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THE
Passing of the Dragon
THE STORY OF THE SHENSI REVOLUTION AND RELIEF EXPEDITION
BY
J. C. KEYTE, M.A.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
7 73
Kn-q
TO MY FRIEND AND TEACHER
PKOFESSOR H. ELLIS, M.A.
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
WITH
DEEP AFFECTION
PREFACE
The author of The Passing of the Dragon is no mere theorist. He has travelled much and seen life in many lands. His enterprising spirit has carried him to different parts of the Continent, across the United States and to the cities of busy Japan. He has lived and worked among the farmers of Canada and the millhands of Lancashire. As a student he is known in the Univer- sities of Oxford and Manchester : as a teacher and friend he has been a familiar figure in many parts of Northern China to country people, students and officials of different kinds. The call to service there came through the lack of volunteers after the Boxer rising, and in China his chief work has been done. Into the ten years since he fu-st left England for the East he has crowded all the work his energetic nature could do, even at great cost to himself; so that overwork necessitated a furlough. Then in 1911 he returned to take up his duties once more. Great was his eagerness to return because of his deep interest in the Chinese. Before leaving England a friend said to him : " I cannot understand why you go. It seems to me a sheer waste of your powers." The simple reply followed : "It is my duty. I am more needed out there." After events proved this to be true beyond his conception. While in his native land he spoke of the unrest that prevailed in China and the struggle for freedom that might soon take place. When he landed there the Revolution had begun. At once he learnt of the dangers that threatened his colleagues, and immediately began to plan their rescue. The opportunity to do his duty found him ready, though of it he writes : " I only did what any Englishman would have done." What was accomplished is told in this book.
vi PREFACE
After the excitement of Relief Expeditions was over (for on his return to Pekin he and three others were asked by the Swedish Minister to attempt the rehef of Swedish Missionaries in N.W. Shansi, and for this second expedition he received a gold medal from the King of Sweden), he went back quietly to his ordinary work at Sianfu. There he is now, busy amongst the Chinese whom he loves, and at the mission work it is a delight to him to do.
At the request of others he has written of his experi- ences during the Revolution, and of his opinion as to the significance of past events and their bearing on the future of China. He has peculiar qualifications con- spiring to help him in the forming of sound judgments. Travel and former experiences have given him a wide knowledge of men. Quick sympathies draw him to the side of the weak and make him appreciate the difficulties that may confront the strong. He has the breadth of vision which makes a safe guide. His exceptional position has enabled him to see for himself the progress and effects of the Revolution, and to consult with many who have taken a prominent part in it. This book is the result. Its author believes himself to have a message which should be given to others. For it he would ask sympathetic consideration and an honest verdict. To have had some small share, on account of the absence from this country of the author, in helping with the details necessary for publication has been to us both honour and pleasure; and our only addition is that, if its worth is equal to that of its author, it is indeed great.
Herbert Ellis,
E. F. Borst-Smith.
Manchester.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAO«
Prologue : How the News came to Peking ... 1
BOOK I
THE SHENSI REPUBLIC
I THE HAND FORCED 7
II THE STANDARD OF REVOLT 12
III THE TAKING OF THE CITY 16
IV THE KO LAO HUI 21
V THE LOOTING OF SIANFU 30
VI THE SACK OF THE TARTAR CITY : CAUSES .... 36
VII THE SACK OF THE TARTAR CITY: THE HUNTED MANCHUS . 42
VIII THE WOMEN OF THE MANCHUS 47
IX THE MOHAMMEDANS 52
X THE RESULT OF THE SLAUGHTER 56
XI TUTUS MANY 60
XII THE ARMY OF THE EAST 64
XIII MR. CLOUDY MOUNTAIN . . . . . . .69
XIV THE ARMY OF THE W^EST 73
XV THE DARKEST HOUR 80
XVI ADVISER TO THE GOVERNMENT 84
XVII THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS: THE CITY BASE ... 90
XVIII THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS : FIELD HOSPITALS ... 97
XIX ON THE ROAD WITH THE WOUNDED 102
XX THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE : TW^O PARABLES . . . 107
vii
Vlll
CONTENTS
BOOK II
THE FOREIGNERS OF SHENSI
CHAP. PASH
XXI IN SIANFU CITY 113
XXII THE MURDERS IN THE SOUTH SUBURB 118
XXIII THE ESCAPE 126
XXIV STONED TO DEATH 132
XXV IN THE EAST SUBURB: THE SIX 136
XXVI THE EAST SUBURB: THE TWO 141
XXVII AT SAN YUAN, THE GOSPEL VILLAGE, AND CHUNG PU . 145
XXVIII A WOMAN ALONE 150
XXIX BEING A RAPID SURVEY 157
BOOK III
THE SHENSI RELIEF EXPEDITION Part One : How it was Started
XXX THE COAST POINT OF VIEW .165
XXXI THE PEKING ATMOSPHERE 170
XXXII THE NEWS FROM TAIYUANFU 173
XXXIII PREPARATIONS 179
XXXIV AT SHIH CHIA CHUANG 184
XXXV ACROSS THE LINES 191
XXXVI CONSULTATIONS 197
XXXVII THE WEEK OF WAITING 201
Part Two : Getting In
XXXVIII THE START 206
XXXIX GETTING INTO STRIDE 210
XL THE NIGHT RIDE 213
XLI TO THE RIVER 218
CONTENTS ix
CHAP. PAOE
XLII HOW WE CAME TO SUITECHOU 223
XLIII POLITICS AT SUITECHOU 227
XLIV HOSTAGES TO FORTUNE 235
XLV THE SUITECHOU EXODUS 240
XLVI THE WAYS OF A LITTEK 250
XLVII YENANFU: ON CHINESE PEASANTS 254
XLVIII TO KAN CH'UAN : ON CHINESE RULERS .... 258
Part Three : GErriNG Out
xlix the caravan 264
l in the matter of a lodging 269
li questions of commissariat 272
lii the dogs of war: t*ung kuan to mi.a.0 kou . . . 276
liii the dogs of war : at miao kou 282
liv the crossing 285
lv is it peace? 294
lvi to peking 300
Epilogue : Another Sabbath in Sianfu .... 303
Index 309
viii CONTENTS
BOOK II
THE FOREIGNERS OF SHENSI
CHAP. PA6R
XXI IN SIANFU CITY 113
XXII THE MURDERS IN THE SOUTH SUBURB 118
XXIII THE ESCAPE 126
XXIV STONED TO DEATH 132
XXV IN THE EAST SUBURB: THE SIX 136
XXVI THE EAST SUBURB: THE TWO 141
XXVII AT SAN YUAN, THE GOSPEL VILLAGE, AND CHUNG PU .145
XXVIII A WOMAN ALONE 150
XXIX BEING A RAPID SURVEY 157
BOOK III
THE SHENSI RELIEF EXPEDITION Part One : How it was Started
XXX THE COAST POINT OF VIEW .165
XXXI THE PEKING ATMOSPHERE 170
XXXII THE NEWS FROM TAIYUANFU 173
XXXIII PREPARATIONS 179
XXXIV AT SHIH CHIA CHUANG 184
XXXV ACROSS THE LINES 191
XXXVI CONSULTATIONS 197
XXXVII THE WEEK OF WAITING 201
Part Two : Getting In
XXXVIII THE START 206
XXXIX GETTING INTO STRIDE 210
XL THE NIGHT RIDE 213
XLI TO THE RIVER 218
CONTENTS ix
CHAP. PAOK
XLII HOW WE CAME TO SUITKCHOU 223
XLIII POLITICS AT HUITECHOU 227
XLIV HOSTAGES TO FORTUNE 235
XLV THE SUITECHOU EXODUS 240
XLVI THE WAYS OF A LITTER 250
XLVII YENANFU : ON CHINESE PEASANTS 254
XLYIII TO KAN CH'UAN : ON CHINESE RULERS .... 258
Part Three : Getting Out
XLIX THE CARAVAN 264
L IN THE MATTER OF A LODGING 269
LI QUESTIONS OF COMMISSARIAT 272
LII THE DOGS OF WAR: T'UNG KUAN TO MIAO KOU . . . 276
liii the dogs of war: at miao kou 282
liv the crossing 285
lv is it peace? 294
lvi to peking 300
Epilogue : Another Sabbath in Sianfu .... 303
Index 309
ILLUSTRATIONS
PA(iE
THE AUTHOR FroTitispiece
MAP OP THAT PART OF CHINA REFERRED TO IN " THIS
volume" 1
THE SOUTH GATE OF SIANFU 3
CORNER OF WALL OF LEGATION AFTER 1900 ... 3
CROSSING THE YELLOW RIVER, SHENSI SHORE ... 12
THE MAGAZINE (SIANFU), WHERE RIFLES AND AMMUNITION
WERE STORED 12
EAST GATE OF SIANFU CITY, TAKEN FROM WITHIN THE
CITY 36
RUINS IN THE MANCHU CITY 36
SKETCH PLAN OF THE CITY OF SIANFU .... 36
RUINS IN THE MANCHU CITY 41
RUINS OF TARTAR GENERAL's YAMEN IN THE MANCHU CITY 41
RUINS IN THE MANCHU CITY, SIANFU .... 45
EXECUTION GROUND NEAR THE MAGAZINE ... 45
KANSU MOHAMMEDANS ....... 52
KANSU TROOPS . . . 77
THE DEFENCE OF CH'IEN CHOU 78
DESTITUTE MANCHUS RELIEVED AT THE ENGLISH BAPTIST
MISSION 107
MR. CLOUDY MOUNTAIN 107
xi
xii ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE PRIDE OF THE SHENSI ARMY MEDICAL CORPS — THE
" CHELSEA HOSPITAL " OF SHENSI .... 109
'' NO ESCAPE " 121
THE EAST GATE OF SIANFU CITY ..... 124
THE RUINED SHELL OF THE SCANDINAVIAN ALLIANCE
MISSION SCHOOL, SIANFU 124
THE FUNERAL IN THE SCANDINAVIAN COMPOUND . . 135
STREAM CROSSING 170
THE LOOTING OF PEKING 170
ON THE ROAD 220
AT THE YELLOW RIVER, SHANSI SHORE .... 220
THE GATEWAY AT SUITECHOU 225
ENTRANCE TO BRITISH LEGATION, PEKING . . . 244
THE EXODUS FROM SUITECHOU 244
THE WOUNDED AT THE HOSPITAL, SIANFU . . . 265
GATEWAY GUARDING EASTERN END OF LONG PASS BETWEEN
T'UNG KUAN AND LING PAO ..... 272
THE ORPHANAGE TURNED INTO NO. 5 HOSPITAL . . 272
THE CARAVAN ENTERING SHANCHOU (WEST GATE) . . 277
COMPLETE GROUP OF RESCUERS AND REFUGEES AT
SHANCHOU 277
ONE RESULT OF THE LOOTING, WEST END OF LEGATION
STREET 301
RESULT OF THE LOOTING, EAST END OF LEGATION STREET 301
"BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS" .... 304
"good-bye to SIANFU " . 307
PROLOGUE
now THE NEWS CAME TO PEKING
The white dining-room of the Wagons -Lit s was fuIL Under the soft, brilliant lights, the native boys moved to and fro amongst the diners. The crowd was the cosmopolitan one that gathers in the hotel of the Far East. Here were >Ianchu leaders occupying rooms, suites of rooms, yet leaders, in whose eyes the Legation area was the one safe quarter of Peking. One met also wealthy Chinese eager to learn the new ways ; returned Chinese students from Yale or London, with memories of their life in the West and pathetically grateful for its momentary reproduction ; Europeans of most nations ; the American, who in some subtle way creates without effort the atmosphere of the United States wherever he goes : bankers, miners, university pro- fessors, merchant princes, concession hunters, foreign employees of the Chinese Government ; and, dotted about amongst this crowd of men all more or less at home in their surroundings, satisfying hunger and setting the world to rights, were the " round-the-world tourists " — the last new excrescence on China's surface.
The talk buzzed. The telegram board, to which men drifted continuously, kept the one topic constantly in mind. ^-lany were the forms it took. The progress of the war ; at Hankow, at Nanking ; what was doing in the Palace; the monstrous pretensions of the South; the going over of the provinces. For Peking itself immediate fears were removed, for had not Yuan Shih
PROLOGUE
HOW THE NEWS CAME TO PEKING
The white dining-room of the Wagons-Lits was full. Under the soft, brilhant hghts, the native boys moved to and fro amongst the diners. The crowd was the cosmopohtan one that gathers in the hotel of the Far East. Here were Manchu leaders occupying rooms, suites of rooms, yet leaders, in whose eyes the Legation area was the one safe quarter of Peking. One met also wealthy Chinese eager to learn the new ways ; returned Chinese students from Yale or London, with memories of their life in the West and pathetically grateful for its momentary reproduction ; Europeans of most nations ; the American, who in some subtle way creates without effort the atmosphere of the United States wherever he goes : bankers, miners, university pro- fessors, merchant princes, concession hunters, foreign employees of the Chinese Government; and, dotted about amongst this crowed of men all more or less at home in their surroundings, satisfying hunger and setting the world to rights, were the " round-the-world tourists " — ^the last new excrescence on China's surface.
The talk buzzed. The telegram board, to which men drifted continuously, kept the one topic constantly in mind. Many were the forms it took. The progress of the war ; at Hankow, at Nanking ; what was doing in the Palace; the monstrous pretensions of the South; the going over of the provinces. For Peking itself immediate fears were removed, for had not Yuan Shih
B
^ Vii
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I
I. •*
2 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
K'ai just arrived ? On one point there was agreement : whatever happened foreigners were safe. Both parties, Government and revohitionaries, had vied in protecting them. It was to be the reverse of 1900, since the revolution was but the precipitation of the foreign teaching, and foreign advice and aid would be necessary for its success. The Government for its part had no hope of aid save from abroad. And so on. Some, perhaps, in that assembly, urged this side of things the more vehemently to dispel a growing uneasiness, a disquietude resulting not from news obtained but from a persistent silence. Since Sunday, the 22nd of October, Shensi had been cut off; no letters were answered, no telegrams could be transmitted. And beyond Shensi was the huge province of Kansu, which, with its ex- tension or neighbour, the New Dominion, sprawled away on the north-west to Turkestan. What was happening on the westward side of the pass which shuts Shensi off from the rich, accessible province of Honan ? At Kaifengfu, the capital of the last-named province, an Englishman holds on to his responsible trust in the Imperial Postal Service. Kaifengfu is notoriously anti- foreign, the air being overcharged with suspicion. Riding to and fro whilst doing his work, the Englishman is freely cursed by the soldiery. Any show of resent- ment would be a spark to fire this mine of ill-will. There is but one thing to do, and he does it ; he turns a deaf ear, and with calm face sticks to his post. But away in distant Shensi, a long twelve days' journey, he has, or has if still living, a younger brother. Yet for weeks, instead of the frequent letters, there has been a significant silence, a silence only broken by the return of some Service muleteers and letter-carriers, who have escaped, demoralized, in utter terror, from Shensi. Their stories are horrible : " Herr Henne, with his wife
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HOW THE NEWS CAME TO PEKING 3
and child arc killed"; "Mr. Philip Manners," brother of the man at Kaifengfu, "is killed;" "there has been wholesale massacre " ; and still worse. One hysterical letter from a Chinese supposed to have got away from Shensi, speaks of "escaping from 'a forest of rifles,' leaving all foreigners, native Christians, and Manchus for dead." But all the time there is nothing from the foreigners themselves, nothing that can be taken as finally reliable. In his dilemma the Kaifengfu official puts in motion such machinery as is available for their rehef, and desperately keeping at arm's length a ghastly fear, goes on with his work. But he has communicated some of his fears to a few at Peking : hence the repeated utterance of such old saws as " No news is good news," and the like.
Men gravitate once more to the telegram board and remain unenlightened, and glance restlessly at the papers which only irritate with news irrelevant to the hour's preoccupation. Then a boy appears with a letter, an express letter from Tientsin, and therein lies the answer to the fears none had dared express : with it comes the cynical shattering of our easy optimism, for its message runs :
"... Mrs. Beckmann [of Sianfu] and five children murdered; their house burnt. Probably postmaster, wife and children, and young Philip Manners done to death. Nearly every Manchu, seven thousand, killed. The Imperial troops went mad and killed innocent Chinese. The postmaster here [Tientsin] has been trying many ways to get news to Sianfu and has failed. Shorrock [in Sianfu], I hear, offered five hundred taels to be escorted to Honanfu. Robbers abound on the road and the missionaries cannot get silver . . . try to get some one to go to Sianfu. . . . Just got this wire : ' Honanfu, 19th November, Swedish parties pro-
B 2
4 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
ceeding [to Honanfu] robbed. Mrs. Blom seriously wounded. Please prepare.' "
To us then, in that atmosphere of easy security and civihzed comfort, came this message from out of the far interior. There were gaps to be filled in, there were some things difficult to follow, details might have to be corrected later, but the gist of it was reliable, being news brought by foreigners. One Swedish lady, a naturalized subject of the United States of America, and five children had been murdered; others probably murdered, or at the least in grave danger ; and over the province of Shensi, cut off from outside help, ruin, red ruin, had swept.
BOOK I THE SHENSI REPUBLIC
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CHAPTER I
THE HAND FORCED
Early one Sunday morning there walked quietly through the west gate of Sianfu a young Chinese of about tw^enty-seven years of age. Save for his good looks and bright intelligent face, there was nothing to mark him out from the crowd. His dress was that of an ordinary Chinese gentleman ; he carried no visible weapons; he was seemingly harmless. Making his way quietly along the streets for a couple of miles, he reached the University. Here he went in and out, looking up some friends. Later, he and they passed to a restaurant near by, and here met men to whom their appearance was clearly no surprise. Then things happened. A short time before, three men had held a hasty consulta- tion. They were men deep in the secrets of the Re- formers' Society, the Ke Ming Tang. They were also in the Shensi army. The principles of the reform party were not spread so widely in this as in most of the provinces, the men of weight belonging to that party wxre here but few, yet several of the professors and students in the colleges, and most of the educated officers in the army might be numbered amongst its members. Their outbreak had been planned for October the 8th, but heavy rains had fallen, also orders had come for certain of the troops (on which the reformers reckoned) to move to the south-west. To refuse to obey the command might have prematurely disclosed their scheme, and it had been considered wise
7
CHAPTER I
THE HAND FORCED
Early one Sunday morning there walked quietly through the west gate of Sianfu a young Chinese of about twenty-seven years of age. Save for his good looks and bright intelligent face, there was nothing to mark him out from the crowd. His dress was that of an ordinary Chinese gentleman ; he carried no visible weapons; he was seemingly harmless. Making his way quietly along the streets for a couple of miles, he reached the University. Here he w^ent in and out, looking up some friends. Later, he and they passed to a restaurant near by, and here met men to whom their appearance was clearly no surprise. Then things happened. A short time before, three men had held a hasty consulta- tion. They were men deep in the secrets of the Re- formers' Society, the Ke Ming Tang. They were also in the Shensi army. The principles of the reform party were not spread so widely in this as in most of the provinces, the men of weight belonging to that party were here but few, yet several of the professors and students in the colleges, and most of the educated officers in the army might be numbered amongst its members. Their outbreak had been planned for October the 8th, but heavy rains had fallen, also orders had come for certain of the troops (on which the reformers reckoned) to move to the south-west. To refuse to obey the command might have prematurely disclosed their scheme, and it had been considered wise
7
8 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
to delay action for a month. But suddenly they were faced with a serious crisis. Chang Pei Ying, a man of enthusiasms and impulse, fearful lest the moment and opportunity for which they had so long plotted, and toiled, and sacrificed should be lost, had, full of alarm, sought out the other two. As he proceeded with his story the gravity of the situation became manifest to the others. Supine, careless, as the authorities were, the echoes of the Hankow fighting had galvanized them into a spasm of activity. The Treasurer of the province, Ch'ien Hu Yuan, who for the moment was acting as governor, had succeeded in rousing the Tartar General to take some steps. As he put it, "the Ke Ming Tang seed has now sprung up as small blades above the earth," and must be dealt with at once. This meant that he had received warning that several of the men now commanding the Shensi troops were Ke Ming Tang men. It behoved the civil and military authorities to act swiftly, silently, surely, if Shensi were to be retained. The main Magazine, where were stored the newest rifles and the ammunition, was situated not in the Tartar but the Chinese city. Whatever reasons may previously have been put forward as justification for this arrange- ment, the folly of it, from the dynasty's point of view, was now clear. The army was riddled with conspiracy, the officers belonged to the reform party; the only reliable troops were the Bannermen, whose lives were bound up with the security of the Ta Ch'ing Govern- ment. And yet the rifles and ammunition had been stored, not in the Manchu city which every male would have been interested in defending, but in the Chinese city where the dynasty was hated as a foreign tyranny. Had it been made worth the while for some one directing affairs to ignore so palpable a danger ? Was this another instance of the power of " squeeze " ? Granted
THE HAND FORCED 9
that the location of the Magazine might perhaps need to be determined with reference to the l^arracks, it would have been no further removed from these in the Manchu city than where it was, on an open undefended street in the Chinese quarter.
