Beacon Lights of History, Volume 14: The New Era — Li Huang Chang, Part 2

War was made to punish this outrage on the rights of the foreign community, and to exact indemnity for the seizure of their property.

Canton was not captured, but held to ransom, and the haughty Viceroy sent into exile.

Other cities were taken and held; and, in 1842, a treaty of peace was signed at Nanking by which five ports were opened to foreign trade.

The embargo on opium was not withdrawn; but the defeat of the Chinese resulted in a virtual immunity from seizure together with a growth of the traffic, such as to justify the ill-odored name which that war still bears in history.

Treaties with other powers followed in quick succession.

On demand of the French Minister, the Emperor recalled his prohibitory decrees against Christianity and issued an Edict of Toleration.

If the opening of the ports gave a stimulus to trade, the decree of toleration opened a door for missionary enterprise.

As yet, however, neither merchant nor missionary was allowed to penetrate into the interior; while the capital and the whole of the northern seacoast remained inaccessible.

This was obviously a state of things that could not be permanent; yet fifteen years were to pass before another war came to settle the terms of intercourse on a broader basis.

When the war broke out, Li Hung Chang was seventeen years of age, living at Hofei in Anhui.

As there were then no newspapers in China it may be doubted whether he heard of it until a British squadron sailed up to Nanking and extorted a treaty at the cannon's mouth.

Li was rudely startled by the appearance of a new force, to which there was no allusion in any of his ancient books.

Along with the sailing-ships there were two or three small steamers.

It struck the Chinese with astonishment to see them make head against wind and tide.

_Shin Chuan_, "ships of the gods," is the name they gave those mysterious vessels.

Little could Li foresee the part he was destined to take in creating a steam navy for China.

Descended from a long line of scholars, he was supposed to be born to the pursuit of letters.

He did, in fact, devote himself to study with unflagging zeal, because he had as yet no temptation to turn aside.

Was there not, moreover, an open door before his face inviting him to win for himself the honors of a mandarinate?

In his native town he placed his foot on the first step of the ladder by gaining the degree of A. B.

, or, in Chinese, "Budding Genius."

At the provincial capital he next carried off the laurel of the second degree, which is worth more than our A. M.

, not merely because it is not conferred in course, but because it falls to the lot of only one in a hundred among some thousands of competitors.

These provincial tournaments occur but once in three years;

and the successful candidates proceed to Peking to compete for the third degree, or D. C. L.

,--_Tsin-shi_, or, "Fit for Office."

Here the chances amount to three per cent.

Li's fortunes were again propitious, and in company with two or three hundred new-made doctors, he was summoned to the palace to contend in presence of the emperor for the honor of a seat in the Imperial Academy,--the Hanlin, or "Forest of Pencils."

Here also he met with success, but he was not among the first three whose names are marked by the vermilion pen of majesty, each of whom sheds lustre on his native province.

The highest of the three is called Chuang Yuen, "Head of the List" or "Prince of Letters."

In the 'fifties it fell to a native of Ningpo, where I then lived.

His good luck was announced to his wife by the magistrate in person, who conducted her to the six gates, at each of which she scattered a handful of rice, as an omen of good fortune.

In the 'sixties, when I had removed to Peking, this honor was for the first time conferred on a Manchu, a son of the General Saishanga.

His daughter was deemed a fit consort for the heir to the throne, wearing for a short time the tiara of empress, and committing suicide on the death of her lord.

In the two previous contests, handwriting goes for nothing, but in this it is not without weight, as the avowed object is to select scribes for the service of the throne.

On those occasions extent of erudition and originality of thought are the qualities most esteemed; but this time the order of merit is decided by superficial elegance of style, and by facility in the composition of verse.

However defective the standard of learning, this long course of competition, extending over ten or fifteen years, has the effect of bringing before the throne a body of men each of whom is the survivor of a hundred contests.

No country can boast a better system for the selection of talent, and the government guards it with jealous care.

I

have known more than one examiner put to death for tampering with this ballot-box of the Empire.

For ages it has provided the state with able officers; nor is its least merit that of converting a dangerous demagogue into a quiet student.

