a military +engineer; yet he was driven from it in a battle which lasted nine +days. + +The Japanese, though not slow to close around his outposts, were +too cautious to deliver their main attack until they could be certain +of success. The combat thickened till, on August 24, cannon thundered +along a line of forty miles. Outflanked by his assailants, the +Russian general, perceiving that he must secure his communications +on the north or sustain a siege, abandoned his ground and fell +back on Mukden. + +In this, the greatest battle of the campaign thus far, 400,000 +men were engaged, the Japanese, as usual, having a considerable +majority. The loss of life was appalling. The Russian losses were +reported at 22,000; and those of Japan could not have been less. +Yet Liaoyang with all its horrors was only a prelude to a more +obstinate conflict on a more extended arena. + +Without hope of succour by land, and without a fleet to bring relief +by sea, the Russians defended their fortress with the courage of +despair. Ten years before this date the Japanese under Field-marshal +Oyama had carried this same stronghold almost by assault. Taking +it in the rear, a move which the Chinese thought so contrary to +the rules of war that they had neglected their landward defences, +they were masters of the place on the morning of the third day. + +How different their reception on the present occasion! How changed +the aspect! The hills, range after range, were now crowned with +forts. Fifty thousand of Russia's best soldiers were behind those +batteries, many of which were provided with casemates impenetrable +[Page 188] +to any ordinary projectile. General Stoessel, a man of science, +courage and experience, was in command; and he held General Nogi +with a force of sixty or seventy thousand at bay for eleven months. +Prodigies of valour were performed on both sides, some of the more +commanding positions being taken and retaken three or four times. + +When, in September, the besiegers got possession of Wolf Hill, and +with plunging shot smashed the remnant of the fleet, they offered +generous terms to the defenders. General Stoessel declined the +offer, resolving to emulate Thermopylae, or believing, perhaps, in +the possibility of rescue. When, however, he saw the "203 Metre +Hill" in their hands and knew his casemates would soon be riddled +by heavy shot, in sheer despair he was forced to capitulate. This +was on the first day of the new year (1905). His force had been +reduced to half its original numbers, and of these no fewer than +14,000 were in hospital. + +General Stoessel has been censured for not holding out until the +arrival of the armada; but what could the armada have done had it +appeared in the offing? It certainly could not have penetrated the +harbour, for in addition to fixed or floating mines it would have +had to run the gauntlet of Togo's fleet and its doom would have +been precipitated. One critic of distinction denounced Stoessel's +surrender as "shameful"; but is it not a complete vindication that +his enemies applaud his gallant defence, and that his own government +was satisfied that he had done his duty.[*] + +[Footnote *: Since writing this I have read the finding of the +court-martial. It has the air of an attempt to diminish the national +disgrace by throwing blame on a brave commander.] + +[Page 189] +The Russian commander had marked out a new camp at Mukden, the +chief city of the province and the cradle of the Manchu dynasty. +There he was allowed once more to intrench himself. Was this because +the Japanese were confident of their ability to compel him again +to retire, or were they occupied with the task of filling up their +depleted ranks? If the latter was the cause, the Russians were +doing the same; but near to their base and with full command of +the sea, the Japanese were able to do it more expeditiously than +their enemy. Yet with all their facilities they were not ready to +move on his works until winter imposed a suspension of hostilities. + +On October 2 Kuropatkin published a boastful manifesto expressing +confidence in the issue of the coming conflict--trusting no doubt +to the help of the three generals, December, January, and February. +Five months later, on March 8, 1905, he sent two telegrams to the +Czar: the first said "I am surrounded;" the second, a few hours +later, conveyed the comforting intelligence "the army has escaped." + +The Japanese, not choosing to encounter the rigours of a Manchurian +winter, waited till the advent of spring. The air was mild and the +streams spanned by bridges of ice. The manoeuvres need not be +described here in detail. After more than ten days of continuous +fighting on a line of battle nearly two hundred miles long, with +scarcely less than a million of men engaged (Japanese in majority +as before), the great Russian strategist broke camp and retired +in good order. His army had escaped, but it had lost in killed +and wounded 150,000. The losses of Japan amounted to 50,000. + +[Page 190] +The greatest battle of this latest war, the Battle of Mukden was +in some respects the greatest in modern history. In length of line, +in numbers engaged, and in the resulting casualties its figures +are double those of Waterloo. Once more by masterly strategy a +rout was converted into a retreat; and the Russian army withdrew +to the northwest. + +Weary of crawfish tactics the Czar appointed General Lineivitch +to the chief command; and the ablest of the Russian generals was +relieved of the duty of contriving ways of "escape." To cover the +rear of a defeated force is always reckoned a post of honour; but +it is not the sort of distinction that satisfies the ambition of +a great commander. + +By dint of efforts and sacrifices an enormous fleet was assembled +for the relief of Port Arthur. It sailed from Cronstadt on August 11, +1905, leaving the Baltic seaports unprotected save by the benevolent +neutrality of the German Kaiser, who granted passage through his +ship canal, although he knew the fleet was going to wage war on +one of his friends. + +Part of the fleet proceeded via Suez, and part went round the Cape +of Good Hope--to them a name of mockery. The ships moved leisurely, +their commanders not doubting that Stoessel would be able to hold +his ground; but scarcely had they reached a rendezvous which, by +the favour of France, they had fixed in the waters adjacent to +Madagascar, when they heard of the fall of Port Arthur. Of the +annihilation of the fleet attached to the fortress, and of the +destruction of a squadron coming to the rescue from the north they +had previously learned. With what dismay did they +[Page 191] +now hear that the key of the ocean was lost. Almost at the same +moment the last of Job's messengers arrived with the heavier tidings +that Mukden, the key of the province, had been abandoned by a defeated +army--stunning intelligence for a forlorn hope! Should they turn +back or push ahead? Anxious question this for Admiral Rozhesvenski +and his officers. Too late for Port Arthur, might they not reenforce +Vladivostok and save it from a like fate? The signal to "steam +ahead" was displayed on the flagship. + +Slowly and painfully, its propellers clogged by seaweed, its keels +overgrown with barnacles, the grand armada crossed the Indian Ocean +and headed northward for the China Sea. On May 27, steering for +the Korean channel, it fell into a snare which a blind man ought +to have been able to foresee. Togo's fleet had the freedom of the +seas. Where could it be, if not in that very channel? Yet on the +Russians went: + + "Unmindful of the whirlwind's sway + That hushed in grim repose + Expects his evening prey." + +The struggle was short and decisive--finished, it is said, in less +than one hour. While Togo's battleships, fresh and in good condition, +poured shot and shell into the wayworn strangers, his torpedo-boats, +greatly increased in number, glided almost unobservedly among the +enemy and launched their thunderbolts with fatal effect. Battleships +and cruisers went down with all on board. The Russian flagship was +disabled, and the admiral, severely wounded, was transferred +[Page 192] +to the hold of a destroyer. Without signals from their commander +the vessels of the whole fleet fought or fled or perished separately; +of 18,000 men, 1,000 escaped and 3,000 were made prisoners. What +of the other 14,000? + + "Ask of the winds that far around + With fragments strewed the sea." + +The much vaunted armada was a thing of the past; and Tsushima or, +as Togo officially named it, the Battle of the Sea of Japan, has +taken its place along with Trafalgar and Salamis. + +Tired of a spectacle that had grown somewhat monotonous, the world +was clamorous for peace. The belligerents, hitherto deaf to every +suggestion of the kind, now accepted an invitation from President +Roosevelt and appointed commissioners to arrange the terms of a +treaty. They met in August, 1905, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and +after a good deal of diplomatic fencing the sword was sheathed. In +the treaty, since ratified, Russia acknowledges Japan's exceptional +position in Korea, transfers to Japan her rights in Port Arthur +and Liao-tung, and hands over to Japan her railways in Manchuria. +Both parties agree to evacuate Manchuria within eighteen months. + +Japan was obliged to waive her claim to a war indemnity and to +allow Russia to retain half the island of Saghalien. Neither nation +was satisfied with the terms, but both perceived that peace was +preferable to the renewal of the struggle with all its horrors +and uncertainties. For tendering the olive branch +[Page 193] +and smoothing the way for its acceptance, President Roosevelt merits +the thanks of mankind.[*] Besides other advantages Japan has assured +her position as the leading power of the Orient; but the greatest +gainer will be Russia, if her defeat in the field should lead her +to the adoption of a liberal government at home. + +[Footnote *: Since this was written a Nobel Peace Prize has justly +been awarded to the President.] + + "Peace hath her victories, + No less renowned than war." + +The Czar signified his satisfaction by making Witte the head of +a reconstruction ministry and by conferring upon him the title +of Count; and the Mikado showed his entire confidence in Baron +Komura, notwithstanding some expressions of disappointment among +the people, by assigning him the delicate task of negotiating a +treaty with China. + +Though the attitude of China had been as unheroic as would have +been Menelaus' had the latter declared neutrality in the Trojan +war, the issue has done much to rouse the spirit of the Chinese +people. Other wars made them feel their weakness: this one begot +a belief in their latent strength. When they witnessed a series +of victories on land and sea gained by the Japanese over one of +the most formidable powers of the West, they exclaimed, "If our +neighbour can do this, why may we not do the same? We certainly +can if, like them, we break with the effete systems of the past. +Let us take these island heroes for our schoolmasters." + +[Page 194] +That war was one of the most momentous in the annals of history. +It unsettled the balance of power, and opened a vista of untold +possibilities for the yellow race. + +Not slow to act on their new convictions, the Chinese have sent a +small army of ten thousand students to Japan--of whom over eight +thousand are there now, while they have imported from the island +a host of instructors whose numbers can only be conjectured. The +earliest to come were in the military sphere, to rehabilitate army +and navy. Then came professors of every sort, engaged by public +or private institutions to help on educational reform. Even in +agriculture, on which they have hitherto prided themselves, the +Chinese have put themselves under the teaching of the Japanese, +while with good reason they have taken them as teachers in forestry +also. Crowds of Japanese artificers in every handicraft find ready +employment in China. Nor will it be long before pupils and apprentices +in these home schools will assume the role of teacher, while Chinese +graduates returning from Japan will be welcomed as professors of a +higher grade. This Japanning process, as it is derisively styled, may +be somewhat superficial; but it has the recommendation of cheapness +and rapidity in comparison with depending on teachers from the +West. It has, moreover, the immense advantage of racial kinship and +example. Of course the few students who go to the fountain-heads +of science--in the West--must when they return home take rank as +China's leading teachers. + +All this inclines one to conclude that a rapid transformation in +this ancient empire is to be counted on. +[Page 195] +The Chinese will soon do for themselves what they are now getting +the Japanese to do for them. Japanese ideas will be permanent; but +the direct agency of the Japanese people will certainly become +less conspicuous than it now is. + +To the honour of the Japanese Government, the world is bound to +acknowledge that the island nation has not abused its victories to +wring concessions from China. In fact to the eye of an unprejudiced +observer it appears that in unreservedly restoring Manchuria Japan +has allowed an interested neutral to reap a disproportionate share +of the profits. + + + + +[Page 196] +CHAPTER XXIX + +REFORM IN CHINA + +_Reforms under the Empress Dowager--The Eclectic Commission--Recent +Reforms--Naval Abortion--Merchant Marine--Army Reform--Mining +Enterprises--Railways--The Telegraph--The Post Office--The Customs--Sir +Robert Hart--Educational Reform--The Tung-Wen College--The Imperial +University--Diplomatic Intercourse--Progressive Viceroys--New Tests +for Honours--Legal Reform--Newspapers--Social Reforms--Reading +Rooms--Reform in Writing--Anti-foot-binding Society--The Streets._ + +"When I returned from England," said Marquis Ito, "my chief, the +Prince of Chosin, asked me if I thought anything needed to be changed +in Japan. I answered, 'Everything.'" These words were addressed in my +hearing, as I have elsewhere recorded, to three Chinese statesmen, +of whom Li Hung Chang was one. The object of the speaker was to +emphasise the importance of reform in China. He was unfortunate in +the time of his visit--it was just after the _coup d'etat_, +in 1898. His hearers were men of light and leading, in sympathy +with his views; but reform was on the ebb; a ruinous recoil was +to follow; and nothing came of his suggestions. + +[Page 197] +The Emperor had indeed shown himself inclined to "change everything," +but at that moment his power was paralyzed. What vicissitudes he +has passed through since that date! Should he come again to power, +as now seems probable, may he not, sobered by years and prudent +from experience, still carry into effect his grand scheme for the +renovation of China. To him a golden dream, will it ever be a reality +to his people? + +Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her +life and her throne, the Dowager became a convert to the policy +of progress. She had, in fact, outstripped her nephew. "Long may +she live!" "Late may he rule us!" During her lifetime she could be +counted on to carry forward the cause she had so ardently espoused. +She grasped the reins with a firm hand; and her courage was such +that she did not hesitate to drive the chariot of state over many +a new and untried road. She knew she could rely on the support +of her viceroys--men of her own appointment. She knew too that +the spirit of reform was abroad in the land, and that the heart +of the people was with her. + +The best embodiment of this new spirit was the High Commission +sent out in 1905 to study the institutions of civilized countries +east and west, and to report on the adoption of such as they deemed +advisable. The mere sending forth of such an embassy was enough +to make her reign illustrious. The only analogous mission in the +history of China, is that which was despatched to India, in 66 A. +D., in quest of a better faith, by Ming-ti, "The Luminous." The +earlier embassy +[Page 198] +borrowed a few sparks to rekindle the altars of their country; +the present embassy propose to introduce new elements in the way +of political reform. Their first recommendation, if not their first +report, reaches me while I write, and in itself is amply sufficient +to prove that this High Commission is not a sham designed to dazzle +or deceive. The Court _Gazette_, according to the _China +Times_, gives the following on the subject: + + +"The five commissioners have sent in a joint memorial dealing with +what they have seen in foreign countries during the last three +months. They report that the wealthiest and strongest nations in +the world to-day are governed by constitutional government. They +mention the proclamation of constitutional government in Russia, and +remark that China is the only great country that has not adopted that +principle. As they have carefully studied the systems of England, +the United States, Japan, etc., they earnestly request the Throne +to issue a decree fixing on five years as the limit within which +'China will adopt a constitutional form of government.' + +"A rescript submits this recommendation to a council of state to +advise on the action to be taken." + + +If that venerable body, consisting of old men who hold office for +life, does not take umbrage at the prospect of another tribunal +infringing on their domain, we shall have at least the promise of +a parliament. And five years hence, if the _conge d'elire_ +goes forth, it will rend the veil of ages. It implies the conferment +on the people of power hitherto unknown in their history. What a +commotion will the ballot-box excite! How suddenly will it arouse +the dormant +[Page 199] +intellect of a brainy race! But it is premature to speculate. + +In 1868 the Mikado granted his subjects a charter of rights, the +first article of which guarantees freedom of discussion, and engages +that he will be guided by the will of the people. In China does +not the coming of a parliament involve the previous issue of a +Magna Charta? + +It is little more than eight years since the restoration, as the +return of the Court in January, 1902, may be termed. In this period, +it is safe te assert that more sweeping reforms have been decreed +in China than were ever enacted in a half-century by any other +country, if one except Japan, whose example the Chinese profess to +follow, and France, in the Revolution, of which Macaulay remarks +that "they changed everything--from the rites of religion to the +fashion of a shoe-buckle." + +Reference will here be made to a few of the more important innovations +or ameliorations which, taken together, made the reign of the Empress +Dowager the most brilliant in the history of the Empire. The last +eight years have been uncommonly prolific of reforms; but the tide +began to turn after the peace of Peking in 1860. Since that date +every step in the adoption of modern methods was taken during the +reign or regency of that remarkable woman, which dated from 1861 +to 1908. + +As late as 1863 the Chinese Government did not possess a single +fighting ship propelled by steam. Steamers belonging to Chinese +merchants were sometimes employed to chase pirates; but they were not +[Page 200] +the property of the state. The first state-owned steamers, at least +the first owned by the Central Government, was a flotilla of gunboats +purchased that year in England by Mr. Lay, Inspector-General of +Maritime Customs. Dissatisfied with the terms he had made with the +commander, whom he had bound not to act on any orders but such as +the Inspector should approve, the Government dismissed the Inspector +and sold the ships. + +In the next thirty years a sufficient naval force was raised to +justify the appointment of an admiral; but in 1895 the whole fleet +was destroyed by the Japanese, and Admiral Ting committed suicide. +At present there is a squadron under each viceroy; but all combined +would hardly form the nucleus of a navy. That the Government intend +to create a navy may be inferred from the establishment of a Naval +Board. In view of the naval exploits of Japan, and under the guidance +of Japanese, they are certain to develop this feeble plant and to +make it formidable to somebody--perhaps to themselves. + +Their merchant marine is more respectable. With a fleet of fifty +or more good ships the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company +are able by the aid of subsidies and special privileges to compete +for a share in the coasting trade; but as yet they have no line +trading to foreign ports. + +In 1860 a wild horde with matchlocks, bows, and spears, the land +army is now supplied in large part with repeating rifles, trained +in Western drill, and dressed in uniform of the Western type. The +manoeuvres that took place near Peking in 1905 made +[Page 201] +a gala day for the Imperial Court, which expressed itself as more +than satisfied with the splendour of the spectacle. The contingent +belonging to this province is 40,000, and the total thus drilled +and armed is not less than five times that number. In 1907 the +troops of five provinces met in Honan. Thanks to railways, something +like concentration is coming within the range of possibility. Not +deficient in courage, what these raw battalions require to make +them effective is confidence in themselves and in their commanders. +Lacking in the lively patriotism that makes heroes of the Japanese, +these fine big fellows are not machines, but animals. To the mistaken +efforts recently made to instil that sentiment at the expense of the +foreigner, I shall refer in another chapter. A less objectionable +phase of the sentiment is provincialism, which makes it easy for an +invader to employ the troops of one province to conquer another. +In history these provinces appear as kingdoms, and their mutual +wars form the staple subject. What feeling of unity can exist so +long as the people are divided by a babel of dialects? More than +once have Tartars employed Chinese to conquer China; and in 1900 a +fine regiment from Wei-hai-wei helped the British to storm Peking. +It may be added they repaid themselves by treating the inhabitants +as conquered foes. Everywhere they were conspicuous for acts of +lawless violence. + +Three great arsenals, not to speak of minor establishments, are +kept busy turning out artillery and small arms for the national +army, and the Board of Army Reform has the supervision of those +forces, with +[Page 202] +the duty of making them not provincial, but national. Efforts of +this kind, however, are no proof of a reform spirit. Are not the +same to be seen all the way from Afghanistan to Dahomey? "To be weak +is to be miserable"; and the Chinese are right in making military +reorganisation the starting-point of a new policy. Yet the mere +proposal of a parliament is a better indication of the spirit of +reform than all these armaments. + +In the mind of China, wealth is the correlative of strength. The +two ideas are combined in the word _Fuchiang_, which expresses +national prosperity. Hence the treasures hidden in the earth could +not be neglected, when they had given up the follies of geomancy +and saw foreigners prospecting and applying for concessions to work +mines. At first such applications were met by a puerile quibble +as to the effect of boring on the "pulse of the Dragon"--in their +eyes not the guardian of a precious deposit, but the personification +of "good luck." To find lucky locations, and to decide what might +help or harm, were the functions of a learned body of professors of +_Fungshui_, a false science which held the people in bondage +and kept the mines sealed up until our own day. Gradually the Chinese +are shaking off the incubus and, reckless of the Dragon, are forming +companies for the exploitation of all sorts of minerals. The Government +has framed elaborate regulations limiting the shares of foreigners, +and encouraging their own people to engage in mining enterprises. + + "Give up your _Fungshui_; + It keeps your wealth locked up," + +says a verse of Viceroy Chang. + +[Page 203] +A similar change has taken place in sentiment as regards railways. +At first dreaded as an instrument of foreign aggression, they are +now understood to be the best of auxiliaries for national defence. +It has further dawned on the mind of a grasping mandarinate that +they may be utilised as a source of revenue. If stocks pay well, +why should not the Government hold them? "Your railways pay 10 +per cent.