The re-making of China

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1

THE RE-MAKING OF CHINA

THE
RE-MAKING OF CHINA

BY

ADOLF S. WALEY

NEW YORK

EPDUTTON & COMPANY

PUBUSHERS

:»i*^-'7y

I *

Printbd in Geeat Britain by

Richard Clay & Sons, Limited,

brunswick st., stamford st., s.e.,

and bungay, suffolk.

W3

TO

MY DEAE MOTHER

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK IN LOVING GBATITUDE

306799

PREFACE

This little book, which I offer to the public, in no
way presumes to compete with the several excellent
works upon China which have recently appeared, and
from which I have occasionally quoted.

It is merely the outcome of the very close study
I have bestowed upon the problems so interesting and
absorbing which the recent changes in that country
have brought into prominence.

A. W.

June 1914,

THE RE-MAKING OF CHINA

CHAPTER I

The unchanging East — Condition of the country during the
minority of the Emperor Kwanghsu — The Emperor attains
his majority — His meeting with Kang Yu-wei and adoption
of a policy of reform coincident with a period of foreign
aggression — The effects of foreign aggression on the Chinese
— The Empress Dowager places herself at the head of the
reactionary party — Decision of the Emperor on the advice
of Kang Yu-wei to arrest the Empress Dowager — Yuan
Shih-Kai entrusted with this plan — Virtual deposition of the
Emperor by the Empress Dowager and flight of Kang Yu-
wei — The Empress resumes the government,

" The unchanging East." To no country did
these words apply more correctly than to the
Celestial Empire. China seemed to have sunk into
a kind of torpor from which she appeared unlikely
ever to rouse herself. Methods suitable to the
sixteenth century still continued in the nineteenth.
Chinese soldiers still marched about armed with
three-pronged pitchforks, and in some cases even
with bows and arrows. The officers of the Chinese
army were only required to know the Chinese
classics, any knowledge of military tactics being
considered quite unnecessary.

The civil officials were obliged to be thoroughly
conversant with the works of Confucius, but any
knowledge of modern methods of government was

( ^

2 : REMAKING OF CHINA

deemed superfluous. The Chinese people, far from
desiring to see Western ideas adopted in their
country, heartily despised them.

To the great majority of Chinese the foreigner
still remained the " Outer Barbarian," and in
their eyes the great Russian Empire was but a
petty state, tributary to the Dragon Throne.

As an illustration of this, mention may here be
made that the Emperor Tung-chih, in giving his
first audience to the foreign ministers accredited
to his Court, received them in the Hall of Purple
Lights, a building usually reserved for the Imperial
receptions of vassal chiefs from Mongolia and Tibet.

The reign of the Emperor Tung-chih, 1861-
1875, and the minority of the Emperor Kwanghsu,
1875-1889, were periods of absolute national
stagnation, and observant foreigners freely ad-
vanced the opinion that China was a decadent
country, destined to be partitioned amongst the
European Powers.

The Chinese, however, soon proved themselves
not to be a decadent nation, but merely a somnolent
one. With the accession to full governing powers
of the Emperor Kwanghsu, March 4, 1889, there
came a partial awakening. The Emperor Kwang-
hsu was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable
of the Manchu sovereigns. Immured from his
earliest infancy within the walls of the Forbidden
City, and lacking the slightest semblance of

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 3

European education, he was yet fully alive to the
necessity of the adoption by 'China of Western
methods, and also to a certain extent of Western
civilisation, in order that she might occupy her
rightful place in the Council of the Nations. The
innately Liberal views of the Emperor were un-
doubtedly strengthened by the fact that his reign
coincided with a period of foreign aggression in
China. In 1884 there broke out the war with
France, which resulted in the loss to the Celestial
Empire of her Indo-Chinese dependencies. This
was followed ten years later by the conflict with
Japan, resulting in the loss of Korea, Formosa
and Port Arthur.

In 1897, as compensation for the murder of two
German missionaries, Germany demanded and
obtained from China the cession of Kiaochau.

The culminating point of the aggression was
reached in 1898, when Russia, who three years
previously had taken the lead in forcing Japan
to restore Port Arthur to China, compelled China
to retrocede that port to the Russian Empire.
The result of this move on the part of Russia was
to force the necessity upon Great Britain to
demand the lease of Wei-hai-wei.

It is not to be wondered at that, seeing his
country threatened on all sides, the Emperor
Kwanghsu became more and more convinced that,
to save it from disruption, it would be expedient

4 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

for him to adopt Western methods of government
and to organise both his army and navy on modern
Hnes. He was still further strengthened in his
conviction by his meeting in June 1898 with
the Cantonese reformer, Kang Yu-wei, who became
both his political coadjutor and personal friend.

Opinions have always been divided regarding
the individuality of Kang Yu-wei. By some he
has been thought a visionary, whilst others have
considered him a self-seeker. Certain it is that
he was possessed of considerable ability, and that
he was genuinely patriotic. Stirred by the example
of Japan, which in the comparatively short space
of thirty years had been transformed from a
mediaeval state into a modern constitutional
monarchy, Kang Yu-wei desired to effect a similar
transformation in the Middle Kingdom, and he
contrived to win the Emperor over to his ideas
and to fire him with his enthusiasm. So well did
he succeed in this, that between June 1898 and
the September of the same year there appeared
a series of Imperial edicts all working towards the
fulfilment of his hopes.

The first edict abolished the ancient classical
examination system, and was promptly followed
by others ordering the adoption of a modern
system of education and establishing a University
in Peking organised on European lines.

Attention was also paid to the question of

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 5

military and naval reform, and Yuan Shih-Kai, *-^'
now President of the Republic, at that time
Judicial Commissioner of Chihli, was appointed
to the command of the Peking Field Force with
orders to carry into practice modern military
reforms.

No question affecting the progress of the nation
was left untouched by the Imperial reformer, and
there seemed every likelihood that the Celestial
Empire would in the very shortest time follow in
the footsteps of the Land of the Rising Sun.
Unfortunately, however, for China, the conditions
in that country during the reign of Kwanghsu
were very different to those prevailing in Japan
at the commencement of the Meiji era.

In the first place, the reigning dynasty of China - ^.
was of a race alien to the people over which it
ruled, and in consequence of this, Kwanghsu had
not so strong a claim upon the patriotism of the
Chinese as Mutsuhito had upon the Japanese.
Secondly, the powerful and patriotic feudal aris- ^
tocracy, so much to the fore in the Japanese '^
restoration, did not exist in China. In China the
corrupt and often incompetent Mandarin stood
in the place of the Japanese Daimyo of the restora-
tion days, and whereas the Daimyo, imbued with
the traditions of Bushido, was ready to yield up
all his feudal powers to his sovereign, the Mandarin,
anxious only for his own aggrandisement and

6 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

eager to fill his pockets at his country's expense,
constituted the chief obstacle to its progress.
Kwanghsu fully realised the strength of this
opposition to his policy on the part of the official
class, and he met it with an edict in which he
professed himself ready to listen to all reasonable
objections. Unfortunately for him, he quite
counteracted the effect of this edict by peremptorily
dismissing every official who dared to differ from
him, and amongst these there were a few absolutely
honest Conservatives whom he might with tact
and patience have won over to his cause.

Intrigues against the Emperor on the part of
the dismissed officials soon became rife, and the
Iho Park, situated within the precincts of the
Summer Palace, the residence during her retire-
ment of the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi, became
the centre of these intrigues.

For some considerable time Tzu Hsi turned a
deaf ear to the continuous suggestions on the
part of the cashiered Mandarins that she should
resume the reins of government, but eventually
the action of the Emperor himself drove her into
acceding to their wishes.

It was the firm belief of Kang Yu-wei, a belief
amounting almost to an obsession, that the chief
opponents to the policy of reform were the
Empress Dowager and Yung Lu, the Viceroy of
Chihli and her loyal adherent.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 7

As regards the Empress Dowager, he had some
justification for his eonvictions% but where Yung Lu
was concerned his opinion was a totally erroneous
one. Yung Lu combined the noblest character
with great ability. Devoted though he was to
the Empress Dowager, and fully cognisant of the
very great influence he had over her, he, throughout
his lengthy official career, only made use of his
influence for the good of his country.

In addition, he was a sincere though moderate
Liberal, and had been one of the first officials to
bring Kang Yu-wei to the notice of the Emperor.

In spite of this, Kang Yu-wei incessantly urged
upon the Emperor that the Reform policy would
never succeed whilst the Empress Dowager re-
tained her liberty and Yung Lu his life. For a
time Kwanghsu hesitated, reluctant to repay with
such ingratitude the woman who had raised him
to the throne. Gradually, however, the breach
between him and the Empress Dowager widened,
and about the middle of September 1898 he
decided to follow the advice of Kang Yu-wei. He
selected as his instrument Yuan Shih-Kai, at that
time Commander of the Peking Field Force, and
therefore subordinate to Yung Lu. Kwanghsu
believed Yuan Shih-Kai to be wholly devoted to
his interests, and apparently was in total ignorance
of the fact that the very closest friendship existed
between the two men, a friendship sanctified by

/

8 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

the oath of blood-brotherhood which they had
taken.

On the morning of the 22nd of September, his
plans having taken definite shape, Kwanghsu
summoned Yuan Shih-Kai to the palace and gave
him his final instructions. He desired him to
proceed with all speed to Tientsin and to arrest Yung
Lu in his Yamen, and at once put him to death.
He was immediately after to return to Peking
at the head of 10,000 picked men from his own
force and seize the Empress Dowager, imprisoning
her within the Summer Palace.

After giving him these instructions, the Emperor
handed to Yuan an edict appointing him Viceroy
of Chihli in succession to Yung Lu. Yuan Shih-
Kai departed forthwith to Tientsin, reaching that
city about noon of the same day.

He proceeded at once to the Viceregal Yamen,
and made his way instantly to the private apart-
ments of Yung Lu, whom he addressed as follows :
" Do you regard me as a faithful blood-brother? "
" Of course I do," replied Yung Lu. " You well
may, for the Emperor has sent me to kill you, and
now instead I betray his scheme because of my
loyalty to the Empress Dowager and my affection
for you." ^ Yung Lu left at once by special train
for Peking, and entered the presence of the Empress
Dowager unannounced, and revealed the whole
1 China under the Empress Dowager, p. 206,

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 9

plot to her. Tzu Hsi lost no time in deliberation.
Summoning a secret meeting of the Grand Council,
she laid all the facts of the plot before the
councillors, and they with one accord begged her
to resume the government.

The doom of Kwanghsu was sealed. At mid-
night the troops hitherto on guard in the Forbidden
City were ordered to withdraw and were replaced
by soldiers drawn from Yung Lu's own corps.
At about 6 a.m. on September 23, the Emperor
was seized by a detachment of guards and im-
prisoned in an Island Palace in the Forbidden
City, and compelled to issue an edict handing over
the government of the Celestial Empire to the
Empress Dowager.

Thus the reign of Kwanghsu, which had opened
with so much promise, came to a disastrous close,
for although he nominally retained the throne, all
real power had passed from his hands for ever.

His life was only spared owing to the appeals of
certain officials, amongst them the generous-
minded Yung Lu, who warned the Empress
Dowager that the execution of the Son of Heaven
was a step so drastic as to endanger her popularity.

Of the many leaders of the Reform party,
Kang Yu-wei and his lieutenant, Liang Chi-chao,
were able to escape, the former to Hong-Kong,
the latter to Japan, but several other prominent
reformers, including a brother of Kang Yu-wei,

10 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

suffered the extreme penalty of the law, dying
bravely and declaring with their last breath their
unswerving belief in the ultimate triumph of the
cause of Reform.

The coup d'etat of 1898 marks the commencement
of the anti-Manchu movement which eventually
culminated in the Chinese Revolution, for it trans-
ferred the leadership of the Chinese Progressives
from Kang Yu-wei, the moderate Reformer, to
Sun Yat-sen, the Revolutionist.

Reviewing Kwanghsu's short reign, it is not to
be doubted that he made many mistakes, chiefly
owing to the fact that the reforms he sought to bring
about had not been sufficiently deliberated upon.

In spite of these grave errors, it would be unfair
when taking into consideration, as we did in the
earlier part of this chapter, the corrupt Court in
which he was brought up, surrounded solely by
eunuchs totally devoid of any semblance of modern
education, to deny the character of the unfortunate
emperor some elements of greatness.

Had he continued to reign, he might have
succeeded in permanently reconciling the Chinese
people to the Manchu dynasty. By his virtual
deposition the downfall of that dynasty became
merely a matter of time. The cause of Reform was
destined to triumph in the end, but it was to be
brought about at a heavy cost and by sterner
means than by the stroke of the vermihon pencil.

CHAPTER II

The prestige of the Manchu dynasty lowered and endangered
by its inability to resist foreign aggression — Empress Dowager
decides on war against the Western Powers — Origin of the
Boxer Society — Empress Dowager establishes it on legal
basis — Entry of troops from the province of Kansu into
Peking — Assassination of Mr. Sugiyama — Attack by the
Boxers on the French Cathedral — Meeting of the Grand
Council — Decision in favour of war — Assassination of the
German Minister — Attack on the Foreign Legations by Boxers
and Imperial troops — Empress Dowager issues secret edict
ordering extermination of all foreigners in China — Terrible
massacre of foreigners in Taiyuanfu — Defiance by Yuan
Shih-Kai and other Viceroys of the Empress Dowager's
commands and protection by them of foreigners in their
respective provinces — Advance of international relief forces
on Peking — Flight of the Court to Sianfu and entry of the
allies into Peking.

When the Empress Dowager again took up the
reins of government she was confronted by an
exceedingly difficult and dangerous political situa-
tion. By its inability to protect its possessions
from foreign aggression, the Manchu dynasty had
lost much of its former prestige in the eyes of its
Chinese subjects. The conservative North was
greatly incensed by the loss of Kiaochau and Port
Arthur, while the more liberally inclined South
deeply resented the overthrow of Kwanghsu and
Kang Yu-wei and the consequent return to a
policy of reaction. The earlier Manchu emperors
had employed a strong hand and a sharp sword

as the only means by which alien rulers could

XX

12 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

govern the Chinese people, but at this juncture
in Chinese history the hand was gradually growing
weak and the sword rusty. The ominous murmur
not heard since the Taiping revolt thirty-eight
years earlier — " the Manchu dynasty has exhausted
the mandate of Heaven, let us hurl the hated
Tartar from the Dragon Throne and restore the
rule of the sons of Han " — arose once more
throughout the country.

