two traversed the country far and wide, preaching the religion of the
Christian God. Their success was great, their converts all giving up the
worship of Confucius and renouncing idolatry. Some of them were arrested
for destroying idols, among them Fung-Yun-san, but on the way to prison
he converted the soldiers of his guard, who set him free and followed
him as disciples. Many of the converts were seized with convulsions,
some professed to have the gift of healing, and the movement took on the
phase of strong religious ecstasy and enthusiasm.
It was in 1850 that this effort assumed a political character. A large
force of pirates had been driven by a British fleet from the sea, and on
shore they joined the bandits of the south, and became rebels against
the Manchu rule. Hung's converts were mostly among this people, who soon
took a strong stand against the misrule of the Tartars. The movement
grew rapidly. From all sides recruits came to the rebel ranks, among
them two women chiefs, each at the head of about two thousand men. Hung
now proclaimed himself as sent by Heaven to drive out the Tartars--whom
he declared to be examples of all that was base and vile--and to place a
Chinese emperor on his country's throne.
Putting his forces in march, Hung made a remarkable progress of about
one thousand miles to Woo-chang on the Yang-tse-Kiang and down that
stream, the army fighting its way through all opposition. When towns and
cities submitted their people were spared. Slaughter awaited those who
resisted. Food and clothing were obtained by requisition on the people.
The imperial troops were hurled back in defeat wherever met. Before
battle it was the custom of the insurgents to kneel down and invoke the
protection of God, after which they would charge their enemies with
resistless zeal. City after city fell before them, and the whole empire
regarded their march with surprise and dismay.
The converts professed faith in the Christian Scriptures, of which an
imperfect translation was distributed among them. Hung announced that in
case of success the Bible would be substituted for the works of
Confucius. The Sabbath was strictly observed among them, forms of prayer
to the Supreme Being were in constant use, and Englishmen who came among
them spoke in the highest terms of their pious devotion and their great
kindliness of feeling. They welcomed Europeans as "brethren from across
the sea" and as fellow-worshippers of "Yesu."
From Woo-chang Hung led his army in 1852 down the river towards Nanking,
which he had fixed upon as the capital of his new empire. The
disaffection of the people of Nanking was so great that little
resistance was made except by the Tartar garrison, who were all put to
death when the city fell. Being now in possession of the ancient capital
of the kingdom, Hung proclaimed himself emperor under the name of Teen
Wang, or "Heavenly King," giving to his dynasty the title of the
Tai-ping.
And now for a number of years victory followed every movement of the
Tai-ping army. Four leading cities of Central China were quickly
occupied, and a brilliant march to the north was begun, in which,
cutting loose from its base of supplies, the rebel host forced its way
through all obstacles. The army penetrated as far north as Tien-tsin,
and Peking itself was in imminent peril, being saved only by a severe
repulse of the rebel forces. The advance of the British and French upon
Peking aided the cause of the insurgents, and fear of them had much to
do with the prompt surrender of the city to the foreign invaders.
After the war the tide of the insurrection turned and its decline began,
mainly through the aid given by the English to the government forces.
Ignoring the fact that the movement was a Christian one, and might have
gone far towards establishing Christianity among the Chinese, and
friendly relations with foreign peoples, the English seemed mainly
governed by the circumstance that opium was prohibited by the Tai-ping
government at Nanking, the trade in this pernicious drug proving a far
stronger interest with them than the hopeful results from the missionary
movement.
Operations against the insurgents took place through the treaty ports,
and British and French troops aided the imperial forces. The British
cruisers treated the Tai-ping junks as pirates, because they captured
Chinese vessels, and the soldiers and sailors of Great Britain took part
in forty-three battles and massacres in which over four hundred thousand
of the Tai-pings were killed. More than two millions of them are said to
have died of starvation in the famine caused by the operations of the
Chinese, British, and French allies.