--that's the sort of railway we want in China," said one +of the commissioners at a banquet in England. + +It would not be strange if the nationalisation of railways decided +on this spring in Japan should lead to a similar movement in China. +In a country like America, with 300,000 miles of track, the purchase +would be _ultra vires_ in more senses than one, but with only +1 per cent. of that mileage, the purchase would not be difficult, +though it might not be so easy to secure an honest administration. + +Trains from Peking now reach Hankow (600 miles) in thirty-six hours. +When the grand trunk is completed, through trains from the capital +will reach Canton in three days. Set this over against the three +months' sea voyage of former times (a voyage made only once a year), +or against the ten days now required for the trip by steamer! What +a potent factor is the railroad in the progress of a great country! + +The new enterprises in this field would be burdensome to enumerate. +Shanghai is to be connected by rail with Tientsin (which means +Peking), and with Nanking and Suchow. Lines to penetrate the western +provinces are already mapped out; and even in Mongolia it is proposed +to supersede the camel by the iron +[Page 204] +horse on the caravan route to Russia. "Alas! the age of golden +leisure is gone--the iron age of hurry-skurry is upon us!" This +is the lament of old slow-going China. + +When China purchased the Shanghai-Woosung railway in 1876, she +was thought to be going ahead. What did we think when she tore up +the track and dumped it in the river? An aeon seems to have passed +since that day of darkness. + +The advent of railways has been slow in comparison with the telegraph. +The provinces are covered with wires. Governors and captains consult +with each other by wire, in preference to a tardy exchange of written +correspondence. The people, too, appreciate the advantage of +communicating by a flash with distant members of their families, +and of settling questions of business at remote places without +stirring from their own doors. To have their thunder god bottled +up and brought down to be their courier was to them the wonder of +wonders; yet they have now become so accustomed to this startling +innovation, that they cease to marvel. + +The wireless telegraph is also at work--a little manual, translated +by a native Christian, tells people how to use it. + +Over forty years ago, when I exhibited the Morse system to the +astonished dignitaries of Peking, those old men, though heads of +departments, chuckled like children when, touching a button, they +heard a bell ring; or when wrapping a wire round their bodies, +they saw the lightning leap from point to point. "It's wonderful," +they exclaimed, "but we can't use it in +[Page 205] +our country. The people would steal the wires." Electric bells +are now common appliances in the houses of Chinese who live in +foreign settlements. Electric trolleys are soon to be running at +Shanghai and Tientsin. Telephones, both private and public, are +a convenience much appreciated. Accustomed as the Chinese are to +the instantaneous transmission of thought and speech, they have +yet to see the _telodyne_--electricity as a transmitter of +force. But will they not see it when the trolleys run? The advent +of electric power will mark an epoch. + +China's weakness is not due wholly to backwardness in the arts +and sciences. It is to be equally ascribed to defective connection +of parts and to a lack of communication between places. Hence a +sense of solidarity is wanting, and instead there is a predominance +of local over national interests. For this disease the remedy is +forthcoming--rail and wire are rapidly welding the disjointed members +of the Empire into a solid unity. The post office contributes to +the same result. + +A postal system China has long possessed: mounted couriers for +official despatches, and foot messengers for private parties, the +Government providing the former, and merchant companies the latter. +The modernised post office, now operating in every province, provides +for both. To most of the large towns the mails are carried by steamboat +or railroad--a marvellous gain in time, compared with horse or +foot. The old method was slow and uncertain; the new is safe and +expeditious. + +That the people appreciate the change is shown by +[Page 206] +the following figures: In 1904 stamps to the amount of $400,000 +(Mexican) were sold; in 1905 the sale rose to $600,000--an advance +of 50 per cent. in one year. What may we not expect when the women +learn to read, and when education becomes more general among men? + +Sir Robert Hart, from whom I had this statement, is the father +of China's postal system. Overcoming opposition with patience and +prudence, he has given the post office a thorough organisation and +has secured for it the confidence of princes and people. Already +does the Government look to it as a prospective source of revenue. + +To the maritime customs service, Sir Robert has been a foster-father. +Provided for by treaty, it was in operation before he took charge, +in 1863; but to him belongs the honour of having nursed the infant +up to vigorous maturity by the unwearied exertions of nearly half +a century. While the post office is a new development, the maritime +customs have long been looked upon as the most reliable branch of +the revenue service. China's debts to foreign countries, whether +for loans or indemnities, are invariably paid from the customs +revenue. The Government, though disinclined to have such large +concerns administered by foreign agents, is reconciled to the +arrangement in the case of the customs by finding it a source of +growing income. The receipts for 1905 amounted to 35,111,000 taels += L5,281,000. In volume of trade this shows a gain of 11-1/2 per +cent. on 1904; but, owing to a favouring gale from the happy isles +of high finance, in sterling value the gain is actually 17 per +cent. + +[Page 207] +To a thoughtful mind, native or foreign, the maritime customs are +not to be estimated by a money standard. They rank high among the +agencies working for the renovation of China. They furnish an +object-lesson in official integrity, showing how men brought up +under the influence of Christian morals can collect large sums and +pay them over without a particle sticking to their fingers. While +the local commissioners have carried liberal ideas into mandarin +circles all along the seacoast and up the great rivers into the +interior, the Inspector-General (the "I. G." as Sir Robert is usually +called) has been the zealous advocate of every step in the way of +reform at headquarters. + +Another man in his position might have been contented to be a mere +fiscal agent, but Sir Robert Hart's fertile brain has been unceasingly +active for nearly half a century in devising schemes for the good of +China. All the honours and wealth that China has heaped on her trusted +adviser are far from being sufficient to cancel her obligations. +It was he who prompted a timid, groping government to take the +first steps in the way of diplomatic intercourse. It was he who +led them to raise their school of interpreters to the rank of a +diplomatic college. He it was who made peace in the war with France; +and in 1900, after the flight of the Court, he it was who acted +as intermediary between the foreign powers and Prince Ching. To +some of these notable services I shall refer elsewhere. I speak +of them here for the purpose of emphasising my disapproval of an +intrigue designed to oust Sir Robert and to overturn +[Page 208] +the lofty structure which he has made into a light-house for China. + +In May, 1906, two ministers were appointed by the Throne to take +charge of the entire customs service, with plenary powers to reform +or modify _ad libitum_. Sir Robert was not consulted, nor was +he mentioned in the decree. He was not dismissed, but was virtually +superseded. Britain, America, and other powers took alarm for the +safety of interests involved, and united in a protest. The Government +explained that it was merely substituting one tribunal for another, +creating a dual headship for the customs service instead of leaving +it under the Board of Foreign Affairs, a body already overburdened +with responsibilities. They gave a solemn promise that while Sir +Robert Hart remained there should be no change in his status or +powers; and so the matter stands. The protest saved the situation +for the present. Explanation and promise were accepted; but the +Government (or rather the two men who got themselves appointed +to a fat office) remain under the reproach of discourtesy and +ingratitude. The two men are Tieliang, a Manchu, and Tang Shao-yi, +a Chinese. The latter, I am told on good authority, is to have +L30,000 per annum. The other will not have less. This enormous salary +is paid to secure honesty. + +In China every official has his salary paid in two parts: one called +the "regular stipend," the other, a "solatium to encourage honesty." +The former is counted by hundreds of taels; the latter, by thousands, +especially where there is a temptation to peculate. What a rottenness +at the core is here betrayed! + +[Page 209] +A new development worthy of all praise is the opening, by imperial +command, of a school for the training of officials for the customs +service. It is a measure which Sir Robert Hart with all his public +spirit, never ventured to recommend, because it implies the speedy +replacement of the foreign staff by trained natives. + +Filling the sky with a glow of hope not unlike the approach of +sunshine after an arctic winter, the reform in the field of education +throws all others into the shade. By all parties is recognised +its supremacy. Its beginning was feeble and unwelcome, implying +on the part of China nothing but a few drops of oil to relieve +the friction at a few points of contact with the outside world. + +The new treaties found China unprovided with interpreters capable +of translating documents in foreign languages. Foreign nations +agreed to accompany their despatches with a Chinese version, until +a competent staff of interpreters should be provided. With a view to +meeting this initial want, a school was opened in 1862, in connection +with the Foreign Office, and placed under the direction of the +Inspector-General of Maritime Customs, by whom I was recommended +for the presidency. Professors of English, French, and Russian +were engaged; and later on German took a place alongside of the +three leading languages of the Western world. + +At first no science was taught or expected, but gradually we succeeded +in obtaining the consent of the Chinese ministers to enlarge our +faculty so as to include chairs of astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, +and physics. International law was taught by the +[Page 210] +president; and by him also the Chinese were supplied with their +first text-books on the law of nations. What use had they for books +on that subject, so long as they held no intercourse on equal terms +with foreign countries? The students trained in that school of +diplomacy had to shiver in the cold for many a year before the +Government recognised their merits and rewarded them with official +appointments. The minister recently returned from London, the ministers +now in Germany and Japan, and a minister formerly in France, not to +speak of secretaries of legation and consuls, were all graduates +of our earlier classes. + +In 1898 the young Emperor, taught by defeat at the hands of the +Japanese, resolved on a thorough reform in the system of national +education. It would never do to confine the knowledge of Western +science to a handful of interpreters and attaches. The highest +scholars of the Empire must be allowed access to the fountain of +national strength. A university was created with a capital of five +million taels, and the writer was made president by an imperial +decree which conferred on him the highest but one of the nine grades +of the mandarinate. + +Two or three hundred students were enrolled, among whom were bachelors, +masters, and doctors of the civil service examinations. It was +launched with a favouring breeze; but the wind changed with the +_coup d'etat_ of the Empress Dowager, and two years later the +university went down in the Boxer cyclone. A professor, a tutor, +and a student lost their lives. How the cause of educational reform +rose stronger after the storm, I relate in a special +[Page 211] +chapter. It is a far cry from a university for the _elite_ +to that elaborate system of national education which is destined +to plant its schools in every town and hamlet in the Empire. The +new education was in fact still regarded with suspicion by the +honour men of the old system. They looked on it, as they did on +the railway, as a source of danger, a perilous experiment. + +As yet the intercourse was one-sided: envoys came; but none were +sent. Embassies were no novelty; but they had always moved on an +inclined plane, either coming up laden with tribute, or going down +bearing commands. Where there was no tribute and no command, why +send them? Why send to the very people who had robbed China of her +supremacy! It was a bitter pill, and she long refused to swallow +it. Hart gilded the dose and she took it. Obtaining leave to go +home to get married, he proposed that he should be accompanied by +his teacher, Pinchun, a learned Manchu, as unofficial envoy--with +the agreeable duty to see and report. It was a travelling commission, +not like that of 1905-06, to seek light, but to ascertain whether +the representative of a power so humbled and insulted would be +treated with common decency. + +The old pundit was a poet. All Chinese pundits are poets; but Pinchun +had real gifts, and the flow of champagne kindled his inspiration. +Everywhere wined and dined, though accredited to no court, he was +in raptures at the magnificence of the nations of the West. He +lauded their wealth, culture, and scenery in faultless verse; and +if he indulged in satire, +[Page 212] +it was not for the public eye. He was attended by several of our +students, to whom the travelling commission was an education. They +were destined, after long waiting as I have said, to revisit the +Western world, clothed with higher powers. + +The impression made on both sides was favourable, and the way was +prepared for a genuine embassy. The United States minister, Anson +Burlingame, a man of keen penetration and broad sympathies, had made +himself exceedingly acceptable to the Foreign Office at Peking. When +he was taking leave to return home, in 1867, the Chinese ministers +begged his good offices with the United States Government and with +other governments as occasion might offer--"In short, you will +be our ambassador," they said, with hearty good-will. + +Burlingame, who grasped the possibilities of the situation, called at +the Customs on his way to the Legation. Hart seized the psychological +moment, and, hastening to the _Yamen_, induced the ministers +to turn a pleasantry into a reality. The Dowagers (for there were +two) assented to the proposal of Prince Kung, to invest Burlingame +with a roving commission to all the Treaty powers, and to associate +with him a Manchu and a Chinese with the rank of minister. An +"oecumenical embassy" was the result. Some of our students were +again attached to the suite; reciprocal intercourse had begun; and +Burlingame has the glory of initiating it". + +In the work of reform three viceroys stand pre-eminent, viz., Li +Hung Chang, Yuen Shi Kai and Chang Chitung. Li, besides organising +an army and +[Page 213] +a navy (both demolished by the Japanese in 1895), founded a university +at Tienstin, and placed Dr. Tenney at the head of it. Yuen, coming +to the same viceroyalty with the lesson of the Boxer War before +his eyes, has made the army and education objects of special care. +In the latter field he had had the able assistance of Dr. Tenney, +and succeeded in making the schools of the province of Chihli an +example for the Empire. + +Viceroy Chang has the distinction of being the first man (with +the exception of Kang Yuwei) to start the emperor on the path of +reform. Holding that, to be rich, China must have the industrial +arts of the West, and to be strong she must have the sciences of +the West, he has taken the lead in advocating and introducing both. +Having been called, after the suspension of the Imperial University, +to assist this enlightened satrap in his great enterprise, I cannot +better illustrate the progress of reform than by devoting a separate +chapter to him and to my observations during three years in Central +China. + +Tests of scholarship and qualifications for office have undergone +a complete change. The regulation essay, for centuries supreme in +the examinations for the civil service, is abolished; and more +solid acquirements have taken its place. It takes time to adjust such +an ancient system to new conditions. That this will be accomplished +is sufficiently indicated by the fact that in May, 1906, degrees +answering to A. M. and Ph. D. were conferred on quite a number of +students who had completed their studies at universities in foreign +countries. As a result there is certain +[Page 214] +to be a rush of students to Europe and America, the fountain-heads +of science. Forty young men selected by Viceroy Yuen from the advanced +classes of his schools were in 1906 despatched under the superintendence +of Dr. Tenney to pursue professional studies in the United States. +That promising mission was partly due to the relaxation of the +rigour of the exclusion laws. + +The Chinese assessor of the Mixed Court in Shanghai was dismissed +the same year because he had condemned criminals to be beaten with +rods--a favourite punishment, in which there is a way to alleviate +the blows. Slicing, branding, and other horrible punishments with +torture to extort confessions have been forbidden by imperial decree. +Conscious of the contempt excited by such barbarities, and desirous +of removing an obstacle to admission to the comity of nations, the +Government has undertaken to revise its penal code. Wu-ting-fang, +so well known as minister at Washington, has borne a chief part in +this honourable task. The code is not yet published; but magistrates +are required to act on its general principles. When completed it will +no doubt provide for a jury, a thing hitherto unknown in China. +The commissioners on legal reform have already sent up a memorial, +explaining the functions of a jury; and, to render its adoption +palatable, they declare that it is an ancient institution, having +been in use in China three thousand years ago. They leave the Throne +to infer that Westerners borrowed it from China. + +The fact is that each magistrate is a petty tyrant, embodying in +his person the functions of local governor, +[Page 215] +judge, and jury, though there are limits to his discretion and +room for appeal or complaint. It is to be hoped that lawyers and +legal education will find a place in the administration of justice. + +Formerly clinging to a foreign flagstaff, the editor of a Chinese +journal cautiously hinted the need for some kinds of reform. Within +this _lustrum mirabile_ the daily press has taken the Empire +by storm. Some twenty or more journals have sprung up under the +shadow of the throne, and they are not gagged. They go to the length +of their tether in discussing affairs of state--notwithstanding +cautionary hints. Refraining from open attack, they indulge in +covert criticism of the Government and its agents. + +Social reforms open to ambitious editors a wide field and make amends +for exclusion from the political arena. One of the most influential +recently deplored the want of vitality in the old religions of +the country, and, regarding their reformation as hopeless, openly +advocated the adoption of Christianity. To be independent of the +foreigner it must, he said, be made a state church, with one of +the princes for a figurehead, if not for pilot. + +Another deals with the subject of marriage. Many improvements, +he says, are to be made in the legal status of woman. The total +abolition of polygamy might be premature; but that is to be kept +in view. In another issue he expresses a regret that the Western +usage of personal courtship cannot safely be introduced. Those who +are to be companions for life cannot as yet be allowed to see each +other, as disorders might result from excess of freedom. Such liberty +[Page 216] +in social relations is impracticable "except in a highly refined +and well-ordered state of society." The same or another writer +proposes, by way of enlarging woman's world, that she shall not +be confined to the house, but be allowed to circulate as freely +as Western women but she must hide her charms behind a veil. + +Reporting an altercation between a policeman and the driver of +one of Prince Ching's carts, who insisted on driving on tracks +forbidden to common people, an editor suggests with mild sarcasm +that a notice be posted in such cases stating that only "noblemen's +carts are allowed to pass." Do not these specimens show a laudable +attempt to simulate a free press? Free it is by sufferance, though +not by law. + +Reading-rooms are a new institution full of promise. They are not +libraries, but places for reading and expounding newspapers for the +benefit of those who are unable to read for themselves. Numerous +rooms may be seen at the street corners, where men are reciting +the contents of a paper to an eager crowd. They have the air of +wayside chapels; and this mode of enlightening the ignorant was +confessedly borrowed from the missionary. How urgent the need, +where among the men only one in twenty can read; and among women +not one in a hundred! + +Reform in writing is a genuine novelty, Chinese writing being a +development of hieroglyphics, in which the sound is no index to +the sense, and in which each pictorial form must be separately made +familiar to the eye. Dr. Medhurst wittily calls it "an occulage, +not a language." Without the introduction of alphabetic +[Page 217] +writing, the art of reading can never become general. To meet this +want a new alphabet of fifty letters has been invented, and a society +organised to push the system, so that the common people, also women, +may soon be able to read the papers for themselves. The author of +the system is Wang Chao, mentioned above as having given occasion +for the _coup d'etat_ by which the Dowager Empress was restored +to power in 1898. + +I close this formidable list of reforms with a few words on a society +for the abolition of a usage which makes Chinese women the +laughing-stock of the world, namely, the binding of their feet. +With the minds of her daughters cramped by ignorance, and their +feet crippled by the tyranny of an absurd fashion, China suffers an +immense loss, social and economic. Happily there are now indications +that the proposed enfranchisement will meet with general favour. +Lately I heard mandarins of high rank advocate this cause in the +hearing of a large concourse at Shanghai. They have given a pledge +that there shall be no more foot-binding in their families; and the +Dowager Empress came to the support of the cause with a hortatory +edict. As in this matter she dared not prohibit, she was limited to +persuasion and example. Tartar women have their powers of locomotion +unimpaired. Viceroy Chang denounced the fashion as tending to sap the +vigour of China's mothers; and he is reported to have suggested a +tax on small feet--in inverse proportion to their size, of course. +The leader in this movement, which bids fair to become national, +is Mrs. Archibald Little. + +[Page 218] +The streets are patrolled by a well-dressed and well-armed police +force, in strong contrast with the ragged, negligent watchmen of +yore. The Chinese, it seems, are in earnest about mending their +ways. Their streets, in Peking and other cities, are undergoing +thorough repair--so that broughams and rickshaws are beginning to +take the place of carts and palanquins. A foreign style of building +is winning favour; and the adoption of foreign dress is talked of. +When these changes come, what will be left of this queer antique? + + + + +[Page 219] +CHAPTER XXX + +VICEROY CHANG-A LEADER OF REFORM + +_His Origin--Course as a Student--In the Censorate--He Floors a +Magnate--The First to Wake Up--As a Leader of Reform--The Awakening +of the Giant_ + +If I were writing of Chang, the Chinese giant, who overtopped the +tallest of his fellow-men by head and shoulders, I should be sure +of readers. Physical phenomena attract attention more than mental +or moral grandeur. Is it not because greatness in these higher +realms requires patient thought for due appreciation? + +Chang, the viceroy of Hukwang, a giant in intellect and a hero in +achievement, is not a commonplace character. If my readers will +follow me, while I trace his rise and progress, not only will they +discover that he stands head and shoulders above most officials +of his rank, but they will gain important side-lights on great +events in recent history. + +During my forty years' residence in the capital I had become well +acquainted with Chang's brilliant career; but it is only within +the last three or four years that I have had an opportunity to +study him in personal intercourse, having been called to preside +over his university and to aid him in other educational enterprises. + +[Page 220] +Whatever may be thought of the rank and file of China's mandarins, +her viceroys are nearly always men of exceptional ability. They +are never novices, but as a rule old in years and veterans in +experience. Promoted for executive talent or for signal services, +their office is too high to be in the market; nor is it probable +that money can do much to recommend a candidate. A governor of +Kwangsi was recently dismissed for incompetence, or for ill-success +against a body of rebels. Being a rich man, he made a free use +of that argument which commonly proves effective at Peking. But, +so far from being advanced to the viceroyalty, he was not even +reinstated in his original rank. The most he was able to obtain by +a lavish expenditure was the inspectorship of a college at Wuchang, +to put his foot on one of the lower rounds of the official ladder. + +Chang was never rich enough to buy official honours, even in the +lower grades; and it is one of his chief glories that, after a +score of years in the exercise of viceregal power, he continues +to be relatively poor. + +His name in full is Chang Chi-tung, meaning "Longbow of the Cavern," +an allusion to a tradition that one of his ancestors was born in +a cave and famed for archery. This was far back in the age of the +troglodytes. Now, for many generations, the family has been devoted +to the peaceful pursuit of letters. As for Chang himself, it will +be seen with what deadly effect he has been able to use the pen, in +his hands a more formidable weapon than the longbow of his ancestor. + +Chang was born at Nanpi, in the metropolitan +[Page 221] +province of Chihli, not quite seventy years ago; and that circumstance +debarred him from holding the highest viceroyalty in the Empire, +as no man is permitted to hold office in his native place. He has +climbed to his present eminence without the extraneous aids of +wealth and family influence. This implies talents of no ordinary +grade; but how could those talents have found a fit arena without +that admirable system of literary competition which for so many +centuries has served the double purpose of extending patronage +to letters and of securing the fittest men for the service of the +state. + +Crowned with the laurel of A. B., or budding genius, before he +was out of his teens, three years later he won the honour of A. +M., or, as the Chinese say, he plucked a sprig of the _olea +fragrans_ in a contest with his fellow-provincials in which +only one in a hundred gained a prize. Proceeding to the imperial +capital he entered the lists against the picked scholars of all +the provinces. The prizes were 3 per cent. of the whole number +of competitors, and he gained the doctorate in letters, which, as +the Chinese title indicates, assures its possessor of an official +appointment. Had he been content to wait for some obscure position +he might have gone home to sleep on his laurels. But his restless +spirit saw fresh battle-fields beckoning him to fresh triumphs. +The three hundred new-made doctors were summoned to the palace to +write on themes assigned by the Emperor, that His Majesty might +select a score of them for places in the Hanlin Academy. Here again +fortune favoured young Chang; the elegance of his penmanship and +his skill in composing +[Page 222] +mechanical verse were so remarkable that he secured a seat on the +literary Olympus of the Empire. + +His conflicts were not yet ended. A conspicuous advantage of his +high position was that it qualified him as a candidate for membership +of the Board of Censors. Nor did fortune desert her favourite in +this instance. After writing several papers to show his knowledge +of law, history, and politics, he came forth clothed with powers +that made him formidable to the highest officers of the state--powers +somewhat analogous to the combined functions of censor and tribune +in ancient Rome. + +Before I proceed to show how our "knight of the longbow" employed +his new authority, a few words on the constitution of that august +tribunal, the Board of Censors, may prove interesting to the reader. +Its members are not judges, but prosecuting attorneys for the state. +They are accorded a freedom of speech which extends even to pointing +out the shortcomings of majesty. How important such a tribunal for +a country in which a newspaper press with its argus eyes has as +yet no existence! There is indeed a court _Gazette_, which +has been called the oldest newspaper in the world; but its contents +are strictly limited to decrees, memorials, and appointments. Free +discussion and general news have no place in its columns; so that +in the modern sense it is not a newspaper. + +The court--even the occupant of the Dragon Throne--needs watch-dogs. +Such is the theory; but as a matter of fact these guardians of official +morals find it safer to occupy themselves with the aberrations of +satellites than to discover spots on the sun. About +[Page 223] +thirty years ago one of them, Wukotu, resolved to denounce the +Empress Dowager for having adopted the late emperor as her son +instead of making him her grandson. He accordingly immolated himself +at the tomb of the late emperor by way of protesting against the +impropriety of leaving him without a direct heir to worship his +manes. It is doubtful whether the Western mind is capable of following +Wukotu's subtle reasoning; but is it not plain that he felt that +he was provoking an ignominious death, and chose rather to die +as a hero--the champion of his deceased master? + +If a censor succeeds in convicting a single high functionary of +gross misconduct his fortune is made. He is rewarded by appointment +to some respectable post, possibly the same from which his victim has +been evicted. Practical advantage carries the day against abstract +notions of aesthetic fitness. Sublime it might be to see the guardians +of the common weal striking down the unworthy, with a public spirit +untainted by self-interest; but in China (and in some other countries) +such machinery requires self-interest for its motive force. Wanting +that, it would be like a windmill without wind, merely a fine object +in the