THE TAE-PING REBELLION.--SCENES ON THE GREAT RIVER.
The evidences of a large population along the Yang-tse were easy to see;
but, nevertheless, Frank and Fred were somewhat disappointed. They had
read of the overcrowded condition of China, and they saw the great
numbers of boats that navigated the river, and consequently they looked
for a proportionately dense mass of people on shore. Sometimes, for two
or three hours at a time, not a house could be seen; and at others the
villages were strung along in a straggling sort of way, as though they
were thinly inhabited, and wished to make as good a show as possible.
There were many places where the land did not seem to be under
cultivation at all, as it was covered with a dense growth of reeds and
rushes. In some localities the country appeared so much like a
wilderness that the boys half expected to see wild beasts running about
undisturbed; they began to speculate as to the kind of beasts that were
to be found there, and finally questioned Dr. Bronson on the subject.
The Doctor explained to them that this desolation was more apparent than
real, and that if they should make a journey on shore, at almost any
point, for a few miles back from the river, they would find all the
people they wanted. "About thirty years ago," said he, "they had a
rebellion in China; it lasted for a long time, and caused an immense
destruction of life and property. The rebels had possession of the
cities along the Yang-tse, and at one period it looked as though they
would succeed in destroying the government."
"Did they destroy the cities that we see in ruins?" Fred asked.
"Yes," answered the Doctor, "they destroyed several cities so completely
that not a hundred inhabitants remained, where formerly there had been
many thousands; and other cities were so greatly injured that the traces
of the rebel occupation have not been removed. I believe there is not a
city that escaped uninjured, and you have seen for yourselves how some
of them have suffered.
"The rebellion," he continued, "is known in history as the Tae-ping
insurrection. The words 'tae ping' mean 'general peace,' and were
inscribed on the banners of the rebels. The avowed intention of the
leader of the revolt was to overthrow the imperial power, and deliver
the country from its oppressors. There were promises of a division of
property, or, at all events, the rebels were to have free license to
plunder wherever they went; and as there are always a great many people
who have everything to gain and nothing to lose, the rebellion gathered
strength as time went on. The leaders managed to convince the foreigners
that they were inclined to look favorably on Christianity, and the idea
went abroad that the Tae-pings were a sort of Chinese Protestants, who
wanted to do away with old abuses, and were in favor of progress and of
more intimate relations with foreign nations. Many of the missionaries
in China were friendly to the rebellion, and so were some of the
merchants and others established there.
[Illustration: TAE-PING REBELS.]
"So powerful did the rebels become that they had nearly a third of the
best part of the empire under their control, and the imperial
authorities became seriously alarmed. City after city had been captured
by the rebels, and at one time the overthrow of the government appeared
almost certain. The rebels were numerous and well officered, and they
had the advantage of foreign instruction, and, to some extent, of
foreign arms. The imperialists went to war after the old system, which
consisted of sound rather than sense. They were accustomed to beat
gongs, fire guns, and make a great noise to frighten the enemy; and as
the enemy knew perfectly well what it was all about, it did not amount
to much. The suppression of the rebellion was largely due to foreigners,
and the most prominent of these was an American."
"What! an American leader for Chinese?"
"Yes, an American named Ward, who rose to be a high-class mandarin among
the Chinese, and since his death temples have been erected to his honor.
He came to Shanghai in 1860, and was looking around for something to do.
The rebels were within forty miles of the city, and their appearance in
front of it was hourly expected. They were holding the city of
Soon-keong, and Ward proposed to take this place by contract, as one
might propose to build a house or a railway line."
The boys laughed at the idea of carrying on war by contract, but were
reminded that they were in China, where things are done otherwise than
in Europe and America.
"The conditions of the contract were that Ward should raise a force of
fifty Malays, and undertake the capture of a walled city having a
garrison of four thousand rebels. If he succeeded, he was to have a
certain sum of money--I think it was ten thousand dollars--and was then
to raise a force of one thousand Chinese with twenty-five foreign
officers, and was to have command of this army for the purpose of
suppressing the rebellion.
