Marriage in Corea is a thing with which a woman has little or nothing to

do. The father of the young man communicates with the father of the girl

he wishes his son to marry. This is often done without consulting the

tastes or character of either, and usually through a middleman or

go-between. The fathers settle the time of the wedding, and a favorable

day is appointed by the astrologers. Under this aspect marriage seems an

affair of small importance, but in reality it is marriage only that

gives one any civil rank or influence in society. Every unmarried person

is treated as a child. He may commit all sorts of foolishness without

being held to account. His capers are not noticed, for he is not

supposed to think or act seriously. Even the unmarried young men of

twenty-five or thirty years of age can take no part in social reunions

or speak on affairs of importance. But marriage is emancipation. Even if

mated at twelve or thirteen years of age, the married are adults. The

bride takes her place among the matrons and the young man has a right to

speak among the men and to wear a hat.

The badge of single or married life is the hair. Before marriage the

young man who goes bareheaded, wears a simple tress hanging down his

back. In wedlock the hair is bound up on the top of the head and is

cultivated on all parts of the scalp. Young persons who insist on

remaining single, or bachelors who have not yet found a wife, sometimes,

however, secretly cut off their hair or get it done by fraud in order to

pass for married folks and avoid being treated as children. Such a

custom however is a gross violation of morals and etiquette.

On the evening before the wedding the young lady who is to be married

invites one of her friends to change her virginal coiffure to that of a

married woman. The bridegroom-to-be, also invites one of his

acquaintances to do up his hair in manly style. On the marriage day in

the house of the groom a platform is set up and richly adorned with

decorative cloths. Parents, friends, and acquaintances assemble in a

crowd. The couple to be married, who may never have seen or spoken to

each other, are brought in and take their places on the platform face to

face. There they remain for a few minutes. They salute each other with

profound obeisance but utter not a word. This constitutes the ceremony

of marriage. Each then retires upon either side; the bride to the

female, and the groom to the male apartments, where feasting and

amusement after fashions in vogue in Chosen take place. The expense of a

wedding is considerable and the bridegroom must be unstinting in his

hospitality. Any failure in this particular may subject him to

unpleasant practical jokes. On her wedding day the young bride must

preserve absolute silence both on the marriage platform and in the

nuptial chamber. Etiquette requires this at least among the nobility.

Though overwhelmed with questions and compliments, silence is her duty.

She must rest mute and impassive as a statue.

It is the reciprocal salutation before witnesses on the wedding dais

that constitutes legitimate marriage. From that moment a husband may

claim a woman as his wife. Conjugal fidelity, obligatory on the woman,

is not required of the husband, and a wife is little more than a slave

of superior rank. Among the nobles the young bridegroom spends three or

four days with his bride, and then absents himself from her for a

considerable time to prove that he does not esteem her too highly. To

act otherwise would be considered in very bad taste and highly

unfashionable.

[Illustration:

JAPANESE WAR SHIP “YOSHINO.”

(During the Attack on Wei-hai-wei, August 17th, 1894.)

]

Habituated from infancy to such a yoke and regarding themselves as of an

inferior race, most women submit to their lot with exemplary

resignation. Having no idea of progress or of an infraction of

established usage they bear all things. They become devoted and obedient

wives, jealous of the reputation and well-being of their husbands. The

woman who is legally espoused, whether widow or slave, enters into and

shares the entire social estate of her husband. Even if she be not noble

by birth she becomes so by marrying a noble. It is not proper for a

widow to remarry.

The fashion of mourning, the proper time and place to shed tears, and

express grief, according to regulations, are rigidly prescribed in an

official treatise, or “Guide to Mourners,” published by the government.

The corpse must be placed in a coffin of very thick wood, and preserved

during many months in a special room prepared and ornamented for this

purpose. It is proper to weep only in this death chamber, but this must

be done three or four times daily. Before entering it the mourner must

don a special suit of mourning clothes. At the new and full moon all the

relatives are invited and expected to assist in the ceremonies. These

practices continue more or less even after burial, and at intervals

during several years. Often a noble will go out to weep at the tomb,

passing days and nights in this position. Among the poor, who have not

the means to provide a death chamber and expensive mourning, the coffin

is kept outside their houses covered with mats until the time for its

burial.

Though cremation is known in Corea, the most usual form of disposing of

the dead is by burial. Children are wrapped up in the clothes and

bedding in which they die and are thus buried. As all unmarried persons

are reckoned as children their shroud and burial are the same. With the

married the process is more costly, and more detailed and prolonged. The

selection of a proper site for their tomb is a matter of profound

solicitude, time, and money; for the geomancers must be consulted with a

fee. The tombs of the poor consist only of a grave and a low mound of

earth. With the richer class monuments are of stone, sometimes neat or

even imposing, sometimes grotesque.

Mourning is of many degrees and lengths, and is betokened by dress,

abstinence from food and business, visits to the tomb, offerings,

tablets, and many visible indications detailed even to absurdity. Pure

or nearly pure white is the mourning color, as a contrast to red, the

color of rejoicing. When noblemen don the peaked hat which covers the

face as well as the head, they are as dead to the world, not to be

spoken to, molested, or even arrested, if charged with crime. This

Corean mourning hat proved the helmet of salvation to Christians and

explains the safety of the French missionaries who lived so long in

disguise under its shelter, unharmed in the country where the police

were ever on their track. The Jesuits were not slow to see the wonderful

protection promised for them, and availed themselves of it at once and

always, both while entering the well-guarded frontier and while residing

in the country.

Corean architecture is in a very primitive condition. The castles,

fortifications, temples, monasteries, and public buildings cannot

approach the magnificence of those of Japan or China. The dwellings are

tiled or thatched houses, almost invariably one story high. In the

smaller towns these are not arranged in regular streets but are

scattered here and there. Even in the cities the streets are narrow and

tortuous. In the rural parts the houses of the wealthy are surrounded by

beautiful groves, with gardens circled by hedges or fences of rushes or

split bamboo. The cities show a greater display of red-tiled roofs, as

only the officials and nobles are allowed this honor. Shingles are not

much used. The thatchings are rice or barley straw. A low wall of

uncemented stone five or six feet high, surrounds the dwellings. The

foundations are laid on stone set in the earth, and the floor of the

humble is the ground itself. The people one grade above the poorest,

cover the hard ground with sheets of oiled paper which serve as a

carpet. For the better class a floor of wood is raised a foot or so

above the earth.

Bed clothes are of silk, wadded cotton, thick paper, and furs. Cushions

or bags of rice-chaff form the pillows of the rich. The poor man uses a

smooth log of wood or slightly raised portion of the floor to rest his

head upon. In most families of the middle class, the “kang” forms the

vaulted floor, bed, and stove. It is as if we should make a bedstead of

bricks and put foot-stoves under it. The floor is bricked over or built

of stone, over flues which run from the fireplace at one end of the

house to the chimney at the other. The fire which does the cooking is

thus used to warm those sitting or sleeping in the room beyond.

Three rooms are the rule in an average house, and these are for cooking,

eating, and sleeping. In the kitchen the most notable articles are the

large earthen jars for holding rice, barley or water. Each of them is

big enough to hold a man easily. The second room, containing the “kang,”

is the sleeping apartment, and the next is the best room or parlor.

Little furniture is the rule. Coreans, like the Japanese, sit not

cross-legged but on their heels. Among the well-to-do, dog skins cover

the floor for a carpet, or tiger skins serve as rugs. Matting is common.

[Illustration: COREAN BOAT.—_Native Drawing._]

The meals are served on the floor on small low tables, usually one for

each guest, but sometimes one for a couple. The best table service is of

porcelain and the ordinary sort of earthenware with white metal or

copper utensils. The tablecloths are of fine glazed paper and resemble

oiled silk. No knives or forks are used; but instead chopsticks and what

is more common than in China or Japan, spoons are used at every meal.

The walls range in quality of decoration from plain mud to colored

plaster and paper. Pictures are not known. The windows are square and

latticed without or within, covered with tough oiled paper, and moving

in grooves. The doors are of wood, paper, or plaited bamboo. Glass was

till recently a nearly unknown luxury in Corea.

The Corean liquor by preference is brewed or distilled from rice,

millet, or barley. These alcoholic drinks are of various strength,

color, and smell, ranging from beer to brandy. No trait of the Coreans

has more impressed their numerous visitors than their love of all kinds

of strong drink. No sooner were the ports of Corea opened to commerce

than the Chinese established liquor stores, while European wines,

brandies and whiskeys have entered to increase the national drunkenness.

Although the Corean lives between the two great tea-producing countries

of the world, he scarcely knows the taste of tea and the fragrant herb

is little used on the peninsula.

The staple diet has in it much more of meat and fat than that of the

Japanese, and the average Corean can eat twice as much as the Japanese.

Beef, pork, fowls, venison, fish, and game are consumed without much

waste and rejected material. Dog flesh is on sale among the common

butchers’ meat. The women cook rice beautifully, and other well-known

dishes are barley, millet, beans, potato, lily-bulbs, seaweeds, acorns,

radishes, turnips, macaroni, vermicelli, apples, pears, plums, grapes,

persimmons, and various kinds of berries. All kinds of condiments are

much relished.

One striking fault of the Coreans at the table is their voracity. In

this respect there is not the least difference between the rich and

poor, noble or plebeian. To eat much is an honor, and the merit of a

feast consists not in the quality but in the quantity of the food

served. Little talking is done while eating, for each sentence might

lose a mouthful. Hence, since a capacious stomach is a high

accomplishment, mothers use every means to develop as elastic a capacity

as possible in their children from very infancy. The Coreans equal the

Japanese in devouring raw fish, and uncooked food of all kinds is

swallowed without a wry face. Fish bones do not scare them. These they

eat as they do the small bones of fowls.

[Illustration:

THE BATTLE AT GAZAN.

Japanese Drawing.

]

[Illustration: COREAN EGG-SELLER.—_Native Drawing._]

Nationally and individually the Coreans are very deficient in

conveniences for the toilet. Bath tubs are rare, and except in the

warmer days of summer, when the river and sea serve for immersion, the

natives are not usually found under water. The need of soap and hot

water has been noticed by travelers and writers of every nation. The men

are very proud of their beards, and honor them as a distinctive glory

and mark of their sex. Women coil their glossy black tresses into

massive knots and fasten them with pins, or gold and silver rings.

Corea is famous as the land of big hats. Some of these head-coverings

are so immense that the human head encased in one of them seems as but a

hub in a cart wheel. In shape the gentleman’s hat resembles a flowerpot

inverted in the center of a round table. Two feet is a common diameter,

and the top, which rises in a cone nine inches higher, is only three

inches wide at the apex. The usual material is bamboo, split to the

fineness of a thread and woven. The fabric is then varnished or

lacquered, and becomes perfectly weatherproof. The prevalence of cotton

clothing, easily soaked and rendered uncomfortable, requires the ample

protection for the back and shoulders which these umbrella-like hats

furnish.

The wardrobe of the upper classes consists of the ceremonial and the

house dress. The former as a rule is of fine silk, and the latter of

coarser silk or cotton. They are of pink, blue, and other rich colors.

The official robe is a long garment like a wrapper, with loose baggy

sleeves. There are few tailors’ shops, the women of each household

making the family outfit. The underdress of both sexes is a short jacket

with tight sleeves, which for men reaches to the thighs, and for women

only to the waist, and a pair of drawers reaching from waist to ankle.