landscape. + +As an illustration of the actual procedure take the case in which +Chang first achieved a national reputation. Chunghau, a Manchu of +noble family and high in favour at court, had been sent to Russia +in 1880 to demand the restoration of Ili, a province of Chinese +Turkestan, which the Russians had occupied on pretext of quelling +its chronic disorders. Scarcely had he reported the success of +his mission, which had +[Page 224] +resulted in recovering two-thirds of the disputed territory, when +Chang came forward and denounced it as worse than a failure. He +had, as Chang proved, permitted the Russians to retain certain +strategic points, and had given them fertile districts in exchange +for rugged mountains or arid plains. To such a settlement no envoy +could be induced to consent, unless chargeable with corruption +or incompetence. + +The unlucky envoy was thrown into prison and condemned to death +(but reprieved), and his accuser rose in the official scale as +rapidly as if he had won a great battle on land or sea. His victory +was not unlike that of those British orators who made a reputation +out of the impeachment of Lord Clive or Warren Hastings, save that +with him a trenchant pen took the place of an eloquent tongue. I +knew Chunghau both before and after his disgrace. In 1859, when +an American embassy for the first time entered the gates of Peking, +it was Chunghau who was appointed to escort the minister to the +capital and back again to the seacoast--a pretty long journey in +those days when there was neither steamboat nor railway. During +that time, acting as interpreter, I had occasion to see him every +day, and I felt strongly attracted by his generous and gentlemanly +bearing. The poor fellow came out of prison stripped of all his +honours, and with his prospects blighted forever. In a few months +he died of sheer chagrin. + +The war with Japan in 1894-1895 found Chang established in the +viceroyalty of Hukwang, two provinces in Central China, with a +prosperous population of over fifty millions, on a great highway +of internal +[Page 225] +traffic rivalling the Mississippi, and with Hankow, the hub of +the Empire, for its commercial centre. When he saw the Chinese +forces scattered like chaff by the battalions of those despised +islanders he was not slow to grasp the explanation. Kang Yuwei, a +Canton man, also grasped it, and urged on the Emperor the necessity +for reform with such vigour as to prompt him to issue a meteoric +shower of reformatory edicts, filling one party with hope and the +other with dismay. + +Chang had held office at Canton; and his keen intellect had taken +in the changed relations of West and East. He perceived that a +new sort of sunshine shed its beams on the Western world. He did +not fully apprehend the spiritual elements of our civilisation; +but he saw that it was clothed with a power unknown to the sages +of his country, the forces of nature being brought into subjection +through science and popular education. He felt that China must +conform to the new order of things, or perish--even if that new +order was in contradiction to her ancient traditions as much as +the change of sunrise to the west. He saw and felt that knowledge +is power, a maxim laid down by Confucius before the days of Bacon; +and he set about inculcating his new ideas by issuing a series +of lectures for the instruction of his subordinates. Collected +into a volume under the title of "Exhortations to Learn,"[*] they +were put into the hands of the young Emperor and by his command +distributed among the viceroys and governors of the Empire. + +[Footnote *: Translated by Dr. Woodbridge as "China's Only Hope." +Kelly & Walsh, Shanghai.] + +[Page 226] +What a harvest might have sprung from the sowing of such seed in +such soil by an imperial husbandman! But there were some who viewed +it as the sowing of dragons' teeth. Those reactionaries induced the +Dowager Empress to come out from her retirement and to reassume +her abdicated power in order to save the Empire from a threatening +conflagration. It was the fable of Phaeton enacted in real life. +The young charioteer was struck down and the sun brought back to +his proper course instead of rising in the west. The progressive +legislation of the two previous years 1897-98 was repealed and +then followed two years of a narrow, benighted policy, controlled +by the reactionaries under the lead of Prince Tuan, father of the +heir-apparent, with a junta of Manchu princes as blind and corrupt +as Russian grand dukes. That disastrous recoil resulted in war, +not against a single power, but against the whole civilised world, +as has been set forth in the account of the Boxer War (see page +172). + +Affairs were drifting into this desperate predicament when Chang +of the Cavern became in a sense the saviour of his country. This +he effected by two actions which called for uncommon intelligence +and moral force: (1) By assuring the British Government that he +would at all costs maintain peace in Central China; (2) by refusing +to obey an inhuman decree from Peking, commanding the viceroys to +massacre all foreigners within their jurisdiction--a decree which +would be incredible were it not known that at the same moment the +walls of the capital were placarded with proclamations offering +rewards of 50, 30 and 20 +[Page 227] +taels respectively for the heads of foreign men, women, and children. + +It is barely possible that Chang was helped to a decision by a +friendly visit from a British man-of-war, whose captain, in answer +to a question about his artillery, informed Chang that he had the +bearings of his official residence, and could drop a shell into +it with unerring precision at a distance of three miles. He was +also aided by the influence of Mr. Fraser, a wide-awake British +consul. Fraser modestly disclaims any special merit in the matter, +but British missionaries at Hankow give him the credit. They say +that, learning from them the state of feeling among the people, he +induced the viceroy to take prompt measures to prevent an outbreak. +At one time a Boxer army from the south was about to cross the +river and destroy the foreign settlement. Chang, when appealed +to, frankly confessed that his troops were in sympathy with the +Boxers, and that being in arrears of pay they were on the verge +of revolt. Fraser found him the money by the help of the Hong Kong +Bank; the troops were paid; and the Boxers dispersed. + +The same problem confronted Liu, the viceroy of Nanking; and it +was solved by him in the same way. Both viceroys acted in concert; +but to which belongs the honour of that wise initiative can never +be decided with certainty. The foreign consuls at Nanking claim it +for Liu. Mr. Sundius, now British consul at Wuhu, assures me that +as Liu read the barbarous decree he exclaimed, "I shall repudiate +this as a forgery," adding "I shall not obey, if I have to die for +it." His words have a heroic ring; and +[Page 228] +suggest that his policy was not taken at second-hand. + +A similar claim has been put forward for Li Hung Chang, who was at +that time viceroy at Canton. Is it not probable that the same view +of the situation flashed on the minds of all three simultaneously? +They were not, like the Peking princes, ignorant Tartars, but Chinese +scholars of the highest type. They could not fail to see that compliance +with that bloody edict would seal their own doom as well as that +of the Empire. + +Speaking of Chang, Mr. Fraser says: "He had the wit to see that +any other course meant ruin." Chang certainly does not hesitate +to blow his own trumpet; but I do not suspect him of "drawing the +longbow." Having the advantage of being an expert rhymer, he has +put his own pretensions into verses which all the school-children +in a population of fifty millions are obliged to commit to memory. +They run somewhat like this: + + "In Kengtse (1900) the Boxer robbers went mad, + And Peking became for the third time the prey of fire and sword; + But the banks of the Great River and the province of Hupei + Remained in tranquillity." + +He adds in a tone of exultation: + + "The province of Hupei was accordingly exempted + From the payment of an indemnity tax, + And allowed to spend the amount thus saved + In the erection of schoolhouses." + +In these lines there is not much poetry; but the fact which they +commemorate adds one more wreath to +[Page 229] +a brow already crowned with many laurels, showing how much the viceroy's +heart was set on the education of his people. + +In the interest of the educational movement, I was called to Chang's +assistance in 1902. The Imperial University was destroyed in the +Boxer War, and, seeing no prospect of its reestablishment I was +on the way to my home in America when, on reaching Vancouver, I +found a telegram from Viceroy Chang, asking me to be president +of a university which he proposed to open, and to instruct his +junior officials in international law. I engaged for three years; +and I now look back on my recent campaign in Central China as one +of the most interesting passages in a life of over half a century +in the Far East. + +Besides instructing his mandarins in the law of nations, I had to +give them some notion of geography and history, the two cooerdinates +of time and place, without which they might, like some of their +writers, mistake Rhode Island for the Island of Rhodes, and Rome, +New York, for the City of the Seven Hills. A book on the Intercourse +of Nations and a translation of Dudley Field's "International Code," +remain as tangible results of those lectures. But the university +failed to materialise. + +Within a month after my arrival the viceroy was ordered to remove +to Nanking to take up a post rendered vacant by the death of his +eminent colleague, Liu. Calling at my house on the eve of embarking +he said, "I asked you to come here to be president of a university +for two provinces. If you will go with me to Nanking, I will make +you president of a university +[Page 230] +for five provinces," meaning that he would combine the educational +interests of the two viceroyalties, and showing how the university +scheme had expanded in his fertile brain. + +Before he had been a month at that higher post he learned to his +intense disappointment that he was only to hold the place for another +appointee. After nearly a year at Nanking, he was summoned to Peking, +where he spent another year in complete uncertainty as to his future +destination. In the meantime the university existed only on paper. +In justice to the viceroy I ought to say that nothing could exceed +the courtesy and punctuality with which he discharged his obligations +to me. The despatch which once a month brought me my stipend was +always addressed to me as president of the Wuchang University, +though as a matter of fact I might as well have been styled president +of the University of Weissnichtwo. In one point he went beyond his +agreement, viz., in giving me free of charge a furnished house +of two stories, with ten rooms and a garden. It was on the bank +of the "Great River" with the picturesque hills of Hanyang nearly +opposite, a site which I preferred to any other in the city. I there +enjoyed the purest air with a minimum of inconvenience from narrow, +dirty streets. To these exceptional advantages it is doubtless due +that my health held out, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, +which, the locality being far inland and in lat. 30 deg. 30', was that +of a fiery furnace. On the night of the autumnal equinox, my first +in Wuchang, the mercury stood in my bedroom at 102 deg.. I was the +guest of the Rev. Arnold Foster of the London Missionary +[Page 231] +Society, whose hospitality was warm in more ways than one. + +The viceroy returned from Peking, broken in health; the little +strength he had left was given to military preparation for the +contingencies of the Russo-Japanese War; and his university was +consigned to the limbo of forgotten dreams. + +Viceroy Chang has been derided, not quite justly, as possessing a +superabundance of initiative along with a rather scant measure of +finality, taking up and throwing down his new schemes as a child +does its playthings. In these enterprises the paucity of results +was due to the shortcomings of the agents to whom he entrusted +their management. The same reproach and the same apology might be +made for the Empress Dowager who, like the Roman Sybil, committed +her progressive decrees to the mercy of the winds without seeming +to care what became of them. + +Next after the education of his people the development of their +material resources has been with Chang a leading object. To this +end he has opened cotton-mills, silk-filatures, glass-works and +iron-works, all on an extensive scale, with foreign machinery and +foreign experts. For miles outside of the gates of Wuchang the +banks of the river are lined with these vast establishments. Do +they not announce more clearly than the batteries which command +the waterway the coming of a new China? Some of them he has kept +going at an annual loss. The cotton-mill, for example, was standing +idle when I arrived, because in the hands of his mandarins he could +not make it pay expenses. A Canton merchant leased it on easy terms, +and made it +[Page 232] +such a conspicuous success that he is now growing rich. It is an +axiom in China that no manufacturing or mercantile enterprise can +be profitably conducted by a deputation of mandarins. + +Chang is rapidly changing the aspect of his capital by erecting +in all parts of it handsome school-buildings in foreign style, +literally proclaiming from the house-tops his gospel of education. +The youth in these schools are mostly clad in foreign dress; his +street police and the soldiers in his barracks are all in foreign +uniform; and many of the latter have cut off their cues as a sign +of breaking with the old regime. In talking with their officers I +applauded the prudence of the measure as making them less liable +to be captured while running away. + +Chang's soldiers are taught to march to the cadence of his own +war-songs--which, though lacking the fire of Tyrtaeus or Koerner, +are not ill-suited to arouse patriotic sentiment. Take these lines +as a sample: + + "Foreigners laugh at our impotence, + And talk of dividing our country like a watermelon, + But are we not 400 million strong? + If we of the Yellow Race only stand together, + What foreign power will dare to molest us? + Just look at India, great in extent + But sunk in hopeless bondage. + Look, too, at the Jews, famous in ancient times, + Now scattered on the face of the earth. + Then look at Japan with her three small islands, + Think how she got the better of this great nation, + And won the admiration of the world. + What I admire in the Japanese + Is not their skill in using ship or gun + But their single-hearted love of country." + +[Page 233] +Viceroy Chang's mode of dealing with his own malady might be taken +as a picture of the shifting policy of a half-enlightened country. + +The first doctor he consulted was a Chinese of the old school. Besides +administering pills composed of + + "Eye of newt, and toe of frog, + Wool of bat, and tongue of dog," + +the doctor suggested that one thing was still required to put the +patient in harmony with the course of Nature. Pointing to a fine +chain of hills that stretches in a waving line across the wide city, +he said: "The root of your trouble lies there. That carriage-road +that you have opened has wounded the spinal column of the serpent. +Restore the hill to its former condition and you will soon get +well." + +The viceroy filled the gap incontinently, but found himself no +better. He then sent for English and American doctors--dismissing +them in turn to make way for a Japanese who had him in charge when +I left Wuchang. For a paragon of intelligence and courage, how +pitiful this relapse into superstition! Did not China after a trial +of European methods also relapse during the Boxer craze into her old +superstitions? And is she not at this moment taking the medicine +of Japan? To Japan she looks for guidance in the conduct of her +public schools as well as for the training of her army and navy. +To Japan she is sending her sons and daughters in growing numbers. +No fewer than eight thousand of her young men, and, what is more +significant, one or two hundred of her young women from the best +families are now in those islands inhaling the breath of a new +life. + +[Page 234] +Some writers have sounded a note of alarm in consequence of this +wholesale surrender on the part of China. But for my part I have +no fear of any sinister tendency in the teachings of Japan, whether +political or educational. On a memorable occasion twelve years ago, +when Marquis Ito was entertained at a banquet in Peking by the +governor of the city and the chancellor of the Imperial University, I +congratulated him on the fact that "Japan exerts a stronger influence +on China than any Western power--just as the moon raises a higher +tide than the more distant sun"--implying, what the Japanese are +ready enough to admit, that their country shines by borrowed light. + +After all, the renovating effect, for which I look to them, will +not come so much from their teaching as from their example. "What +is to hinder us from doing what those islanders have done?" is an +argument oft reiterated by Viceroy Chang in his appeals to his drowsy +countrymen. It was, as I have said, largely under his influence that +the Emperor was led to adopt a new educational programme twelve +years ago. Nor can there be a doubt that by his influence more than +that of any other man, the Empress Dowager was induced to reenact +and to enlarge that programme. + +To show what is going on in this very decade: On September 3, 1905, +an edict was issued "abolishing the literary competitive examinations +of the old style," and ordering that "hereafter exclusive attention +shall be given to the establishment of schools of modern learning +throughout the Empire in lieu thereof." The next day a supplementary +decree ordained that +[Page 235] +the provincial chancellors or examiners who, like Othello, found their +occupation gone, should have the duty of examining and inspecting the +schools in their several provinces; and, to give the new arrangement +greater weight, it was required that they "discharge this duty in +conjunction with the viceroy or governor of the province." + +An item of news that came along with these decrees seemed to indicate +that a hitherto frivolous court has at length become thoroughly in +earnest on the subject of education. A sum of 300,000 taels appeared +in the national budget as the annual expense of a theatrical troupe +in attendance on the Court. At the instance of two ministers (Viceroy +Yuan and General Tieliang) Her Majesty reduced this to one-third of +that amount, ordering that theatricals should be performed twice +a week instead of daily; and that the 200,000 taels thus economised +shall be set apart for _the use of schools_. How much this +resembles the policy of Viceroy Chang who, exempted from raising +a war indemnity, set apart an equal amount for the building of +schoolhouses! An empire that builds schoolhouses is more certain +to make a figure in the world than one that spends its money on +batteries and forts. + +In addition to adopting the new education there are three items +which Chang proclaims as essential to a renovation of Chinese society. +In the little book, already cited, he says: + +[Page 236] + The crippling of women makes their offspring weak; + The superstition of _Fungshui_ prevents the opening of mines, + And keeps China poor." + +How could the man who wrote this fall back into the folly of +_Fungshui?_ Is it not possible that he closed that new road +in deference to the superstitions of his people? In either case +it would be a deplorable weakness; but his country, thanks to his +efforts, is now fully committed to progress. She moves, however, in +that direction much as her noble rivers move toward the sea--with +many a backward bend, many a refluent eddy. + + +POSTSCRIPT NO. I + +In taking leave of this eminent man, who represents the best class +of his countrymen, there are two or three incidents, which I mention +by way of supplement. In his telegram to Vancouver, besides engaging +me to assume the office of president of the proposed university, he +asked me to act as his legal and political adviser. In the agreement +formally made through the consul in New York, in place of these +last-named functions was substituted the duty of instructing his +junior mandarins in international law. The reason assigned for +the change was that the Peking Government declined to allow _any +foreigner_ to hold the post of adviser. The objection was represented +as resting on general policy, not on personal grounds. If, however, +the Peking officials had read my book on the Siege, in which I +denounce the treachery of Manchu government and favour the +[Page 237] +position of China, it is quite conceivable that their objection +might have a tinge of personality. + +When Viceroy Chang was starting for Peking, I called to see him +on board his steamer. He held in his hand a printed report of my +opening lecture at the beginning of a new term, and expressed regret +that in the hurry of departure he had been unable to find time to +attend in person. On that occasion (the previous day) several of +his higher officials, including the treasurer, judge, and prefect, +after giving me tiffin at the Mandarin Institute, brought sixty +junior officials to make their salaam to their instructor. This +ceremony performed, I bowed to Their Excellencies, and requested +them to leave me with my students. "No," they replied, "we too +are desirous of hearing you"; and they took seats in front of the +platform. + +Viceroy Chang seems to have manifested some jealousy of Sir Robert +Hart, in criticising the Inspector-General's proposal for a single +tax. He likewise criticised unfavourably the scheme of Professor +Jenckes for unifying the currency of the Empire--influenced, perhaps, +by the fear that such an _innovation_ might impair the usefulness +of a costly plant which he has recently erected for minting both +silver and copper coin. For the same reason perhaps he objects, as +I hear he does, to the proposed engagement of a Cornell professor +by the Board of Revenue in the capacity of financial adviser. + +With all his foibles, however, he is a true patriot; and his influence +has done much to move China in the right direction. O for more men +like Chang, the "Longbow of the Cavern!" + +[Page 238] +I append a weighty document that is not the less interesting for +being somewhat veiled in mystery. I regret that I am not at liberty +to disclose its authorship. The report is to be taken as anonymous, +being an unpublished document of the secret service. To the reader +it is left to divine the nationality and personality of its author. +Valuable for the light it throws on a great character in a trying +situation, the report gains piquancy and interest from the fact that +the veil of official secrecy has to be treated with due respect. +My unnamed friend has my thanks and deserves those of my readers. + + +OFFICIAL INTERVIEWS WITH VICEROY CHANG DURING THE CRISIS OF 1900 + +"At our interview of 17th June, described at length in my despatch +to you of 18th June, the Viceroy explained his determination to +maintain order and to afford the protection due under treaty; he +also emphasised his desire to be on friendly terms with England. + +"Early in June, the three cities of Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankow had +been full of rumours of the kidnapping of children and even grown +persons by means of hypnotism; and though a concise notification by +the Viceroy, that persons spreading such tales would be executed, +checked its prevalence here, the scare spread to the country districts +and inflamed the minds of the people against foreigners and, in +consequence, against converts and missions. + +"On the 25th June, the Viceroy, as reported in a separate despatch +of 28th June, to Lord Salisbury, sent a special envoy to assure me +that H. E. would not accept or act upon any anti-foreign decrees +from Peking. At the same time he communicated copy of a telegraphic +memorial from himself and seven other high provincial officers +insisting on the suppression of the +[Page 239] +Boxers and the maintenance of peace. This advice H. E. gave me +to understand led to the recall of Li Hung Chang to the north as +negotiator. + +"Distorted accounts of the capture of the Taku forts and the hostilities +of the north caused some excitement, but the Viceroy's proclamation +of 2nd July, copy of which was forwarded in my despatch of 3rd +July to the Foreign Office, and the vigorous police measures taken +by His Excellency soon restored calm which, despite occasional +rumours, continued until the recent plot and scare reported in my +despatch to you of 23rd of August. In the same despatch I described +how, in compliance with my wish, H. E. took the unprecedented step +of tearing down his proclamation embodying an Imperial Decree which +had been taken to imply license to harry converts. To foreigners +during the past two months the question of interest has been whether +the Viceroy could and would keep his troops in order. The Viceroy +himself seemed to be in some doubt until the return of his trusted +officers, who were attending the Japanese manoeuvres when the +northern troubles began. Every now and then reports of disaffection +have been industriously circulated, but the drilled troops have +never shown any sign of disloyalty. + +"A point of H. E.'s policy which has caused considerable suspicion +is the despatch of troops northward, At the end of June some 2,000 +or 3,000 men passed through Hankow bound for Nyanking where the +Governor was said to want a body-guard. They were unarmed and did +no mischief beyond invading the Customs and China Merchants' Steam +Navigation Company's premises. During July some 5,000 troops, of +whom perhaps half were drilled men, went from Hukeang provinces +overland to Honan and on to Chihli. They were led by the anti-foreign +Treasurer of Hunan; and their despatch was explained by the +constitutional duty of succouring the Emperor. Since July I have +not heard of any further detachments leaving, though it was said +that the total would reach 10,000. Possibly the Viceroy sent the +men because he did not feel strong enough to defy Peking altogether, +because failure to help the court would +[Page 240] +have excited popular reprobation, and also in order to get rid of +a considerable part of the dangerous 'loafer' class. + +"About the 20th July there was a persistent report that the Viceroy +was secretly placing guns on the opposite banks of the river. The +German military instructors assured me that the report was baseless; +and Lieutenant Brandon, H. M. S. _Pique_, thoroughly searched +the bank for a distance of three miles in length and breadth, without +discovering a trace of a cannon. The only guns in position are the +two 5-inch Armstrong M. L. within the walls of Wuchang, and they +have been there for a long time and are used 'merely for training +purposes.' + +"So early as our interview of June 17th, the Viceroy expressed +anxiety as to missionaries at remote points in the interior; and I +had about that time suggested to the various missions that women and +children would be better at a treaty port. The missions themselves +preferred to recall all their members, and at the Viceroy's request +supplied lists of the stations thus left to the care of the local +authorities. Since then, even in Hupeh, there have been a few cases +of plundering, especially in the large district of Sin Chan on the +Hunan border, while at Hangchow-fu, in Hunan, the London Mission +premises were wrecked early in July and for a time throughout the +whole province it appeared probable that the Missions would be +destroyed. The chief cause of this, as of the riots in Hupeh, was +the dissemination of an