have written[84] was executed this morning at the hour of the Hare (6
A.M.) and his head is now exhibited in a cage, hanging from the main beam
of the “Tung-An” gate. It had to be put in a cage, as there was no queue
to hang it by. The face has a most horrible expression, but it is a fine
thing, all the same, to see a foreigner’s head hung up at our palace
gates. It brings back to memory the heads that I saw outside the Board
of Punishments in the tenth year of Hsien-Feng (1860), but there were
black devils among those. Jung Lu tried to save the barbarian’s life, and
even intended to rescue him by force, but the Princes Tuan and Chuang had
determined upon his death, and they had him executed before Jung Lu knew
it, so that, when his men arrived upon the scene, the foreigner’s head
had already parted company from his body. The Princes had him kneeling
before them yesterday for several hours on a chain, and all the time he
kept on imploring them to spare his life; his groans were most painful
to hear. The Old Buddha has been informed of his death, and she gave
orders that Tls. 500 be distributed to the soldiers who had captured him,
_i.e._ a reward ten times greater than that which was promised in the
proclamations.
[Illustration: THE TA-A-KO, SON OF PRINCE TUAN, THE BOXER LEADER.
Appointed Heir-Apparent in January, 1900. Appointment rescinded November,
1901.]
The Boxers who occupy my courtyard tried to take away my cigars from
me, but subsequently relented and allowed me to keep them because of my
extreme old age. Nothing of foreign origin, not even matches, may be used
nowadays, and these Boxer chiefs, Chang Te-ch’eng and Han Yi-li, both of
whom are common and uneducated men, are treated with the greatest respect
even by Princes of the blood: a curious state of affairs indeed!
Duke Tsai Lan came to see me this afternoon. He tells me an extraordinary
story how that the Heir Apparent called the Emperor a “Devil’s pupil”
this morning, and, when rebuked for it, actually boxed His Majesty’s
ears. The Emperor then reported the facts in a memorial to Her Majesty,
who flew into a towering rage, and gave orders to the eunuch Ts’ui to
administer twenty sharp strokes of the whip on the Heir Apparent’s
person. Prince Tuan is much enraged at this, but he is horribly afraid of
Her Majesty, and, when she speaks to him, “he is on tenter-hooks, as if
thorns pricked him, and the sweat runs down his face.”
T’ung Fu-hsiang told the Empress Dowager yesterday that the Legations
have come to the end of their tether. From a rockery on some high ground
in the Forbidden City gardens, the Old Buddha could see the flames
bursting from the Legation quarter, and was more than once assured that
final destruction had come upon the foreigners at last. But later in the
afternoon, Hsü Ching-ch’eng was received in audience, when he presented a
memorial which he and Yüan Chang had drawn up, denouncing the Boxers; he
told Her Majesty that it was not the Legations, but the Han Lin Academy,
that was in flames, the Kansuh soldiery having set fire to it in the hope
that the conflagration might spread and thus enable them to force a way
into the Legation. Her Majesty was greatly disappointed and displeased,
severely blaming Tung Fu-hsiang, and she sent for Jung Lu and talked with
him in private for a long while.
Good news has come in to-day of victorious fighting at Tientsin; Yü Lu
reports that many foreigners were slain in their attack on the Taku
forts, and several of their warships sunk. Practically the whole of the
foreign community of Tientsin had been annihilated, he says.
Many hundreds of Chinese Christians were put to death to-day just outside
Prince Chuang’s palace. The judges who convicted them were Prince Chuang,
Yi Ku, Fen Che, and Kuei Ch’un. There was no mercy shown, and a large
number of innocent people perished with the guilty. The Empress is
essentially a kind-hearted woman, and she was greatly shocked to hear of
this wholesale massacre. She was heard to say that if the Catholics would
only recant and reform, a way of escape might very well be provided for
them.
_29th Day of the 5th Moon_ (June 25th).—To-day about sixty of the
Boxers, led by the Princes Tuan and Chuang, and the “Beilehs” Tsai Lien
and Tsai Ying, marched to the Palace at 6 o’clock in the morning to
search there for converts. Coming to the gate of the Palace of Peaceful
Longevity, where their Majesties were still abed, they noisily clamoured
for the Emperor to come out, denouncing him as a friend of foreigners.