No one realised more fully than the Empress
Dowager the extreme peril to the dynasty, and she
instantly grasped at the only chance of saving
it from downfall by seeking to direct the wrath
of the Chinese people into a different channel.

She endeavoured to divert their anger to the
large foreign community in China, impressing
upon her subjects that the surest way for the
dynasty once more to prove deserving of their
allegiance would be a successful war against the
hated " foreign devils " who had filched from
China so many of her former possessions.

At first Tzu Hsi limited her anti-foreign policy

S to annulling all those edicts of Kwanghsu which

had aimed at the westernisation of China, but

during the summer of 1899 she adopted a more

militant programme.

It was at this critical moment that Prince Tuan,
Kang Yi and other leaders of the reactionary
party brought to the Empress Dowager's notice

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 13

the famous Society of Boxers, of whom it is im-
perative to give a brief description. The " I Ho
Chuan," or " Society of Patriotic and Harmonious
Fists," first made its appearance in 1895 in the
Province of Shantung.

Its earHest leader claimed descent from Hung
Wu, founder of the Ming dynasty, which rather
suggests that in its infancy at any rate the
society was not pro-Manchu.

Shortly before the Empress Dowager became
acquainted with its existence, the society had,
however, developed into a pro-Manchu and violent
anti-foreign organisation. Its banners bore the
inscription, " Protect the Tsing dynasty, extermi-
nate the foreigner."

The Boxers believed themselves to be under
the special protection of the " Jade Emperor,"
the supreme deity of the Taoists, and they were
fully convinced that certain spells of which they
possessed the secret would render them immune
from death on the battle-field.

Knowing the Empress Dowager's very high
standard of intelligence, it seems almost incredible
that she should have allowed herself to be persuaded
into a belief in the magical powers of the Boxers ;
but nevertheless this was so, as is clearly proved
by her subsequent actions.

Towards the end of the year 1899 she issued an
edict ordering the formation of a National Militia

14 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

throughout the country, which was synonymous
with estabUshing the Boxer movement on a legal
basis.

This step naturally called forth protests from
the different Legations in Peking, to which the
Tsung-li-Yamen (the Foreign Office) replied eva-
sively that orders would be sent to the Provincial
Governors to suppress the Boxers. In some cases
the orders were formally sent, but were followed
up by secret instructions to the different Viceroys
to disregard them, and to allow the Boxer move-
ment to continue.

From this moment the situation in Peking grew
daily more menacing to the foreigners. On June
10, 1900, by command of the Empress Dowager,
there arrived in the city a large force of fierce
Mohammedan soldiers from Kansu, whose leader,
Tung Fu-hsiang, was noted for his extreme anti-
foreign views. On the following day Mr. Sugiyama,
Chancellor of the Japanese Legation, was assassin-
ated outside the Yung-ting Gate by a body of
these Mohammedan soldiers, and on the 13th
the French Cathedral was attacked and set fire
to by a large force of Boxers, many native converts
perishing in the flames. The Imperial forces had
not been associated with the attack on the
cathedral, but in order that they should in the
future be in a position to assist the Boxers the
Empress Dowager, on June 20, summoned a

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 15

special meeting of the Grand Council to determine
how the proposed war against the world should
be conducted.

In spite of her warlike intentions, the Empress
Dowager had, previous to the Council, yielding
to the representations of Yung Lu, promised that
the Foreign Legations should be safely escorted
to Tientsin before the outbreak of hostilities.

This humane concession did not, however, fall
in with the views of Prince Tuan and the other
leaders of the extreme anti-foreign faction.

Immediately the Council had assembled. Prince
Tuan laid before the Empress Dowager a dispatch
which he declared he had that morning received
from the Foreign Ministers, demanding the abdica-
tion of the Empress Dowager, the restoration of
the Emperor Kwanghsu, and the degradation of
the newly appointed heir apparent, the son of
Prince Tuan himself.

In point of fact this document was forgery, but
the Empress Dowager believed in its authenticity,
and her fury was instantly aroused. To quote
her own words : " The insolence of these foreigners
passes all bounds; how dare they question my
authority ? let us exterminate them before we eat
our morning meal." ^ Vainly did Yung Lu, sup-
ported by the Emperor Kwanghsu, who was
present at the Council, plead for the safe escort of
^ China under the Empress Dowager, p. 265.

16 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

the Legations, asking what lustre would be added
to the Imperial arms by the slaughter of a handful
of isolated Europeans.

The Empress remained immovable, and her
only reply was to the effect that Yung Lu was free
to offer the Legations safe escort to Tientsin, but
that she herself would not support him in carrying
this plan into execution. During the debate of
the Council, events outside had already assumed an
aspect so threatening that any efforts on the part of
Yung Lu to prevent bloodshed had become useless.

The Tsung-li-Yamen had already made attempts
to bring about the withdrawal of the Foreign
Legations to the coast with the result that, on
the morning of June 20, the German Minister,
Baron von Ketteler, volunteered to go to the
Foreign Office for the purpose of negotiating these
departures. This offer, involving great personal
danger to Baron von Ketteler, was accepted by
his colleagues, and he almost immediately set out
in a sedan chair for the Foreign Office. He had
hardly crossed the boundary of the quarter in
which the Legations were situated when he en-
countered a picket of Manchu soldiers belonging
to Prince Tuan's own corps. They were under
orders to shoot every foreigner who crossed their
path and, alas ! had no hesitation in carrying these
orders into effect.

Baron von Ketteler was instantly shot dead in

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 17

his sedan chair by a soldier named En Hai, and
on the afternoon of that same day the Chinese
troops opened a terrific fire on the Austrian
Legation. Prince Tuan had now attained his
aim, and the Chinese Government had committed
itself beyond recall. The memorable siege of the
Peking Legations, which was destined to have such
a far-reaching effect on the future of the Celestial
Empire, had commenced.

The Empress Dowager now issued a secret
edict which was sent only to the Viceroys and
Governors of the eighteen provinces, commanding
them to slay all foreigners resident within their
jurisdiction.

This edict, however, was intercepted before
leaving Peking by two officials named Yuan Chang
and Hsu Ching-cheng, both members of the
moderate party, and the word " protect " inserted
by them in place of the word " slay."

One of the first to receive the edict was Yuan
Shih-Kai, at that time Governor of Shantung.

Yuan, though probably very doubtful as to the
validity of the word " protect," never for one
moment hesitated as to which course to pursue.
He not only accorded the foreign community in
Shantung his protection, but mercilessly crushed
the Boxer movement throughout his province.
Yuan Shih-Kai's example was promptly followed
by all the Viceroys of the southern provinces, and

18 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

Liu Kun-yi, Viceroy of Nanking, sent a telegram
to the Empress Dowager, that whilst he would be
only too ready to lead his troops North if it were
in order to repel a foreign invasion, he absolutely
refused to lend his forces for the purpose of massa-
cring a few helpless foreigners. At Taiyuanfu,
the capital of the province of Shansi, there occurred
a massacre rivalling in bloodshed the worst horrors
of the Indian Mutiny. Yu Hsien, the Governor of
this province, was bitterly anti-foreign, and on
receiving the Imperial edict with its altered word-
ing immediately sent a memorial to the Empress
Dowager asking for an explanation. To this she
replied : " I command that all foreigners, men,
women and children, old and young, be summarily
executed; let not one escape, so that my empire
be purged of this noisome source of corruption,
and peace be restored to my loyal subjects." ^

Yu Hsien lost no time in carrying this terrible
command into effect. He induced practically the
whole foreign community of Taiyuanfu to take
refuge in his Yamen, and then put them all to death,
sparing not even the women and children.
'^'Yuan Chang and Hsu Ching-cheng paid for
their gallant attempt to save the foreigners with
their own lives. They were both executed by
order of the Empress Dowager. Meanwhile in
Peking, Yung Lu, reviled as a traitor, and in
constant danger of assassination at the hands of
1 China under the Empress Dowager, p. 207.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 19

Prince Tuan's party, never relaxed his efforts to
secure peace. In spite of his enemies he had the
satisfaction of seeing his efforts crowned with
success, and on July 18 the Empress Dowager,
who had never wholly lost her confidence in him,
granted him permission to conclude an armistice
with the Legations.

Unfortunately, almost simultaneously with the
conclusion of this armistice, a dispatch arrived
at the Court of Peking from Yu Lu, the Viceroy
of Chihli. The contents of this dispatch announced
a victory at Tientsin by the Viceroy's troops against
the allied force marching to the relief of the Lega-
tions. Though absolutely untrue, the Empress
believed the news to be genuine, and was en-
couraged by it to resume hostilities as early as
August 6. Meanwhile the inmates of the besieged
Legations, though suffering great privations and
in constant and deadly peril, continued their
heroic defence. Time after time they drove back
Tung Fu-hsiang's troops, although he himself had
boasted that a very few days would see the entire
Legations effaced from the earth.

Seeing the very slow progress of the Boxer arms
the Empress Dowager began to lose faith in their
strength, and again commenced .to incline towards
a peaceful settlement, but she had missed her
opportunity, as help for the besieged Legations
was close at hand.

On August 14, Duke Lan, a prominent leader of

20 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

the anti-foreign party, rushed into the presence
of the Empress ^Dowager exclaiming : " Old
Buddha, the foreign devils have arrived." Close
upon his heels followed Kang Yi with the mo-
mentous news that a large force of, as he called
them, " turbaned soldiers " was encamped in the
park of the Temple of Heaven. Their information
was correct. The relief force commanded by
Count von Waldersee had at last arrived.
Realising that the position had become desperate,
the Empress Dowager lost no time, and during
that night made all preparations for flight.
Shortly before dawn on the 15th she fled from
Peking in the disguise of a Chinese peasant woman,
taking with her the Emperor and the heir apparent.

Prince Tuan made good his escape at the same
time, but Yung Lu, chivalrous and loyal even in
this extremity, remained behind and made a last
desperate effort to rally his troops and assure his
Imperial mistress a safe retreat.

The Imperial family continued its flight, arriving
first at Kalgan and then proceeding to Taiyuanfu,
where it was joined by Yung Lu.

After a short rest at Taiyuanfu the Empress
Dowager moved on to Sianfu, the capital of
Shensi, where she intended to reside with her Court
during exile.

No doubt as they were speeding towards the
" City of Continuous Peace " the thoughts both
of the Empress Dowager and of Yung Lu must

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 21

have gone back to that other flight to Jehol thirty-
nine years earher. At that time the Empress Tzu
Hsi had been only Yehonala, the Yi concubine of
the Emperor Hsien Feng, and Yung Lu the play-
mate of her childhood and an obscure officer in
the Imperial Guard.

Their united efforts had successfully fought the
intrigues of the usurping Regents, and together
they had carried out the daring coup d'etat which
made the young widow of Hsien Feng ruler of
the Middle Kingdom. Thirty-nine years ago they
had also fled from a foreign army, but the disaster
of 1861 was in no way comparable in magnitude
to that of 1900.

In 1861 the victories of the foreign troops had
not extended beyond the Chinese City, and only
the Summer Palace had been looted.

In 1900 the Tartar City also was occupied by
the enemy, and the halls where Chien Lung and
Kanghsi had once held Court now re-echoed to
the tramp of foreign soldiers.

It seemed as though the Empress Dowager's
sway had reached its end, and had she not been
gifted with the most masterly mind and the most
wonderful power to attract even her enemies this
would undoubtedly have been the case.

In truth, she was destined not only to return
in triumph to the Forbidden City, but to win the
respect, and in some cases even the affection, of
the European community in China.

CHAPTER III

Empress Dowager realises mistakes in her foreign policy — Turns
to Yung Lu for advice — Punishment of Boxer leaders — ■
Decision in favour of policy of reform — Peace signed — Return
of the Court to Peking — Death of Yung Lu — Yuan Shih-Kai
succeeds him as intimate adviser to the Empress Dowager —
Reforms introduced by Empress Dowager — Illness of the
Emperor Kwanghsu — Prince Pu Lun and Prince Pu Yi
suggested as candidates for the throne — Disagreement on
the subject between Yuan Shih-Kai and Empress Dowager —
Empress Dowager decides in favour of Pu Yi — Death of the
Emperor Kwanghsu, followed shortly after by death of the
Empress Dowager — Criticism of the characteristics of the
Empress Dowager — Accession of Prince Pu Yi to the throne —
Prince Chun declared Regent during his minority — Regent's
hatred of Yuan Shih-Kai — Disgrace and exile of Yuan
Shih-Kai by the Regent — Adoption by the Regent of reac-
tionary measures and appointment by him of members of
the Imperial Clan only to principal posts of government —
Intense anger of the Chinese nation at this policy — Revolu-
tionary party headed by Sun Yat-sen greatly strengthened —
Meeting of the Tzu Cheng Yuan — Interval of calm — Discovery
of revolutionary plot at Wuchang followed by military revolt
— Flight of the Viceroy — Occupation by the rebels of the
three cities and election by them of Li Yuan-hung as com-
mander— Provisional Government formed at Wuchang —
More cities join rebellion — Regent dispatches northern army
and naval squadron to Hankow — Capital of Shensi declares
in favour of rebels as does also naval squadron before men-
tioned— Recall of Yuan Shih-Kai by Regent and his appoint-
ment as Viceroy of Wuchang — Garrison of Lanchow demands
Constitution — Constitution granted and resignation of the
Premier, Prince Ching — Yuan Shih-Kai elected Prime
Minister.

During her exile at Sianfu the Empress Dowager

engaged in serious reflection, and very soon began

to recognise the mistakes of the past. She saw

clearly that the only means by which she could

22

RE- MAKING OF CHINA 23

hope to regain the confidence of the foreign
community in China, and thereby of the European
Powers, would be by the drastic punishment of
Prince Tuan and the other instigators of the
attacks upon the Legations. She also realised
most thoroughly that the one chance of retaining
the throne for the Manchu dynasty was to con-
ciliate the Chinese nation by the adoption of the
policy of reform advocated by Kwanghsu. As on
so many previous occasions, the Empress Dowager
again in this crisis sought the wise counsel of
Yung Lu.