General Ward, an American, led a force of natives against them, but
their final overthrow was due to the famous Colonel Gordon, "Chinese
Gordon," as he was subsequently known. He was not long in organizing the
imperial troops, the "Ever-Victorious Army," into a powerful force, and
in taking the field against the rebels. From that day their fortunes
declined. City after city was taken from their garrisons, and in July,
1864, Nanking was invested with an immense army. Its fall ended the
hopes of the Tai-ping dynasty. For three days the slaughter continued in
its streets, while the new emperor avoided the sword of the foe by
suicide. Those who escaped fled to their former homes, where many of
them joined bands of banditti.
Thus came to a disastrous end, through the aid of foreign arms, the most
remarkable insurrectionary movement that China has ever known. What
would have been its result had the Chinese been left to themselves it is
not easy to say. The indications are strong that the Manchu dynasty
would have fallen and the Chinese regained their own again. And the
Christian faith and worship of the rebels, with their marked
friendliness to foreigners, might have worked a moral and political
revolution in the Chinese empire, and lifted that ancient land into a
far higher position than it occupies to-day. But the interests of the
opium trade were threatened, and before this all loftier considerations
had to give way.
[Illustration: A BRONZE-WORKER'S SHOP.]
_COREA AND ITS NEIGHBORS._
We have thus far followed the course of two distinct streams of history,
that of Japan and that of China, flowing near each other, yet touching
at very few points in their course. Near the end of the nineteenth
century these two streams flowed together, and the histories of the two
countries became one, in the war in which their difference in military
skill was so strikingly displayed. Japan made use of the lessons which
it had well learned in its forty years of intercourse with Europe. China
fought in the obsolete fashion of a past age. As a result, the
cumbersome mediaeval giant went down before the alert modern dwarf, and
the people of Eastern Asia were taught a new and astounding lesson in
the art of war.
Between China and Japan lies the kingdom of Corea, separated by a river
from the former, by a strait of the ocean from the latter, claimed as a
vassal state by both, yet preserving its individuality as a state
against the pair. It has often been invaded by China, but never
conquered. It has twice been invaded by Japan, as described in preceding
tales, and made tributary, but not conquered. Thus it remained until the
end of the nineteenth century, when it was to become the cause of a war
between the two rival empires.
During the long history of China and Japan these countries very rarely
came into conflict with each other. Only once has China invaded Japan,
when Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor, attempted its conquest with a
great fleet, the fate of which we have already told. This effort had its
influence upon Japan, for during the succeeding three centuries pirates
from the island empire boldly raided the coast of China, devastating the
maritime provinces and causing immense loss and suffering. They often
built forts on the shore, from which they sallied forth to plunder and
burn, keeping their ships at hand ready to fly if defeated. Thus they
went on, plundering and destroying, their raids reaching a ruinous stage
in 1553 and the succeeding years. They defeated the Chinese troops in
several battles, ravaged the whole surrounding country, carried off
immense quantities of spoil, sold multitudes of prisoners into slavery,
and in seven or eight years slaughtered over one hundred thousand
soldiers and citizens of China. The raids resembled those made at an
earlier date by the Normans on the coast of France and the Danes on that
of England, the sea-rovers pouncing down at unexpected times and places
and plundering and burning at will.
These forays of the pirates, in which the government took no part, were
followed in 1592 by an invasion in force of the kingdom of Corea. In
this the invaders rapidly swept all before them, quickly overrunning the
southern half of the kingdom and threatening China. The Chinese then
came to the aid of their helpless neighbors, and for six years the war
went on, the Japanese being usually successful in the field, but
gradually forced back from want of supplies, as the country was
devastated and their own land distant. In the end Hideyoshi, the shogun,
died, and the army was withdrawn, Japan holding the port of Fusan as the
sole result of its costly effort. This Corean port it still retains.
And now three hundred years passed away in which Corea remained free and
isolated from the world. It wanted no more intercourse with foreigners.