It was all of a piece. The Ta Ch'ing ^ dynasty was still an alien one, dwelling in the midst of a subject people with whom it had from motives of policy and pride refused to mingle; still depending on its army. Yet such was the hopeless corruption of the Manchu court, so riddled with bribery its whole administration, whether central or provincial, that when, forced, through contact with Western nations, to raise a new army on Western lines, the posts in that army. Field command. Ordnance, Intelligence, Commissariat, were put up for sale, and as they sold the Reformers bought. The Manchus were betrayed by themselves.
In the present instance an attempt was made at the eleventh hour to repair the blunder; a blunder which might have been due to treachery or to folly. The rifles then in the hands of the Manchu guards were many of them muzzle-loaders, and what breech-loaders they had were most of them old patterns; some seen later in the city were of the old Springfield pattern used in the North and South war of '61. They would be hopelessly outshot by the new Mausers and Mannhchers of the Magazine. This being so, the Tartar General and the Acting Governor, working together, determined to remove the contents of the Magazine to the Manchu city and there arm the Bannermen. This done, they might be in a position to overawe the camp to the west of the city and seize the Ke Ming Tang leaders. At least they might secure Sianfu for the Peking Gk)vern-
1 Ta Ch'ing means " Great Purity " and was the title adopted by the Manchu dynasty.
10 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
ment, until such time as reinforcements should arrive from the capital or from Kansu. Such a decision being arrived at in a yamen, it naturally leaked out. (Was a yamen secret ever kept ?) It came to the ears of Chang Pei Ying. He sought out the other con- spirators and bore down their counsels of caution. The general public of the provincial capital were insuffici- ently educated in the tenets of the reformers and might not rally about them when the standard of revolt was raised. More serious still, the reformers' own plans were not yet sufficiently considered, certainly the details were not properly w^orked out. But since they were now known as active Ke Ming Tang agents, since there was danger of the munitions of war on which they must depend for their initial success being soon placed beyond their reach, rashness was their only safe course ; to win through they must risk all. At all costs the Magazine must be secured. The passion, the vehemence, of Chang Pei Ying, carried the others with him. The time for considering chances was past ; there was but one thing to do ; they must act. Chang Feng Hui was to go to the west barracks to lead out his regiment, or such portion as could be relied on to follow him — he was the officer with the second largest command in the Sianfu modern troops — whilst Chang Pei Ying slipped quietly into the city, collected, as we have seen, a few pledged friends, that they might attempt the dangerous task of seizing the arms necessary for success, without giving any previous alarm to the Manchu guard.
The time of doubt and indecision was over. If Shensi, like Shansi, was to make a diversion in the north, whereby the Imperalists at Hankow^ would be distracted and weakened, she must act at once. The day fixed for the concerted provincial rising was the fifteenth of
THE HAND FORCED 11
the ninth moon (November the 5th), and many in tlie city were waiting for it. But the three men who formed the innermost circle of the Shensi Ke Ming Tang, Chang Feng Hui, Chang Pei Ying and T'ien Ting Shan, never revealed their whole plan or the exact detail to their fellow members, until after the die was cast. And these three saw now that they must strike at once. Should the Manchus succeed in holding Sianfu till help arrived, it might result in Kansu, Shensi and Honan standing solid for the Ta Ch'ing dynasty, negativing the action of Shansi. Shensi must divide and demoralize the royalist Kansu and Honan, must even bear, if needs be, the bnmt of their combined attack. Hers should be the glory of drawing off the attack from the Yangtzu. Backward and despised as she was amongst the provinces, " a wilderness place " as the coast Chinese deemed her, she yet remembered that her capital had once been the capital of an Empire. The ancient glory should revive when it was seen that none was more forward for freedom than she.
The night of conspiracies, of secret conclaves was ended, the burrowing, the undermining in the dark were finished. Their hands being thus forced, it was time for Shensi also to seek a place in the sun.
CHAPTER II
THE STANDARD OF REVOLT
The guard at the Magazine had lately been strength- ened. Some weeks before, Chang Feng Hui, in an interview ^vith the acting Governor, had pointed out the importance of having the place properly protected by the most efficient type of soldier ; had even offered to tell off some of his own men, " on whom reliance could be placed," for this special service. The (Governor, unsuspicious at the time, had accepted the offer, and the guard had been changed. The conspirators thus had men of their own appointing on guard at the entrance, and without opposition, the thirty-six friends now entered the Magazine.
Case after case was broached, and the rifles and cartridges piled about on the floor. So raw were these revolutionaries as regards matters military, that their leader had hurriedly to show them how to handle the rifles he gave out. He himself had at first some difficulty, since the rifles differed in pattern from those to which he was most accustomed. The casualties commenced in the hour that these men struggled to master the intricacies of their weapons.
By this time the people outside had taken the alarm. Shops were rapidly closing, the streets were deserted. The little group of thirty-six had done their part well ; for the moment they held the Magazine; they had secured the arms and ammunition which were to have been turned against them ; but what next ? There was
12
THE STANDARD OF REVOLT 13
no sign of Chang Feng Hui, no sign of the soldiers who had been won over. Of wliat use the weapons without the men to manipulate them ? The Magazine could not be held by so small a number if a determined assault were made on it by the Manchu guard. The conspirators were by now in a fever of anxiety ; the first joy of success passed, leaving them a prey to thronging fears. One or two messengers were sent out to urge Chang Feng Hui to hasten. Chang Pei Ying made his way through the now deserted street to the cross-roads near l)y, looking hungrily towards the spot where the hoped- for men should first appear. Had it been all in vain ? Were they, by the irony of fate, to be in possession of arms, without the men ? At any moment the rush of Manchu cavalry might be heard on the street in their rear. Their whole cause hung in the balance. It was a situation which might well have tried old campaigners, and they were but young conspirators. His friends showed signs of breaking under the strain. With effort he managed to hold them. The long, long minutes passed; five, ten, fifteen, and then at last dust was rising at the distant turning of the road, the greycoats came round the bend of the street, and at the head of 1500 men rode Chang Feng Hui. They were saved !
The rifles being secured, there ensued their distribu- tion. The soldiers having been supplied, the general populace, policemen, coolies, shop-assistants, servants, any one who would put a white badge round his arm was given a modern rifle and a pocketful of cartridges, and told to attach himself to some one of the leading conspirators. Since there was no time for further instruction, it is no matter for surprise that eighty per cent, of the early wounds amongst these " patriots " were caused by their own or their comrades' ignorance of the weapons they handled.
14 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
The scene was of the wildest. Infinite possibihties came within reach of the lowest. The gutter saw a highway open before it, a highway to wealth, certainly ; to power, possibly. And the fever of it all fired the most sluggish blood. Poor much abused Liberty found herself here also, even at this early stage of the proceed- ings, threatened by the embraces of the sansculottes. The Ke Ming Tang leaders hurriedly sent messengers to the four suburbs to keep the people there quiet, but not in every case did these succeed in reaching the gate before it was shut. Once shut, and the key at the yamen — the Chinese lock is self-closing — it meant difficulty and delay in reopening them. Li the case of one suburb, the man sent out decided to play solely for his own hand.
The forces available were now divided into two main divisions ; the one to guard against a sortie from the Manchu city, the other to seize the yamens, banks, schools, and other public buildings in the main city. But before separating there remained one task which seems to be the inevitable concomitant of Chinese, if not of all revolts — the opening of the prison. The city of Sianfu is divided into two municipal divisions : Ch'ang An, the famous ancient capital, and Hsien Ning, the newer town to the east. The Hsien Ning yamen was but a few hundred yards from the captured Magazine. To it the crowd surged. The magistrate had been hearing cases. The raucous cries of the street were never far away, but on this day they seemed presently to gather at one point, then to increase in volume, and at last grow near. There was no doubt that some riot at least was on. Since Szuchuen and Hupeh had re- volted, this might mean the beginning of the end in Shensi also. The magistrate stood not upon the order of his going. When the crowd reached the hall, it was
THE STANDARD OF REVOLT 15
to find only distracted servants frenziedly gathering into bundles such possessions as they might. Some revolutionary leaders seized on the seals, records and other oflicial papers, whilst others threw open the doors of the yamen prison, and haled forth those incarcerated. There were no implements at hand for the breaking of their fetters, nor time to call for such. The released prisoners were bidden to make, chains and all, for the Bell Tower in the centre of the city, where blacksmiths would be ordered to free them. To anticipate, this is what occurred, and the freed prisoners were given the option of enlistmg, such weapons as w^ere still available — ■ the rifles by that time were distributed, only knives, pikes and rough swords being left — were given them. There was an unusual zest shown in breaking open this Hsien Ning yamen, on account of the large number of political prisoners lately placed there. Most of these were not Ke Ming Tang but members of the older society, the Ko Lao Hui. Already the worst side of this society, the sinister element which was to disgrace so much the Shensi revolution, was making itself felt. But for the moment there was only the delirious sense of freedom brought within reach, of a good cause and weapons w^herewith to fight for it, and the end of a long tyranny in sight. For good or evil the Rubicon was crossed, there was no retreat ; the standard of revolt was raised.
CHAPTER III
THE TAKING OF THE CITY
The immediate task then, before the leaders of the revolution, was twofold. First, to secure the points of vantage in the Chinese city, making sure of the yamens, the banks, the barracks ; the second, to prevent any organized attack being delivered from the Manchu city. And having regard to the subsequent massacre, and to the character of the leaders, it should be stated that as regards the Ke Ming Tang section, the desperate nature of the fighting in the Manchu city was accounted for by their desire to destroy once for all the fighting value of the Manchu guard, rather than by any settled passion of revenge. Later on they voiced the opinion that the Manchu garrison being so strong, the numbers of Bannermen so great, their slaughter was necessary to crush a power which would always have been a danger in the city and province. No reading of the facts can exonerate even the Ke Ming Tang leaders from the blame attaching to the indiscriminate slaughter which ensued, but in justice to them it should be stated that such slaughter was not premeditated on their part, but rather the result of the blood-lust roused during the struggle. Nor did they, until they were in the thick of that contest, realize the true nature of their allies — though those allies' reputation had long been unsavoury in the province — and they could scarcely have antici- pated the savagery of the hate which was to well up from the lower depths of the Ko Lao Hui.
16
THE TAKING OF THE CITY 17
The plan followed in the Chinese city was simple. Various revolutionary leaders, each followed by a mob whose nucleus was a few soldiers, led the way to the several yamcns, heralding their approach with shouts and firing. The magistrate at each yamen fled, and the invaders pounced on seals, papers, and — silver. In this way there was left no centre at which the Govern- ment could rally, no place to which its sympathizers — if such there were amongst the Chinese — could gather. And the police ? As the various soldiers followed their leaders they threw over the wooden shelters of the policemen, ordering these to desist from their work. If they wished to fall into the ranks with the insurgents, it was open to them to do so, but they must do no more policing until a new regime came into power. The police thus exhorted and threatened, having neither sentimental regard for the Ta Ch'ing dynasty nor any high conception of duty to deter them, either joined the mob or retired into private life.
The acting Governor and the Tartar General round whom resistance should have centred in the Chinese and Manchu cities respectively, where were they ? Some days before rumours had circulated that the newly appointed Governor of the province, who had not yet arrived to take over his charge, had negotiated a foreign loan for the province, on the security of the rich oil wells in the Yenanfu prefecture. Feeling had culminated three days previously in a public indignation meeting in the provincial assembly, where, with much outcry, it was demanded that such loan be immediately cancelled. A Commission to investigate the truth of the matter was appointed and the follo^ving Sunday, October 22, fixed for its first meeting. On this Com- mission many of the authorities sat. Thus, at the critical hour, when they might, if in their own yamens,
0
18 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
have organized a resistance, the two highest of the province's officials were at the Provincial Assembly, in the extreme west of the Chinese city, listening to complaints levelled against an absent Governor by traders and students. Between them and their re- spective yamens was a city in uproar. Only a deter- mined group of devoted cavalry could have won them a passage, and of such determination or devotion there was a minimum. Out of over a hundred attendants of the acting Governor, only four remained with him. He found temporary shelter, and we shall hear of him again. The Tartar General could not re-enter the Manchu city, all the gates being shut. There was no question of gathering together the few Manchus whose homes were scattered through the Chinese city. It remained only to look to his own safety, which he effectively did.
At two points only in the Chinese city did the in- surgents meet with any resistance. Near the south gate there is what on the Continent would be called a " place " ; too wide for a street, too irregular for a square. It is lined by houses of wealthy officials and gentry. Up and down it horses and mules are led by grooms. It is a centre for gossip, and a haunt of rascaldom. Here a strong squad of the city guard gathered. Of the cause of the city's disturbance they were ignorant. They were not of the new army in the west barracks, they were not in the counsels of the revolutionaries. As Chang Feng Hui and his following swept across this " place " with a view of gaining the approach to the south wall, this city guard brought their rifles to the ready. It was a critical moment, but the new leader rose to it. Riding up to the guard he called out that this was no mere street disturbance, no band of plunderers, but the revolution
THE TAKING OF THE CITY 19
for which all true sons of Han longed. The city guard, convinced of the futility of resistance, accepted his assurances, and threw in their lot with the revolution- aries.
The other point where resistance was met was at the Treasurer's yamen. On hearing the disturbance in the streets, and not expecting the Kc Ming Tang rising for another two weeks, the students of the Military College caught up their rifles and hurried off to protect the Treasurer's yamen and the sinews of war therein, which they had already earmarked for the Ke Ming Tang rising. For if rifles were to be the arm, money would mean the blood of the army of the revolution. The students then lined up in the entrance court of the yamen, and the mob which presently came pouring in, suddenly shrank back and huddled together aghast at the determination in the faces behind the rifles. Young students though the defenders were, they yet knew how to use their weapons. But here also the nucleus of the mob was formed of trained soldiers. These all drew up in line. Both sides raised their rifles. It needed only a nervous finger on a trigger, a vicious impatience on any one man's part, to have produced a volley. But there w^as neither. There was a sincere desire to avoid bloodshed, a recognition that the two lines facing each other were both Chinese. Again the situation was saved, and by the same man, as Chang Feng Hui made his way between the lines and assured the students of the bona fides of the in- vaders, and showed them how the Ke Ming Tang's hand had been forced. Here again there followed a rapprochement. This last act had, however, a sad anticlimax calculated to embitter the generous dreams of student patriots who had taken " liberie, egalite, fraternite " as their motto and the French Revolution c 2
20 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
as their model. For alas, on returning to their Military- College it was to find that advantage had been taken of their absence (by brother patriots) to loot their stores of rifles and ammunition for further onslaughts on tyrants. (If minor possessions were also missing, can hasty patriots be blamed ?) For the Military- College was near to the western barracks, and both in the barracks and the west suburb it was not the tenets of the Ke Ming Tang which preponderated, but those of that society which the Ke Ming Tang had up till now underestimated, but with whose power they were now brought face to face and which they could no longer ignore ; the society known as the Ko Lao Hui.
CHAPTER IV
THE KO LAO HUI
No proper understanding of the recent course of events in North-west China can be arrived at without taking into consideration the secret society known as the Ko Lao Hui, The Society of the Elder Brethren. The Ke Ming Tang was a society of the educated classes whose propagation was by means of the pamphlet and lecture, whose agents sought posts in the Government, the army, the colleges. The Ko Lao Hui, on the other hand, drew its strength from, and made its appeal to, the peasant, to the artisan, and to the common soldier. Its members were mostly illiterate, even its leaders had Httle education. Its historical appeal, its pro- paganda, its unifying force, were all on different lines from those of the Ke Ming Tang. Only in objective did they meet, and in that objective only on the one point, that of the '' Hsing Han mie Ch'i " or " Fu Han mie Man," the restoration of the Han (Chinese), and the destruction of the Bannermen, or Manchu. To an illiterate peasantry, whose knowledge of history was confined to such expressions of it as were to be found in plays, ballads, folk-lore and loose tradition, who had no knowledge of any country outside their o^\7i, revolutionary principles as such had no meaning, the French Revolution was a word without content. " Liberty " was too cold an abstraction to rouse them ; amongst them the pamphlet a poor means of winning converts ; the lecture which appealed to the Ke Ming
21
22 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Tang was above the heads of the average Ko Lao Hui. The appeal and method were far more primitive, yet wonderfully effective up to a certain point.
For the origin of their society they were taken back to historical incidents ; how far idealized it is difficult to say. Where abstract principles would 4iave failed the concrete instance succeeded. The historical appeal and present propaganda were both emphasized by, and embodied in, an elaborate ritual ; a mutual aid benefit supplied the unifying force, a strict order of precedence, arrived at by initiation into differing grades, made for discipline, whilst the restoration of the Chinese, and the ousting of foreigners (whether Manchu or others) gave an objective to the whole.
The motto of the society was drawn from three famous instances of friendship, the brief mention of which may have value as showing the nature of the appeal which met with so wide a response. The key- note of all three is the same; that of brotherhood. But in its analysis of brotherhood it reveals a surprising divergence from the superficial idea of brotherhood so largely held by the w^esterner of vague " republican " ideals who has never taken the trouble to formulate such ideals clearly for himself. Briefly stated, the Ko Lao Hui, working from its experience of human affairs and human nature, makes no bones about declaring that whilst brotherhood is possible, equality is not. Twins are the exception, the elder and correlative younger brother the rule. Liberty is to be attained by the proper adjustment of responsibility and privilege within this relationship; abstract liberty of the in- dividual would seem to the Ko Lao Hui as useless as it is unattainable. Liberty to carry out his filial, fraternal, and marital obhgations loyally, to play his part faithfully in the commune, this he desires. But
THE KG LAO IIUI
23
a liberty "to live his own life," would he to him no attraction, the man who desired it something less than sane.
The Ko Lao Ilui motto is " Shan, Shwei, Ilsiang- t'ang "; literally, " mountain, water, and ineense-hall." The two first stand roughly for Nature and the balance, or adjustment, therein ; the last is a reminder that *' there is a spirit in man."
Shan. — The Shan refers to an old story illustrative of patriotism. Yang Chio Ai, and Tso Pei Tao, in the days of the " Various Kingdoms " had sworn eternal friendship, " blood brotherhood." They were both wretchedly poor, the time was hard winter. But though poor, they were not ignorant. Tso in particular had great hopes of serving his country in some position of trust and authority if he could h>ut make his way to the capital, and satisfy the court as to his attainments. But the wardrobe of neither alone w^ould suffice for such an enterprise. Whereupon Yang, as being the " elder brother " — for true to their knowledge of nature and experience they had entered not into a theoretic and unreal brotherhood of equality, but into the relation of elder and younger brother — took off his robe and placed it on Tso his " younger brother," who made his way to court, obtained the appointment, and served his country. Yang, who thus exposed to bitter winter froze to death, also had served his country, by giving to it his " younger brother." Here we have exemplified the idea that privilege involves responsibility, that the higher the rank, the greater the obligation to nourish the lower, which is one of the main tenets of the Ko Lao Hui of to-day.
The society to-day regards the word Shan (mountain) as referring to the loftiness of the sentiment in " patriotic friendshipL" C' Ih chi-ti peng-yu ").
22 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Tang was above the heads of the average Ko Lao Hui. The appeal and method were far more primitive, yet wonderfully effective up to a certain point.
For the origin of their society they were taken back to historical incidents; how far idealized it is difficult to say. Where abstract principles would 4iave failed the concrete instance succeeded. The historical appeal and present propaganda were both emjDhasized by, and embodied in, an elaborate ritual ; a mutual aid benefit supplied the unifying force, a strict order of precedence, arrived at by initiation into differing grades, made for discipline, whilst the restoration of the Chinese, and the ousting of foreigners (whether Manchu or others) gave an objective to the whole.