The females wear a petticoat over this garment, so that the Coreans say

they dress like western women, and foreign-made hosiery and

undergarments are in demand. Their general style of costume is that of

the wrapper, stiff, wide, and inflated, with abundant starch in summer,

but clinging and baggy in winter. The white dress of the Corean makes

his complexion look darker than it really is. Footgear is either of

native or of Chinese make. The laborer contents himself with sandals

woven from rice-straw, which usually last but a few days. Small feet do

not seem to be considered a beauty, and the foot binding of the Chinese

is unknown in Cho-sen.

Judging from a collection of the toys of Corean children, and from their

many terms of affection, and words relating to games and sports,

festivals and recreation, and nursery stories, the life of the little

ones must be pleasant. In the capital and among the higher classes,

children’s toys are very handsome, ranking as real works of art. They

have many games played by the little ones quite similar to those of our

own babies, and they delight in pets, such as monkeys and puppies.

At school the pupils study out loud and noisily, according to the method

all over Asia. Besides learning the Chinese characters and the

vernacular alphabet, the children master arithmetic and writing. The

normal Corean is fond of his children, especially of sons, who in his

eyes are worth ten times as much as daughters. Such a thing as exposure

of children is little known. The first thing inculcated in a child’s

mind is respect for his father. All insubordination is immediately and

sternly repressed. Far different is it with the mother. She yields to

her boy’s caprices, and laughs at his faults and vices without rebuke,

while the child soon learns that a mother’s authority is next to

nothing.

Primogeniture is the rigid rule. Younger sons at the time of their

marriage, or at other important periods of life receive paternal gifts,

but the bulk of the property belongs to the oldest son, on whom the

younger sons look as their father. He is the head of the family, and

regards his father’s children as his own. In all eastern Asia the bonds

of family are much closer than among Caucasian people of the present

time. All the kindred, even to the fifteenth or twentieth degree,

whatever their social position, rich or poor, educated or illiterate,

officials or beggars, form a clan or more properly one single family,

all of whose members have mutual interests to sustain. The house of one

is the house of the other, and each will assist to his utmost, another

of the clan to get money, office, or advantage. The law recognizes this

system by levying on the clan the taxes and debts which individuals of

it cannot pay, holding the clan responsible for the individual. To this

they submit without complaint or protest. Instead of the family being a

unit, as with us, it is only the fragment of a clan, a segment in the

great circle of kindred. The Coreans are fully as clannish as the

Chinese, and in this lies one great obstacle to Christianity or to any

kind of individual reform.

China gave her culture to Corea and Corea passed it on to Japan. If we

may believe Corean tales, then the Coreans have possessed letters and

writing during three thousand years. It is certain that since the

opening of the Christian era the light of China’s philosophy has shone

steadily among Corean scholars. In spite of their national system of

writing, the influence of the finished philosophy and culture of China

has been so great that the hopelessness of producing a copy equal to the

original became at once apparent to the Corean mind. The culture of

their native tongue has been neglected by Corean scholars. The

consequence is that after so many centuries of national life Corea

possesses no literature worthy of the name.

At present Corean literary men possess a highly critical knowledge of

Chinese. Most intelligent scholars read the classics with ease and

fluency. Penmanship is an art as much prized and as widely practiced as

in Japan, and reading and writing constitute education. Corea has most

closely imitated her teacher, China, in the use of education. She

fosters education by making scholastic ability as tested in the literary

examination, the basis of appointment to office. This civil service

reform was established by the now ruling dynasty early in the fifteenth

century. The Corean child, neglecting his own language, literature, and

history, studies those of China and the philosophy of Confucius, so that

his education is practically that of the young man in China. The same

classics are studied and the same attention is paid to memory

cultivation. The competitive examinations too are very similar to those

of China, and corresponding degrees are granted. The system of literary

examinations, which for two or three centuries after its establishment

was vigorously maintained with impartiality, is at present in a state of

decay, bribery and official favor being the causes of its decline.

The special schools of languages, mathematics, medicine, art etc., are

under the patronage of the government, but amount to very little. The

school of astronomy and the choice of fortunate days for state occasions

is for the special service of the king. There is also a school of

interpreters, charts, law, and horology.

Although the Chinese language, writing and literature form the basis of

education and culture in Chosen, yet the native language is distinct in

structure from the Chinese, having little in common with it. The latter

is monosyllabic, while the Corean is polysyllabic, as is the Japanese

which the Corean closely resembles. No other language is so nearly

affiliated to the Japanese as is the Corean. The Corean alphabet, one of

the most simple and perfect in the world, consists of twenty-five

letters, eleven vowels and fourteen consonants. They are made with easy

strokes in which straight lines, circles, and dots only are used.

[Illustration:

JAPANESE SOLDIERS DESCENDING FROM THE CASTLE AT FUNG-HWANG.

Japanese Drawing.

]

As in Japan, so in Corea three styles of languages prevail, and are used

as follows: Pure Chinese without any admixture of Corean, in books and

writings on science, history and government, and in the theses of the

students and literary men; in the books composed in the Corean language

the vernacular syntax serves as the framework, but the vocabulary is

largely Chinese; the Corean book style of composition which is written

in the pure Corean language. Every one in Corea speaks the vernacular

and not Chinese.

The books which have been written in Corean, are chiefly primers or

manuals of history, books on etiquette and ritual, and geography. There

are also a few works of poetry written in the vulgar dialect.

[Illustration: COREAN BAND OF MUSICIANS.—_Native Drawing._]

In passionate fondness for music the Coreans decidedly surpass all other

Asiatic nations. Their knowledge is indeed primitive, however, not

superior to that of their neighbors, and their instruments are of rude

workmanship and construction. The principal of these instruments are the

gong, the flute, and the two-stringed guitar, combining to make a music

anything but harmonious. They always sing in falsetto, like the Chinese,

in a monotonous and melancholy manner. The Coreans however possess a

musical ear, and they know how to appreciate and like to listen to

foreign music very much, while the Chinese have not the slightest idea

of harmony, and placing our music far below their own, look down upon

our art with something like a feeling of pity.

The fibres of Corean superstition, and the actual religion of the people

of to-day, have not radically changed during twenty centuries in spite

of Buddhism. The worship of the spirits of nature and the other popular

gods is still reflected in superstition and practice. The Chinese Fung

Shuy, which in Corean becomes Pung-siu, is a system of superstition

concerning the direction of the everyday things of life, which is nearly

as powerful in Corea as in the parent country. Upon this system, and

perhaps nearly equal in age with it, is the cult of ancestral worship

which has existed in Chinese Asia from unrecorded time. Confucius found

it in his day and made it the basis of his teachings, as it had already

been of the religious and ancient documents of which he was the editor.

The Corean system of ancestral worship presents no feature radically

different from the Chinese. Confucianism, or the Chinese system of

ethics, holds about the same position that it does in China. Taoism

seems to be little studied.

In Corean mouths Buddha becomes Pul and his “way” or doctrine Pul-to or

Pul-chie. The faith from India has made thorough conquest of the

southern half of the peninsula, but has only partially leavened the

northern portion where the grosser heathenism prevails. The palmy days

of Corean Buddhism were during the era of Korai, 905 to 1392 A.D. In its

development, Corean Buddhism has frequently been a potent influence in

national affairs, and the power of the bonzes has at times been so great

as to practically control the court and nullify decrees of the king. As

in Japan the frequent wars have developed the formation of a clerical

militia, able to garrison and defend their fortified monasteries, and

even to change the fortune of war by the valor of their exploits. There

are three distinct classes or grades of the bonzes or priests. The

student monks devote themselves to learning and to the composition of

books and to Buddhist rituals. Then there are the mendicant and

traveling bonzes who solicit alms and contributions for the erection and

maintenance of the temples and monastic establishments. Finally the

military bonzes act as garrisons, and make, keep in order, and are

trained to use weapons. Even at the present day Buddhist priests are

made high officers of the government, governors of provinces, and

military advisers. In the nunneries are two kinds of female devotees,

those who shave the head and those who keep their locks. The vows of the

latter are less rigid. Excepting in its military phases, the type of

Corean Buddhism approaches that of China rather than of Japan.

The great virtue of the Coreans is their innate respect for and daily

practice of the laws of human brotherhood. Mutual assistance and

generous hospitality among themselves are distinctive national traits.

In all the important events of life, such as marriages and funerals,

each person makes it his duty to aid the family most directly

interested. One will charge himself with the duty of making purchases;

others with arranging the ceremonies. The poor, who can give nothing,

carry messages to friends and relatives in the near or remote villages,

passing day and night on foot and giving their labors gratuitously. When

fire, flood or other accident destroys the house of one of their number,

neighbors make it a duty to lend a hand to rebuild. One brings stone,

another wood, another straw. Each in addition to his gifts in material

devotes two or three days’ work gratuitously. A stranger coming into a

village is always assisted to build a dwelling. Hospitality is

considered as one of the most sacred duties. It would be a grave and

shameful thing to refuse a portion of one’s meal to any person, known or

unknown, who presents himself at eating time. Even the poor laborers at

the side of the roads are often seen sharing their frugal nourishment

with the passer-by. The poor man making a journey does not need

elaborate preparations. At night, instead of going to a hotel, he enters

some house whose exterior room is open to any comer. There he is sure to

find food and lodging for the night. Rice will be shared with the

stranger, and at bedtime a corner of the floor mat will serve for a bed,

while he may rest his head on the long log of wood against the wall,

which serves as a pillow. Even should he delay his journey for a day or

two, little or nothing to his discredit will be harbored by his hosts.

It is evident after this glance at the history, the conditions, and the

customs of the Coreans, that they have many excellent qualities, which

require but the leavening influence of Christianity and western

civilization to make them worthy members of the family of nations. It is

quite possible that the influence of the Japanese-Chinese war, in its

ultimate results, may reach this desirable consummation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_THE WAR_

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration: JAPANESE COOLIES FOLLOWING THE ARMY.]

CAUSES OF THE WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA.

--------------

Inception Must be Sought Far Back in History—Old Time Animosity Between

the two Nations Chiefly Responsible—Formal Recognition of Corean

Independence by Japan—The Riots of 1882 and Their Result—Return of the

Corean Embassy from a Trip Around the World—Advance of American Ideas

and Influence—Plots of the Progressionists—The Coup d'Etat and Its Fatal

Results—Flight of the Conspirators to Japan and America—Decoying of

Kim-ok-Kiun to Shanghai—Assassination of Kim—Rebellion in Northern

Corea—Aid Asked From China—China Sends Troops—Violation of Treaty with

Japan—Army from Japan Arrives—Japanese in the Capital—Scheme of Reform

Proposed by Japan and Rejected by China—A Diplomatic Campaign.

In its broadest sense no war between nations can be ascribed to a single

cause, defined by exact limits of time and place. A cause of war always

suggests the question as to what has made it such; and so we find that

for an intelligent understanding of the present war we have to go back,

beyond the Corean rebellions of the early spring of 1894, and take in

the whole range of the relations of China and Japan to Corea and to each

other. An understanding of the history of the three nations is necessary

to a proper understanding of the war.

The first formal recognition of Corean independence is found in the

earliest treaty between Japan and Corea, that of 1876, by which the

Coreans agreed to pay indemnity for an unwarranted attack which had been

made upon a Japanese vessel, and to open several ports to Japanese

traders. It was through this treaty that Corea was first introduced to

the comity of nations. One of the professed objects of Japan during the

war, has, therefore, been to establish the independence of Corea, which

she has recognized in her treaties, against the Chinese claim of

suzerainty. Sooner or later a war between Japan and China was

inevitable. The hereditary animosities between the two nations have been

aggravated by the marked differences which have arisen of late years

between their civilizations; by the impatience under which Japan has

struggled against an anomalous position among the powers, forced upon

her by foreign treaties, while she has beheld her mediæval rival holding

precedence and predominance; and by the jealousy and fanatic contempt

with which the subjects of the “Son of Heaven” have watched the growing

political aspirations of Japan, her conciliatory attitude towards

foreigners, and her apostate abandonment of the manners and customs of

oriental life.