In obedience to her request for his advice
Yung Lu replied as follows —

" Old Buddha, there is only one way — you
must behead Prince Tuan and all the rest of the
Princes and Ministers who misled you, and then
you must return to Peking." ^

A few days later the Empress Dowager ordered
the imprisonment pending execution of Prince
Tuan, of Duke Lan and of other leaders of the
Boxer party. In the cases of Prince Tuan and
of Duke Lan, the capital sentence was commuted
to one of banishment for life to Turkestan, but
Prince Chuang was ordered to commit suicide,
while Yu Hsien and Chi Hsiu, two other Boxer
leaders, were beheaded.

In addition to this proof of her desire to retrieve
^ China under the Empress Dowager, p. 352.

24 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

past wrongs as far as possible, the Empress
Dowager immediately decided to conclude peace
with the European Powers, and invested Prince
Ghing and Li Hung Chang with the full right to
effect a settlement. To emphasise still further
her extreme regret for the recent outbreak, she
issued edicts thanking the southern Viceroys for
having protected the foreigners, and promoted
Yuan Shih-Kai from the Governorship of Shantung
to the Viceroyalty of Chihli.

The treaty of peace was definitely signed on
September 7, 1901, and on January 6, 1902, the
Imperial Court returned to Peking.

It was to a greatly altered Peking that the
Empress Dowager returned on that winter
morning.

The railway, which now pierced the wall of the
Chinese city, and by which she re-entered her
capital, was symbolical of the changed attitude of
the Chinese towards foreign methods.

As she was carried through the streets of the
Tartar city in her sedan chair, bowing graciously
to the numerous foreigners in the crowd, it must
have seemed almost incredible to the latter that
this kindly, smiling lady, looking out upon them
from the yellow curtains, should be identical with
the bloodthirsty tyrant who had ordered their
wholesale extermination but two years before.

The guns under Count von Waldersee had

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 25

succeeded where the edicts of Kwanghsu had
failed, and China had awakened to the urgent
necessity of reform.

The general demand throughout the empire
was for the adoption of Western methods of
government and for a system of education con-
ducted on Western lines.

The Empress Dowager now put herself at the
head of the Reform party, and in the interval
between the years 1902 and 1908 issued a series
of edicts so broadminded in conception and so
far-reaching in effect as to quite extinguish the
comparatively mild efforts formerly attempted in
that direction by the Emperor Kwanghsu.

Reviewing many errors in the past, the Empress
Dowager realised as one of the most serious causes
of the weakness of the Ta Tsing dynasty the
edict issued by the first Manchu emperor forbidding
the marriage between Manchus and Chinese.

This prohibition had prevented the amalgama-
tion of the races, and had branded the line of
Nurhachu as an alien one in the eyes of the
majority of its subjects. The Empress promptly
modified this prohibition, decreeing that it should
henceforth only be valid in cases of members
belonging to the Imperial house. On this occasion
she also withdrew the command making the wear-
ing of the queue obligatory, and allowed it to be
purely optional for each individual.

/

/

26 RE- MAKING OF CHINA

In 1903 the Empress Dowager sustained a
severe loss in the death of Yung Lu, who for over
forty years had served her with unswerving
loyalty; though never failing boldly to speak his
mind when his views differed from hers.

There was no one really fit to fill his place in
the estimation of the Empress Dowager, but in
his closest personal and political friend, Yuan
Shih-Kai, who was at this moment promoted from
the Viceroyalty of Chihli to the Presidency of the
Waiwupu, the reorganised Foreign Office, she
found many qualities most useful to her in the
difficult task of carrying her new policy into
effect.

Yuan threw all his customary energy into
furthering the Empress Dowager's projects of
reform, and employed as his lieutenants a band
of brilliantly clever young Cantonese who had
been educated abroad, amongst these the subse-
quently famous Tang Shao-yi.

During his tenure of office in Shantung and
Chihli Yuan Shih-Kai had raised a considerable
force of soldiers, for the training of whom he had
employed foreign instructors.

The Empress Dowager at once decided that
this force, destined ultimately to become the
famous " Northern Army," should become the
nucleus of an army trained according to the most
advanced modern system.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 27

In the following years no less than fourteen
divisions were recruited.

In 1906 the Empress Dowager crowned her work
of reform by issuing an edict which promised
Constitutional Government in nine^^y^ars from l\
that date.

Yuan Shih-Kai had been the author of the
scheme now put forward by the Empress Dowager,
and it gives wonderful proof of his cautious and
far-seeing statesmanship. The first move was to
be marked by the establishment of Provincial
Assemblies in each of the eighteen provinces, to
be followed a few years later by the founding of
a National Consultative Assembly in Peking.
Finally, nine years having sufficed to bring home
to the Chinese people the advantages accruing
from this improved system, a Parliament in the
accepted sense of the word was to be elected, and
full Constitutional Government granted to the
nation. It was very unfortunate for the success
of this scheme that the Empress Dowager's
vindictive nature did not allow her to pardon
Kang Yu-wei and Liang Chi-chao, the original
founders of the Constitutional Reform Movement.
She could not bring herself to forgive these two
men for plotting to dethrone her. They were
therefore left in exile, a fact which fostered the
feeling of disaffection still prevailing in Southern
China.

r

28 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

The year 1907 brought with it the last of the
great Reform edicts, which did away with poppy
cultivation throughout China; and, simultaneously
with this edict, a treaty was concluded with
Great Britain having for its object the gradual
cessation of the opium traffic between India and
China. Yuan Shih-Kai was the prime mover in
this salutary reform.

Early in 1908 the declining health of the Emperor
Kwanghsu made it necessary to take into considera-
tion the selection of a new heir to the throne — all
the more as the degradation after the Boxer
revolt of the former heir apparent son of Prince
Tuan had put an end to his candidature. The
choice lay between two members of the Imperial
family, the one was Prince Pu Lun, a grandson by
adoption of the Emperor Tao Kwang, and the
other. Prince Pu Yi, a child of five, the son of
Kwanghsu's brother, Prince Chun, and a maternal
grandson of Yung Lu.

Yuan Shih-Kai supported the claim of Prince
Pu Lun, partly for personal reasons and largely
because he honestly believed him to be the ablest
and most progressive of the younger Imperial
Princes.

The Empress Dowager, however, decided in
favour of the boy Pu Yi, wishing, as she said,
hereby to prove her gratitude to the memory of
Yung Lu for his lifelong devotion to her person.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 29

Pu Yi was accordingly proclaimed heir ap-
parent. The unfortunate Emperor Kwanghsu
breathed his last on the 14th of November, 1908,
and the Empress Dowager, who had been failing in
health for a considerable time, passed away on
the following day.

We have already dealt fully with the character
of Kwanghsu; the Empress Dowager presents a
far more complex study.

Tzu Hsi has been compared to most of the great
women who have occupied thrones in the East
and West ; perhaps the most apt comparison has
been that likening her to Catherine the Great.
She shared with the Empress Catherine her loyalty
in friendship and her vindictiveness as an enemy.

Her main characteristic was her extraordinary
adaptability to change, so strikingly exemplified
in her complete volte face from an extreme policy
of reaction to one of advanced reform.

Prince Pu Yi was proclaimed emperor immedi-
ately after the death of Kwanghsu, under the name
of Hsuan Tung, but being a minor, his father, Prince
Chun, assumed the Regency.

Up to the time of his becoming Regent, Prince
Chun had not played any part which could have
brought him much before the public; the only
facts generally known with regard to him in
Peking were his strong affection for his unfortunate
brother Kwanghsu, and consequently his hatred

30 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

of Yuan Shih-Kai, who had, by his conduct towards
the Emperor in 1898, caused his subsequent
misery.

Yuan Shih-Kai was fully aware of Prince Chun's
irreconcilable attitude, and it was this knowledge
which had prompted him to oppose the choice
of Prince Pu Yi as emperor, necessitating as it
did the elevation of Prince Chun to the Regency.

Subsequent events proved how justified were
Yuan Shih-Kai's forebodings. In January 1909
the Regent issued an edict in the name of the
Boy Emperor, dismissing Yuan from all his posts,
divesting him of all his honours, and finally exiling
him to his home in Honan.

At first there were many sympathisers with the
Regent's motives in dismissing Yuan, but as the
real trend of Prince Chun's policy became more
widely known their number diminished and gradu-
ally dwindled away. One of the outstanding
features of the Empress Dowager's programme of
reform had been to place the Chinese and Manchu
officials in the service of the State on a footing
of absolute equality.

The Regent most unwisely proceeded to restore
the former prominence of the Manchu element,
and conferred the highest offices of state on his
own close relatives or on unreliable and incom-
petent Manchu officials. The disastrous effect of
this change of policy soon became apparent.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 31

Able Chinese officials, hitherto loyal servants of
the dynasty, began to waver in their allegiance, and
gradually turned towards the Tung Meng Hui
(the sworn brotherhood), a revolutionary organisa-
tion of which Sun Yat-sen was the leader.

This disaffection promptly spread to the troops
of the Lu Chun or Modern Army, amongst which
Sun Yat-sen had for years carried on a violent
propaganda.

The Regent opened the first session of the Tzu
Cheng Yuan, or the Consultative Senate, in state
on the 3rd of October 1910.

The opening ceremony took place amid what
appeared to be great rejoicing, and Prince Chun
was greeted with every sign of outward loyalty
by the members of the Assembly, but to many
who watched his progress to the Senate and his
return to the Forbidden City it was obvious that
the rejoicings were forced and the loyalty hollow.

Subsequent events in China must recall to many
the early chapters of the French Revolution, for,
just as the opening by Louis XVI of the French
States General in 1789 had marked the prelude
to that Revolution, so the opening by Prince Chun
of the Tzu Cheng Yuan in 1910 was the raising of
the curtain on the Chinese Revolutionary Drama.

The first demand of the Tzu Cheng Yuan was
the appointment of a regular Cabinet in place of
the Grand Council.

32 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

The Regent complied with this perfectly reason-
able demand, but completely nullified the good
effect produced by his acquiescence in appointing
to the post of China's first Prime Minister Prince
Ching. This man was generally and quite cor-
rectly looked upon as the most reactionary of the
Imperial Princes, and had, in addition, shown
himself most incompetent in matters of any great
importance.

With the exception of a rebellion in Szechwan,
due mainly to local causes, the summer and early
autumn of 1911 proved peaceful in China.

This peace, however, was purely superficial, and
was really tlje^ deceptive calm which so often in
the East heralds the coming storm. The Manchu
dynasty had in truth exhausted the Mandate of
Heaven, and the hour of its downfall was close
at hand.

On October 9, 1911, the accidental explosion of
a bomb in a house in the Russian Concession at
Hankow revealed the existence of a revolutionary
plot in that city.

Jui Cheng, the Viceroy of Wuchang, ordered
over thirty arrests in connection with the plot,
telegraphing immediately afterwards to the
Regent to inform him that he had completely
crushed the rebels. This information, however,
was, to say the least, premature, for at eight o'clock
on the evening of October 10 the troops of the

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 33

modern army, forming the garrison of Wuchang,
suddenly rose in revolt, and, sweeping aside the
loyal troops, a handful in number as compared
to themselves, commenced a furious attack upon
the Viceregal Yamen. A loyal regiment of
cavalry attempted to defend the representative
of its sovereign, but Jui Cheng, realising that
resistance was fruitless, fled under cover of darkness
to a gunboat at anchor some distance up the
Yangtze. The triumphant rebels elected as their
leader Colonel Li Yuan-hung, who had previously
commanded the 21st Mixed Brigade at Wuchang.

This choice was to be fraught with momentous
consequences for China. Li Yuan-hung was a
native of Hupeh and a most able officer, who had
received his military training partly in Japan.
He had not joined the rebels until after the actual
outbreak, and, whilst believing as honestly as
Sun Yat-sen himself that China's only chance of
progress lay in the overthrow of the Manchu
dynasty, his political views differed widely from
those of the leader of the Tung Meng Hui. For
the moment both worked for a common object,
but there is every reason to believe that whilst
Sun Yat-sen desired a Republic, Li Yuan-hung
inclined towards a Constitutional Monarchy with
a Chinese ruler at its head.

By the evening of October 11 the Revolutionaries
were supreme in the three cities of Wuchang,

84 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

Hankow and Hanyang, and had occupied the
great arsenal of Hanyang, containing a large
supply of arms, ammunition and money.

In addition to these successes the Revolutionaries
had also won over the Hupeh Provincial Assembly,
which had joined their ranks, and its President,
Tang Hua-lung, a most distinguished classical
scholar, had been appointed by Li Yuan-hung to
one of the most important posts in the Provisional
Government.

With the capture of the " three cities " the
great Province of Hupeh came under the rule of
Li Yuan-hung and the revolutionary army, and
there now remained for him to gain the support of
as many of the other seventeen provinces as possible
and, thus strengthened, to await the counter-move
on the part of the Manchus.

He had not long to wait, for the Regent, realising
the necessity for prompt action if he wished to
crush the revolt, dispatched two divisions of the
northern army commanded by a Manchu, General
Yin Chang, Minister of War, to Hankow on October
15, and also sent out a naval squadron under the
command of Admiral Sah Chen-ping. All these
measures, however, did not prevent the Chinese
Republic proclaimed by Li Yuan-hung from gaining
a firm foothold.

On October 18, the important treaty port of
Ichang went over to the Revolutionaries. On the

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 35

22nd of that month Changsha, the capital of
Hunan, followed suit, as did also one day later
the town of Kiukiang. The climax was reached
shortly afterwards by Sianfu, the capital of
Shensi, declaring for the Republic.

The sailors of Admiral Sah's squadron, then lying
off Wuchang, saw their commander safely on shore
and then replaced the Dragon Flag by hoisting
the White Star on a blue ground, first Ensign of
the Chinese Republic.

The defection of Sianfu, which was followed by
a terrible massacre of Manchus in that city,
struck terror into the hearts of the Imperial
clansmen. Up to the present open disaffection
had been limited to the southern provinces, but it
now became evident that it was spreading to the
North.

From the commencement of the Wuchang
revolt on October 10 Prince Chun was forced into
the realisation of the danger threatening the
dynasty, and with this realisation the conviction
was thrust upon him that there was one man only,
the man whom he hated and whose official career
he had destroyed, who could save it from downfall.

As early as October 14, and therefore prior to
the fall of Sianfu, Yuan Shih-Kai, the exile of
Changtefu, was recalled to save those who had
dismissed him. On the 14th of October the
Regent issued an edict recalling Yuan Shih-Kai,

36 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

and appointing him Viceroy of Hukuang and
Generalissimo of the naval and mihtary forces
engaged in the investment of the three cities.
Yuan Shih-Kai, after a fortnight's delay, in which
he was evidently weighing the pros and eons of
the posts offered to him, telegraphed his acceptance
of the offices, but he had hardly left his exile
before circumstances arose which called him to far
greater power.

