The Awakening of China by W.A.P. Martin

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[Page 242]
POSTSCRIPT NO.2

TUAN FANG OF THE HIGH COMMISSION

During Chang's long absence, Tuan Fang, Governor of Hupeh, held the
seals and exercised the functions of viceroy. He was a Manchu--one
of those specimens, admirable but not rare, who, in acquiring the
refinement of Chinese culture, lose nothing of the vigour of their
own race. "Of their own race," I say, because in language and habits
the Manchus are strongly differentiated from their Chinese subjects.

In the Boxer War Governor Tuan established an excellent record.
Acting as governor in Shensi, instead of killing missionaries, as
did the Manchu governor of the next province, he protected them
effectually and sent them safely to Hankow. One day when I was at
his house a missionary came to thank him for kindness shown on
that occasion.

Mentioning one of my books I once asked him if he had read it. "You
never wrote a book that I have not read," was his emphatic reply.
He was a pretty frequent visitor at my house, punctually returning
all my calls; and when he was transferred to the governorship of
Hunan he appeared pleased to have the Yale Mission commended to
his patronage. He has a son at school in the United States; and
his wife and daughters have taken lessons in English from ladies
of the American Episcopal Mission.

Governor Tuan (now viceroy) is a leading member of a commission
recently sent abroad to study and report on the institutions of
the Western world. Its
[Page 243]
departure was delayed by the explosion of a bomb in one of the
carriages just as the commission was leaving Peking. The would-be
assassin was "hoist with his own petard," leaving the public mystified
as to the motive of the outrage.

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CHAPTER XXXI

ANTI-FOREIGN AGITATION

_American Influence in the Far East--Officials and the
Boycott--Interview with President Roosevelt--Riot in a British
Concession--Ex-territoriality--Two Ways to an End--A Grave Mistake--The
Nan-chang Tragedy--Dangers from Superstition_

So far from being new, an anti-foreign spirit is the normal state
of the Chinese mind. Yet during the year past it has taken on new
forms, directed itself against new objects, and employed new methods.
It deserves therefore a conspicuous place among the new developments
in the China of the twentieth century.

Where everything is changing, the temper of the people has undergone
a change. They have become restless as the sea and fickle as a
weather-vane, The friends of yesterday are the enemies of to-day;
and a slight or petty annoyance is enough to make them transfer
man or country from one to the other category. Murderous outbreaks,
rare in the past, have now become alarmingly frequent, so much so
that the last year might be described as a year of anti-foreign
riots. The past nine months have witnessed four such outbreaks,
In four widely separated provinces, venting their fury pretty
impartially on people of four nationalities and of all professions,
they were actuated by a
[Page 245]
common hate and indicated a common purpose. That purpose--if they
had a purpose--was to compel a readjustment of treaty relations.

America has the distinction of being the target for the first assaults.
In treating the subject I accordingly begin with America and the
boycott, as set forth in a long extract from an address before
the Publishers' League of New York, November 8, 1905, on

AMERICAN INFLUENCE IN THE FAR EAST

"Mr. President and Gentlemen:

"If I were asked to find a _pou sto_, a fulcrum, on which
to erect a machine to move the world, I should choose this league
of publishers; and the machine would be no other than the power
press! I have accepted your invitation not merely from pleasant
recollections of your former hospitality, but because new occurrences
have taken place which appeal to the patriotism of every good citizen.
They are issues that rise above party; they involve our national
character and the well-being of another people whom we owe the
sacred duties of justice and humanity.

"When I agreed to speak to you of American influence in the Far
East, I was not aware that we should have with us a representative
of Japan, and I expected to spread myself thinly over two empires.
Happy I am to resign one of these empires to Mr. Stevens.

"I shall accordingly say no more about Japan than to advert to
the fact that the wise forbearance of Commodore Perry, which, in
1854, induced the Shogun to open his ports without firing a gun,
has won the gratitude of the Japanese people; so that in many ways
they testify a preference for us and our country. For instance, they
call the English language 'Americano,' etc. They were disappointed
that their claims against Russia were not backed up by the United
States. That, however, caused only a momentary cloud. Beyond this,
nothing has ever occurred to mar the harmony of the two peoples who
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face each other on the shores of the Pacific. Perry's wise initiative
was followed by the equal wisdom of Townsend Harris, who, before
any other consul or minister had arrived, was invited to Yedda
to give advice to the government of the Shogun.