alleged decree of 26th June praising the +Boxers and ordering the authorities to imitate the north in +exterminating foreigners. This decree seems to have reached local +authorities direct; and those hostile to foreigners acted upon +it or let its existence be known to the gentry and people. The +chapels in Hunan were all sealed up; and it was understood that +all mission and convert property would be confiscated. Towards the +end of July, however, the Viceroy and the Hunan Governor issued +a satisfactory proclamation, and I have heard no more complaints +from that province, the western part of which seems tranquil. + +"Besides safeguarding foreign life and property in his own province +the Viceroy has frequently been asked to aid missionaries retiring +from Kansuh, Shensi, Shansi, and Honan. In +[Page 241] +every case H. E. has readily consented. Detailed telegrams have +been sent again and again not only to his frontier officers, but to +the governors of other provinces with whom H. E. has expostulated, +when necessary, in strong terms. Thus, when Honan seemed likely +to turn against us, the Viceroy insisted on the publication of +favourable decrees, and even went so far as to send his men to +establish a permanent escort depot at Ching Tzu Kuan, an important +post in Honan where travellers from the north and northwest have +to change from cart to boat. Happily the acting Governor of Shensi +has cooeperated nobly. But the refugees who testify invariably to the +marvellous feeling of security engendered by reaching Hupeh, will, +I doubt not, agree that they owe their lives to Chang Chi-tung's +efforts; for simple inaction on his part would have encouraged the +many hostile officers to treat them as Shansi has treated its +missionaries. + +"At times during the past two anxious months the Viceroy's action +in sending troops north, the occurrence of riots at various points, +H. E.'s communication of decrees in which the Peking Government +sought to gloss over the northern uprising, and his eagerness to +make out that the Empress Dowager had not incited the outbreak and +had no hostile feeling against foreigners have inevitably made one +uneasy. But on looking back one appreciates the skill and constancy +with which H. E. has met a most serious crisis and done his duty to +Chinese and foreigners alike. It is no small thing for a Chinese +statesman and scholar to risk popularity, position, and even life +in a far-seeing resistance to the apparent decrees of a court to +which his whole training enforces blind loyalty and obedience. +His desire to secure the personal safety of the Empress Dowager on +account of her long services to the Empire is natural enough; nor +need he be blamed for supplying some military aid to his sovereign, +even though he may have guessed that it would be used against those +foreign nations with whom he himself steadfastly maintains friendship +and against whose possible attack he has not mounted an extra gun." + + +[Page 242] +POSTSCRIPT NO.2 + +TUAN FANG OF THE HIGH COMMISSION + +During Chang's long absence, Tuan Fang, Governor of Hupeh, held the +seals and exercised the functions of viceroy. He was a Manchu--one +of those specimens, admirable but not rare, who, in acquiring the +refinement of Chinese culture, lose nothing of the vigour of their +own race. "Of their own race," I say, because in language and habits +the Manchus are strongly differentiated from their Chinese subjects. + +In the Boxer War Governor Tuan established an excellent record. +Acting as governor in Shensi, instead of killing missionaries, as +did the Manchu governor of the next province, he protected them +effectually and sent them safely to Hankow. One day when I was at +his house a missionary came to thank him for kindness shown on +that occasion. + +Mentioning one of my books I once asked him if he had read it. "You +never wrote a book that I have not read," was his emphatic reply. +He was a pretty frequent visitor at my house, punctually returning +all my calls; and when he was transferred to the governorship of +Hunan he appeared pleased to have the Yale Mission commended to +his patronage. He has a son at school in the United States; and +his wife and daughters have taken lessons in English from ladies +of the American Episcopal Mission. + +Governor Tuan (now viceroy) is a leading member of a commission +recently sent abroad to study and report on the institutions of +the Western world. Its +[Page 243] +departure was delayed by the explosion of a bomb in one of the +carriages just as the commission was leaving Peking. The would-be +assassin was "hoist with his own petard," leaving the public mystified +as to the motive of the outrage. + + + + +[Page 244] +CHAPTER XXXI + +ANTI-FOREIGN AGITATION + +_American Influence in the Far East--Officials and the +Boycott--Interview with President Roosevelt--Riot in a British +Concession--Ex-territoriality--Two Ways to an End--A Grave Mistake--The +Nan-chang Tragedy--Dangers from Superstition_ + +So far from being new, an anti-foreign spirit is the normal state +of the Chinese mind. Yet during the year past it has taken on new +forms, directed itself against new objects, and employed new methods. +It deserves therefore a conspicuous place among the new developments +in the China of the twentieth century. + +Where everything is changing, the temper of the people has undergone +a change. They have become restless as the sea and fickle as a +weather-vane, The friends of yesterday are the enemies of to-day; +and a slight or petty annoyance is enough to make them transfer +man or country from one to the other category. Murderous outbreaks, +rare in the past, have now become alarmingly frequent, so much so +that the last year might be described as a year of anti-foreign +riots. The past nine months have witnessed four such outbreaks, +In four widely separated provinces, venting their fury pretty +impartially on people of four nationalities and of all professions, +they were actuated by a +[Page 245] +common hate and indicated a common purpose. That purpose--if they +had a purpose--was to compel a readjustment of treaty relations. + +America has the distinction of being the target for the first assaults. +In treating the subject I accordingly begin with America and the +boycott, as set forth in a long extract from an address before +the Publishers' League of New York, November 8, 1905, on + + +AMERICAN INFLUENCE IN THE FAR EAST + +"Mr. President and Gentlemen: + +"If I were asked to find a _pou sto_, a fulcrum, on which +to erect a machine to move the world, I should choose this league +of publishers; and the machine would be no other than the power +press! I have accepted your invitation not merely from pleasant +recollections of your former hospitality, but because new occurrences +have taken place which appeal to the patriotism of every good citizen. +They are issues that rise above party; they involve our national +character and the well-being of another people whom we owe the +sacred duties of justice and humanity. + +"When I agreed to speak to you of American influence in the Far +East, I was not aware that we should have with us a representative +of Japan, and I expected to spread myself thinly over two empires. +Happy I am to resign one of these empires to Mr. Stevens. + +"I shall accordingly say no more about Japan than to advert to +the fact that the wise forbearance of Commodore Perry, which, in +1854, induced the Shogun to open his ports without firing a gun, +has won the gratitude of the Japanese people; so that in many ways +they testify a preference for us and our country. For instance, they +call the English language 'Americano,' etc. They were disappointed +that their claims against Russia were not backed up by the United +States. That, however, caused only a momentary cloud. Beyond this, +nothing has ever occurred to mar the harmony of the two peoples who +[Page 246] +face each other on the shores of the Pacific. Perry's wise initiative +was followed by the equal wisdom of Townsend Harris, who, before +any other consul or minister had arrived, was invited to Yedda +to give advice to the government of the Shogun. + +"American influence thus inaugurated has been fostered by a noble +army of ministers, consuls, and missionaries. The total absence +of massacres and murders[*] makes the history of our intercourse +with Japan tame in contrast with the tragic story from China. It +speaks the reign of law. + +[Footnote *: The only missionary killed in the last fifty years +was stabbed while grappling with a burglar.] + +"My acquaintance with Japan dates back forty-six years; and in the +meantime I have had pleasant relations with most of the ministers +she has sent to China. One of her officials recently gave me a +beautiful scarf-pin that speaks volumes for American influence, +showing as it does the two flags in friendly union on one flagstaff. +I gave him in return the following lines: + + "'To sun and stars divided sway! + Remote but kindred suns are they, + In friendly concord here they twine + To form a new celestial sign. + + "'Thou, Orient sun, still higher rise + To fill with light the Eastern skies! + And you, ye stars and stripes, unfurled + Shed glory on the Western world! + + "'Our starry flag first woke the dawn + In the empire of the Rising Sun. + May no ill chance e'er break the tie, + And so we shout our loud _banzai!_' + +"I now turn to the less cheering theme of American influence in +China. It reminds me of the naturalist who took for the +[Page 247] +heading of a chapter 'Snakes in Iceland,' and whose entire chapter +consisted of the words 'There are no snakes in Iceland.' Though +formerly blazing like a constellation in the Milky Way, American +influence has vanished so completely that you can hardly see it with +a microscope. What influence can we presume on when our commodities +are shut out, not by legislative action but as a result of popular +resentment? + + +THE BOYCOTT + +"True, the latest advices are to the effect that the boycott has +broken down. I foresaw and foretold more than two months ago that +it could not in the nature of the case be of long duration, that +it was a mere _ballon d'essai_--an encouraging proof that +Orientals are learning to apply our methods. But is there not a +deplorable difference between the conditions under which it is +used in the two countries? In one the people all read, and the +newspaper is in everybody's hand. The moment a strike or boycott +is declared off all hands fall into their places and things go on +as usual. In the other the readers are less than one in twenty. +Newspapers, away from the open ports, are scarcely known, or if +they exist they are subject to the tyranny of the mandarins or +the terrorism of the mob. Hence a war may be waged in one province +and people in another may scarcely hear of it. Chevaux-de-frise may +bar out goods from one port, while they are more or less openly +admitted in other ports. Not only so, the hostile feeling engendered +by such conflict of interest is not dissipated by sunshine, but +rankles and spreads like an epidemic over vast regions unenlightened +by newspapers or by contact with foreign commerce. + +"Witness the massacre of American missionaries at Lienchow in the +Canton province. I am not going to enter into the details of that +shocking atrocity, nor to dwell on it further than to point out +that although the boycott was ended on September 14, the people +in that district were in such a state of exasperation that the +missionaries felt themselves in danger fourteen days after that +date. In the New York _Sun_ of November 5 I find part of a +letter from one of the victims, the Reverend Mr. +[Page 248] +Peale, written exactly one month before the tragedy. Allow me to +read it along with an introductory paragraph. + + +"'PRINCETON, N. J., Nov. 4.--A. Lee Wilson, a student in the Princeton +Theological Seminary, received a letter a few days ago from John R. +Peale, the missionary who, with his wife, was killed in Lienchow, +China, on October 28. The letter was dated September 28, and reached +America at the time that Peale and his wife were murdered. It gives +a clue to the troubles which led to the death of Peale. The letter +says in part: + +"'"The interest in the boycott is vital to the missionaries. Heretofore +the Americans always enjoyed special favour, and to fly the American +flag meant protection; but it is different now. No personal violence +has been attempted, but the people are less cordial and more suspicious. +People in China are not asking that their coolies be allowed entrance +into the States, but they only ask that the Americans cease treating +the Chinese with contempt and allow their merchants and students +the same privileges that other foreigners receive." + +"'Peale graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary last May. + + +"Is it not evident that whatever spark caused the explosion, the +nitro-glycerin that made it possible came from the boycott? + +"Not only do they boycott ponderables such as figure at the +custom-house, but they extend the taboo to things of the head and +heart. The leader of the whole movement was formerly an active +supporter of the International Institute, an institution which +proposes to open gratuitous courses of lectures and to place Chinese +men of intelligence on common ground with scholars of the West, +He now opposes the International Institute because, forsooth, it +is originated and conducted by Dr. Reid, a large-minded American. + +"After this, will you be surprised to hear that your own publications, +the best text-books for the schools of the Far East, have been put +on the _index expurgatorius?_ A number of such books were +lately returned with the excuse that they were forbidden because +they bore the stamp of an American press. + +[Page 249] +"If I should go on to say that government officials, high and low, +look with satisfaction on this assertion of something like national +feeling, you might reply, 'National feeling! Yes, it is a duty to +cultivate that.' But do we not know how it has been fostered in +China? Has not hatred of the foreigner been mistaken for patriotism, +and been secretly instigated as a safeguard against foreign aggression? +In this instance, however, there is no room to suspect such a motive. +The movement is purely a result of provocation on our part; and it +is fostered with a view to coercing our government into modifying +or repealing our offensive exclusion laws. The Viceroy of Central +China, with whom I have spent the last three years, is known as +a pioneer of reform--a man who has done more than any other to +instruct his people in their duties as well as their rights. When, +on the expiration of my engagement, I was about to leave for home, +the prefect of Wuchang, a Canton man, addressed me a letter begging +me to plead the cause of his people with the President of the United +States. That letter was referred to in an interview by the viceroy, +and the request which it contained reiterated by him. He gave me +a parting banquet, attended by many of his mandarins, and on that +occasion the subject came up again and the same request was renewed +and pressed on me from all sides. While I promised to exert myself +on their behalf, let me give you a specimen of the kind of oil +which I poured on their wounded feelings. + +"Said I, 'Under the exasperating effect of these petty grievances +your people forget what they owe to the United States. They lose +sight of the danger of alienating their best friend. In the Boxer +War, when Peking was captured by a combined force of eight foreign +powers, who but America was the first to introduce a self-denying +ordinance forbidding any power to take any portion of the Chinese +territory? In this she was backed up by Great Britain; the other +powers fell into line and the integrity of the Empire was assured. +Again, when China was in danger of being drawn into the vortex +of the Russo-Japanese war, who but America secured for her the +privileges of neutrality--thus a second time protecting her national +life? And now you turn +[Page 250] +against us! Is not such conduct condemned by your ancient poet who +says: + + "_'Ki wo siao yuen, wang wo ta teh', etc._ + + (How many acts of kindness done + One small offence wipes out, + As motes obscure the shining sun + And shut his lustre out.') + +"If the cause of offence be taken away there is reason to hope +that the beneficent action of our country, on those two occasions +so big with destiny, will be remembered, and will lead China to +look to our flag as an aegis under which she may find protection +in time of need. Not till then will our influence, now reduced +to the vanishing-point, be integrated to its full value. + + +PROVOCATIONS TO A BOYCOTT + +"The injuries inflicted, though trifling in comparison with the +benefits conferred, are such as no self-respecting people should +either perpetrate or endure. Take one example, where I could give +you twenty. Two young men, both Christians, one rich, the other +poor, came to the United States for education. They were detained +in a prison-shed for three months, One of them, falling sick, was +removed to a hospital; the other obtaining permission to visit +him, they made their escape to Canada and thence back to China. + +"What wonder no more students come to us and that over 8,000 are +now pursuing their studies in Japan![*] + +[Footnote *: The conciliatory policy of President Roosevelt is +bearing fruit Forty students are about to start to the United States +(May, 1906).] + +"The present irritation is, we are assured by the agitators, provoked +by the outrageous treatment of the _privileged classes_ (merchants, +travellers, and students) and not by the exclusion of labourers, to +which their government has given its assent. Yet in the growing +intelligence of the Chinese a time has come when their rulers feel +such discrimination as a stigma. It is not merely +[Page 251] +a just application of existing laws that Viceroy Chang and his +mandarins demand. They call for the rescinding of those disgraceful +prohibitions and the right to compete on equal terms with immigrants +from Europe. If we show a disposition to treat the Chinese fairly, +their country and their hearts will be open to us as never before. +Our commerce with China will expand to vast proportions; and our +flag will stand highest among those that overarch and protect the +integrity of that empire." + +On November 16, I was received by President Roosevelt. Running +his eye over the documents (see below) which I placed in his hands +he expressed himself on each point. The grievances arising from +the Exclusion Laws he acknowledged to be real. He promised that +they should be mitigated or removed by improvements in the mode +of administration; but he held out no hope of their repeal. "We +have one race problem on our hands and we don't want another," he +said with emphasis. The boycott which the Chinese have resorted +to as a mode of coercion he condemned as an aggravation of existing +difficulties. The interruption of trade and the killing of American +missionaries to which it had led made it impossible, he said, to +turn over to China the surplus indemnity, as he had intended. + +This response is what I expected; but it will by no means satisfy +the ruling classes in China, who aim at nothing short of repeal. +When I assured him the newspapers were wrong in representing the +agitation as confined to labourers and merchants, adding that the +highest mandarins, while formally condemning it, really give it +countenance, he replied that he believed that to be the case, and +reiterated the declaration that +[Page 252] +nothing is to be gained by such violent measures on the part of +China. + +From the Executive Mansion, I proceeded to the Chinese Legation, +where I talked over the matter with the minister, Sir Chentung +Liang. He was not surprised at the attitude of the President. He +said the state of feeling towards China in Congress and in the +entire country is improving, but that, in his opinion, it will +require ten years to bring about the repeal of the Exclusion Laws. + +The present hitch in negotiations comes in part from Peking, but +he hoped a temporary settlement would soon be arrived at. + +The papers referred to above are here appended. + + + LETTERS REQUESTING GOOD OFFICES + (_Translation_) + +"To the Hon. Dr. Martin. + +"Sir: + +"During the last three years we have often exchanged views on the +subject of education and other topics of the day; and to me it +is a joy to reflect that no discordant note has ever marred our +intercourse. + +"In view of your learning and your long residence of forty years +at our capital, besides fifteen years in other parts of China, you +are regarded by us with profound respect. When we hear your words +we ponder them and treasure them up as things not to be forgotten. +It is by your scholarship and by your personal character that you +have been able to associate with the officers and scholars of the +Central Empire in harmony like this. + +"Now, sir, there is a matter which we wish to bring to your attention--a +matter that calls for the efforts of wise men like yourself. I refer +to the exclusion of Chinese labourers. It affects our mercantile +as well as our labouring population very deeply. + +[Page 253] +"We beg you to bear in mind your fifty-five years' sojourn in China +and to speak a good word on our behalf to the President of the +United States so as to secure the welfare of both classes. + +"If through your persuasion the prohibitory regulations should be +withdrawn the gratitude of our Chinese people will know no bounds; +your fifty-five years of devotion to the good of China will have +a fitting consummation in one day's achievement; and your name +will be handed down to coming generations. + +"Being old friends, I write as frankly as if we were speaking face +to face. + + "(Signed) LIANG TING FEN, + "Director of the Normal College for the Two Lake + "Provinces, Intendant of Circuit (_Taotai_), etc. etc. +"Wuchang, July 8, 1905." + +The foregoing translation was made by me, and the original is attached +to the copy presented to the President, for the satisfaction of +any official interpreter who may desire to see it. + +This letter may be regarded as expressing the sentiments of the +higher officials of the Chinese Empire. It was written on the eve +of my embarkation for home by a man who more than any other has +a right to be looked on as spokesman for Viceroy Chang; and the +following day the request was repeated by the viceroy himself. These +circumstances make it a document of more than ordinary importance. + +The outrageous treatment to which the privileged classes (merchants, +students, and travellers) have been subjected, under cover of enforcing +the Exclusion Laws, has caused a deep-rooted resentment, of which +the boycott is only a superficial manifestation. That movement may +not be of long duration, but it has already lasted long enough +to do us no little damage. + +[Page 254] +Besides occasioning embarrassment to our trade, it has excited a +feeling of hostility which it will require years of conciliatory +policy to eradicate. + +The letter makes no direct reference to the boycott, neither does +it allude to coming negotiations; yet there can be little doubt +that, in making this appeal, the writer had both in view. The viceroy +and his officials are right in regarding the present as a grave +crisis in the intercourse of the two countries. + +Their amicable relations have never been interrupted except during +a fanatical outbreak known as the "Boxer Troubles," which aimed +at the expulsion of all foreigners. The leading part taken by our +country in the subsequent settlement, especially in warding off the +threatened dismemberment of China, added immensely to our influence. +Again, on the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese conflict, which was +waged mainly on Chinese territory, it was American diplomacy that +secured for China the advantage of neutrality, and once more warded +off a danger that menaced her existence. + +Yet every spark of gratitude for these transcendent services is +liable to be extinguished by the irritation caused by discrimination +against her labourers and the consequent ill-treatment of other +classes of her people. No argument is required to show how important +it is to remove all grounds of complaint in the interest of our +growing commerce. + +That any sweeping alteration will be made in our existing laws, I +have given my mandarin friends no reason to expect. Self-preservation +stands on a higher plane than the amenities of intercourse. For +many years these laws served as a bulwark without which the +[Page 255] +sparse population of our Western States would have been swamped by +the influx of Asiatics. In early days it was easier for the Chinese +to cross the ocean than for the people of our Eastern States to cross +the Continent. Now, however, the completion of railroads has reduced +the continental transit to five or six days, in lieu of many months; +and the population of our Pacific Coast is so considerable that +there is no longer any danger of its being overrun by immigrants +from the Far East. Is it not therefore a fair question whether the +maintenance of these old restrictions is desirable or politic? +Swaddling bands, necessary for the protection of an infant, are an +impediment to a growing boy. That question can perhaps be best +decided by ascertaining the general sentiment of our Pacific States. +My impression is that, with the exception of the fruit-growers of +California and some others, they are strongly opposed to what they +call "letting down the bars." + +The most feasible way of meeting the difficulty would be, as it +appears to me, the enactment of regulations to provide against +abuses in the enforcement of our Exclusion Laws. The President +has already spoken forcibly in condemnation of such abuses. The +"privileged classes" might be construed in a more liberal sense. +Provision might be made to mitigate the hardships of detention and +repatriation; and a better class of inspectors might be appointed +with a general superintendent, whose duty it should be to see that +the laws are enforced humanely as well as faithfully. + +On December 18, less than three months after the attack on Americans +at Lienchow, an attempt +[Page 256] +was made to destroy the British settlement in Shanghai. + +A woman arrested on a charge of kidnapping was sent to the foreign +jail to await trial. The Chinese assessor insisted, not without +reason, that she ought to be kept in a native jail. No attention +being given to his protest, though supported by the _taotai_ +or local governor, a mob of riff-raff from beyond the limits burst +into the settlement, put the foreign police to flight, and began to +burn and pillage. Happily a body of marines with gatling guns and +fire-engines succeeded in quelling the flames and suppressing the +insurrection. A few hours' delay must have seen that rich emporium +converted into a heap of ashes. Forty of the rioters were killed +and many wounded. Though on ground granted to Great Britain, the +settlement is called international and is governed by a municipal +council elected by the foreign ratepayers. The Chinese residents, +numbering half a million, are allowed no voice in the council; and +that also is felt as a grievance. They are, however, protected +against the rapacity of their own officials; and it is said they +took no part in the riot. In fact had it not been promptly suppressed +they must have suffered all the horrors of sack and pillage. After it +was over they took occasion to demand recognition in the municipal +government; promising to be satisfied if allowed to appoint a permanent +committee, with whom the council should consult before deciding on +any question affecting their interests. + +Modest as this request was, it was rejected by an almost unanimous +vote of the foreign ratepayers. They knew that such committee, +however elected, +[Page 257] +was certain to be manipulated by the governor to extend his +jurisdiction. Their