While waiting for an appointment, Li heard with dismay that Nanking had been taken by a body of rebels, and that his native province was in danger of being overrun by them.

A new career opened before him,--one that led more directly to the highest offices within the gift of the sovereign.

Asking a commission in the army, he was assigned to a position on the staff of Tsengkofan, father of the Marquis Tseng, who was afterwards Minister to England.

This rebellion, among the strangest of strange things, now claims our attention.

IV. THE TAIPING REBELLION.

In April, 1853, the news reached us that Nanking had fallen into the hands of a body of rebels who, by a curious irony, called themselves Taipings, "Soldiers of Peace."

They were Chinese, not Manchus, and their leaders were all from the extreme south.

Starting near Canton, they had proclaimed as their object the expulsion of the Tartars.

Overrunning Kwangsi and Hunan, they had got possession of Hankow and the two adjacent cities,--a centre of wealth which may be compared to the three cities that form our Greater New York.

Everywhere they put to flight the government forces; but they did not choose to stop anywhere short of the ancient capital of the Mings.

Seizing some thousands of junks, they filled them with the plunder of that rich mart, and sweeping down the river, carried by assault every city on its banks until they reached Nanking.

Its resistance was quickly overcome; and putting to death the entire garrison of twenty-five thousand Manchus, they announced their intention to make it the capital of their empire, as Hung Wu had done when he drove out the Mongols and restored freedom to the Chinese race.

In a few months they despatched an expedition to expel the Manchus from Peking.

But that proved a more difficult task than they expected.

Before the detachment had arrived at Tientsin, it was met on the Grand Canal by a strong force under Sengkolinsin, the Mongol prince.

Obliged to winter on the way, it was divided and cut off in detail; this defeat making it evident to all the world that the Manchu domination might still hope for a considerable lease of life.

The blood and rapine which everywhere marked their pathway alienated the sympathy of foreigners from the Soldiers of Peace.

Nor did the new power at Nanking manifest the least anxiety to obtain foreign aid, feeling assured of ultimate triumph.

Yet, indifferent as they were to the co-operation of foreigners, the Taipings proclaimed themselves Christians, and appeared to aim their blows no less at lifeless idols than at living enemies.

Shangti, the Supreme Ruler, the God of the ancient sages, was the object of their worship.

They found his name in the Christian Bibles, and they published the Bible as the source of their new faith.

Their faith amounted to a frenzy, giving them courage in battle, but not imparting the self-control essential to Christian morality.

Filling their coffers with spoil, they stocked their harems with the wives and daughters of their enemies.

If their lives had been more decent, they might have had a better chance to secure the favor of those powerful nations which had now become the arbiters of destiny in China.

The leader of the movement was a Cantonese by the name of Hung Siu Chuen.

A copy of the Bible having fallen into his hands, he applied to a Baptist missionary for instruction.

How much he learned may be inferred from the fact that he gave his followers a new form of baptism, requiring them to wash the bosom as a sign for cleansing the heart.

He had ecstatic visions, and preached a crusade against idolatry and the Manchus.

The ease with which the Manchus had been beaten by the British in 1842 had revealed their weakness, and the new faith supplied the rebels with a fresh source of power.

They mixed the teachings of the Gospel with new revelations as freely as Mohammed did in propagating the religion of the Koran.

The chief called himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ.

His prime minister assumed the title of the Holy Ghost;

and his counsels were given out as decrees from Heaven.

All this had an air of blasphemy that shocked the sensibilities of foreigners, and compelled them to stand aloof or to support the Manchus.

The native authorities were permitted to engage foreign ships and seamen to operate against the rebels, who sustained a siege in Nanking almost as long as the siege of Troy.

From Shanghai, Suchau, and other cities the Taipings were driven out by the aid of foreigners, chiefly led by Ward and Gordon, the former an American, the latter a Briton.

General Ward was never under the command of Li Hung Chang; but to him more than to any other foreigner belongs the honor of turning the tide of the Taiping Rebellion.