Once a year a fair was held in the neutral zone between China and Corea,
but any Chinaman found on Corean soil after the fair ended was liable to
be put to death. The Japanese were kept out by laws as severe. In fact,
the doors of the kingdom were closed against all of foreign birth, the
coasts carefully patrolled, and beacon-fires kindled on the hill-tops to
warn the capital whenever any strange vessel came within sight. All
foreigners wrecked on the coast were to be held as prisoners until
death. Such was the threatened fate of some Dutch sailors wrecked there
during the seventeenth century, who escaped after fourteen years'
confinement. Dread of China and Japan induced the king to send envoys
with tribute to Peking and Yedo, but the tribute was small, and the
isolation was maintained, Corea winning for itself the names of the
Hermit Nation and the Forbidden Land.
It was not until within recent years that this policy of isolation was
overthrown and Corea opened to the world. How this was done may be
briefly told. In spite of the Corean watchfulness, some French
missionaries long ago penetrated into the land and made many converts,
who were afterwards severely persecuted. French fleets were sent there
in 1866 and later, and a fight took place in which the French were
repulsed. In consequence the persecution of the Christians grew more
severe. War-ships were sent by different nations to try to open trade,
but in vain, and finally an American trading vessel was destroyed and
its crew massacred.
This affair brought a fleet from the United States to the coast of Corea
in 1871, which, being fired on from the shore, attacked and captured
five Corean forts. The opening of Corea was finally due to Japan. In
1876 the Japanese did what Commodore Perry had done to themselves
twenty-two years before. A fleet was sent which sailed up within sight
of Seoul, the capital, and by a display of men and guns forced the
government to sign a treaty opening the country to trade through the
port of Fusan. In 1880 Chemulpo was also made an open port. Two years
afterwards a United States fleet obtained similar concessions, and
within a short time most of the countries of Europe were admitted to
trade, and the long isolation of the Hermit Kingdom was at an end.
These events were followed by a rivalry between China and Japan, in
which the latter country showed itself much the more active and alert.
Imposing Japanese consulates were built in Seoul, flourishing
settlements were laid out, and energetic steps taken to make Japan the
paramount power in Corea. As a result, the Coreans became divided into
two factions, a progressive one which favored the Japanese, and a
conservative one which was more in touch with the backwardness of China
and whose members hated the stirring islanders.
In 1882 a plot was formed by the Min faction, the active element in the
conservative party, to drive the Japanese out of Seoul. The intruders
were attacked, a number of them were murdered, and the minister and
others had to fight their way to the sea-shore, where they escaped on a
junk. Two years afterwards a similar outbreak took place, and the
Japanese were once more forced to fight for their lives from Seoul to
the sea. On this occasion Chinese soldiers aided the Coreans, an act
which threatened to involve Japan and China in war. The dispute was
settled in 1885 by a treaty, in which both countries agreed to withdraw
their troops from Corea and to send no officers to drill the Corean
troops. If at any future time disturbances should call for the sending
of troops to Corea, each country must notify the other before doing so.
And thus, for nine years, the rivalry of the foreign powers ceased.
Meanwhile internal discontent was rife in the Corean realm. The people
were oppressed by heavy taxes and the other evils of tyranny and
misgovernment, excited by the political questions described, and stirred
to great feeling by the labors of the Christian missionaries and the
persecution of their converts. One outcome of this was a new religious
sect. At the same time that the Tai-ping rebels were spreading their new
doctrines in China, a prophet, Choi-Chei-Ou by name, arose in Corea, who
taught a doctrine made up of dogmas of the three religions of China,
with some Christian ideas thrown in. This prophet was seized as a Roman
Catholic in 1865 and executed, but his followers, known as the
Tong-Haks, held firm to their faith. In 1893 some of them appeared with
complaints of ill usage at the king's palace, and in March, 1894, they
broke out in open revolt, and increased in numbers so rapidly that by
May they were said to be twenty thousand strong.
The government troops drove them back into a mountain region, but here
the pursuers were cunningly led into an ambuscade and routed with severe
loss. This victory of the rebels filled the government with
consternation, which became greater when the insurgents, on June 1, took
the capital of the province of Choella. It was now feared that they would
soon be at the gates of Seoul.
