The Founder of the Ch'ing dynasty--A broken-hearted widower--The
Louis XIV. of China--The Will of Kang-Hy--Young-t-Ching appointed his
successor--The character of the new Emperor--Mission of Lord Macartney--He
refuses to perform the Ko-too, or nine prostrations;--Interview
with Young-t-Ching--Results of the Mission to England--Accession
of Kien-Long--He resolves to abdicate when he has reigned sixty
years--Accession of Taou-Kwang--The beginning of the end--An adopted
brother--War against China declared by England--The Pekin Treaty--Prince
Hassan goes to visit Queen Victoria--The Regents and Tung-Che--Foreign
Ministers compel the young Emperor to receive them.
We have already, in telling the story of missionary effort in China,
referred to the various Emperors of the reigning dynasty who occupied the
throne in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but a few further
details will be interesting, throwing as they do a light upon the
present state of politics in China, where the Empire is tottering to its
fall; menaced by invaders, who, though they come preaching peace, will
eventually change the country far more completely than did the fire and
sword of the Tartar hordes.
The founder of the Ch'ing dynasty died at the early age of twenty-four,
of grief, it is said, for the death of a favourite wife, whom he had
fallen in love with during her husband's life, and taken to his palace
in defiance of every law, human and divine. Certain historians relate,
that to pick a quarrel with the rightful spouse of the object of his
passion, he gave him a box on the ears which caused him to die of shame.
However that may be, the Empress died a few days later; and Shun Che was
so distraught with grief that he would have committed suicide but for
the restraint put upon him by the eunuchs of his court. According to the
revolting custom then still in vogue, he had thirty men strangled on the
tomb of the dead Empress to attend her in the other world. He then shaved
his head and made pilgrimages from one pagoda to another, bewailing his
many sins, especially that of having loved his lost one with too great a
love, and pleading for forgiveness. This penance over, he went back to his
palace at Pekin. But, says the chronicler, a little time afterwards he
called for his Imperial mantle, and having named his son, Kang-Hy, then
only eight years old, his successor, he wrapt himself in it and expired
with the words, "I go to join my ancestors."
[Sidenote: A JUST RULER]
Once more a boy-emperor was raised to the Imperial throne; but that boy
was no ordinary child, and grew up to be one of the greatest monarchs
who ever ruled the Celestial Empire. During his minority he was under
the care of four wise ministers, who, except for their cruelty to the
Christians, performed their difficult task with skill and moderation.
One of the very first acts of the young monarch, when he took the reins
of government with his own hands, was to rescind the measures against
the Christians, placing their religion on exactly the same standing as
Buddhism, and consulting the Jesuit fathers at every turn. Many are the
touching stories told of the way in which Kang-Hy won all hearts, and some
of them read as if they had been culled from the Old Testament. Take, for
instance, the tale of the old man, whom the Emperor in one of his royal
progresses found weeping by the wayside. Approaching him, Kang-Hy asked
the cause of his grief: "My lord," was the reply, "my only son, who was
the joy of my life, has been taken from me to serve the governor of the
province, and I have no one to comfort me in my old age, or to mourn over
my tomb." The Emperor went straight to the Governor's palace, accompanied
by the complainant; and when the oppressor could not deny the charge,
Kang-Hy ordered him to be beheaded. Then turning to the suppliant the
royal avenger thus addressed him: "To make amends to you for the injury
you have sustained, I appoint you Governor in the room of him who has
proved himself so unworthy of that office."
Missionaries to China were in the habit of calling Kang-Hy the Louis XIV.
of China. The contemporary of the _grand monarque_ of France, there was
really something in his long and brilliant reign not unlike that of the
king who acquired an ascendency over his subjects resembling that of an
Asiatic autocrat. He knew, as Louis did, how to turn everything to account
for the glory of his kingdom, and before his death in 1792 he had so
consolidated his power, that but for the weakness of his successors China
might still rank as a leader of the Orient. In his will, a quotation from
which is given below, he proves alike his literary ability, his care for
the best interests of his people, and the exalted view he took of his own
duties:
[Sidenote: PROCLAMATION OF KANG-HY]
"I, the Emperor," he says, "who honour Heaven, and am charged with the
government of the country, I issue this edict, and I assert that amongst
the Emperors who have governed the Universe there has not been one who has
looked upon the doing reverence to Heaven and imitating his ancestors as
essential duties. The true manner to venerate Heaven is to treat those who
are far away with goodness, and to advance those who are near according
to their merit. This is to procure for the people rest and abundance; it
is to identify one's own well-being with that of the Universe; it is to
preserve the State from dangers before those dangers occur, and to foresee
with wisdom the disorders which might occur.