For years, moreover, an excuse for a collision has been developing in

the relations of the two states to Corea. In spite of the liberal

sympathies of the Corean king himself, the ascendant force in the

government has long been the Ming faction, to which family the queen

belongs, which is pro-Chinese in its sympathies, foe to everything

savoring of western liberal progress. Under the sway of this faction,

which has monopolized the highest magistracies, government in Corea has

been nothing more nor less than systematic plunder of the masses, for

the benefit of a few privileged nobles. The admitted misgovernment of

the country, which has always jeopardized the lives and property of

aliens; the suzerain claims of China; the vast commercial interests of

Japan in the peninsula and her large colonies; and finally the

complicated treaty arrangements which have grown up between Tokio and

Peking with regard to the “Hermit Kingdom”—these have long constituted a

source of friction, in the knowledge of which the present conflict

between the mandarins and the daimios is more readily understood. It is

significant that while China has never formally given up her claim to

lordship over Corea, she has refused to stand by her vassal on certain

occasions, and has encouraged the latter to conduct negotiations on her

own account. This was indeed the action of China in 1876, when the

treaty with Japan was made, and the latter seized the opportunity to

recognize the king of Corea as an independent sovereign prince. The

immediate cause of the war is centered around the disputed question of

the right of both parties to keep troops on Corean soil, a right which

both have exercised more than once. It is the origin of this right and

the complications that have arisen from it, that we must now trace with

reference to the outbreak of the war.

[Illustration:

JAPANESE ARMY AT CHIN-LIEN-CHENG.

Japanese Drawing.

]

Corea for ages has been the pupil of China, whence nearly everything

that makes up civilization has been borrowed. Of patriotism in its

highest sense, of pure love of country, of willingness to make

sacrifices for native land, there have been little in the kingdom. Such

things are new thoughts nourished by a few far-seeing patriots. But

leavening the multitude of Confucian fanatics and time-servers of the

men in power at Peking, there are also men who have drunk at other

fountains of thought, entered new worlds of knowledge, and seen the

light of modern science, of Christianity, and of western civilization in

other lands. The numbers of enlightened men are increasing who believe

in national progress, though to their demands there has ever been the

defiance of vigilant conservation. Even within the two broadly defined

parties, there are factional and family differences. Against the craft

of the Ming clan the other noble families, Ni, So, Kim, Hong, and

others, have been able to make headway only by adroit combination.

In 1875 the two noblemen Kim-ok-Kiun and So Kwang Pom secretly left

Corea and went to Japan, being the first men of rank in recent times to

travel in lands beyond China. On their return they sought the king and

boldly told him what they had seen. Other noblemen followed their

example, but the brother-in-law of the king, Pak Hong Hio, was the first

who at risk of reputation and life openly advocated the adoption of

western civilization. In 1882 Kim and So in earnest consideration of the

opening of their country to modern ideas, endeavored to persuade Min

Yong Ik to join them and also win over his powerful Ming relatives to a

liberal policy. When this came to the ears of the Tai-wen Kun the young

men were forthwith charged with intent to introduce Christianity, and

the two liberals narrowly escaped being put to death by the old regent

who had already shed the blood of thousands.

[Illustration: THE COREAN REGENT.]

The men of the Ming faction held aloof from treaty negotiations with the

United States until China gave the nod. When at last Li Hung Chang

advised Corea to treat with Admiral Shufeldt, the Ming nobles obeyed and

exhibited so much energy in the matter as to seem to foreigners to be

the leaders of the party of progress. The old regent at once felt it his

duty to overthrow both the Mings and the treaty. His opportunity came in

July, 1882, the year of the treaties. When on account of the short rice

crop the soldiers’ rations were cut down by the father of Min Yong Ik,

the artful politician directed their revolt against this pro-Chinese

family, and after destroying, as he imagined, the queen and the leading

men of the Ming clan, he seized the government itself and for a few days

enjoyed full power. When the news of the usurpation reached China and

Japan there were in Tien-tsin three Corean nobles, Cho Yong Ha, Kim Yun

Sik, and O-Yun Chung; and in Tokio Kim-ok-Kiun and So Kwang Pom. The

former, notified by telegram from the Chinese consul at Nagasaki of the

movements of the Japanese, obtained a Chinese military and naval force,

and the ships of these two foreign nations met at Chemulpo. Before

either the Chinese or Japanese troops were disembarked, the two groups

of Corean noblemen had a conference, and after a long and warm

discussion it was agreed to submit the question whether the Chinese

should land and proceed to Seoul, to the king himself. Accordingly

Kim-ok-Kiun in disguise penetrated to the capital, but only to find the

royal person in possession of his old and chief enemy Tai-wen Kun, his

friends driven away, and approach to the palace impossible. On learning

the failure of Kim’s mission the Chinese force at once landed, marched

to Seoul, abducted the regent, built forts to command the river against

the Japanese, and established their camp inside the walls. This act of

China gave her a new lien on Corea. The father of Min Yong Ik, Min Thai

Ho, who had been supposed to have been mortally wounded, recovered and

resumed office. Min Yong Ik, who after fleeing to the mountains, shaved

his head and in the disguise of a priest had fled to Japan, returned

smiling after temporary defeat. The queen, for whom a palace maid had

suffered vicarious death, re-entered the capital and palace, and the

star of the Mings was again in the ascendant.

Two years later, in June, 1884, Min Yong Ik and So Kwang Pom, the first

Coreans to go around the world, reached home followed by Kim-ok-Kiun and

the Tokio students from Japan. After an enthusiastic reception of the

returned envoys and the American officers of the Trenton in Seoul, the

public opinion in favor of progress was greatly stimulated. Min Yong Ik

was made vice-president of the Foreign Office and the others of the

embassy were elevated in rank. The Chinese military instructors were

dismissed by the king. A model farm sown with American seeds, and for

which California live stock was ordered, Edison electric lights,

American rifles and Gatling guns, Japanese artisans to establish

potteries and other industries, gave indications of the new path of

national progress upon which Corea had entered.

Min Yong Ik while abroad has passed for an enlightened man, susceptible

to modern ideas and in favor of opening Corea to commerce. Yet falling

under the influence of his clan he had been home but a few weeks when he

came to open rupture with Hong Yong Sik. Resigning from the foreign

office he assumed command of the palace guard battalion and restored

Chinese drill masters, the military students from Japan being left to

gain their support as subordinates in the proposed postal department. By

autumn the late envoy to the United States had surrounded himself with

Chinese and pro-Chinese conservatives, the progressive men had been

hampered in their action, and the revenues for the promised enterprises

and industries had been diverted to warlike preparations, that looked as

if Corea, as a vassal, was to help China against France in the Tonquin

complication.

The situation in Seoul became alarming. A state of hostility existed

between the leaders of the two political parties, one of which had at

their call a rabble of rapacious militia, eager to try their new tools

upon their hereditary enemies, the Japanese, while the other knew full

well the sterling quality of the little body of Japanese infantry.

Fifteen hundred Chinese soldiers were still in the camp under General

Yuen. In such a situation, the government being in the hands of their

rivals and committed to the pro-Chinese policy, the liberals felt that

their heads were likely to remain on their shoulders only so long as it

pleased their enemies to bring no charge against them. In nations

without representative institutions, revolutions and outbreaks must be

expected when a change of policy is decided upon.

Let us see how the Corean liberals attempted, when beset and thwarted,

to save their own lives and reverse the policy of the government. On

October 25, one of the liberal leaders intimated to an American that

“for the sake of Corea” about ten of the prominent conservatives “would

have to be killed.” The idea was to remove their rivals by removing the

heads of the same, seize the government, inaugurate new schemes of

progress, open new ports, and otherwise commit Corea to the same course

as that upon which Japan had entered. They supposed that the treaty

powers would condone and approve their action, make further favorable

treaties, and loan money for national improvement. Further, they claimed

to have had the royal sanction. The autumn passed by and the moment

seemed ripe for the plot. China, pressed by France, had withdrawn half

her troops from Seoul, and Japan, with a view to strengthening her

influence in the peninsula, had a few days before remitted $400,000 of

the indemnity exacted for the riot of 1882. The time to strike a blow

for Corean independence and to break the shackles of China forever

seemed to have come.

On the evening of December 4, the foreign envoys and several high

officers of the government were invited to a banquet to celebrate the

inauguration of the postal service. When it was nearly over, an alarm of

fire was given from the outside, according to arrangement of the

conspirators, and Min Yong Ik, going out to look, was set upon by

assassins, but instead of being killed as was intended, was only

wounded. Thereupon the liberal leaders hastened to the palace, and

assuring the king that he was in great danger, in his name sent to the

Japanese minister for the Japanese legation guard. At the same time the

conservative leaders were summoned, as they supposed by the king; as

fast as they stepped out of their sedan chairs at the palace gates, they

were relieved of their heads. Meanwhile the Japanese infantry commanded

the inner gates of the palace, and during the next day the new ministers

of government, the liberals whose names have already become familiar to

us, prepared edicts to be issued by the king reforming ancient abuses

and customs, and instituting new and radical measures of national

policy. The city was in a state of commotion, but despite the surging

crowd no actual outbreak occurred.

[Illustration: COREAN NATIVES VIEWING JAPANESE SOLDIERS.]

On the morning of the 6th the cry was raised “death to the Japanese,”

and then began a wild revelry of outrage, butchery, and incendiarism, in

which the newly-trained militia were conspicuous. The white foreigners

in Seoul, nine in number, of whom three were ladies, had gathered at the

American legation, which under Lieutenant Bernadon’s directions was put

in a state of defense. In it twenty-two Japanese also found refuge.

That afternoon the Chinese troops, six hundred strong, commanded by

General Yuen and backed by three thousand Coreans, moved upon the palace

to drive out the Japanese. With superb discipline and skill Captain

Murakami and his little band drove off their assailants, and through the

narrow streets reached the legation at 8:00 P.M. after forty-eight

hours’ absence. The score of soldiers left behind, aided by the hundred

or so of civilians who had gathered within, had successfully defended

the enclosure from the mob. Provisions being exhausted, the Japanese

with admirable coolness, discipline, and success began the march to the

sea on the afternoon of the next day. Despite hostile soldiery with

rifles and cannon, armed men firing from roof and wall, barred city

gates, and a mob following them to the Han river, they crossed with

their wounded and reached Chemulpo on the morning of the 8th. There they

were fed by the sailors of the men-of-war, while a Japanese steamer

carried the news to Nagasaki.

The short-lived liberal government came to an end after an existence of

less than forty-eight hours. Hong Yong Sik, refusing to leave the king,

was taken with him to the Chinese camp and there beheaded. The other

conspirators fled to Japan, whence they were demanded by the Corean

ministerial council, which demand was by the Japanese promptly refused.

The torture and trial of twelve persons implicated in the affair was

concluded January 27, 1885, and eleven were executed in the usual

barbarous manner. Their bodies were chopped in pieces and the flesh and

bones distributed in fragments through the streets of the city and the

different provinces. The refugees ultimately reached America, except

Kim-ok-Kiun who settled in Japan.

Count Inouye of Japan and Kim Hong Chip of Corea on January 9; and

Inouye and Li Hung Chang, of China, on May 7 concluded conventions by

which the troubles were settled. The chief points in the diplomacy were

the payment of indemnity by Corea to Japan, and a joint agreement

between China and Japan to withdraw their troops. Both camps were

emptied on the 20th, and on the 21st of May the troops left Chemulpo for

their respective countries. October 5 the Tai-wen Kun, now sixty-eight

years old, but fresh as a man of forty and able as ever to be a

disturbing element, returned from China and re-entered Seoul under a

guard of Chinese warriors and many thousands of Coreans.