The motto of the society was drawn from three famous instances of friendship, the brief mention of which may have value as showing the nature of the appeal which met with so wide a response. The key- note of all three is the same ; that of brotherhood. But in its analysis of brotherhood it reveals a surprising divergence from the superficial idea of brotherhood so largely held by the westerner of vague " republican " ideals who has never taken the trouble to formulate such ideals clearly for himself. Briefly stated, the Ko Lao Hui, working from its experience of human affairs and human nature, makes no bones about declaring that whilst brotherhood is possible, equality is not. Twins are the exception, the elder and correlative younger brother the rule. Liberty is to be attained by the proper adjustment of responsibility and privilege within this relationship; abstract hberty of the in- dividual would seem to the Ko Lao Hui as useless as it is unattainable. Liberty to carry out his filial, fraternal, and marital obhgations loyally, to play his part faithfully in the commune, this he desires. But
THE KG LAO IIUI 23
a liberty "to live his own life," would be to him no attraction, the man who desired it something less than sane.
The Ko Lao Ilui motto is " Shan, Shwei, Ilsiang- t'ang "; literally, " mountain, water, and ineense-hall." The two first stand roughly for Nature and the balance, or adjustment, therein ; the last is a reminder that " there is a spirit in man."
Shan. — The Shan refers to an old story illustrative of patriotism. Yang Chio Ai, and Tso Pei Tao, in the days of the " Various Kingdoms " had sworn eternal friendship, " blood brotherhood." They were both wretchedly poor, the time was hard winter. But though poor, they were not ignorant. Tso in particular had great hopes of serving his country in some position of trust and authority if he could but make his way to the capital, and satisfy the court as to his attainments. But the wardrobe of neither alone would suffice for such an enterprise. Whereupon Yang, as being the " elder brother " — for true to their knowledge of nature and experience they had entered not into a theoretic and unreal brotherhood of equality, but into the relation of elder and younger brother — took off his robe and placed it on Tso his " younger brother," who made his way to court, obtained the appointment, and served his country. Yang, who thus exposed to bitter winter froze to death, also had served his country, by giving to it his " younger brother." Here we have exemplified the idea that privilege involves responsibihty, that the higher the rank, the greater the obligation to nourish the lower, which is one of the main tenets of the Ko Lao Hui of to-day.
The society to-day regards the word Shan (mountain) as referring to the loftiness of the sentiment in " patriotic friendshipL" (" Ih chi-ti peng-yu ").
24 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Shwei (Water). — Tsung Tzu Chi and Pei Ya were two intimate friends. Tsung was a skilled performer on the five-stringed lute, Pei was that rarer mortal, the intelligent, appreciative listener. So perfect was the sympathy between them that when Tsung played, Pei " understood the idea hidden in the music." Pei died and was buried, whereupon Tsung took his lute to his friend's grave and there destroyed it. He would play no more since there was no longer the perfect sympathizer. Here we have the ideal of personal, as distinct from patriotic, friendship, the " chih ih ti peng-yu," the friend who knows our meaning, the friendship of the heart. This flowing sympathy is referred to by the " shwei " (water) of the motto.
Hsiang-T'axg (Hall of Incense). — This part of the motto refers to the famous " peach garden oath " where Liu Pei, the prince, with his two generals, Kwan Ti and Chang Fei, swore to be faithful to one another until death, sealing the oath by drinking blood drawn from one another's arms. The actual terms of the oath, " ih tsai, san tsai ; ih wang san wang " (if one lives the three live ; if one dies the three die), were scarcely likely to be literally kept, and as a matter of fact Liu Pei's army suffered a great defeat through trying to avenge the death of Kwan Ti. But the oath is famous in Chinese story, and Kwan Ti in particular, deified now as God of War, is remembered ^vith affection for his valour, his disinterested patriotism, and for his great loyalty to his friends, by all classes of Chinese society. Here we have a brotherhood of righteousness.
The three words of the motto, Shan, Shwei, Hsiang- T'ang, are thus used as key words to the three ideas of the friendship of patriotism, the friendship of sympathy, and the friendship of righteousness. The heroes of the three stories from being exemplars, from
THE KO LAO IIUI 25
objects of veneration, have become to the Ko Lao Hui objects of worship. The ritual of the worship has be- come a visible bond of union amongst the devotees.
This society quite early in its existence was divided into an eastern and a western branch. Thus in works of reference the home of the society is sometimes given as the Central provinces. But the real stronghold has been in the west; Szuchuen, Kansu, and Shensi. The western branch flourished. Soon it was necessary for a member of the eastern branch to address one of the western as "grandfather," or at least as "uncle," to mark the superiority. Scattered as it is throughout the country, it is, however, only formidable in the north-west and west.
Members are enrolled in one of the eight guilds. The guild of filial piety, fraternal subordination, sincerity, faithfulness, ceremonial observance, rectitude, frugality, and sense-of -shame ; virtues so glibly run over by the Chinese tongue, which occur sine termino in the classics. The members of the Hsiao, or filial piety, guild are all, iyso facto, Ta Ko (elder brethren). Of the other guilds, those of " sincerity " and " rectitude " are the most popular.
The society has its own regalia, symbols, secret signs. All the machinery of this Chinese freemasonry is highly developed ; ceremonies of initiation, of further initiation into higher grades, ornaments of ritual, signs for mutual recognition, and so on. The intellectuals of the Ke Ming Tang found it easier to dismiss all this with a sneer, as being but mummery, before they were rudely awakened to a realization of the immense membership, the effective organization, the staunch loyalty the society contained. For the illiterate, slow-moving, heavy-burdened peasantry of the north-west, the Ke Ming Tang was too cold, too abstract, too intellectual.
26 IHE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
But the colour, the warmth, the sense of the dramatic which it failed to give, had been for centuries supplied by the Ko Lao Hui, and the former party found that the nearest approach to an informed political enthusiasm in the province, which might with care be used as a friendly ally, which might be easily converted into an antagonism, but which in no case could be ignored, was this same Ko Lao Hui.
One difficulty in following the history of these Chinese secret societies, is the change of names, if not of the main society at least of the branch ; also the over- shadowing of the main society by some vigorous branch. The Ko Lao Hui claims to be centuries old ; its present incarnation, however, began with the fall of the last Chinese dynasty, the Ming. " When the Ming ended and the Ta Ch'ing began " (Ming wu, Ch'ing chu) is often given as the date of the society's birth. Its old home was in Szuchuen, whence via Hanchungfu it came across the Ts'ing Ling mountains into Shensi and Kansu. The society has been active all through the Manchu dynasty which it indifferently terms Man (Manchu) or Yang (foreign). In any previous outbreak against foreigners the Ko Lao Hui has been willing to do its share. Whatever might have been the case with a few leaders, to the majority of the members there would have been little difficulty last year (1911) in classing foreigners with Manchus, as an evil to be swept from the land. The revolution of thought, which had occurred in the coast provinces in this respect, had left the north-west almost untouched.
The embarrassment of the Manchu Government gave impetus to the society in Sianfu. So strong was its membership, so good its organization, so leagued up ^\ith the banditti of the hills, that shopkeepers were reluctantly forced to join it as an insurance against
THE KO LAO HUI 27
looting should an outbreak occur. The head of the Shensi lodges was a pseudo-Taoist priest named Li Ming Shan, one of the most prominent leaders of the society in the Empire. The shan (mountain) from which he took his name — the leaders each had a Ko Lao Hui name taken from one of the famous mountains or rivers — was tlie famous sacred T'ai Pei Shan. This man had over ten thousand members under his ultimate direction. To anticipate somewhat, as showing the embarrassment caused to the Ke Ming Tang leaders by the society, this man had subsequently to be given a lucrative post by the new Tutu (governor) of the province. He w^as appointed commissioner for raising revenue in the San yuan district. Here, happily for the province, his rapacity and brutality were such that the exasperated peasantry turned on him and killed him.
Whilst the returned students from Japan and the coast had been winning for the Ke Ming Tang the local students, and such army officers as had been educated in the province, the soldiers whom these latter com- manded were being steadily w^on, by the mutual aid, the gorgeous ritual, the easily understood orders of precedence, the brotherhood, and the savage vows of vengeance, to the vigorous Ko Lao Hui. And thus it came about that soon, at the end of the second day's fighting (when the city w^as taken and they paused to consider that next necessary step, the appointing of new authorities) the Ke Ming Tang leaders w^ere rudely confronted with an unforeseen situation, and realized that there must be an adjustment of their oa\ii forces with those of the Ko Lao Hui ; that the leaders of that society must be admitted, if not into the civil, at least into the military administration of the province.
Let it be frankly acknowledged that the above
28 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
sketch is of the Ko Lao Hui in its best aspect, its ideal rather than its actual state. Under the article of " Secret Societies " it is referred to by a recent and excellent Encyclopaedia in the following unflattering terms : " The Society of the Elder Brethren, which is, generally speaking, a combination of the most lawless elements of the population in the central provinces (Honan to Hunan), proclaims a fanatical hatred to all foreigners, including the Manchus." By the year 1900 A.D. it had become an instrument for the ambition and an opening for the predatory instincts of the turbulent classes. In the north of Shensi it was indis- tinguishable from bandit hordes. In the early days of the Revolution all excesses, all outrage, were accounted for by the fact that the Ko Lao Hui were in the ascendant. The terms " Ko Lao Hui " and " t'u fei " (local villains) were regarded as interchangeable. But such a view will not cover all the facts ; the course of the Chinese Revolution in the north-west remains confused on such a reading. That the indictment quoted above is substanti- ally true the westerner most friendly to the Ko Lao Hui is bound to admit. How debased it had become is witnessed by the atrocities in the Manchu city, the brutal attacks on the English in the East Suburb, the murder of the Americans and Swedes in the South Suburb, the campaign in the Hanchungfu district, and the utter anarchy in the north of the province.^ And yet there remained a core in which the old ideals and some of the old discipline lived. It was due to this still sound core, the best men of which saw that there must be a constructive policy for the future as well as a glutting of revenge in the present, that the Ke Ming Tang leaders were not swept aside utterly. It was these few men who threw themselves into the work of restoring
1 See Caught in the Chinese Reroluiion, by E. F. Borst-Smith.
THE KO LAO IIUI 29
order, who in spite of a hundred mutual antipathies worked with the Kc Min^ "i^ng whom they considered intelleetual snobs, cowardly doctrinaires. It was these few men who largely eased the strain of the army medical corps in Shcnsi. Its members showed on occasion both generosity and courage. And having helped to restore order in the province, they finally gave the truest proof of their patriotism by recognizing that the work for which the society had been formed, or revived, was over. The Ta Ch'ing dynasty was ended ; there remained villainy w^liich still sought to shelter itself under the aegis of the Ko Lao Hui. But to-day the best men of the society have set their hand to its disbanding, and they have largely succeeded. The enormous membership of the lodge presided over by the man Li Ming Shan, who had held semi-regal state in the great " Ch'eng Hwang Miao," the chief temple of the city, the lodge of the " Chung I " hall, of the " Hung Chu " water, and the " T'ai Peh " mountain, was dispersed ; over ten thousand member- ship certificates were burnt. This success of theirs in disbanding the Society is the best proof which its best men have offered and can offer of their own sincerity both as regards their attitude to the society's professed ideals, and of their regret for the many blunders, the wild excesses, and the undeniable crimes, which have so stained the history of the Ko Lao Hui.
L'S
THE PA
nsG
OF TIIE DRAGON
sketch is of the KLao Hui in its best aspect, its ideal rather than its ?tiial state. Under the article of
is referred to by a recent and
I in the following unflattering
of the Elder Brethren, which is,
combination of the most lawless
' Ion in the central provinces
lims a fanatical hatred to all
the Manchus.'* By the year
! n It sf Ml ineiit for the ambition
,. iiiL pKULitory instincts of the
In the north of Shensi it was indis-
dit hordes. In the early daj-s
cesses, all outrage, were accounted
Ivo Lao Ilui were in the ascendant.
The terms '' Ko La Hui " and '' Vu fei " (local villains)
" Secret Soci( excellent Enc terms : " Thi generally speaking a elements of t ' (Honan to II' foreigners, includig 1900 A.D. it had b and an opening turbulent classes, tinguishablc 1 of the Revolut \ for by the fact
were regarder^ will not cove i Revolution in reading. That ally true the Hui is bound witnessed by brutal attacks murder of the Suburb, the ( the utter ana yet there rem some of the • still sound coi must be a coi a glutting of Tang leaders ^^
♦ "-Hiangeable. But such a view
;s; the course of the Chinese
i-west remains confused on such a
ctment quoted above is substanti-
r most friendly to the Ko Lao
How debased it had become is
!ifs in the Manchu city, the
: -lish in the F^ist Suburb, the
Aiericans and Swedes in the South
in the Hanchimgfu district, and
1 he north of the province.^ And
c-ore in which the old ideals and
i)line lived. It was due to this
< st men of which saw that there
• policy for the future as well as
n the present, that the Ke Ming
II /L swept aside utterly. It was
few men who threvthemselves into the work of resto * See Caught in thChxntse RevoltUion, by E. F. Bors
ta^
W^ 8S«w
THE KO LAO II
29
order, who in spite of a hundred ir ual antipathies worked with the Ke Ming Tang wh : they considered intellectual snobs, cowardly doctrir. . It was these few men who largely eased the s i i of the army medical corps in Shensi. Its meii»ers showed on occasion both generosity and ecu a . And having helped to restore order in the pre . i -e, they finally gave the truest proof of their patriotisi by recognizing that the work for which the society Id been formed, or revived, was over. The Ta Cn\g d}Tiasty was ended; there remained \'illainy wli c still sought to shelter itself under the aegis of the K Lao Hui. But to-day the best men of the society hae set their hand to its disbanding, and they have laerely succeeded.
The enormous membership of the by the man Li Ming Shan, who state in the great '' Ch'eng Hwa: temple of the city, the lodge of t. of the '' Hung Chii " water, ai^ mountain, was dispersed; over tei ship certificates were burnt. This disbanding the Society is the best ] >• men have offered and can offer of t ir lx)th as regards their attitude to tli ideals, and of their regret for l' wild excesses, and the undeniiu so stained the history of the Ko Lao l^.
esided over
1 semi -regal
"' the cliief
ug I " hall,
T'ai Pch"
d mcmber-
ol theirs in
N\iiich its l)cst
o^^^l sincerity
s professeti
fcrs. tlie
Ji luivc
CHAPTER V
THE LOOTING OF SIANFU
The fate of the business and official quarters of Sianfu was shared subsequently by many other large cities, provincial capitals especially. The Ke Ming Tang leaders taking up the first weapon which came to their hands, hurled such forces as they could summon to their aid against the Manchu. But between their enemy in the Tartar city in the north-west of Sianfu, and the western barracks of the soldiery, lay the rich, defenceless Chinese city with its streets of banks, ware- houses, shops, and its many yamens. There was no well -laid plan of bringing up certain companies or regiments from the western barracks and marching them through the streets to the attack on the Tartar city. Perhaps it was not possible. There was only the hasty rush of the leaders to the jMagazine — with the exception of the fu-st fifteen hundred men brought by Chang Feng Hui — and a general word left for the soldiers to enter the city (from which generally they were jealously, and Avisely, excluded) " to help." The soldiers promptly accepted — and interpreted — the order; they helped themselves.
They broke into the banks and pawnshops, and the rabble followed. Nor can the leaders be acquitted of blame. Too many have suddenly emerged from in- digence to affluence for any easy whitewashing.
The result, apart from the personal suffering and despair, was deplorable. The banks which might have
30
THE LOOTING OF SlANFU 31
floated the new government, or tided it over the worst, were broken. The only ones saved were those in the East Suburb, and these, though not looted, closed their doors, and after the lapse of twelve months they have not ventured to open them. The looted silver was buried in gi'eat quantities, or passed, by gambling, from one unprofitable channel to another. The wildest experiments had to be resorted to in order to raise public funds.
The general features in Sianfu were the same as in the other large cities. What was peculiar to Sianfu city (apart from the suburbs) was the attack on the English Hospital, due to the momentary recklessness of an irresponsible section; the independent attitude of the Mohammedans; and, lastly, the fearful slaughter of the Manchus.
The soldiers, backed up by the released prisoners, by the Mohammedans, by the newly enlisted populace, went through the banks and pawnshops. These de- spoiled, the lesser fry, still unsurfeited, turned their attention to the shops. Wares might be occasionally looted, frequently were wantonly destroyed, but the unvarying cry was " silver." The soldiers on guard at the city gates, calmly piled up their furs and silks, thus obtained, in the guard house or in the gate tower, until such time as was convenient for removal to their homes.
At the yamens there was little divergence in the story The incumbent, if able to do so, fled. The yamen was ransacked, and usually some leader appropriated it as his " official residence." The Hsien magistrate of Ch'ang An — Ch'ang An Hsien comprises the western portion of Sianfu — was asked to help in the new government unofficially, as he had the business details at his fingers' ends. To this he consented. The Chihfu, the pre- fectural magistrate of Sianfu, was invited to do the same.
32 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
but since his office had been a much higher one, his desertion to the enemy would have been too marked, and therefore he refused. This, to us, curious distinction occurred repeatedly throughout the eighteen officials : what told was the magnitude of the trust, not the in- trinsic nature of the betrayal of trust.
One of the richest hauls lay in the seizure of the person of the provincial judge, a Manchu — sometimes called a Mongol. He fell into the hands of the Ko Lao Hui leader, Chang Yiin Shan. He was considered fair game. As a non-Chinese, whether Manchu or Mongol, his life was not worth an hour's purchase. But he had held his present appointment for five years, he was supreme judge of a province, and the moneys spent in buying his position had long since been far more than regained. At his yamen and at his private residence alike, there was large store of bullion, box after box, bag after bag of silver ingots. He fell into the hands of a man who was an " elder brother " in more than name, one who had his " younger brethren " well in hand ; a man of singular fearlessness, straight speech, and power of leadership. Chang Yiin Shan was far too much taken up wdth his life purpose to dissipate his strength in promiscuous looting, but he now, at one blow, made a fortune which he subsequently used as a war chest. The provincial judge placed himself under the protection of the Ko Lao Hui leader, and for that protection, paid with all that he had. House, land, and valuables were handed over with deeds complete, and with a show of legality. There was a splendid audacity about the whole idea. And perhaps if loot were ever justifiable it would be the loot of ill-gotten gains obtained by the sale of public justice. The pledge of protection was faithfully observed. The ex- judge having taken to himself a common Chinese surname, dwelt in the city as a private
THE LOOTING OF SIANFU 38
citizen under the protection of Chang Yiin Shan until peace was declared and the Republic proclaimed, whereupon he made his way to Peking.
It is strange how euphemism lingers even in these unlikely scenes. Though banks had been ruthlessly plundered and the merchant's silver looted, yet, when it came to his wares, something of the following happened. Soldiers, or " patriots," broke from their hurried march along the street, to step into a shop which, unhappily for the proprietor, had not as yet its shutters closed. Picking up some article which caught his fancy, the man asks " How much ? " " Five taels." " Five taels ! Nonsense ! Here are five hundred cash, and I've no time for haggHng." The gun and terror do the rest. Before he has left, another man (and brother) appears, and in his turn takes up an article. " Here, boss, here's fifty cash," and departs. The third and last stage is that of " name of Wang," who, having seen " name of Chang " leaving the place with goods in hand, murmurs, " Ah, you gave him something, suppose you give me ^te," and with " this " in hand, he also hurries away. Notice how the language of respectabihty is clung to up to the last ; the looter has an eye to a possible court of inquiry in the future, and would be prepared to swear that the goods were either bought as a bargain, or were a gift from the merchant. Not till the shutters are got into place does the rain of " bargains " and " gifts " cease. Can one wonder that terrified shopkeepers dis- obeyed edicts ordering them to open their shops ? It was not until soldiers came round a week later, hammer- ing at the doors and threatening to break in if they were not opened, not till some formerly well-to-do tradesmen at the west end of the city had been apprehended and threatened with beheading if they again disobeyed the order, that the unhappy merchants opened their places
34 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
of business, with miserable stocks. They anticipated, with only too much prescience, being forced by the soldiery to accept notes issued by their general, notes which would only be redeemed at heavy discount, if at all. The shopmen compromised by having only one shutter taken down, so that they might quickly close the place if there were further demonstrations.