"The princes who work on this plan from early morning till evening,
and are even thinking (of their subjects) during their sleep, who are
ceaselessly forming designs, the effects of which will be enduring and of
wide influence for the public good, these princes, I say, are not far from
the accomplishment of their duties.
"I, Emperor, who am now seventy years old, and have reigned for sixty of
them, I owe all my blessings to the invisible aid of Heaven and earth, to
that of my ancestors, and to that of the God who presides over the Empire
... not to my own feeble reason. According to history, more than four
thousand three hundred and fifty years have elapsed since the reign of
Hwang-Ti, and during that great number of centuries there have been three
hundred and one Emperors, a few of whom only have reigned as long as they
might have done.
"After my elevation to the throne, when I reached the twentieth year of
my reign, I did not dare to count on seeing the thirtieth, and arrived
at the thirtieth, I did not dare look forward to the fortieth, yet now
find myself in the sixtieth. Happiness is said to consist in five things:
long life, wealth, tranquillity, love of virtue, and a peaceful end. The
last-named takes the highest rank amongst these advantages, no doubt,
because it is so difficult to secure it. The age I now am proves that I
have lived a long time; as for my wealth, I have owned all that is in
the four seas. I am a father, and have one hundred and fifty sons and
grandsons.... I have probably even more daughters.... I leave the Empire
in peace ... so that the happiness I enjoy may well be called great.... If
no accident befalls me, I shall die content.
"I have one more reflection to make. Although I cannot claim that
since I have been on the throne I have changed all evil customs and
reformed the manners of all my people; although I have not succeeded in
securing abundance for every family and the necessaries of life to every
individual, so that I cannot in these respects be compared to the wise
emperors of the first three dynasties, I can assert that during my long
reign I have had no other aim than to preserve peace for the whole Empire,
to make my people content, each one in his own sphere and profession;
it is to this I have! devoted assiduous care with incredible ardour and
ceaseless toil, which toil has done much to exhaust the strength alike
of my body and of my spirit. Amongst my predecessors there were some
who reigned but a short time, and historians turn this to account to
censure them, attributing their premature death to inordinate love of
wine and women.... This is quite a regular rule, and they make a merit of
raking up stories against accomplished princes who were really the least
reprehensible of men."
Kang-Hy then goes on to make an elaborate justification of his
predecessors, claiming that their days were shortened by hard work and
devotion to duty; he singles out two or three of his own ancestors for
special praise, and wanders, as most royal and imperial authors do, into
numerous side-issues before he returns to the subject of his own life.
[Sidenote: A NAÏVE EULOGY]
"I, Emperor," he goes on to say, "applied myself to the study of wisdom
from infancy, and have acquired a knowledge of ancient and modern
science." He adds that when in his full vigour, he could shoot arrows some
thirteen cubits long from bows of huge span; that he knew all about the
handling of weapons, and had often appeared at the head of his armies in
person. He boasts, moreover, that throughout his whole life he had never
put any one to death without cause; he had also put down several revolts,
and every enterprise in which he had engaged had been conducted in the
most successful way by his genius alone.
After thus as it were pronouncing his own funeral oration, he proceeds to
appoint his successor in the following terms:
"Young-t-Ching, my fourth son, is a man of rare and valuable character. He
greatly resembles me, and I have no doubt he will be capable of bearing
the burden of his great inheritance. I ordain that after my death he
shall ascend the throne and take possession of the Imperial dignity. In
conformity with custom, mourning shall be worn for me for twenty-seven
days only. Let this edict be published at Court and in all the provinces,
that no one may be ignorant of its contents."
The author of this naïve eulogy of his own virtues died in 1722, having
caught a chill whilst hunting a leopard beyond the Great Wall. As he would
himself have wished, his last illness was short; he would have said that
his end was peace, and that he had achieved the most difficult of the five
things which make up human happiness.
[Illustration: FIG. 54.--PORTRAIT OF ONE OF THE CHINESE EMPERORS OF THE
CH'ING DYNASTY, PROBABLY KIEN-LONG.]