The affair was in its origin an anti-Chinese uprising of radical

progressives, but in its ending an anti-Japanese demonstration. About

three hundred lives were lost by battle and murder. The conduct of the

American minister, General Foote, during this trying occasion, was most

admirable, and the legation, which sheltered all the foreigners and many

Japanese, was kept open and the American flag was never lowered.

Even in these troublous times a way was opened for the entrance of

western science and reformed Christianity. Dr. Henry N. Allen, a

missionary physician from Ohio, was called upon to attend Min Yong Ik

and the wounded Chinese soldiers. The superiority of modern methods

being at once manifest, the government became interested, and the

dwelling occupied by Hong Yong Sik, who had been beheaded, was set aside

as a hospital under Dr. Allen’s charge. From that time forward several

missionaries from American churches have entered active work in Corea,

and three American young men engaged by the Corean government as

teachers have begun to devise an educational system for the kingdom.

There are now native Christian churches in Seoul, a hospital, schools,

orphanages, and a college. Americans were chosen as advisers and

assistants of the nation. Three military officers to organize her army,

naval officers to inaugurate a navy, commissioners of customs, and a

counsellor in the foreign office were among these.

Renouncing the idea of the suzerainty of China over Corea, the king and

government sent embassies to Japan, Europe, and the United States, to

establish permanent legations. This movement was opposed by the Chinese,

and especially by the Minister Yuen in an active, impudent, and even

villainous manner. Yuen, who led the Chinese troops during the riot of

December, 1884, and who escorted the Tai-wen Kun to Corea, is believed

to have plotted to dethrone the king and set up another son of the old

regent as a pro-Chinese partisan on the throne. Expecting to make use of

the Corean military, whom he had drilled in person, his plot was exposed

by Min Yong Ik. To checkmate any design of China, to prevent the

departure of the envoys, or to convert her nominal authority into

assertions of sovereignty or suzerainty, the Honorable Hugh N. Densmore,

our minister, by the orders of the United States government, invited the

embassy to take passage from Chemulpo in the United States Steamship

Omaha, which was done. In charge of Dr. H.N. Allen, Pak Chung Yang, a

noble of the second rank, envoy extraordinary and minister

plenipotentiary of the king of Corea, arrived in Washington and had

audience of President Cleveland in January, 1888.

When Kim-ok-Kiun, the leader of the insurrection of 1884, fled to Japan,

he was welcomed by the Japanese and received as a protege of the

emperor. Repeated demands were made by Corea upon the mikado to

surrender him, and the demands were as repeatedly refused. In the spring

of 1894 he was lured by means of a dummy draft on a non-existing bank in

China, to Shanghai, where on March 28, at the Japanese hotel, and in the

absence of his Japanese attendant, he was foully murdered by his

pretended friend, Hong Tjyong On, a tool of the Ming faction. This man

had been in the employ of the Ming faction of the Corean government with

the mission of the assassination entrusted to him, and if the crime was

not committed by order of the king of Corea, as was popularly believed,

it was surely by order of the queen, who has been strong in her

influence. The murderer was arrested; but instead of being tried by the

Chinese was handed over to a Corean official, who, with the assassin and

the corpse, was sent to Corea. There in spite of the protestations of

foreign representatives, the body of Kim was horribly mutilated, parts

of it being sent to the different provinces, while the murderer was

rewarded with high official honor.

This murder of a Corean by another Corean in a port under Chinese

jurisdiction, though coupled with the subsequent brutalities at Seoul,

could not be made a subject of diplomatic remonstrance; but it served in

Japan to rouse the deepest public indignation and intense disgust. The

Japanese government was not only outraged by the assassination of Kim,

but by the conduct of Yu, the Corean minister at Tokio. Two brothers

named Ken, at the time of Kim’s murder, attempted to bring the same fate

upon Boku Eiko, Kim’s fellow conspirator. Their plot having been

discovered, they fled to Yu for protection. For three days he refused to

give them up, but finally surrendered them and took a hasty and

undignified departure from the country. The Japanese foreign office,

having in vain sought an explanation of the motives of the king of Corea

in connection with Kim’s assassination, and of the precipitate and

undiplomatic flight of the Corean representative, was glad to seize the

first opportunity which arose before long, when other events occurred

which gave Japan occasion to act.

[Illustration: SINKING OF THE KOW-SHING.]

For some time past the peninsular kingdom has been in a disturbed

condition, owing to the spread of rebellious confederacies among the

people. There was now quite a general uprising of Coreans, caused by

their want of sympathy with the government, and focussed by their

indignation at the horrible fate of Kim. In May, a formidable peasant

uprising occurred in northern Corea, caused mainly by the official

extortion practiced by tax-gatherers, but having in it elements of

remonstrance against the assassination of Kim. The government troops

were defeated May 16 at Reisan; and on May 31 Zenshu fell into the hands

of the insurgents. Later Chung Jui was captured, and Seoul, the capital,

was in a state of great commotion. The discovery of a plot to blow up

the government building during the annual official meeting of the king

and his ministers caused immense excitement. The plot was confessed by

one of the conspirators, and warrants were issued for the arrest of one

thousand persons implicated or suspected.

In alarm the government appealed to China for assistance, and early in

June an armed Chinese force numbering about two thousand was dispatched,

from Chefoo to Asan, a port lying a little southwest of Seoul, where it

encamped.

In the treaty of Tien-tsin, both Japan and China agreed to withdraw

their troops from the peninsula, neither power to send soldiers thither

again, without giving to the other power preliminary notice of the

intended action. In the present struggle, Japan has declared from the

beginning that she intended to carry her action into Corea no further

than the treaty of 1885 allowed, and the necessity for restoring order

and stability required her to do. When these troops were sent, the

stipulated notification to Japan it is declared, was delayed until after

their departure. Actuated by distrust of Chinese motives, and looking to

the protection of her commercial interests and the safety of the

Japanese residents and traders in Corea, the authorities at Tokio

quickly followed by landing a force of six thousand troops on the

western coast. A strong force was soon stationed in Seoul, for the

protection of the Japanese legation, and the approaches to the capital

were securely occupied.

[Illustration: MR. OTORI BEFORE THE COMMISSIONERS.]

Then began the diplomatic campaign, Japan seizing the opportunity

offered to insist on a final understanding with both China and the

Corean government, regarding the matters which had long been the source

of friction, and a constant menace to tranquility in the peninsula. On

June 28 a communication passed between Mr. Otori, the Japanese minister,

and the Corean foreign office, regarding the tributary relations between

Corea and China. To this the Corean government returned an evasive

reply. July 3, Mr. Otori laid before the Corean government in a

courteously worded note, the draft of a scheme of reforms which Japan

proposed, as a remedy for the disorders of the country, under the

following five general heads:

1. The civil government in the capital and in the provinces to be

thoroughly reformed, and the departments arranged on a new basis under

proper responsible heads.

2. The resources of the country to be developed, mines opened, railways

constructed, etc.

3. The laws of the country to be radically reformed.

4. The military establishments to be reorganized under competent

instructors, so as to render the country secure alike from internal

disorder and external attack.

5. Education to be thoroughly reformed on modern lines.

Mr. Otori asked for the appointment of a commission to discuss details,

and on July 10, unfolded before the three commissioners, in twenty-five

proposals, the details of the contemplated reforms. They were of such a

character as to weaken greatly the influence of the queen and the

dominant Ming party. Personages of too great influence were to be

removed; the foreign customs establishment to be abolished; all foreign

advisers to be dispensed with; the resources of the country to be

developed; railways, telegraphs and a mint to be established; the legal

and judicial systems to be radically reformed, and a school system to be

adopted, beginning with primary schools and culminating in universities,

with provisions for sending pupils abroad.

These reforms were declared to be as essential to the true welfare of

Corea and China, as to the interests of Japan. It being impossible,

however, for the Coreans to effect them themselves, Japan proposed joint

action on the part of herself and China with a view to the desired

object. This proposal however, China curtly refused even to discuss, so

long as any Japanese troops remained in Corea. She assured Japan that

the peasant rebellion had been quieted, which was true in a sense, for

the insurgents, after the landing of the Chinese regulars, had

temporarily stayed their onward progress; but the cause of the trouble

still remained. From the moment of this deadlock we may date the

unofficial beginning of the war. The formal declaration was not made

until about two weeks later.

[Illustration: JAPANESE ARMY ON THE MARCH.]

THE BEGINNINGS OF HOSTILITIES.

--------------

Japan Decides to Reform Corea without China’s Aid—Corean Palace Guards

Fire on the Japanese Escort of Minister Otori—Momentous Result of the

Skirmish—Announcement of Corean Independence—Tai-wen Kun as Prime

Minister—The First Collision at Sea—Sinking of the Kow-shing—Fighting

Around Asan—Defeat of the Chinese—Li Hung Chang Declares that the War

Will Be Fought to the Bitter End—Japan’s Formal Declaration of

War—China’s Response—The Conflict Begun.

Failing to secure China’s co-operation, Mr. Otori told the officials at

Seoul that the government was now determined of her own accord to see

the needed reforms carried out. The Corean government still showing no

disposition to acquiesce in his proposals, the Japanese minister

determined to have a personal interview with the king, of whose sympathy

with the policy of the Ming party, there was some doubt. The minister

had regarded the reply of the Corean government to his demands as

insolent, and knowing that its substance had been made known to the

Corean officers, he felt an apprehension of violence toward himself and

the members of the legation. He therefore insisted on being accompanied

by a strong escort of Japanese on the occasion of any further visits to

the palace.

On the morning of July 23, attended by this escort of Japanese guards,

and accompanied by the father of the king, Mr. Otori set out from the

legation for the purpose of having another interview with the Corean

monarch. As the minister with his fully armed escort approached the

palace, they were fired upon by troops in the service of the Ming

ministry, some of whom were stationed within the palace walls. The fire

was promptly returned by the Japanese, and a sharp skirmish ensued which

lasted twenty minutes. One Japanese cavalryman and two foot-soldiers

were wounded; while the Corean loss was seventeen killed and seventy

wounded. When quiet was restored, the Japanese were in possession of the

palace. The result of the fight was momentous—the complete overthrow of

the Ming, or pro-Chinese faction in the Corean government.

On the same day the Corean king formally announced his independence of

China. One of his first acts was to request an interview with Mr. Otori,

and before the interview had ended that day the Japanese ministers saw

the Tai-wen Kun, father of the king, and formerly regent during the

latter’s minority, formally installed as prime minister and instructed

to introduce administrative reforms such as Japan had proposed. A

written pledge was signed by the king, guaranteeing that the remedying

of social and political abuses should begin as soon as the proper

machinery could be put in operation; the old counsellors of the king

were replaced by men believed to be in sympathy with progressive

principles. Japan on her part made herself responsible for the execution

of these pledges. The part taken by the king in the reforms is somewhat

uncertain. One of the most eminent authorities on Corean affairs has

declared that the king himself cannot be looked upon as a potent factor

in the struggle; that he is a weak, amiable, nervous man, whose only

importance consists in the fact that he is a king and in the sanction

that his presence, and authority, and seal may be considered to lend to

the party with which he sides. He has not been on good terms with his

father, and when the Japanese placed the latter in charge there was

considerable uncertainty as to the results that would follow.