Prince Tuan was their spokesman. I heard of the incident from Wen Lien,
Comptroller of the Household, who was on duty this morning; he was amazed
at the foolhardy effrontery of Prince Tuan, and thought that he had
probably been drinking. On hearing the noise outside and the shouts of
the Boxers clamouring to kill all “Devil’s pupils,” the Old Buddha, who
was taking her early tea, came out swiftly and stood at the head of the
steps, while the Princes and the Boxer leaders swarmed in the court-yard
below her. She asked Prince Tuan whether he had come to look upon himself
as the Emperor; if not, how dared he behave in this reckless and insolent
manner? She would have him know that she, and she alone, had power to
create or depose the Sovereign, and she would have him remember that the
power which had made his son Heir Apparent could also wipe him out in
a moment. If he and his fellow Princes thought that because the State
was at a crisis of confusion they could follow their own inclinations
in matters of this kind, they would find themselves very seriously
mistaken. She bade them depart, and refrain from ever again entering
the palace precincts, except when summoned to her presence on duty. But
they would first prostrate themselves and ask His Majesty’s pardon for
their insolent behaviour. As a slight punishment for their offences, she
further commanded that the Princes be mulcted of a year’s allowances. As
to the Boxer chiefs, who had dared to create this uproar in her hearing,
they should be decapitated upon the spot, and Jung Lu’s guards, who were
on duty at the outer gates, were ordered to carry this sentence into
immediate effect. Her Majesty is so greatly incensed against the Boxers
at this moment that everyone thinks that Jung Lu will now be able to put
a stop to the attacks on the Legations. The Emperor was much alarmed at
this incident, and when it was over humbly thanked Her Majesty for so
benevolently protecting him.
_Later_; 9 P.M.—The Old Buddha has suddenly determined, in her rage
against Prince Tuan and his followers, to put a stop to the fighting in
Peking, and she now agrees that Jung Lu shall proceed to the Legations
to discuss terms of peace. At 6 P.M. to-day all firing stopped, and Jung
Lu, at the head of his troops, proceeded to the bridge which lies on
the north of the Legation quarter. The foreigners came out from their
hiding-places and commenced to parley; they were shown a board, and on
it the words written: “Orders have now been received from the Empress
Dowager to afford due protection to the Legations.” Jung Lu hoped to be
able to induce the foreign Ministers to confer with him for the purpose
of restoring order. For three hours not a shot has been fired; but En
Ming has just come in to tell me that the situation has again changed,
and that the Old Buddha has heard such good accounts of the defeat of
the foreign relief force on its way to Peking that she is once more
determined to give the Boxers their head and “to eat the flesh and sleep
on the skins” of the foreign devils.
_4th Day of the 6th Moon: at the Hour of the Dog_, 7 P.M. (June 30,
1900).—Kang Yi called to-day, and remained with me for the evening meal.
He tells me that Tung Fu-hsiang called in person this morning on Jung Lu
at his residence, and asked him for the loan of the heavy artillery which
is under his orders. Jung Lu is said to have ample armaments in stock
in the city, the property of the Wu Wei-chün (Military Defence Corps)
sufficient to knock every foreign building to pieces in a few hours.
Tung was kept waiting at Jung Lu’s door for over an hour; when finally
admitted, he began to bluster, whereupon Jung Lu feigned sleep. “He
gave no consent, but leant on his seat and slumbered.”[85] Tung then
expostulated with Jung Lu for his rudeness, but the Commander-in-chief
only smiled, and brought the interview to an end by remarking that Tung’s
only way to get the guns would be to persuade the Old Buddha to give him
Jung Lu’s head with them. “Apply for an audience at once,” he said. “She
believes you to be a brave man and will certainly comply with any request
you may make.”
Tung Fu-hsiang left in a towering rage, and made straight for the
Forbidden City, although the hour for audiences was long since past. At
the gate of the Hall of Imperial Supremacy (Huang Chi-tien) he made a
loud disturbance, bidding the eunuchs inform Her Majesty that the Kansuh
Commander-in-chief was without, desiring audience. It so happened that
the Old Buddha was engaged in painting a design of bamboos on silk, and
she was highly displeased at being thus disturbed. Tung was ushered in,
however, and fell on his knees. “Well,” said Her Majesty, “I suppose
that you have come to report the complete destruction of the Legations?
This will be the tenth time since the end of last Moon.” “I have come,”
replied Tung Fu-hsiang, “to ask Your Majesty’s permission to impeach the
Grand Secretary Jung Lu as a traitor and the friend of barbarians. He has
the guns which my army needs; with their aid not a stone would be left
standing in the whole of the Legation quarter. But he has sworn never to
lend these guns, even though Your Majesty should command it.” Angrily
the Old Buddha replied, “Be silent. You were nothing but a brigand to
begin with, and if I allowed you to enter my army it was only to give
you an opportunity of atoning for your former misdeeds. Even now you are
behaving like a brigand, forgetting the majesty of the Imperial Presence.