decision was quietly accepted by the Chinese +residents, who appreciate the protection which they enjoy in that +strange republic. The question is certain to come up again, and +their claim to be heard will be pressed with more insistence as +they become more acquainted with the principles of representative +government. + +The existence of an _imperium in imperio_ which comes between +them and their people is of course distasteful to the mandarins; +and they are bent on curtailing its privileges. If its franchises +were surrendered, "Ichabod" might be inscribed on the gates of +the model settlement. + +The practice of marking out a special quarter for each nationality +is an old one in China, adopted for convenience. When, after the +first war, the British exacted the opening of ports, they required +the grant of a concession in each, within which their consuls should +have chief, if not exclusive authority. Other nations made the +same demands; and China made the grants, not as to the British +from necessity, but apparently from choice--the foreign consul +being bound to keep his people in order. Now, however, the influx +of natives into the foreign settlements, and the enormous growth +of those mixed communities in wealth and population, have led the +Chinese Government to look on the ready compliance of its predecessors +as a blunder. Accordingly, in opening new ports in the interior it +marks out a foreign quarter, but makes no "concession." It does not +as before waive the exercise of jurisdiction within those limits. + +[Page 258] +The above question relates solely to the government of Chinese +residing in the foreign "concessions." But there is a larger question +now looming on the political sky, viz., how to recover the right +of control over foreigners, wherever they may be in the Empire. +If it were in their power, the Chinese would cancel not merely +the franchises of foreign settlements, but the treaty right of +exemption from control by the local government. This is a franchise +of vital interest to the foreigner, whose life and property would +not be safe were they dependent on the native tribunals as these +are at present constituted. + +Such exemption is customary in Turkey and other Moslem countries, +not to say among the Negroes of Africa. It was recognised by treaty +in Japan; and the Japanese, in proportion as they advanced in the +path of reform, felt galled by an exception which fixed on them the +stigma of barbarism. When they had proved their right to a place +in the comity of nations, with good laws administered, foreign +powers cheerfully consented to allow them the exercise of all the +prerogatives of sovereignty. + +How does her period of probation compare with that of her neighbour? +Japan resolved on national renovation on Western lines in 1868. +China came to no such resolution until the collapse of her attempt +to exterminate the foreigner in 1900. With her the age of reform +dates from the return of the Court in 1902--as compared with Japan +four years to thirty! Then what a contrast in the animus of the +two countries! The one characterised by law and order, the other +[Page 259] +by mob violence, unrestrained, if not instigated, by the authorities! + +When the north wind tried to compel a traveller to take off his +cloak, the cloak was wrapped the closer and held the tighter. When +the sun came out with his warm beams, the traveller stripped it +off of his own accord. + +The sunrise empire has exemplified the latter method; China prefers +the former. Is it not to be feared that the apparent success of +the boycott will encourage her to persist in the policy of the +traveller in the north wind. She ought to be notified that she +is on probation, and that the only way to recover the exercise of +her sovereign rights is to show herself worthy of confidence. The +Boxer outbreak postponed by many years the withdrawal of the cloak +of ex-territoriality, and every fresh exhibition of mob violence +defers that event to a more distant date. + +To confound "stranger" with "enemy" is the error of Bedouin or +Afghan. Does not China do the same when she mistakes hostility to +foreigners for patriotism? By this blunder she runs the risk of +alienating her best friends, England and America. A farmer attempting +to rope up a shaky barrel in which a hen was sitting on a nest full +of eggs, the silly fowl mistook him for an enemy and flew in his +face. Is not China in danger of being left to the fate which her +friends have sought to avert? + +In April a magistrate went by invitation to the French Catholic +Mission to settle a long-standing dispute, and he settled it by +committing suicide--in China the most dreaded form of revenge. Carried +[Page 260] +out gasping but speechless, he intimated that he was the victim of a +murderous attack by the senior priest. His wounds were photographed; +and the pictures were circulated with a view to exciting the mob. +Gentry and populace held meetings for the purpose of screwing their +courage up to the required pitch--governor and mandarins kept carefully +in the background--and on the fifth day the mission buildings were +destroyed and the priests killed. An English missionary, his wife +and daughter, living not far away, were set upon and slain, not +because they were not known to belong to another nation and another +creed, but because an infuriated mob does not care to discriminate. + +English and French officials proceeded to the scene in gunboats to +examine the case and arrange a settlement. The case of the English +family was settled without difficulty; but that of the French mission +was more complicated. Among the French demands were two items which +the Chinese Government found embarrassing. It had accepted the +theory of murder and hastily conferred posthumous honours on the +deceased magistrate. The French demanded the retraction of those +honors, and a public admission of suicide. To pay a money indemnity +and cashier a governor was no great hardship, but how could the +court submit to the humiliation of dancing to the tune of a French +piper? An English surgeon declared, in a sealed report of autopsy, +that the wounds must have been self-inflicted, as their position +made it impossible for them to have been inflicted by an assailant. +But + +[Note from PG proofer: two lines of text missing here.] + +[Page 261] +In 1870 France accepted a money payment for the atrocious massacre at +Tientsin, because the Second Empire was entering on a life-and-death +struggle with Germany. If she makes things easy for China this time, +will it not be because the Republic is engaged in mortal combat +with the Roman Church? + +China's constant friction and frequent collisions with France spring +chiefly from two sources; (1) the French protectorate over the Roman +missions, and (2) the menacing attitude of France in Indo-China. +It was to avenge the judicial murder of a missionary that Louis +Napoleon sent troops to China in 1857-60. From this last date the +long-persecuted Church assumed an imperious tone. The restitution +of confiscated property was a source of endless trouble; and the +certainty of being backed up by Church and State emboldened native +converts not only to insist on their own rights, but to mix in +disputes with which they had no necessary connection--a practice +which more than anything else has tended to bring the Holy Faith +into disrepute among the Chinese people. + +Yet, on the other side, there are more fruitful sources of difficulty +in the ignorance of the people and in the unfair treatment of converts +by the Chinese Government. While the Government, having no conception +of religious freedom, extends to Christians of all creeds a compulsory +toleration and views them as traitors to their country, is it not +natural for their pagan neighbours to treat them with dislike and +suspicion? + +In this state of mind they, like the pagans of ancient Rome, charge +them with horrible crimes, and seize the slightest occasion for +murderous attack. A church +[Page 262] +spire is said to disturb the good luck of a neighbourhood--the +people burn the building. A rumour is started that babies in a +foundling hospital have their eyes taken out to make into photographic +medicine--the hospital is demolished and the Sisters of Charity +killed. A skeleton found in the house of a physician is paraded +on the street as proof of diabolical acts--instantly an angry mob +wrecks the building and murders every foreigner within its reach. +One of these instances was seen in the Tientsin massacre of 1869, +the other in the Lienchow massacre of 1905. Nor are these isolated +cases. Two American ladies doing hospital work in Canton were set +upon by a mob, who accused them of killing a man whose life they +were trying to save, and they narrowly escaped murder. But why +extend the gruesome list? In view of their mad fury, so fatal to +their benefactors, one is tempted to exclaim: _Unglaube du bist +nicht so viel ein ungeheuer als aberglaube du!_ "Of the twin +monsters, unbelief and superstition, the more to be dreaded is +the last!" + +In China if a man falls in the street, the priest and Levite consult +their own safety by keeping at a distance; and if a good Samaritan +stoops to pick him up it is at his peril. In treating the sick a +medical man requires as much courage and tact as if he were dealing +with lunatics! These dark shadows, so harmful to the good name of +China, are certain to be dissipated by the numerous agencies now +employed to diffuse intelligence. But what of the feeling towards +religious missions? + +Medical missions are recognised as a potent agency in overcoming +prejudice. They reach the heart of +[Page 263] +the people by ministering to their bodily infirmities; high officials +are among their supporters; and the Empress Dowager latterly showed a +disposition to give them her patronage. But how about the preaching +missionary and the teaching missionary? Are the Chinese hostile +to these branches of missionary work? + +Unlike Mohammedan or Brahman, the Chinese are not strongly attached +to any form of religious faith. They take no umbrage at the offer +of a new creed, particularly if it have the advantage of being +akin to that of their ancient sages. What they object to is not +the creed, but the foreigner who brings it. Their newspapers are in +fact beginning to agitate the question of accepting the Christian +faith and propagating it in their own way, without aid from the +foreigner. That they would be glad to see merchant and missionary +leave them in peace, no one can doubt. Yet the influence of missions +is steadily on the increase; and their influence for good is +acknowledged by the leading minds of the Empire. + +Said the High Commissioner Tuan Fang, in an address to the Mission +Boards at New York, February 2,1906: + +"We take pleasure this evening in bearing testimony to the part +taken by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the +Chinese people. They have borne the light of Western civilisation into +every nook and corner of the Empire. They have rendered inestimable +service to China by the laborious task of translating into the Chinese +language religious and scientific works of the West. They help us +to bring happiness and comfort to the poor and the suffering by +the establishment +[Page 264] +of hospitals and schools. The awakening of China which now seems +to be at hand may be traced in no small measure to the hand of the +missionary. For this service you will find China not ungrateful." + +Mission stations, now counted by hundreds, have generally high +schools or colleges. Not only is the science taught in them up-to-date, +but the conscientious manner in which they are conducted makes +them an object-lesson to those officials who are charged with the +supervision of government schools. To name only a few: + +Here in Peking is a university of the American Methodist Episcopal +Church which is not unworthy of the name it bears. At Tungchow, a +suburb of the capital, is a noble college of the American Board +(Congregationalist) which is in every point a worthy compeer. These +cooeperate with each other and with a Union Medical College which +under the London Mission has won the favour of the Empress Dowager. + +The American Presbyterian Mission has a high school and a theological +seminary, and cooeperates to a certain extent with the three societies +above named. A quadrilateral union like this speaks volumes as +to the spirit in which the work of Christian education is being +carried forward. The Atlantic is bridged and two nations unite; +denominational differences are forgotten in view of the mighty +enterprise of converting an empire. In the economy of their teaching +force they already experience the truth of the maxim "Union is +Strength." + +In Shantung, at Weihien, there is a fine college in +[Page 265] +which English Baptists unite with American Presbyterians. The original +plant of the latter was a college at Tengchow, which under Dr. +Mateer afforded conclusive proof that an education deep and broad +may be given through the medium of the Chinese language. In most +of these schools the English language is now claiming a prominent +place, not as the sole medium for instruction, but as a key to the +world's literature, and a preparation for intercourse with foreign +nations. + +At Shanghai, which takes the lead in education as in commerce, +there is an admirable institution called St. John's College which +makes English the basis of instruction. Numberless other schools +make it a leading branch of study to meet the wants of a centre +of foreign trade. + +One of the best known institutions of Shanghai is a Roman Catholic +College at Siccawei, which preserves the traditions of Matteo Ricci, +and his famous convert Paul Sue. In connection with it are an +astronomical observatory and a weather bureau, which are much +appreciated by foreigners in China, and ought to be better known +throughout the Empire. + +Passing down a coast on which colleges are more numerous than +lighthouses, one comes to Canton, where, near the "Great City" +and beautifully conspicuous, rises the Canton Christian College. + +These are mentioned by way of example, to show what missionaries are +doing for the education of China. It is a narrow view of education +that confines it to teaching in schools. Missionaries led the way +in Chinese journalism and in the preparation of textbooks in all +branches of science. The Society for the +[Page 266] +Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is spreading broadcast the seeds of +secular and religious truth. + +Gratitude for the good they have already done, as well as for benefits +to come, ought to lead the Chinese Government to accord a generous +recognition to all these institutions. At the opening of the Union +Medical College, Mr. Rockhill, the American minister, in a remarkable +address, proposed the recognition of their degrees by the Government; +and as a representative of the Empress Dowager was in the chair on +that occasion, there is reason to hope that his suggestion will +not be overlooked. + + + + +[Page 267] +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE MANCHUS, THE NORMANS OF CHINA + +_The Ta-Ts'ing Dynasty--The Empress Dowager--Her Origin--Her +First Regency--Her Personality--Other Types--Two Manchu Princes--Two +Manchu Ministers--The Nation's Choice--Conclusions_ + +In a wide survey of the history of the world, we discover a law +which appears to govern the movements of nations. Those of the +north show a tendency to encroach on those of the south. The former +are nomads, hunters, or fishers, made bold by a constant struggle +with the infelicities of their environment. The latter are occupied +with the settled industries of civilised life. + +The Goths and Vandals of Rome, and the Tartars under Genghis and +Tamerlane all conform to this law and seem to be actuated by a +common impulse. In the east and west of the Eastern hemisphere +may be noted two examples of this general movement, which afford +a curious parallel: I refer to the Normans of Great Britain and +the Manchus of China. Both empires are under the sway of dynasties +which originated in the north; for the royal house of Britain, +though under another title, has always been proud of its Norman +blood. + +The Normans who conquered Britain had first +[Page 268] +settled in France and there acquired the arts of civilised life. +The Manchus coming from the banks of the Amur settled in Liao-tung, +a region somewhat similarly situated with reference to China. There +they learned something of the civilisation of China, and watched +for an opportunity to obtain possession of the empire. In Britain a +kindred branch of the Norman family was on the throne, and William +the Conqueror contrived to give his invasion a colour of right, by +claiming the throne under an alleged bequest of Edward the Confessor. +The Manchus, though not invoking such artificial sanction, aspired +to the dominion of China because their ancestors of the Golden +Horde had ruled over the northern half of the empire. The Norman +conquest, growing out of a family quarrel, was decided by a single +battle. The Manchus' conquest of a country more than ten times the +extent of Britain was not so easy to effect. Yet they achieved +it with unexampled rapidity, because they came by invitation and +they brought peace to a people exhausted by long wars. Their task +was comparatively easy in the north, where the traditions of the +Kin Tartars still survived; but it was prolonged and bloody in +the south. + +Both houses treated their new subjects as a conquered people. Each +imposed the burden of foreign garrisons and a new nobility. Each +introduced a foreign language, which they tried to perpetuate as +the speech of the court, if not of the people. In each case the +language of the people asserted itself. In Britain it absorbed +and assimilated the alien tongue; in China, where the absence of +common elements made amalgamation +[Page 269] +impossible, it superseded that of the conquerors, not merely for +writing purposes, but as the spoken dialect of the court. + +Both conquerors found it necessary to conciliate the subject race +by liberal and timely concessions; but here begins a contrast. +In Britain no external badge of subjection was ever imposed; in +process of time all special privileges of the ruling caste were +abolished; and no trace of race antipathy ever displays itself +anywhere--if we except Ireland. In China the cue remains as a badge +of subjection. Habit has reconciled the people to its use; but it +still offers a tempting grip to revolutionary agitators. Every +party that raises the standard of revolt abolishes the cue; would +it not be wise for the Manchu Government to make the wearing of +that appendage a matter of option, especially as it is beginning +to disappear from their soldiers' uniform? + +The extension of reform in dress from camp to court and from court +to people (to them as a matter of option) would remove a danger. +It would also remove a barrier in the way of China's admission +into the congress of nations. The abolition of the cue implies +the abandonment of those long robes which make such an impression +of barbaric pomp. Already the Chinese are tacitly permitted to +adopt foreign dress; and in every case they have to dispense with +the cue. The Japanese never did a wiser thing than to adopt our +Western costume. Their example tends to encourage a reform of the +same kind in China. A new costume means a new era. + +Another point is required to complete the parallel: +[Page 270] +each victor has given the conquered country a better government +than any in its previous history. To Confucius feudalism was a +beau-ideal, and he beautifully compares the sovereign to the North +Star which sits in state on the pole of the heavens while all the +constellations revolve around it, and pay it homage. Yet was the +centralised government of the First Hwang-ti an immense improvement +on the loose agglomeration of the Chous. The great dynasties have all +adopted the principle of centralisation; but not one has applied it +with such success, nor is there one which shows so large a proportion +of respectable rulers as the house of Ta-ts'ing. Of the first six +some account has been given in Part II. As to the next two it is +too soon to have the verdict of history. One died after a brief +reign of two years and three months, too short to show character. +The other now sits at the foot of the throne, while his adoptive +mother sways the sceptre. Both have been overshadowed by the Empress +Dowager and controlled by her masterful spirit. + +China has had female rulers that make figures in history, such as +Lu of the Han and Wu of the T'ang dynasties, but she has no law +providing for the succession of a female under any conditions. A +female reign is abnormal, and the ruler a monstrosity. Her character +is always blackened so as to make it difficult to delineate. Yet in +every instance those women have possessed rare talent; for without +uncommon gifts it must have been impossible to seize a sceptre +in the face of such prejudices, and to sway it over a submissive +people. Usually they are described much as the Jewish chronicler +sketches the character of Jezebel +[Page 271] +or Athaliah. Cruel, licentious, and implacable, they "destroy the +seed royal," they murder the prophets and they make the ears of +the nation tingle with stories of shameless immorality. + +Among these we shall not seek a parallel for the famous Empress +Dowager, so well known to the readers of magazine literature. In +tragic vicissitudes, if not in length of reign, she stood without +a rival in the history of the world. She also stood alone in the +fact that her destinies were interwoven with the tangle of foreign +invasion. Twice she fled from the gates of a fallen capital; and +twice did the foreign conqueror permit her to return. Without the +foreigner and his self-imposed restraint, there could have been no +Empress Dowager in China. Did she hate the foreigner for driving +her away, or did she thank him for her repeated restoration? + +The daughter of Duke Chou (the slave-girl story is a myth), she +became a secondary wife of Hienfung in 1853 or 1854; and her sister +somewhat later became consort of the Emperor's youngest brother. +Having the happiness to present her lord with a son, she was raised +to the rank of Empress and began to exert no little influence in the +character of mother to an heir-apparent. Had she not been protected +by her new rank her childless rival might have driven her from +court and appropriated the boy. She had instead to admit a joint +motherhood, which in a few years led to a joint regency. + +Scarcely had the young Empress become accustomed to her new dignity, +when the fall of Taku and Tientsin, in 1860, warned the Emperor +of what he might +[Page 272] +expect. Taking the two imperial ladies and their infant son, he +retired to Jeho, on the borders of Tartary, in time to escape capture. +There he heard of the burning of his summer palace and the surrender +of his capital. Whether he succumbed to disease or whether a proud +nature refused to survive his disgrace, is not known. What we do +know is, that on his death, in 1861, two princes, Sushun and Tuanhwa, +organised a regency and brought the court back to the capital about +a year after the treaty of peace had been signed by Prince Kung as +the Emperor's representative. Prince Kung was not included in the +council of regency; and he knew that he was marked for destruction. +Resolving to be beforehand, he found means to consult with the +Empresses, who looked to him to rescue them from the tyranny of +the Council of Eight. On December 2 the blow was struck: all the +members of the council were seized; the leader was put to death in +the market-place; some committed suicide; and others were condemned +to exile. A new regency was formed, consisting of the two Empresses +and Prince Kung, the latter having the title of "joint regent." + +What part the Empress Mother had taken in this her first _coup +d'etat_, is left to conjecture. Penetrating and ambitious she +was not content to be a tool in the hands of the Eight. The senior +Empress yielded to the ascendency of a superior mind, as she continued +to do for twenty years. + +There was another actor whom it would be wrong to overlook, namely, +Kweiliang, the good secretary, who had signed the treaties at Tientsin. +His daughter +[Page 273] +was Prince Kung's principal wife, and though too old to take a +leading part in the Court revolutions, it was he who prompted Prince +Kung, who was young and inexperienced, to strike for his life. + +The reigning title of the infant Emperor was changed from +_Kisiang_, "good luck," to _Tung-chi_, "joint government"; +and the Empire acquiesced in the new regime. + +One person there was, however, who was not quite satisfied with +the arrangement. This was the restless, ambitious young Dowager. +The Empire was quiet; and things went on in their new course for +years, Prince Kung all the time growing in power and dignity. His +growing influence gave her umbrage; and one morning a decree from +the two Dowagers stripped him of power, and confined him a prisoner +in his palace. His alleged offence was want of respect to their +Majesties; he threw himself at their feet and implored forgiveness. + +The ladies were not implacable; he was restored to favour and clothed +with all his former dignities, except one. The title of +_Icheng-wang_, "joint regent," never reappeared. + +In 1881 the death of the senior Dowager left the second Dowager +alone in her glory. So harmoniously had they cooeperated during +their joint regency, and so submissive had the former been to the +will of the latter, that there was no ground for suspicion of foul +play, yet such suspicions are always on the wing, like bats in +the twilight of an Oriental court. + +On the death of Tung-chi, the adroit selection of a nephew of three +summers to succeed to the throne as her adopted son, gave the Dowager +the prospect of another long regency. Recalled to power by the +[Page 274] +reactionaries, in 1898, after a brief retirement, the Empress Dowager +dethroned her puppet by a second _coup-d'etat_. + +During the ruinous recoil that followed she had the doubtful +satisfaction of feeling herself sole aristocrat of the Chinese +Empire. Was it not the satisfaction of a gladiator who seated himself +on the throne of the Caesars in a burning amphitheatre? Was she +not made sensible that she, too, was a creature of circumstances, +when her ill-judged policy compelled her a second time to seek +safety in flight? A helpless fugitive, how could she conceive that +fortune held in reserve for her brighter days than she had ever +experienced? + +Accepting the situation and returning with the Emperor, the Empire +and the world accepted her, and, taught by experience, she engaged +in the congenial task of renovating the Chinese people. Advancing +years, consciousness of power, and willing conformity to the freer +usages of European courts, all conspired to lead her to throw aside +the veil and to appear openly as the chief actor on this imperial +stage. + +Six years ago her seventieth birthday was celebrated with great +pomp, although she had forbidden her people to be too lavish in +their loyalty. At Wuchang, Tuan Fang, who was acting viceroy, gave +a banquet at which he asked me to make a speech in the Dowager's +honor. The task was a delicate one for a man who had borne the +hardships of a siege in 1900; but I accepted it, and excused the +Dowager on the principle of British law, that "The king can do no +[Page 275] +wrong." Throwing the blame on her ministers, I pronounced a eulogy +on her talents and her public services. + +The question arises, did we know her in person and character? Have +we not seen her in that splendid portrait executed by Miss Carl, +and exhibited at St. Louis? If we suspect the artist of flattery, +have we not a gallery of photographs, in which she shows herself +in many a majestic pose? Is flattery possible to a sunbeam? We +certainly see her as truly as we see ourselves in a mirror! + +As to character, it is too soon to express an opinion. _Varium +et mutabile semper femina_. + +To pencil and sunbeam add word-pictures by men and women from whose +critical eyes she did not conceal herself; and we may confidently +affirm that we knew her personal appearance as well as we knew that +of any lady who occupies or shares a European throne. A trifle +under the average height of European ladies, so perfect were her +proportions and so graceful her carriage that she seemed to need +nothing to add to her majesty. Her features were vivacious and +pleasing rather than beautiful; her complexion, not yellow, but +subolive, and her face illuminated by orbs of jet, half-hidden +by dark lashes, behind which lurked the smiles of favour or the +lightning of anger. No one would take her to be over forty. She +carried tablets on which, even during conversation, she jotted +down memoranda. Her pencil was the support of her sceptre. With it +she sent out her autograph commands; and with it, too, she inscribed +those pictured characters which were worn as the proudest decorations +[Page 276] +of her ministers. I have seen them in gilded frames in the hall +of a viceroy. + +The elegance of her culture excited sincere admiration in a country +where women are illiterate; and the breadth of her understanding +was such as to take in the details of government. She chose her +agents with rare judgment, and shifted them from pillar to post, +so that they might not forget their dependence on her will. Without +a parallel in her own country, she has been sometimes compared +with Catherine II. of Russia. She had the advantage in the decency +of her private life; for though she is said to have had favourites +they have never dared to boast of her favours, nor was a curious +public ever able to identify them. + +Her full name, including honorific epithets added by the Academy, +was Tse Hi Tuanyin Kangyi Chaoyu Chuangcheng Shoukung Chinhien +Chunghi. A few hours before her death, which occurred on the day +after the Emperor's, she named his nephew as successor, and the +present ruler, Hsuan-Tung, who was born in 1903, began to reign +November 14, 1908. + +Let the Dowager be taken as a type of the Manchu woman. The late +Emperor, though handsome and intelligent, was too small for a +representative of a robust race. Tuan Fang, the High Commissioner, +is a more favourable specimen. The Manchus are in general taller +than the Chinese, and both in physical and intellectual qualities +they prove that their branch of the family is far from effete. + +Prince Kung, who for fifteen years presided over the imperial cabinet, +was tall, handsome and urbane. +[Page 277] +Despite the disadvantages of an education in a narrow-minded court, +he displayed a breadth and capacity of a high order. Prince Ching, +who succeeded him in 1875, though less attractive in person, is not +deficient in that sort of astuteness that passes for statesmanship. +What better evidence than that he has kept himself on top of a +rolling log for thirty years? To keep his position through the +dethronement of the Emperor and the convulsions of the Boxer War +required agility and adaptability of no mean order. Personally I +have seen much of both princes. They are abler men than one would +expect to find among the offshoots of an Oriental court. + +Wensiang, who from the opening of Peking to his death in 1875 bore +the leading part in the conduct of foreign affairs, showed great +ability in piloting the state through rocks and breakers. His mental +power greatly impressed all foreigners, while it secured him an easy +ascendency among his countrymen. Such men are sure to be overloaded +with official duties in a country like China. Physically he was not +strong; and on one occasion when he came into the room wheezing +with asthma he said to me: "You see I am like a small donkey, with +a tight collar and a heavy load." The success of Prince Kung's +administration was largely due to Wensiang. Paochuin, minister +of finance, and member of the Inner Council, was distinguished +as a literary genius. Prince Kung delighted on festive occasions +to call him and Tungsuin to a contest in extempore verse. To enter +the lists with a noted scholar and poet like Tung, showed how the +Manchus have come to vie with the Chinese in the +[Page 278] +refinements of literary culture. I remember him as a dignified +greybeard, genial and jocose. On the fall of the Kung ministry, +he doffed his honours in three stanzas, which contain more truth +than poetry: + + "Through life, as in a pleasing dream, + Unconscious of my years, + In Fortune's smile to bask I seem; + Perennial, Spring appears. + + "Alas! Leviathan to take + Defies the fisher's art; + From dreams of glory I awake,-- + My youth and power depart. + + "That loss is often gain's disguise + May us for loss console. + My fellow-sufferers, take advice + And keep your reason whole." + +In more than one crisis, the heart of the nation has cleaved to +the Manchu house as the embodiment of law and order. The people +chose to adhere to a tolerably good government rather than take +the chance of a better one emerging from the strife of factions. + +Three things are required to confirm their loyalty: (1) the abolition +of tonsure and pigtail, (2) the abandonment of all privileges in +examinations and in the distribution of offices, (3) the removal +of all impediments in the way of intermarriage. + +This last has been recently authorised by proclamation. It is not +so easy for those who are in possession of the loaves and fishes to +admit others to an equal share. If to these were added the abolition +of a degrading +[Page 279] +badge, the Manchu dynasty might hope to be perpetual, because the +Manchus would cease to exist as a people. + + +CONCLUSIONS + +1. More than once I have demanded the expulsion of the Manchus, +and the partition of China. That they deserved it no one who knows +the story of 1900 will venture to deny. It was not without reason +that _Mene tekel_ and _Ichabod_ were engraved on the +medal commemorating the siege in Peking. If I seem to recant, it +is in view of the hopeful change that has come over the spirit of +the Manchu Government. Under the leadership of Dowager Empress +and Emperor, the people were more likely to make peaceful progress +than under a new dynasty or under the Polish policy of division. + +2. The prospect of admission to the full privileges of a member of +the brotherhood of nations will act as an incentive to improvement. +But the subjection of foreigners to Chinese jurisdiction ought +not to be conceded without a probation as long and thorough as +that through which Japan had to pass. In view of the treachery +and barbarism so conspicuous in 1900--head-hunting and edicts to +massacre foreigners--a probation of thirty years would not be too +long. During that time the reforms in law and justice should be +fully tested, and the Central Government should be held responsible +for the repression of every tendency to anti-foreign riots. + +A government that encourages Boxers and other rioters as patriots +does not merit an equal place in the +[Page 280] +congress of nations. The alternative is the "gunboat policy," according +to which foreign powers will administer local punishment. If the +mother of the house will not chastise her unruly children, she +must allow her neighbours to do it. + +3. Prior to legal reform, and at the root of it, the adoption of a +constitution ought to be insisted on. In such constitution a leading +article ought to be not toleration, but freedom of conscience. As +long as China looks on native Christians as people who have abjured +their nationality, so long will they be objects of persecution; +self-defence and reprisals will keep the populace in a ferment, and +peace will be impossible. If China is sincere in her professions +of reform, she will follow the example of Japan and make her people +equal in the eye of the law without distinction of creed. + +4. All kinds of reform are involved in the new education, and to that +China is irrevocably committed. Reenforced by railroad, telegraph, +and newspaper, the schoolmaster will dispel the stagnation of remote +districts, giving to the whole people a horizon wider than their +hamlet, and thoughts higher than their hearthstone. Animated by +sound science and true religion, it will not be many generations +before the Chinese people will take their place among the leading +nations of the earth. + + + + +[Page 281] +APPENDIX + +I. + +THE AGENCY OF MISSIONARIES IN THE DIFFUSION OF SECULAR KNOWLEDGE +IN CHINA[*] + +[Footnote *: This paper was originally written for Dr. Dennis's +well-known work on The Secular Benefits of Christian Missions. +As it now appears it is not a mere reprint, it having been much +enlarged and brought down to date.] + +While the primary motive of missionaries in going to China is, as +in going to other countries, the hope of bringing the people to +Christ, the incidental results of their labours in the diffusion +of secular knowledge have been such as to confer inestimable benefit +on the world at large and on the Chinese people in particular. +This is admitted by the recent High Commission.[**] + +[Footnote **: See page 263.] + +It was in the character of apostles of science that Roman Catholic +missionaries obtained a footing in Peking three centuries ago, +and were enabled to plant their faith throughout the provinces. +Armed with telescope and sextant they effected the reform of the +Chinese calendar, and secured for their religion the respect and +adherence of some of the highest minds in the Empire. So firmly +was it rooted that churches of their planting were able to survive +a century and a half of persecution. Their achievements, recorded +in detail by Abbe Huc and others, fill some of the +[Page 282] +brightest pages in the history of missions. I shall not enlarge +on them in this place, as my present task is to draw attention +to the work of Protestant missions. + + +A CENTURY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS. + +It is not too much to claim for these last that for a century past +they have been active intermediaries, especially between the +English-speaking nations and the Far East. On one hand, they have +supplied such information in regard to China as was indispensable +for commercial and national intercourse, while on the other they +have brought the growing science of the Western world to bear on +the mind of China. Not only did Dr. Morrison, who led the way in +1807, give the Chinese the first translation of our Holy Scriptures; +he was the very first to compile a Chinese dictionary in the English +language. + + +THE PIONEER OF AMERICAN MISSIONS + +It was not until 1838 that America sent her pioneer missionary +in the person of Dr. Bridgman. Besides cooeperating with others in +the revision of Morrison's Bible, or, more properly, in making a +new version, Bridgman won immortality by originating and conducting +the _Chinese Repository_, a monthly magazine which became a +thesaurus of information in regard to the Chinese Empire. + + +THE PRESS--A MISSIONARY FRANKLIN + +The American Board showed their enlightened policy by establishing +a printing-press at Canton, and +[Page 283] +in sending S. Wells Williams to take charge of it, in 1833. John +R. Morrison, son of the missionary, had, indeed, made a similar +attempt; but from various causes he had felt compelled to relinquish +the enterprise. From the arrival of Williams to the present day the +printing-press has shown itself a growing power--a lever which, +planted on a narrow fulcrum in the suburb of a single port, has +succeeded in moving the Eastern world. + +The art of printing was not new to the Chinese. They had discovered +it before it was dreamed of in Europe; but with their hereditary +tendency to run in ruts, they had continued to engrave their characters +on wooden blocks in the form of stereotype plates. With divisible +types (mostly on wood) they had indeed made some experiments; but +that improved method never obtained currency among the people. It +was reserved for Christian missions to confer on them the priceless +boon of the power press and metallic types. What Williams began at +Canton was perfected at Shanghai by Gamble of the Presbyterian +Board, who multiplied the fonts and introduced the process of +electrotyping. + +Shut up in the purlieus of Canton, it is astonishing how much Dr. +Williams was able to effect in the way of making China known to the +Western world. His book on "The Middle Kingdom," first published in +1848, continues to be, after the lapse of half a century, the highest +of a long list of authorities on the Chinese Empire. Beginning like +Benjamin Franklin as a printer, like Franklin he came to perform a +brilliant part in the diplomacy of our country, aiding in the +[Page 284] +negotiation of a new treaty and filling more than once the post +of charge d'affaires. + + +EXPANSION OF THE WORK + +The next period of missionary activity dates from the treaty of +Nanking, which put an end to the Opium War, in 1842. The opening +of five great seaports to foreign residence was a vast enlargement +in comparison with a small suburb of Canton; and the withdrawal +of prohibitory interdicts, first obtained by the French minister +Lagrene, invited the efforts of missionary societies in all lands. +In this connection it is only fair to say that, in 1860, when the +Peking expedition removed the remaining barriers, it was again +to the French that our missionaries were indebted for access to +the interior. + + +MEDICAL WORK + +From the earliest dawn of our mission work it may be affirmed that +no sooner did a chapel open its doors than a hospital was opened +by its side for the relief of bodily ailments with which the rude +quackery of the Chinese was incompetent to deal. Nor is there at +this day a mission station in any part of China that does not in +this way set forth the practical charity of the Good Samaritan. +This glorious crusade against disease and death began, so far as +Protestants are concerned, with the Ophthalmic Hospital opened +by Dr. Peter Parker at Canton in 1834. + + +MEDICAL TEACHING + +The training of native physicians began at the same date; and those +who have gone forth to bless their +[Page 285] +people by their newly acquired medical skill may now be counted +by hundreds. In strong contrast with the occult methods of native +practitioners, neither they nor their foreign teachers have hidden +their light under a bushel. Witness the Union Medical College, a +noble institution recently opened in Peking under the sanction +and patronage of the Imperial Government. A formal despatch of the +Board of Education (in July, 1906) grants the power of conferring +degrees, and guarantees their recognition by the state. For many +years to come this great school is likely to be the leading source +of a new faculty. + + +THE SEEDS OF A NEW EDUCATION + +Not less imperative, though not so early, was the establishment of +Christian schools. Those for girls have the merit of being the first +to shed light on the shaded hemisphere of Chinese society. Those for +boys were intended to reach all grades of life; but their prime +object was to raise up a native ministry, not merely to cooeperate +with foreign missions, but eventually to take the place of the +foreign missionary. + + +THE EARLIEST UNION COLLEGE + +One of the earliest and most successful of these lighthouses was +the Tengchow College founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer. It was there +that young Chinese were most thoroughly instructed in mathematics, +physics, and chemistry. So conspicuous was the success of that +institution that when the Government opened a university in Peking, +and more recently in Shantung, +[Page 286] +it was in each case to Tengchow that they had recourse for native +teachers of science. From that school they obtained text-books, +and from the same place they secured (in Dr. Hayes) a president +for the first provincial university organised in China. + + +METHODIST EPISCOPAL UNIVERSITY IN PEKING + +The missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church have of late taken +up the cause of education and carried it forward with great vigour. +Not to speak of high schools for both sexes in Fukien, they have a +flourishing college in Shanghai, and a university in the imperial +capital under the presidency of H. H. Lowry. Destroyed by the Boxers +in 1900, that institution has now risen phoenix-like from its ashes +with every prospect of a more brilliant future than its most sanguine +friends ever ventured to anticipate. + + +AMERICAN BOARD COLLEGE AT TUNGCHOW + +A fine college of the American Board at Tungchow, near the capital, +met the same fate and rose again with similar expansion. Dr. Sheffield, +its president, has made valuable contributions to the list of +educational text-books. + +These great schools, together with the Medical College of the London +Mission, above referred to, and a high school of the United States +Presbyterians, have formed a system of coeoperation which greatly +augments the efficiency of each. Of this educational union the +chief cornerstone is the Medical College. + +A similar cooeperative union between the English +[Page 287] +Baptists and American Presbyterians is doing a great work at Weihien, in +Shantung. I speak of these because of that most notable feature--union +international and interdenominational. Space would fail to enumerate +a tithe of the flourishing schools that are aiding in the educational +movement; but St. John's College, at Shanghai (U. S. Episcopal), +though already mentioned, claims further notice because, as we +now learn, it has been given by the Chinese Government the status +of a university. + + +PREPARATION OF TEXT-BOOKS + +Schools require text-books; and the utter absence of anything of +the kind, except in the department of classical Chinese, gave rise +to early and persistent efforts to supply the want. Manuals in +geography and history were among the first produced. Those in +mathematics and physics followed; and almanacs were sent forth +yearly containing scientific information in a shape adapted to +the taste of Chinese readers--alongside of religious truths. Such +an annual issued by the late Dr. McCartee, was much sought for. +A complete series of text-books in mathematics was translated by +Mr. Wylie, of the London Mission; and text-books on other subjects, +including geology, were prepared by Messrs. Muirhead, Edkins, and +Williamson. At length the task of providing text-books was taken +in hand by a special committee, and later on by the Society for +the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, now under the direction of the +Rev. Dr. Richard. + +[Page 288] +So deeply was the want of text-books felt by some of the more +progressive mandarins that a corps of translators was early formed +in connection with one of the government arsenals--a work in which +Dr. John Fryer has gained merited renown. Those translators naturally +gave prominence to books on the art of war, and on the politics +of Western nations, the one-sided tendency of their publications +serving to emphasise the demand for such books as were prepared +by missionaries. + +Text-books on international law and political economy were made +accessible to Chinese literature by Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who, having +acted as interpreter to two of the American embassies, was deeply +impressed by the ignorance of those vital subjects among Chinese +mandarins. + +On going to reside in Peking, in 1863, Dr. Martin carried with him +a translation of Wheaton, and it was welcomed by the Chinese Foreign +Office as a timely guide in their new situation. He followed this +up by versions of Woolsey, Bluntschli and Hall. He also gave them +a popular work on natural philosophy--not a translation--together +with a more extended work on mathematical physics. Not only has +the former appeared in many editions from the Chinese press, but +it has been often reprinted in Japan; and to this day maintains +its place in the favour of both empires. To this he has lately +added a text-book on mental philosophy. + +A book on the evidences of Christianity, by the same author, has +been widely circulated both in China and in Japan. Though distinctly +religious in aim, it +[Page 289] +appeals to the reader's taste for scientific knowledge, seeking to +win the heathen from idolatry by exhibiting the unity and beauty +of nature, while it attempts to show the reasonableness of our +revealed religion. + + +THREE PRESIDENTS OF GOVERNMENT COLLEGES + +It is not without significance that the Chinese have sought presidents +for their highest schools among the ranks of Protestant missionaries. +Dr. Ferguson of the Methodist Episcopal Mission was called to the +presidency of the Nanyang College at Shanghai; Dr. Hayes, to be +head of a new university in Shantung; and Dr. Martin, after serving +for twenty-five years as head of the Diplomatic College in Peking, +was, in 1898, made president of the new Imperial University. His +appointment was by decree from the Throne, published in the Government +_Gazette_; and mandarin rank next to the highest was conferred +on him. On terminating his connection with that institution, after +it was broken up by Boxers, he was recalled to China to take charge +of a university for the two provinces of Hupeh and Hunan. + + +CREATORS OF CHINESE JOURNALISM + +In the movement of modern society, no force is more conspicuous +than journalism. In this our missionaries have from the first taken +a leading part, as it was they who introduced it to China. At every +central station for the last half-century periodicals have been +issued by them in the Chinese language. +[Page 290] +The man who has done most in this line is Dr. Y. J. Allen, of the +Methodist Episcopal Church South. He has devoted a lifetime to +it, besides translating numerous books. + +Formerly the Chinese had only one newspaper in the empire--the +_Peking Gazette_, the oldest journal in the world. They now +have, in imitation of foreigners, some scores of dailies, in which +they give foreign news, and which they print in foreign type. The +highest mandarins wince under their stinging criticisms. + + +THEY LEAD A VERNACULAR REVOLUTION + +It is one of the triumphs of Christianity to have given a written +form to the language of modern Europe. It is doing the same for +heathen nations in all parts of the earth. Nor does China offer +an exception. The culture for which her learned classes are noted +is wholly confined to a classic language that is read everywhere, +and spoken nowhere, somewhat as Latin was in the West in the Middle +Ages, save that Latin was really a tongue capable of being employed +in speech, whereas the classical language of China is not addressed +to the ear but to the eye, being, as Dr. Medhurst said, "an occulage, +not a language." + +The mandarin or spoken language of the north was, indeed, reduced +to writing by the Chinese themselves; and a similar beginning was +made with some of the southern dialects. In all these efforts the +Chinese ideographs have been employed; but so numerous and disjointed +are they that the labour of years is required to get a command of +them even for reading in a vernacular +[Page 291] +dialect. In all parts of China our missionaries have rendered the +Scriptures into the local dialects. so that they may be understood +when read aloud, and that every man "may hear in his own tongue the +wonderful works of God." In some places they have printed them in +the vernacular by the use of Chinese characters. Yet those characters +are clumsy instruments for the expression of sounds; and in several +provinces our missionaries have tried to write Chinese with Roman +letters. + +The experiment has proved successful beyond a doubt. Old women +and young children have in this way come to read the Scriptures +and other books in a few days. This revolution must go forward +with the spread of Christianity; nor is it too much to expect that +in the lapse of ages, the hieroglyphs of the learned language will +for popular use be superseded by the use of the Roman alphabet, or +by a new alphabet recently invented and propagated by officials +in Peking. + +In conclusion: Our missionaries have made our merchants acquainted +with China; and they have made foreign nations known to the Chinese. +They have aided our envoys in their negotiations; and they have +conferred on the Chinese the priceless boon of scientific text-books. +Also along with schools for modern education, they have introduced +hospitals for the relief of bodily suffering. + + W. A. P. M. + +PEKING, + Aug. 4. 