"American influence thus inaugurated has been fostered by a noble
army of ministers, consuls, and missionaries. The total absence
of massacres and murders[*] makes the history of our intercourse
with Japan tame in contrast with the tragic story from China. It
speaks the reign of law.

[Footnote *: The only missionary killed in the last fifty years
was stabbed while grappling with a burglar.]

"My acquaintance with Japan dates back forty-six years; and in the
meantime I have had pleasant relations with most of the ministers
she has sent to China. One of her officials recently gave me a
beautiful scarf-pin that speaks volumes for American influence,
showing as it does the two flags in friendly union on one flagstaff.
I gave him in return the following lines:

"'To sun and stars divided sway!
Remote but kindred suns are they,
In friendly concord here they twine
To form a new celestial sign.

"'Thou, Orient sun, still higher rise
To fill with light the Eastern skies!
And you, ye stars and stripes, unfurled
Shed glory on the Western world!

"'Our starry flag first woke the dawn
In the empire of the Rising Sun.
May no ill chance e'er break the tie,
And so we shout our loud _banzai!_'

"I now turn to the less cheering theme of American influence in
China. It reminds me of the naturalist who took for the
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heading of a chapter 'Snakes in Iceland,' and whose entire chapter
consisted of the words 'There are no snakes in Iceland.' Though
formerly blazing like a constellation in the Milky Way, American
influence has vanished so completely that you can hardly see it with
a microscope. What influence can we presume on when our commodities
are shut out, not by legislative action but as a result of popular
resentment?

THE BOYCOTT

"True, the latest advices are to the effect that the boycott has
broken down. I foresaw and foretold more than two months ago that
it could not in the nature of the case be of long duration, that
it was a mere _ballon d'essai_--an encouraging proof that
Orientals are learning to apply our methods. But is there not a
deplorable difference between the conditions under which it is
used in the two countries? In one the people all read, and the
newspaper is in everybody's hand. The moment a strike or boycott
is declared off all hands fall into their places and things go on
as usual. In the other the readers are less than one in twenty.
Newspapers, away from the open ports, are scarcely known, or if
they exist they are subject to the tyranny of the mandarins or
the terrorism of the mob. Hence a war may be waged in one province
and people in another may scarcely hear of it. Chevaux-de-frise may
bar out goods from one port, while they are more or less openly
admitted in other ports. Not only so, the hostile feeling engendered
by such conflict of interest is not dissipated by sunshine, but
rankles and spreads like an epidemic over vast regions unenlightened
by newspapers or by contact with foreign commerce.

"Witness the massacre of American missionaries at Lienchow in the
Canton province. I am not going to enter into the details of that
shocking atrocity, nor to dwell on it further than to point out
that although the boycott was ended on September 14, the people
in that district were in such a state of exasperation that the
missionaries felt themselves in danger fourteen days after that
date. In the New York _Sun_ of November 5 I find part of a
letter from one of the victims, the Reverend Mr.
[Page 248]
Peale, written exactly one month before the tragedy. Allow me to
read it along with an introductory paragraph.

"'PRINCETON, N. J., Nov. 4.--A. Lee Wilson, a student in the Princeton
Theological Seminary, received a letter a few days ago from John R.
Peale, the missionary who, with his wife, was killed in Lienchow,
China, on October 28. The letter was dated September 28, and reached
America at the time that Peale and his wife were murdered. It gives
a clue to the troubles which led to the death of Peale. The letter
says in part:

"'"The interest in the boycott is vital to the missionaries. Heretofore
the Americans always enjoyed special favour, and to fly the American
flag meant protection; but it is different now. No personal violence
has been attempted, but the people are less cordial and more suspicious.
People in China are not asking that their coolies be allowed entrance
into the States, but they only ask that the Americans cease treating
the Chinese with contempt and allow their merchants and students
the same privileges that other foreigners receive."

"'Peale graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary last May.