This insurrection of the Tong-Haks was the inciting cause of the war
between China and Japan. The Min faction, then at the head of affairs,
was so alarmed that aid from China was implored, and a force of about
two thousand Chinese troops was sent to the port of Asan. Some Chinese
men-of-war were also despatched. This action of China was quickly
followed by similar action on the part of Japan, which was jealous of
any Chinese movement in Corea. The Japanese minister, who had been
absent, returned to Seoul with four hundred marines. Other troops
quickly followed, and in a short time there were several thousand
Japanese soldiers stationed around the Corean capital.
The sending of troops to Corea was succeeded by disputes between the two
foreign powers. China claimed to be suzerain of Corea, a claim which
Japan sternly denied. On the other hand, the Japanese government
declared that the Tong-Hak movement was a natural result of the
prevailing misgovernment, and could not be overcome unless radical
reforms were carried out. China was asked to take part in instituting a
series of reforms, but declined.
The situation quickly grew serious. The Mins, who controlled the
government, declared that the Japanese troops must be withdrawn before
the reforms could be instituted. The Japanese refused. Neither China nor
Japan would yield, but the latter held the capital and had the
controlling position.
It was not long before a crisis came. On July 20, Otori, the Japanese
minister, made certain demands on the Corean government, and stated that
the presence of the Chinese soldiers was a threat to the independence of
the country, their general having proclaimed that Corea was a vassal
state. On the 22d the officials answered that the Chinese had come at
their request and would stay until asked to leave. The next step of the
Japanese was a warlike one. On the early morning of the 23d two
battalions marched from their camp, stating that they were going to
attack the Chinese at Asan. But they quickly changed the direction of
their march, advanced upon the palace, drove out the Corean guard, and
took possession both of the palace and of the king. They declared they
had come to deliver him from an obnoxious faction and restore his
freedom of action.
The Min party was at once driven out and replaced by new officials
chosen from the progressive faction. With a feeble resistance, in which
only two men were killed and a few wounded, a revolution had been
accomplished and a government which favored Japan established. The new
authorities at once declared the Chinese at Asan to be intruders instead
of defenders, and requested the aid of the Japanese to drive them out.
War between China and Japan was at hand.
Hostilities were precipitated by a startling event. On July 25 three
Japanese men-of-war, cruising in the Yellow Sea, sighted two ships of
the Chinese navy convoying a transport which had on board about twelve
hundred troops. They were a portion of a large force which was being
sent to Corea with the purpose of reinforcing the troops at Asan and
expelling the Japanese.
The Chinese ships were cleared for action, and, though the Japanese were
ignorant of the late event at Seoul, they at once accepted the wager of
battle, and attacked the ships of the enemy with such effect that they
were quickly crippled and put to flight. The Naniwa, the Japanese
flag-ship, now approached the transport, a chartered British vessel
named the Kowshing and flying the British flag. A boat was sent from the
Japanese cruiser to the steamer, her papers were examined, and orders
given that she should follow the Naniwa. This the Chinese generals
refused to do, excitedly declaring that they would perish rather than be
taken prisoners. Their excitement was shared by the troops, who ran
wildly about the deck, threatening the officers and the Europeans on
board with death if they attempted to obey the order of the enemy.
They trusted to the protection of the British flag, but it proved of no
avail, for the captain of the Naniwa, finding his orders defied, opened
fire on the transport, with such effect that in half an hour it went to
the bottom, carrying down with it over one thousand souls. The officers,
the Europeans, and many of the Chinese sprang overboard, but numbers of
these were shot in the water by the frantic soldiers on board. In all
only about one hundred and seventy escaped.
This terrible act of war at sea was accompanied by a warlike movement on
land, the Japanese forces leaving Seoul on the same day to march on Asan
and expel the Chinese. On the 29th they attacked the enemy in their
works and quickly drove them out, little resistance being made. These
events preceded the declaration of war, which was made by both countries
on August 1, 1894.
