[1] The dividing line between Liguria and Etruria was the lower
course of the river Macra (Magra), so that, while the harbour of Luna
was in the former, Luna itself was in the latter.
LI HUNG CHANG (1823-1901), Chinese statesman, was born on the 16th of
February 1823 at Hofei, in Ngan-hui. From his earliest youth he showed
marked ability, and when quite young he took his bachelor degree. In
1847 he became a Tsin-shi, or graduate of the highest order, and two
years later was admitted into the imperial Hanlin college. Shortly after
this the central provinces of the empire were invaded by the Taiping
rebels, and in defence of his native district he raised a regiment of
militia, with which he did such good service to the imperial cause that
he attracted the attention of Tsêng Kuo-fan, the generalissimo in
command. In 1859 he was transferred to the province of Fu-kien, where he
was given the rank of taotai, or intendant of circuit. But Tsêng had not
forgotten him, and at his request Li was recalled to take part against
the rebels. He found his cause supported by the "Ever Victorious Army,"
which, after having been raised by an American named Ward, was finally
placed under the command of Charles George Gordon. With this support Li
gained numerous victories leading to the surrender of Suchow and the
capture of Nanking. For these exploits he was made governor of Kiangsu,
was decorated with a yellow jacket, and was created an earl. An incident
connected with the surrender of Suchow, however, left a lasting stain
upon his character. By an arrangement with Gordon the rebel wangs, or
princes, yielded Nanking on condition that their lives should be spared.
In spite of the assurance given them by Gordon, Li ordered their instant
execution. This breach of faith so aroused Gordon's indignation that he
seized a rifle, intending to shoot the falsifier of his word, and would
have done so had not Li saved himself by flight. On the suppression of
the rebellion (1864) Li took up his duties as governor, but was not long
allowed to remain in civil life. On the outbreak of the rebellion of the
Nienfei, a remnant of the Taipings, in Ho-nan and Shan-tung (1866) he
was ordered again to take the field, and after some misadventures he
succeeded in suppressing the movement. A year later he was appointed
viceroy of Hukwang, where he remained until 1870, when the Tientsin
massacre necessitated his transfer to the scene of the outrage. He was,
as a natural consequence, appointed to the viceroyalty of the
metropolitan province of Chihli, and justified his appointment by the
energy with which he suppressed all attempts to keep alive the
anti-foreign sentiment among the people. For his services he was made
imperial tutor and member of the grand council of the empire, and was
decorated with many-eyed peacocks' feathers.
To his duties as viceroy were added those of the superintendent of
trade, and from that time until his death, with a few intervals of
retirement, he practically conducted the foreign policy of China. He
concluded the Chifu convention with Sir Thomas Wade (1876), and thus
ended the difficulty caused by the murder of Mr Margary in Yunnan; he
arranged treaties with Peru and Japan, and he actively directed the
Chinese policy in Korea. On the death of the emperor T'ungchi in 1875
he, by suddenly introducing a large armed force into the capital,
effected a _coup d'état_ by which the emperor Kwang Sü was put on the
throne under the tutelage of the two dowager empresses; and in 1886, on
the conclusion of the Franco-Chinese war, he arranged a treaty with
France. Li was always strongly impressed with the necessity of
strengthening the empire, and when viceroy of Chihli he raised a large
well-drilled and well-armed force, and spent vast sums both in
fortifying Port Arthur and the Taku forts and in increasing the navy.
For years he had watched the successful reforms effected in Japan and
had a well-founded dread of coming into conflict with that empire. But
in 1894 events forced his hand, and in consequence of a dispute as to
the relative influence of China and Japan in Korea, war broke out. The
result proved the wisdom of Li's fears. Both on land and at sea the
Chinese forces were ignominiously routed, and in 1895, on the fall of
Wei-hai-wei, the emperor sued for peace. With characteristic subterfuge
his advisers suggested as peace envoys persons whom the mikado very
properly and promptly refused to accept, and finally Li was sent to
represent his imperial master at the council assembled at Shimonoseki.
With great diplomatic skill Li pleaded the cause of his country, but
finally had to agree to the cession of Formosa, the Pescadores, and the
Liaotung peninsula to the conquerors, and to the payment of an indemnity
of 200,000,000 taels. By a subsequent arrangement the Liaotung peninsula
was restored to China, in exchange for an increased indemnity. During
the peace discussions at Shimonoseki, as Li was being borne through the
narrow streets of the town, a would-be assassin fired a pistol
point-blank in his face. The wound inflicted was not serious, and after
a few days' rest Li was able to take up again the suspended
negotiations. In 1896 he represented the emperor at the coronation of
the tsar, and visited Germany, Belgium, France, England, and the United
States of America. For some time after his return to China his services
were demanded at Peking, where he was virtually constituted minister for
foreign affairs; but in 1900 he was transferred to Canton as viceroy of
the two Kwangs. The Boxer movement, however, induced the emperor to
recall him to the capital, and it was mainly owing to his exertions
that, at the conclusion of the outbreak, a protocol of peace was signed
in September 1901. For many months his health had been failing, and he
died on the 7th of November 1901. He left three sons and one daughter.
(R. K. D.)
LILAC,[1] or PIPE TREE (_Syringa vulgaris_), a tree of the olive family,
Oleaceae. The genus contains about ten species of ornamental hardy
deciduous shrubs native in eastern Europe and temperate Asia. They have
opposite, generally entire leaves and large panicles of small regular
flowers, with a bell-shaped calyx and a 4-lobed cylindrical corolla,
with the two stamens characteristic of the order attached at the mouth
of the tube. The common lilac is said to have come from Persia in the
16th century, but is doubtfully indigenous in Hungary, the borders of
Moldavia, &c. Two kinds of _Syringa_, viz. _alba_ and _caerulea_, are
figured and described by Gerard (_Herball_, 1597), which he calls the
white and the blue pipe privets. The former is the common privet,
_Ligustrum vulgare_, which, and the ash tree, _Fraxinus excelsior_, are
the only members of the family native in Great Britain. The latter is
the lilac, as both figure and description agree accurately with it. It
was carried by the European colonists to north-east America, and is
still grown in gardens of the northern and middle states.
There are many fine varieties of lilac, both with single and double
flowers; they are among the commonest and most beautiful of
spring-flowering shrubs. The so-called Persian lilac of gardens (_S.
dubia_, _S. chinensis_ var. _Rothomagensis_), also known as the
Chinese or Rouen lilac, a small shrub 4 to 6 ft. high with intense
violet flowers appearing in May and June, is considered to be a hybrid
between _S. vulgaris_ and _S. persica_--the true Persian lilac, a
native of Persia and Afghanistan, a shrub 4 to 7 ft. high with
bluish-purple or white flowers. Of other species, _S. Josikaea_, from
Transylvania, has scentless bluish-purple flowers; _S. Emodi_, a
native of the Himalayas, is a handsome shrub with large ovate leaves
and dense panicles of purple or white strongly scented flowers. Lilacs
grow freely and flower profusely in almost any soil and situation, but
when neglected are apt to become choked with suckers which shoot up in
great numbers from the base. They are readily propagated by means of
these suckers.
Syringa is also a common name for the mock-orange _Philadelphus
coronarius_ (nat. ord. _Saxifragaceae_), a handsome shrub 2 to 10 ft.
high, with smooth ovate leaves and clusters of white flowers which
have a strong orange-like scent. It is a native of western Asia, and
perhaps some parts of southern Europe.