"Is it not evident that whatever spark caused the explosion, the
nitro-glycerin that made it possible came from the boycott?

"Not only do they boycott ponderables such as figure at the
custom-house, but they extend the taboo to things of the head and
heart. The leader of the whole movement was formerly an active
supporter of the International Institute, an institution which
proposes to open gratuitous courses of lectures and to place Chinese
men of intelligence on common ground with scholars of the West,
He now opposes the International Institute because, forsooth, it
is originated and conducted by Dr. Reid, a large-minded American.

"After this, will you be surprised to hear that your own publications,
the best text-books for the schools of the Far East, have been put
on the _index expurgatorius?_ A number of such books were
lately returned with the excuse that they were forbidden because
they bore the stamp of an American press.

[Page 249]
"If I should go on to say that government officials, high and low,
look with satisfaction on this assertion of something like national
feeling, you might reply, 'National feeling! Yes, it is a duty to
cultivate that.' But do we not know how it has been fostered in
China? Has not hatred of the foreigner been mistaken for patriotism,
and been secretly instigated as a safeguard against foreign aggression?
In this instance, however, there is no room to suspect such a motive.
The movement is purely a result of provocation on our part; and it
is fostered with a view to coercing our government into modifying
or repealing our offensive exclusion laws. The Viceroy of Central
China, with whom I have spent the last three years, is known as
a pioneer of reform--a man who has done more than any other to
instruct his people in their duties as well as their rights. When,
on the expiration of my engagement, I was about to leave for home,
the prefect of Wuchang, a Canton man, addressed me a letter begging
me to plead the cause of his people with the President of the United
States. That letter was referred to in an interview by the viceroy,
and the request which it contained reiterated by him. He gave me
a parting banquet, attended by many of his mandarins, and on that
occasion the subject came up again and the same request was renewed
and pressed on me from all sides. While I promised to exert myself
on their behalf, let me give you a specimen of the kind of oil
which I poured on their wounded feelings.

"Said I, 'Under the exasperating effect of these petty grievances
your people forget what they owe to the United States. They lose
sight of the danger of alienating their best friend. In the Boxer
War, when Peking was captured by a combined force of eight foreign
powers, who but America was the first to introduce a self-denying
ordinance forbidding any power to take any portion of the Chinese
territory? In this she was backed up by Great Britain; the other
powers fell into line and the integrity of the Empire was assured.
Again, when China was in danger of being drawn into the vortex
of the Russo-Japanese war, who but America secured for her the
privileges of neutrality--thus a second time protecting her national
life? And now you turn
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against us! Is not such conduct condemned by your ancient poet who
says:

"_'Ki wo siao yuen, wang wo ta teh', etc._

(How many acts of kindness done
One small offence wipes out,
As motes obscure the shining sun
And shut his lustre out.')

"If the cause of offence be taken away there is reason to hope
that the beneficent action of our country, on those two occasions
so big with destiny, will be remembered, and will lead China to
look to our flag as an aegis under which she may find protection
in time of need. Not till then will our influence, now reduced
to the vanishing-point, be integrated to its full value.

PROVOCATIONS TO A BOYCOTT

"The injuries inflicted, though trifling in comparison with the
benefits conferred, are such as no self-respecting people should
either perpetrate or endure. Take one example, where I could give
you twenty. Two young men, both Christians, one rich, the other
poor, came to the United States for education. They were detained
in a prison-shed for three months, One of them, falling sick, was
removed to a hospital; the other obtaining permission to visit
him, they made their escape to Canada and thence back to China.

"What wonder no more students come to us and that over 8,000 are
now pursuing their studies in Japan![*]

[Footnote *: The conciliatory policy of President Roosevelt is
bearing fruit Forty students are about to start to the United States
(May, 1906).]

"The present irritation is, we are assured by the agitators, provoked
by the outrageous treatment of the _privileged classes_ (merchants,
travellers, and students) and not by the exclusion of labourers, to
which their government has given its assent. Yet in the growing
intelligence of the Chinese a time has come when their rulers feel
such discrimination as a stigma. It is not merely
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a just application of existing laws that Viceroy Chang and his
mandarins demand. They call for the rescinding of those disgraceful
prohibitions and the right to compete on equal terms with immigrants
from Europe. If we show a disposition to treat the Chinese fairly,
their country and their hearts will be open to us as never before.
Our commerce with China will expand to vast proportions; and our
flag will stand highest among those that overarch and protect the
integrity of that empire."