1906. + + + + +[Page 292] +II. + +UNMENTIONED REFORMS[*] + +[Footnote *: Written by the author for the _North-China Daily +News_.] + +The return of the Mission of Inquiry has quickened our curiosity +as to its results in proposition and in enactment. All well-wishers +of China are delighted to learn that the creation of a parliament +and the substitution of constitutional for autocratic government are +to have the first place in the making of a New China. The reports +of the High Commissioners are not yet before the public, but it +is understood that they made good use of their time in studying +the institutions of the West, and that they have shown a wise +discrimination in the selection of those which they recommend for +adoption. There are, however, three reforms of vital importance, +which have scarcely been mentioned at all, which China requires +for full admission to the comity of nations. + + +1. A CHANGE OF COSTUME + +During their tour no one suggested that the Chinese costume should +be changed nor would it have been polite or politic to do so. But I +do not admire either the taste or the wisdom of those orators who, +in welcoming the distinguished visitors; applauded them for their +graceful dress and stately carriage. If that indiscreet flattery +had any effect it merely tended +[Page 293] +to postpone a change which is now in progress. All the soldiers +of the Empire will ere long wear a Western uniform, and all the +school children are rapidly adopting a similar uniform. To me few +spectacles that I have witnessed are so full of hope for China as +the display on an imperial birthday, when the military exhibit +their skilful evolutions and their Occidental uniform, and when +thousands of school children appear in a new costume, which is +both becoming and convenient. But the Court and the mandarins cling +to their antiquated attire. If the peacock wishes to soar with +the eagle, he must first get rid of his cumbersome tail. + +This subject, though it savours of the tailor shop, is not unworthy +the attention of the grand council of China's statesmen. Has not +Carlyle shown in his "Sartor Resartus" how the Philosophy of Clothes +is fundamental to the history of civilisation? The Japanese with +wonderful foresight settled that question at the very time when +they adopted their new form of government. + +When Mr. Low was U. S. Minister in Peking some thirty years ago, +he said to the writer "Just look at this tomfoolery!" holding up +the fashion plates representing the new dress for the diplomatic +service of Japan. Time has proved that he was wrong, and that the +Japanese were right in adopting a new uniform, when they wished to +fall in line with nations of the West. With their old shuffling +habiliments and the cringing manners inseparable from them, they +never could have been admitted to intercourse on easy terms with +Western society. + +[Page 294] +The mandarin costume of China, though more imposing, is not less +barbaric than that of Japan; and the etiquette that accompanies +it is wholly irreconcilable with the usages of the Western world. +Imagine a mandarin doffing his gaudy cap, gay with tassels, feathers, +and ruby button, on meeting a friend, or pushing back his long +sleeves to shake hands! Such frippery we have learned to leave +to the ladies; and etiquette does not require them to lay aside +their hats. + +Quakers, like the mandarins, keep their hats on in public meetings; +and the oddity of their manners has kept them out of society and +made their following very exiguous. Do our Chinese friends wish +to be looked on as Quakers, or do they desire to fraternise freely +with the people of the great West? + +Their cap of ceremony hides a shaven pate and dangling cue, and +here lies the chief obstacle in the way of the proposed reform +in style and manners. Those badges of subjection will have to be +dispensed with either formally or tacitly before the cap that conceals +them can give way to the dress hat of European society. Neither +graceful nor convenient, that dress hat is not to be recommended +on its own merits, but as part of a costume common to all nations +which conform to the usages of our modern civilisation. + +It must have struck the High Commissioners that, wherever they +went, they encountered in good society only one general type of +costume. Nor would it be possible for them to advise the adoption +of the costume of this or that nationality--a general conformity +is all that seems feasible or desirable. Will the Chinese +[Page 295] +cling to their cap and robes with a death grip like that of the +Korean who jumped from a railway train to save his high hat and +lost his life? As they are taking passage on the great railway of +the world's progress, will they not take pains to adapt themselves +in every way to the requirements of a new era? + + +2. POLYGAMY + +We have as yet no intimation what the Reform Government intends +to do with this superannuated institution. Will they persist in +burning incense before it to disguise its ill-odour, or will they +bury it out of sight at once and for ever? + +The Travelling Commissioners, whose breadth and acumen are equally +conspicuous, surely did not fail to inquire for it in the countries +which they visited. Of course, they did not find it there; but, as +with the question of costume, the good breeding of their hosts would +restrain them from offering any suggestion touching the domestic +life of the Chinese. + +The Commissioners had the honour of presentation to the Queen-Empress +Alexandra. Fancy them asking how many subordinate wives she has +to aid her in sustaining the dignity of the King-Emperor! They +would learn with surprise that no European sovereign, however lax +in morals, has ever had a palace full of concubines as a regular +appendage to his regal menage; that for prince and people the ideal +is monogamy; and that, although the conduct of the rich and great +is often such as to make us blush for our Christian civilisation, +it is true this day that the crowned heads of Europe are in general +setting a worthy example of +[Page 296] +domestic morals. "Admirable!" respond the Commissioners; "our ancient +sovereigns were like that, and our sages taught that there should +be '_Ne Wu Yuen Nu, Wai wu Kwang-tu_' (in the harem no pining +beauty, outside no man without a mate). It is the luxury of later +ages that keeps a multitude of women in seclusion for the pleasure +of a few men, and leaves the common man without a wife. We heartily +approve the practice of Europe, but what of Africa?" + +"There the royal courts consider a multitude of wives essential to +their grandeur, and the nobles reckon their wealth by the number +of their wives and cows. The glory of a prince is that of a cock +in a barn-yard or of a bull at the head of a herd. Such is their +ideal from the King of Dahomey with his bodyguard of Amazons to +the Sultan of Morocco and the Khedive of Egypt. Not only do the +Mahommedans of Asia continue the practice--they have tried to transplant +their ideal paradise into Europe. Turkey, decayed and rotten, with +its black eunuchs and its Circassian slave girls, stands as an +object-lesson to the whole world." + +"We beg your pardon, we know enough about Asia; but what of +America--does polygamy flourish there?" + +"It did exist among the Peruvians and Aztecs before the Spanish +conquest, but it is now under ban in every country from pole to +pole. Witness the Mormons of Utah! They were refused admission +into the American Union as long as they adhered to the Oriental +type of plural marriage." + +"Ah! We perceive you are pointing to the Mormons as a warning to +us. You mean that we shall not be admitted into the society of +the more civilised nations +[Page 297] +as long as we hold to polygamy. Well! Our own sages have condemned +it. It has a long and shameful record; but its days are numbered. +It will do doubt be suppressed by our new code of laws." + +This imaginary conversation is so nearly a transcript of what must +have taken place, that I feel tempted to throw the following paragraphs +into the form of a dialogue. The dialogue, however, is unavoidably +prolix, and I hasten to wind up the discussion. + +With reference to the Mormons I may add that at the conference +on International Arbitration held at Lake Mohonk last July, there +were present Jews, Quakers, Protestants and Roman Catholics, but +no Mormons and no Turks. Creeds were not required as credentials, +but Turk and Mormon did not think it worth while to knock at the +door. Both are objects of contempt, and no nation whose family +life is formed on the same model can hope to be admitted to full +fraternity with Western peoples. + +The abominations associated with such a type of society are inconsistent +with any but a low grade of civilisation--they are eunuchs, slavery, +unnatural vice, and, more than all, a general debasement of the female +sex. In Chinese society, woman occupies a shaded hemisphere--not +inaptly represented by the dark portion in their national symbol the +_Yinyang-tse_ or Diagram of the Dual principles. So completely +has she hitherto been excluded from the benefits of education that +a young man in a native high school recently began an essay with +the exclamation--"I am glad I am not a Chinese woman. Scarcely +one in a thousand is able to read!" + +[Page 298] +If "Knowledge is power," as Bacon said, and Confucius before him, +what a source of weakness has this neglect of woman been to China. +Happily she is not excluded from the new system of national education, +and there is reason to believe that with the reign of ignorance +polygamy will also disappear as a state of things repugnant to +the right feeling of an intelligent woman. But would it not hasten +the enfranchisement of the sex, and rouse the fair daughters of +the East to a nobler conception of human life if the rulers would +issue a decree placing concubinage under the ban of law? Nothing +would do more to secure for China the respect of the Western world. + + +3. DOMESTIC SLAVERY + +Since writing the first part of this paper, I have learned that +some of the Commissioners have expressed themselves in favour of +a change of costume. I have also learned that the regulation of +slavery is to have a place in the revised statutes, though not +referred to by the Commissioners. Had this information reached +me earlier, it might have led me to omit the word "unmentioned" +from my general title, but it would not have altered a syllable +in my treatment of the subject. + +Cheering it is to the well-wishers of China to see that she has +a government strong enough and bold enough to deal with social +questions of this class. How urgent is the slave question may be +seen from the daily items in your own columns. What, for example, +was the lady from Szechuen doing but carrying on a customary +[Page 299] +form of the slave traffic? What was the case of those singing girls +under the age of fifteen, of whom you spoke last week, but a form +of slavery? Again, by way of climax, what will the Western world +think of a country that permits a mistress to beat a slave girl +to death for eating a piece of watermelon--as reported by your +correspondent from Hankow? The triviality of the provocation reminds +us of the divorce of a wife for offering her mother-in-law a dish +of half-cooked pears. The latter, which is a classic instance, is +excused on the ground of filial duty, but I have too much respect +for the author of the "Hiaoking," to accept a tradition which does a +grievous wrong to one of the best men of ancient times. The tradition, +however unfounded, may serve as a guide to public opinion. It suggests +another subject, which we might (but will not) reserve for another +section, viz., the regulation of divorce and the limitation of +marital power. It is indeed intimately connected with my present +topic, for what is wife or concubine but a slave, as long as a +husband has power to divorce or sell her at will--with or without +provocation? + +Last week an atrocious instance, not of divorce, but of wife-murder, +occurred within bow-shot of my house. A man engaged in a coal-shop +had left his wife with an aunt in the country. The aunt complained +of her as being too stupid and clumsy to earn a living. Her brutal +husband thereon took the poor girl to a lonely spot, where he killed +her, and left her unburied. Returning to the coal-shop, he sent +word to his aunt that he was ready to answer for what he had done, +if called to account. "Has he been called to account?" +[Page 300] +I enquired this morning of one of his neighbours. "Oh no! was the +reply; it's all settled; the woman is buried, and no inquiry is +called for." Is not woman a slave, though called a wife, in a society +where such things are allowed to go with impunity? Will not the new +laws, from which so much is expected, limit the marriage relation +to one woman, and make the man, to whom she is bound, a husband, +not a master? + +Confucius, we are told, resigned office in his native state when +the prince accepted a bevy of singing girls sent from a neighbouring +principality. The girls were slaves bought and trained for their +shameful profession, and the traffic in girls for the same service +constitutes the leading form of domestic slavery at this day--so +little has been the progress in morals, so little advance toward +a legislation that protects the life and virtue of the helpless! + +But the slave traffic is not confined to women; any man may sell +his son; and classes of both sexes are found in all the houses of +the rich. Praedial servitude was practised in ancient times, as it +was in Europe in the Middle Ages, and in Russia till a recent day. +We read of lands and labourers being conferred on court favourites. +How the system came to disappear we need not pause to inquire. It +is certain, however, that no grand act of emancipation ever took +place in China like that which cost Lincoln his life, or that for +which the good Czar Alexander II. had to pay the same forfeit. +Russia is to-day eating the bitter fruits of ages of serfdom; and +the greatest peril ever encountered by the United States was a +war brought on by negro slavery. + +[Page 301] +The form of slavery prevailing in China is not one that threatens +war or revolutions; but in its social aspects it is worse than +negro slavery. It depraves morals and corrupts the family, and +as long as it exists, it carries the brand of barbarism. China +has great men, who for the honour of their country would not be +afraid to take the matter in hand. They would, if necessary, imitate +Lincoln and the Czar Alexander to effect the removal of such a +blot. + +It is proposed, we are told, to limit slavery to minors--freedom +ensuing on the attainment of majority. This would greatly ameliorate +the evil, but the evil is so crying that it demands not amelioration, +but extinction. Let the legislators of China take for their model +the provisions of British law, which make it possible to boast that +"as soon as a slave touches British soil his fetters fall." Let +them also follow that lofty legislation which defines the rights +and provides for the well-being of the humblest subject. Let the +old system be uprooted before a new one is inaugurated, otherwise +there is danger that the limiting of slavery to minors will leave +those helpless creatures exposed to most of the wrongs that accompany +a lifelong servitude. + +The number and extent of the reforms decreed or effected are such +as to make the present reign the most illustrious in the history +of the Empire. May we not hope that in dealing with polygamy and +domestic slavery, the action of China will be such as to lift her +out of the class of Turkey and Morocco into full companionship +with the most enlightened nations of Europe and America. + + + + +[Page 302] +III. + +A NEW OPIUM WAR + +The fiat has gone forth--war is declared against an insidious enemy +that has long been exhausting the resources of China and sapping +the strength of her people. She has resolved to rid herself at +once and forever of the curse of opium. The home production of +the drug, and all the ramifications of the vice stand condemned +by a decree from the throne, followed by a code of regulations +designed not to limit, but to extirpate the monster evil. + +In this bold stroke for social reform there can be no doubt that +the Government is supported by the best sentiment of the whole +country. Most Chinese look upon opium as the beginning of their +national sorrows. In 1839 it involved them in their first war with +the West; and that opened the way for a series of wars which issued +in their capital being twice occupied by foreign forces. + +Their first effort to shake off the incubus was accompanied by +such displays of pride, ignorance and unlawful violence that Great +Britain was forced to make war--not to protect an illegal traffic, +but to redress an outrage and to humble a haughty empire. In this +renewed onslaught the Chinese have exhibited so much good sense +and moderation as to show that they have learned much from foreign +intercourse during the sixty-seven years that have intervened. + +[Page 303] +Without making any appeal to the foreigner, they courageously resolved +to deal with the evil in its domestic aspects. Most of the mandarins +are infected by it; and the licensed culture of the poppy has made +the drug so cheap that even the poor are tempted to indulge. + +The prohibitory edict asserts that of the adult population 30 or +40 per cent. are under the influence of the seductive poison. This, +by the way, gives an enormous total, far beyond any of the estimates +of foreign writers. + +Appalled by the signs of social decadence the more patriotic of +China's statesmen were not slow to perceive that all attempts at +reform in education, army, and laws must prove abortive if opium +were allowed to sap the vigour of the nation. "You can't carve a +piece of rotten wood," says Confucius. Every scheme for national +renovation must have for its basis a sound and energetic people. It +was this depraved taste that first made a market for the drug; if +that taste can be eradicated the trade and the vice must disappear +together, with or without the concurrence of Great Britain. + +Great Britain was not, however, to be ignored. Besides her overshadowing +influence and her commercial interests vast and varied, is she not +mistress of India, whose poppy-fields formerly supplied China and +are still sending to the Chinese market fifty thousand chests per +annum? No longer an illegal traffic, this importation is regulated +by treaty. Concerted action might prevent complications and tend +to insure success. The new British Government was approached on the +[Page 304] +subject. Fortunately, the Liberals being in power, it was not bound +by old traditions. + +A general resolution passed the House of Commons without a dissentient +voice, expressing sympathy with China and a willingness to adopt +similar measures in India. "When asked in the House what steps had +been taken to carry out the resolution for the abolition of the +opium traffic between India and China, Mr. Morley replied, that +he understood that China was contemplating the issue of regulations +restricting the importation, cultivation, and consumption of opium. He +had received no communication from China; but as soon as proposals were +submitted he was prepared to consider them in a sympathetic spirit. +H. B. M.'s minister in Peking had been instructed to communicate +with the Chinese Government to that effect." + +The telegram containing these words is dated London, October 30. +The imperial edict, which initiated what many call "the new crusade," +was issued barely forty days before that date (viz., on September +20). Let it also be noted that near the end of August a memorial +of the Anti-Opium League, suggesting action on the part of the +Government, was sent up through the Nanking viceroy. It was signed +by 1,200 missionaries of different nations and churches. Is it +not probable that their representations, backed by the viceroy, +moved the hand that sways the sceptre? + +The decree runs as follows: + +"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China +has been flooded with the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted +their time, neglected their employment, ruined their constitutions, +and impoverished their households. Thus for several decades China +has presented a +[Page 305] +spectacle of increasing poverty and weakness. It rouses our indignation +to speak of the matter. The Court is now determined to make China +powerful; and it is our duty to urge our people to reformation +in this respect. + +"We decree, therefore, that within a limit of ten years this harmful +muck be fully and entirely wiped away. We further command the Council +of State to consider means for the strict prohibition both of +opium-smoking and of poppy-growing." + +Among the regulations drawn up by the Council of State are these: + +That all smokers of opium be required to report themselves and to +take out licenses. + +Smokers holding office are divided into two classes. Those of the +junior class are to cleanse themselves in six months. For the seniors +no limit of time is fixed. Both classes while under medical treatment +are to pay for approved deputies, by whom their duties shall be +discharged. + +All opium dens are to be closed after six months. These are places +where smokers dream away the night in company with the idle and +the vicious. + +No opium lamps or pipes are to be made or sold after six months. +Shops for the sale of the drug are not to be closed until the tenth +year. + +The Government provides medicines for the cure of the habit. + +The formation of anti-opium societies is encouraged; but the members +are cautioned not to discuss political questions. + + +The question no doubt arises in the mind of the reader, Will China +succeed in freeing herself from bondage to this hateful vice? It +is easy for an autocrat to issue a decree, but not easy to secure +obedience. It +[Page 306] +is encouraging to know that this decisive action is favoured by +all the viceroys--Yuan, the youngest and most powerful, has already +taken steps to put the new law in force in the metropolitan province. +A flutter of excitement has also shown itself in the ranks of Indian +traders--Parsees, Jews, and Mohammedans--who have presented a claim +for damages to their respectable traffic. + +On the whole we are inclined to believe in the good faith of the +Chinese Government in adopting this measure, and to augur well +for its success. Next after the change of basis in education, this +brave effort to suppress a national vice ranks as the most brilliant +in a long series of reformatory movements. + + W. A. P. M. + PEKING, January, 1907. + + + + +[Page 307] +INDEX + + + + +[Page 309] +INDEX + +Adams, John Quincy, on the Opium War, 153 +Albazin, Cossack garrison captured at, 57 +Alphabet, a new, invented by Wang Chao, 217 +Amherst, Lord, declines to kneel to Emperor, 168 +Amoy, seaport in Fukien province, 14 + its grass cloth and peculiar sort of black tea, 15 +Anhwei, province of, home of Li Hung Chang, 49 +Anti-foot-binding Society, supported by Dowager Empress in an edict, 217 +Anti-foreign Agitation, 244-266 + American influence in the Far East and, 245-251 +"Appeal from the Lion's Den," 176 +Army, the Chinese, 200-202 +_Arrow_ War, the, 162-169 + allied troops at Peking, 168 + Canton occupied by British troops, 164 + China abandons her long seclusion, 169 + crew of the _Arrow_ executed without trial, 163 + negotiations of the four powers with China, 165 + seizure of the lorcha _Arrow_, 162 + +Bamboo tablets, writings of Confucius engraved on, 106 +Battle of the Sea of Japan, 191-192 +Bell-tower, boy's soul supposed to be hovering in, 21 +Black-haired race, Chinese style themselves the, 151 +Bowring, Sir John, Governor of Hong Kong, and the _Arrow_ case, + 162-163 +Boxer War, the, 172-180 + a Boxer manifesto, 175 +Boycott, the, 247, 252, 253, 259 +Bridges, 16, 41, 42 +Bridgman, Dr., pioneer missionary to China, 282 + founds the Chinese Repository, 282 +Buddhism, introduction of, into China, 95 + "Apotheosis of Mercy," a legend of Northern Buddhism, 108 + number of Buddhist monasteries, 108 + rooted in the minds of the illiterate, 108 +Burden, Bishop, of the English Church Mission. Hang-chow, 23 +Burlingame, Hon. Anson, U. S. Minister to China, 212 + +Cambalu, Mongol name for Peking, 59 +[Page 310] +Camoeens, tomb of, at Macao, 9 +Canton, the most populous city of the Empire, 9-12 + American trade suffers most in Canton from boycott of 1905, 13 + averts bombardment by payment of $6,000,000 ransom, 154 + Christian college, 10 + cock-fighting the popular amusement, 10 + crowds of beggars, 12 + excellence of tea and silk produced in the vicinity, 13 + "flower-boats," 9 + historical enigma contests, 11 + narrowness of streets, 12 + passion for gambling, 11 +Canton (Kwangtung), province of, 7-13 + Viceroy of, has also Kwangsi under his jurisdiction, 13 +Caravan Song, 61 +Chang Chien, legend of, 63 +Chang-fi, rescues son of Liu Pi from burning palace, 114 +Chang Tien-shi, arch-magician of Taoism, 109 +Chang Chi-tung, Viceroy of Hukwang, his life and public career, 219-241 + first to start the Emperor on the path of reform 213 + case of Chunghau, 223-224 + his commercial developments at Wuchang, 231 + official interviews with, 238-241 +Chang Yee, an able diplomatist of the Chou period, 99 +Chao, Prince of, is offered fifteen cities for a Kohinoor belonging to + him, 98 +Chau-siang subjugates Tung-chou-Kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, 99 +Chefoo (Chifu), port in Shantung province, 32 +Chehkiang, province of, smallest of the eighteen provinces, 17-24 +Cheng-wang, "the completer," a ruler of the Chou dynasty, 86-87 + his successors, 87-88 +Chentung, Liang, Sir, interview with Dr. Martin with reference to the + Exclusion Laws and the boycott, 252 +Chin, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 117 +China, probable derivation of name, 101 + agency of missionaries in diffusing secular knowledge in, 281-291 + American exclusion laws, 253 + anti-opium edict, 304-305 + boycott, 247, 252, 253, 259 + condition after five wars, 181 + displays of barbarity during the Boxer War, 180 + effect of her defeat by Japan, 171 + effects of Russo-Japanese War, 193 + eighteen provinces, 6 +[Page 311] + five grand divisions, 3 + Grand Canal, 31 + Great Wall, 4, 31, 32, 101 + interference in Tongking, 62 + interference in Korea, 62 + physiographical features, 4 + reforms in, 196-218 + rivers, 19, 15, 18, 25, 41, 52 + sincerity of reformatory movements, 306 +China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, 200 +Chingtu-fu, capital of the state of Shuh, 113 +Chinhai, city at the mouth of the Ningpo, 18 +Chosin, Prince of, 196 +Chou dynasty, founded by Wen-wang, 84 + annals of, 84-88, 96, 99 + form of government praised by Confucius, 96 + term _Chung Kwoh_, "Middle Kingdom," originates in, 85 +Chou-sin, brings ruin on the house of Shang, sets fire to his own palace, + and perishes in the flames, 81 +Christians, attitude of Chinese Government towards, 261 + newspapers and the Christian faith, 263 +Chu Fu-tse, the philosopher, 128 +Chu Hi, the Coryphaeus of Mediaeval China, 128 +Chu-koh Liang, a peasant who became minister to Liu Pi, 114-115 +_Chuang Yuen_, Chinese term for senior wrangler; his importance + and privileges 123 +Chungchen, last of the Mings, hangs himself after stabbing his daughter, + 139 +Chunghau and the restoration of Ili, 223 + accused by Chang Chi-tung, 224 +Chunking, city on the Yangtse, 51 +Chusan, Archipelago and Island, 17 +Chu Yuen Chang, Father of the Mings, 135 +Chwan-siang, exterminates the house of Chou, 99 +Confucius, birth and parentage of 89, 90 + account of his education, 90 + describes himself as "editor, not author," 91 + edits the Five Classics, 92 + Golden Rule the essence of his teaching, 92 + number of his disciples, 90 + passion for music, 91 + search for lost books by Liu-Pang, 106 + tomb of, 30-31 + worshipped by his people, 92-93 + writings burned and disciples persecuted by Shi-hwang-ti, 102-103 +Control of Chinese over foreigners throughout Empire, 258 +_Corvee_, myriads of labourers drafted by, for construction of + the Grand Canal, 32 +[Page 312] +Corvino, missionary, 133 + his church at Peking perishes in the overthrow of the Mongols, 137 +Cotton produced in all the provinces, 3 +Cue, abolition of, requisite to confirm loyalty to Manchus, 278 + +Degrees, literary, 122-123 +Diaz and da Gama, voyage to India, 136 +Diplomacy, becomes an art under the Chou dynasty, 97 +Diplomatic College, 209 + Dr. Martin president of, 209 +"Drinking Alone by Moonlight," poem by Lipai, 120 + +Eclectic Commission, the, 197-198 +Educational reforms, 210 + the Imperial University, 210 +Elgin, Lord, and the Tai-pings, 161, 166 +Elliott, Captain Charles, and the Opium War, 154 +Empress Dowager, and the Boxer War, 172-174, 179-180 + celebrates her seventieth birthday with great pomp, 274 + convert to the policy of progress, 197 + _coup d'etat_, 272 + full name, 276 + parentage, 271 + personal description of, 275 + reactionary clique and, 174 + type of the Manchu woman, 276 +England takes lease of Wei-hai-wei, 174 +Eunuchism, 112, 297 +Examinations, system of civil service, instituted by the Hans, 109 + continued for twelve centuries, 121 + details of, 122-124 + developed under the T'angs, 121 + reforms in, 213 +Exclusion laws, the, Chinese resentment of, 253 + most feasible way to deal with, 255 + President Roosevelt on, 251 + +Factories, the, at Canton, 150,152 +Favier, Bishop, defends his people in the French Cathedral, Peking, 176 +Fishing, queer methods of, 19 +Five dynasties, the, factions contending for the succession on the fall + of the house of T'ang, 126 + the later Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, and Chou are united after fifty-three + years in the Sung dynasty, 126-127 +Foochow (Fuchau), on the River Min, 15 + fine wall and "bridge of ten thousand years," 16 + Kushan, its sacred mountain, 15 + Manchu colony, 16 +[Page 313] +Formosa, Island of, colonised by people of Fukien, 14 +France takes lease of Kwang-chou-wan, 174 +France, war with, 169 + allowed to retain Tong-king, 170 + French seize Formosa, 170 +Fraser, Consul, and Viceroy Chang in the Boxer War, 227 +Fuchau (Foochow), province of Fukien, 15 + large and prosperous missions in, 16 +Fuhi, mythical ruler, teaches his people to rear domestic animals, 72 +Fukien (Fuhkien), province of, 14-16 + derivation of name, 15 + dialect, 14 + inhabitants bold navigators, 14 +Fungshui, a false science, 202 +Fungtao, inventor of printing, 116 + +Gabet and Huc, French missionaries, reach Lhasa in Tibet, 63 +Gama, da, voyage to India, 136 +Gaselee, General, and his contingent relieve the British Legation, + Peking, 177 +Genghis Khan, splendour of his court eclipsed by that of his grandson, + Kublai Khan, 131 +Gods, the numerous, of the Chinese, 82 + worship of many of them referred to the Shang dynasty, 82 +Gordon, General, victorious over the Tai-pings, 161 +Grand Canal, journey down from Tsi-ning, 31 + as useful to-day as six hundred years ago, 31 + constructed by Kublai Khan, 31-32 + its object, 32 +Grand Lama, the Buddhist pope, 62, 109 +Great Wall, the, origin of, 4 + an effete relic, 31 + built by Ts'in, 101 + its construction overthrows house of its builder, 32 +Gunpowder, early known to the Chinese, but not used with cannon, 115 + spoken of by Arabs