Of a truth, your tail is becoming too heavy to wag. Leave the Palace
forthwith, and do not let me find you here again unless summoned to
audience.”
[Illustration: Reproduction of Picture painted on Silk, by Her Majesty
Tzŭ Hsi.]
Kang Yi declares that we shall never take the Legations so long as Jung
Lu continues to exercise his present great influence at Court. Li Shan,
who is also a great favourite of the Empress Dowager, is now on the side
of those who would make peace with the foreigners, and has been impeached
for it by Na T’ung.
The following proclamation is now placarded all over the city, in
accordance with the Empress Dowager’s orders issued to Prince Chuang.
They say that she means to pay the rewards from her own privy purse:
“REWARDS.
“Now that all foreign churches and chapels have been razed to
the ground, and that no place of refuge or concealment is left
for the foreigners, they must unavoidably scatter, flying in
every direction. Be it therefore known and announced to all
men, scholars and volunteers, that any person found guilty of
harbouring foreigners will incur the penalty of decapitation.
For every male foreigner taken alive a reward of 50 taels will
be given; for every female 40 taels, and for every child 30
taels; but it is to be clearly understood that they shall be
taken alive, and that they shall be genuine foreigners. Once
this fact has been duly authenticated, the reward will be paid
without delay. A special proclamation, requiring reverent
obedience.”
Much larger rewards than these were paid in the tenth year of Hsieng-Feng
(1860) for the heads of barbarians, but of course in those days they were
comparatively rare, whereas now, alas, they have become as common as bees!
This morning an important trial took place outside the gate of Prince
Chuang’s palace; Yi Ku, Fen Che, and Kuei Ch’un presided. Over nine
hundred people were summarily executed by the Boxers, in some cases
before any proofs whatsoever had been substantiated in regard to their
alleged connection with foreigners. Helpless babes even were amongst
the slain. Fen Che is nothing more than a butcher and the Old Buddha
remonstrated with Prince Chuang for not keeping the Boxers in better
order.
_8th Day of the 6th Moon_, 11 A.M. (July 4th).—Yü Hsien’s son-in-law, Chi
Shou-ch’eng, came and talked with me for a long while. The bombardment
of the city was going on all the time he was here, and to the south of
my house, close to the Imperial City Wall, the troops of Li Ping-heng
were mounting cannon on an elevated platform. They are all still very
wroth with Jung Lu, who refuses to lend his guns, and his troops are so
faithful to him that it is impossible to bribe them to disobey him. Jung
Lu’s courage is really extraordinary; he said of himself lately, that
“in the days of the wicked Ruler (meaning Prince Tuan) he bided his time
on the shores of the bleak North Sea, awaiting the purification of the
Empire.”[86] I am told that Prince Tuan has taken possession of one of
the Imperial Seals, so as to be able to proclaim his son Emperor at the
first favourable opportunity; but if the Old Buddha finds this out, as
most probably she will, there is trouble ahead for Prince Tuan.
Chi Shou-ch’eng tells me that Yü Hsien has sent in a memorial to the
Empress Dowager with reference to the missionaries in Shansi. Ten days
ago she had sent him a secret Decree, saying, “Slay all foreigners
wheresoever you find them; even though they be prepared to leave your
province, yet must they be slain.” It seems that the Old Buddha ordered
that this Decree should be sent to every high provincial official in the
Empire, but it is now reported that Tuan Fang, the acting governor of
Shensi, and Yü Chang, governor of Honan, together with the high officials
in Mongolia, received the Edict in a very different form, for the word
“slay” had been changed to “protect.” It is feared that some treacherous
minister is responsible for this, but no one dares inform Her Majesty.
To Yü Hsien’s latest memorial, she has made the following reply, which
has been sent by the fastest express riders to T’ai-Yüan fu:—“I command
that all foreigners—men, women, and children, old and young—be summarily
executed. Let not one escape, so that my Empire may be purged of this
noisome source of corruption, and that peace may be restored to my loyal
subjects.” Chi Shou-ch’eng tells me that Yü Hsien’s bitterness against
foreigners is inspired by his wife, of whom he is greatly afraid.
He himself has earned golden opinions in T’ai-Yüan during his short
administration, and has a high reputation for even-handed justice. He
says also that this last Decree gave pleasure to Prince Chuang; Jung Lu
tried to stop it, asking the Old Buddha what glory could China expect
to gain by the slaughter of women and children. “We should become the
laughing-stock of the world,” he said, “and the Old Buddha’s widespread
fame and reputation for benevolence would be grievously injured.” “Yes,”
replied the Empress Dowager, “but these foreigners of yours wish to see
me deposed, and I am only paying off old scores. Ever since the days of
Tao-Kuang this uproarious guest within our borders has been maltreating
his hosts, and it is time that all should know who is the real master of
the house.”