On November 16, I was received by President Roosevelt. Running
his eye over the documents (see below) which I placed in his hands
he expressed himself on each point. The grievances arising from
the Exclusion Laws he acknowledged to be real. He promised that
they should be mitigated or removed by improvements in the mode
of administration; but he held out no hope of their repeal. "We
have one race problem on our hands and we don't want another," he
said with emphasis. The boycott which the Chinese have resorted
to as a mode of coercion he condemned as an aggravation of existing
difficulties. The interruption of trade and the killing of American
missionaries to which it had led made it impossible, he said, to
turn over to China the surplus indemnity, as he had intended.

This response is what I expected; but it will by no means satisfy
the ruling classes in China, who aim at nothing short of repeal.
When I assured him the newspapers were wrong in representing the
agitation as confined to labourers and merchants, adding that the
highest mandarins, while formally condemning it, really give it
countenance, he replied that he believed that to be the case, and
reiterated the declaration that
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nothing is to be gained by such violent measures on the part of
China.

From the Executive Mansion, I proceeded to the Chinese Legation,
where I talked over the matter with the minister, Sir Chentung
Liang. He was not surprised at the attitude of the President. He
said the state of feeling towards China in Congress and in the
entire country is improving, but that, in his opinion, it will
require ten years to bring about the repeal of the Exclusion Laws.

The present hitch in negotiations comes in part from Peking, but
he hoped a temporary settlement would soon be arrived at.

The papers referred to above are here appended.

LETTERS REQUESTING GOOD OFFICES
(_Translation_)

"To the Hon. Dr. Martin.

"Sir:

"During the last three years we have often exchanged views on the
subject of education and other topics of the day; and to me it
is a joy to reflect that no discordant note has ever marred our
intercourse.

"In view of your learning and your long residence of forty years
at our capital, besides fifteen years in other parts of China, you
are regarded by us with profound respect. When we hear your words
we ponder them and treasure them up as things not to be forgotten.
It is by your scholarship and by your personal character that you
have been able to associate with the officers and scholars of the
Central Empire in harmony like this.

"Now, sir, there is a matter which we wish to bring to your attention--a
matter that calls for the efforts of wise men like yourself. I refer
to the exclusion of Chinese labourers. It affects our mercantile
as well as our labouring population very deeply.

[Page 253]
"We beg you to bear in mind your fifty-five years' sojourn in China
and to speak a good word on our behalf to the President of the
United States so as to secure the welfare of both classes.

"If through your persuasion the prohibitory regulations should be
withdrawn the gratitude of our Chinese people will know no bounds;
your fifty-five years of devotion to the good of China will have
a fitting consummation in one day's achievement; and your name
will be handed down to coming generations.

"Being old friends, I write as frankly as if we were speaking face
to face.

"(Signed) LIANG TING FEN,
"Director of the Normal College for the Two Lake
"Provinces, Intendant of Circuit (_Taotai_), etc. etc.
"Wuchang, July 8, 1905."

The foregoing translation was made by me, and the original is attached
to the copy presented to the President, for the satisfaction of
any official interpreter who may desire to see it.

This letter may be regarded as expressing the sentiments of the
higher officials of the Chinese Empire. It was written on the eve
of my embarkation for home by a man who more than any other has
a right to be looked on as spokesman for Viceroy Chang; and the
following day the request was repeated by the viceroy himself. These
circumstances make it a document of more than ordinary importance.

The outrageous treatment to which the privileged classes (merchants,
students, and travellers) have been subjected, under cover of enforcing
the Exclusion Laws, has caused a deep-rooted resentment, of which
the boycott is only a superficial manifestation. That movement may
not be of long duration, but it has already lasted long enough
to do us no little damage.

[Page 254]
Besides occasioning embarrassment to our trade, it has excited a
feeling of hostility which it will require years of conciliatory
policy to eradicate.