"Soon-keong has four gates, and they were opened at a certain hour in
the morning. Ward went there secretly one night, and sent fourteen of
his men to each of three of the gates, while he himself went with the
remaining eight men to the fourth gate. The rebels suspected nothing,
and at the usual time the gates were opened. Ward's men rushed in
simultaneously at the four gates, made a great noise, set fire to
several buildings, killed everybody they met, and pushed on for the
centre of the town. In less than ten minutes the enemy had fled, and the
battle was over. Ward was in full possession of the place, and a force
of the imperial army, which was waiting near by, was marched in, to make
sure that the rebels would not return.
[Illustration: GENERAL WARD.]
"Ward raised the army that he had proposed, and from one thousand it
soon grew to three thousand. It was armed with foreign rifles, and had a
battery of European artillery. The officers were English, American,
French, and of other foreign nationalities, and the men were drilled in
the European fashion. So uniformly were they successful that they
received the name of 'the Invincibles,' and retained it through all
their career. The American adventurer became 'General' Ward, was
naturalized as a Chinese subject, was made a red-button mandarin, and
received from the government a present of a large tract of land and a
fine house in Shanghai. He was several times wounded, and finally, in
October, 1862, he was killed in an attack on one of the rebel
strongholds.
[Illustration: THE GATE WHICH WARD ATTACKED.]
"Ward was succeeded by an American named Burgevine, who had been one of
his subordinates. Burgevine was quite as successful as Ward had been,
and at one time with his army of 5000 trained Chinese he defeated 95,000
of the Tae-ping rebels. This made an end of the rebellion in that part
of the country, but it was flourishing in other localities. Burgevine
had some trouble with the authorities, which led to his retirement; and
after that the Invincible army was commanded by an English officer named
Gordon, who remained at the head of it till the downfall of the
Tae-pings and the end of the rebellion. The success of this little army
against the large force of the rebels shows the great advantages of
discipline. In all time and in all countries this advantage has been
apparent, but in none more so than in China. If the power of Ward and
his men had been with the rebels instead of against them, it is highly
probable that the government would have been overthrown. A few hundred
well-trained soldiers could have decided the fate of an empire."
[Illustration: GENERAL BURGEVINE.]
The conversation about the Tae-ping rebellion and its termination
occurred while the steamer was steadily making her way against the muddy
waters of the Yang-tse. The party were sitting on the forward deck of
the boat, and just as the closing words of the Doctor's remarks were
pronounced, there was a new and unexpected sensation.
The day was perfectly clear, but suddenly a cloud appeared to be forming
like a thick mist. As they came nearer to it they discovered what it
was, and made the discovery through their sense of feeling. It was a
cloud of locusts moving from the southern to the northern bank of the
river; they had devastated a large area, and were now hastening to fresh
woods and pastures new. They filled the air so densely as to obscure the
sun, and for more than an hour the steamer was enveloped in them. These
locusts are the scourge of China, as they are of other countries. They
are worse in some years than in others, and in several instances they
have been the cause of local famines, or of great scarcity.
Of course many of the locusts fell on the deck of the steamer, and found
their way to the cabins. The flight of the cloud was from south to
north, and Frank observed a remarkable peculiarity about the movements
of individual members of the immense swarm. He captured several and
placed them on the cabin table. No matter in what direction he turned
their heads, they immediately faced about towards the north, and as long
as they were in the cabin they continued to try to escape on the
northern side. After the boat had passed through the swarm, the boys
released several of the captives, and found that, no matter how they
were directed at the moment of their release, they immediately turned
and flew away to the north.
"They've one consolation," Fred remarked--"they have their compasses
always about them, and have no need to figure up their reckoning with
'Bowditch's Navigator' to know which way to steer."
"Don't you remember," Frank retorted, "our old teacher used to tell us
that instinct was often superior to reason. Birds and animals and fishes
make their annual migrations, and know exactly where they are going,
which is more than most men could begin to do. These locusts are guided
by instinct, and they are obliged to be, as they would starve if they
had to reason about their movements, and study to know where to go. Just
think of a locust sitting down to a map of China, when there were
millions of other locusts all doing the same thing. They wouldn't have
maps enough to go around; and when they got to a place they wanted to
reach, they would find that others had been there before them and eaten
up all the grass."
Frank's practical argument about instinct received the approval of his
friends, and then the topic of conversation was changed to something
else.