The colleges, those homes of learning, where the glorious revolution that was to be had been dreamt of and worked for, were calmly appropriated as quarters for soldiery who had had sufficient of barracks out- side the city, or were used as the " public offices " of some new, and ofttimes self-appointed " leader." The students who were fortunate became members of the " government " as officials and secretaries. But, alas, there were not enough of such posts to go round. Also, to their dismay and chagrin, these ilUterate Ko Lao Hui people were found lacking in all proper feeling, all proper respect for men who were trained to direct affairs — for had not our students studied text-books on law, text- books on miHtary tactics, text-books on English Gram- mar (oh. So-and-so's Grammar ! what thou hast to answer for !), text-books on political science ? So lack- ing in right feeling were these " elder brethren " that they took power and kept it, rudely elbowing out enlightened students. Enlightened students have stomachs; more stomach than purse, and after pitiful attempt to maintain position, to find shelter, to find, alas, mere food, depart not unfearfully for their homes. Lecture theatres, sacred formerly to enlightened students, become dormitories of " patriots," " love-the- country men " as they are called. Chemistry labora- tories are strewn with wreckage; physics' laboratories likewise. Case after case of test tubes is smashed wantonly. Electro-magnets, barometers, delicate scien-
THE LOOTING OF SIANFU 85
tific instruments of great value, are made the toys of an hour's horseplay for the new inmates' spirit of inquiry. " Patriots " after saving their country from the tyran- nical oppressor shall be amused. Summer-houses, gardens, places of mere amusement and recreation, must be turned to the stern uses of practical life ; shall be used to stable our horses. Why waste time seeking stables elsewhere ? Also should wood be needed to kindle fu-es, why search at the fuel vendors' ? Are there not window frames, doors, benches ? Those leaders who had notions of discipline, and others who looked for order in the future, ventured to remonstrate. They were soon silenced. Are we not now a republic ? Are we not, according to your teaching, all equals ? What is this of officers' orders ?
One stands amazed at the patience of the average decent citizen of Sianfu. At fu-st he dared say nothing, dare oppose nothing, was thankful for bare Ufe. Later, when the new " government " got somewhat more settled in the saddle, he had still to keep silent, since all criticism was taboo, and heads came off \vith alarming ease should a charge of " spreading rumours " be ad- vanced. He begins again at his business, or to work at his land. Trade has received a blow from which it will take years to recover. Presently, however, the patient man will pluck up a little courage, and proceed to bring his law-suit against those w^ho have come, by devious ways, into possession of his property — in fact the law- suits are already beginning — and he will leisurely prosecute his suit, and be provided with plentiful interest and occupation for years to come.
D 2
ER VI
THE SACK O
The Manchu cit \ t the city of Sianfi takes up a large |)< gates in the west quarter, and threi main Chinese city, were strongly r" egress, though i. The signal for thf Bell Tower in the n found ready to voi was not known wht 1 1 cealed Manchn were hidden th pected. If none r their rifles from th join them to conr vantage against tli
On the evening city's south gate to was not immediii Neii
these funds had mai and
TARTAR CITY I CAUSES
e^s up the north-east portion of
the Mohammedan quarter
the north-west. It has two
^'Pir into the Mohanmiedan
th wall leading into the
nd of October 22 these gates
Revolutionaries preventing
1 yet been delivered on them.
_: advance was given at the
the city. Two soldiers were
o enter and ascend this. It
• there remained in it any con-
'' i? liquid prove that such
struggle might be ex-
i, the two men were to fire
\ , and their fellows would
...L fire from this point of
IS in the Tartar city below.
he slojx? guarding the main
d, though the advantage
Here again was the
were allotted for a good
-* ^* this point. But
.1 which to filter,
-found, ill-disci phned
' ■' ^ V The
mom-
*}r<
!>«
•>«<
H =^
I
CHAPTER VI
THE SACK OF THE TARTAR CITY I CAUSES
The Manchu city takes up the north-east portion of the city of Sianfu, whilst the Mohammedan quarter takes up a large portion of the north-west. It has two gates in the west wall leading into the Mohammedan quarter, and three in the south wall leading into the main Chinese city. By the end of October 22 these gates were strongly guarded by Revolutionaries preventing egress, though no attack had yet been delivered on them. The signal for the morning advance was given at the Bell Tower in the middle of the city. Two soldiers were found ready to volunteer to enter and ascend this. It was not known whether there remained in it any con- cealed Manchu guards. If it should prove that such were hidden there, a desperate struggle might be ex- pected. If none remained, the two men were to fire their rifles from the upper storey, and their fellows would join them to commence a rifle fire from this point of vantage against the Manchus in the Tartar city below.
On the evening before, the slope guarding the main city's south gate tower was rushed, though the advantage was not immediately pressed. Here again was the Nemesis of " squeeze." Funds were allotted for a good and well-equipped force as guard at this point. But these funds had many hands through which to filter, and the result was a handful of ill-found, ill -disciplined men, who, at the first onslaught, broke and fied. The south wall belonged to the victors, who, the next morn-
36
0/ o
-rS
c3 O
■e ?
SACK OF THE TARTAR CITY: CAUSES 37
ing, pushed eastward and reached the south-east corner without resistance. But from this point to the east gate they had to meet a heavy rifle fire. For at the east gate the Manchu guard made a fierce stand. In the massive towers over the gateways they had a strong force. Below the towers, on the slope leading down to the Tartar city, they massed both cavalry and infantry. The revolutionary forces on the wall were few, but they were modern trained troops, armed with the latest weapons in the city. And they faced a crowd of demoralized, pampered Manchus, whose guns were many of them muzzle-loaders, and all of them old ; and whose cannon were indifferently served. Below, between the gates, Chang Yiin Shan and his " younger brethren " fought as if possessed.
On the west the Manchu city wall runs up to the main city's north gate. At this gate, with its great towers, another fierce contest took place. Down below Chang Pei Ying directed operations. He had climbed up, early that morning, the 23rd, to the roof of a house, at a point where the Manchu rampart is made up of the high walls bounding the gardens of the Chinese. Here he could see something of the disposition of the Manchu forces. He could see how they were clustered about the gates leading into the Chinese city.
Cannon were ordered up from the barracks and the arsenal, and placed on the Chinese streets leading to these gates. The cannonade which followed soon achieved its object, not of breaking in the Manchu gates, but of scaring away its defenders. This done the revo- lutionaries brought up heavy beams and burst in one gate, whilst a second one they burnt. But by the time the gates were thus opened, numbers of Manchus had returned and there was fierce fighting in the gateway. Chang Pei Ying speaks of seeing one man account for
b »w,
SACK OF THE TARTAF V
ing, pushed eastward and read without resistance. But fron gate they had to meet a heavy i gate the Manchu guard made massive towers over the gate^^ force. Below the towers, on the si« the Tartar city, they massed bc>' The revolutionary forces on the were modern trained troops, arin< weapons in the city. And t demoralized, pampered Manchu- of them muzzle-loaders, and all cannon were indifferently served. gates, Chang YUn Shan and his *" > fought as if possessed.
On the west the Manchu city v city's north gate. At this gate, w:Li. another fierce contest took place. D Pei Ying directed operations. He h that morning, the 23rd, to * ■ point where the Manchu ranip^. walls bounding the gardens of could see something of the forces. He could see how th gates leading into the Chines
Cannon were ordered up i arsenal, and placed on the these eak/^ The cannona^ achie^^^^bject, not of bK
CAUSES If
uth-etst it to the tt^ ForattJie«i^ stand. In *» . had a ^tnH leading do^n t0 V and intofrT e few, but tkty with Uie k« i a cwwd d
m
ns
J: aodvtar betmatk 1^ hwdfPB*
senai, ana { lese eak/^
r
nca, hu-
38 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
five of his opponents, during this melee. He estimates the number of the Manchus who fought at three thousand. It should be remembered in considering this, that the fiercer the resistance offered, the nearer approach is there to an excuse for the slaughter which followed.
The earliest orders of the Ke Ming Tang leaders were that only combatants were to be killed, and there is little doubt that Chang Pei Ying, who largely directed operations, had no thought of any such slaughter as occurred later. That these counsels of moderation were afterwards discarded was due to several causes.
1. As soon as the Manchus realized that the outbreak, long dreaded, had actually commenced, they rushed to the yamen of the Tartar General for instructions. As already shown, he was away at the Provincial Assembly in the Chinese city ; unhappily for the Bannermen there was no one man amongst his subordinates with initia- tive, decision, and personality, to organize any concerted resistance. The gates, it is true, were promptly closed, but one might almost say that this happens automatic- ally in China at the first hint of trouble. Rumour of riot supplies the stimulus, shutting the gate is the reflex action. It was the Manchus who closed the gate separ- ating the east suburb from the city, this gate being within the Tartar walls. Apart from this closing of the gates, all was confusion.
2. Just as there was no concerted plan of defence, so there was none of surrender. There was no proper and dignified attempt at a parley. If at that early stage proper representations could have been made from the Tartar head-quarters, it is possible that, though nothing could have prevented the complete looting of their possessions, their lives might have been spared ; at least the Ke Ming Tang might have attempted some protec-
SACK OF THE TARTAR CITY: CAUSES 39
tion. Unhappily there was no one to attempt such an arrangement, and after the loss of the position on the walls, the idea of the majority was flight; the flight became a sauve qui pent, in which no thought was given for any general arrangements.
3. But though the Manchu guard, as such, was no longer a fighting force, yet, as each of the Bannermen is, nominally at least, a fighting man, there still remained some street skirmishing. Not that street fighting in north-west China, under present conditions, could be the serious thing it is in Europe, or even in the narrow streets of two-storeyed houses of South China. Here are no upper storeys, no windows looking out on the street, nothing but easily scaled mud walls, without loopholes, without standing-room. It was no question of Cahors streets, of Paris barricades, of sullen, skilful resistance of a town, carried house by house and street by street. But since the streets were wide, the Manchus had one means of punishing their foes. However they may have sunk in other respects, the Sianfu Bannermen remained magnificent horsemen, and their rush, though futile in the end, since working towards no definite object, yet carried all before it for the moment. But as the wide streets narrowed towards the gates, even this advantage was lost.
There were two men in particular, men of courage, who were not willing to surrender without a struggle. Mu Er Yeh, an inspector, gathered over a hundred men and offered a prolonged resistance in one of the large gardens which had been the pride of the Manchu city. Huai Pao, a notorious gambler, was another man who led a forlorn hope.
But partly as the result of these two men's persistence, these few fighting Manchus were looked upon by the enemy as the vanguard of a large force. The easy and
comparativ through th' to their genen. by lurid rr city once tL streets. This, known to \ at five thov. revolutionaries be treated as generate '^ ^ "slavi. .
There lies ii Imperial ci*" days when ." are high and st expected that • Already in ni sift the legend place in tli' be waged ' the blind i assailants. i\ however pal pa was one less < which must Ix gateway ar^^ interior. 1 taken in an an enter t h ' place (.i
4. One other f;i hale wit h ^' " I^o Hui ; man to whom i
passage of thi < .n..
.- vta\*ed, anxious reqi. . . •
her orders, requests accompanied
' ''■' -'■'■-- to the Chinese
- r loose on the
1 with the large number of men
Vir t itv the number was given
^crvative estimate — caused the
s^ their policy and order all to
.' ts. All the hatred and fear of
'- « fresh, and the word became
t h of the Tartar city a so-called
<1 as a drill — -•— ^. reminder of
he home of ; rs. Its walls
• gatewa>'5 massive. Here it was
would make their last stand.
rs, one has to be careful to
J up as to what happened at this
. The fear that a battle must
Sianfu was safe was a factor in
rescntly pocflcwed some of the
1 cut down in the streets,
/rd and terrified he might be,
v\ side for the last conflict
•I the Huang Ch*eng. Facing its
— «i -vork screens hiding the
i that they might here be
W hen at length they ventured to
this death-trap, this last rallying
vva.s to find it — empty.
r cannot be omitted ; the passionate
^us were regarded by the Ko
iicd in and manifested by a
t ruction had become as a rehgion,
i4l
9^
40 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
comparatively harmless passage of the Chinese troops through the streets was stayed, anxious requests sent to their general for further orders, requests accompanied by lurid representations of the danger to the Chinese city once these " fighting Manchus " were loose on the streets. This, coupled with the large number of men known to be in the Tartar city — the number was given at five thousand, a conservative estimate — caused the revolutionaries to change their policy and order all to be treated as combatants. All the hatred and fear of generations was aflame afresh, and the word became " slay and spare not."
There lies in the north of the Tartar city a so-called Imperial city, now used as a drill ground, reminder of days when Sianfu was the home of Emperors. Its walls are high and strong, the gateways massive. Here it was expected that the Manchus would make their last stand. Already in making inquiries, one has to be careful to sift the legends growing up as to what happened at this place in the Revolution. The fear that a battle must be waged here before Sianfu was safe was a factor in the bUnd rage which presently possessed some of the assailants. Every Manchu cut down in the streets, however palpably demoralized and terrified he might be, was one less on the enemy's side for the last conflict which must be waged in the Huang Ch'eng. Facing its gateway are enormous earthwork screens hiding the interior. The assailants feared that they might here be taken in an ambush. When at length they ventured to enter this terrible place, this death-trap, this last rallying place of the Empire, it was to find it — empty.
4. One other factor cannot be omitted ; the passionate hate with which the Manchus were regarded by the Ko Lao Hui; a hatred embodied in and manifested by a man to whom their destruction had become as a religion.
SACK OF THE TARTAR CITY: CAUSES 41
by the man Chang YiJn Shan. By Tuesday evening the attack was slackening. The Manchu might still be left insufTiciently subdued; a possible root of bitterness in the future. That night the great tower over the inner north gate went up in flames. It was sufficient. The cry went out that the Manchus, reinforced by their garrison from Ts'ao T'an, twelve miles away, had rallied to burn, to slay. Rage flamed up more fiercely than ever. Yet Chang Yiin Shan boasts that it was he who deliberately fired the tower, and, as a result, ensured that the destruction of the Manchu should be complete ; their power, in Shensi at least, be totally extinct.
Such are some of the main causes which made for the wholesale slaughter of the Manchus.
CHAPTER VII
THE SACK OF THE TARTAR CITY : THE HUNTED MANCHUS
Once the Chinese set about this business of destruc- tion, the lust of blood, the madness of killing possessed them. Old and young, men and women, little children, were alike butchered. The Tartar General, old, hope- less, cut off from his people at the critical juncture, was unable to face the situation. The safety he had won for the moment, he felt not worth the keeping ; he ended his life by throwing himself down a well. Houses were plundered and then burnt ; those who would fain have lain hidden till the storm was past, were forced to come out into the open. The revolutionaries, protected by a parapet of the wall, poured a heavy, unceasing, relentless fire into the doomed Tartar city. Those who tried to escape thence into the Chinese city were cut down as they emerged from the gates. At the western gates the Mohammedans cynically received them for their own purpose. In the darkness some managed to scale the city wall, and descend the other side, wade through the moat, and escape to the open country. But not all who attempted this succeeded. The wall is thirty- six feet in height and at the top is some sixteen yards wide, and on it at various points clustered the Chinese soldiers. The fugitives to escape had to slip between these, avoid the flashing lanterns, and find a means of affixing their ropes safely before descending. Some possibly escaped by venturing to leap from the height.
42
SACK OF CITY: THE HUNTED MANCHUS 48
In despair, many Manchus themselves set fire to their houses ; at least they might cheat their murderers of the loot they sought. Into the English Hospital, days afterwards, when the first fury was passed, men were brought in a shocking condition ; men who had attempted to cut their throats. Asked why they had done so, they answered simply, " The wells were full." And the Shensi wells are not the shallow ones of some parts of China; they are thirty-six feet deep. There is such a man in that hospital to-day. All his family, wife, daughters, sons, were slain or destroyed themselves; he lives because the well was choked with dead or dying, and he failed in his attempt to end his life by other means.
There were many Manchus in the Chinese city at the time of the outbreak. Some escaped for the moment through taking shelter with friends. But even twenty days after the outbreak a Manchu detected on the street would be dragged off to instant execution. Hundreds were thus hunted through the streets and lanes of the city. They were known by their clothing, by their cast of countenance, by their speech. Their fondness for reds and yellows, their use of white linings, their high collars and narrow sleeves (it was dangerous for Chinese dandies to display garments of the coast cut in those days), their belts, their shoes; all gave them away. With the women the unbound feet were the fatal distinction. Their peculiar headdress, their clothing they might change, but there was no disguising their natural-sized feet. The one way was to put on men's clothing, better still Chinese soldier's clothing; this many did and thus escaped. Scores were caught by soldiers and put for the moment in a temple until such time as there could be a distribution amongst the victors. The Manchu cast of countenance is easily
44 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
distinguishable from the Shensi type, which often approaches to the Congot Malay rather than the Mongol. And their speech bewrayeth them. In case of doubt the suspects were required to speak, and by their speech judged. This often meant danger for Chinese of other provinces, especially Chihli.
The numbers slain mounted up from hundreds into thousands ; they were estimated by the foreigners living in Sianfu through the revolution as not less than ten thousand who were either killed or took their own lives to escape a worse fate.
Ke-Ming-Tangism, had, in this remote province, evolved a very primitive, wholly unscientific Red Cross Society. And its first work was that of the undertaker. It was to dig pits in the Manchu city, now become a desert, a desolation, and there to throw the slain. That which the hacking knives and the dogs had left was eventually heaped together in these places. Men were hired to act as draught-cattle. Each fixed a long rope round a corpse, and with the other end over his shoulder trudged along, dragging his ghastly burden, which bumped and rolled through the city's mire to its last resting-place. Down the Ta Ts'ai Shih, a bustling, gossiping street lined with food-stalls, they came, a procession half a mile long. At the end of one rope was a head, the body had disappeared, and only the head went trundling after its puller. . . . Here was a body completely eviscerated. It is horrible, unprintable, you say ? Ah, but it went through a hatefully indifferent, malevolently satisfied crowd, that pitiful procession. The Manchus were parasites, were oppres- sors. And in the day of their victory did the visitors evince any special fitness, any virtues superior to those of their fallen foe ?
A white badge round the arm was the emblem of this
> s
5 "
SACK OF CITY: THE HUNTED MANCHUS 45
St. Bartholomew's day. The Manchus noticed that their assailants wore this badge, and by the evening of the 23rd they also wore such a sign. The next day the revolutionary leaders ordered another coloured badge; by the evening the hunted Bannermen were copying this second badge as best they might. So it went on.
When the Manchus found that further resistance was useless, they in many cases knelt on the ground, laying down their weapons, and begged the soldiers for life. They were shot as they knelt. Sometimes there was a whole line of them. In one doorway a group of between ten and twenty were thus killed in cold blood.
A girl came down the street ; a girl of twenty, with hands bound. She had been hastily dragged before the " judges ! " in the Magazine, temporary head-quarters of the Revolution, and was now being taken out a hundred yards or so to be beheaded. And in her face was that which once seen — by one passer-by at least — was never to be forgotten. It was not despair. Ah no ! That anodyne had had no time in which to reach her. It was the full young life cheated of its days, going out into the dark, the path before her littered by fearful reminders of the fate in front. From the pallid lips no sound issued ; they were held, as the girl's whole being was held, by utter terror. The shaking limbs, the stumbling gait, proclaimed it, but more than all the awful haunting eyes. Along the route where the reek of blood made the very air bitter, acrid in the brilliant sunshine, where curses and sobs mingled with groans and derisive raucous cries rent the air, they went. A woman, a very girl, caught within the enemy's gates, not dying with her own people, not able to save herself with them if only in a death she saw and chose; but hurried along thus, as to the shambles. And her crime ?
Axxjii xrvooxi-svj v/JT
Her birth. A Manchu. The soldier muttered impatiently. He had other affairs to attend to when this was over. Time meant money, meant sport, in those days. He stalked along behind her with naked sword held up. ** Hurry," he snarled, ** hurry."
Days after the outbreak, an EngUshman, passing down a side street, heard groans, heard the cry of pain, coming up with hollow sound from the depths. At the mouth of a well stood some Chinese. It was their day. The pitiful cries went on, the feeble moaning varied with the sharp cries. A Manchu, who had thrown himself, or been thrown down this well, had lain there with broken limbs : lay there in agony, appealing almost imconsciously for pity.
The men at the well mouth picked up lumps of earth, stones, picked up what came to hand. There came up from the welFs depths the thud of missiles on human flesh.