The letter makes no direct reference to the boycott, neither does
it allude to coming negotiations; yet there can be little doubt
that, in making this appeal, the writer had both in view. The viceroy
and his officials are right in regarding the present as a grave
crisis in the intercourse of the two countries.

Their amicable relations have never been interrupted except during
a fanatical outbreak known as the "Boxer Troubles," which aimed
at the expulsion of all foreigners. The leading part taken by our
country in the subsequent settlement, especially in warding off the
threatened dismemberment of China, added immensely to our influence.
Again, on the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese conflict, which was
waged mainly on Chinese territory, it was American diplomacy that
secured for China the advantage of neutrality, and once more warded
off a danger that menaced her existence.

Yet every spark of gratitude for these transcendent services is
liable to be extinguished by the irritation caused by discrimination
against her labourers and the consequent ill-treatment of other
classes of her people. No argument is required to show how important
it is to remove all grounds of complaint in the interest of our
growing commerce.

That any sweeping alteration will be made in our existing laws, I
have given my mandarin friends no reason to expect. Self-preservation
stands on a higher plane than the amenities of intercourse. For
many years these laws served as a bulwark without which the
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sparse population of our Western States would have been swamped by
the influx of Asiatics. In early days it was easier for the Chinese
to cross the ocean than for the people of our Eastern States to cross
the Continent. Now, however, the completion of railroads has reduced
the continental transit to five or six days, in lieu of many months;
and the population of our Pacific Coast is so considerable that
there is no longer any danger of its being overrun by immigrants
from the Far East. Is it not therefore a fair question whether the
maintenance of these old restrictions is desirable or politic?
Swaddling bands, necessary for the protection of an infant, are an
impediment to a growing boy. That question can perhaps be best
decided by ascertaining the general sentiment of our Pacific States.
My impression is that, with the exception of the fruit-growers of
California and some others, they are strongly opposed to what they
call "letting down the bars."

The most feasible way of meeting the difficulty would be, as it
appears to me, the enactment of regulations to provide against
abuses in the enforcement of our Exclusion Laws. The President
has already spoken forcibly in condemnation of such abuses. The
"privileged classes" might be construed in a more liberal sense.
Provision might be made to mitigate the hardships of detention and
repatriation; and a better class of inspectors might be appointed
with a general superintendent, whose duty it should be to see that
the laws are enforced humanely as well as faithfully.

On December 18, less than three months after the attack on Americans
at Lienchow, an attempt
[Page 256]
was made to destroy the British settlement in Shanghai.

A woman arrested on a charge of kidnapping was sent to the foreign
jail to await trial. The Chinese assessor insisted, not without
reason, that she ought to be kept in a native jail. No attention
being given to his protest, though supported by the _taotai_
or local governor, a mob of riff-raff from beyond the limits burst
into the settlement, put the foreign police to flight, and began to
burn and pillage. Happily a body of marines with gatling guns and
fire-engines succeeded in quelling the flames and suppressing the
insurrection. A few hours' delay must have seen that rich emporium
converted into a heap of ashes. Forty of the rioters were killed
and many wounded. Though on ground granted to Great Britain, the
settlement is called international and is governed by a municipal
council elected by the foreign ratepayers. The Chinese residents,
numbering half a million, are allowed no voice in the council; and
that also is felt as a grievance. They are, however, protected
against the rapacity of their own officials; and it is said they
took no part in the riot. In fact had it not been promptly suppressed
they must have suffered all the horrors of sack and pillage. After it
was over they took occasion to demand recognition in the municipal
government; promising to be satisfied if allowed to appoint a permanent
committee, with whom the council should consult before deciding on
any question affecting their interests.

Modest as this request was, it was rejected by an almost unanimous
vote of the foreign ratepayers. They knew that such committee,
however elected,
[Page 257]
was certain to be manipulated by the governor to extend his
jurisdiction. Their decision was quietly accepted by the Chinese
residents, who appreciate the protection which they enjoy in that
strange republic. The question is certain to come up again, and
their claim to be heard will be pressed with more insistence as
they become more acquainted with the principles of representative
government.

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