A telegraphic memorial from General Chang
Shao Tseng, in command of the 20th Division at
Lanchow, reached Peking early in November,
demanding the immediate granting of a constitu-
tion to China. The Regent was obliged to comply
with this demand. The constitution embodied as
its two principal articles, first, that no member of
the Imperial Clan should be eligible for office in
the Cabinet, and second, that the right of electing
the Premier should be vested in the Tzu Cheng
Yuan.

The first of these articles naturally compelled
Prince Ching to resign the Premiership and
rendered necessary the election of a new Premier.

The Tzu Cheng Yuan held a special session on
the 8th of November, 1911, and unanimously
elected Yuan Shih-Kai as first Constitutional
Prime Minister of the Chinese Empire.

CHAPTER IV

Contradictory traits in Yuan Shih-Kai's character — Analysis
of his policy — His secret negotiations with Sun Yat-sen and
their failure — The Revolution — Yuan Shih-Kai's opportunity
— Recall of General Yin Chang — Yuan Shih-Kai determines
to crush the Republican party — Capture of Hankow and
Hanyang — Fruitless negotiations between Yuan Shih-Kai
and Li Yuan-hung owing to disagreement on Yuan's part with
Li Yuan-hung's suggestions — Realisation by Yuan of the
impossibility of saving the Manchu dynasty — Failure to
conclude foreign loan — Revolutionaries generally in the
ascendant — Revolt reaches Nanking — Political and military
conditions in that city — Disloyalty of troops trained on
modem principles and their disarmament by the Viceroy —
Re -armament of the modem troops and their withdrawal
from Nanking — Viceroy's attempt to surrender Nanking
overruled by the Tartar General — General Chang Hsun
arbiter of the fate of Nanking — His character and policy.
— Chang Hsun's offer to sell Nanking refused — Decision on
his part to support the djuasty — Reign of terror in Nanking
— Advance of the Republican forces — Siege of the city —
Storming and capture by the Republican forces of Purple
Mountain — Terms of peace arranged — Evacuation by the
Imperialists of Nanking and occupation of the city by the
Republicans — Effect of these events on Yuan Shih-Kai's
policy — Armistice concluded at Wuchang — Objections by
Republican leaders to Wuchang as seat of the Peace Conference
proposed by Yuan — Conference transferred to Shanghai —
Appointment of Tang Shao-yi as principal Imperial Delegate
— His relations with Yuan — Intrigues against Yuan and
attempted assassination — His position strengthened — Demand
of a Republic by Imperialist Generals — Abdication of the
Manchus — Revolutionary Assembly meets at Nanking — Sun
Yat-sen elected Provisional President of the Chinese Republic
— Political effects of the change of government — Sun Yat-sen
resigns, recommending Yuan as his successor — His election
as Provisional President — A defence of his conduct — The
task before him.

Amongst the many complex characters figuring
prominently in Chinese history, there is none

37

38 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

presenting so many contradictory traits as the
character of Yuan Shih-Kai. His career betrays
several examples of unscrupulous actions when
wishing to advance his aims and still further
ascend the ladder of fame, yet, in spite of this, it
also affords proof of extraordinary loyalty; as
in the case of his refusal to accept the Viceroyalty
of Chihli at the cost of the execution of his friend
Yung Lu.

It is especially in the part played by Yuan
Shih-Kai in the Chinese Revolution that these
conflicting traits come into prominence.

Opinions remain divided as to Yuan's real
policy as Premier, some holding that he remained
loyal in word and deed to the Manchu dynasty,
others again maintaining his policy to have been
a treacherous one, since it allowed him to see the
fall of the dynasty when it was in his power to
save it. In face of this reproach, it is only fair
to state that Yuan's strong sentiment of loyalty
towards the Ta Tsing dynasty received its death-
blow at the time of his dismissal by the Regent
and of the abandonment of all his cherished
schemes of reform. His equivocal position was
rendered still more difficult by his unswerving
belief in a monarchical form of government.

His real wish was for a Constitutional Monarchy
which, whilst retaining the Manchu dynasty on
the throne " as " (to quote his own words) " an

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 39

emblem of monarchy," would vest the entire
executive government of the empire in the Prime
Minister, in whom he saw no less a person than
himself.

At this very critical period of his career he never
swerved in his loyalty to his country and his
countrymen, and was resolved by all means in
his power to protect both from the horrors of
civil war.

It is in the nature of things that a man of such
far-reaching ambitions should be determined to
take advantage of the state of chaos then prevail-
ing to further his own plans, which culminated in
his desire for supremacy in the Middle Kingdom.

For the moment the Premiership satisfied him,
but there is little if any doubt that he looked upon
that office merely as a stepping-stone to one far
more august in character. Even in the days of
his extreme favour with the Empress Dowager,
there were some of his enemies who openly accused
him of designs upon the throne. There is no
reason to treat these accusations as anything but
calumny, but the apparent loyalty to the Ta Tsing
dynasty which Yuan displayed after his dismissal
by Prince Chun is open to doubt.

We have Dr. Sun Yat-sen's authority for stating
that some time before the outbreak of the Revolu-
tion Yuan Shih-Kai made certain proposals to
him. Their exact nature has remained a secret,

40 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

but from the mere fact that Sun Yat-sen would
only have entertained a scheme having for its
object the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty we
must conclude that Yuan, when approaching him,
was actuated by the same motives.

Yuan was perfectly aware that, with the fall of
the Manchu dynasty, the throne could easily be
gained by a strong man who could count upon the
allegiance of the army, and with this knowledge
came the conviction that the flower of the modern
army in China, which owed its whole being to him,
would follow him to the death. If any of these
motives were at the back of his mind when he
approached Sun Yat-sen, he was doomed to instant
disappointment, for the leader of the Tung Meng
Hui was a convinced Republican.

In any case this can only be looked upon as a
temporary set-back. Being indispensable to the
Manchus he was in a position to make his own
terms, and it was his action in making his accept-
ance of the Wuchang Viceroyalty conditional on
the recall of General Yin Chang from the command
of the Imperial forces in Hupeh which so strongly
revived the doubts as to his loyalty to the Ta
Tsing dynasty.

Yuan knew Yin Chang to be a most able and
competent officer who had received his military
training in Germany and, as President of the
Republic, he has since given proof of his confidence

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 41

in him by appointing him Chief of the General
Staff, a post he occupies at the present moment.^

What reason, therefore, could Yuan have had for
insisting upon his recall at that time beyond the fact
that he was of Manchu origin, and therefore likely
to be a loyal adherent of the House of Nurhachu ?

With that wonderful foresight which has been
such a great asset to Yuan Shih-Kai throughout his
notable career, he anticipated the moment when it
might be imperative for the good of his country in
the first place, and for the furtherance of his own
ambitions in the second, to abandon the Manchus to
their fate ; and in such a crisis he desired to have, as
Commander of the Imperial forces, a man of his own
race who would unquestioningly obey his orders.

This man he found in the person of General
Feng Kuo-Chang, who was of purest Chinese origin.

The Premiership and the supreme command of
the Imperial forces placed Yuan Shih-Kai in the
exceptional position of military dictator.

Immediately after forming his Cabinet, Yuan

Shih-Kai issued orders to General Feng Kuo-Chang

to press forward the Imperialist attack on the

" three cities," which resulted on November 11

in the capture and destruction of Hankow, this

being followed on November 27 by the capture of

the city and arsenal of Hanyang.

^ Since writing this Yin Chang has been transferred to the
Vice-Presidency of the Presidential Bureau, and a Director of
Military and Naval affairs.

42 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

Between the fall of Hankow and the capture
of Hanyang, Yuan dispatched envoys to Wuchang
entrusted with the mission to try and bring about
a peaceful settlement on the terms of a Consti-
tutional Monarchy, the Emperor Hsuan Tung
remaining the figurehead. Li Yuan-hung's only
reply to these proposals was the suggestion that
Yuan should depose the reigning dynasty and invest
himself with the Imperial dignity. This sugges-
tion, which was in striking contrast to the Re-
publican sentiments previously expressed by Li
Yuan-hung, although very flattering to his pride,
did not commend itself to Yuan Shih-Kai, and
that for a very obvious reason.

Whilst enjoying immense popularity in the
North, Yuan Shih-Kai was still execrated south
of the Yangtze, owing to his deception of the
Emperor Kwanghsu and the Cantonese Reformer,
Kang Yu-wei.

Yuan foresaw that any attempt on his part to
obtain recognition as Emperor in the southern
provinces would be met by strong resistance.

In spite of his refusal at that moment to give
Li Yuan-hung's suggestion that he should seize
the throne himself serious consideration. Yuan
very soon realised that it had become impossible
to preserve the Manchu dynasty.

In the first place, his efforts to conclude a loan
of six millions sterling with a Foreign Syndicate

RE- MAKING OF CHINA 43

had been unsuccessful, and therefore the necessary
funds to carry on the mihtary operations were
lacking; and the second obstacle lay in the fact
that the Revolutionary cause had triumphed in
all the southern and in most of the northern
provinces. The irrepressible tide of revolt was
gaining hold throughout the country, and finally
reached the only hitherto quiet spot in Southern
China, the historic city of Nanking. The political
and military conditions prevailing in Nanking
towards the end of October 1911 were peculiarly
complex in character.

The Government was, so to speak, a dual one,
for though the supreme authority was vested in
the Viceroy Chang Jen-chun, this authority was
to a certain extent shared by the Tartar General
Tieh Liang, an ex-Boxer and a bitter enemy of
Yuan Shih-Kai.

As regards the military conditions, there were
three distinct forces in Nanking which consisted
of 5500 modern trained Chinese commanded by
General Hsu Shao Cheng, 6000 old style Chinese
commanded by General Chang Hsun, and 2000
Manchu soldiers under the command of the Tartar
General Tieh Liang.

The Viceroy was fully alive to the fact that
General Hsu Shao Cheng and the modern troops
under his command were completely seditious.
He promptly decided upon their disarmament by

44 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

means of the very simple expedient of withdrawing
the bolts from their rifles.

Unfortunately this bold stroke by Chang Jen-
chun was followed by a fatal act of weakness on
his part. The disarmed soldiers, knowing the
Manchu portion of the garrison to be bitterly
hostile to them, pleaded for the restoration of
their arms as a protection against a possible
massacre, promising if they were restored to them
to retire peacefully to Molingkuan, about fifteen
miles south of Nanking. In a moment of weakness
the Viceroy relented, and on October 29 General
Hsu Shao Cheng and his troops, fully armed and
with a plentiful supply of ammunition, evacuated
Nanking and encamped at Molingkuan.

On November 6, the Viceroy received the royal
authorisation to nominate Chang Chien, a very
able man, and at the time President of the
Provincial Assembly, Governor of Nanking.

This step, which was equivalent to surrendering
Nanking to the Revolutionaries, was absolutely
vetoed by the Tartar General Tieh Liang, who
declared emphatically that the Imperial edict was
a forgery.

It was, however, neither with the Viceroy nor the
Tartar General that the fate of Nanking rested,
but with the Commander of the old style Chinese
troops. General Chang Hsun, who has since gained
such notoriety.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 45

In Chang Hsun we have a typical example of
the Eastern soldier of fortune, totally uneducated,
unscrupulous, yet undoubtedly possessing a certain
strength of purpose and personal magnetism which
has made him an object almost of worship to his
soldiers.

His policy, a very simple one, was to throw in
his lot with whichever party seemed the most
likely one to come into power. His opportunity
was not long in coming.

On November 8, a sudden attack was made on
the Viceregal Yamen by a portion of the Chinese
garrison of the city, which was repulsed by Chang
Hsun, who^ taking advantage of the disturbance,
proclaimed martial law in Nanking and offered
the city to the Revolutionaries. They declined
the offer, whereupon Chang Hsun immediately
proclaimed himself an Imperialist. This was the
signal for a reign of terror in Nanking.

On that same 8th of November, Chang Hsun
sent his soldiers to make an active search for
Revolutionaries throughout the city, and at night
no less than four hundred executions took place;
any man found not wearing the queue, the Manchu
badge of Imperialism, being mercilessly put to death.

Whilst these horrors were taking place at
Nanking, General Hsu Shao Cheng had withdrawn
from Molingkuan to Chinkiang, where he openly
declared in favour of the Republic and announced

46 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

his intention to attempt the capture of Nanking.
On November 17 the advance guard of his forces
came into colHsion with the troops of Chang
Hsun, and on the 24th he arrived at the gates of
Nanking at the head of an army of 15,000 men,
reinforced by a naval squadron from Shanghai.
The siege of Nanking now commenced in deadly
earnest, accompanied by most severe fighting,
remarkable bravery being shown on both sides.

With all their courage, however, Chang Hsun's
old style " braves " were no match for the trained
soldiers of Hsu Shao Cheng, and early on the
morning of December 1 the Republican Com-
mander issued orders for the storming of Purple
Mountain, the key to Nanking.

The indomitable bravery with which this most
perilous order was carried out proves conclusively
that when properly led by a commander in whom
they have confidence, Chinese soldiers can die as
bravely as any army of the world.

In face of a terrific fire, with their comrades
falling all around them and with practically no
cover to protect them, the Republican troops
charged unflinchingly up the steep slopes.

By noon the White Star of the Republic floated
from the summit of Purple Mountain and Nanking
was practically won.

By the following morning terms of peace had
been agreed upon, General Hsu Shao Cheng

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 47

generously undertaking to protect the Manchu
inhabitants of the city and to allow General Chang
Hsun to march out at the head of his army.

On the evening of that day Nanking was evacu-
ated by General Chang Hsun, and General Hsu
Shao Cheng had entered into occupation.

The marching out from Nanking of General
Chang Hsun, at the head of his old style braves,
is a symbol of the passing away for ever of the
cruel, barbaric, yet picturesque China, whilst the
occupation of the city by General Hsu Shao Cheng
and his following of smart, modern soldiers marks
the advent of the new China arising from the
ashes of bygone days and conscious of its strength
and power.