Yesterday afternoon the Empress Dowager crossed over to the Lake Palace
for a water picnic, attended by several ladies of the Court. The
continuous bombardment of the French cathedral eventually made her head
ache, so she despatched a chamberlain to the officer commanding at the
Hsi-Hua Gate, ordering them to cease firing until her return to the
Forbidden City.
_11th Day of the 6th Moon_ (7th July).—Yü Lu has sent in a ridiculous
memorial, reporting the capture of four camels, as well as the killing of
many foreigners, in Tientsin. Jung Lu has advised him to cease attacking
the foreign Settlements. Talking of Jung Lu, I hear that Tung Fu-hsiang
recently hired a Manchu soldier to assassinate him, but, instead of
doing so, the man betrayed the plot to Jung Lu. This soldier turns out
to be a brother of that En Hai who slew the foreign devil (Baron von
Ketteler), and Tung thought therefore that he would gladly do anything
to assist in destroying the Legations. But he is a clansman of Jung Lu’s
banner, and, like Yü Kung-ssŭ, whom Mencius called the best archer in
Wei, “he could not bear to slay the old Chief who had taught him the
arts of war.” Jung Lu has again memorialised the Old Buddha, reminding
her of that well-known saying in the Spring and Autumn annals,[87] which
lays down that the persons of foreign Envoys are always inviolate within
the territories of any civilised State. This attack on the Legation, he
says, is worse than an outrage; it is a piece of stupidity which will
be remembered against China for all time. Her Majesty appeared to think
that, because a small nation like the Transvaal could conquer a great
Power like England, China must necessarily be even more successful in
fighting the whole world; but there was no analogy between the two cases.
If peace were to be made at once, the situation might still be saved; but
if the Legations were demolished, there must be an end of Manchu rule. He
warned Her Majesty solemnly, and she appears to be gradually coming to
look at things from his point of view. These Boxers can certainly talk,
but they do very little.
Bad news has reached the palace to-day of the fighting around Tientsin,
and Her Majesty is most anxious about it, though she still refuses to
believe that the foreign brigands can possibly enter Peking.
_15th Day of the 6th Moon_ (11th July).—My neighbour Wen Lien,
Comptroller-General of the Imperial Household, tells me that the Old
Buddha is in a furious rage. She finds the heat trying, and yesterday she
turned on the Heir Apparent and snubbed him badly for impertinence; he
had asked if he might be permitted to escort her to Jehol, leaving the
Emperor to settle matters with his foreign friends in Peking. One of the
young eunuchs tried to mollify her by reporting, whenever the report of
a gun was heard, that another foreign devil had been killed, but as the
Old Buddha observed, “there has been enough firing for the past few weeks
to kill off every foreigner in China several times, and so far there is
hardly anything to show for it.”
_17th Day of the 6th Moon_ (13th July).—Jung Lu asked Her Majesty
yesterday what she would do if the Boxers were defeated, and if Peking
were captured by the foreigners. In reply, she quoted to him the words
of Chia Yi, a sophist of the Han dynasty, in reference to the Court’s
diplomatic dealings with the Khan of the Hans:—
“If the Emperor wishes to gain the allegiance of other
countries, he can only do so by convincing their rulers that
he possesses the three cardinal virtues of government, and by
displaying the five allurements.
These allurements are: (1) Presents of chariots and rich robes,
to tempt the eye; (2) rich food and banquets, to tempt the
palate; (3) musical maidens, to tempt the ear; (4) fine houses
and beautiful women, to tempt the instinct of luxury; and (5)
the presence of the Emperor at the table of the foreign ruler,
to tempt his pride.
The three cardinal virtues of government are: (1) to simulate
affection; (2) to express honeyed sentiments; and (3) to treat
one’s inferiors as equals.”
