he thoroughly disapproved of the methods and self-seeking personality
of K’ang Yu-wei, advising the Emperor that, while possibly fit for
an Under-Secretaryship, he was quite unfitted for any high post of
responsibility. When matters first approached a crisis, it was by his
advice that the Emperor directed K’ang to proceed to Shanghai for the
organisation of the Press Bureau scheme. Sun, peace-loving and prudent,
hoped thereby to find an outlet for K’ang Yu-wei’s patriotic activities
while leaving the Manchu dovecots unfluttered. Later, after the _coup
d’état_, being above all things orthodox and a stickler for harmonious
observance of precedents, he deplored the harsh treatment and humiliation
inflicted upon the Emperor. It is reported of him that on one occasion at
audience he broke down completely, and with tears implored the Empress
Dowager not to allow her mind to be poisoned against His Majesty, but
without effect.
Upon the nomination of the Heir Apparent, in 1900, which he, like
many others, regarded as the Emperor’s death sentence, he sent in a
strongly worded Memorial against this step, and subsequently denounced
it at a meeting of the Grand Council. Thereafter, his protests proving
ineffective, he resigned all his offices, but remained at the capital
in retirement, watching events. At the commencement of the Boxer
crisis, unable to contain his feelings, he sent in a Memorial through
the Censorate denouncing the rabid reactionary Hsü T’ung, whom he
described as “the friend of traitors, who would bring the State to ruin
if further confidence were placed in him.” Throughout his career he
displayed the courage of his convictions, which, judged by the common
standard of Chinese officialdom, were conspicuously honest. He was a man
of that Spartan type of private life which one finds not infrequently
associated with the higher branches of Chinese scholarship and Confucian
philosophy; it was his boast that he never employed a secretary, but
wrote out all his correspondence and Memorials with his own hand.
A pleasing illustration of his character is the following: He was seated
one day in his shabby old cart, and driving down the main street to
his home, when his driver collided with the vehicle of a well-known
Censor, named Chao. The police came up to make enquiries and administer
street-justice, but learning that one cart belonged to the Grand
Secretary Sun, they told his driver to proceed. The Censor, justly
indignant at such servility, wrote a note to Sun in which he said: “The
Grand Secretary enjoys, no doubt, great prestige, but even he cannot
lightly disregard the power of the Censorate.” Sun, on receiving this
note, proceeded at once on foot in full official dress to the Censor’s
house, and upon being informed that he was not at home, prostrated
himself before the servant, saying: “The nation is indeed to be
congratulated upon possessing a virtuous Censor.” Chao, not to be outdone
in generosity, proceeded in his turn to the residence of the Grand
Secretary, intending to return the compliment, but Sun declined to allow
him to apologise in any way.
TUAN FANG
In 1898, Tuan Fang was a Secretary of the Board of Works; his rapid
promotion after that date was chiefly due to the patronage of his friend
Jung Lu. For a Manchu, he is remarkably progressive and liberal in his
views.
In 1900, he was Acting-Governor of Shensi. As the Boxer movement spread
and increased in violence, and as the fears of Jung Lu led him to take
an increasingly decided line of action against them, Tuan Fang, acting
upon his advice, followed suit. In spite of the fact that at the time of
the _coup d’état_ he had adroitly saved himself from clear identification
with the reformers and had penned a classical composition in praise of
filial piety, which was commonly regarded as a veiled reproof to the
Emperor for not yielding implicit obedience to the Old Buddha, he had
never enjoyed any special marks of favour at the latter’s hands, nor been
received into that confidential friendliness with which she frequently
honoured her favourites.
In his private life, as in his administration, Tuan Fang has always
recognised the changing conditions of his country and endeavoured to
adapt himself to the needs of the time; he was one of the first among
the Manchus to send his sons abroad for their education. His sympathies
were at first unmistakably with K’ang Yu-wei and his fellow reformers,
but he withdrew from them because of the anti-dynastic nature of their
movement, of which he naturally disapproved.