The Republican party gaining immensely in
prestige by the fall of Nanking, Yuan Shih-Kai saw
the futility of any further attempt to save the
Manchu dynasty. His next move therefore was
to open negotiations with the Republican leaders.
At first sight this volte face on Yuan's part would
appear strange in a man known to be such a strong
supporter of the monarchical principle. It is,
however, quite a popular belief amongst his own
countrymen that Yuan, who was fully conversant
with the history of Napoleon I and III, meant to
emulate their example, knowing that in both cases
the Chief Magistracy was but a stepping-stone
towards the throne.

■ ii ■imiiMiHWfUMtWM

48 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

Whatever Yuan's real thoughts and intentions,
he kept them a close secret.

On November 30, Yuan concluded an armistice
with General Li Yuan-hung, who was still in posses-
sion of Wuchang, and immediately after proposed
that a Peace Conference should be held in that
city, appointing as Chief Imperialist Delegate his
old subordinate in Chihli, Tang Shao-yi.

The leaders of the Tung Meng Hui, however, who
were controlling from Shanghai the affairs of those
provinces which had accepted the Republican rule,
insisted upon the conference being held in the
latter city. The reason for this demand was that
the action of Li Yuan-hung, in first suggesting that
Yuan Shih-Kai should seize the throne and then
declaring himself ready to accept a Constitutional
Monarchy under the Manchus, had cast serious
doubts upon his loyalty and had given grounds to
the fear that a conference in Wuchang might result
in the Republic being signed away.

Yuan Shih-Kai offered no resistance to the Peace
Conference being held in Shanghai. The principal
delegate on the Republican side was Wu-Ting-fang,
formerly Chinese Minister to the United States,
whilst, as has been said before, Tang Shao-yi
represented the Monarchy. The ostensible object
of Yuan in arranging this conference was to nego-
tiate an agreement with the Republican leaders,
which, while it retained the Manchu dynasty on the

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 49

throne, would ensure to the Chinese Empire a Liberal
constitution and a better government than it had
hitherto enjoyed. The first action of Tang Shao-yi,
however, was to declare himself at the opening
meeting of the conference in favour of a Republic
as being the form of government most suitable for
China, and his next to agree to the election of a
National Convention to decide the question whether
the Manchu dynasty should continue to reign or
whether it should be deposed and a Republic take
its place.

Tang Shao-yi firmly relied upon being able to
influence the elections so as to assure a Republican
majority in the Convention, and there is no doubt
that he only agreed to the National Convention
scheme because he felt convinced that that body
would decide in favour of the Republican form of
government, and also that from the beginning of
the conference until the day it broke up he was
acting in the interests of the Republican and not
of the Imperialist party. This is proved by his
abandoning the Manchu cause in agreeing to the
evacuation by the Imperialist forces of Hankow and
Hanyang. When this was known the Imperialist
Generals protested and the conference broke up.
Tang Shao-yi had, however, ruined whatever chance
the Manchus may have had of retaining the throne ;
for the northern troops were gradually withdrawn
from Hanyang and Hankow, and the Revolutionary

50 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

party were encouraged by Tang Shao-yi's support to
demand the immediate abdication of the Emperor,
without even the formaUty of a National Conven-
tion. Henceforth the Repubhc was assured, and this
mainly through the action of the principal Imperi-
alist Delegate to the Shanghai Conference, who was
also the nominee of Yuan Shih-Kai and one of his
closest friends.

The question now arises, was Yuan in any way
a party to Tang Shao-yi's action at the conference, or
did the latter betray Yuan as well as the Manchus ?
Now some of the most distinguished members of
the foreign community in China take the view
that Yuan Shih-Kai was, from the time when he
accepted the Premiership until the day the Em-
peror abdicated, absolutely loyal to the Manchu
dynasty. They further hold that Yuan only
accepted the Republic when he found it impossible
to retain the monarchy ; and that Tang Shao-yi,
by his action at the Shanghai Conference, betrayed
not only the Manchus, but his friend and patron as
well. Taking all facts into consideration, the most
plausible conclusion to arrive at is that Yuan was
not loyal to the monarchy, else he would not have
appointed Tang Shao-yi Chief Imperial Delegate
to the Shanghai Conference, for, even previous to
his departure from Peking for Shanghai, Tang
Shao-yi had made no secret of his sympathy with
the Republican cause.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 51

If, however, Yuan Shih-Kai was all along acting
secretly in the Republican (and incidentally in his
own) interests, his reason for appointing Tang
Shao-yi becomes quite clear, for Tang Shao-yi
was an intimate friend of his, a Cantonese, and
'persona grata with the revolutionary leaders,
themselves mostly natives of Canton. He was
therefore a most suitable intermediary to negotiate
with the Republicans not on behalf of the Manchus,
but on behalf of Yuan Shih-Kai himself, and so to
arrange matters with the Revolutionary leaders as
to ensure that when the Chinese Republic was an
accomplished fact. Yuan Shih-Kai should be its
first President.

It is, therefore, a fair assumption that, so far
from Tang Shao-yi betraying Yuan by his action
at Shanghai, that action was a prearranged affair
between the two men, and further. Tang Shao-yi
only accepted the idea of the National Convention
because he quickly realised how the Convention
could be used to serve Yuan's purpose. It was a
foregone conclusion that the Convention would
contain a Republican majority (had they thought
otherwise the Republican leaders would never have
suggested the idea) ; it would also contain a large
number of representatives from Northern China,
and it must be remembered that it was in the
North that Yuan's influence was greatest.

The Convention, had it met and declared for a

52 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

Republic, would have had the important duty of
electing the first President of that Republic, and as
it was practically certain that the Northern and
Central China delegates at least would have voted
en bloc for Yuan Shih-Kai, his election would have
been a certainty. But circumstances soon arose
that led to the complete abandonment of the
Convention scheme and caused instead the imme-
diate abdication of the Ta Tsing dynasty.

In the first place, as already pointed out, the
extreme Republicans were encouraged by Tang
Shao-yi's attitude at Shanghai to demand that the
Emperor should abdicate at once. This demand
was placed by Yuan before the Empress Dowager
Lung Yu,i who had by this time taken the Regent's
place and who, after some hesitation, consented
to it. Hitherto the demand for the Emperor's
abdication had only come from the Revolutionary
side.

But events soon took place which made the
immediate removal of the Manchu dynasty as
necessary to Yuan Shih-Kai himself as to the
Republicans. The circumstances were as follows :

On the fall of Nanking, Tieh Liang, the Tartar
General and Yuan's old enemy, fled to Peking,
and almost directly after his arrival began to
intrigue against Yuan Shih-Kai. The result of his
intrigues were soon made manifest in the stiffening
^ Widow of the Emperor Kwanglisu.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 53

attitude of the Imperial clan towards the Revolu-
tionists, and the withdrawal by the Empress
Dowager of her promise previously given to abdicate
without the formality of a National Convention.

Further than this, the younger Imperial Princes
openly characterised Yuan as a traitor and de-
manded the immediate resumption of hostilities
against the Republicans.

The extreme Revolutionary party were also
restless and dissatisfied, and their dissatisfaction
culminated in an attempt on January 16, 1912 to
assassinate Yuan; no wonder that the latter soon
realised that both the success of his plans and his
own safety demanded the immediate abdication
of the Manchu Emperor and the simultaneous
proclamation of a Republic. Though the Manchus
could not hope to fight Yuan openly, they could
easily have reached him by means of an assassin.

For a short time the fate of the Manchu dynasty
seemed to hang in the balance, but Yuan Shih-Kai
held the winning cards.

In the first place, a memorial signed by forty-six
of the Imperialist Generals had reached the Court
at Peking requesting the abdication of the Emperor
and the establishment of a Republic, and secondly,
the Chinese troops were greatly in majority in
Peking, and these were to a man devoted to Yuan.
Yuan was therefore in a position to enforce upon
the Empress Dowager the advice he had given her,

54 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

namely, to issue an edict in the Emperor's name, by
which he and his dynasty should abdicate the
Dragon Throne.

But there was no need to use force, the Manchus
bowed to the inevitable, and on February 12, 1912,
the Empress Dowager issued an edict in the name
of the Emperor Hsuan Tung, by which he and his
family surrendered for ever the Dragon Throne
and the vast empire won by their ancestors.

The Emperor himself announced in this abdica-
tion edict that the Republic would be the future
form of government for China, and authorised
Yuan Shih-Kai to organise it.

In order to gain a better understanding of the
methods Yuan Shih-Kai employed in the forma-
tion of this government, it will be necessary to
touch briefly upon the period previous to the
abdication.

When Nanking had fallen into the hands of the
Republicans, their leaders decided that it should
become the capital of that part of the country
which had accepted their rule.

Towards the end of December of that year an
assembly composed of elected delegates from all
those provinces which had accepted the Republic
met in Nanking, their duty on this occasion being to
elect a Provisional President.

The only man eligible for such a post, in view of
his having suffered exile and risked death in the

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 55

cause of the Republic, was Sun Yat-sen; and on
December 29 the Revolutionary Assembly unani-
mously elected him Provisional President of the
Chinese Republic.

It must have been a proud moment in the life of
this great patriot when, on New Year's Day of 1912,
he made his state entry into Nanking. The city
around him teemed with the memories of a glorious
past. It was in Nanking that the Buddhist priest
Chu Yuan-chang had raised the standard of revolt
against the degenerate descendants of Kublai Khan
and had founded the glorious dynasty of the
Mings; here also, but forty-six years previous to
Sun Yat-sen's entry. Hung Hsiu-tsuan had founded
the dynasty of the Great Peace (Taiping), and now
Sun Yat-sen could justly feel himself one with these
heroes of bygone days and hope to earn as full a
share of the gratitude of his countrymen.

Immediately on assuming office, Sun Yat-sen
proceeded with the formation of his Cabinet, and
on Yuan Shih-Kai the duty devolved to co-operate
with him in founding a durable Republican adminis-
tration. The political situation immediately sub-
sequent to the abdication was briefly this :

All southern provinces enthusiastically greeted
Sun Yat-sen as -their President; but in the North
there were many difficulties, for though the north-
ern provinces had been willing immediately after
the abdication to accept the Revolution, they

56 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

absolutely refused to recognise Sun Yat-sen as
their leader.

This objection was in part due to their jealousy
of the South, and even more to the fact that their
rooted conservatism would never permit them to
accept a Cantonese Radical as President.

They thus played into the hands of Yuan Shih-
Kai, recognising him as the only other man capable
of leadership.

Sun Yat-sen was now at the parting of the ways,
and the gravest issues depended upon his decision.

Being above all things a patriot in the truest
sense of the word, he recognised that insistence on
his part to retain office would provoke a civil war
likely to prove disastrous to his party owing to
the superiority of the northern troops over those
ready to espouse his cause.

Without hesitation he adopted the only possible
course and one which did him the highest credit, and
on February 14 not only placed his resignation in
the hands of the Nanking Assembly, but himself
suggested Yuan Shih-Kai as his successor.

The members of the Assembly regretfully decided
to act upon this advice, and, meeting in special
session on the following day, unanimously elected
Yuan Shih-Kai to the Provisional Presidency. To
all who have followed the various phases of Yuan
Shih-Kai's career, the part which he played in the
fall of the Manchu dynasty may appear equivocal.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 57

and yet, may there not have been some deep-
rooted cause for his actions which would throw a
redeeming Hght upon them ?

Yuan was bent upon Reform in the widest sense
of the word, and felt that all real progress in China
would be impossible so long as the throne was
occupied by the decadent and corrupt descendants
of Nurhachu. Moreover, could he have prevented
the fall of the dynasty, it would have been at the
cost of a civil war beside which the Taiping Revolt
would have paled into insignificance.

With the retirement of Sun Yat-sen, Yuan
Shih-Kai had attained his immediate goal — the
Provisional Presidency; it now remained for him
to consolidate his position and to raise a new edifice
of state in place of that which the Revolution had
destroyed.

CHAPTER V

Concessions made to the Manchu dynasty on its abdication —
Yuan Shih-Kai Provisional President — Chaotic conditions in
the provinces — Lack of funds — Yuan's limited authority —
Dispute between Yuan and the Tung Meng Hui respecting
seat of government — Compromise agreed upon — Mutiny and
departure of northern troops from Peking — Inauguration
of the President — Yuan Shih-Kai's courage in peril — Tang
Shao-yi appointed Prime Minister — Attempt by him to
negotiate loan with the Four Power Syndicate — Fall of Tang
Shao-yi and its consequences — Lu Cheng-hsiang Premier —
His resignation — Appointment in his place of Chao Ping
Chun — Effect of his government — Divergence of opinions
between him and the Revolutionary party — Yuan's attitude —
Strong military position of the Tung Meng Hui — Its waning
influence in the Council of the Government — Plots to over-
throw Yuan Shih-Kai — Plotters cowed by President's drastic
action — Visit to Peking of Sun Yat-sen — Generalissimo of
the southern forces resigns — Disbands his army and subse-
quently visits Peking — Yuan's position strengthened — Gene-
ral Election — Amalgamation of the Tung Meng Hui and
other political parties under the name of the Kuomingtang —
Kuomingtang scores majority at the polls — Meeting of
Parliament — Kuomingtang's distrust of Yuan — Kuomingtang
selects Sung Chiao-jen as candidate for Premiership —
Assassination of Sung Chiao-jen — Yuan charged with
knowledge of the crime — Complete breach between him and
the Kuomingtang — A conflict of principles.

The terms granted to the fallen dynasty by the
Revolutionists were extremely generous.

The Emperor Hsuan Tung, in spite of his abdica-
tion of the throne of China, was to be allowed
to call himself Manchu Emperor and to enjoy
the rank and privileges of a foreign sovereign
resident on Chinese soil. He was further given the
Summer Palace as a permanent residence, and was

58

REtMAKING OF CHINA 59

to be permitted to surround himself there with all
the pomp and splendour of his more prosperous
days. The allowances formerly made by the
Emperor to the Manehu bannermen were now to
be continued by the Republic ; the Manehu popula-
tion were to be put on a footing of equality as
regards rights with the Chinese, and, in conclusion,
the Republic undertook the task of completing the
mausoleums of the Emperor Kwanghsu and the
Empress Dowager.