The same day that this skirmish at the palace occurred between Corean

and Japanese troops, a report was sent out which might have involved

Great Britain in the eastern war. It was alleged that ill-treatment had

been offered by the Japanese troops to the British consul-general at

Seoul, Mr. Gardner and his wife. The assertion was that the Japanese

troops forbade their passing the line of sentries which had been drawn

around an encampment, and that unnecessary force had been used to

accomplish this. The falsity of the charges, or the fact that they were

very much overdrawn, was proved upon the first investigation, no

regulations being in force except those natural and proper in such

times.

The situation in Corea developed very slowly. The ways of the east are

not as the ways of the west, and one of the most deeply-rooted and

highly-prized instincts which oriental diplomatists have inherited from

a long line of their ancestors is a profound belief in the merits of

procrastination.

The first important collision at sea occurred in Prince Jerome gulf,

about forty miles off Chemulpo, on July 25, one week before the formal

declaration of war. Up to the night of July 19, the highest authorities

at Tien-tsin did not anticipate war, but as a matter of watchful policy

the war-office chartered the British steamers Irene, Fei Ching, and

Kow-shing, belonging to the Indo-Chinese Steam Navigation company, and a

number of Chinese merchant steamers, for the transportation of troops.

The object was to transport the second division from Taku to Asan, to

reinforce the Chinese army in that Corean city. The Irene was the first

to leave Taku, July 21, with one thousand one hundred and fifty troops,

with one of the owners and his wife on board; the other two vessels were

to leave on the 22nd and 23rd.

[Illustration: PROCESSION IN SEOUL.]

The Kow-shing was an iron vessel, schooner-rigged, of one thousand three

hundred and fifty tons, built at Barrow and belonging to the port of

London. She sailed from Taku July 23, with no cargo, but with one

thousand two hundred Chinese troops on board. All went well with the

transport until the second morning, July 25, when about nine o’clock the

vessel was sighted by a Japanese man-of-war, the Naniwa Kan. The Naniwa

was accompanied by two other men-of-war, one of which was the Matsusima,

on board of which was the Japanese admiral. The Kow-shing was ordered by

signal, “Stop where you are or take the consequences.” She promptly

anchored. Then the Naniwa steamed up and sent a boarding party to the

Kow-shing.

The officers in command made a strict scrutiny of the ship’s papers, and

after some hesitation as to his course of action, peremptorily ordered

the Kow-shing to follow. This caused great excitement amongst the

troops, who said to the English officers of the ship, “We refuse to

become prisoners and would rather die here. If you move the ship, except

to return to China, we will kill you.” The Japanese having returned to

their own vessel, the European officers on the Kow-shing argued with the

Chinese to convince them that it would be wiser to surrender, thus

saving the life of all and the ship itself. These arguments had no

effect on the Chinese, and the Kow-shing then signalled to the Naniwa to

send another boat.

Captain Von Hannecken explained the situation to the Japanese boarding

officer, pointing out that there had been no declaration of war, that

the Kow-shing was a British ship under the British flag, and that owing

to the position taken by the Chinese it was physically impossible for

the officers of the vessels to obey the Naniwa’s order. He claimed that

the flag should be respected, and that the ship should be escorted back

to the Chinese coast. The boarding party then returned to the Naniwa,

which thereupon signalled “Quit the ship as soon as possible.” The

Kow-shing officers replied that it was impossible to quit the ship,

owing to the threats of the Chinese. The Naniwa threw an answering

pennant, and steamed quickly into position, broadside on, at a distance

of about two hundred yards. Mr. Tamplin, the chief officer of the

Kow-shing, tells a graphic story of the scene that followed.

[Illustration:

AFTER THE BATTLE.

From a Sketch by a Japanese Artist.

]

“The Chinese were greatly excited, and kept drawing their fingers across

their throats in order to show us what we might expect. The British

officers, and Captain Von Hannecken, were anxiously gathered on the

bridge, and the bodyguards were at the bottom of the ladder watching us

like cats. Two executioners fully armed were told off to follow the

captain and myself, and they dogged us everywhere with drawn scepters.

About one o’clock the Naniwa opened fire, first discharging a torpedo at

the Kow-shing, which did not strike her. The man-of-war then fired a

broadside of five heavy guns, and continued firing both heavy and

machine guns from deck and tops until the Kow-shing sank about an hour

later. The Kow-shing was first struck right amidships, and the sound of

the crashing and splintering was almost deafening. To add to the danger,

the Chinese rushed to the other side, causing the ship to heel over more

than ever. As soon as the Kow-shing was struck the soldiers made a rush.

I rushed from the bridge, got a life-belt, and jumped overboard forward.

While in the wheel house selecting a life-belt I passed another

European, but I had no time to see who it was. It was a regular _sauve

qui peut_. Mr. Wake, our third officer, said it was no use for him to

take to the water, as he could not swim, and he went down with the ship.

“After jumping into the water I came foul of the chain, down which the

Chinese were swarming. As I came to the surface the boiler exploded with

terrific noise. I looked up and saw Captain Von Hannecken striking out

vigorously. Captain Galsworthy, the master of the vessel, was also close

by, his face perfectly black from the explosion. All of us went in the

direction of the island of Shotai-ul, which was about a mile and a half

to the northeast, swimming through the swarm of dead and dying Chinamen.

Bullets began to strike the water on every side, and turning to see

whence they came, I saw that the Chinese herding around the only part of

the Kow-shing that was then out of water, were firing at us. I was

slightly hit on the shoulder, and in order to protect my head covered it

with the life-belt until I got clear of the sinking vessel. When I

succeeded in doing this, and got away from the swarms of Chinamen, I

swam straight for the Naniwa. I had been in the water nearly an hour

when I was picked up by one of the Naniwa’s boats. While in the water I

passed two Chinese warriors clinging to a sheep which was swimming

vigorously. As soon as I was on board the Naniwa’s boat, I told the

officer in which direction the captain had gone, and he said that he had

already sent another boat to pick him up. By this time only the

Kow-shing’s masts were visible. The water was however covered with

Chinese, and there were two lifeboats from the Kow-shing crowded with

soldiers. The Japanese officer informed me that he had been ordered by

signal from the Naniwa to sink these boats. I remonstrated, but he fired

two volleys from the cutter, turned back, and steamed for the Naniwa. No

attempt was made to rescue the Chinese. The Naniwa steamed about until

eight o’clock in the evening, but did not pick up any other Europeans.”

The Irene, which had been the first vessel to leave Taku, herself had a

narrow escape from an attack. She sighted a war vessel at eleven o’clock

on the night of July 23, but by at once putting out all her lights was

enabled to escape, and reached Asan early the next morning. The Chinese

cruisers Chih Yuen and Kwang Kai, and the training ship Wei Yuen were at

anchor. The troops were at once disembarked, and about nine o’clock the

same morning the Irene left for Chefoo, arriving at four o’clock the

afternoon of the 25th. Being under orders to proceed to Chemulpo to

bring back refugees, she sailed at noon the next day in company with the

British ship Archer. When some distance from Chefoo, the Irene was

hailed by the Fei Ching, and informed that the troop ship Kow-shing had

been sunk by Japanese war vessels. It was decided to take the Irene into

Wei-hai-wei and confer with Admiral Ting as to the advisability of her

going to Chemulpo; he advised her return to Chefoo.

The same morning, July 26, the cruiser Chih Yuen arrived at Wei-hai-wei

from Asan, and reported that shortly after leaving that port, the new

Japanese cruiser Yoshino fired on her and her consort, the Kwang Kai,

unexpectedly, and a shell, piercing the bow turret, exploded, killing

the entire crew serving one gun, and disabling the turret. As soon as

the Chih Yuen got a little sea-room, her steering-gear having been

disabled, she maneuvered and fought with her stern gun, one shell from

which swept away the entire bridge of her opponent. A second shell

striking the same place, the Japanese ceased firing and hoisted a white

flag over a Chinese ensign, but Captain Hong, of the Chih Yuen, having

his bow guns and his steering gear disabled, and other Japanese coming

up, decided to make for Wei-hai-wei and report to the admiral. The first

lieutenant of the Chih Yuen was speaking through the tube, directing the

men, when a shot struck him and he fell dead. Twelve of the crew were

killed and thirty wounded. The Japanese vessel suffering somewhat less.

The Kow-shing affair caused a complete change in the attitude of the

Chinese government and in the foreign mind. The viceroy, Li Hung Chang,

declared in an interview that if war was once provoked, China would

fight to the bitter end. Japan was attacked in the European press for

having sent a British ship to the bottom, even though it were loaded

with Chinese soldiers, inasmuch as war had not been declared. The

Japanese government at once instructed the minister in London to

apologize to Great Britain for firing on the British flag, which was

floating over the Kow-shing, and it was talked in every quarter that a

heavy indemnity would be required from Japan. As further details became

known, however, European and American sentiment began to shift. A

British consular court of inquiry called to investigate the matter,

decided that inasmuch as the two nations were virtually in a state of

war at the time, though no formal declaration had been made, the

Japanese commander was justified in his action on the ground that the

Kow-shing was violating neutrality. The demand for an indemnity was

practically abandoned on account of a clause contained in the ship’s

charter to the effect that in the event of an outbreak of hostilities

between China and Japan, the Kow-shing should be considered Chinese

property. The case was therefore ended, so far as the action of nations

outside of China and Japan was concerned. Less than two hundred were

saved, out of nearly twelve hundred souls who were on board the vessel.

French, German, and Italian gunboats which were cruising near, brought

to Chefoo the few Chinese survivors, and several of the European

officers were saved by the Japanese. Captain Von Hannecken was rescued

by a fisherman’s boat, and made his way back to China.

Immediately following the date of these sea battles, hard fighting began

at and around Asan, where the body of Chinese troops was intrenched.

Early on the morning of July 29 the Chinese troops, who had left their

fortifications at Asan, were attacked by General Oshima, the commander

of Japanese armies in Corea, at Seikwan. The Japanese gained a decisive

victory. After a hard fought battle in which one hundred Chinese were

killed and five hundred wounded, out of twenty-eight hundred troops

engaged, while the Japanese lost less than one hundred, the Chinese were

forced back towards Asan, their entrenchment at Chan Hon having been

captured. During the night the Chinese evacuated Asan, abandoning large

quantities of ammunition and some guns, and fled in the direction of

Koshu. When the Japanese reached Asan early in the morning of the 30th

they found the trenches deserted. Many flags, four cannon, and a

quantity of other munitions of war were captured, and the victorious

troops took possession of the enemy’s headquarters.

Elated by the results of the actions which had occurred, Japan was now

hurrying troops into the field. Thousands of soldiers were shipped in

transports and stationed in Chemulpo, in Seoul, along the Great Northern

road in Fusan, and finally around Asan, sixty miles south of Chemulpo,

out of which the Chinese had just been driven. Three attempts at

mediation had been made with a desire to avert war by diplomatic

interference, first by Russia, then by England, and lastly by England

supported by all the powers, but Japan was ready and anxious to prove

her prowess over her ancient enemy, and to show to western nations the

strength that she had acquired; while there were ample and strong

reasons which appeared to the Japanese worthy ones why they should wage

war upon China. They asserted that the best interests of civilization

and humanity demanded this action and the time had come to begin.

Belligerent acts had multiplied and formal action became necessary,

without further delay. August 3 was the important date which marked the

formal beginning of warlike operations.

The announcements to the world that an oriental war was actually to be

waged, were in every way characteristic of the people and the habits of

the two belligerent nations. Each one took pains to declare its power

and the age of the reigning dynasty. Japan however took its greatest

pride, very evidently, in the advance of its civilization, and the

introduction of western methods in diplomacy as well as elsewhere.

China, on the other hand, was more verbose, and at the same time very

scornful of the fighting strength of the ancient rival. Each of course

took pains to justify her own actions and cast all the odium of the war

on the other.