As Acting-Governor of Shensi, in July, 1900, he clearly realised the
serious nature of the situation and the dangers that must arise from the
success of the Boxer movement, and he therefore issued two Proclamations
to the province, in which he earnestly warned the people to abstain
from acts of violence. These documents were undoubtedly the means of
saving the lives of many missionaries and other foreigners isolated in
the interior. In the first a curious passage occurs, wherein, after
denouncing the Boxers, he said:
“The creed of the Boxers is no new thing: in the reign
of Chia-Ch’ing, followers of the same cult were beheaded
in droves. But the present-day Boxer has taken the field
ostensibly for the defence of his country against the
foreigner, so that we need not refer to the past. While
accepting their good intentions, I would merely ask, is it
reasonable for us to credit these men with supernatural powers
or invulnerability? Are we to believe that all the corpses
which now strew the country between Peking and the sea are
those of spurious Boxers and that the survivors alone represent
the true faith?”
After prophesying for them the same fate which overtook the Mahomedan
rebels and those of the Taiping insurrection, he delivered himself of
advice to the people which, while calculated to prevent the slaughter of
foreigners, would preserve his reputation for patriotism. It is well, now
that Tuan Fang has fallen upon evil days, to remember the good work he
did in a very difficult position. His Proclamation ran as follows:—
“I have never for a moment doubted that you men of Shensi are
brave and patriotic and that, should occasion offer, you would
fight nobly for your country. I know that if you joined these
Boxers, it would be from patriotic motives. I would have you
observe, however, that our enemies are the foreign troops who
have invaded the Metropolitan province and not the foreign
missionaries who reside in the interior. If the Throne orders
you to take up arms in the defence of your country, then I, as
Governor of this province, will surely share in that glory. But
if, on your own account, you set forth to slay a handful of
harmless and defenceless missionaries, you will undoubtedly be
actuated by a desire for plunder, there will be nothing noble
in your deed, and your neighbours will despise you as surely as
the law will punish you.
“At this very moment our troops are pouring in upon the
capital from every province in the Empire. Heaven’s avenging
sword is pointed against the invader. This being so, it is
absurd to suppose that there can be any need for such services
as you people could render at such a time. Your obvious and
simple duty is to remain quietly in your homes, pursuing your
usual avocations. It is the business of the official to protect
the people, and you may rely upon me to do so. As to that Edict
of Their Majesties which, last year, ordered the organisation
of trained bands, the idea was merely to encourage self-defence
for local purposes, on the principle laid down by Mencius of
watch and ward being kept by each district.”
A little later the Governor referred to that Decree of the Empress
Dowager (her first attempt at hedging) which began by quoting the “Spring
and Autumn Classic” in reference to the sacred nature of foreign Envoys,
and used it as a text for emphasising the fact that the members of the
several missionary societies in Shensi had always been on the best of
terms with the people. He referred to the further fact that many refugees
from the famine-stricken districts of Shansi, and numbers of disbanded
soldiers, had crossed the borders of the province, and fearing lest
these lawless folk should organise an attack upon the foreigners, he
once more urged his people to permit no violation of the sacred laws
of hospitality. The province had already commenced to feel the effects
of the long drought which had caused such suffering in Shansi, and the
superstitious lower classes were disposed to attribute this calamity to
the wrath of Heaven, brought upon them by reason of their failure to join
the Boxers. Tuan Fang proceeded to disabuse their minds of this idea.
“If the rain has not fallen upon your barren fields,” he said,
“if the demon of drought threatens to harass you, be sure that
it is because you have gone astray, led by false rumours, and
have committed deeds of violence. Repent now and return to your
peaceful ways, and the rains will assuredly fall. Behold the
ruin which has come upon the provinces of Chihli and Shantung;
it is to save you from their fate that I now warn you. Are we
not all alike subjects of the great Manchu Dynasty, and shall
we not acquit ourselves like men in the service of the State?
If there were any chance of this province being invaded by the
enemy, you would naturally sacrifice your lives and property
to repel him, as a matter of simple patriotism. But if, in
a sudden access of madness, you set forth to butcher a few
helpless foreigners, you will in no wise benefit the Empire,
but will merely be raising fresh difficulties for the Throne.
For the time being, your own consciences will accuse you of
ignoble deeds, and later you will surely pay the penalty with
your lives and the ruin of your families. Surely, you men of
Shensi, enlightened and high-principled, will not fall so low
as this? There are, I know, among you some evil men who,
professing patriotic enmity to foreigners and Christians, wax
fat on foreign plunder. But the few missionary Chapels in this
province offer but meagre booty, and it is safe to predict
that those who begin by sacking them will certainly proceed
next to loot the houses of your wealthier citizens. From the
burning of foreigners’ homes, the conflagration will spread to
your own, and many innocent persons will share the fate of the
slaughtered Christians. The plunderers will escape with their
booty, and the foolish onlookers will pay the penalty of these
crimes. Is it not a well-known fact that every anti-Christian
outbreak invariably brings misery to the stupid innocent people
of the district concerned? Is not this a lamentable thing? As
for me, I care neither for praise nor blame; my only object in
preaching peace in Shensi is to save you, my people, from dire
ruin and destruction.”