T: ri- fe
it.
ciL\PTER \^^
THE WOMEN OF THE MANCHUS
AxD the women ? Mothers of daughters, wives who saw their husbands fall on the threshold striving to shield their women from shame ? What of than ? They had no idea of fighting. It had never been suggested to them that they could defend themselves. Here were no upper windows whence they could pour moltai pitch, or throw heavy vessels on the enemy below. They had no weapons nor knew of their use. But if they could not defend themselves, they could defend their honour. Their one weapon was the determination to die rather than meet dishonour, their haven of refuge was death. And they died. They sought death as a friend. Even the children knew how to do this. Ay, all was lost save honour, but this must be saved- In one family, well known and respected, no less than nine women threw themselves into the wells. The wells are deep in Shensi, but they were not too deep to be choked up in those days of terror — choked with the victims of despair. For the old women, life was bound up in their children and grandchildren. These were slain before their eyes, and to than the victors left a remnant of days wherein to beg at the gates of their enemies — or starve. Even in the lust of slaughter they were often passed over from sheer indifference. But for the matrons and their daughters it was otherwise; and the mothers gathered their girls about them and together they fell on death. In the
47
46 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Her birth. A Manchu. The soldier muttered impatiently. He had other affairs to attend to when this was over. Time meant money, meant sport, in those days. He stalked along behind her with naked sword held up. " Hurry," he snarled, " hurry."
Days after the outbreak, an Englishman, passing down a side street, heard groans, heard the cry of pain, coming up with hollow sound from the depths. At the mouth of a well stood some Chinese. It was their day. The pitiful cries went on, the feeble moaning varied with the sharp cries. A Manchu, who had thrown himself, or been thrown down this well, had lain there with broken limbs ; lay there in agony, appealing almost unconsciously for pity.
The men at the well mouth picked up lumps of earth, stones, picked up what came to hand. There came up from the well's depths the thud of missiles on human flesh.
CHAPTER VIII
THE WOMEN OF THE MANCHUS
And the women ? Mothers of daughters, wives who saw their husbands fall on the threshold striving to shield their women from shame ? What of them ? They had no idea of fighting. It had never been suggested to them that they could defend themselves. Here were no upper windows whence they could pour molten pitch, or throw heavy vessels on the enemy below. They had no weapons nor knew of their use. But if they could not defend themselves, they could defend their honour. Their one weapon was the determination to die rather than meet dishonour, their haven of refuge was death. And they died. They sought death as a friend. Even the children knew how to do this. Ay, all was lost save honour, but this must be saved. In one family, well known and respected, no less than nine women threw themselves into the wells. The wells are deep in Shensi, but they were not too deep to be choked up in those days of terror — choked with the victims of despair. For the old women, life was bound up in their children and grandchildren. These were slain before their eyes, and to them the victors left a remnant of days wherein to beg at the gates of their enemies — or starve. Even in the lust of slaughter they were often passed over from sheer indifference. But for the matrons and their daughters it was otherwise; and the mothers gathered their girls about them and together they fell on death. In the
47
48 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
streets often there was to be seen a soldier ordering a woman to follow him and the woman answered him, " Nay, kill me if you will, but follow you I will not." . . . She sank, swooning in her blood, and the victors sought other prey.
The little girls were taken to be trained as slaves. Rich houses in the city, the houses of Mohammedans especially, are full of them — cheap servants for the future.
Yet this Chinese fury was more merciful than the Spanish, Sianfu more fortunate than Antwerp : the Chinese soldiers with all their faults better than Alva's demons or Kirke's " lambs." The Chinese marriage customs came to the aid of these distressed Manchu women and girls, for to the young Chinese soldier, drawn from the ranks of the very poor, the price of a wife in normal times is a serious affair, entailing much scheming, scraping, saving on the part of his parents and himself. But here was the chance of a lifetime; he could obtain a wife for nothing; no big price to be paid to the girl's family — she had none : no middleman's fees, no vexatious cost of feast, and robes : no fees for yamen registration. The girl was taken to his home and before witnesses proclaimed his wife; his parents get a daughter-in-law, i. e. a domestic servant, without any price paid, and one who would never be able to bring her family about their ears, clamouring for rights.
After the third day the generals put out a proclama- tion that the women and children were to be spared. Then such soldiers as were wifeless went through the ruins seeking wounded women and girls. They brought them to the hospital, and the hospital authorities were notified that such an one was the soldier's intended wife, and on being cured must be turned over to him. The
THE WOMEN OF THE MANCHUS 49
mind soon accustomed itself to the unaccustomed; British women nursing these patients lost, in a few weeks, the sense of incongruity, and watched the curious courtship with interest. For the husband-to-be would bring special food — and food was hard to get in those days — for his future wife and watch over her kindly. The rage, the brutality were after all the abnormal : the decent hopes of home and family, the willingness to share with its members, to deny himself that these might thrive ; these were the enduring : his peasant blood and upbringing saved him often. Others there were, the offscourings of artificial life in the cities, but these burn themselves out, or take to robbery or worse.
Undisciplined, touchy, surly the Chinese soldier is, but taken the right way there is much that is good in him, and he is capable of gratitude. He is the unlicked cub waiting for Sergeant What's-his-name.
Protection to the hunted, wounded women came from other sources also. There were gentry in the city whose houses bordered on the Manchu city wall, who sheltered young girls until such time as they could be safely passed out of the city gate and find shelter in the villages. One fine old Chinese gentleman stands out. He knew nothing of the patriots' politics, was mildly bewildered by the froth of talk — Utopian exposition — yet he knew a man's duty and the way of pity. He had been one of the wealthiest men in the city, but had lost nearly all. He was a polished gentleman, and he had now to hob-nob with the scourings of the streets. His queue had to be sacrificed ; instead of his accustomed headgear, seemly and dignified, he must wear a hideous " foreign " cap, which might have come off a Petticoat Lane barrow. He dared not greet one with the gentle dignity of a Chinese bow ; he knew nothing of the new " politeness." But bewildered, bullied, almost ruined
50 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
as he was, he put aside his own sorrow in the attempt to help the fallen enemies of his race. Women and girls had been kept in all honour in his looted courtyards, and he busied himself in arranging for their safe escort to village homes. The Chinese Christians also were not found wanting. " To love mercy " was no idle precept with them.
The English Mission Hospital swarmed with wounded, irrespective of race or sex, but the Mission's other premises were taxed in sheltering, feeding, and caring for these fugitives, and this though proclamations were out against harbouring the proscribed Manchu.
Rich Manchus who held office in neighbouring towns were sometimes not killed outright, but seized, dragged to Sianfu, and thrown into prison awaiting ransom. The fate of these prisoners was appalling. They were left for days without food, in cold and filth. One of these, the magistrate of Lin Tung, managed to make his case known to the English in the city, through whose exertions he was subsequently released. His family meanwhile was sheltered in the Mission compound. This Mission belongs to the Baptist Missionary Society, the same which suffered so terribly in Taiyuanfu in the Boxer year. There, devoted men and women were cruelly done to death by the Manchu Governor, Yii Hsien, and now after eleven years, the Manchu reckoning had come. Hunted, and in despair they turned to the foreigner they would have exterminated, to the friends and colleagues of the murdered missionaries of Taiyuanfu. And the wite of the Lin Tung magistrate, the woman who found safety and comfort in the English Compound, was the daughter of the former governor of Shansi, the infamous Yii Hsien.
As a race distinct they are doomed. The removal of the arbitrary distinctions, the value of their absorption
THE WOMEN OF THE MANCHUS 51
in the general Chinese stock, is seen and urged by states- men of all parties.
Those left will gain in the new Republic ; gain in industry, knowledge, patriotism ; will be the better for being removed from the old life of idleness and artificial isolation. In a generation or two in the Shensi province, the Manchu women as such will be unknown, they will be Chinese. But before they went they proved them- selves not unworthy of a race which for over 250 years had held a great empire in subjection. However low the Manchu had fallen ; however parasitic, lazy, sensual he had become, yet at the supreme crisis their women played their part with courage and with honour. In the supreme agony, before the curtain fell upon the last act of the drama, there was revealed in one vivid spectacle the secret of that real greatness which had won and held an empire for the Manchu.
E 2
streets often the) was to be seen a soldier ordering a woman to folio \ him and the woman answered him, " Nay, kill me il m will, but follow you I will not." . . . She sank, swoon lu' in her blood, and the victors sought other prey.
The little girl were taken to be trained as slaves. Rich houses in le city, the houses of Mohammedans especially, arc ill of them — cheap servants for the future.
Yet this Chin;e fury was more merciful than the Spanish, Sianfii nore fortunate than Antwerp : the Chinese soldiers ith all their faults better than Alva's demons or Kirl^'s " lambs." The Chinese marriage customs came t the aid of these distressed Manchu women and gir. for to the young Chinese soldier, drawn from the anks of the very poor, the price of a wife in normal tnes is a serious affair, entailing much scheming, sera pig, saving on the part of his parents and himself, l^t here was the chance of a lifetime; he could obtain wife for nothing; no big price paid to the girfsamily — she had none : no middlem fees, no vexatiov cost of feast, and robes : no f yamen registrat-n. The girl was taken to and before witi^ses proclaimed his wife; get a d aught cr-i»law, i. e. sl domestic se any price paid.md one who would bring her fai-T about their ears rights.
After the tlm ciay the generals tion that the wnien and childre Then such soklrs as were wifel ruins seeking w( nded women an them to the ho^ital, and the hi notified that sue an one was th and on being ciied must be ti
Hm
tail
THE WOMEN OF THE >L4_\C "S
mind soon accustomed itself to the l
British women nursing these patients m »
weeks, the sense of incongruity, and waters le
courtship with interest. For the husbai.d -be
brmg special food— and food was hard to ^ in
days-for his future wife and watch o^ ., 'er k>
The rage, the brutality were after all the .L nn«l - ife
decent hopes of home and family, the w Zn^ll
share with its members, to deny himself hat hS^
thrive; these were the enduring : his , To^
upbrmgmg saved him often. Other. j^ ^
oftscourmgs of artificial life in the cities ■h„tK\**
themselves out, or take tn r^KK ' ''"*hesebnii
^ Undisciplined, luch , s^Sy'S cVu;'^' , . but taken the right way therJis mucj tt r ^ "^
lered on the Manchu citLall '
]tT^!L^ time as the eoula ..
.and find sHter in the
ntlcr^ poi Utopian the way- en in the ci ihed gentle] ■oxuinn eado
nd.s out.
^ mildly
sition-^
ity. He
but had
and he
streets.
nstoined
5'<ill hideous
etticoat
le gentle
the new
mined
50
THE PASSING Oh' THE DKAGUiN
as he was, he put aside his own sorrow in the attempt to help the fallen enemies of his race. Women and girls had been kept in all honour in his looted courtyards, and he busied himself in arranging for their safe escort to village homes. The Chinese Christians also were not found wanting. " To love mercy " was no idle precept with them.
The English Mission Hospital swarmed with wounded, irrespective of race or sex, but the Mission's other premises were taxed in sheltering, feeding, and caring for these fugitives, and this though proclamations were out against harbouring the proscribed Manchu.
Rich Manchus who held office in neighbouring towns were sometimes not killed outright, but seized, dragged to Sianfu, and thrown into prison awaiting ransom. The fate of these prisoners was appalling. They were left for days without food, in cold and filth. One of these, the magistrate of Lin Tung, managed to make his case known to the English in the city, through whose exertions he w^as subsequently released. His family meanwhile was sheltered in the Mission compound. This Mission belongs to the Baptist Missionary Society, the same which suffered so terribly in Taiyuanfu in the Boxer year. There, devoted men and women were cruelly done to death by the Manchu Governor, Yu Hsien, and now after eleven years, the Manchu reckoning had come. Hunted, and in despair they turned to the foreigner they would have exterminated, to the friends and colleagues of the murdered missionaries of Taiyuanfu. And the ^yiie of the Lin Tung magistrate, the woman who found safety and comfort in the English Compound, was the daughter of the former governor of Shansi, the infamous Yii Hsien.
As a race distinct they are doomed. The removal of the arbitrary distinctions, the value of their absorption
THE WOMEN OF THE MANCHUS
51
in the general Chinese stock, is seen and urged by states- men of all parties.
Those left will gain in the new Republic; gain in industry, knowledge, patriotism ; will be the better for being removed from the old life of idleness and artificial isolation. In a generation or two in the Shensi province, the Manchu women as such will be unknown, they will be Chinese. But before they went they proved them- selves not unworthy of a race which for over 250 years had held a great empire in subjection. However low the Manchu had fallen ; however parasitic, lazy, sensual he had become, yet at the supreme crisis their women played their part with courage and with honour. In the supreme agony, before the curtain fell upon the last act of the drama, there was revealed in one vivid spectacle the secret of that real greatness which had won and held an empire for the Manchu.
E 2
3,
CHAPTER IX
THE MOHAMMEDANS
The attitude of the Mohammedans during the revo- lution was one of profound cynicism. If the Manchu was to the Mohammedan less than kin, the Chinese was less than kind. Politically they cared not at all as to the rights and wrongs of the quarrel. Their position resembled that of the Irish Nationalists at Westminster : whether Han or Man won was indifferent to them so long as both were sufficiently weakened in the struggle. Their exhaustion meant increased autonomy for Islam. Their desire for a Chinese Mohammedan Empire carved out of the north-west provinces and the New Dominion was no mere dream. They have always had the idea of becoming an imperium in imperio. For the Chinese about them they have only contempt and hatred.
From the fighting man's point of view the revolution
served them well. They generally manage to be better
armed than their neighbours. Now in the indiscriminate
handing out of guns to " patriots " the Mohammedan
got what he coveted, the latest pattern rifle in the city.
It was well worth putting a white badge round his arm
for that, and if loot ran short there would be the army
to enter. The Kansu Mohammedans took this latter
line. Here conservatism held its own : there was no
real turnover. The officials sat tight, regarded the
Shensi revolutionaries as scum, and savagely put down
the Kansu Ke Ming Tang. But an army was necessary
to meet the Shensi Republicans, or else Shensi went
52
it on theii hadi orQ
DOitt
differ
repute
Doloi
from
havini
and ii
COM
troops liisf« qualm theml nients ents, ' thant tkirf inieai
But that' itsell. risks miscu city delibe
Beii
THE MOHA>DIEDANS
53
drunk with her Republicanism and would fain thrust it on her neighbours. Here the Mohammedans got their chance. They '' ran " the Kansu army. They had no idea of playing into the hands of either Manchu or Chinese. They followed no Viceroy or Tutu. Their leader was Ma An Liang, the uncrowned king of the north-west Mohammedans. Their assets were an in- difference to all claims save the Mohammedan, and a reputation for a ferocious courage. This reputation no longer imposes on the north-west. They returned from the campaign against Shensi, with little loot; having incurred much hatred, which was nothinsr new. and some contempt, which was. For ferocity is not courage, though often mistaken for it. The Kansu troops would take a wounded enemy and cut off both his feet, and leave him lying on the snow without any qualm, physical or moral; but this did not prevent them from bolting from an enemy, and refusing engage- ments which seemed likely to prove hot. Their oppon- ents, whilst less ferocious, were no more courageous than they, and only near the end of the campaign lost their fear and repulsed the invaders. Either side w^ent in fear of the other.
But it was in the sack of the Manchu city of Sianfu that the Mohammedan cynicism most clearly showed itself. Like the many others who were willing to take risks for the sake of quick gain, they joined in the pro- miscuous looting in the Chinese city ; but in the Manchu city they went about the work with cold-blooded deliberateness.
Being debarred from living in the country in any numbers, their livelihood lay not in agriculture but in trade. For years they had traded with (and incidentally upon) their Manchu neighbours. They practised what is known in the north of England as the Pack Trade.
1
THE MOHAMMEDANS 53
drunk with her Republicanism and would fain thrust it on her neighbours. Here the Mohammedans got their chance. They " ran " the Kansu army. They had no idea of playing into the hands of either Manchu or Chinese. They followed no Viceroy or Tutu. Their leader was Ma An Liang, the uncrowned king of the north-west Mohammedans. Their assets were an in- difference to all claims save the Mohammedan, and a reputation for a ferocious courage. This reputation no longer imposes on the north-west. They returned from the campaign against Shensi, with little loot; having incurred much hatred, which was nothing new, and some contempt, which was. For ferocity is not courage, though often mistaken for it. The Kansu troops would take a wounded enemy and cut off both his feet, and leave him lying on the snow without any qualm, physical or moral; but this did not prevent them from bolting from an enemy, and refusing engage- ments which seemed likely to prove hot. Their oppon- ents, whilst less ferocious, were no more courageous than they, and only near the end of the campaign lost their fear and repulsed the invaders. Either side went in fear of the other.
But it was in the sack of the Manchu city of Sianfu that the Mohammedan cynicism most clearly showed itself. Like the many others who were willing to take risks for the sake of quick gain, they joined in the pro- miscuous looting in the Chinese city ; but in the Manchu city they went about the work with cold-blooded deliberateness.
Being debarred from living in the country in any numbers, their livelihood lay not in agriculture but in trade. For years they had traded with (and incidentally upon) their Manchu neighbours. They practised what is known in the north of England as the Pack Trade.
54 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
The thriftless, finery-loving Manchu was persuaded to take goods, payment deferred. Every month the customer's family received its dole of Government grain, which as often as not was sold to the thrifty Chinese at their doors. It was on this that the Mohammedan trader reckoned, and when he had his victim well in his debt, he depended for the collection of his debt on his truculence, on the fear in which both his Manchu and Chinese neighbour held him, and on the known fact that he could easily call together a number of his co- religionists who would be glad enough to take part, with a show of legality, in an affray with the Manchu debtor. One result of this trading was that the Mohammedans knew just where the silver and the portable art treasures of the Manchu were, knew which yamens and houses would yield the best returns. They swept in with the soldiers : the sentiments of these latter they were quite willing to voice and to pose as fellow " patriots." With the terrified victims they went callously to work with a view to gain. The fanaticism of Islam in China can be kept subservient to its professor's material interests in the most business-like way. Lives were spared if silver were pointed out, also objets de vertu were not despised. He has a nice taste, has the Mohammedan, in these things. The curio dealer turned warrior-patriot for the nonce. After the fury had passed, for some months the looted articles were hidden, but when things settled down somewhat, and men ventured to bring their gains forth, a walk through the Mohammedan quarter re- vealed the wildest jumble of goods in most bizarre juxta- position. There is one piano in Sianfu ; none may tell how it ever arrived ; for no piano would survive the road journey from Honanfu, and the mountain tracks from the river are narrow, steep, and difficult to negotiate; but there it is. And now it reposes not in the yamen
THE MOHAMMEDANS 55
of Tutu or Commander General of the forces, but in the home of the one recognized general in the army who is a Mohammedan.
The western wall of the Manchu city is pierced by two gateways : any fugitives escaping through these found themselves in the Chinese city, but in what is practically the Mohammedan quarter of it. From the south gates leading into the Chinese city proper, there would have been no escape, but at the western gates the Moham- medans coolly engineered events. The younger fugitives were led to the Mohammedan houses, given shelter and — found themselves prisoners : the boys are prisoners, the girls are " servants." Even men and women could be made useful.
It is not a pleasing picture. To the outsider the Chinese Mohammedan is not without his good points, more especially as it is in their capacity as innkeepers, as muleteers, as the only vendors of much appreciated beef that we come into contact with them. But for the average native of the north-west, whether he be Chinese or Manchu, the " Hui hui," as they are termed, are objects alike of hatred and of fear.
The problem of the Manchu in China is not a small one, but it is small indeed compared with that of the Mohammedan. The horror of the last rebellion still lingers : the caves, the dry wells, the hill forts, stiill remain as testimonies to the fear in which the populace holds the Mohammedans. And the end is not yet.