Such were the conditions as regards the fallen
dynasty when the supreme power of the State was
vested in the person of President Yuan Shih-Kai.
Had Yuan Shih-Kai not been gifted with wonderful
self-confidence and indomitable courage, he might
well have been appalled by the magnitude of the
task before him. China was in a state of chaos.
The Viceroys and Governors of the old regime had
disappeared from the eighteen provinces, and had
been replaced by the Tutuhs (Military Governors)
of the Republic, men either self-appointed or nomi-
nated to their posts by the Revolutionary soldiers.
These so-called Military Governors were for the
most part absolutely ignorant of their duties, or
incapable of carrying them out in an honest manner.
Some of these Tutuhs who wished to act fairly, as
they thought, towards the province over which
they were governing, appropriated the revenues for
that particular province only, whereas those whose

60 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

integrity was more questionable allowed the
revenues to find their way into their own pockets.
There was scarcely one province which remitted
any part of its taxes to the Treasury in Peking, and
the Central Government was consequently deprived
of a considerable portion of its usual revenue.
Yuan Shih-Kai's Presidency was practically limited
to the provinces of Chihli and Shantung, and he
exercised no authority outside these limits.

To render his position still more equivocal, he
very soon after assuming office as President found
himself involved in what threatened to become a
serious dispute with the leaders of the Tung Meng
Hui. The Revolutionary party, in which the
influence of the South predominated, desired that
Nanking should henceforth be known as the capital
of the Republic, and that the President's residence
should be transferred to that city. Yuan Shih-Kai
strongly opposed this suggestion on the grounds
of the great and unnecessary expense involved in
the change ; his real objections, however, were due
to his conviction that his residence in the South
would put him in the power of the Revolutionary
party and prevent him from carrying out his own
system of government. Eventually a compromise
was arrived at by which Yuan Shih-Kai was to be
inaugurated Provisional President in Nanking, but
was to return immediately afterwards to Peking,
which was to remain the capital any way for the

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 61

time being. This agreement produced great satis-
faction in the South, and shortly afterwards a
deputation was sent to Peking by the Nanking
Assembly, which was to act as escort to Yuan on
his journey to the latter city. This journey was,
however, prevented on the eve of Yuan's departure
by a mutiny of the soldiers of the third division of
the northern army, hitherto considered his most
reliable troops. After looting Peking they departed
laden with plunder for their native province,
Honan. This rising necessitated Yuan's presence
in Peking.

At his solemn inauguration on March 10, 1912,
in the hall of the Waiwupu in Peking, Yuan Shih-
Kai's life was in gravest peril. By the departure
of the Third Division from Peking, the military
defence of that city was virtually in the hands of
the Manchu soldiers of the Imperial Guard, whose
sympathies were naturally not on the side of the
Republic or its President. A slight hint to these
men from the Imperial Clan would have sufficed
to bring about a terrible tragedy in Peking. The
incentive, however, was not given, and Yuan's
escape from a situation of gravest danger was
undoubtedly due to the wonderful moral courage
he displayed, and his refusal to look upon the
Manchu element as inimical to him. Most men in
his perilous position would have hurried Chinese
troops to Peking and attempted to disarm the

62 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

Manchu soldiers. Yuan, however, not only allowed
the Imperial Guards to retain their important
position, but on many occasions made them act as
his escort, thus proving his trust in them and
winning for himself their admiration and loyalty.
Yuan's first move after his inauguration was to
issue a Presidential Mandate appointing Tang Shao-
yi Prime Minister.

The new Premier soon succeeded in forming a
cabinet in which the Tung Meng Hui predominated,
but which also included as members Chinese
officials who had held office under the Empire.
The most important amongst these was Tuan
Chih-jui, Minister of War and a close friend of
Yuan's. General opinion held that the Government
had come to stay, but Tang Shao-yi himself caused
it to fall in a very short time. His first very neces-
sary duty on taking up office was the conclusion
of a foreign loan, funds being urgently needed by
the new Republic. To secure this object the
Premier opened negotiations with the " Four
Power " Syndicate which was represented by
bankers of Great Britain, France, Germany and the
United States. The Syndicate dictated its own
conditions, which, not being acceptable to the
Premier, caused him to take a very unwise and not
very creditable step. He approached a Belgian
Syndicate before breaking off negotiations with the
Four Power group. When this became generally

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 63

known, a great outcry was raised against the
Premier, which resulted in his resignation and in
that of his Tung Meng Hui colleagues in the Cabinet.
With the resignation of the Cabinet all attempts to
float a loan failed for the time being.

With the fall of Tang Shao-yi the strength of
the Tung Meng Hui began to wane, and the history
of the Chinese Republic entered upon another
phase. Tang Shao-yi's immediate successor in
the Premiership, Lu Cheng-hsiang, Chinese Minister
to Russia, had but a brief tenure of office and was
soon followed by Chao Ping Chun, a Honanese
who was a devoted adherent of Yuan Shih-Kai,
having served under him in Chihli.

From the moment of the appointment of the new
Premier, who was influenced entirely by the
President, it became obvious that Yuan's ideas of
the constitution of a government differed widely
from those put forward by Sun Yat-sen and his
party.

The Tung Meng Hui desired a United States of
China in which each of the eighteen provinces
would be self-governing; Yuan Shih-Kai, on the
contrary, insisted upon a constitution vesting the
entire power in his own person, and giving him
the right to appoint and dismiss the Provincial
Governors at his pleasure.

From the moment that Yuan realised how com-
pletely the political ideals of the Revolutionary

64 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

party were at variance with his own he determined
to exterminate it.

But the crushing of the Tung Meng Hui was not
so easy of accompHshment, for it could still count
upon the support of the southern army, and par-
ticularly upon the garrison of Nanking, 15,000
strong and commanded by Huang Hsing, Sun
Yat-sen's lieutenant. Yuan Shih-Kai exercised
the utmost circumspection in the methods he
employed, and slowly but surely forced the various
members of the Tung Meng Hui holding official
positions in Peking, to send in their resignations,
filling up their places almost immediately with
men of his own way of thinking.

The relations between the President and Sun
Yat-sen still remained cordial on the surface,
but in point of fact each was awaiting his own
opportunity.

Amongst the more irresponsible members of the
Tung Meng Hui, the belief was gaining ground that
the President's strength and grip upon the country
were on the wane, and in the autumn of 1912 they
commenced plotting to overthrow him. Subse-
quent events showed them, however, to be entirely
misguided.

In the early part of December, General Chang
Chen-wu and General Fang-wei arrived at Peking
from Wuchang, ostensibly on a mission from the
Provisional Vice-President of the Republic, General

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 65

Li Yuan-hung, to Yuan Shih-Kai. This mission
was a mere pretext, for both Yuan Shih-Kai and
Li Yuan-hung knew these two men to be con-
spirators against the Government, and arranged
between themselves that, late one night, when
returning from a dinner given in their honour by
the President, they should be seized and executed,
which plan was carried out to the letter.

This drastic measure, so strongly reminiscent
of the methods of the Empress Dowager, was
naturally condemned by many of the members of
the National Council now in session in Peking;
but, brutal though it undoubtedly was, it effectively
cowed the would-be Revolutionists, and convinced
them that Yuan Shih-Kai's reserve of strength was
not in any way exhausted.

At the end of December, Sun Yat-sen paid a
visit to Peking and was received with the highest
honours by the President. His visit was followed
shortly afterwards by that of Huang Hsing, who
had resigned his post of Generalissimo of the
southern forces at Nanking and had disbanded the
greater part of his army. By the disbanding of
these troops, the only revolutionary army of any
strength left in the country was that quartered at
Wuchang and commanded by Li Yuan-hung, who
had now openly thrown in his lot with Yuan Shih-
Kai. The President could, therefore, count upon
his support and that of his army whenever he

/

66 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

considered the moment had come for the final
crushing of the Tung Meng Hui. The General
Election of the new Chinese Parliament took
place in March 1913, and resulted in a large majority
for the Kuomingtang, a new party which owed its
existence to the amalgamation of the Tung Meng
Hui with several other political parties. The new
Parliament held its opening meeting in April under
anything but favourable conditions.

The fact that the President did not open it in
person, and that his message was read by his
secretary, admitted of one construction only: it
clearly showed that a complete breach between
him and the Kuomingtang was imminent.

The leaders of the Revolutionary party were now
no longer in any sort of doubt with regard to the
real trend of Yuan Shih-Kai's policy, and conse-
quently looked upon him with profound distrust,
a feeling which soon developed into bitter hatred.

The programme of the Kuomingtang included a
system of party government as we understand it in
England, and its members considered that their
victories at the time of the elections entitled them
to expect that they should be selected by the
President to form a Cabinet.

They selected as their candidate for the Premier-
ship Sung Chiao-jen, one of the leading spirits in
the Revolution, a former Minister of Education
in the Cabinet of Tang Shao-yi. Sung Chiao-jen

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 67

accordingly left his residence at Shanghai for Peking
amidst the good wishes of his friends, and with
every prospect of a brilliant career. Whilst
waiting at Shanghai railway station for the train
which was to convey him to the capital he was
shot and mortally wounded by the bullet of
an assassin, and succumbed to his injuries a few
hours later. The bullet which put an end to this
promising life also struck the final blow to any
remnant of co-operation between Yuan Shih-Kai
and the Kuomingtang.

The members of the Revolutionary party believed
that they saw the hand of the President in the
murder of the man he knew to be one of his ablest
opponents, and they resolved to drive Yuan from
office, or at any rate to force a constitution through
Parliament which would render him a mere cipher.

Henceforth it was to be war d Voutrance between
the ideals of democratic Republicanism as repre-
sented bythe Kuomingtang, and the thinly veiled
autocracy which was the political goal of Yuan
Shih-Kai.

CHAPTER VI

Yuan Sliih-Kai and the assassination of Sung Chiao-jen —
Fictitious strength of the Kuomingtang — Rejection of the
Russo -Chinese agreement — Financial crisis — The Crisp Loan
— Negotiations opened with the Quintuple group — Agreement
Bigned — Its rejection in Parliament — Ratification of the loan
by the President — Country on the brink of civil war — Out-
break of the war " for the punishment of Yuan " — Fall of
the Kuomingtang — Presidential election — Victory of Yuan
Shih-Kai and Li Yuan-hung — Inauguration of the President
— Recognition of the Republic by Foreign Powers — Dissolu-
tion of the Kuomingtang — Arrival of Li Yuan-hung in Peking
— Meeting of Administrative Council — Dissolution of Parlia-
ment— Yuan Dictator — Republic or Empire ?

To what extent the charges brought against the
President by the Kuomingtang were justified in
fact will never be known ; and there is no possible
doubt that Sung Chiao-jen's death was of advantage
to Yuan Shih-Kai also. Considerable suspicion
attached to the latter in the matter ; at the same
time the way in which Sung Chiao-jen met his
death does not suggest that it was of Yuan's
doing. He would more probably have allowed
Sung Chiao-jen to reach Peking, and then to have
had him arrested on a charge of sedition, execution
following.

At the moment of Sung Chiao-jen's death the
Kuomingtang possessed a large majority in Parlia-
ment and, relying upon that and upon the support
of the southern troops, its leaders had great

68

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 69

hopes of achieving the overthrow of Yuan. They
opened their parHamentary campaign by loudly
demanding the dismissal from office of the Premier,
Chao Ping Chun, whom they accused unhesitatingly
of being the direct instigator of the assassination
of Sung Chiao-jen. To this demand Yuan turned a
deaf ear.

Having failed in this attempt to weaken Yuan
Shih-Kai's position, the Revolutionary leaders'
next move was to secure the rejection by Parliament
of the Russo-Chinese agreement respecting Outer
Mongolia, which province had, shortly after the
fall of the Monarchy, proclaimed its independence
and practically placed itself under the protection
of Russia.

By this strategy the leaders of the Kuomingtang
hoped to force the President into a quarrel with
Russia, but, far from achieving their object, they
actually improved the relations between Yuan
Shih-Kai and the Russian Government. At the
time of the rejection of the Russo-Chinese agree-
ment the Republican Government was in great
financial difficulties.

After the fall of Tang Shao-yi, various attempts
were made to negotiate a loan with the Five Power
group, but all ended in failure. The Powers
represented in this group would only agree to the
loan on certain conditions at that moment wholly
inacceptable to China, and at the same time they

70 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

strongly opposed any attempt on the part of the
RepubHc to conclude a loan with another Syndicate.
In spite of all opposition the Chinese Government in
the early spring of the year 1912 succeeded in raising
a loan of two million sterling with the English firm
of Birch, Crisp & Co., secured on the salt gabelle.

This loan, however, only brought temporary
relief, and the early stages of the struggle between
the Kuomingtang and Yuan Shih-Kai saw China
on the verge of bankruptcy. Realising that funds
were urgently needed for the continuance of his
fight to retain his supremacy, Yuan Shih-Kai again
applied to the Five Power group for a loan; but
the negotiations were impeded by Russia's insis-
tence on an agreement with respect to Mongolia
before the signature of the proposed loan.

It was then that the fatal mistake of the Kuo-
mingtang in rejecting the agreement, which had
only been arrived at after such protracted negotia-
tions between China and Russia, convinced the
Government of the latter country that it was
essential to support the authority of Yuan Shih-
Kai. Russia immediately withdrew her opposition
to the granting of the proposed loan, and on April
26, 1913, the agreement was signed, the signatories
being the Chinese Minister of Finance and the
representatives of the Five Power group.^ The

1 Russia and Japan had joined the group, and the United
States withdrawn

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 71

loan represented the sum of twenty million sterling,
the security again being the salt gabelle.

Yuan Shih-Kai's diplomatic triumph in carrying
these complicated negotiations to a successful
conclusion placed the Kuomingtang in a most
difficult position. It sought by means of its
large majority in Parliament to carry the rejection
of the loan on the grounds that its conditions were
derogatory to China, but this attempt was of no
avail. Yuan Shih-Kai ratifying the agreement in
defiance of the legislatory vote.

The pent-up fury of the leaders of the Kuoming-
tang could now no longer be kept within bounds,
and every one realised fully that China was on the
brink of a civil war.

On May 4, Yuan Shih-Kai issued a Presidential
Mandate proclaiming his intention of maintaining
order under all conditions.

About the middle of July fighting broke out in
the province of Kiangsi between the northern and
southern troops, and a few days later Huang
Hsing proclaimed the independence in Nanking
of the southern provinces. This step marks the
commencement of the * * war for the punishment
of Yuan " entered on by the leaders of the Kuoming-
tang, which was destined to terminate so dis-
astrously for their own party. Viewed superficially,
the strength of the two armies was practically
equal. In the North, Yuan Shih-Kai reigned

72 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

supreme, and he could also depend upon the loyal
support of the provinces of Hupeh, Chekiang
Kwangsi, Yunnan, Kweichau and Szeschwan.