Two years ago, said the Empress, she had invited the foreign ladies to
her Court, and had noticed their delight at the reception she gave them,
although she well knew that their sympathies were with the Emperor, and
against her. She would again allure them to her side with rich gifts and
honeyed words.[88]
_20th Day of the 6th Moon_ (16th July).—Bad news from Yü Lu; Tientsin
has been captured by the foreigners, who now swarm like locusts. Not
one of the Grand Councillors dared to carry the news to Her Majesty, so
Prince Tuan went in boldly, and informed her that the foreign devils had
taken the city, because the Boxers had been negligent in the performance
of their prescribed rites; Peking, however, would always be perfectly
safe from invasion. Early this morning Jung Lu had informed the Old
Buddha that he had ascertained beyond doubt that the document, which
purported to come from the Foreign Ministers, demanding her abdication,
was a forgery. It had been prepared by Lien Wen-chung, a Secretary of
the Grand Council, at Prince Tuan’s orders. The Old Buddha was therefore
in no soft mood; angrily she told Prince Tuan that, if the foreigners
entered Peking, he would certainly lose his head. She was quite aware of
his motives; he wanted to secure the Regency, but she bade him beware,
for, so long as she lived, there could be no other Regent. “Let him be
careful, or his son would be expelled from the palace, and the family
estates confiscated to the throne.” His actions had indeed been worthy of
the dog’s[89] name he bore. Prince Tuan left the palace, and was heard to
remark that “the thunderbolt had fallen too quickly for him to close his
ears.”
Jung Lu has won over all the military commanders except Tung Fu-hsiang
and his staff, and they have come to a general understanding that the
bombardment of the Legations must cease. Jung Lu has explained, as his
reason for not allowing the heavy artillery to be used, that it would
inevitably have inflicted serious damage on the Imperial shrines and the
Ancestral temple.
The Old Buddha is sending presents to the Legations, water-melons, wine,
vegetables, and ice, and she has expressed a wish that Prince Ch’ing
should go and see the Foreign Ministers.
They say that Hsü Ching-ch’eng is secretly communicating with the
Legations.
A messenger with twelve dispatches from the Legations was captured to-day
and taken to Prince Chuang’s Palace. Three of the twelve were in cipher
and could not be translated by the Tsung Li Yamên interpreter, but from
the others it was learned that the foreigners had lost over a hundred
killed and wounded and that their provisions were running very low.
Chi Shou-ch’eng has gone to T’ai-Yüan fu to see Yü Hsien, his
father-in-law. The latter has memorialised the Throne, reporting that he
cunningly entrapped all the foreigners, cast them into chains and had
every one decapitated in his Yamên. Only one woman had escaped, after her
breasts had been cut off, and had hidden herself under the City wall. She
was dead when they found her.
Rain has fallen very heavily to-day. Liu Ta-chiao brought me 8 lbs. of
pork from the Palace kitchen, and I sent a large bowl of it to my married
sister. Towards evening a detachment of cavalry, with several guns,
passed my door. They were Li Ping-heng’s men, on their way to mount these
guns on a platform above the Forbidden City wall, as a precaution against
sorties by the foreigners. There has been heavy firing all night, and it
is reported that foreign devils have been seen in the neighbourhood of
the Ha-Ta Men.
_21st Day of the 6th Moon_ (17th July).—A lovely day. I walked over
to call on Prince Li and Duke Lan. The latest rumour is that Yü Lu’s
troops are in flight and harrying the country side. They are said to be
clamouring for their pay, which is months in arrears, and have plundered
both Tungchou and Chang Chia-wan most thoroughly. Both the eastern gates
of the City are now kept closed, and the northern gate (Anting men) is
only opened occasionally.
Yang Shun, the gate-keeper, has returned from his home at Pao-ti hsien,
east of Peking, where he reports things fairly quiet.
Li Ping-heng’s troops are reported to have won a great victory and driven
the barbarians to the sea. Nevertheless, heavy firing was heard to the
south-eastward this afternoon.
Duke Lan has gone out with a large force of Boxers to search for converts
reported to be in hiding in the temple of the Sun.
_27th Day of the 6th Moon_ (23rd July).—This morning Yüan Ch’ang and Hsü
Ching-ch’eng handed in the third of their Memorials against the Boxers,
in which they recommend the execution of several members of the Grand
Council. Their valour seems to be more laudable than their discretion,
especially as the Old Buddha is disposed once more to believe in the
Boxers as the result of Li Ping-heng’s audience with her yesterday. He
came up from Hankow, and has now been appointed joint Commander, with
Jung Lu, of the army of the North. He confidently assured her of his
ability to take the Legations by storm, and repeatedly said that never
again would the tutelary deities of the Dynasty suffer her to be driven
forth, in humiliation, from her capital.
I went across to Duke Lan’s house this morning and found Prince Tuan
and Li Ping-heng there. They were busy planning a renewed attack on
the Legations, and Li was strongly in favour of mining from the Hanlin
Academy side. He has advised the Empress Dowager that a mine should be
sprung, as was done lately at the French Cathedral, and he is convinced
that in the ensuing confusion the foreigners would be easily overwhelmed.