CHAPTER X
THE RESULT OF THE SLAUGHTER
The first result of the slaughter was a rigid censor- ship. Whatever might be the feelings of the Ko Lao Hui, however indifferent about outside opinion, the Ke Ming Tang were sufficiently informed to know that their position was imperilled, their reputation hope- lessly tarnished at the very opening of the revolution. They determined to prevent if possible the news from reaching the outside world until they had made their own position sure. The post office, the telegraph office they secured. No letters or wires were allowed. Every traveller was watched; the passes, the ferries jealously guarded. And they almost succeeded. For weeks, although no news came through, the outside world was not unduly alarmed, the silence was put down to military exigencies. But at three points they had raised alarm that would not be allayed. The Manchu slaughter had turned what had been acquiescence into undying hate in the breast of every Manchu. The news had reached the ears of the Commander at T*ung Kuan — ^the pass which commands Shensi and Honan — and in horror of it he promptly sent for the Honan regulars to enter Shensi. And they had the deaths of the unprotected Europeans and Americans in their midst to reckon with. The last of these three points is dealt with in subsequent chapters. The action of Sheng Yiin, and the Commander of T'ung Kuan, meant that the Shensi Tutu had to prepare to face the Kansu and Honan
66
THE RESULT OF THE SLAUGHTER 57
armies. Sheng Yiiii, who has smce ligured so largely in the events of the north-west, was at the time of the outbreak living quietly at a Manchu outpost, twelve miles to the north-west, which guards an important crossing of the Wei river. He was out of office and had no immediate prospect of any, but was nevertheless a man of great weight in the province. The present Tutu, Chang Feng Hui, early in the outbreak got hold of Yin Cheng Liang. He was a Szechuanese, an officer who through the death of his mother had been forced to go into retirement, an officer of influence and broad- mindedness, who would be acceptable to Sheng Yiin. Chang Feng Hui had the city gate opened that Yin, with an escort, might warn Sheng Yiin and the Ts'ao T'an Manchus to fly. But Sheng Yiin was to pay a price for this : he was asked to go as the Shensi Tutu's ambassador to Lanchou and there arrange an alliance of offence and defence with the Kansu Government. And here is the reason of the letters and message to Sheng Yiin. The message began by pointing out that Sheng Yiin had little reason to be grateful to the Ta Ch'ing Emperor, who was not pleased to employ good men. (This would doubtless be sufficiently obvious to a man who was out of office.) The recipient was next reminded that he was not himself a Manchu but a Mongol, and had no reason to consider his fortunes as being linked unalterably with those of the Bannermen ; that though these latter suffered — how much they were suffering it was no part of the Tutu's policy to state — Sheng Yiin's family would receive the Tutu's special protection in consideration of the services previously rendered to the Shensi province, and of the esteem in which the Shensi people regarded him. Then followed a request that he would throw in his lot with the new and tentative government. He was assured of a warm
58 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
welcome. But if he felt he could not betray his Ta Ch'ing master, then let him escape with all speed to Kansu, and there act as the Shensi Tutu's intermediary with the Viceroy and the Mohammedans, explain the ideal of the Ke Ming Tang, and plead that they will make common cause with us for a new China. " But, should you," concludes this remarkable pourparler, " elect to use your freedom in raising the Mohammedans against us ; think not that we fear you, for such action would but be like unto an egg that seeks by its attack to break a stone."
To this Sheng Yiin returned no answer. It is not certain that at the time he felt any great bitterness to the new authorities. He understood it was purely a Ke Ming Tang rising : that the Manchus would be treated honourably. Consequently he evinced no special desire for hostility. But later, when safe over the Kansu border, he learned that though his life and his family had been spared, his home was a ruin and he penniless ; he heard of the awful slaughter that had occurred, and he received, by way of Lanchou, the news of his appoint- ment by the Ta Ch'ing Emperor as Governor of Shensi. And he set himself with a deadly and prolonged bitter- ness— unusual even in these unhappy provinces — ^to use his appointment as the means of revenging his personal wrongs and the Manchu massacres.
Meanwhile the news had travelled east. The Ts*ao T*an Manchus well mounted fled to T'ung Kuan, and in their flight heard of the enormity of the disaster. From T'ung Kuan the news went to Peking, and the Govern- ment there realized that, however embarrassed it might be, yet for its own repute's sake action must be taken. Shensi had put itself beyond the pale. Its leaders must be treated not as non-opponents but as bandits, " t'u- fei," " scum of the earth," literally, " earth evil." This
THE RESULT OF THE SLAUGHTER 59
is why, even when the Peking-Nanking armistice had been arranged, troops still advanced against Sianfu. The Government refused to recognize the Shensi leaders as Ke Ming Tang. They were Ko Lao Hui, they were " t*u-fei," they were to be treated as criminals.
In the outlying parts of the province, particularly in the north and south-west, the excesses of the capital led to utter lawlessness. The Ko Lao Hui of the baser sort, and the banditti, rose and robbed. The banners floated with the old watchword of 1900, " Restore the Manchu, destruction to the foreigner." That is, the people, not understanding the movement, were simply rowdy and anti-foreign. Town after town changed its magistrates, and instead of the Ta Ch'ing represen- tative, in only too many cases, a town got as its official the head of the local Ko Lao Hui, seldom the Ke Ming Tang. Bearing these results in mind and considering the subsequent course of events in those provinces where the Manchus were spared, the conclusion is almost in- evitable that, as a matter of tactics apart from the moral and humanitarian consideration altogether, the slaughter of the Manchus was a deplorable mistake. One comes back to Fouchet : "it was more than a crime, it was a blunder."
CHAPTER XI
TUTUS MANY
When the Manchu resistance was ended and their assailants paused to consider the next step, the cleavage between the two parties, the Ke Ming Tang and the Ko Lao Hui, stood revealed. Though the city was won, the province was still to win, and the province lay between the still Imperial and hostile provinces of Kansu and Honan. If it were to be held, the army would require speedy organizing and a new second army would have to be speedily raised. There must be some sort of government, however tentative. And as a first step some one must be put in supreme com- mand. The choice of the Ke Ming Tang leaders fell on Chang Feng Hui, who had been second in command of the modern troops stationed at Sianfu. His family had originally come from Honan, and though they have worked for some generations as blacksmiths in Sianfu, they are still loosely referred to as Honanese. By the irony of fate his elder brother, who had succeeded to the family business, was one of the first victims of the revolt. The home was in the Manchu, not the Chinese city, and the man died of fright caused by the outbreak. Chang Feng Hui himself was a man of education, and had studied for five years in Japan. He was a man with something of a presence, was ten years older than most of his young colleagues, and by no means devoid of personal courage. A peculiar lack of sympathy, combined with a repellent manner, prevented his ever
60
TUTUS MANY 61
becoming a popular leader. Having accepted the office of leader, for whom the term " T'ung Ling," military governor, was then used, he proceeded to appoint his officers. The civil offices inevitably fell later to the educated Ke Ming Tang, but for the moment military considerations excluded all else. To the two main military commands he appointed Chang Pei Ying and T'ien Ting Shan as Fu (assistant) T'ung Lings. The career of the latter, a man of high courage, was cut short tragically at Weinan.^
There were five men, however, whose claims could not be ignored; non-commissioned officers, of little education, in the army. Yet already it was apparent that they had too large a following to be easily passed over. They were noted leaders of the Ko Lao Hui. They were appointed " keepers of the roads." Four forces were to be led out, north, south, east and west, which should " pacify " the people, enlist their sym- pathies, and scour the country round for enemies to the " republic." The fifth man was Chang Yiin Shan, who was to be the chief keeper of the four roads. The posts of authority were evidently to be given to the educated Ke Ming Tang, w^hilst the forces of the Ko Lao Hui were, by this division, to be so weakened that they should be the tool and not the ally of the Ke Ming Tang. This arrangement was seen through by the shrewd " elder brethren." They assented to the pro- posals, and secretly sent out to the various centres of the society in the city. In a short time the Magazine, still the head-quarters of the revolutionaries, was sur- rounded by the " younger brethren," ^. e. the soldiers enrolled in the Ko Lao Hui. The intellectuals of the Ke Ming Tang were rudely awakened to the true position of affairs.
^ See Chapter xii, p. Q5.
62 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
For months previously the Ko Lao Hui had carried on an active propaganda amongst the soldiers. For the lecture and pamphlet they had substituted — a tea- shop. An institution apparently harmless enough. But the proprietor and attendants took care to serve none but soldiers. Here there were always to be found men who could inveigh against the Manchu dynasty, and set forth the benefits of entering the Ko Lao Hui, with its personal and immediate attractions, as well as its political aims. Kwo, Wu, Liu, Ma and others had been prominent in this, had given time and money, had faced big personal risks, but surpassing them in these respects, as in personal ability and courage, was Chang Yiin Shan. It was to these men, not to the Ke Ming Tang commissioned officers, that the soldiers looked chiefly at this juncture.
The newly chosen Tutu demanded an explanation Was he in command or no ? He threatened to resign. He was urged to keep his post, whereupon he not un- naturally asked why, such being the case, there was this present demonstration. Then the grievance came out. Their several appointments to the Ko Lao Hui men appeared too small. Each man wished to be a Tutu, a Governor. There was to be a Tutu of the western army, of the Ordnance, of this brigade and of that. And each was to have his " Tutu " seal. On this account when " Tutu " was given out by the Peking Government as the official title of the provincial governor it became necessary to distinguish Chang Feng Hui as the Ta Tutu, the " Great Governor." One man quite uneducated would fain be a " Commissioner " having heard vague reports of the extraordinary powers en- trusted to the same. He was eventually given a large seal. When he came, however, to investigate and act as censor generally, he was hustled aside by the men
TUTUS MANY 63
who had allowed him to be given the title. Unhappily not all the new aspirants could be so disposed of. The new Governor conceded the titles, and retained as best he could the real guidance of affairs. " Shensi," he told the others, " is but beginning its struggle, and none of us know where we shall be in two or three days' time, whether alive or dead. At present leadership means not so much honour as toil and danger. I am willing enough to resign." An arrangement was entered into for the time being. That which the Ko Lao Hui had seized they kept. The main yamen of the city, the Futai or Provincial Governor's yamen, was taken by Chang Yiin Shan and became the Ko Lao Hui head- quarters ; the Ke Ming Tang party having to put up with the old and dilapidated royal palace in the north of the city. This arrangement still holds, and the north and the south yamens refer respectively to the recognized authority of the Tutu proper and to the anomalous power arrogated to himself by Chang Yiin Shan.
For the moment peace was patched up, orders given for the next few days' action, but to the intelligent citizen a greater fear than that of revolution had pre- sented itself. Amongst these Tutus many, with their slight experience and their large ambitions, where was the peace of a city, of a province, to be found ? What confronted the unhappy people was not a revolution but a prolonged anarchy.
CHAPTER XII
THE ARMY OF THE EAST
The key to Shensi is T'ung Kuan, the pass leading from the province of Honan. This pass has always been famous in Chinese story and song as the great key to the north-west. The position is strong, and if well garrisoned by determined troops would prove a serious obstacle in the way of an invader. The Manchu Tao-t*ai, on hearing of the Sianfu revolt, realized that his troops were neither numerous nor reliable. Until proper aid could be summoned from the regular army — ^the I Chiin, of which so much is heard — the only reinforcements for which he could hope were the old style regulars from Honan province. Some 500 of these came up in response to his appeal, and once inside, turned looters. This was the beginning of T'ung Kuan revolution sorrows.
The Ke Ming Tang in Sianfu, before hearing of this, had determined to send a force to the place. Soldiers from Sianfu they could not spare, but they reckoned on the troops at T'ung Kuan revolting as soon as accredited Ke Ming Tang leaders from Sianfu appeared amongst them. They sent, therefore, seventy students from the military college, with modern rifles, ammunition, and money for the T'ung Kuan soldiers. The leader was T'ien Ting Shan, one of these men in the innermost circle of the Government. His appointment is evidence of the importance of this expedition.
By October 31st these students reached Weinan Hsien, two days to the east of Sianfu. The Ta Ch'ing
64
THE ARMY OF THE EAST 65
magistrate was still in possession. The newcomers stormed the yamen. The treasury revealed several thousands of taels, which they sent back under escort to Sianfu, they themselves having sufficient for their T'ung Kuan needs. The magistrate in despair com- mitted suicide by throwing himself down a well. The townsfolk had no welcome for these " deliverers." Doubtless the story of the Sianfu sack had reached them. The gentry opened negotiations with bands of robbers who were infesting the neighbourhood, and who always had the hills to the south as a refuge. The brigands entered the town without any difficulty and attacked the yamen. The students, taken by surprise, fought pluckily. And there was need : they were fighting no longer for theories, but for their bare lives. No quarter was given. The students and their leader were not merely defeated; they were exterminated.
This loss was a heavy blow to the Ke Ming Tang cause in Shensi. It meant that a body of yoimg men who had already shown their promptitude and courage in the affair of the Treasurer's yamen, who had something of a broad outlook, patriotic ideals, and gifts of leadership, were lost at the beginning of the struggle. It was tragic in itself, this sudden blotting out of youthful enthusiasm and gallant courage ; the loss of such men lowered the general tone of the eastern army. Had they reached T'ung Kuan and been able to take over the forces there and in the near towns, something of a real Ke Ming Tang army might have been produced, which would have coimterbalanced the Ko Lao Hui. As it was, with the exception of the few organized Ke Ming Tang leaders, no trained military men were available, and the Ko Lao Hui influence in the army was paramount.
The brigands took possession of the modern rifles, ammunition, and silver which the students had brought,
66 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
but they did not loot the city. This was the result of the bargain struck between them and the town. They made up for this restraint by roaming about the country- side, plundering and burning. They captured the town of Huachou, twenty miles to the east, and burned the yamen to the ground. Here also the magistrate com- mitted suicide. These, outside Sianfu, were the only officials who died, the rest either escaped, or if captured were held for ransom.
The new authorities had no power to suppress these brigands, and ultimately Chang Pei Ying, to whom the command of the eastern army had been given, invited them to join him. The leaders were given commissions, and their followers enlisted as ordinary soldiers. They formed the one regiment in this eastern army which had any fighting value at all. They were " dare-to-die's," and armed as so many of them were with nothing but gingals, swords or billhooks, they yet went always in the forefront of the battle. Against the modern I Chiin troops they were, of course, useless, they were mown down, but to the old style Honan regulars they gave a fair account of themselves.
These same old style regulars, having looted T'ung Kuan, retired with their plunder, and Chang Pei Ying next " took " the unhappy place. It is fair to state that the town suffered less from his " dare-to-die's "than from the Honan regulars. In fact, poor T*ung Kuan had been swept bare ; the townsfolk were in danger of dying of starvation, until " famine relief " was sent by the neighbouring towns of Weinan and Nint'ung. As Chang Pei Ying's army advanced, it became less and less an army and more and more a mob, until at last, Wang Tien Chung, the robber King of Honan, was allowed to join him.
And the movements of the troops were futile. Chang
THE ARMY OF THE EAST 67
Pei Ying was like the famous Duke of York, " he marched them up a hill and he marched them down again."
There were sharp engagements at Lingpao, at the eastern end of the long pass from T' ung Kuan. Lingpao seems to have been taken, retaken, and taken again. By January he had reached and taken Shanchou, an import- ant town from a military and official standpoint, with a large trade. The next town east is Mien Chih. The outposts of Chang Pei Ying's mob — the brigand part — reached this, and thought they had an easy prey, when the gates opened and out upon them burst not terrified townsfolk, not old style Honan regulars, but the ad- vanced guard of General Chao Ch'ou's " I Chiin " modem army. And the trail of the flight lay along the road from Mien Chih to Kuan Yin T'ang, nine miles up the road, a red horror. From that day on even the simu- lacrum of success which had been the eastern army's faded : there was nothing but retreat : here staying a few days making a pretence at a stand, but always flying when Chao Ch'ou's shells came hurtling through the air. At T'ung Kuan they attempted to entrench themselves. The Tutu and his second in command came up from Sianfu. There was talk of fierce resistance, but Chao Ch'ou came, and found it empty. East of Hua Yin Miao the eastern army caught sight of his shells, and stayed not to see the colour of his men's uniform. Their frenzied retreat caught Tutu Chang Feng Hui in its rush. The Tutu did his best to keep his men in hand, but it was hopeless. His orders, shouts, entreaties left him hoarse and voiceless, but they left him with no followers. In his agony of chagrin he threw himself down by the roadside, to die at the hands of whatsoever enemy should overtake him. The man who did over- take him was his colleague, Chang I Ch'ien. His men also had bolted, he himself powerless to stay their flight.
F 2
68 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
He saw the Tutu lying in the road. " Up, man ! they're coming ! " said the newcomer. " Nay," replied the Tutu, " death is the only thing left. What can we do ? These men will never make a stand." — It is to be re- membered that the Kansu army was closing in upon Shensi on the west, and this eastern army had only to be driven far enough and it would be caught between two fires. But Chang I Ch'ien was for sensible retreat, a truce to great emotions ! " Get up, get up," and he in good-humoured persistence pricked the unhappy Tutu with his sword point till he had him up and moving. A live dog is better than a dead lion in Chang I Ch'ien's opinion. At Hua Yin Miao the flight was stayed. Chao Ch'ou was content to hold T'ung Kuan for a time. At Hua Yin Miao the leaders recovered some assurance, though " face " was lost for many a long day. They returned to Sianfu, leaving Chang Pei Ying in command.
Poor Chang Pei Ying ! If his career had ended with the few days of his brilliant dash and enthusiasm at Sianfu he had had a brave record. Since those days his star has waned. Perhaps with the material at his command it was inevitable. For him it has been a series of humiliations until the day he made his peace with Chao Ch'ou after the declaration of the Republic. Perhaps all that was possible for him was what in charity let us call Fabian tactics. He has been, since those days, to Peking; has been received by the President. He complains frankly that his health has suffered through his having looked upon the wine there when it was red : his men, even his own bodyguard, have no discipline, and he is subjected to humiliation in the present and to humiliating memories of the past. . Yet he was a gallant figure in those October days ; kindly, courteous, enthusiastic, handsome, gloriously young — and it has come to this.
CHAPTER XIII
MR. CLOUDY MOUNTAIN
The story of the western army is the story of its general, Chang Yiin Shan. He is known to the foreign community as " Mr. Cloudy Mountain," a play on the two last words of his name. And in truth he is the only figure that stands out from the ruck of leaders, the only cloud-compeller of them all.
Born a few miles west of Sianfu, as a small boy he went to the New Dominion, over the border into Russian Turkestan, where he lived some years. He has spent some time also in Thibet. Returning to Shensi he quickly obtained a leading voice in the counsels of the Ko Lao Hui. He became a trumpeter in the army, carrying out his propaganda amongst the soldiers. He is the noblest " elder brother " of them all. To him the old ideal of the society was not a mere cloak for selfish advancement and robbery. Its hero worship was taken seriously, its tenets carried out : one has only to be with him an hour to see the clean living of the man. He neither smokes nor drinks ; against opium he wages a fierce war. He eschews rich food and sweets. He literally eats to live, despising gourmand and gourmet alike. The man is alive to his finger tips. It is to be presumed that the sphinx-like Chinese of fiction with impassive expressionless face like a mask, etc., etc., will continue to live some time yet — in fiction. Possibly Mr. Ah Sin, and the Chinese depicted in a certain type of shilling '' shocker," appeared impassive, for the simple reason they were bored. The Britisher in the interior
70 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
of China is apt to find the Chinese all too little impassive and " mask-like." But the final disillusionment for patrons of these artless, engaging portraits of the imperturbable celestial, would be half an hour's mental (and physical) hopping about to keep in touch with Mr. Cloudy Mountain. Nothing escapes his quick, restless glance, and he has the faculty of tearing the heart out of a subject in a short time, getting at the essentials and deciding on its worth to the present situation. Courage, sincerity, moral cleanness, shrewdness, these are his assets. Hatred of the Manchu usurper supplied the driving force. His courage is the proverb of the provmce. His word carries further than that of any Chinese in the administration — which may not be saying much — but his sincerity is indeed remarkable. The one big instance of his looting has been given, but this wealth he used and uses for public works, army payments and enormous charities. He is the Robin Hood type of freebooter. He has sho^ii his common sense by realizing his limitations. His education is poor (the poverty thereof is perhaps to some extent a pose em- ployed to emphasize his oneness with the rank and file of the army), so he surrounds himself with masters of the Confucian etiquette. But the dominating passion was that of a burning sense of injustice as he looked at the bondage of China, and he held a corresponding hatred of the Manchu. To hear him speak of it : to hear the sincere and passionate recital of a long list of wTongs, the senseless humiliations put upon his people, is to get more than a glimpse of the underground workings which preceded the late revolution. With no adventitious aid of money, influence or rank, with but his courage, his honesty, his tenacity of purpose to uphold him, he held on his way, always with the same end in view. In the Ko Lao Hui he saw his means and used it to his end. Travesties of patriotism there are in abundance,
MR. CLOUDY MOUNTAIN 71
creatures who crawl and bully, who are the drag on its progress, the stain on its record ; but these alone could have effected no such mighty movement. For this we must look to the few elect souls, the men of sincerity, of insight, of passion, the Sun Yat Sens among the intellectuals, the Chang Yiin Shans among the proletariat. At last the day came, the dies ircB of the Manchu. To him " slay and spare not " was the one motto. Even to this day he frankly fails to understand that this course was not the right, the one and only course to follow. His gloating over the result is horrible, it is unashamed savagery. With his opportunity the man went mad ; he fought and slew, slew and fought. Food and drink were forgotten ; at the city gates where he fought there was neither. But for him hate and madness supplied them. They cut off the ears of dead Manchus and brought them to him, and what he drank was literally the blood of his foes. And he tells you that when he looked around and saw the final ruin ; that the yoke was broken, the Manchu power for ever gone ; that then the load which had rested almost as a physical burden on his heart, melted in a long sigh of utter relief ; he felt that at last he could breathe, breathe the free air of heaven as a freed man.