The rebels counted amongst their allies the
provinces of Kiangsu, Kiangsi, Anhui, Fukien and
Kwangtung, and a body of levies actually raised
whilst the revolt was in progress. The province
of Hunan preserved its neutrality. The Provisional
Vice-President, Li Yuan-hung, who, assisted by his
army of 50,000 men securely held Wuchang, was
prepared, if necessary, to fight in the interests of
the President.

In addition to the forces supporting both sides,
there existed at Yenchau, in Shantung, a body of
soldiers 25,000 strong commanded by General
Chang Hsun, who had figured in a somewhat
dubious light in the siege of Nanking. This
soldier of fortune, as we have described him in a
previous chapter, was once more prepared to offer
his services to the highest bidder. Yuan Shih-Kai,
by reason of the loan just granted, was in a position
to secure his co-operation on terms more acceptable
to Chang Hsun than any the Kuomingtang could
put forward, and, in addition to this, managed,
with his wonderful knowledge of human nature, to
appeal to Chang Hsun's pride as a soldier, and
thereby gain his personal regard and loyalty. He
promoted Chang Hsun to the full rank of General,
and commanded him to march against Nanking

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 73

and make an attempt to recapture that city for
the Government.

He thus gave him the opportunity to wipe out
the memory of his former defeat, which had never
ceased to rankle in his heart, and Chang Hsun
immediately headed his troops on their march
swearing eternal loyalty to Yuan Shih-Kai. The
rebels started hostilities by sending a large force
under the command of General Chen Chi-mei,
one of the principal leaders of the Kuomingtang,
to occupy Shanghai. The actual occupation of
the city was accomplished without fighting, but
when the invaders attempted the capture of the
Kiagnan Arsenal they met with most serious
resistance.

The small garrison of northern troops in the
arsenal made a gallant defence, and with the
assistance of a naval squadron stationed in the
Yangtze under the command of Admiral Tseng Ju
Cheng, drove the rebels back in confusion.

A few days later northern reinforcements
reached Shanghai and completed the routing of
the rebels, who fled in all directions, some being
forced into the foreign concessions, where they
were immediately disarmed by the International
Municipal Council. Admiral Tseng, to whom the
main credit of this victory was due, had received
his training in the British Navy. He was imme-
diately promoted Governor of Shanghai, and he

74 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

gained further laurels a few days later by the
surrender, after a short bombardment, of the
Wusung forts at the mouth of the Yangtze. This
severe reverse to the rebel forces was followed by
one even more serious in its results.

On August 4, the garrison of Canton, hitherto
loyal to the Kuomingtang, suddenly mutinied, and,
having killed its commander, cancelled the declara-
tion of independence made by Chan Kwing-ming,
Tutuh of Kwangtung, who, recognising his danger,
at once fled to Hong-Kong.

These events were followed a few days later by
the entry into Canton of the commander of the
Kwangsi troops. Lung Tsi Kwang, who occupied
the city in the President's name and assumed the
Tutuhship. Thus the province of Kwangtung,
formerly the stronghold of Sun Yat-sen and his
party, passed into the sway of Yuan Shih-Kai.

The defection of Fukien and the occupation of
Nanchang, the capital of Kiangsi, by the northern
forces, added two further victories to the Presi-
dential cause. Nanking held out longest, but
on September 6 that city was captured by General
Chang Hsun, whose troops acted up to their reputa-
tion for ferocity, and stained their victory with
unjustifiable bloodshed. Amongst the atrocities
committed by these unruly soldiers there figured
prominently the shooting of several harmless
Japanese residents, an act which threatened to

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 75

bring about serious complications between Japan
and China.

The fall of Nanking dealt the final blow to the
Kuomingtang, for, with its leaders in exile abroad
and its army dispersed the temporary majority
it retained in Parliament was of no importance.
Remembering the complete victory gained by the
Kuomingtang between 1911 and 1912, it is difficult
to realise that within less than two years it had
practically ceased to exist. In a very great measure
the leaders of the Kuomingtang were responsible
for its short period of existence. They started from
the point of view that a state religion would prove
incompatible with a Republican form of govern-
ment, and, on coming into power, their foremost aim
was to bring about the complete separation of the
Confucian religion from the State.

This policy, which sought to strike a blow at the
most ancient and revered traditions of the country,
met with the bitterest antagonism on all sides, and
finally destroyed any chance of the Kuomingtang
obtaining an enduring influence with the people.

Barely had the rebellion been crushed than Yuan
Shih-Kai compelled Parliament to hold an imme-
diate Presidential Election in spite of the fact
that the draft for the new Constitution had not
yet been completed. This election took place on
October 6, and Yuan succeeded, by methods of
coercion, in securing his own election to the

76 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

Presidency and that of Li Yuan-hung to the
Vice-Presidency.

The 10th of October 1913, the second anniversary
of the outbreak of the Revolution, was selected
for the formal inauguration of Yuan Shih-Kai as
President of the Chinese Republic. The ceremony
took place in the Taihotien Hall of the Forbidden
City, in the presence of the Cabinet, of deputations
from both Houses of Parliament, and also of the
Foreign Ministers, who had all formally recognised
the Republic on the day of Yuan's election as
President.^ After the ceremony Yuan proceeded
to the gateway of the hall and reviewed the troops
of the northern army from the same spot from
which, when the Manchu dynasty was at the
zenith of its power, the great Emperor Chien Lung
had reviewed his troops on their return from their
victories in Turkestan.

One cannot help speculating upon the nature of
Yuan Shih-Kai's thoughts as he stood upon this
historic spot. Did they go back to those not far
distant days when he had entered the Taihotien
Hall as Councillor and yet a mere subject of the
all-powerful Empress Dowager, or did his imagina-
tion conjure up dreams of glories to come and of a
day when the Imperial Mantle would descend upon
him, and he be hailed by the proud name of Son
of Heaven ?

^ America had recognised the Republic in the May of that
year.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 77

In spite of the hopelessness of their pHght, the
Kuomingtang, shortly after the inauguration of
the President, made one more desperate effort to
wreck his influence by attempting to pass a consti-
tution through Parliament which would so diminish
his powers as to make him a mere figurehead in
matters of state.

Yuan Shih-Kai's position, however, was now
unassailable, and on November 4 he gave the
coup de grace to the Kuomingtang by the issue of a
Presidential mandate unseating the three hundred
Members of Parliament belonging to that party,
and commanding the closing of its various branches
in the provinces. Immediately after this drastic
measure, the President formed an Administrative
Conference, eight members of which he nominated
himself. The Cabinet had the right to nominate
two members and each minister to nominate one,
and in addition to these, the governors of each of
the eighteen provinces were to provide two mem-
bers, and Mongolia and Tibet were called upon to
send four representatives each.

The Council held its first meeting on December 16,
in the Presidential Palace at Peking. The opening
ceremony over, a very interesting address was
delivered by Yuan Shih-Kai, who was accompanied
by Vice-President Li Yuan-hung. A few days
later the President received a memorial signed by
the Tutuhs of the eighteen provinces petitioning for
the immediate dissolution of Parliament.

78 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

As a mere matter of form the President handed
this document to the Administrative Conference
for decision, and every member of that body, all
of whom were enthusiastic supporters of Yuan
Shih-Kai, after a perfunctory discussion decided in
favour of the petition.

Yuan Shih-Kai early in the New Year issued a
mandate dissolving Parliament on the grounds that
it was impossible to gain a quorum. The extinc-
tion of the Kuomingtang and the dissolution of
Parliament have placed Yuan Shih-Kai in the posi-
tion of Dictator, and the question naturally forces
itself upon us, has he now reached the final goal of
his ambitions ? Will he be content to continue his
rule as President, or will he boldly throw aside
his professions of Republicanism and attempt to
found a new dynasty ? ^ We know him to have
frequently professed his strong belief in a Repub-
lican form of government, but the high favour he is
constantly showing to Kang Yu-wei and his party,
all avowed Monarchists, may well cast doubts upon
the value of this profession. The most significant
sign of his aims for the future may be interpreted
from his proposal to revive the religious ceremonies
in the Temple of Heaven, and himself to officiate
at them. The office of Pontifex Maximus would

1 Since the above was written Yuan Shih-Kai has adopted
a form of government which, although ostensibly based on that
of the United States, bears very striking resemblance to the
old Imperial System.

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 79

of necessity raise him and his heirs to Imperial
rank, and would convey, to the minds of the great
majority of Chinese, the conviction that Yuan
Shih-Kai had received the Mandate of Heaven to
ascend the Dragon Throne.

This conviction would be all the more acceptable
in view of the strong reaction throughout the
country in favour of the monarchical principle.

Everything points to Yuan Shih-Kai as the man
most suited to further the best interests of China.
Unscrupulous according to our standards in some
of his methods of gaining power, he has neverthe-
less invariably made use of that power in a truly
patriotic spirit. In the course of two years he
has safely steered his country through civil war
and foreign complications, and has restored order
where chaos reigned.

China can boast of many patriots, but Yuan
Shih-Kai, alone of all these, combines with patriot-
ism the gift of real statesmanship and an unusual
and far-reaching intelligence, in short, all those
qualities which, if rightly employed, should enable
him to guide China through her difficult period
of transition into her rightful place among the
nations of the world.

CHAPTER VII

Western influence on the Chinese Revolution — Causes of the
fall of the Manchu dynasty — Chinese people's attitude to-
wards the Republican ideal — Comparison between the French
and Chinese Revolutions — The re-birth of a nation — Return
of Kang Yu-wei — His political ideal contrasted with that
of Sun Yat-sen — Triumph of the Moderates — Kang Yu-
wei's influence on the New China and its probable results —
Forecast of future system of education, and military and naval
reform in China — The Yellow Peril — Radical industrial
changes probable in China — Dangers of the emigration
question — Reasons for believing China will continue under
one government — China as a great Power — Influence of
Western education upon the religion of the country.

In the opening chapters of this book we traced

the progress of Western ideas in China from the

majority of the Emperor Kwanghsu to the death of

the Empress Dowager. In this, the concluding

chapter, we will endeavour to discover to what

extent Western influence has been responsible for

the Chinese Revolution.

The fact that this Revolution has led to the

establishment of a Republic has strengthened the

belief in the minds of many Europeans that its

main cause was the introduction into China of

Western modes of thought. A closer study,

however, of China's past history will entirely

dispose of this view. The decadence and weakness

of the Manchu dynasty caused its downfall;

80

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 81

precisely as in the case of its Ming predecessors the
Chinese people refused to obey a weak rule.

These indisputable facts dispose of the theory of
Western influence being at work as regards the
Revolution.

The acceptance by China of the Republican form
of government can scarcely be traced to European
precedent, for at the time of the enforced abdication
of the Emperor Hsuan Tung the only genuine
Republicans in China were the members of the Tung
Meng Hui ; and had Yuan Shih-Kai at that moment
been strong enough to seize the vacant throne,
their political ideal would never have been realised.

In the words of a great European authority on
China ^ " the Republic is the offspring of unexpected
opportunity out of sudden chaos, accidental in its
birth, and foredoomed to early demise."

The conservative mercantile classes supported

the Republic because the only alternative offered

to them was a continuance of the hated Manchu

rule; and as regards the bulk of the population in

China, this was totally ignorant of the meaning of a

Republican form of government, so much so that

we are told by the Taiyuanfu correspondent of the

North China Herald that, when Yuan Shih-Kai was,

last October, elected President of the Republic, the

population of Shensi believed he had ascended the

throne.

1 Mr. J. 0. P. Bland.
G

82 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

The Chinese Revolution, Hke the French one, had
its Jacobins, the followers of Sun Yat-sen ; and its
Girondins, the adherents of Kang Yu-wei; the
French Republic founded on the democratic
teachings of Rousseau was followed by the auto-
cracy of Napoleon, and in China the democratic
Republic of Sun Yat-sen has given way to the
despotism of Yuan Shih-Kai.

Following up this simile a little further, it is
safe to contend that in as great a measure as the
Empire of Napoleon differed from the Monarchy
of Louis XVI, so the Empire of Yuan Shih-Kai,
should it ever come into being, would be conducted
on entirely different principles to the Empire of
the Manchus.

The overthrow of that dynasty was the first
stage in the evolution of China, and, though there
are likely to be innumerable obstacles before this
evolution becomes complete, the hands of the
clock can never again be put back to where they
stood before the Revolution of 1911.

The world has witnessed the awakening of a
nation of four hundred millions of people, an event
fraught with grave issues both for East and West.
Its ultimate destiny is still unknown to us, and all
we think or say on the subject is pure conjecture.
Will the China of the future be peaceful or com-
bative, retrograde or progressive ?

Will she adopt in their entirety the ideals and

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 83

institutions of Western civilisation, or will she,
emulating the example of Japan, seek to graft them
on to her own ?

In attempting a forecast of the China of the
future, the downfall of Sun Yat-sen and his party
and the return to power of Kang Yu-wei and his
following are of the greatest significance. Sun
Yat-sen derived his inspiration from Europe and
America, whilst Kang Yu-wei is entirely influenced
by the political ideals of Japan.

Both Kang Yu-wei and his able lieutenant Liang
Chi-chao have an intimate knowledge of Japan,
and with that knowledge the conviction has forced
itself upon their minds that the true secret of that
country's greatness is to be found in the fact that,
while adopting all that is best in the civilisation
of the West, she has retained unimpaired her
national ideals and her time-honoured traditions.

The leaders of the Kuomingtang desired to
uproot the old China entirely, and to refashion her
on completely Western principles. The reformers of
1898, actuated by truer* statesmanship, wish to
follow the example of the regenerators of Japan,
and to build up in China the new edifice of state on
the old foundations. Following up their enlight-
ened principles, they will probably adopt, as Japan
has done, the political institutions of the West,
and completely reform the educational system
in China, retaining, as the only survival of her

84 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

time-honoured traditions, her ancient classical
literature.

The Army and Navy in China are almost certain
to be remodelled on entirely Western systems,
and these changes bring into prominence the
question so often debated upon by Europeans, the
question of the Yellow Peril. It is within the last
fifteen years that the Emperor of Germany, re-
ferring to China's vast population and her evident
desire to emulate the West, prophesied the invasion
of Europe by the Mongolian races.

There is little doubt that the Mongolian races
are sufficiently strong in number to carry out this
prediction ; on the other hand certain fundamental
traits in the character of the Chinese render it
very unlikely that they would associate themselves
with such a scheme.