as "Chinese snow," 115 + +Han dynasty, founded by Liu-pang, 105 + annals, 105-111 + civil service examinations inaugurated, 109 + marked advance in belles-lettres, 109 +Hangchow, capital of Cheh-kiang province, its streets first trodden + by white men in 1855, 22 + its "bore", 24 + its magnificent West Lake, 22 + "The Japanese are coming," 23 +Hanlin Academy, contest before the Emperor for seats in, 123 +[Page 314] +Han Yu, eminent writer of the eighth century, ridicules the relics of + Buddha, 107 +Hart, Sir Robert, his opportune services in the war with France, 170 + development of the maritime customs, 206-208 + father of the postal system, 206 + many honours of, 207 +Hayes, Dr., president of first provincial university in China, 286 +Helungkiang, province of Manchuria, 56 +Hia dynasty, founded by Ta-Yue, 78 + together with the Shang and Chou dynasties, known as the San Tai + or San Wang, 78 +Hien-feng, Emperor, escapes to Tartary and dies there, 168 +Himalayas, a bulwark to China, 4 +_Hiao Lien_, literary degree, now _Chu-jin_, equivalent to + A. M., 122 +Hiunghu, supposed ancestors of the Huns, 111 +Honan province of, 41-44 + agricultural resources, 42 + bridge over the Hwang Ho,41 +Hong Kong, "the Gibraltar of the Orient," ceded to Great Britain, 7 + British make it chief emporium of Eastern seas, 8 + rapid development of, 8 +Huc and Gabet, French missionaries, make their way to Lhasa, 63 +Hung Siu-tsuen, leader of the Tai-pings, 157 + his aid Yang, 158 + invites his first instructor, Rev. Issachar Roberts, to visit his + court, 160 + new method of baptism 160 + raises the flag of rebellion in Kwangsi, 157 +Huns, supposed ancestors were the Hiunghu, 111 +Hupeh, province of, 45-49 + Hankow, Hupeh province, a Shanghai on a smaller scale, 45 + Hanyang, Hupeh province, a busy industrial centre, 46 + Wuchang, capital of Hupeh, 45 +Hwai, Prince, regent during minority of Shunchi, 141 + called Amawang by the Manchus, 141 + effects the subjugation of the eighteen provinces, and imposes the + tonsure and "pigtail," 141 +Hwan, Duke, of western Shan-tung, convokes the States-General nine + times, 96 +_Hwang-ti_, term for "Emperor," first used by the builder of the + Great Wall, 78 +Hwei-ti, a ruler of the Han dynasty, 106 + +Ichang, city on the Yang-tse, 15 +[Page 315] +Ili, Chunghau and the restoration of, 223-224 Ito, Marquis, 196 +I-yin, a wise minister who had charge of the young ruler T'ai-kia, +80-81 + +Japan, war with, provoked by China's interference in Korea, 170 + Japanese expel Chinese from Korea, and take part of Manchuria, 171 + Japan left in possession of Port Arthur and Liao-tung, 171 + Russia is envious and compels her to withdraw, 171 + having defeated Russia unreservedly restores Manchuria to China, 195 +Jews, of K'ai-fung-fu, 43 + ancestors of, reach China by way of India, 43 + Shanghai, help their K'ai-fung-fu brethren, 44 +Jin-hwang, Tien-hwang, and Ti-hwang, three mythical rulers, 71 + +K'ai-fung-fu, formerly the capital under Chou and Sung dynasties, 42 + visit to the Jews of, 43 +Kairin, province of Manchuria, 56 +Kalgan, Mongolia, a caravan terminal, 58, 61 +Kanghi, the greatest monarch in the history of the Empire, 142 + alienated by the pope, 144 + patron of missionaries, 142 +Kanghi, progress of Christianity during his reign, 143 +Kang Yuwei, urges reform on the Emperor, 213 +Kansuh, province of, comparatively barren, and climate unfavourable to + agriculture, 55 +Kao-tsung, son of Tai-tsung, raises Wu, one of his father's concubines, + to the rank of empress, 121 +Ketteler, Baron von, killed during siege in Peking, 176 +Kiachta, a double town in Manchuria, 58 +Kiak'ing, succeeds on the abdication of his father, Kienlung, 144 + a weak and dissolute monarch, 145 +Kiangsu province, 25-29 + derivation of name, 25 +Kiao-Chao (Kiau-Chau), port occupied by Germans, 30, 165 +Kiayi, an exiled statesman, dates a poem from Changsha, 110 +Kie, last king of the Hia dynasty, his excesses, 80 +Kien Lung, emperor poet, lines inscribed by him on rock at Patachu, 35 + abdicates, after a reign of sixty years, for the reason that he did + not wish to reign longer than his grandfather, 144 + adds Turkestan to the empire, 144 + dynasty reaches the acme of splendour in his reign, 144 +[Page 316] +Kin Tartars, obtain possession of Peking, and push their way to + K'ai-fung-fu, the Emperor retiring to Nanking, 129 +Kin Tartars, the, 140 +Kingdoms, the three, Wei, Wu, and Shuh, 112-113 +King Sheng Tau, annotator of popular historical novel, 113 +Kinsha, "River of Golden Sands," 52 +Komura, Baron, and Portsmouth treaty, 193 +Korea, the bone of contention between Japan and Russia, 182, 183, 186, 192 +Kuanyin Pusa, a legend of, "The Apotheosis of Mercy," 108 +Kublai Khan, absorbs China, 131 +Kung, Prince, and the Empress Dowager, 273 + disgraced and confined in his palace, 273 + personal characteristics, 277 + restored to favour but not to joint regency, 273 +Kuropatkin, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 185-192 +Kwangsi, province of, subordinate to Canton, 13 + in an almost chronic state of rebellion, 13 +Kwangsu, Emperor, and the Empress Dowager, 172, 173 + his desire for reforms, 197 + imprisoned in a secluded palace, 173, 174 + influenced by Kang Yuwei 173 +Kwangtung (Canton), province of, 7-13 +Kweichau, province of, the poorest province of China, 52 + one-half its population aborigines, 52 +Kweilang, secretary to the Empress, 272 + prompts Prince Kung to strike for his life, 273 + +Lao-Tse, founder of Taoism, his life and influence, 94 +Lhasa, treaty of, 62 +Li and Yu, two bad kings of the house of Chou, 88 +Liang, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Liang Ting Fen, letter to Dr. Martin requesting his good offices with + President Roosevelt, 252-253 +Liaoyang, battle of, 187 +Lienchow, attack on Americans at, 248, 255 +Lien P'o, a general of Chao, who threatens to kill the envoy Lin at + sight, 98 + makes friends with his adversary, 99 +Li Hung Chang, a native of Anhwei, 49 + preeminent in the work of reform, 212 + sent to Japan to sue for peace he is shot by an assassin, 171 + wins earldom through Gordon's victory, 161 +[Page 317] +Li Ling, a commander for whom Sze-ma Ts'ien stood sponsor, and who + surrendered to the enemy, 110 +Lin, Commissioner, and the opium traffic, 152 +Lin Sian Ju, a brave envoy, 98 +Lineivitch, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 190-192 +Lipai, the Pope of Chinese literature, 119 +Li-Sze, chancellor of Shi-hwang-ti, denounces the works of Confucius to + that ruler, and causes them to be burned, 102 +Little, Mrs. Archibald, and the Anti-foot-binding Society, 217 +Liu-pang founds the Han dynasty, 105 +Liu Pi founds the state of Shuh, 113 +Li Yuen, assassinates Yang-ti and sets up the T'ang dynasty, 118 +Lo Kwan-chung, author of a popular historical novel, 113 +Lo-yang, capital of the state of Wei, 112 +Lu, Empress, holds the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years, 106 + +Macao, Portuguese town of, 8 + burial place of Camoeens and Robert Morrison, 8 +McCartee, Dr., annual issued by, 287 +Manchuria, 3 + consists of three regions or provinces under one governor-general, 56 + home of the Manchus, 56 + ignorance of Manchus in their original habitat, 57 + Japan takes possession of parts of, 171 + population and products, 57 + restored by Japan to China, 195 + Russia occupies the very positions from which she compelled Japan to + withdraw, 171 + sacred city of Mukden, 56 +Manchus, the, ignorance of those remaining in Manchuria, 57 + give to China a better government than any of her native dynasties, 142 + the Normans of China, 267-280 + they settle at Mukden and await an opportunity to descend on China, 140 +Marco Polo. See Polo +Maritime customs, the, 206-208 + Sir Robert Hart's long and valuable services, 206-209 +Martin, Dr. W. A. P., head of the Tung-wen College, 209 + in siege at Peking, 176, 177 + president of the Imperial University, 210 +Mateer, Dr. C. W., founds Teng-chow College, 285 +[Page 318] +Meadows, Consul T. T., reports in favour of the Tai-pings, 159 +Medhurst, Dr., his description of the Chinese Classical language, 290 +Mencius, more eloquent but less original than Confucius, 93 + his tribute to Confucius, 94 + owed much to his mother's training, 93 +Merchant marine, the, 200 +Mings, last of, stabs daughter and hangs himself, 139 +Ming-ti, sends embassy to India to import Buddhist books and bonzes, 107 +Mining enterprises, 202 +Min River, 15 +Missions, development of, 264 + Minister Rockhill's address upon, 266 +Missionaries, attacks on, 40, 180, 248, 260, 261, 262 + agency of, in the diffusion of secular knowledge, 263-291 + apostles of science, 263 + creators of Chinese journalism 290 + medical work, 284 + lead a vernacular revolution, 290 + preparation of text-books, 287 + presidents of government colleges, 289 + teaching and preaching, 263 +Mongolia, the largest division of Tartary, 57, 61 + contribution to the luxuries of the metropolis, 50 + inhabitants nomadic, 58 + has only three towns, 58 + Russians "came lean and went away fat," 58 + Russians granted privilege of establishing an ecclesiastical mission, 57 +Mongols, liable to military service, but prohibited from doing garrison + duty in China, 59 + dress, 60 + forty-eight Mongolian princes, 59 + Mongol monks at Peking, 60 + nomadic wanderings, 58 + princes visit Cambalu (Peking), in winter, 59 + their camel, 60 + victorious over the Sungs, 130 + Yuen or Mongol dynasty, 131-134 +Morrison, John R., son of Dr. Morrison the missionary, attempts to + establish a printing-press, 283 +Morrison, Robert, pioneer of Protestant missions to China, tomb of, at + Macao, 9, 282 +Moule, Bishop, makes Hang-chow seat of his diocese, 23 +Mukden, city of, sacred to every Manchu, 56 + battle of, 189 +Mu-wang, a Chou ruler, who seeks relief from ennui in foreign travel, 87 + +[Page 319] +Nanking, chief city of Kiangsu province, 25, 26 + called _Kiangning_ by the Manchus, 26 + pillaged by Tartars, 129 +Nanking, treaty of, 7 +Nan-peh Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms" four factions arising on + the fall of the Tsin dynasty, 116 +Napier, Lord, appointed superintendent of British trade in China, 153 + arrives at Macao and announces his appointment by letter to the prefect + of Canton, who "tosses it back," 153 + dies of chagrin at Macao, 153 +Napoleon, Louis, and Annam, 165 +Navy, the Chinese, 199-200 +"Nest-builder, The," 71 +Nevius, Rev. J. L., missionary at Hangchow, 23 + at Chefoo, where he plants a church and a fruit garden, 32 +Nevius, Mrs., at Chefoo, 32 +Newspapers, reforms in, 215 + covertly criticise Government and its agents, 215 +Ningpo, province of Chehkiang, 19 + its handsome people and their literary and commercial prominence, 20 + residence of the author for ten years, 20 +Ningpo River, 18 +Nogi, General, and the Russo-Japanese War, 188-192 + +O'Connor, Mr., British charge d'affaires, 179 +Omesham Mountains, 51 +Opening of China, the, a drama in five acts, 149 + result of collisions between Oriental conservatism and Occidental + progress, 149, 150 +Opium, extent of trade in, 303 + 20,000 chests destroyed at request of Captain Charles Elliott, 154 +Opium traffic, Commissioner Lin directed by Emperor Tao Kwang to abolish + it, 152 + attitude of British Government, 304 + decree ordering its total abolition, 304 + regulations of Council of State, 305 +Opium War, the, its causes, precipitation, and effects, 150-162 +Oyama, Field-marshal, in the Russo-Japanese War, 187-192 + +P's, the three--pen, paper, and printing, invention of, 116 +Palmerston, Lord, invites cooperation of France, Russia and the United + States concerning the _Arrow_ case, 164 +P'an-keng, of the house of Shang, moves his capital five times, 81 +P'anku, the "ancient founder," 71 +[Page 320] +Paoting-fu, in Chihli province, scene of martyrdom of missionaries, 40 +Parker, Dr. Peter, missionary at Canton, 284 +Parkes, Consul and the _Arrow_ case, 162, 163, 164 +Patachu, summer resort near Peking, 34-35 + its eight Buddhist temples, 35 +Pearl River, 9 +Peking, northern capital of China, 34 + approaches to new foreign quarter fortified, 37 + Byron's lines on Lisbon applied to Peking, 39 + climate and low death-rate, 38 + Empress Dowager's summer residence, 34 + "Forbidden City," 37 + French Cathedral defended by Bishop Favier and marines, 176 + Legation Street, 36 + Prospect or Palatine Hill, 38 + siege of legations, 175 + summer palaces, 34 + Tai-ping expedition against, 159 + Tartar and Chinese cities, 35 + Temples of Agriculture, Heaven and Earth, 35, 36 +Peking Gazette, the, oldest journal in the world, 290 +Philosophers of the Sung period, Cheo, Cheng, Chang, and Chu, 127-128 +Philosophers: + Chu Hi, 128 + Wang Ngan-shi, economist, 128 +Pirates, attacks of, on Mr. Russell and the author, 18 + Rev. Walter Lowrie is drowned by, 18 +Police, reforms in, 218 +Polo, Marco, Mattei, and Nicolo, 132 + sojourn in China, 132 +Port Arthur and Liao-tung, 171, 174, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191, 192 +Ports, five, opened to great Britain at close of the Opium War, 155 +Portsmouth (N. H.), treaty of, 192 +Portuguese, first ships of the, appear at Canton, 136 + disapprove missions, 137 + obtain a footing at Macao, 137 + secretly oppose Dutch traders, 137 +Postal system, 206 +Pottinger, Sir Henry, moderate conditions imposed by, at close of Opium + War, 155, 156 + his action compared with that of Commodore Perry, 156 +Psychology, Chinese, its recognition of three souls, 22 +Punishments, barbarous, abolished, 214 +Putu, the sacred island of, 18 + its monasteries, 18 + prevalence of piracy in adjacent waters, 18 + +[Page 321] +Railways, King-Ran road completed to Hankow, 39 + first grand trunk road, 39 + good work of Belgian constructors, 39 + influence of, on people and government, 40 + questionable action of American company, 40 + reforms in, 203 +Rankin, Rev. Henry, with the author, the first white man to enter + Hang-chow, 22 +Reading-rooms (not libraries, but places for reading) a new + institution, 216 +Red-haired, the, a vulgar designation for Europeans, 151 +Reed, Hon, W. B., American Minister to China, and the _Arrow_ + case, 165 +Reforms in China, 196-218 + Anti-foot-binding Society, 217 + army, 201 + customs, 206 + educational, 213 + Hart, Sir Robert, and, 206 + legal, 204 + merchant marine, 200 + mining enterprises, 202 + newspapers, 215 + post office, 205 + railways, 203 + streets, 218 + telegraph, 214 + Tung-wen College and The Imperial University, 209-210 + writing, 216 +Reforms, unmentioned, 292, 301 + a change of costume, 292 + domestic slavery, 298 + polygamy, 295 +Religions, the three, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, their + characteristic features, 107 + each religion has a hierarchy, 109 + "Hall of the Three Religions," 108 +Ricci, after twenty years of effort, effects an entrance to Peking, 138 +Rice, grown in all the provinces, 3 +Richard, Dr. and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 287 +Richthofen, explorer, 58 +River traffic, junks drawn by hundreds of coolies, 50 +Rivers, the Yang-tse Kiang, 25 + Hwang Ho, 41 + Hingpo, 18 + Pearl, 9 + Kinsha, the "river of golden sands," 52 + Min, 15 +Roberts, Rev. Issachar, and the leader of the Tai-pings, 160 + is invited to visit their court, 160 +Rockhill, Mr., the American Minister, and missionary institutions, 266 +Roman Catholic missionaries, dissensions in the ranks of, 143 +Roosevelt, President, his efforts to end Russo-Japanese War, 193 +[Page 322] + awarded Nobel peace prize, 193 + interview with Dr. Martin on the subject of the Exclusion Laws and the + boycott, 251 +Rozhesvenski, Admiral, and the relief squadron for Port Arthur, 190-192 +Russell, Mr., and the author captured by pirates, 18 +Russia, compels Japan to evacuate Manchuria and occupies the same districts + herself, 171 + designs on Korea, 182 + increases her forces in Manchuria during Boxer War, 182 + obtains lease of Port Arthur, 174 + schemes for conquest, 182, 183 + surprised by Japan's commencement of the war, 184 +Russo-Japanese War, the, 181-195 + +Sages of China, the, Confucius, 89-93 + Lao-tse, 94 + Mencius, 93-94 +Saghalien, Island of, Japan and Russia to divide possession of, 192 +Schaal, Father, is president of Astronomical Board, casts cannon, and + builds churches in Peking, 143 +Sea of Japan, Battle of, 191-192 +Seng Ko Lin Sin (nicknamed "Sam Collinson" by British), Lama prince who + heads northern armies against Tai-ping rebels, 59, 159 + defeated by British and French before Peking, 59 +Shang dynasty, founded by Shang-tang, 80 + annals of, 80, 82 + "made religion the basis of education," 82 +Shanghai, one of the five treaty ports, 26 + colleges and schools, newspapers and translation bureaux, 28 + foreign Concessions, opulent business houses, and luxurious mansions, 27 + leading commercial emporium, 26 +_Shang-ti_ and _Tien_, Roman Catholics and the terms, 143 +Shangyang, a statesman of the Chou dynasty, converts the tenure of land + into fee simple, 85 +Shansi, province of, 54 + prolific of bankers, 54 + rich in agricultural and mineral resources, 54 +Shantung, province of, 30-32 + apples, pears, and peaches grown, 30 + railway built by Germans from the sea to Tsinan-fu,30 +Shanyu, a forerunner of the Grand Khan of Tartary, 111 +[Page 323] +Shaohing, city, in Chehkiang province noted for its rice wine and + lawyers, 23 +Sheffield, Dr., president of Tung-chow College, 286 +Shengking, province of Manchuria, 56 +Shensi, province of, earliest home of the Chinese, 55 + monument at Si-ngan commemorating the introduction of Christianity by + Nestorians, 55 +Shi-hwang-ti, real founder of the Chinese Empire, 102 + devout believer in Taoism, 104 + sends a consignment of lads and lasses to Japan, 103 + though one of the heroes of history he is execrated for burning the + writings of Confucius, 102 +Shin-nung, "divine husbandman," mythical ruler, worshipped as the Ceres + of China, 72 +_Shu-king_, the, or "Book of History," one of the Five Classics edited + by Confucius, 76 +Shun, successor of Yao, rejects his own son and leaves throne to Ta-yue, 74 +Shunteh-fu, American mission at, 40 +Shun-ti, last monarch of the Yuen dynasty, 133 +Si-ngan, city in Shensi, 55 + capital of the Chous, 55 + capital of the T'angs, 121 + Empress Dowager takes refuge there, 42 + monument commemorating the introduction of Christianity by Nestonans, 121 +_Sing Su Hai_, "Sea of Stars," cluster of lakes in Tibet, 63 +Siun Kien founds the state of Wu, 112 +_Siu-tsai_, literary degree equivalent to A. B., 122 +Smith, Dr. Arthur, and thanksgiving service at raising of siege of British + Legation, Peking, 178 +Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 266 +Solatium to encourage honesty in public officials, 208 +Spaniards, the, trade and relations with China, 137 +St. John's College, Shanghai, 287 +Stoessel, General, and his defence of Port Arthur, 188 +"Strange Stories of an Idle Student," a popular work in Chinese depicting + conditions prior to Opium War, 150-151 +Streets, improvement in construction and protection of, 218 +Sue of Shanghai, baptised by the name of Paul by Ricci, 138 + his daughter Candida also baptised, 138 +Suchow, in Kiangsu, the Paris of the Far East, 25 + musical dialect, of, 26 +Su Ts'in, the patient diplomat, whose reputation is ruined by his own + passions, 99 +[Page 324] +Sui dynasty, the, founded by Yan Kien, lasts less than thirty years, 117 +Sundius, Mr., British consul at Wuhu, 227 +Sung, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Sung dynasty, founded by Chao-kwang-yun, 127 + annals, 127-128 + encroachment of the Tartars, 127 + rise of a great school of philosophy, 127-129 + Southern Sungs, 127 +Superstitions of the Chinese, concerning wandering spirits, 21 +Sven Hedin, explorer, 58 +Swatow, Canton province, American Baptists' Mission at, 15 +Szechuen, province of, 50-51 + fratricidal wars under Ming dynasty, 51 + great variety of climate, 51 +Szema Ts'ien, the Herodotus of China, 110 + barbarously treated by his people, 110 + +T'ai-kia, successor of Shang-tang, 80 +Tai-ping Rebellion, the, a result of the Opium War, 156 + details of, 157-162 +Tai-pings, the, try to establish a new empire, the _Tai-ping + Tien-kwoh_, 158 + commonly called "Chang-mao," long-haired rebels, owing to their rejection + of the tonsure and cue, 161 + defeated by Gordon, 161 + descend into the plains of Hunan, pillage three cities, and capture + Nanking, massacring its garrison of 25,000 Manchus, 158-159 + go into winter quarters, and, dividing their forces, are cut off in + detail, 159 + hold Nanking for ten years, 159 + loose morals and travesty of sacred things horrify Christian world, 161 + missionaries attracted by their profession of Christianity, 160 + queer titles adopted by, 161 + sympathy for their cause by Consul Meadows, 159 + unsuccessfully attempt to drive the Manchus from Peking, 159 +Tai-tsung, second emperor of the T'ang dynasty, 120 +Taiyuan-fu, missionaries murdered at by the governor, 180 +Ta-Ki, a wicked woman by whom Chou-sin is said to have been led into his + evil courses, 81 +_Ta Kiang_, "Great River," the Chinese name for the Yang-tse Kiang, 28 +Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho, 33 + capture of forts by British and French, repulse of allied forces in + following year, 33 +[Page 325] +Tamerlane, Mongolian origin of, 61 + born in Turkestan, 61 +Tanao, a minister of Hwang-ti, author of the cycle of sixty, 77 +T'ang dynasty, founded by Li Yuen, 118 + an Augustan age, 119 + annals, 119-125 +Tang Shao-yi, a Chinese, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of + the entire customs service, 208 +Tao Kwang, Emperor, resolves to put a stop to opium traffic, 152 +Tartars, encroach on the Flowery Land, 117 + suspicious of other foreigners, 151 +Tartary, Grand Khan of, 111 +Tatnall, Commodore, his kind action at Taku, 167 +Ta-ts'ing dynasty, the, its annals, 140-145 +Ta-yue, or Yu the Great, early emperor, subdues the waters of a deluge, 75 + casts 9 brazen tripods, 79 + departs from practice of his predecessors and leaves throne to his + son, 76 + devotes nine years to the dredging and diking of rivers, 75 + his acts and reign, 78-79 + monuments commemorating his labours, 75 +Telegraph and telephone, introduction of, 204-205 +Temples of Heaven, Earth and Agriculture, 36 +Teng-chow College, founded by Dr. C. W. Mateer, 285 +Tenney, Dr., and the University of Tientsin, 213 +Text-books, prepared by missionaries--Edkins, Martin, Muirhead, Williamson + and Wylie, 287-288 +Theatre, the Chinese, 114 +Three Kingdoms, the, states of Wei, Wu and Shuh, 112 + Lo Kwan-chung, author of a historical novel, 113 +Tibet, the land of the Grand Lama, 62 + called by the Chinese "the roof of the world," 63 + Chinese influence in is nearly _nil_, 62 + explored by Huc and Gabet, 63 + mother of great rivers, 63 + polyandry prevalent, 63 +Tieliang, a Manchu, one of two ministers appointed to take charge of the + entire customs service, 208 +_Tien_ and _Shang-ti_, question among Catholics concerning the + terms, 143 +_Tien Chu_, substitution of, for _Shang-ti_ repulsive to pious + Chinese, 144 +_Tien Ho_, "River of Heaven," Chinese term for the Milky Way, 63 +Tien-hwang, Ti-hwang, and Jin-hwang, three mythical rulers who reigned + eighteen thousand years each, 71 +[Page 326] +_Tiensheng_, Chinese name for province of Yuennan 52 +Tientsin, province of Chihli, rises anew from its half-ruined condition, 33 + ranks as third of treaty ports, 34 + treaties of, 166 +Ti-hwang, Jin-hwang, and Tien-hwang, three mythical rulers, 71 +Togo, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, 184, 185, 188, 191, 192 +Tongking, French left in possession of, 170 +Translators, corps of, Dr. John Fryer's prominent connection with, 288 +Tsao Tsao founds the state of Wei, 112 +Tsai Lun, inventor of paper 116 +Ts'ang-Kie, the Cadmus of China, author of its written characters, 77 +Ts'in dynasty, Yin Cheng brings the whole country under his sway and + assumes title of _Shi-Hwang-ti_ "Emperor First," 101 + annals of, 101-104 + builds Great Wall, 101 + lasts for a century and a half, 116 +Ts'in, Prince of, offers fifteen cities for a kohinoor, 98 +Tsinan-fu, railway from the sea to, built by the Germans, 30 +_Tsin-shi_, "Literary Doctor," degree of, 123 +Tsungming, Island of, formed by the waters of the Yang-tse Kiang, 28 + and Tunking coupled in popular proverb, 28 +Tsushima, Battle of, 191-192 +Tuan Fang, governor of Hupeh, 242-243 + favourable specimen of a Manchu, 276 +Tuan, Prince, father of the heir apparent, 174 +Tufu, poet of the T'ang dynasty, 119 +Tung-chi, Emperor, death of, 273 +Tung-chou-kiun, last monarch of the Chou dynasty, 99 +Turkestan, 3, 61 + majority of the inhabitants Mohammedans, 61 + most of the khanates absorbed by Russia, 61 + +Union Medical College, Peking, 285 +Urga, Mongolia, a shrine for pilgrimage, 58 +Uriu, Admiral, in Russo-Japanese War, 184 + +Verbiest, the Jesuit, made president of Board of Astronomy, 143 + +Wall, Great, see Great Wall Wang Chao, invents new alphabet, 217 +Ward, Frederick G., the American, and the Tai-ping rebellion, 160 +Ward, Hon. J. E., American minister, proceeds to Peking by land, 167 +[Page 327] + declines to kneel to Emperor, 168 +Wei, one of the Nan-peh Chao, 116 +Weihien, in Shantung, destined to become a railway centre, 30 +Weihwei-fu, city on the border of Chihli and Honan, 41 +Wensiang, success of Prince Kung's administration largely due to him, 277 + contests with Tungsuin in extemporaneous verse, 277 +Wen-ti, "patron of letters," a ruler of the house of Han, 107 +Wen-wang, the real founder of the Chou dynasty, 84 + encourages letters, 84 + known as a commentator in the _Yih-king_, 84 +Whales, the river near Hang-chow a trap for, 23 +Wheat, produced in all the provinces, 3 +Williams, Dr. S. Wells, takes charge of American Board printing press at + Canton, 283 + labours, 283 + "The Middle Kingdom," 283 +Witte, Count, and Portsmouth treaty, 193 +Women in China, considered out of place in attempting to govern, 82 +Writing, reform in, 216 + new alphabet invented, 217 +Wu, Empress, succeeds Kao-tsung and reigns for twenty-one years, 121 +Wu Pa, the five dictators, 96 +Wu San-kwei, a traitorous Chinese general, makes terms with the + Manchus, 140-141 +Wu Ti, Liang emperor, who became a Buddhist monk, 117 +Wu-ti, "the five rulers," 71 +Wu-ting-fang, Chinese minister at Washington, and legal reforms, 214 +Wu-wang, the martial king, rescues the people from the oppression of the + Shangs, 83 + +Xavier, St. Francis, arrives at Macao, is not allowed to land, and dies + on the Island of St. John, 138 + +Yang, chief supporter of the leader of the Tai-pings, 157-158 +Yang Chia Kow, called by foreign sailors "Yankee Cow," at the mouth of + the Yellow River, 29 +Yang-tse Kiang, possible Tibetan source of, 63 + new islands made by, 28 +Yan Kien, a Chinese general sets up the Sui dynasty, 117 +Yao, type of an unselfish monarch, 73 + astronomical observations, 76 + passes by son in naming his successor, 73 +Yeh, Viceroy, and the _Arrow_ War, 162 +[Page 328] +Yellow River, source of, 63 + forsakes its old bed, 29 +"Yellow ruler, the," reputed inventor of letters and the cycle of sixty + years, 72 +Yellow Sea, why so called, 28 +Yermak, 182 +Yu and Li, two bad kings of the house of Chou, 88 +Yuen or Mongol dynasty 131-134 +Yuen Shi Kai, Viceroy, preeminent in the work of reform, 212 +Yungcheng, succeeds Kanghi and reigns fourteen years, 144 +Yungloh, emperor of the Ming dynasty, 136 + "Thesaurus of," 136 +Yuenkwei, viceregal district of, 15, 52 +Yuennan, province of, 52, 53 + coal measures and copper mines, 52 + hundred tribes of aborigines within its borders, 52 + unhealthful climate, 52 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Awakening of China, by W.A.P. Martin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AWAKENING OF CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 15125.txt or 15125.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/2/15125/ + +Produced by Robert J. Hall. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/15125.zip b/old/15125.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..db508ba --- /dev/null +++ b/old/15125.zip |