The evil deeds of Yu-Hsien--Exceptional atrocity--The first
riot--Driven to the Yamên--Slaughtered in the Governor’s
presence--Adding insult to injury--A general massacre of foreigners
and converts--£5000 reward offered for Mr. and Mrs. Piggott’s
release--A mistake.
We now come to some of the evil deeds of Yu Hsien, the Governor of
Shansi, who was probably the most bitter of anti-foreign Chinese
officials, and who, on receipt of the Imperial edict, made haste
to carry out the instructions for the extermination of foreigners.
He telegraphed the Empress’s orders to all the subordinates in his
province, and sent instructions to guard the fords of the Yellow
River night and day in order that none might escape, so great was his
eagerness that every foreigner within his boundary should be massacred.
It is not, therefore, a marvel that the murders of missionaries at
Tai-yuen-fu, this official’s capital in Shansi, took place under
circumstances of exceptional atrocity.
The first riot occurred on June 27, when Miss Coombs was killed and Dr.
Edwards’ hospital destroyed. A messenger brought this information in a
letter written by Dr. Miller Wilson, and sewn into the sole of one of
the messenger’s shoes.
On July 9 the Governor, Yu-Hsien, having taken the precaution to have
the gates of the city closed and carefully watched, commanded all the
foreigners in the city to appear before him, sending armed soldiers to
enforce his orders.
The Europeans, driven to the yamên, were received in audience by
Yu-Hsien, who had by his side the Prefect and Sub-Prefect of the
province, while a number of servants, five hundred soldiers, and a
crowd of murderous individuals, surrounded the foreigners.
When all had been brought up, Yu-Hsien enjoined the Europeans to
prostrate themselves at his feet, accusing them of bringing vice, evil,
and unhappiness in the Empire of Heaven. There was only one remedy for
such evil, and that was to behead them all. The order was to be carried
out in his presence.
Two Roman Catholic Bishops and three other missionaries were then
led out, and were the first to be decapitated on the spot. Then one
and all--men, women, and children--were mercilessly beheaded in
the courtyard of the yamên, in front of the hall in which they had
been received in audience, and well in sight of the bloodthirsty
official. The two children of the American Atwater, whose parents we
have followed in their disastrous journey to Honan, were among the
victims of this tragedy. According to the statements of soldiers who
were present, but who deserted later, these martyrs went to death
with astounding courage. To satisfy their superstitious curiosity,
the soldiers are said to have pounced on some of the bodies, still
throbbing, of these unfortunates, and cut their hearts out for
inspection by the bonzes and other learned men.
Insult--no greater could be given in China--was added to injury by
taking the bodies outside the city walls and leaving them to the dogs
instead of burying them. Great credit should be given to the local
native Christians, who, with admirable pluck and faithfulness, to say
nothing of the danger to themselves, surreptitiously secured the bodies
by night and buried them. Partly on account of this charitable deed two
hundred native Christians were put to death five days later (July 14).
[Sidenote: A MISTAKE]
In despatches sent by the local officials to various yamêns it is
stated that 37 foreigners and 30 native converts were massacred on
July 9; but it is not known for certain whether that figure includes
children, or only adults. A report from a city in the neighbourhood
of Tai-yuen-fu places the number at 550, quite a number of Yu-Hsien’s
officers being so horrified at the Governor’s orders that they sent
the foreigners under their charge to him, that he might carry out his
vengeance personally.
In the long list of martyrs, Mr. and Mrs. Piggott were presumed to have
been murdered at Sheo-yang in July. Their friends in England offered
a reward of £5000 sterling for their lives, but although everything
possible that might lead to their rescue was done they had not, when
I left China, been heard of. The news from Sheo-yang did not mention
their names, but merely announced that two foreigners had been killed.
As they were probably the only foreigners in the station, the gravest
fears were entertained.
In connection with the large reward offered for Mr. and Mrs. Piggott,
it was reported that Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Hay were being held for ransom
by the Boxers. It was believed that the Boxers, hearing of the large
sum of money offered for Mr. and Mrs. Piggott, had mistaken the Duncan
Hay couple for them. A most unpleasant error! How otherwise can the
fact be explained that the three companions who were in hiding with Mr.
and Mrs. Hay (Mr. M’Kie, Miss Chapman, and Miss May) were released, and
were reported, towards the beginning of October, as being _en route_
for the coast?[12]
[12] They reached Hankow on February 13, 1901.