Tuan Fang was a member of the Mission to foreign countries in 1905 and
has received decorations and honours at the hands of several European
sovereigns. In private life he is distinguished by his complete absence
of formality; a genial, hospitable man, given to good living, delighting
in new mechanical inventions and fond of his joke. It is he who, as
Viceroy of Nanking, organised the International Exhibition now being held
in that city. As Viceroy of Chihli, he was in charge of the arrangements
for the funeral of the Empress Dowager in November of last year, and a
week after that impressive ceremony was denounced for alleged want of
respect and decorum. It was charged against him that he had permitted
subordinate officials to take photographs of the _cortège_ and that
he had even dared to use certain trees in the sacred enclosure of
the Mausolea as telegraph poles, for which offences he was summarily
cashiered; since then he has lived in retirement. The charges were
possibly true, but it is matter of common knowledge that the real reason
for his disgrace was a matter of Palace politics rather than funereal
etiquette, for he was a _protégé_ of the Regent and his removal was a
triumph for the Yehonala clan, at a time when its prestige called for a
demonstration of some sort against the growing power and influence of the
Emperor Kuang-Hsü’s brothers.
FOOTNOTES
[1] As an example of unbalanced vituperation, uttered in good faith and
with the best intentions, _vide_ _The Chinese Crisis from Within_ by
“Wen Ching,” republished from the _Singapore Free Press_ in 1901 (Grant
Richards).
[2] About £120.
[3] The same euphemism was employed to describe the Court’s flight in
August 1900.
[4] Grandfather of Na T’ung, the present head of the Waiwupu.
[5] “Yi” and “Cheng” are honorific names, meaning respectively
“harmonious” and “sedate.”
[6] The expression has reference to the fact that the Empresses Regent
are supposed to be concealed from the sight of Ministers at audience by a
curtain suspended in front of the Throne.
[7] The age of the Emperor was less than six, but the solemn farce of his
alleged acts and opinions is solemnly accepted by the Chinese as part of
the eternal order of things.
[8] To allow women privily to accompany the Imperial cortège is a crime
punishable by law with the penalty of the lingering death.
[9] The Prison of the Imperial Clan Court.
[10] Poetical term for Purgatory.
[11] Hereditary titles in China usually descend in a diminishing scale.
[12] He was the father of that Marquis Tseng who, as Minister to England
(1878), lived to be credited by the British press with literary abilities
which he did not possess and liberal opinions which he did not share. His
grandsons, educated partly in England, have lately been distinguished for
that quality of patriotic Conservatism which prides itself on having no
intercourse with foreigners.
[13] A short biographical note on Tso Tsung-t’ang, the hero of the
Mahomedan rebellion who gained distinction under Tseng against the
Taipings, is given in the appendix.
[14] So called because they declined to plait the queue, as a sign that
they rejected Manchu rule.
[15] His younger brother, subsequently made an earl and Viceroy of
Nanking for many years.
[16] This is merely figurative, referring to an ancient and obsolete
custom.
[17] So named because, before becoming a eunuch at the age of sixteen, he
was apprenticed to a cobbler at his native place, Ho-Chien fu, in Chihli,
from which district most of the eunuchs come.
[18] This form of argument, under similar conditions, obtains all over
the Empire. “How could I possibly squeeze my master?” says the servant.
[19] Quotation from the Book of Changes, implying a sense of impending
danger.
[20] Chinese pamphleteers in Canton record the event with much detail,
and state that this son is alive to-day under the name of Chiu Min.
[21] A fantastic account of this mission is contained in an imaginative
work recently published (_La Vie Secrète de la Cour de Chine_, Paris,
1910), where the Chief Eunuch’s name is given as “Siao.” This curious
blunder is due to the fact that the Eunuch’s nickname, on account of his
stature, was “Hsiao An’rh” (little An), just as Li hien-Ying’s is “P’i
Hsiao” Li all over China.
[22] The Phœnix flag signified that he was sent by the Empresses Regent.
[23] The same expression is used of a novice taking the vows of Buddhist
priesthood.