[Illustration:

THE ATTACK ON PING-YANG.

(Japanese Entering at the Gate of the Tai-Dong River Bridge.)

]

Japan’s formal declaration of war appeared in the “Official Gazette,”

and in substance was as follows:

“We, by the grace of heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on a throne

occupied by the same dynasty from time immemorial, do hereby make

proclamation to all our loyal and brave subjects as follows: We hereby

declare war against China, and we command each and all of our competent

authorities, in obedience to our wish, and with a view to the attainment

of the national aim, to carry on hostilities by sea and land against

China, with all the means at their disposal, consistently with the law

of nations.

“Over twenty years have now elapsed since our accession to the throne.

During this time we have consistently pursued a policy of peace, being

deeply impressed with a sense of the undesirability of being in strained

relations with other nations, and have always directed our officials

diligently to endeavor to promote friendship with all the treaty powers.

Fortunately our intercourse with the nations has continued to increase

in intimacy.

“We were therefore unprepared for such a conspicuous want of amity and

of good faith, as has been manifested by China in her conduct towards

this country in connection with the Corean affairs. Corea is an

independent state. She was first introduced into the family of nations

by the advice and under the guidance of Japan. It has however, been

China’s habit to designate Corea as her dependency, and both openly and

secretly to interfere with her domestic affairs. At the time of the

recent civil insurrection in Corea, China dispatched troops thither,

alleging that her purpose was to afford succor to her dependent state.

We, in virtue of the treaty concluded with Corea in 1882, and looking to

possible emergencies, caused a military force to be sent to that

country, wishing to procure for Corea freedom from the calamity of

perpetual disturbance, and thereby to maintain the peace of the east in

general. Japan invited China’s co-operation for the accomplishment of

that object; but China, advancing various pretexts, declined Japan’s

proposal.

“Thereupon Japan advised Corea to reform her administration, so that

order might be preserved at home, and so that the country might be able

to discharge the responsibilities and duties of an independent state

abroad. Corea has already consented to undertake the task, but China has

insidiously endeavored to circumvent and thwart Japan’s purpose. She has

further procrastinated and endeavored to make warlike preparations, both

on land and at sea. When these preparations were completed, she not only

sent large re-enforcements to Corea with a view to the attainment of her

ambitious designs, but even carried her arbitrariness and insolence to

the extent of opening fire upon our ships in Corean waters.

“China’s plain object is to make it uncertain where the responsibility

resides for preserving peace and order in Corea, and not only to weaken

the position of that state in the family of nations—a position obtained

for Corea through Japanese efforts—but also to obscure the significance

of the treaties recognizing and confirming that position. Such conduct

on the part of China is not only a direct injury to the rights and

interests of this empire, but also a menace to the permanent peace and

tranquility of the Orient. Judging from her action, it must be concluded

that China from the beginning has been bent upon sacrificing peace to

the attainment of her sinister objects. In this situation, ardent as our

wish is to promote the prestige of the country abroad by strictly

peaceful methods, we find it impossible to avoid a formal declaration of

war against China. It is our earnest wish that by the loyalty and valor

of our faithful subjects, peace may soon be permanently restored, and

the glory of the empire be augmented and completed.”

China promptly accepted the issue thus formally raised, and published a

declaration in substance as follows:

“Corea has been our tributary for the last two hundred odd years. She

has given us tribute all of this time, which is a matter known to the

world. For the last dozen years or so Corea has been troubled by

repeated insurrections; and we in sympathy with our small tributary have

as repeatedly sent succor to her aid, eventually placing a resident in

her capital to protect Corea’s interests. In the fourth moon (May) of

this year, another rebellion was begun in Corea, and the king repeatedly

asked again for aid from us to put down the rebellion. We then ordered

Li Hung Chang to send troops to Corea, and they having barely reached

Asan, the rebels immediately scattered, but the 'Wojen' (the ancient

epithet for the Japanese expressive of contempt translated ‘pigmies’ or

more strictly according to usage ‘vermin’), without any cause whatever

sent their troops to Corea and entered Seoul, the capital of Corea,

re-enforcing them constantly until they have exceeded ten thousand men.

“In the meantime the Japanese forced the Corean king to change his

system of government, showing a disposition in every way of bullying

Coreans. It was found a difficult matter to reason with the ‘Wojen.’

Although we have been in the habit of assisting our tributaries, we have

never interfered with their internal government. Japan’s treaty with

Corea was as one country with another. There is no law for sending large

armies to bully a country in this way and to tell it to change its

system of government. Various powers are united in condemning the

conduct of the Japanese, and can give no reasonable name to the army she

now has in Corea. Nor has Japan been amenable to reason, nor will she

listen to an exhortation to withdraw her troops and confer amicably upon

what should be done in Corea. On the contrary, Japan has shown herself

belligerent without regard to appearances, and has been increasing her

forces there. Her conduct alarmed the people of Corea as well as our

merchants there, and so we sent more troops over to protect them. Judge

of our surprise then, when half way to Corea a number of the ‘Wojen’

ships suddenly appeared, and taking advantage of our unpreparedness

opened fire on our transports at a spot on the sea coast near Asan, and

damaged them, thus causing us to suffer from their treacherous conduct

which could not be foretold by us.

“As Japan has violated the treaties and not observed the international

laws, and is now running rampant with her false and treacherous actions,

beginning hostilities herself, and laying herself open to condemnation

by the various powers at large, we, therefore, desire to make it known

to the world that we have always followed the paths of philanthropy and

perfect justice throughout the whole complications, while the ‘Wojen’

and others have broken all the laws of nations and treaties which it

passed our patience to bear with. Hence we command Li Hung Chang to give

strict orders to our various armies to hasten with all speed to root the

‘Wojen’ out of their lairs. He is to send successive armies of valiant

men to Corea, in order to have the Coreans freed from bondage. We also

command Manchoo generals, viceroys, and governors of the maritime

provinces, as well as the commanders in chief of the various armies to

prepare for war and to make every effort to fire on the ‘Wojen’ ships if

they come into our ports, and utterly destroy them. We exhort our

generals to refrain from the least laxity in obeying our commands, in

order to avoid severe punishment at our hands. Let all know this edict

as if addressed to themselves individually.”

Immediately following China’s declaration of war, the Chinese Imperial

Foreign Office addressed an important circular letter to the ministers

of the various European countries, and of the United States, to be

forwarded to their respective governments. The message began abruptly

with the announcement that some time ago a rebellion broke out in the

district of Chung in Corea, and the king of that country sent a written

application for Chinese assistance through Li Hung Chang, Viceroy of the

North.

“Our Imperial Majesty,” the message continued, “considering that on

previous occasions rebellion in Corea had been suppressed by our

assistance, dispatched troops, which did not however enter Seoul, but

went direct to the scene, with a view to exterminating the rebellion. At

the first rumor of their approach the rebels dispersed, and our army,

having brought merciful relief to the distressed people, meditated a

victorious retirement. To our astonishment Japan also dispatched troops

to Corea, pretending that it was for the purpose of assisting to quell

the rebellion, but their real object being to occupy Seoul, which they

did, posting themselves at all the important passes. They continued to

re-enforce themselves, until the number of their troops rose to upwards

of ten thousand, when they demanded that Corea should repudiate her

allegiance to China, and declare herself independent. Japan further drew

up many rules and regulations for the alteration of the Corean

government, which they required the king to conform to in every detail.

That Corea has been a dependency of China from time immemorial is known

to all the world, and therefore when your different respective

governments established treaties with that nation, such treaties were

approved and recorded by ourselves. For Japan to ignore this in so high

handed a manner, is an offense against the dignity and authority of

China, and a grave breach of the pre-existing harmonious relations.”

[Illustration:

OPENING THE GATES AT PING-YANG.

Japanese Drawing.

]

The message comments upon the doubtful right of any country to interfere

with the internal administration of the affairs of the neighboring

states, and adds that while friendly counsel and exhortation may

sometimes be permissible, the enforcement of suggestions of reform by

direct and strenuous coercion and armed invasion cannot be tolerated. It

is impossible, the message declares, for China to submit to such

ignominious treatment, which would be equally intolerable to any of the

respective governments to which the message is addressed. Reference is

next made to the efforts of the British and Russian governments through

their representatives to induce Japan to withdraw her forces from Seoul,

thus making possible the peaceful negotiation of Corean affairs.

“This,” says the circular, “was an extremely fair and just proposal, but

Japan stubbornly refused to take it into consideration, and on the

contrary strengthened her forces to such an extent that the people of

Corea and resident Chinese merchants there became daily more alarmed and

disturbed. China, out of consideration for the commendable efforts of

the different governments to effect a peaceful solution of the Corean

question, rigidly abstained from any act of bloodshed, which would have

led to great suffering and serious injury to commerce, and though it

became necessary to send further forces for the protection of the

country, we placed them at a careful distance from Seoul, studiously

avoiding a collision with the Japanese troops, which would have

occasioned the commencement of hostilities. Notwithstanding all this,

and by a most unexpected and treacherous scheme, the Japanese on July

25, collected a number of their war vessels outside the port of Asan,

and began hostilities by firing on our transports and attacking and

sinking the British steamer Kow-Shing, flying the English flag. Thus,

therefore, the commencement of the war on their part was beyond all

justification, and China, having done her utmost hitherto to preserve

the good fellowship of nations, can carry forbearance no further, but

feels constrained to adopt different counsels and to take effectual

measures for the management of affairs.

“We anticipate,” says the message in conclusion, “that the various

governments of the world will hear of these extraordinary proceedings

with wonder and surprise, but they will know where to lay the entire

blame attaching to them. This full statement of the circumstances under

which Japan has iniquitously and unlawfully commenced war, is presented

to your excellency for communication to your respected government for

its inspection.”

The two great nations of the orient were now at war, one with forty

millions of inhabitants, the other with four hundred millions, fighting

on the soil of their helpless neighbor, a nation which was to act as

little more than a buffer for the shock of war from either side to

strike.

FROM ASAN TO PING-YANG.

--------------

Preparations for War in the Two Nations—Activity to Provide Defense for

Southern China—Chinese Arsenals—War Spirit Among the Japanese—Armies of

China, Their Organization and Administration—Burdens Upon Li Hung

Chang—Manner of Campaign Followed by Chinese Armies—Seeking a Commander

for the Chinese Troops in Corea—Complications with European and American

Interests—Trade Relations—The Chung king Affair—Arrest of Japanese

Students in Shanghai—Efforts of American Representatives to Save Their

Lives—Delivered to the Chinese by Order from Washington—Tortured to

Death—Operations in Corea—The Masterly Retreat from Asan—Engagements in

the North—The Lines of the Japanese Drawing Around Ping-Yang.

As soon as the formal declaration of war was made public in the rival

nations, the preparations for aggression and defense which had been in

progress in China for a few weeks, and in Japan for several months,

began to be multiplied with unceasing activity. The conditions which

existed in the two nations were very different, and required different

treatment.

Immediately following the outbreak of hostilities, the viceroy at

Canton, Li Han Chang, brother of Li Hung Chang, began to make great

efforts to put the southern part of the empire in something like an

efficient state of defense. The first definite word of warning that

reached him, through an official channel, was a cipher telegram from

Peking informing him of the sinking of the Kowshing and the other

engagements on sea and land, immediately prior to July 30. Li Han Chang

was mainly responsible for the series of indignities which led to the

resignation of the last British officers remaining in the Chinese naval

service in 1891, so that China’s defeat at sea was to a certain extent

his fault. For this reason he was placed in a position to be peculiarly

anxious to make a good showing now. It was incumbent upon him to send

forces to Formosa, the favorite point of attack in every important war

that has been waged against China, and also to guard practically the

whole southern coast, of which Canton with the naval station and arsenal

at Whampoa, forms the principal point.