A soldier of fortune, he offered to throw his sword into the government scale if it were paid for with many times its weight in gold.

Gathering a nondescript force of various nationalities, he recaptured the city of Sungkiang, and followed this up by such a series of successes that his little troop came to be known as the "Ever-victorious Army."

Falling before the walls of Tseki, he was interred with pomp at the scene of his first victory, where a temple was erected to his memory, and he is now reckoned among the "Joss" of the Chinese Empire.

His force was taken into Li's pay.

General Gordon (the same who fell at Khartoum) acted under the direction of Li Hung Chang; and his chief exploit was the recovery of Suchau.

Unable to resist his artillery, the rebel chiefs offered to capitulate.

They were assured by him that their lives would be spared.

To this Li Hung Chang consented, and the stronghold was at once surrendered.

Regardless of his plighted faith, Li caused the five leaders to be beheaded, an act of treachery which filled Gordon with such fury that he went from camp to camp, looking for Li, determined to put a bullet in his head.

Li, however, avoided a meeting until Gordon's wrath had time to subside, and that treacherous act laid the foundation of his future fortunes.

He was made governor of the province, and for forty years he rose in power and influence.

Not only was this terrible rebellion which laid waste the fairest provinces a sequel to the first war with England, it was prolonged and aggravated by a second war which broke out in 1857. In 1863, the last stronghold of the rebels was recaptured, and the rebellion finally suppressed, after twelve years of dismal carnage.

In bringing about this result, no names are more conspicuous than those of Li Hung Chang and General Gordon, whose sobriquet of "Chinese Gordon" ever afterwards characterized him.

Li's good fortune served him well in this war.

Having won the favor of the Court, he was in command of the forces of eastern Kiangsu, and all the brilliant successes of Ward and Gordon were credited to him.

He was not only made governor of the province, but also created an Earl in perpetuity.

V. THE "ARROW" WAR; THE TREATIES.

Never did a smaller spark ignite a greater conflagration.

In 1856 a native junk named the "Arrow," sailing under a British flag, was seized for piracy, her flag hauled down and her crew thrown into prison at Canton.

On demand of Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, they were handed over to Consul Parkes (later Sir Harry); but he refused to receive them because they were not accompanied by a suitable apology.

The haughty Viceroy Yeh put them all to death, provoking reprisals on the part of the British, resulting in the occupation of Canton and the capture of Peking after three campaigns to the north.

In this war England had France for ally; as the two powers had been associated in that hugest of blunders, the Crimean War.

Nor was the alliance a less blunder on this occasion.

Napoleon's excuse for participation was the murder of a missionary in Kwangsi; but his real motive was a desire to checkmate Great Britain, and prevent the conquest of new territory.

In the Opium War she had stopped at Nanking, leaving the pride of China unhumbled, and the state of relations so unstable that another war was required to place them on a better footing.

England, with unselfish generosity, invited the co-operation of Russia and the United States.

Either power might have found as good a pretext for hostile action as that of France; but they chose to maintain an attitude of neutrality, offering only such moral support as might enable them to gather up the apples after the others had shaken the tree.

In 1857 Canton was taken and held by the allies.

The next spring the envoys of the four powers, each with a considerable naval force, proceeded to the mouth of the Peiho, the gateway to a capital as secluded and exclusive as that of the Grand Lama.

The forts made a show of resistance, but they were put to silence in less than half an hour; and negotiations which had been opened by the neutrals were resumed at Tientsin.

Dr. S.

Wells Williams was Chinese secretary to the United States minister, Mr. William B. Reed; and I acted as interpreter for the spoken language.

An article in favor of Christian missions occasioned some delay; and Mr. Reed, who was vain and shallow, said to us, "Now, gentlemen, hurry up with your missionary article for I intend to sign my treaty on the 18th of June [Waterloo day] with or without that clause."

Fancy a mind that could think of a treaty obtained by British guns as entitling him to be associated with Wellington!

Yet Mr. Reed had the effrontery to say that he "expected us to make the missionary societies duly sensible of their obligations" to him.