Both the boys were greatly interested in the various processes of work
that were visible on shore. Groups of men were to be seen cutting reeds
for fuel, or for the roofs of houses, where they make a warm thatch that
keeps out the rain and snow. Other groups were gathering cotton, hemp,
millet, and other products of the earth; and at several points there
were men with blue hands, who were extracting indigo from the plant
which produces it. The plant is bruised and soaked in water till the
coloring-matter is drawn out; the indigo settles to the bottom of the
tub, and the water is poured off; and after being dried in the sun, the
cake forms the indigo of commerce. In many places there were little
stages about thirty feet high, and just large enough at the top for one
man, who worked there patiently and alone. Frank could not make out the
employment of these men, and neither could Fred. After puzzling awhile
over the matter, they referred it to Doctor Bronson.
"Those men," the Doctor explained, "are engaged in making ropes or
cables out of the fibres of bamboo."
"Why don't they work on the ground instead of climbing up there?" Fred
asked.
"Because," was the reply, "they want to keep the cable straight while
they are braiding it. As fast as they braid it it hangs down by its own
weight, and coils on the ground beneath. No expensive machinery is
needed, and the principal labor in the business is to carry the bamboo
fibre to the platform where it is wanted. This cable is very strong and
cheap, and takes the place of hemp rope in a great many ways. It is
larger and rougher than a hempen rope of the same strength, but the
Chinese are willing to sacrifice beauty for cheapness in the majority of
practical things."
The Chinese have a way of catching fish which is peculiar to themselves,
and much practised along the Yang-tse. A net several feet square hangs
at the end of a long pole, and is lowered gently into the water and then
suddenly raised. Any fish that happens to be swimming over the net at
the time is liable to be taken in. He is lifted from the large net by
means of a small scoop, and the raising and lowering process is resumed.
Fred thought it was an excellent employment for a lazy man, and Frank
suggested that it would be better for two lazy men than one, as they
could keep each other company.
The boys were desirous of seeing how the Chinese catch fish with the aid
of cormorants, and were somewhat disappointed when told that these birds
were rarely used on the Yang-tse, but must be looked for on some of the
lakes and ponds away from the great stream, and particularly in the
southern part of the empire. The Doctor thus described this novel mode
of catching fish:
"Three or four cormorants and a raft are necessary in this way of
fishing. The cormorants are stupid-looking birds about the size of
geese, but are of a dark color, so that they cannot be readily seen by
the fish. The raft is of bamboo logs bound together, and about three
feet wide by twenty in length. The fisherman is armed with a paddle for
propelling his raft and a scoop-net for taking the fish after they have
been caught by the cormorant, and he has a large basket for holding the
fish after they have been safely secured. Each cormorant has a cord or
ring around his neck to prevent him from swallowing the fish he has
taken, and it is so tight that he cannot get down any but the smallest
fish.
[Illustration: FISHING WITH CORMORANTS.]
"The birds dive off from the raft, and can swim under water with great
rapidity. Sometimes they are not inclined to fish, and require to be
pushed off, and, perhaps, beaten a little by their master. If they have
been well trained, they swim directly towards the raft, when they rise
to the surface; but sometimes a cormorant will go off the other way, in
the hope of being able to swallow the fish he holds in his mouth. In
such case the fisherman follows and captures the runaway, punishing him
soundly for his misconduct. Whenever a bird catches a fish and brings it
to the raft, he is rewarded with a mouthful of food. In this way he soon
learns to associate his success with something to eat; and a cormorant
that has been well trained has a good deal of fidelity in his
composition. I am uncertain which to admire most, the dexterity of the
fisherman in handling his raft, or the perseverance and celerity of the
cormorants."