The Chinese are not really a warlike nation,
though they have often, when, as in the first siege
of Nanking, well led, shown remarkable bravery.

In Japan the military caste is revered above all
others by the entire nation, as demonstrated by
the immense prestige enjoyed by the Samurai;
in China the statesman and the scholar have always
been exalted above the soldier, and there has
never been, as in Japan, an hereditary military
caste.

China's greatest conquests were made by rulers
of alien origin, such as Kublai Khan, first Emperor

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 85

of the Yuan dynasty, and Chienlung, fourth
Emperor of the Manehu dynasty. The natural
love of peace so inherent in the character of the
bulk of the Chinese people is not likely to be
affected by Western education. There is, however,
another point of view from which the Yellow Peril
may become a serious menace to the peace of the
world. This danger arises out of the refusal of
other nations to admit Chinese immigrants. The
industrial life of China is likely to undergo great
changes in the near future.

The country will be penetrated by a network of
railways ; steamships owned by Chinese companies
will carry Chinese produce to foreign lands, and
both Europe and America will be brought face to
face with a formidable trade competitor.

This industrial development will be dependent
upon the national credit and the extent to which
financiers will be willing to provide the further
necessary capital, a question which will be contin-
gent upon a settled form of government being
established.

When in search of new fields of activity, the
surplus population is likely, for reasons of proxi-
mity, to turn to those very countries which at
present so rigidly exclude the Chinese race. What
will the attitude of these countries be when this
question of immigration becomes acute; and will
they maintain their present policy of rigorous

86 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

exclusion, or incline to leniency, and, in concert
with the Chinese Government, devise an agreement
by which, while admitting a limited number of
Chinese immigrants, they would safeguard their
countries from any undue influx of Chinese settlers ?

The gravest issues depend upon the solution of
this problem, for the new China is likely to be
keenly sensitive on any point which touches the
national honour and quick to resent any legisla-
tion which starts on the assumption of the
inferiority of the Chinese as compared to the
Europeans.

The satisfactory adjustment of this question will
require the ablest statesmanship combined with a
policy of moderation and restraint.

Many people hold the view that the Revolution
in China, far from promoting her regeneration as
a united nation, is likely to result in her being
divided into small independent states, thereby
lessening her power in the eyes of the world.

The past history of China does not favour this
belief.

We have somewhat of a parallel to recent
events in China in the occurrences of the year 1644,
when the Ming dynasty was overthrown by Li
Tzu-cheng, who was in turn overthrown by the
Manchus.

The time immediately following upon these
events marks a period of anarchy over a large

RE-MAKING OF CHINA 87

proportion of the country. China, however, passed
safely through her terrible ordeal, and thirty-two
years later had once more become a strong and
united empire under the enlightened rule of the
great Manchu Emperor Kanghsi.

Everything points to China having found a
second Kanghsi in the person of Yuan Shih-Kai.
There seems reason to hope that his great intellect
and strength of character will prove equal to the
magnitude of his task, and that under his rule
China will attain the strength and self-reliance
essential to a great nation retaining her national
ideals in all that appertains to her spiritual life
whilst becoming Westernised in all matters of
practical value.

The Confucian religion has been the guiding star,
the greatest spiritual and moral force in the life
of the Chinese nation in the past as it is in the
present, and will be in the future.

The doctrine it teaches is that the Chinese
nation is one great family, held together by the
fervour of its patriotism. The spread of Western
education is likely to strengthen that patriotism,
and will therefore still further uphold the teachings
of Confucius.

Upon Yuan Shih-Kai, if he, as all well-wishers of
China must hope, continues to be the arbiter of
her destinies, will devolve the task of giving her
a constitution which will satisfy the moderate

88 RE-MAKING OF CHINA

reformers whilst retaining in his own hands the
supreme power of government.

He will also in all sincerity constitute himself
the defender of the Confucian faith, and thereby
combine for his country's benefit the advantages
of a modern constitution with the precepts of the
sages.

INDEX

Abdication of Emperor de-
manded, 52

Administrative Conference, 77

Anhui, 72

Attack on Viceregal Yamen
at Wuchang, 33

Austrian Legation fired on by
Chinese troops, 17

Btinkruptoy, China on verge

of, 70
Belgian Syndicate cuid Loan,

62
Birch, Crisp & Co., loan with,

70
Bomb explosion in Russian

Concession at Hankow, 32
Boxer Society, 12, 13

Cabinet, first, 31

Canton, 74

Chan Kwing-ming, Tutuh, 74

Chang Chien, Governor of

Nanking, 44
Chang Chen-wu, General, 64
Chang Hsun, General, 43-, 44,

45, 47, 72
Chang Jen-chun, Viceroy, 43
Chang Shao Tseng, General, 3G
Changsha, capital of Hunan,

35
Changtefu, 35
Chao Ping Chun, Premier, 63,

69
Chekiang, 72

Chen Chi-mei, General, 73
Chienlung, 21
Chihh, 5, 6
Chi Hsiu, 23

89

China, Western influence and

the future, 80, 83
Chinese army, officers of, 1

constitution granted, 36

immigrants, 85

Parliament, the new, 66, 66

Republic, 34
Ching, Prince, 24

made first Premier, 32

resigns Premiership, 36
Chinkiang, 45
Chuang, Prince, 23
Chun, Prince, assumed the

Regency, 29
Chu Yuan-Chang, founder of

Ming Dynasty, 55
Civil officials, 1
Civil war in China, 7 1
Confucius, 1
Constitutional • Government

promised, 27
Coup d'liltat of 1898, 10

Dowager-Empress, the, 6, 8,

9, 18, 19, 20
Dragon Throne, the, 2
Duke Lan announces arrival

of AlUed Relief Force, 20
banished, 23

Edict to slay foreigners, 17
Education, modem system of,

4
En Hai, assassin of Baron von

Ketteler, 17
Europe, invasion of, 84

Fang-wei, General, 64

Feng Kuo-Chang, General, 41

90

INDEX

Five Power Group, 69

Foreign Ministers, 2, 16

Formosa, loss of, 3

Four Power Sjmdicate, the, 62

France, war with, 3

French Cathedral attacked and

fired, 14
Fukien, 72

General Election of new

Chinese Parliament, 66
German missionaries, murder

of, 3
Germany, Emperor of, and

European invasion, 84
Grand Council and war against

the world, 16
Grand Council superseded by

Cabinet, 32
Great Britain and Wei-hai-wei,

3

Hall of Purple Lights, 2
Hankow, 32, 34, 41, 49
Hanyang, 34, 41, 49
Hong-Kong, 74
Hsien Feng, Emperor, 21
Hsu Ching-cheng alters edict
so as to protect foreigners,
17
death of, 18
Hsu Shao Cheng, General, 43,
46, 47
evacuates Nanking, 44
declares for the Republic, 46
Hsuan Tung (Pu Yi), Emperor,
29, 42, 81
abdicates the throne, 54
Huan Hsing, Commander of
Nanking, 64
visits Pekmg, 66
proclaims independence of
Nanking, 71
Himan, neutrality of, 72
Hung Hsiu-tsuan, founder of

Taiping, 66
Hupeh, 34, 72

Hupeh Provincial Assembly
goes over to Revolution-
ists, 34

Ichang, Treaty Port of, 34

" I Ho Chuan " (Boxer Soci-
ety), 13

Iho Park, the, 6

Imperial Court, return of, to
Peking, 24

Imperial Edicts and modem
reforms, 4

Indo - Chinese dependencies,
loss of, 3

International Municipal Coun-
cil, 73

Japan, 3, 74

Jui Cheng, Viceroy of Wu-
chang, 32
flight from Revolutionaries,
33

Kalgan, 20

Kanghsi, Emperor, 21, 87

Kang Yi, 12, 20

Kang Yu-wei, Cantonese re-
former, 4, 9

Ketteler, Baron von, assas-
sination of, 16

Kiagnan Arsenal, defence of,
73

Kiangsi, civil war breaks out
in, 71, 72

Kiangsu, 72

Kiukiang, 35

Korea, loss of, 3

Kublai Khan, 65, 85

Kuomingtang, 66, 70, 72, 74,
75, 77

Kwanghsu, minority of Em-
peror, 2
meets Kang Yu-wei, 4
seized and imprisoned, 9
hands over government to

Dowager-Empress, 9
selection of heir to, 28
death of, 29

Kwangtung, 72, 74

Kweichau, 72

Legations, siege of, 17
Liang Chi-chao, 9, 27
Li Hung Chang, 24

INDEX

91

Li Tzu-cheng, 86

Li Yuan -hung, Colonel, 33, 34,
42, 48, 65, 72, 75

Liu Kun-yi, Viceroy of Nan-
king, refuses to massacre
foreigners, 18

Loans, 62, 69, 70

Lu Cheng-hsiang appointed
Premier, 63

Lu Chun (Modem Army), 31

Lung Tsi Kwang occupies
Canton, 74

Lung Yu, Empress-Dowager,
52

Manchu Dynasty, the, and
foreign aggression, 11
removal of, 52, 53
concessions to, on abdiea-
tion, 58
Manchus, massacre of, 35
Mandarin, the, 6
Middle Kingdom, the, 4
Military and naval reform, 6
Ming Dynasty, overthrow of

the, 86
Modem Army, revolt of, 33
Modification of Marriage Law,

25
Molingkuan, 44, 45
Mongolia, 69, 70, 77

Nanking, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 60,

71, 72, 74, 75
National Consultative Aa-

sembly, 27
National Convention, 49, 51
National Council, 65
National Militia, formation of,

13
Northern Army, formation of

the, 26
marches against Revolution-
aries, 34
Northern Provinces refuse to

accept Sim Yat-sen as

President, 56

" Outer Barbarian," the, 2

Parliament, dissolution of, 78

Peace Conference proposed, 48

Peace of Nanking, 46

Peace with Allies signed, 24

Peking Field Force, 5

Peking, situation in, caused
by Boxer Movement, 1900,
14

Poppy, cultivation of, abol-
ished, 28

Port Arthur, loss of, to Japan,
3
retroceded to Russia, 3

President of Chinese Republic
State entry into Nanking,
65

Presidential election, 75

Provincial Assemblies estab-
lished, 27

Pu Lun, Prince, 28

Pu Yi, Prince, 28

proclaimed Heir- Apparent,
29

Purple Mountain, the storming
of, 46

Religion, 75, 87

Repubhc of China announced

in Abdication Edict, 54
Revolution conunences, 33
Revolutionaries acquire I-
chang, 34
Changsha, 35
Kiukiang, 35
Sianfu, 35

hoist Republican flag on
Admiral Sah's squadron,
35
Revolutionary army, 65
Russia and Port Arthxir, 3
Russia and Mongolia, 69

loajis and, 70
Russo-Chinese agreement, 69,
70

Sah Chen-ping, Admiral, 34,

35
Salt Gabelle, the loan raised

on, 70
Shanghai, occupation of, 73

92

INDEX

Shantung, 72
Sianfu, 20, 22, 35
Siege of Nanking, 46
Southern Viceroys thanked

for protecting foreigners,

24
Sugiyama, assassination of Mr.,

14
Summer Palace, the, 6
Sun Yat-sen, the Revolution-
ist, 10, 31, 39, 40, 65, 66,

65
Sung Chiao-jen Kuomingtang

candidate for Premiership,

66
Szchewan, rebellion in, 32, 72

Taiyuanfu (Shansi), massacre
of, 18

Tang Hua-lung, President of
Hupeh Provincial As-
sembly, 34

Tang Shao-yi, Chief Imperial-
ist Delegate, 48
Premier, 62
resigns Premiership, 63

Temple of Heaven, the, 78

Tibet, 77

Tieh Liang, General, 43, 44

Tientsin, 12, 19

Tseng Ju Cheng, Admiral, 73

Tsung -li- Yamen (Foreign

Office) and the Legations,
14

Tuan, Prince, 16, 20, 23

Tuan Chih-jui, Minister of
War, 62

Timg Fu-hsiang, leader of
Mahommedan soldiery, 14

Tung-chih, Emperor, 2

Tung Meng Hui (Sworn
Brotherhood), 31, 40, 48,
60, 62, 63, 64, 66

Tutuhs, the (Military Govern-
ors), 59, 77

Tzu Cheng Yuan (Consultative
Senate), 31, 36

Tzu Hsi, Dowager- Empress,
intrigues against Emperor,
6

Tzu Hsi, Dowager- Empress,
plot to imprison, 8

begged to resume Govern-
ment by Grand Council, 9

orders massacre of Tai-
yuanfu, 18

permits armistice with Lega-
tions, 19

resiunes hostilities with
Legations, 19

flight of, with the Emperor
and Heir- Apparent, 20

decides to conclude peace
with Allies, 24

heads Reform Party, 25

character of, 29

" Unchanging East," the, 1
United States of China, 63
University of Peking ordered
to be established, 4

Viceroys of Southern Provinces
side with foreigners against
Boxers, 17

Waldersee, Count Von, 20

War for the punishment of
Yuan, the, 71

Wearing of queue made op-
tional, 25

Wei-hai-wei leased to Great
Britain, 3

Wuchang, 32

Wusung forts, 74

Wu-Ting-fang appointed Chief
Republican Delegate, 48

Yenchau, 72

Yin Chang, General, 34, 40, 41
Yuan Chang, 17, 18
Yuan Shih-Kai, 5, 8, 17, 28,
38, 47, 48, 65
Viceroy of Chihli, 24
President of Waiwupu, 26
dismissed, dishonoured and

exiled, 30
recalled by Prince Chun, 36
elected first Prime Minister,
36

INDEX

93

Yuan Shih-Kai, suggested for
the Imperial Dynasty, 42

unsuccessful efforts to float
a loan, 42

concludes armistices with
Li Yuan-hung, 48

attempted assassination of,
53

assists Sun Yat-sen, 55

elected Provisional President
of Republic, 56

in grave peril owing to de-
sertion of his troops, 61

determined to crush the
Tung Meng Hui, 64

plot against, 65

and the Kuomingtang, 66,
70, 71, 72

Yuan Shih-Kai, distrusted by
Revolutionary Party, 66
and Russia, 70
and Chang Hsun, 72
elected President, 75
inauguration of his Presid-
ency, 75
destroys the Kuomingteaig,

77
forms Administrative Con-
ference, 77
as Dictator, 78
Yu Hsien, 18, 23
Yung Lu, 6, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23,

26
Yung- ting Gate, the, 14
Yunnan, 72

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