In times of peace the defenses of Canton consist of the southern

squadron, the river forts, and the Manchoo or Tartar garrison, supposed

to number four thousand, but really of very indefinite strength. The

squadron at this time, however, was in the north, except about a dozen

river gunboats, belonging to the navy and various revenue offices. The

forts were in fairly satisfactory state, although insufficiently

supplied for war, and the army sought recruits to increase its numbers

as rapidly as possible. The investigation of the Whampoa arsenal,

however, was highly unsatisfactory as to its results. When orders were

given to the various arsenals to get to work building ships and making

guns, the Shanghai and Nanking stations were found in readiness, and the

Foochow arsenal, the largest and only one that had ever done any

shipbuilding on a serious scale, was also in reasonably good condition.

But Whampoa arsenal was in a lamentable state of unfitness, and all that

remained of it was its naval training college, torpedo depot, and

warehouse for guns and ammunition. The responsible officials whose

negligence and dishonesty had resulted in this unfortunate condition,

had good cause to anticipate severe punishment.

In the north of China, where the administration had been more closely

under the eye of Li Hung Chang, things were in somewhat better

condition, although still not what they ought to be to meet a great war.

The Japanese nation at the same moment presented a rare spectacle. To a

man, ay, to a woman, the whole people were for war to the knife. They

scarcely knew, nor did they greatly care, for what, but having been

without the luxury of a serious foreign war for two hundred or three

hundred years, their military and patriotic spirits were raised over the

invasion of Corea and the prospective conflict with China. Never was a

stronger antithesis than that between Japanese and Chinese at the

beginning of this conflict. It was the perfection of order and of

precision against slovenliness and carelessness; the pitting of a

trained athlete against a corpulent brewer who hated fighting. China has

in her history had good soldiers, but her system does not produce nor

encourage them. Despised by the literary class, which has been in

absolute control of everything, the soldier, having little chance of

fame, and feeling himself as belonging to a degraded class, has taken

naturally to pillage. If he has hoped to succeed to honors, it has been

as likely to be by corrupt interest as by meritorious service, for the

Chinese have had no appreciation of military excellence. Of course an

army, however numerous, composed of such unkindly material, is but a

mob, and if the Chinese had the spirit of soldiers they lacked the arms,

for in a service built up on corruption it was natural to expect that

the funds allotted for equipment would find other destinations.

After the war broke out, immense efforts were made by Japan in

mobilizing troops and transporting them across the straits to Corea. The

reserve was called out, and from every house and every shop some one was

drafted to serve with the colors. So perfect, however, was the machine,

that all this was accomplished without the least visible disturbance to

the internal business of the country, and with such secrecy that it was

only through reports of trains full of troops passing at night, and

occasional train loads of war material, that any inkling was obtained of

what was going on. The embarkation was kept equally secret, even when

whole fleets of transports were engaged.

One was constrained more and more to admire the organization of the

Japanese, and the perfect order which everywhere prevailed. In a country

so strictly policed, the police need never be called on to quell a

disturbance, and the force itself constituted another military reserve,

drilled and disciplined for any service. So complete was their network

of armed watchmen, that a sparrow could hardly cross the road without

its name and destination being recorded in the archives of the

prefecture. Everything about every individual, whether foreign or

native, was known to this intelligent government. Every foreigner’s

house was frequented by spies, in the guise of peddlers or servants, who

reported minutely to their official employers. It was the same abroad.

Japanese spies had examined every Chinese ship and fort, had measured

the fighting power of every Chinese regiment. Japan knew the rottenness

of Chinese naval and military administration better perhaps than the

Chinese themselves. Japan was, in short, one great intelligence

department, and it began to prove in a most unexpected way that

“knowledge is power.”

Coming fresh from Japan to Tien-tsin, the port of Peking, whence the

direction of the war was to be carried on, one would be astounded at the

aspect of China. The Celestial Empire in war times contrasted so

completely with its hostile neighbor that one might imagine oneself in

another planet. The silent, stolid action of the one country and the

confused bustle of the other were the strongly evident contrasts. Coming

from war ministries, marine ministries, finance ministries, an executive

as elaborate and perfect as the machinery of a gun factory, every

individual knowing and doing his duty without hurry and without

friction, into China where there were none of these things at all, one

would be puzzled to conceive how any war could be carried on between

these countries except one of ultimate subjugation. China was in a sense

full of troops, mostly disbanded without pay, but in such loose fashion

as to enable them even to carry off the honors of war, in the shape of

their rifles and accoutrements. Some of these had sought and found an

honest living, but many had gone to swell the ranks of brigandage. The

troops in active service belonged to the great system of sham in which

China revelled. The levies on paper and on pay rolls bore no direct

correspondence with either the men or the arms. Neither the army nor the

navy was a fighting service, but a means of living; and while generals,

colonels and captains practically absorbed the naval and military

expenditure, the custom of the country permitted the ranks to be robbed

and starved, while those officials grew rich.

Vast as were the numbers of the fighting men of China on paper, they

were but a very small proportion to the huge population of that empire.

The old Chinese army in its three divisions of Manchoo, Mongol, and

native Chinese did not exceed the nominal strength of one million, and

all the efforts of military reformers have been devoted to increasing

the efficiency and not the size of that force. The Green Flag, or

Luh-ying corps, still represented the bulk of the army, furnishing on

paper a total of six hundred and fifty thousand men scattered through

the nineteen provinces, excluding the new province of Manchooria. It has

been controlled by the local viceroys and governors who may in some

instances have attempted to improve its efficiency, but as a general

rule the force has had little or no military value.

When the Tai-Ping rebellion was finally crushed, the Ever Victorious

army was disbanded, and the Viceroy Li Hung Chang, took into his pay a

considerable number of these disciplined and experienced soldiers who

had taken their part in a succession of remarkable achievements. When he

was transferred to Pechili he took with him these men as a sort of

personal bodyguard, and with the avowed intention of organizing an army

that would bear comparison with European troops. He was engaged on this

task for nearly twenty-five years. At the commencement this force

numbered about eighteen thousand men. In 1872 the viceroy took into his

service several German officers, who devoted themselves with untiring

energy to the conversion of what was not unpromising material into a

regular army of the highest standard. The training of this force was

carried on with the greatest possible secrecy, and no European officers

except those serving with it had any opportunity of forming an opinion.

But it was known at the beginning of the war that the Black Flag army,

as it was called, numbered about fifty thousand men.

After Li Hung Chang’s army, and scarcely inferior to it in strength and

importance, came the two branches of the old Tartar army, both of which

were recently subjected to some military training, and more or less

equipped with modern weapons. These were the old Banner army, and the

army of Manchooria, the total strength of the former being some three

hundred thousand. Up to a comparatively recent time nothing had been

done to make this force efficient. Many of the troops were armed with

nothing but bows and arrows, and a kind of iron flail. In the last

fifteen years, however, part of the Banner army, called the Peking Field

force, was organized by the late Prince Chun, father of the reigning

emperor and raised to a fair degree of efficiency. The second Tartar

force, the army of Manchooria, contained some eighty thousand men who

had received training and approximately modern weapons. Out of these,

thirty thousand men, all armed with rifles, have made their headquarters

at Mukden, the old capital of the Manchoos.

The Japanese reproached the Chinese with having no commissariat. Neither

had they telegraphs, ambulance, or hospital services. Their habit was to

live on the country in which they happened to be, and make it a desert.

The Corean campaign was expected to form no exception to this rule, and

the plains in the northwest, in the region first occupied by the Chinese

after the abandonment of Asan, were early deserted by their inhabitants.

Yet there were exceptions to this method of procedure. The force that

was sent under General Yeh to Asan to quell the insurrection there,

treated the natives with kindness and were consequently much liked. The

general had funds entrusted to him, to distribute among the poor people

who were suffering from want, and miraculous to say he did not steal the

money, but spent all, and even, it is said, some of his own, in

benevolence to the Coreans.

At the opening of the war the functions of a war ministry, marine

ministry, finance ministry, with their staff of experts, were in China

discharged by one old man, without any staff, who had stood for thirty

years between the living and the dead. The emperor issued edicts without

providing the means of carrying them out; all the rest, whether in gross

or in detail, devolved on Li Hung Chang, who like another Atlas was

bearing the whole rotten fabric of Chinese administration on his

shoulders.

The supreme command of the Corean expeditions was first offered to Liu

Ming-Chuan, who defended Formosa in 1884, but that astute old soldier

declined on the ostensible ground of age and defective sight, but really

because, as he said, peace would be made before he could reach

Tien-tsin. The command was next offered to Liu Kin-tang, the real

conqueror of Kashgar, for which the Governor-General Tso obtained the

credit. He also declined, but was overruled by the emperor, and started

from his home in the interior. His journey in the height of the summer

heat was too much to endure, and he died in his boat before reaching the

coast. The command was then entrusted to a civilian, Wu Ta-cheng, who

distinguished himself in closing a great breach on the Yellow River some

years ago, and who has lately been governor of Hu-nan. This promising

official was therefore chosen to go to Corea as imperial commissioner to

command the generals, no one of whom had been in authority over another.

[Illustration:

FIGHTING AT FOO-CHOW.

Japanese Drawing.

]

It was natural to expect that complications would arise between the

belligerent nations and the European and American nations having

commercial interests in the orient. Japan and China had not been long

enough acquainted with the rules of international comity and

international war to be familiar with the exactions that would be made

by the other nations which might be affected. The diplomatic

representatives from the west lost no time in stipulating the neutrality

of the more important treaty ports where foreigners were settled, and in

arranging that certain branches of commerce should not be interfered

with. Trade, however, was seriously affected and the price of coal

doubled at one leap. China prohibited the export of rice from its own

ports whence large quantities are usually shipped to Japan. Chinese

lighthouses were darkened, and pilots were specifically warned not to

assist Japanese vessels.

The term contraband was found to apply to many articles the transport of

which in time of peace gave employment to many steamers, mainly coal,

rice, and materials for building and repairing ships. The British

government published a declaration that rice would not be recognized as

contraband, and the prices of grain and rates for freight and insurance

ruled high. The whole trade was, therefore, dislocated, for the

Yang-tsze is the chief granary for the far east.

The British steamer Chungking suffered an aggression from the Chinese

that drew upon them a severe rebuke and punishment. The vessel was at

anchor in the harbor of Tongku, and among its passengers were sixty

Japanese, many of them women and children, who were leaving China to

return to Japan for safety during the impending troubles. While the

vessel lay in the harbor a large number of Chinese soldiers forced their

way on board with hostile intent. They began chasing the Japanese with

threats of punishment, and the women and children fled to hide

themselves. Many were found and were dragged from their places of

concealment with violence. When they were found, their feet were tightly

fastened together and their hands were tied behind their backs. They

were then thrown upon the wharf, where they lay helpless, and several of

them fainted under the severe treatment. As soon as the report of the

outrage reached the superior officer commanding the district, he

commanded the release of the victims, and the ship moved on to Shanghai

where it arrived August 7. Viceroy Li Hung Chang tendered a most humble

apology to the British consul for the aggression, the soldiers who

committed the outrage were severely punished, and the officers who were

responsible for it were degraded and sent into the interior.

The Japanese who were living in various Chinese treaty ports, engaged in

business or connected with the various foreign concessions, took pains

during the early period of the war to keep themselves as much as

possible sequestered from Chinese view, to avoid giving offense to the

people. Many of them had for years worn Chinese dress, and others now

adopted the same costume, thinking thus to lessen the danger to which

they were undoubtedly exposed. The Chinese authorities of Shanghai

became convinced that the Japanese remaining there, under the protection

of various foreign flags, constituted so many menaces to the national

security. The precaution which the Japanese took in adopting Chinese

costume, was made the pretext for a demand upon the consuls for the

arrest of all who had resorted to it, but in each instance the demand

was refused.