Then reason returned. There came the need for construction. The Ko Lao Hui, which had served his purpose in removing the yoke, must now be prevented from becoming a scourge. He assumed its control, collected its chiefs about himself, secured the official residence of the Governor — ^the Fu Tai Yamen — for his head-quarters, and set himself to restore order and to secure discipline. The Ke Ming Tang had to content themselves with the old Imperial Palace, the palace used by the late Tzu Hsi when she and the Emperor Kuang Hsli fled to Sianfu in 1900.
He invited to act as his counsellor the most learned
72 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Confucian scholar in the province, the one man who had been an intimate of an Emperor, and who had experience of the highest Chinese official life. This was Sung Po Lu, censor in the reign of Kuang Hsii. This gentleman naturally refused the invitation, it was pressed and again refused, whereupon it was presented again — but by a hundred of the best troops in the city. Others, less noted but of real ability, were gathered in, with the result that whatever there is of culture, of courtesy, of aplomb in the administration is to be found not at the Tutu Fu, but at the yamen of the Commander General.
Then came the campaign of the western army, when by hard, stern fighting and careful oversight he put some discipline into his men, and gradually lessened the power of the Ko Lao Hui.
In spite of his contempt for the crowd about the Tutu, his dislike of the Ke Ming Tang intellectuals and particularly of their general Chang Pei Ying, his equal and rival in the army, he has loyally supported the Government, has put down rioting, has dealt summarily even with his own friends and comrades when caught. It still remains to be seen whether the lawless element in the Ko Lao Hui are crushed or whether they are stronger than their general's desire for reform.
His egotism is immense, he has no false modesty, he goes over the story of his campaign with gusto, never wearying of the repetition. Yet with it all, with the brag, with the savagery, with an appalling plain spoken- ness on most intimate aspects of living, he yet remains by sheer force of personality, sincerity of purpose, and directness of aim, the most compelling figure on the Shensi stage.
CHAPTER XIV
THE ARMY OF THE WEST
Arma virumque cano. After the man his army : and what an army ! The Ke Ming Tang Tutu naturally favoured his Ke Ming Tang colleagues. He had not forgotten the brilliant dash of Chang Pei Ying during the outbreak, and to him he gave practically all the best rifles which he succeeded at a later date in procuring from Hupeh. Certainly he would need them against the modern army coming up through Honan. Of the rifles distributed earlier many had been given out to Mohammedans, who could hardly be expected to use them against their fellow Mohammedans from Kansu, and who in fact had no idea of being used against either side, Man or Han being both alike indifferent to them. They played a lone hand. So the western army found such weapons as it might; it was truly a feast of pikes. The various towns were asked for a contingent and with joy sent off their dare-to-dies, their ne'er-do-wells. To pass them on the road was an instructive study in types. Never before had one realized Shensi's wealth of un- desirables. Whence were they drawn ? They were widely distinct from the stalwart farmer, the industrious artisan. They were not all villains : the most unlikely subjects were forced by a vague desire to help the province, to love their coimtry, to eat " rations." Grooms, schoolboys, cooks, waiters found within them a spirit of adventure of which hitherto they had not dreamed. Young and old, tall and short, they shambled
73
74 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
along in clouds of dust. There were no " tests " in the Shensi army. Gingals ten feet long formed the artillery and rifle arm alike. Ox-goads were a common weapon, also scythes bound to the pole end. Monmouth's captains saw such weapons, and with all its tatter- demalion appearance, there were hearts even in that western army that had some of the spark which fought and died on Sedgemoor. They had no clear cry such as " Monmouth and the Religion " ; they were but vaguely groping after a love for country which as yet was hardly more than a desire to keep other provincials out of their own Shensi ; yet the seed had fallen in their minds, the new hopes of brotherhood, of wider opportunity for a freer, fuller, life, were dimly stirring within them; and for these hopes, dim as they were, they died.
The actual hostilities were prefaced by brisk corre- spondence. Later Sheng Yiin's army stopped all com- munication with Kansu. One of the Chinese com- manders in Kansu, Chang Hsin Chih, wrote to General Chang Yiin Shan that his desire and the desire of the Kansu authorities was to remain neutral. They them- selves held Kansu for the Ta Ch'ing dynasty, they had no yearning after the rule of the Ke Ming Tang or the Ko Lao Hui (which after what had occurred in Sianfu was not surprising) : but if Chang would do his share at the Shensi end, he would do his in Kansu to keep the peace. Already at Pinchou in Shensi, the Kansu and Shensi troops had come into collision, but he would do his best to withdraw his men. This was answered by Chang Yiin Shan's adviser Sung Po Lu, who plaintively assured the Kansu general that he was where he was solely by reason of force majeure, that his friendship for his Ta Ch*ing royalist correspondent was undiminished, and that if he could stop the advance of the Shensi troops he would assuredly do so.
THE ARMY OF THE WEST 75
But events and Sheng Yiin were too strong for the peacemakers. The latter's appeals to the Kansu Viceroy to wage war on Shensi over which he, the Viceroy, was normally the ruler, were at first disregarded. The Viceroy, since he regarded Sianfu as the gate of the north-west, determined to do what in him lay for its recapture, but he had no idea of letting his own interests and plans rank second, either to the redressing of Sheng Yiin's private wrongs or the gratification of his desire for revenge. In any case he was no free agent ; behind him lay the redoubtable Ma An Liang, the Mohammedan Captain of the Free Companies, whose name spread terror from Sianfu to the Mongol plain, north of the Ordos Desert. War was his trade, and was the profit and recreation of the Kansu Mohammedans. They were considered invincible. The word went out. The Kansu crops were in. The farmer would turn soldier; only Shensi fields would suffer. They crossed the border and Sheng Yiin prepared to revenge his private wrongs and the Manchu slaughter, on village, town and, if possible, on the capital of Shensi itself.
The strategic value of Pinchou, near the border of Shensi and Kansu, led to its becoming a place of conten- tion early in the war. The revolutionary leaders in Sianfu sent an official representative named Shih to the Kansu border. He was to intimate to magistrates of the towns en route that there was a central authority. He carried the proclamations of the new government. He passed in succession through the towns of Hsienyang, Li Ch'uan, and others further west, meeting wnth no opposition, and by November 26th came to Pinchou. Here his men behaved badly, while he himself gave great offence to Chinese public opinion by marrying a girl at Pinchou and bringing her into his camp.
By December 2nd the Kansu troops, led by Pao Kuei
76 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
En, had crossed the border and were approaching the town. These were not Mohammedans, but Chinese troops. In the skirmish which followed, the Shensi troops were badly beaten, and their retreat became a rout. Shih was overtaken and killed a few miles east of Pinchou. The Kansu troops being too small a force to venture far from their base, retired on Pinchou. They won golden opinions from the townsfolk, who had found two days of Shih's troops no slight infliction — by their moderation. Meanwhile the tale of defeat had reached Chang Yiin Shan. He lay about halfway between Sianfu and the Kansu border. A second and much larger force of four " ying " (a ying should number five hundred men), were sent against Pinchou and reached the place on the 21st. The Kansu force, unable to hold the town, retired in good order back on Ch'ang Wu. On December 15th an engagement took place at Jan Tien, a large village nine miles west of Ch'ang Wu, which terminated in favour of the Shensi troops. The Kansu leader, finding it impossible to maintain his position on the Shensi border, had already appealed to Kansu for reinforcements. In response four " ying " of Kansu troops, making forced marches, had come within easy striking distance of Jan Tien, led by the Mohammedan Ma Kuei Jen, where the united attack of all three forces was to be delivered on the 16th. The two forces passed through Han Yii and Ho Fan respectively, reached the hills above Jan Tien unperceived, and lay hidden in caves which overlooked the bridge of Jan Tien.
On the 16th the third portion of the Kansu troops appeared to the west of Jan Tien bridge, a seemingly easy prey to the Shensi force of four " ying." These latter rushed to the bridge, Ma's troops on the main road being well to the west of the bridge. The Shensi vanguard was well over and the main body pouring on
THE ARMY OF THE WEST 77
to the bridge, when from right and left, the men under Wang and Chao opened fire on the closely packed mass beneath. Only the rear of that ill-fated force got away ; the rest were caught hopelessly in the trap, and the bridge became choked with slain. Another and smaller body of Shensi troops, who were out pacifying the coimtry, came within sight of the Kansu troop. These latter, not knowing the strength of the newcomers, retired, whilst the Shensi men brought back an appalling story of disaster which led to a stampede which was only stayed at Ch'ienchou.
The Commander of this Shensi western army then prepared to defend Ch'ienchou at all costs. And truly it needed a valiant spirit to face that situation. From Honan in the east the Imperialists were steadily ad- vancing, and the Shensi troops unsteadily retreating. On the west Kansu was prepared to pour men into Shensi. For several reasons Sheng Yiin's desire for vengeance was unappeased. The Kansu-Shensi Viceroy had little patience with the schemes of the Ke Ming Tang, and had declared he would regain Sianfu for the Ta Ch'ing. Ma An Liang's Mohammedans were out for a winter's campaign, and, weightiest reason of all, the Kansu Chinese, officials, gentry, and populace alike, were only too anxious, seeing that the Mohammedans were " up," to find them employment in another part of the empire. It was doubtless deplorable for Shensi to have the visitation, but then, Shensi itself was but a collection of " t'u fei," and doubtless deserved most of what it got — but it would have been a dire disaster (in the eye of Kansu) for Kansu Mohammedans to remain to plimder Kansu. For all of which reasons there was every likelihood of a heavy and prolonged invasion from Kansu. By the end of December the Mohammedans were near Ch'ienchou, which though not invested was
78
THF PASSING OF THE DRAGON
constantly sbject to attack until the beginning of March. Whst Chang Yiin Shan himself remained in Ch'ienchou irecting its defence, he sent a certain number of h men to occupy Li Ch'uan twelve miles to the east. I:>m Li Ch'uan the Shensi troops sent out parties of slrmishers when they saw any prospect of snatching a advantage from the Mohammedans. Meanwhile . Ch'ienchou the attack had been pressed more and ud'e hotly. The Mohammedans made great efforts to effet an entry into the tovm before the Chinese New Year, l-bruary 18th. The town lies in the hollow of a basin, :ie sides of which overlook the town walls. A worse pice for defence could scarcely be chosen. The townsfck from their housetops could see the enemy skirmishing -n the hills. The Shensi general knew little of the rulesDf war, but he knew that a stand must be made, and te enemy kept from Sianfu. His assets were his persons courage, his honesty of purpose, and his hold over te men of the Ko Lao Hui. For ten days the struggliwent on almost incessantly, breaches were made, and adders brought up to and laid against the wall. The struggle became a hand-to-hand one. Whether IV*. Cloudy Mountain understood the psycho- logical vah of his action or not, he took the best line. His rifles ^-e few, his men as a whole not at home with them. Heiiscarded the Western veneer, and relied on the old stle of bravery. At close quarters and in that nuleethis told. They took to the " big knife," and fo filing, raging, sometimes half naked, they
fought __ old-time primitive fashion, driving steel into their |ponents individually, and dismay into them collecti--h The Kansu troops desisted at last and Ch'ieiH I o, was saved. But Ch'ienchou was saved at the (- Li Ch'uan. The Kansu troops, foiled at the , and determined if possible to win a place
first
78 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
constantly subject to attack until the beginning of March. Whilst Chang Yiin Shan himself remained in Ch'ienchou directing its defence, he sent a certain number of his men to occupy Li Ch'uan twelve miles to the east. From Li Ch'uan the Shensi troops sent out parties of skirmishers when they saw any prospect of snatching an advantage from the Mohammedans. Meanwhile in Ch'ienchou the attack had been pressed more and more hotly. The Mohammedans made great efforts to effect an entry into the town before the Chinese New Year, February 18th. The town lies in the hollow of a basin, the sides of which overlook the town walls. A worse place for defence could scarcely be chosen. The townsfolk from their housetops could see the enemy skirmishing on the hills. The Shensi general knew little of the rules of war, but he knew that a stand must be made, and the enemy kept from Sianfu. His assets were his personal courage, his honesty of purpose, and his hold over the men of the Ko Lao Hui. For ten days the struggle went on almost incessantly, breaches were made, and ladders brought up to and laid against the wall. The struggle became a hand-to-hand one. Whether Mr. Cloudy Mountain understood the psycho- logical value of his action or not, he took the best line. His rifles were few, his men as a whole not at home with them. He discarded the Western veneer, and relied on the old style of bravery. At close quarters and in that melee this told. They took to the " big knife," and foaming, yelling, raging, sometimes half naked, they fought in the old-time primitive fashion, driving steel into their opponents individually, and dismay into them collectively. The Kansu troops desisted at last and Ch'ienchou was saved. But Ch'ienchou was saved at the cost of Li Ch'uan. The Kansu troops, foiled at the first named, and determined if possible to win a place
^ THE ARMY OF THE WEST 79
before the Chinese New Year, made a sudden dash for Li Ch'uan and found it unprepared. Ma '' Tutu " — one of the '' Tutus many " — failed to hold the town, which was sacked on the last night of the old year. And the Mohammedans celebrated the New Year in an orgy of brutal lust and cruelty. The Shensi troops who fell into Mohammedan hands were hacked to pieces, whole regiments were wiped out. The other Shensi troops retreated to Hsienyang, twenty miles to the south-east, and were pursued by the Kansu forces led by their already victorious leader Ma Kuei Jen, the victor of the Jan Tien bridge. Flat bare ground stretches for half a mile to the north and west of Hsienyang, and then breaks into rolling valleys and the groimd gradually rises. As the Kansu troops came on in pursuit of their discomfited foes, Wu " Tutu," the Ko Lao Hui general holding Hsienyang, came out by the opposite gate, and, making a detour, reached the high rolling ground to the north and above the Kansu troops, who were thus taken between his cross-fire and that of the enemy whom they had been pursuing. The victory lay entirely with the Shensi army. It was not a remarkable one, nor was it a great battle as regards numbers, but its moral effect on the Shensi men was great. The Kansu troops were not invincible, they could be withstood.
CHAPTER XV
THE DARKEST HOUR
The relief in Sianfu was unspeakable. The victory- won was only twenty miles away. In response to Wu's urgent demand for help they had sent the last dregs of the fighting men available to his assistance. Shensi, fighting against Honan on the east and Kansu on the west, had reached her limit. These last " availables " were passed on the road by an Englishman. Their weapons were the final scrapings up of pikes, knives, old native-made pistols, and gingals. They went either bare- foot or in straw sandals, with breeches rolled up to above the knee. The rain poured down ; under it these " soldiers " trudged and shuffled along, and over their heads they held — umbrellas ! In the midst of this mob, however, there stepped briskly a small, very small company of smartly- attired regulars of the newly-formed Bomb Corps. Nor was the anxiety in Sianfu on account of the Mohammedans only. Just before Li Ch'uan fell they heard that General Chao Ch'ou, in command of the I Chiin, some of the best troops of Yuan Shih K'ai, had crossed the Honan border and captured T'ung Kuan, the gate into Shensi on the east. Sianfu seemed about to be at the mercy of the victorious armies. Thus, bad though the situation was, the check to the Mohammedans at Hsienyang saved them from despair. Meanwhile yet another city was saved at the cost of its neighbour.
Fenghsiangfu, four days west of Sianfu, had on October 25th been captured by the local Ko Lao Hui, around whom the general rabble gathered. The high school was first burned to the ground, after which the China Inland Mission Compound was looted and partly
80
THE DARKEST HOUR 81
burned. Then came the destruction of the " hsien " yamen and then the " fu " yamen. Wanton, senseless destruction hailed the advent of liberty. Knowing they need expect no mercy, the new holders of the town made a long and desperate resistance to the Kansu Mohammedans when they reached the place. Ladders were laid against its walls; its suburb was taken; but Fenghsiangfu held out. The Mohammedans again turned and suddenly attacked a neighbouring and unprepared place. This time it was Ch*i Shan which suffered, a rich town famous in history, proud of its many learned Confucian scholars. The invaders surprised the Shensi troops who, believing the enemy to be at Fenghsiangfu, were keeping no watch. The regiment was annihilated, very few escaping out of a garrison of a thousand men. Both Li Ch'uan and Ch'i Shan were taken after peace was declared in Peking : after the Republic had been proclaimed. But the difficulty was to get the news into Shensi, particularly to Sheng Yiin, who, as the last official Governor of Shensi appointed by the Ta Ch'ing, was the person with whom the new Peking Government desired to communicate. How this was done is told in a later chapter.^ For two weeks after the Republic was declared Sheng Yiin, who had made Li Ch'uan his head-quarters, was ravaging the district, and always threatening Sianfu. Meanwhile General Chao Ch'ou having for the second time taken T'ung Kuan, came no further. The leaders in Sianfu not knowing the reason for this delay looked on each day without further attack as a reprieve. At last the news became known : China had ceased to be an empire, was a republic. Then Chao Ch'ou from being a force to be feared, the execu- tioner of the Ta Ch'ing, was turned to as the only hope of deliverance, was entreated to come to the aid of the province. For Sheng Yiin, enraged at being cheated of his vengeance, was for ignoring all orders from Peking, and,
G 1 Page 87.
82 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
relying on his Free Company allies, the Mohammedans of Ma An Liang, continued the war in Shensi. Chao Ch'ou had evacuated T'ung Kuan and retired into Honan as far as Shanchou, when he was ordered by Yuan Shih K'ai — who had received Sianfu's request via the Nanking Government — to go up to secure the safety of Sianfu.
No such troops, no such army, had ever before entered that city. He marched with that seemingly irresistible force through the city and sent his messengers to Li Ch'uan. Prompt submission not being forthcoming, he led his army out against the place. Sheng Yiin, overpowered by a desire for vengeance that had been baulked, refused to meet him. Ma An Liang, a soldier by trade, had no such feelings. Chao Ch'ou offered them peace or war. His men, disappointed repeatedly of a fight, would have hailed the latter gleefully. Ma An Liang, however, saw that the game was up : and without his ally, Sheng Yiin was powerless. The Kansu forces marched back into Kansu.
Then came the dramatic sequel : the one unexpected possibility which could save the Shensi leaders their position, and cause the province to lift up its head again. They had been freely termed and treated as " t'u fei," they were to have been drastically chastised as brigands, they had been refused recognition as Ke Ming Tang, they were but Ko Lao Hui; and so forth. But now, the force which had been appointed as the instrument of their chastisement, this army of law and order, of " proper " troops, this wonderful army mutinied, sacked and robbed and plundered as freely as any Ko Lao Hui, as any " t'u f ei " of them all ; though they amongst themselves resolved to burn no houses, and even shot one of their commanders who did so. For this the soldiers waited until they were back in the west suburb of Sianfu, because the city authorities had stipulated that they should not camp within the walls. They announced their mutiny by firing rifles, they broke into the shops — for
THE DARKEST HOUR 88
the west suburb had previously escaped the looting which had been the fate of the city — and then proceeded to harry the country around, plundering the villages. Now came the opportunity of the Shensi leaders. Chang Feng Hui, the " Ta Tutu," proceeded to help the man who was to have been his punisher. Together they rode out some ten li to the west, where a mass of the mutineers had encamped. Chang Feng Hui harangued the mutineers on behalf of their leader, the province's " guest." Something was effected; though the soldiers did not immediately return to their allegiance, yet they allowed certain carts to be taken from the camp to the city and those carts contained ammunition. The rest was only a question of time. Their cartridges exhausted, they were powerless. Accustomed to consider themselves, with their modern guns, invincible, they would go in parties of two or three only to a village : they soon found they had erred in their calculations. The villagers chased them from their villages, hunted them across country, and caught them at the gate of the city which was closed against them. The exasperated villagers beat them to death outside the city they had come to dominate. Leaderless, without ammunition, hated, strangers in a far province, the soldiers returned to barracks and made their sub- mission. They were disarmed and put in marching order. Half a day in front of them went an armed regiment of the despised Shensi soldiers : behind them at a like distance marched a second regiment. So they came to T'ung Kuan on the border. And thus in humiliation and disgrace, they were shepherded and policed out of Shensi. After this the Peking Government had no face to refuse recognition to the Shensi leaders : the Tutu and those under him were confirmed in their offices, and Shensi received into the fold. The " Shensi Republic " as such ceased to be, and Shensi entered on terms of honour into her full right as a province of the Republic of China.