[24] Tzŭ Hsi was fond of masquerading with her favourite, till well
advanced in years. One photograph of her is on sale in Peking, wherein
she is posing as the Goddess of Mercy (Kuanyin) with Li in attendance as
one of the Boddhisatvas.
[25] A term of humility.
[26] This Kuei Ching was an uncle of Tuan Fang, recently Viceroy of
Chihli, and a man generally respected.
[27] This disease is regarded amongst the Chinese as one of good omen,
especially if the symptoms develop satisfactorily.
[28] The annual and seasonal sacrifices at the ancestral Temple and at
the Imperial tombs involve “kowtowing” before each tablet of the sacred
ancestors, and this cannot be done in the presence of one of the same
generation as the last deceased, much less by him.
[29] Prince Kung was the sixth, Prince Ch’un the seventh, in order of
seniority.
[30] On the occasion to which the Memorialist refers, the lawful heir to
the Throne committed suicide. The allusion would be readily understood
(if not appreciated) by the Empress Dowager, whose irregular choice of
Kuang-Hsü and violation of the dynastic laws had certainly led to the
death of A-lu-te. Looked at from the Chinese scholar’s point of view, the
innuendo was in the nature of a direct accusation.
[31] The writer refers to the united action of the Manchu Princes and
nobles who assisted in the establishment of law and order, and the
expulsion of the Chinese rebels and Pretenders, during the troublous
time of the first Regency (1644) and the minority of the infant Emperor,
Shun-Chih.
[32] The burial place was close to, but necessarily outside, the large
enclosed park which contains the Imperial mausolea.
[33] Burial clothes should all be new and clean—by cutting away the
soles, his boots would look less shabby.
[34] I.e. by causing the Empresses to have his corpse mutilated.
[35] About £10.
[36] The point whence, according to legend, the Yellow Emperor ascended
to heaven and where his clothes were buried.
[37] A quotation from Tseng Tzu, one of the most noted disciples of
Confucius.
[38] A sort of Chinese Mr. Malaprop, known to history as one who
invariably spoke at the wrong time.
[39] It is curious to note how frequently the Imperial tombs have been
the scene of such unseemly wrangles, wherein grievances and passions,
long pent up within the Palace precincts, find utterance. A case of this
kind occurred in 1909, on the occasion of the burial of Tzŭ Hsi, when the
surviving consorts of T’ung-Chih and Kuang-Hsü, having quarrelled with
the new Empress Dowager (Lung Yü) on a similar question of precedence,
refused to return to the City and remained in dudgeon at the tombs until
a special mission, under an Imperial Duke, was sent humbly to beg them to
come back, to the no small scandal of the orthodox.
[40] This title was originally given to an infamous eunuch of the Court
of the Ming Emperor Chu Yü-hsiao, who, because of his influence over his
dissolute master, was canonised by the latter after his death. The same
title was claimed and used by the Eunuch An Te-hai, _vide supra_, page 90.
[41] See above, page 93.
[42] Tzŭ Hsi had no love for this official, for it was he who drafted
Hsien-Feng’s valedictory Decree, at the dictation of Su Shun, in 1861.
_Vide_ page 33.
[43] Sun remained in high favour until December 1894, when the Emperor
was induced by Weng T’ung-ho to dismiss him. At that time the Empress was
taking little active part in the direction of affairs, occupying her time
with theatricals and other diversions at the Summer Palace, and playing
a watching game in politics, so that for a while Sun’s life was in real
danger.
[44] Apricot yellow is a colour reserved, strictly speaking, for the use
of the Throne.
[45] In that event it would not be the Yehonala clan alone which would
benefit, as the present Emperor’s grandmother (who was one of Prince
Ch’un’s concubines) is still alive and would necessarily share in any
honours posthumously conferred on her husband, whilst Kuang-Hsü’s mother
would be excluded.
[46] The results of the Prince’s eminent services in naval and military
reorganisation were demonstrated three years later, not entirely to the
nation’s satisfaction, in the war with Japan.
[47] From a sentence in the Book of Rites, which means “to give rest and
peace to Heaven-sent old age.”
[48] Sir Walter Hillier, appointed by Yüan Shih-k’ai to be foreign
adviser to the Grand Council in 1908. When Yuan was compelled to flee
from Seoul before the advance of the Japanese, he was escorted to
Chemulpo by a guard of blue-jackets.
[49] _i.e._ the Japanese (literal translation).
[50] At present Chinese Minister in London.