The first complication of American diplomatic interests with those of

China came in this connection. On the morning of August 18, two Japanese

who were walking within the limits of the French concession were pounced

upon by Chinese guards and carried off to prison, charged with being

spies in the service of the Japanese government. The accused were young

men of good position and repute, and it seemed without the opportunity

of spying, even if they were prepared to take the risk. They were placed

in prison, however, pending, it was explained, the appointment of a

proper tribunal to try them, and it was alleged by the Chinese

authorities that there were found concealed about their clothes, plans

of Chinese fortifications and cipher notes on Chinese movements. The

following day the Japanese residing in Shanghai moved from the Chinese

quarters into the American concession, where they placed themselves

formally under the protection of the United States. The two who were

arrested were immediately handed over to the American consul-general at

his demand, he agreeing to keep them until charges should be formulated

and presented. After a careful examination of the merits of the case,

the consul, Mr. Jernigan, and the United States minister to China, Mr.

Denby, became convinced that the charges were groundless, and that the

young men were innocent of any guilt or evil intent. They were mere

boys, students at the schools maintained in the American and French

concessions, where they had resided for many years. The fact that they

were dressed in Chinese costume proved nothing, inasmuch as they had

worn that costume for many years. The charges that plans and notes had

been found upon them, were also discredited by the American

representatives. Americans in private life in Shanghai, as well as

Europeans, both in official and private position, united to sustain the

position taken by the American representatives. These representations

were submitted to the state department at Washington, where Secretary

Gresham gave them careful and painstaking review. He lost no time in

deciding that the opinions of the diplomatic representatives of the

United States, who were on the ground and able to make a personal

investigation of the merits of the case, were worthless, and that the

allegations of the Chinese officials were those which were to be

accepted in their entirety. The result was that the United States

consul-general at Shanghai was commanded by the state department at

Washington to surrender to the Chinese officials these students, without

delay. He did, however, delay sufficiently to make a strenuous protest

against this action, offering further explanations why it should not be

done, and in all he was sustained by the other diplomats in Shanghai. He

declared that the surrender of these young men to China would be the

signal for the torture, and that the only true wisdom and kindness would

be to send them back to Japan. His protests were unavailing, and he was

again instructed to deliver them at once, only exacted from the Chinese

a promise that they should have fair trial and kind treatment.

To the distress of every friend of civilization in China, these two

students were therefore surrendered to the Chinese, and two days later,

after a trial which would be considered a mockery among ourselves,

without the semblance of judicial fairness, they were condemned to

death. The sentence was executed by means of the most shocking tortures

which Chinese fiendish barbarity has been able to devise, to the horror

of all foreigners living in that dark empire. The blot thus placed on

American state-craft as exemplified in its first test during this war,

can never be eradicated from the minds of those familiar with the

circumstances of the sad case.

The surrender of the two Japanese to the Chinese officials, by the

United States consul-general, threw the Japanese of Shanghai into a

state of the greatest consternation, as they had hitherto believed

themselves to be perfectly secure under the protection of the American

government. Their dismay was doubled a month later, when on October 8,

the two students were tortured to death, in spite of the promise which

had been made to Secretary Gresham by the Chinese minister at

Washington, that they should be properly treated. The pledge given by

the Chinese government was that these students should be treated as

prisoners of war, and tried by a competent court, after the manner of

civilized countries; and that their trial would be postponed until

Colonel Denby, the United States minister, could be present. Information

furnished to the American state department at Washington, its

representative in China, the American minister and the American

consul-general at Shanghai, was to the effect that the young men were

not spies, but were students in a commercial school established in Tokio

with a branch at Shanghai, the chief object of which was to impart a

knowledge of the commerce of China and Japan, and promote the trade

relations between the two countries. Under date of September 1, Colonel

Denby wrote to the secretary of state as follows:

“To give up these boys unconditionally is generally believed to be to

give them up to death. The viceroy of Nanking has, I am informed,

already demanded of the taotai of Shanghai why the heads of the two

spies have not been sent to him. They are judged and condemned in

advance. The governor of Formosa has posted a proclamation offering

prizes for Japanese heads. In a country where such a thing is possible,

it is needless to inquire what chance a Japanese accused as a spy would

have for his life. This case has attracted much attention in Japan. The

American minister at Tokio telegraphed this legation that these men were

innocent. Should any harm befall them, retaliation is inevitable. These

young men have the fullest sympathy of all foreigners in China, and the

advice of the high officials of all nationalities has been not to give

them up without conditions.”

[Illustration: CAPTURE OF PING-YANG, SEPTEMBER 16TH.]

Mr. Jernigan, the United States consul-general at Shanghai, wrote as

follows:

“Had it been known to the Chinese authorities that the limits of my

power as a protector of Japanese interests extended only to an inquiry

after arrest, all the students, fifty, would have been summarily

arrested, and it is believed here, as summarily dealt with as were their

two fellow students. I do not hesitate to conclude that the delay caused

by the course of this consulate general in the case of the two Japanese

students, prevented the arrest of as many as two hundred Japanese upon

mere suspicion, and has probably saved many from being executed and

others from being held for ransom.”

With this sort of a warning before them, the remaining Japanese

residents in Shanghai, who numbered about seven hundred persons,

consequently determined to quit the place at the earliest possible

moment. The Yokohama Specie bank transferred its business for the time

to a French bank and closed its doors. The Japanese storekeepers sold

off their stocks with all speed, and prepared to leave in the first

steamer for their native country.

Let us turn now to the hostile operations in Corea involving the rival

forces. In the last chapter the operations were related up to July 30,

on which date the Japanese drove the Chinese troops out of their

intrenched position at Asan. Five days later, on the 4th of August, the

conquerors re-entered Seoul in triumph, leaving the retreating Chinese

to make their way to their friends far to the northward. Barbarous as it

might have been in the Chinese to have no commissariat, they had in such

an encounter the advantage in marching, and were able to make a retreat

so successfully as to win the admiration of those who can recognize even

that sort of merit.

To understand the movements of forces from this period of the war, it

must be remembered that we have to do with a single Japanese force,

landing at Chemulpo and commanding and occupying Seoul, from which

center the movements were carried on. There were, however, two Chinese

forces, the original garrison of Asan, a port forty miles south of

Seoul, and a large force advancing by the road which enters Corea at its

northwest corner at Wi-ju. China anxious to meet and annihilate at one

blow if possible her despised foe, threw the latter body of troops,

drawn largely from the Manchoo garrisons, into the Corean peninsula,

where they advanced about one hundred and seventy miles inside the

border to the banks of the Tatong River at Ping-Yang. The Japanese were

awaiting the shock a little to the north of Seoul, and such was the

strength of their position that the Chinese, instead of advancing upon

them, halted at the capital city of the province, Ping-Yang, assuming

the defensive there and strongly fortifying it. One week after the

capture of Asan and the beginning of the retreat of the Chinese, the van

of the victorious army started from Seoul, marching towards Ping-Yang,

one hundred and forty miles distant, whence they were destined five

weeks later to be once more victorious in expelling the Chinese.

General Yeh, with his four thousand Chinese, made, as has been said, a

masterly retreat. Accompanied by many Coreans who joined his standard

when he was compelled to abandon his untenable position, he struck

northeastward and after twenty-five days effected a junction with the

Chinese main body at Ping-Yang, August 23. His column kept to the

mountains, where travel was difficult, and it was harassed by the enemy

all along the route. Nevertheless, the troops marched three hundred and

fifty miles through this almost impassable country, breaking through the

Japanese lines at Chong-ju, and reaching their friends at last.

The Japanese army, advancing on Ping-Yang at the same time, was

approaching that position by a course parallel with that of the Chinese,

but to the westward of it. The opposing forces were near enough to one

another that detached bodies frequently met in conflict, and the

skirmishes resulting were reported by whichever band happened to be

victorious, as a brilliant victory for the army. Because of this

condition of affairs, many battles were reported from one side or the

other that were scarcely mentioned by the opponents, whichever force it

might be, and the war spirit was thus constantly fed in China and Japan

without anything of considerable importance really happening.

About the middle of August the Japanese scouts pressing forward from

Pongsan came across an advance guard of the Chinese, who had seized the

telegraph line. A brisk skirmish ensued and the scouts fell back. A few

days later the Chinese advance guard, numbering five thousand men,

encountered the Japanese troops guarding the Ping-Yang passes, and drove

them out. Two days later an advance was made on the Japanese skirmish

lines, and the Japanese were again defeated, this time being turned back

as far as Chung-hwa, some twenty miles south of Ping-Yang.

[Illustration: FIRST SIGHT OF PING-YANG.]

When the Japanese troops started from Chemulpo and Seoul to advance on

Ping-Yang, a force of thirteen transports, protected by a strong convoy

of war vessels, also started for Ping-Yang, carrying some six thousand

troops who were intended to co-operate with the forces advancing by

land. On the 18th of August these troops were landed in Ping-Yang inlet,

and they immediately began their march up the cultivated valley of the

Tatong River in the direction of the city. When the force had proceeded

some distance, it was suddenly attacked by one thousand Chinese cavalry,

who succeeded in dividing the column into two parts. The Chinese

artillery at the same time caused great havoc among the Japanese. The

latter were thrown into complete disorder, and considerably reduced in

numbers they fled to the seashore, pursued by the cavalry who cut down

many of the fugitives. As they reached the coast the Japanese came

within the shelter of the guns of their war vessels, and the Chinese

were consequently compelled to desist from further pursuit.

The land skirmishes of which mention has been made, involved none except

the extreme van of the Japanese forces and the outposts of the Chinese.

The main body of the Japanese troops, some fifteen thousand strong,

found that the daily rate of progress northward did not exceed six

miles, so broken was the road by mountains and streams, the passage of

which presented great obstacles. This being the rate of advance, the

army had pushed some ninety miles from Seoul, when it was decided that a

change of military plan must be made. The Chinese assembling in such

great force at Ping-Yang, by the union of the two armies, threatened

Gensan, on the east coast of Corea. At Gensan there was an important

Japanese colony, and from there a trunk road led southward to Seoul. The

destruction of the colony, a flanking movement against the Japanese

army, and an irruption of Chinese troops into the Corean capital, might

have been the result of not including Gensan in the Japanese program of

operations. A force of ten thousand men was accordingly transported to

Gensan by sea, with instructions to move westward against Ping-Yang,

timing its advance and attack with those of the army from Seoul, whose

progress northward was suspended to allow time for the passage and

disembarkation of this column, and of the column which had been sent

from Chemulpo into the Ping-Yang inlet.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF THE YALU—SINKING OF THE CHIH-YUEN.]

While these land operations were going on, there were also some naval

movements under way, but the latter brought no very definite results. A

fleet of Japanese vessels, including a few iron clads and some merchant

steamships transformed into cruisers, made a reconnoissance of

Wei-hai-wei and Port Arthur about the 10th of August. A few shots were

exchanged at long range between the vessels and the forts at each of

these places, and the fleet then withdrew. The operations were of little

more importance than a mere ruse to draw fire and ascertain the position

and strength of the enemy’s guns. No submarine mines were exploded, or

torpedoes launched. At the request of the British admiral, Sir Edmund

Fremantle, the Japanese promised not to renew the attack upon

Wei-hai-wei or to bombard Chefoo without giving forty-eight hours’

notice to him, so that measures might be taken to protect the lives of

foreign residents.