That twenty-ninth article was the gem of the treaty; and it had the honor of being copied into that of Lord Elgin, which was signed eight days later.

High-minded, philanthropic, and upright, Lord Elgin made a mistake which led to a renewal of the war.

He refused to place Tientsin on the list of open ports, because, as he said, "Foreign powers would make use of it to overawe the Chinese capital,"--just as if overawing was not a matter of prime necessity.

He hastened away to India to aid in suppressing the Sepoy mutiny, eventually becoming viceroy after another campaign in China.

His brother, Sir F. Bruce, succeeded him as minister in China;

and twelve months later (July, 1859) the ministers of the four powers were again at the mouth of the Peiho on their way to Peking for the exchange of ratified copies of the several treaties.

The United States minister was John E. Ward, a noble-hearted son of Georgia, and the chief of our little squadron was the gallant old Commodore Tatnall.

We were not a little surprised to see the demolished forts completely rebuilt, and frowning defiance.

We were told by officers who came down to the shore that no vessel would be allowed to pass; but that the way to Peking was open to us _via_ Peitang, a small port to the north.

To this Mr. Ward made no objection, but the British, who had so recently held the keys of the capital, were indignant to be met by such a rebuff.

They steamed ahead between the forts, leaving the Chinese to take the consequences.

All at once the long line of batteries opened fire.

One or two gunboats were sunk; two or three were stranded.

A storming party was repulsed, and Admiral Hope, who was dangerously wounded, begged our American commodore to give him a lift by towing up a flotilla of barges filled with a reserve force.

"Blood is thicker than water," exclaimed Tatnall, in tones that have echoed round the globe, and Ward making no objection, he threw neutrality to the winds, and proceeded to tow up the barges.

Our little steamer was commanded by Lieutenant Barker, now Admiral Barker of the New York Navy Yard.

Even this failed to retrieve the day, the tide having fallen too low for a successful landing.

For the British admiral nothing remained but to withdraw his shattered forces, and prepare for another campaign.

For the United States minister a dazzling prospect now presented itself,--that of intervening to prevent the renewal of war.

From Peitang we proceeded by land two days.

Then we continued our voyage for five days by boat on the Upper Peiho.

At Peking, calling on the genial old Kweiliang, who had signed the treaty in 1858, Mr. Ward was astonished at his change of tone.

"You wish to see the Emperor.

That goes as a matter of course; but his Majesty knows you helped the British, and he requires that you go on your knees before the throne in token of repentance."

"Tell him," said Mr. Ward to me, "that I go on my knees only to God and woman."

"Is not the Emperor the same as God?"

replied the old courtier, taking no notice of a tribute to woman that was unintelligible to an Oriental mind.

"You need not really touch the ground with your knees," he continued; "but merely make a show of kneeling.

There will be eunuchs at hand to lift you up, saying 'Don't kneel!

Don't kneel!'

" The eunuchs, as Mr. Ward well knew, would be more likely to push us to our knees than to lift us up; and he wisely decided to decline the honor of an audience on such terms.

Displeased by his obstinacy, the Emperor ordered him to quit the capital without delay, and exchange ratifications at the sea-coast.

A report was long current in Peking that foreigners have no joints in their knees;

hence their reluctance to kneel.

Thus vanished for Mr. Ward the alluring prospect of winning for himself and his country the beatitude of the peacemaker.

The summer of 1860 saw the Peiho forts taken, and an allied force of thirty thousand men advancing on Peking.

The court fled to Tartary, and the summer palace was laid in ashes to punish the violation of a flag of truce, the bearers of which were bound hand and foot, and left to perish within its walls.

For three days the smoke of its burning, carried by a northwest wind, hung like a pall over the devoted city, whose inhabitants were so terrified that they opened the gates half an hour before the time set for bombardment.

No soldiers were admitted, but the demands of the Allies were all acceded to, and supplementary treaties signed within the walls by Lord Elgin and Baron Gros.

Peking was opened to foreign residence.

The French succeeded in opening the whole country to the labors of missionaries.

Legations were established at the capital, and a new era of peace and prosperity dawned on the distracted empire.

VI.