[Sidenote: FIRST ENGLISH EMBASSY]
The reign of Young-t-Ching, who was duly installed Emperor with all
possible pomp after his father's death, was not marked by any special
events, and but for his persecution of the Christians, the new monarch
seems to have justified the high opinion his predecessor had of him. He
died in 1735, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Kien-Long, during whose
reign the Chinese Court was visited for the first time by Englishmen, Lord
Macartney having been sent in 1792 at the head of a mission to lay the
grievances of English merchants before the Emperor and demand redress.
This mission was of so much importance to the future relations between the
English Government and the Celestial Empire, that some details are given
here.
The Embassy was received at Tien-tsin with courtesy, but with no special
honour, for in those days none of the officials had any idea that a
messenger from a foreign court would come to their country, except to
bring tribute and do homage to the Son of Heaven. On the yachts and junks
which took the party up the Pei-ho river were displayed flags bearing
the legend, "Ambassadors bearing tribute from the country of England."
In his account of the expedition, Sir George Staunton, who edited Lord
Macartney's journals, says: "The approach of the embassy was an event of
which the report spread rapidly ... crowds of men assembled on the banks
... while the females, as shy as they were cautious, looked through gates
or peeped over walls to enjoy the sight. A few indeed of the ancient dames
almost dipped their feet into the river to get a nearer peep."
It was at Zhehol, about fifty miles north of the Great Wall, where the
Emperor had a summer palace, that he consented to receive the ambassador,
who was lodged, whilst waiting for the final arrangements to be made,
at Yuen-min-Yuen, about seven miles from the capital. A serious hitch
occurred in the absolute refusal of Lord Macartney to perform what is
known as the ko-too, an act of homage always exacted from a vassal by
his liege lord, consisting of nine prostrations at his feet. To have
yielded would have been to recognize Kien-Long as the superior of the
King of Great Britain, and to Lord Macartney's firmness on this occasion
is due all the later success of his fellow-countrymen in the Celestial
Empire. Finding him resolute, the President of the Board of Rites and the
other great mandarins who had waited upon him, finally consented to a
compromise, and the English party, escorted by a guard of Tartars, made
their way to Zhehol, where, to quote the words of the ambassador, he saw
"King Solomon in all his glory," being received by him in the presence of
all the princes of the Imperial family, the great officers of State, the
Mongol chiefs, etc., with all courtesy. "The hall of audience," we are
told, "was a magnificent tent in the park, supported by gilded pillars,
at the upper end of which was placed a throne under a canopy raised
several steps from the ground.... The Emperor was carried in a palanquin
by sixteen bearers, his approach announced by the sound of gongs and
trumpets ... he was plainly dressed in a robe of brown silk, with no
ornaments but one large pearl in the front of his black velvet cap."
The ambassador, who merely bent one knee in presenting his credentials,
was very graciously greeted by the venerable monarch, and when presents
had been exchanged, etc., a sumptuous meal was served to the accompaniment
of a band of music. The visitors passed a week at Zhehol, and witnessed
the festivities in honour of their host's birthday; they were then
politely informed that it was time for them to go, and that an answer
would be sent to them at Canton to the letter from their King. They
were escorted to that sea-port by land and river through the five chief
provinces of China, the journey occupying ten weeks, and were greatly
struck with the high cultivation of the country and with its teeming
population. The promised answer from the Emperor was duly received, and
though it did not accede to all the requests made in that of George III.,
much was gained by the mission, for the trade with England was placed on a
far better footing than before.
[Sidenote: A REMARKABLE VOW]
On his accession to the throne, Kien-Long made the remarkable vow "that
should he be permitted ... to complete the sixtieth year of his reign,
he would show his gratitude to Heaven by resigning the crown to his heir
as an acknowledgment that he had been favoured to the full extent of
his wishes." The year after Lord Macartney's visit the allotted period
was reached, and the Emperor abdicated in favour of his youngest son,
who took the name of Kea-King, and was duly accepted by the Celestials.
Kien-Long retained the title of Supreme Emperor until his death at the
age of eighty-eight, but he meddled no more in affairs of State, though
he continued to aid those who were in distress, winning the name of the
Father of his people. He was especially good to the poorer literati, and
himself produced several books of high excellence.