On her arrival at Han-kow, the steamer was tied up to the bank in front
of the portion of the city occupied by the foreigners. Han-kow is on a
broad tongue of land at the junction of the Han with the Yang-tse. On
the opposite side of the Han is the city of Han-yang, and over on the
other bank of the Yang-tse is Wo-chang. Here is the brief description
given by the Doctor in a letter to friends at home:
"A hill between Han-kow and Han-yang rises about six hundred feet, and
affords one of the finest views in the world, and, in some respects, one
of the most remarkable. We climbed there yesterday a little before
sunset, and remained as long as the fading daylight and the exigencies
of our return permitted. At our feet lay the Yang-tse, rolling towards
the sea after its junction with the Han, which we could trace afar, like
a ribbon of silver winding through the green plain. Away to the west was
a range of mountains, lighted by the setting sun, and overhung with
golden and purple clouds; while to the south was an undulating country,
whose foreground was filled with the walled city of Wo-chang. The
crenelated walls enclose an enormous space, much of which is so desolate
that foreigners are accustomed to hunt pheasants and hares within the
limits. They say that at one time all this space was covered with
buildings, and that the buildings were crowded with occupants. The three
cities suffered terribly during the rebellion, and more than three
fourths of their edifices were levelled. Looking from the hill, it is
easy to see the traces of the destruction, although twenty years have
passed since the insurrection was suppressed. The population of the
three cities was said to have been four or five millions; but, even
after making allowance for the density with which Chinese cities are
crowded, I should think those figures were too high. However, there is
no doubt that it was very great, and probably more people lived here
than on any similar area anywhere else in the world."
Han-kow is a great centre of trade. Frequently the mouth of the Han is
so crowded with junks that the river is entirely covered, and you may
walk for hours by merely stepping from one boat to another. The upper
Yang-tse and the Han bring down large quantities of tea, furs, silk,
wax, and other products, both for home use and for export. There are
heavy exports of tea from Han-kow direct to England, and every year
steamers go there to load with cargoes, which they take to London as
rapidly as possible. Our friends were told that there was a large trade
in brick tea, which was prepared for the Russian market; and as the boys
were anxious to see the process of preparation, a visit to one of the
factories was arranged. Frank made a note of what he saw and wrote it
out as follows:
[Illustration: A STREET IN HAN-KOW.]
"The dry tea is weighed out into portions for single bricks, and each
portion is wrapped in a cloth and placed over a steam-boiler. When it is
thoroughly steamed, it is poured into a mould and placed beneath a
machine, which presses it into the required shape and size. Some of the
machines are worked by hand, and others by steam. Both kinds are very
rapid and efficient, and we could not see that the steam had much
advantage. Five men working a hand machine, and receiving twenty cents
each for a day's labor, were able to press six bricks a minute, as we
found by timing them with our watches. The steam press worked only a
little faster, and the cost of fuel must have been about equal to that
of human muscle.
"Only the poorest kind of tea is made into bricks, and each brick is
about six inches wide, eight inches long, and one inch thick. After it
has been pressed, it is dried in ovens; and when it is thoroughly dried
and ready for packing, it is weighed, to make sure that it is up to the
required standard. All bricks that are too light are thrown out, to be
mixed up again and done over. Nearly all of this business is in Russian
hands, for the reason that this kind of tea is sold only in Russia."
Doctor Bronson arranged that the party should visit Wo-chang and see a
famous pagoda that stood on the bank of the river. There was not a great
deal to see after they got there, as the place was not in good repair,
and contained very little in the way of statues and idols. The stairways
were narrow and dark, and the climb to the top was not accomplished
without difficulty. Afterwards they went through the principal streets,
and visited the shops, which they found much like those of Shanghai and
Chin-kiang. The people showed some curiosity in looking at the
strangers--more than they had found farther down the river--for the
reason, doubtless, that fewer foreigners go there.
[Illustration: WO-CHANG.]
Wo-chang is the capital of the province of Hoo-peh, and the
governor-general resides there. Our friends were fortunate enough to get
a glimpse of this high official as he was carried through the streets in
a sedan-chair, followed by several members of his staff. A Chinese
governor never goes out without a numerous following, as he wishes the
whole world to be impressed with a sense of his importance; and the
rank and position of an official can generally be understood by a single
glance at the number of his attendants, though the great man himself may
be so shut up in his chair that his decorations and the button on his
hat may not be visible.
In a couple of days the steamer was ready for the return to Shanghai.
The time had been well employed in visiting the streets and shops and
temples of Han-kow, and learning something of its importance as a centre
of trade. The return journey was begun with a feeling of satisfaction
that they had taken the trouble and the time for the ascent of the
Yang-tsu and made themselves acquainted with the internal life of the
country.
[Illustration: THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND HIS STAFF.]