G 2
CHAPTER XVI
ADVISER TO THE GOVERNMENT
When the senior English missionary returned to the city from the Gospel village, it was to find an accumula- tion of business urgently pressing. In the north-west of the province, at Suitechou and Yenanfu, were colleagues in danger, and in the latter case penniless. There were messages and help to be sent to various friends in the province, inquiries to be made from others. There was general thought to be taken for the native Christians and missionaries in Sianfu.
Until Mr. Lin ^ left the province, in despair at the prevailing anarchy, the natural proceeding was to do business with the provincial foreign office. Then the missionary went on business affairs to the north yamen, the head-quarters of the Tutu, Chang Feng Hui. Mean- while the pitiable condition of the Manchus, homeless, wounded, hunted, starving, was pressing on his attention. The missionary found out to his horror what was the condition of the Manchu prisoners. These had been brought in from surrounding towns after the first fury had passed, and were being held up to ransom. He was insistent for their proper treatment ; he himself saw to it that the worst cases got immediate relief. The Manchus were sought out quietly. Some crept in from the country where they had been hiding : the old women who had been left amidst their ruined homes were told of the relief available at the Chiu Shih T'ang, the " Save
1 Chapter XXI, p. 116. 84
ADVISER TO THE GOVERNMENT 85
the World Hall." ^ Chinese women were put to making up garments, and these were given to the destitute who a short time before had been wealthy members of a ruling caste, and who now came about the missionary's devoted wife, pleading for aid, for the bare food and clothing, which would deliver them from death by cold and starvation.
In the early dispatches from the Ke Ming Tang central authority at Nanking or Hankow, orders had come to provide Red Cross leaders where there were wounded soldiers or civilians. Certain men in the city as a con- sequence were appointed as managers. But they had none of the knowledge necessary. Thus, for all the real body of their work, they were dependent on the Mission hospital. Sianfu is ten days' journey from the Peking- Hankow railway, and there is no hospital east of that line along the Shensi road. There was no doctor in Kansu. Thus for the armies engaged in Kansu, Shensi, and West Honan, the only medical corps possible must be obtained from the English Baptist Mission in Shensi. The Red Cross Society like sensible men threw themselves upon the mercy of the missionaries. They arranged a feast, in order that the senior missionary and the missionary doctors might meet the army leaders in the city. Later when Chang Yun Shan returned from the west, one of his first actions was to visit the hospital to show his sincere gratitude. His chief adviser, Sung Po Lu, and the chief adviser to the Tutu, Kuo Hsi Jen, were men who were quick to feel the accession of stability which might accrue both to their counsels and to their future prospects, should the help of the Rev. A. G. Shorrock be secured. It was the same with all the leaders ; once they had met a strong man, who was just whilst being sympathetic, and whose motives were obviously disinterested, they were gripped and held.
1 The title adopted by the English Baptist Mission in Shensi.
86 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Help, much help, they got, but of easy assurance, none. He awakened within them stirrings of shame for the Manchu massacre. He returned to the charge till they gradually set about some relief. " No money ? The treasury empty ? Then go to the leaders of the city, of the army, to the Tutus. Let them give of their private wealth." He was too wise to say ill-gotten gains, and they too clever to fail to understand.
And with it all he kept his faith in the future of the province. Through all that was unwise, that was deplorable, that was ludicrous in the temporary govern- ment— ^he had the insight to grasp the fact that these men had come to stay : that with all their limitations — and their obvious limitations in many directions their best friend cannot deny — ^the self-respect of the province would not allow of their being set aside at the dictation of an outside authority : whether that of Peking or another. For the province was conscious of having deserved censure, and was obstinately and recklessly determined to submit to none. And the man who for nearly twenty years had worked in the province, to whom Shensi and its regeneration was a ruling passion, saw his opportunity. They thought him disinterested. In one deep sense he was far from being so. He saw that something might be made of these leaders. He saw a way of access to classes hitherto unapproachable ; and he planned for the future, worked for the enlightenment which should one day flood the province; and while pity drove him to relieve their present woe, his hope was for the cleaner life, the purer thought, the renewed hearts and minds that were yet to be.
By February 11th, General Chao Ch'ou was at T'ung Kuan, and the city felt that the day of reckoning could not long be delayed. But while waiting for the repre- sentative of Yuan Shih K'ai, who was still to them a
ADVISER TO THE GOVERNMENT 87
minister of the Ta Ch*ing — the Mohammedans had taken Li Ch'uan, had advanced to Hsienyang eighteen miles away. The Englishman wrote to Sheng Yiin appealing to his patriotism, to his humanity, and assuring him that he had certain information that peace had been declared. Why then prolong the conflict, with all its resulting misery ? Sheng Yiin, still eaten up with desire for vengeance, was not to be turned aside; but the Sianfu leaders were grateful for the attempt. Then came a telegram from the British Minister asking if Mr. Shorrock could get a message through to Sheng Yiin from Yuan Shih K'ai, as being the latter's speediest way of getting into communication with the Kansu leaders. In reply to a telegram expressing willingness to make the attempt, H. E. Yuan sent a long telegraphic dispatch to Mr. Shorrock, leaving the means of delivering it to Sheng Yiin to his discretion. Volunteers were called for, and a young "councillor" of Chang Yiin Shan undertook to carry the message to Sheng Yiin. It was one of the most courageous actions in the Shensi story. For what followed Sheng Ylin's name is rightly held in horror. He took a man who came as a herald, a messenger of peace, who came to bring news which meant unspeakable relief to the two provinces, he took this man and had him put to death by that most terrible of all deaths, the old Chinese " slow process." A second man volunteered, but he, warned by the fate of his predecessor, crept by night as close as he dared to the enemy, and having fastened the letter about an arrow, shot the arrow into the Mohammedan camp.
And now Chao Ch'ou came on to Sianfu, not as its conqueror but saviour, in response to its appeal to deliver it from the Kansu troops. On the day after his arrival he had a long interview with the English missionary in the east suburb. Here at least he could get at an
88 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
unbiased narrative. This he got, as well as all the apologia that could be honestly offered for the Shensi leaders. He left next day for Li Ch'uan, as we have seen. On his return, when his men revolted, an urgent request was sent in from the city authorities in the east suburb to ask the Shorrocks to move into the city. The east suburb clamoured at the departure, conscious that they were losing their best friend, fearful that his removal would be the signal for trouble in the suburb.
Before he left with his disgraced troops for Honan, Chao Ch'ou in his hour of grief and humiliation sought out the man who had already gained his respect and admiration. In the Sianfu Hospital there is a small garden court which can be shut off from the main buildings. Outside this court there remained his body- guard, his servants, the prying listeners, that hang about the Chinese official ; and within it for an hour he spoke freely. His surcharged heart found relief. And he found the comfort he craved. It was not in vain that he had sought the help of an English Christian gentle- man. And the account of how narrow had been Sianfu's escape from the horrors of Sheng Yiin and his Moham- medans, an escape due almost certainly to Chao Ch'ou's appearance, lost nothing in the telling when it reached the Peking Government from the Sianfu missionary. The two men met again months later at Shanchou; they met as friends who had together faced great issues, and had proved each other's worth.
With the cessation of hostilities the Ko Lao Hui and their troops returned to the city. Chao Ch'ou might still have to be called back to quiet internal strife. This was the time to test the loyalty of Chang Yiin Shan. And the man proved equal to the demand. The difficult period passed without serious outbreak. War over, the Shensi government recognized the need of
ADVISER TO THE GOVERNMENT 89
strenuous constructive work. They had so much to learn, and no time for the learning. They needed a man who could put them right — as far as possible — with the outside world, a man who would prevent them in the future from making their mistakes of the past. They needed not a sentimentalist, not an enthusiastic republican, but one with mind well balanced, a judg- ment matured. It was almost inevitable they should turn to the man whom they had proved through these months of their extremity, and invite him to become in name, what he had already become in fact, their political adviser.
CHAPTER XVII
THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS I THE CITY BASE
At the moment of the outbreak there were within the walls of Sianfu a doctor and his wife and a profes- sional nurse, all members of the English Baptist Mission. By evening Dr. Charter was being escorted through the streets, where with difficulty a way was cut through the howling, surging mob, that he might go to the aid of Herr Henne, the Postmaster of Sianfu. The guard called out vigorously and frequently that the man they guarded was not to be killed, varying the cry with hurried explanations. When twenty-two hours later he returned, they were beginning to bring in the wounded patriots, witness that the Manchu guard had still some fight in them. Many had inadvertently shot themselves in the hand, their comrades in the back, whilst handling modern rifles for the first time in their lives. From that time on for seven months the hospital was filled to overflowing, and became the parent institution of many branches. On Monday and Tuesday the wounded came in in a steady stream. All distinction of beds was lost in the numerous patients lying between. The stable became an annexe; everywhere and anywhere they lay. The announcement that Manchu women and children were to be spared filled the women's wards.
Used as Nurse Watt might have become to ghastly sights in England, this succession of wounds left un- dressed for days, while the poor women hid in dry wells or in some ditch at the mercy of flies — which even in late October found their victims — was heartbreaking.
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ARMY MEDICAL CORPS: CITY BASE 91
The English Baptist Mission was splendidly served by some of its Christian helpers in those days. Of Mr. Shih we shall hear again ; there is also at the hospital a man named Ch*en, an old servant of the Mission who acts as business manager. A man with sufficient failings doubtless, but who showed good sense, ingenuity, and faithfulness now. Whilst the mob raged outside the hospital, he kept cool-headed and alert, doing much to comfort and help the two ladies in Dr. Charter's absence. Knowing the dangerous position in which the east suburb members of the Mission might well be, he hit upon the device of pressing upon the new leaders the urgent need of obtaining the services of Dr. Cecil F. Robertson for the ever-increasing tide of wounded flowing into the place. Since Dr. Robertson had been shut out by the hurried closing of the city gate, sending for him meant getting into communication with the east suburb members of the Mission, and ensuring them, if still there, protection and help.
By Wednesday the Tutu was persuaded to give authority for the hospital dispenser to go out to the east suburb to bring back Dr. Robertson, who had been shut out there by the unforeseen closing of the gate on Sim day at noon. But there was no idea of opening the gates. . . . The dispenser was let do'v\Ti, at the east gate tower, from the wall by a rope, whence he made his way to the missionary compound in the east suburb. Then doctor and dispenser made their way back to the gate, the latter sturdily holding out the Tutu's flag of protection. For days the dwellers in the east suburb had watched the flames ascending from the city, they had heard the shouts and cries, had seen the slain of the Manchu guard hurled from the wall into the moat below : all this, but never a living person to tell what had happened, only occasional messages
92 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
shouted from the soldiers on the wall. An actual living person from that inferno who moved along their streets was some one to be gazed upon with wide eyes. The doctor and dispenser forded the moat at a spot near the east gate where the water was low. With ropes about them they were drawn up, fending themselves off the wall with their feet. And underneath as they swimg in mid air, lay the pile of corpses pushed from the wall by the victors. There the man accustomed to death and suffering in so many aspects saw it anew that day. Professional use and custom did not make the sight any easier to gaze upon : this awful mass of pitiful human bodies mangled, hacked, then brutally thrown aside. The hospital staff was now brought up to two doctors and a nurse, the other two doctors of the staff. Dr. Andrew Young and Mrs. Young (also a doctor), were meanwhile being hunted about the hills of Chung Pu.
One of the earlier patients was the acting Governor, the provincial treasurer Ch'ien. He had arrived from Mukden only five months previously, and must therefore have lost greatly from the financial point of view, only having had five months in which to recoup himself for the money expended in obtaining his appointment. After leaving the Provincial Assembly, he had taken refuge in a shop and been there hidden. Of his 110 attendants, only four remained faithful. The soldiers and the officials, after a brief encounter with the revolu- tionaries, made common cause with them. On the fourth day of the fighting he attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself, the heavy bullet being within a very little of inflicting a serious injury. Two days later he was discovered and brought to the temporary head-quarters of the Ke Ming Tang (as distinct from the Ko Lao Hui), who had by this time removed from the Magazine to the University. The bullet was extracted.
ARMY MEDICAL CORPS: CITY BASE 98
and Ch'ien remained under treatment for a month, after whieh he retired into private life and eventually reached Shanghai.
One of the earliest victims brought in was a little boy of eight or nine. A Christian evangelist had made his way into the Tartar city seeking some Manchu Christians who were missing, and the evangelist went to get news of them, or to give any help he could. The roadside lay strewn with dead. One boy, one of hundreds lying about, was not dead, though bleeding profusely. The evangelist carried him on his back to the hospital a mile away. He came along a route where soldier " patriots " stood at the street openings with loaded guns and drawn swords, waiting to cut down fugitives from the Tartar city. It was not a day for showing sympathy to Manchus. But they let this man pass. '' Oh, he's a Christian, the gospeller in the south square. They believe in pity and that sort of thing : let him pass and take the child too." But the doctor, examining the child had to say, " Brother Sung, it was well done, but I fear the child must die. The internal injury is beyond healing." " Well, doctor, I did it to please my Lord, and we can still give the child to Him." In the hospital at least racial animosity received no sanction, Manchu and Chinese, soldier and victim were received on equal terms, though even here the terrified Manchus sought the refuge of the stable, not daring to lie in the wards which sheltered their wounded soldier assailants. Until Dr. Charter, the man who had to bear the brunt of the first four days, was joined by his colleague, who scaled the wall, he and Nurse Watt had to face an ex- perience as new as it was appalling. It was enough to unnerve the native assistants, this vicious, looting mob outside the walls : and within a helpless crowd — refugees, soldiers, patients, friends. And the assistants at
94 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Sianfu Hospital had to be directed and heartened for four days by the one man only. Then for months there came a procession of wounded. At the Foreign Office was a man named Lin, one of the best they had in the province. He arranged with the hospital, on behalf of the new Government, that all patients brought in during these days, all victims of the revolution, should be treated at the expense of the Government.
Soon the soldiers from the front came in — a batch of twelve from the engagement at Chang Wu, four days away. At this time most came, however, from the east. There, Chang Pei Ying's base was at Hua Yin Hsien, and his objective the capture of T*ung Kuan. Soon the casualties grew to such numbers that the Foreign Office had to put the hospital into touch with the War Office direct, and the hospital became to all intents and purposes the Army Hospital.
After a month the two other doctors of the mission were rescued from the caves in the north and got to the hospital. Then Lin and another, Ke Ming Tang men, arranged with the War Office for a field hospital attached to the eastern army. Whilst one doctor was away there, the Ko Lao Hui leaders who commanded the western army pleaded for a similar field hospital in the west. This meant a second doctor leaving the city, and the main hospital was again left in charge of Dr. Charter. By December the Government were obliged to place at his disposal a large residence near by, where he could attend the overflow from the hospital. At the end of December the doctor from the eastern army returned, bringing a number of the wounded, and early in January a large " Kung kuan " (official residence), next door to the hospital compound, was impounded, and hospital nimaber three was opened : in another fortnight this was filled, and a fourth house taken opposite. A quarter
ARMY MEDICAL CORPS: CITY BASE 95
of a mile away is an Orphana^re which for years has stood a witness of the charity that can well up in the heart of the Chinese.
By the end of February further accommodation was needed, and the orphans were ousted for the time being, and their buildings turned over to the Army Medical Corps. The back of the Orphanage premises joined that of the University, now empty and despoiled. An opening was made in the wall and a court of the University filled, which, with the Orphanage, constituted hospital number five.
Then typhus appeared. Two cases were detected and taken to a temple near by. Mercifully the disease did not spread : the first two cases remained the only ones. Number six being thus an isolation hospital, another small temple was requisitioned for further cases and formed hospital number seven. Last of all there was a place used in the now desolate Manchu city, to which patients down with smallpox, which had broken out in the city, were sent. All that the Mission Army Medical Corps could do for these was to see that they were provided with food, shelter and covering, and to hire men to be with them. Such men had no training, their one qualification was that they had already had the disease.
It is obvious that two surgeons — and at times but one — could not pretend to see daily to the dressings of six hundred patients. In the rush of these days general rules as to the out-patient department had to be suspended : all cases, light or heavy, were received, the burden of finding food and shelter devolving on the War Office and in some measure on the Red Cross Society. For the month of March the care of two hun- dred patients was put in the charge of four Chinese medical students from Japan, sent up by the Central
96 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
Red Cross Association in Nanking. Their arrival at a time of great pressure brought much relief to the foreign medicals, though unfortunately at the end of the month they had, to their own regret and still more to the regret of their English colleagues, to return home before starting to Japan for their final session. Some patients, once seen, could be subsequently left to the assistants ; and for others one visit a week by the surgeon had to suffice.
There were patients brought in who did nobly; men who bore their pain with fortitude — ^who had a rare quality of self -detachment. Some of the young officers showed qualities which argue well for the future of the new style Chinese students. One is irritated often by these same students' superficiality, their arrogance ; but in the hour of trial they did well, especially the military students. One case must suffice. A young lad of nineteen was brought in shot in the abdomen. It was a case of a very serious nature, and while the preparations were bemg made the operation agreement was brought in. This youth, who had fought pluckily in the open, now as he lay on the operating table itself, bravely signed the agreement. There is good stuff in plenty, for the making of good men, in the Chinese colleges.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS : FIELD HOSPITALS
The original idea of the general was to have a field hospital at Pinchou on the west, and at T'ung Kuan on the east. The T'ung Kuan plan was realized for a time, but Pinchou never saw the medical corps.
On the 13th of December the doctor and his assistants set out from Sianfu for Pinchou, but whilst travelling along a dangerous bit of embankment were met by the Shensi army retreating in wild disorder from the defeat at Jan Tien, which had occurred on December 16th. Before the hospital party could get clear, three out of their four carts were overturned into the river, and their stores of bandages, instruments and drugs, including the precious chloroform, were lost. There was nothing for it but to retreat to Ch'ien Chou. Here, since Chang Yiin Shan decided to make his stand against the Kansu army, the hospital was arranged. As we have seen, however, the enemy, in spite of their victory, retired, and since there were no patients the doctor returned to Sianfu, there to wait till summoned again to the front. He arrived late at night, and the card of the captain of the wall — which had been given with a view to such a contingency — being presented, the gates of the city were opened. It needs to be very urgent public business which gets the gates of Sianfu open when once shut for the night. The expected summons came on December 29th, when the doctor again re- turned to Ch'ien Chou. Whilst there the Mohammedans came up to within sight of the city, and a serious engage- H 97
98 THE PASSING OF THE DRAGON
ment took place. The only experienced assistant had been delayed, and was now forbidden by the Li Ch'uan commander to proceed further, as there was heavy fight- ing on the road to Ch'ien Chou. For four days he re- mained at Li Ch'uan, miserable at the thought of Dr. Young's great need, and then he took things into his own hands and set out alone for Ch'ien Chou. From the road as he journeyed he could see the skirmishing on the hills. ^
This had left the doctor ^vith a gatekeeper and coolies, who had never before assisted in hospital work. One of these had to be shown then and there the duties of anaesthetist, and the other those of assistant surgeon. They struggled on till 3 a.m., until the doctor cDuld hardly stand. Such is the evolution of hospital assistants — in Shensi. The cases were about as bad as they could be. The bullets used by the Mohammedans were soft lead. There is a dreadful collection of these, in- flattened, twisted and spread, in the possession of one of the Shensi surgeons. General Chang Yun Shan, fearing Ch'ien Chou would prove unsafe for the hospital, arranged for the wounded to be taken to Li Ch'uan, tAvelve miles to the rear. The journey was made by night, and on the road the drivers got a scare, and, to his horror, the surgeon saw hurrying carts containing his wounded go bumping violently at rapid pace over the rough " surface " on one of the worst roads in China.
At Li Ch'uan he patched up most of the woimded and sent them to the base hospital at Sianfu, remaining with nine or ten at Li Ch'uan. On January 8th he himself collapsed with the strain of the past week. By the evening of the 9th an urgent message arrived from Sianfu. There were 250 patients and only one medical. On the 10th, rising from a sick bed, Dr. Young mounted