[51] Now known as the Empress Dowager Lung Yü.
[52] Kang Yi was a bigoted reactionary and the arch instigator of the
Boxer movement at the capital. Young China has carefully preserved one
of his sayings of that time: “The establishment of schools and colleges
has only encouraged Chinese ambitions and developed Chinese talent to
the danger of the Manchu Dynasty: these students should therefore be
exterminated without delay.”
[53] In 1901, this official begged Tzŭ Hsi, just before her departure
from K’ai-Feng fu for Peking, not to return thither, on the ground that
her Palace had been polluted by the presence of the foreign barbarians.
[54] The Emperor prided himself on being a great stickler in such
matters, and many of the younger officials feared him on account of his
quick temper and martinet manner in dealing with them.
[55] K’ang’s subsequent escape under British protection, in which one of
the writers was instrumental, is graphically described in despatch No.
401 of Blue Book No. 1 of 1899.
[56] She was thrown down a well, by Tzŭ Hsi’s orders, as the Court
prepared for flight after the entrance of the allied forces into Peking.
(_Vide infra._)
[57] It is interesting to note that this Manchu Prince (Tsai Ch’u) was
released from prison by the present Regent, the Emperor’s brother, and
was appointed to the command of one of the Manchu Banner Corps on the
same day, in January 1909, that Yüan Shih-k’ai was dismissed from the
viceroyalty of Chihli. The Emperor’s party, as opposed to the Yehonala
Clan, heartily approved of his reinstatement.
[58] _Vide_ Blue Book China No. I. of 1899, letters Nos. 266, 401, and
426.
[59] As an example of Chinese official methods: the Shanghai Taotai
when requesting the British Consul-General’s assistance to arrest K’ang
Yu-wei, did not hesitate to say that the Emperor was dead, murdered by
the Chief Reformer. _Vide_ Blue Book No. I of 1899; letter No. 401.
[60] From _The Times_ of 31st March, 1899.
[61] Chang Yin-huan, who had been created a Knight Commander of St.
Michael and St. George in connection with Queen Victoria’s Jubilee
celebration, was subsequently put to death, after banishment to
Turkestan. An order given by Prince Tuan at the commencement of the Boxer
crisis was the immediate cause of his execution.
Another reformer named Hsü Chih-ching was condemned to imprisonment for
life in the Board of Punishments under this same Decree; he was released
by the Allies in August 1900, when he proceeded at once to T’ai-Yüan fu,
and handed himself over to justice, disdaining to accept his release
at the hands of foreigners. This incident is typical of the Chinese
officials’ attitude of mind and of their reverence for the Decrees of the
head of the State.
[62] On the occasion of her seventieth birthday (1904), the Empress
Dowager promulgated a general amnesty for all those who had taken part
in the Reform Movement of 1898, excepting only the leaders K’ang Yu-wei
and Liang Ch’i-ch’ao, who were expressly excluded from grace, and Dr. Sun
Yat-sen, who was a fugitive from justice on other counts.
[63] Li Tuan-fen returned from exile in Turkestan under the amnesty of
1904.
[64] Weng T’ung-ho has been posthumously restored to his full rank and
titles by a Decree of the present Regent. Thus is the Emperor tardily
justified and the pale ghosts of his followers continue to suffer, even
in Hades, the chances and changes of Chinese official life!
[65] This official was eventually decapitated by the allies, as one of
the originators of the Boxer rising.
[66] This Prefect of Hsüanhua was subsequently promoted by the Empress
Dowager, when passing through that city, at the beginning of the flight
from Peking.
[67] Hsü, to whom Jung Lu was writing, was a Cantonese by birth, and was
at this time Viceroy of Foochow.
[68] A note on the career and character of this courageous official is
given in the Appendix.
[69] The Decree is given at the end of this chapter.
[70] The victim was British, not French—viz., the Rev. Mr. Brooks, killed
on 31st December, 1899, just after Yu Hsien’s removal had been arranged.
[71] Between January and June the entries are of no particular interest.
[72] The Supreme Deity of the Taoists and tutelary spirit of the Boxers.
[73] A nickname of An Te-hai, _vide supra_, p. 90 _et seq._
[74] The Chancellor of the Japanese Legation, Mr. Sugiyama.
[75] This was a forgery.
[76] A quotation from the “Book of Odes.”
[77] This man’s subsequent arrest and execution are described in a
Censorate memorial at the end of this chapter.