The story of the war that followed was one of unceasing victory for the
Japanese, their enemy making scarcely an effort at resistance, and
fleeing from powerful strongholds on which they had expended months of
hard labor with scarcely a blow in their defence. Such was the case with
Port Arthur, which in other hands might have proved a Gibraltar to
assailing troops. The war continued until April 17, 1895, when a treaty
of peace was signed, which remarkably changed the relative positions of
the two powers before the world, China having met with utter and
irretrievable defeat. The war yielded but a single event of novel
interest, the famous naval battle of Hai-yang, which we shall describe
more at length.
_THE BATTLE OF THE IRON-CLADS._
In these latter days the world seems overturned. Events of startling
interest are every year taking place, new discoveries are made, new
inventions produced, new explorations completed, peoples and tribes
formerly not even known by name are becoming prominent in daily history,
and nations which seemed sunk in a death-like slumber are awakening and
claiming a place among the leading powers of the world. And of all these
events perhaps the most astounding is that which took place in
September, 1894, the battle of iron-clads in the Yellow Sea.
About forty years before there had begun among Western nations a
remarkable revolution in naval warfare, the substitution of the
iron-clad for the wooden man-of-war. During the interval this evolution
of the iron-clad had gone briskly on, until by 1894 the nations of
Europe and America possessed fleets of such wonderful powers of
resistance that the naval artillery of the past would have had no more
effect upon them than hailstones upon an iron roof. But a revolution in
artillery had also taken place. The old smooth-bore guns had been
replaced by great rifled cannon capable of sending a heavy ball for ten
or twelve miles and of piercing through steel plates of moderate
thickness as through so much paper. With these came the quick-fire guns,
from whose gaping mouths cannon-balls could be rained like the drops of
a rapid shower, and the torpedoes, capable of tearing ruinous holes in
the sides and bottoms of the mightiest ships.
Such was the work that was doing in the West while the East slept calmly
on. But no occasion had arisen for putting to the proof these great
floating engines of war. Theories in abundance were offered of the
probable effect upon one another of two modern fleets, but the dread of
terrible results had a potent influence, and fear of the destructive
powers of modern ships and armies had proved the strongest of arguments
in keeping the nations of the world at peace.
The astounding event spoken of is the fact that the iron-clad
battle-ship of the present day was first put to proof in the waters of
the Yellow Sea, in a war between two nations which half a century before
were hardly beyond the bow-and-arrow stage of warfare, and were still
novices in the modern art of war. The naval inventions made in Europe
and America had their first trial in a conflict between China and Japan,
and the interest with which maritime nations read of the doings of these
powerful engines of war in those far-off waters was intense.
Japan had been alert in availing itself of all the world knew about war,
providing its army with the best modern weapons and organizing them in
the most effective European method, while purchased iron-clads replaced
its old fleet of junks. China, though doing little for the improvement
of its army, had bought itself a modern fleet, two of its ships, the
Ting-yuen and Chen-yuen, having fourteen inches of iron armor, and
surpassing in size and strength anything that Japan had to show. These
vessels were all armed with the most effective of modern weapons, were
handled by men trained in the theories of European war, and seemed
capable of the most destructive results.
On the 17th of September, 1894, an epoch-making battle of these
iron-clads took place. It was a remarkably different event from the
first engagement of this sort, that between the Monitor and the Merrimac
in Hampton Roads, for the guns now brought into play would have pierced
the armor of those vessels as if it had been made of tin. The Japanese
squadron had just convoyed a fleet of transports, bearing ten thousand
troops and thirty-five hundred horses, to Chemulpo, near the Corean
capital. The Chinese squadron had similarly convoyed four thousand
troops to the Yalu River. These were landed on the 16th, and on the
morning of the 17th the fleet started on its return. On the same morning
the Japanese fleet reached the island of Hai-yang, leaving their
torpedo-boats behind, as there was no thought of fighting a battle.
About nine o'clock smoke was seen in the distance, and at eleven-forty
the Chinese fleet came into sight.