Kea-King was, alas! a very different ruler from his father, who had chosen
him out of all his children on account of his supposed talent. He had none
of the dignity which had characterized the other monarchs of the Manchu
dynasty, and chose his friends from amongst the lowest and most depraved
of his subjects, taking them with him, it is said, even into the sacred
precincts of the Temples when he went to offer sacrifices as the Son of
Heaven. It was during the reign of this unworthy scion of a noble house
that Lord Amherst was sent to Pekin on a mission similar to that of Lord
Macartney. He was not, however, able to see the Emperor, and he and his
companions were very rudely treated by the Tartar nobles. The English,
on their return home, gave a very far from flattering account of the
so-called Celestial court, where they said the whip was largely in use to
keep even the great dignitaries in order. The Chinese were then, as they
still are, ruled by the whip and the bamboo, for, says a writer who knew
the country well, "The viceroy bamboos the mandarins, the mandarins bamboo
their inferior officers, and these ... bamboo the common people; the
husband bamboos the wife, the father the son, even when the latter is of
mature age."
Before his death Kea-King, who lived to the age of sixty-one, in spite of
his excesses, in his turn issued a will in the form of an edict, which
contains several interesting passages throwing considerable light on
the physical difficulties the authorities have to contend with in the
Celestial Empire, as well as on the manners and customs of the people.
In it the dying monarch mourns over the devastations caused by "China's
sorrow," the Yellow River, and enumerates the measures he had taken to
check its ravages. He pronounced, as was usual, an eulogy on his own
conduct, and appointed his second son Taou-Kwang his successor.
[Sidenote: 'THE GLORY OF REASON']
The name of the new ruler signified the Glory of Reason, and he ascended
the throne in 1820. He justified his father's choice by doing all in his
power to atone for the mischief done by the weakness and vices of his
predecessor, but the chiefs of the unruly Tartar tribes had so got the
upper hand that they were beyond his control; one insurrection followed
another, and when after making concession after concession, peace was
at last restored to the distracted country, a far more formidable enemy
had to be contended with from without. The long series of petty quarrels
between the English and Celestials on questions of trade culminated in
the war already more than once referred to, which lasted for many years,
and resulted in the final breaking through of Chinese isolation, and the
throwing open of five ports to European trade.
It was the beginning of the end; the first step towards that partition
of China which is now being so rapidly effected. Heart-broken at the
destruction of all his hopes, Taou-Kwang never held his head up again
after the signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The death of his
adopted mother soon afterwards, it is said, hastened his end, and he died
in 1851 after a reign of thirty years, during which he had known no peace
or comfort.
His fourth son, Yih-Choo, was chosen as his successor, and he took the
name of Hien-Fung, signifying universal plenty, but the title turned
out a terrible misnomer, for the new Emperor inherited his father's
feeble sensual character, and he had not long been on the throne before
the Tai-Ping rebellion broke out. The leader, an able man who had been
converted to Christianity, all but succeeded in turning out the Manchu
dynasty and inaugurating a new one, with himself as Emperor, under the
title of Teen-Wang, or the Heavenly King. To add to the difficulties of
Hien-Fung, the English declared war against him in 1857, on account of an
outrage on British sailors. The French took part in the campaign, as the
allies of the British, and after a struggle lasting three years Pekin
itself was entered. Peace was eventually made, on terms very greatly to
the advantage of the English, and yet another blow was struck at Chinese
prestige by the Treaty of Pekin, signed in 1860. The Tai-Ping rebellion
was crushed with the aid of Major Gordon, who afterwards became so
celebrated as the Hero of Khartoum, but the Celestials lost more than they
gained, and since then the occupant of the throne of the once powerful
Empire has been a mere cipher.
[Illustration: FIG. 55.--ONE OF THE REGENTS DURING THE MINORITY OF
TUNG-CHE.]
[Sidenote: THE REGENTS AND TUNG-CHE]
Hien-Fung died in 1861, leaving his enfeebled throne to his infant son,
Tung-Che, then only five years old. The government was carried on for
him by the so-called Regents, two of the late Emperor's wives, one the
legitimate Empress, the other the secondary consort, who did their best to
consolidate his power, and seem to have ruled with considerable wisdom and
moderation. Rebellion was still, however, rife in the important province
of Yunnan, a Mohammedan prince, named Suleiman, still defying the Imperial
authority. This leader even sent his son Hassan to England in 1872, to try
and obtain the recognition of his father by Queen Victoria. Needless to
add, he was not successful, the British Government having already espoused
the cause of the young Emperor.
In 1893, the Regents resigned their delegated authority into the hands of
Tung-Che, now seventeen years old, but he only reigned two years before he
died of small-pox, leaving no children, although he is said to have had
two legitimate wives and sixty-nine concubines. His brief term of office
was marked by one special event full of significance for foreigners: the
various ministers accredited to Pekin, but hitherto not received at the
Palace, succeeded in forcing the young monarch to see them in the very
stronghold of conservatism.